On October 23, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the day of memory of St. Ambrose of Optina. The Monk Ambrose was not a bishop, an archimandrite, he was not even an abbot, he was a simple hieromonk. Being mortally ill, he accepted the schema and became a hieroschemamonk. He died in this rank. The venerable elder left behind many instructions. The collected sayings are the “sounds of his speech” that have come down to us. Each of us, listening to them, will certainly find something important for ourselves, useful on the path of salvation. We present to your attention a selection of instructions from St. Ambrose of Optina

To speak well is to scatter silver, and prudent silence is gold.

An unfulfilled promise is like a good tree without fruit.

Where it’s simple, there are about a hundred angels; and where it’s tricky, there’s not a single one.

You don’t have to believe signs, and they won’t come true.

He who reproaches us gives us gifts; and whoever praises steals from us.

Why is a person bad? Because he forgets that God is above him.

Sins like walnuts– you can crack the shell, but it’s difficult to pick out the grain.

The fear of God is the beginning of the cleansing of conscience.

About family life

Then only life will pass peacefully and prosperously when we do not forget and forget God, our Creator and Redeemer and Giver of temporal and eternal blessings. Not to forget Him means to try to live according to His Divine and life-giving commandments...

We must endure family hardships as our voluntarily chosen lot. Second thoughts here are more harmful than useful. The only saving thing is to pray to God for ourselves and for our family, that He may do good for us according to His holy will.

I advise you to stick to the golden mean in dealing with juniors and seniors, trying not to insist on your own and doing according to your responsibility what is possible according to considerations, guided by the fear of God and your conscience.

If you believe in God's Providence and hope in the all-powerful God's help, then you will not encounter any inconvenience and will always enjoy possible peace of mind. When you worry about something that cannot happen (because assumptions are mostly incorrect and erroneous), then you will only worry yourself in vain.

We must be prudent, that is, we must first of all care about receiving God’s mercy and eternal salvation, and not about returning the former kingdom, that is, temporary blessings.

Contentment and abundance spoil people. Fat, as the proverb goes, makes animals go crazy.

Divorce is not absolutely forbidden by God. If spouses are faithful to each other, then they should not divorce; Otherwise, it is inconvenient to bind spouses. The Holy Church also follows this rule...

Photo by Ambrose Optinsky. 1870s

Your husband is overly devoted to drinking wine, and you treat him cruelly.<…>It is better to pray for him with faith and zeal to Saint John the Baptist of the Lord and the Martyr Boniface, so that the All-Good Lord, for the prayers of His saints, will turn him away from the path of destruction and return him to the path of a sober abstinent life.

Prayer for loved ones should be offered with humility to the Omniscient and Omnipotent God. Where it is impossible to help with deeds and advice, we have a commandment to pray for each other, so that we may be healed.

Excess inner feeling imperceptibly serves as a reason for secret praise and condemnation of others; and lack of feeling and dryness involuntarily humbles a person when he begins to understand this.

About raising children

Whatever good you sow in the souls of your children in their youth may later vegetate in their hearts when they come to mature courage, after bitter school and modern trials, which often break off the branches of good Christian home education.

The sign of the cross has great power on all the actions of a person throughout his life. Therefore, it is necessary to take care to instill in children the custom of protecting themselves more often sign of the cross, and especially before eating and drinking, going to bed and getting up, before leaving, before leaving and before entering somewhere.

You are obliged to teach children, and you yourself must learn from children, according to what was said from the Lord Himself: unless... you are like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven(Matthew 18:3). And the holy Apostle Paul interpreted it this way: Be not children in mind, but be childish in malice; keep your minds together(1 Cor. 14:20).

Icon depicting Ambrose of Optina

About repentance

Church commemoration and private prayers are useful for the deceased who have repented, but who have not or did not have time to pay penance. If a person has sinned, then, according to God’s justice, he must suffer torment or languor: for those who repent - temporary, and for those who do not repent - eternal.

The enemy tempts in every possible way, especially before death, to inflict some kind of wound or at least put some kind of stain, so that when the soul departs, it will have its own sign to hold back and hinder the transition to the future blissful life...

About salvation

Three degrees for salvation. Said by St. John Chrysostom: a) do not sin, b) having sinned, repent, c) whoever repents poorly must endure the sorrows that come.

Our salvation must be achieved between fear and hope. No one should give in to despair under any circumstances, but one should not hope too much.

About laziness and despondency

Why do people sin? Or because they don’t know what to do and what to avoid; or, if they know, they forget; if they don’t forget, they become lazy and despondent.

These are three giants - despondency or laziness, oblivion and ignorance - from which the entire human race is bound by unbreakable bonds. And then comes negligence with all its host of evil passions.

Boredom is a despondent grandson, and laziness is a daughter. To drive her away, work hard in action, don’t be lazy in prayer; then boredom will pass and diligence will come. And if you add patience and humility to this, you will save yourself from many evils.

Venerable Ambrose of Optina in his cell (Shamordino)

About the concept of “one's own cross”

God does not create the cross for man (i.e., cleansing mental and physical suffering). And no matter how heavy the cross that a person bears in life may be, the tree from which it is made always grows on the soil of his heart.

When a person walks the straight path, there is no cross for him. But when he retreats from him and begins to rush in one direction or another, then different circumstances appear that push him back onto the straight path. These shocks constitute a cross for a person. They are, of course, different, depending on who needs which one.

About humility

Humility is about giving in to others and considering yourself inferior to everyone else. It will be much more peaceful.

He who gives in gains more.

Humble yourself, and all your affairs will go well.

He who has a bad heart should not despair; because with the help of God a person can correct his heart. You just need to carefully monitor yourself and not miss the opportunity to be useful to your neighbors, often open up to the elder and give alms within your power. Of course, this cannot be done suddenly, but the Lord is patient. He only ends a person’s life when he sees him ready for the transition to eternity, or when he sees no hope for his correction.
You need to force yourself, albeit against your will, to do some good to your enemies; and most importantly, do not take revenge on them and be careful not to somehow offend them with the appearance of contempt and humiliation.

How to live?
From those who came to Elder Ambrose I often heard general question: "How to live?" The elder usually answered in a joking tone: “Don’t bother living, don’t judge anyone, don’t annoy anyone, and my respects to everyone.” “Don’t grieve” means to endure sorrows and failures in life complacently. “Do not judge” indicates the common lack of judgment among people to judge their neighbors. “Not to annoy” - not to cause trouble or sorrow to someone. “My respect to everyone” - treat everyone with respect and not be proud. The main idea of ​​this saying is humility. The elder answered this same question somewhat differently: “We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be right, otherwise it will turn out badly.”
Or this: “You can live in the world, but not in the South.”
“We must live on earth like this,” said the elder, “like a wheel spins - just one point touches the ground, and the rest certainly strives upward; but we, as soon as we lie down on the ground, cannot get up.”
To the question: “What does it mean to live according to your heart?” - the priest replied: “Do not interfere in other people’s affairs and see all the good in others.”
“Look, Melitona,” the elder said to one nun, warning her against arrogance, “stick to the middle tone; if you take it high, it won’t be easy; if you take it low, it will be slimy; and you, Melitona, stick to the middle tone.”

About the cross
When a person walks the straight path, there is no cross for him. But when he retreats from him and begins to rush in one direction or another, then different circumstances appear that push him onto the straight path. These shocks constitute a cross for a person. They come in different varieties, depending on which one you need.
The cross is sometimes mental - it happens that a person is confused by sinful thoughts, but the person is not guilty of them if he does not deign to them. One ascetic, the elder said, for a long time was overwhelmed by unclean thoughts. When the Lord who appeared to her drove them away from her, she cried out to Him: “Where have you been before, O my Sweet Jesus?” The Lord answered: “I was in your heart.” She asked: “How could this be, because my heart was filled with unclean thoughts.” And the Lord said to her: “Therefore, understand that I was in your heart, that you had no inclination towards unclean thoughts, but were sick about it and tried to get rid of them - by this you prepared a place for Me in your heart m".
Although the Lord forgives the sins of those who repent, every sin requires cleansing punishment. For example, the Lord Himself said to a prudent thief: “Today you will go to heaven with Me,” and yet after these words they broke his legs. What was it like to hang on the cross for three hours on only your hands, with broken shins? This means that he needed purifying suffering.
For sinners who die immediately after repentance, the prayers of the Church and those praying for them serve as purification; and those who are still alive must themselves be cleansed by correcting their lives and by alms covering their sins.
Sometimes suffering is sent to a person innocently so that, following the example of Christ, he suffers for others. The Savior Himself suffered for people. His apostles also suffered for people.

About the sign of the cross
The elder wrote to one spiritual daughter: “Centuries-established experience shows that the sign of the cross has great power on all human actions throughout his life. Therefore, it is necessary to take care to instill in children the custom of protecting themselves with the sign of the cross more often, especially before eating, going to bed and getting up , before leaving, before leaving and before entering somewhere. And so that children make the sign of the cross not carelessly, but with precision, starting from the forehead to the chest and on both shoulders, so that the cross comes out correctly... Protecting yourself with the sign of the cross saved many from great troubles and dangers."
The elder told the following story about the power of the sign of the cross: “One of them liked to drink too much. In this state, he got lost somewhere, and he imagined that someone was coming up to him, pouring a glass of vodka and offering him a drink. But he got lost first, according to his habit ", made the sign of the cross, and suddenly everything disappeared, and in the distance he heard the barking of a dog. Having come to his senses, he saw that he had wandered into some kind of swamp and was in a very dangerous place. If not for the barking of the dog, he would not have gotten out of there."
One woman told the priest that she was ashamed to be baptized in a worldly house, so that they would not see her. To this he gave the following example: “P.V. S. was in good home, she felt thirsty, and Father Macarius blessed her to be baptized. She thinks: “You can’t be baptized and you can’t not be baptized,” and she didn’t drink. So you: if you don’t want to be baptized, don’t drink tea.”

About the temple and prayer
By the time the service begins, you will be more sober.
When you go to church and come back from church, you should read “It is worthy to eat.” And when you come to church, bow three times with the words: “God, be merciful to me a sinner,” and so on.
You must definitely go to church services, otherwise you will be sick. The Lord punishes us with illness for this. And as you walk, you will be healthier and more sober.
You shouldn't talk in church. This is a bad habit. For this, sorrows are sent.
Read the “Our Father,” but don’t lie: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive...”
In all matters, a person needs God’s help, and therefore always ask for God’s help in everything, that is, fervent prayer is necessary.
When you wake up, first cross yourself. The state you are in in the morning will be the same for the rest of the day.
When you go to bed, cross your bed and cell with the prayer “May God rise again.”
First of all, one must pray, asking for mercy from God: “Beholden by fate, have mercy on me, a sinner.” In the morning, when you wake up, say: “Glory to you, God.”
"Theotokos" must be read 12 times or 24 times a day. She is our only Intercessor.
When you pray fervently, just be sure that there will be temptation.
When the clock strikes, you should cross yourself with the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” As St. Demetrius of Rostov writes, “have mercy on me because the hour has passed and I am closer to death.” You don’t have to be baptized in front of everyone, but depending on who you can or shouldn’t be with, you have to say the prayer in your mind.
And when you start to dig (that is, when irritability towards someone begins to bother you during prayer), pray like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners!”
One brother complained to the elder that during prayer there were many different thoughts. The elder said to this: “A man was driving through the market. There is a crowd of people around him, talk, noise, and he keeps on his horse: “But, but! But, but!” So, little by little, the whole bazaar passed through. So you too, no matter what your thoughts say, do all your work - pray!”
Instructing that God first of all looks at the inner prayerful mood of a person’s soul, the elder recalled: “Once I came to Fr. Hegumen Anthony is sick with his legs and says: “Father, my legs hurt, I can’t bow down, and this confuses me.” Father Anthony answers him: “Yes, the Scripture says, “Son, give me a heart,” and not legs.”
One nun told the elder that she saw an icon of the Mother of God in a dream and heard from Her: “Make a sacrifice.” Father asked: “What, did you make a sacrifice?” She answered: “What will I bring? I have nothing.” Then Father said: “It is written in the psalms: the sacrifice of praise will glorify Me.”
One believer told the priest: “When I am angry, I pray absent-mindedly.” And the priest replied: “Whoever is angry is deprived of the protection of God. You need to pray without rancor.”
When the priest was asked to pray in order to correct himself, he answered: “You yourself need to help. The prophet Nathan prayed for King David, and he wet the bed with tears, he prayed for Saul, and he was faster and snoring.”
If you don’t want to pray, you need to force yourself. The Holy Fathers say that prayer with compulsion is higher than arbitrary prayer. You don’t want to, but force yourself: “We need the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“You should not pray for the sisters,” the elder wrote to one nun. - This is the enemy, under the guise of goodness; this is the work of the perfect. Just cross yourself and say: “Lord, have mercy on us.”
When they hit “It is Worthy,” if you are in a cell, you need to stand up and make three bows to the Holy Trinity: “It is Worthy and Righteous to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Ask for the intercession of the Queen of Heaven and read: “It is worthy to eat as truly...”, and if someone is a stranger (in the cell), then just cross yourself.
Father o. Ambrose advised, in the face of human and enemy intrigues, to resort to the psalms of the holy prophet David, which he prayed when he was persecuted by enemies, namely, to read Psalms 3, 53, 58 and 142. Select from these psalms verses appropriate to grief, and read them more often, turning to God with faith and humility. And when despondency overcomes or unaccountable grief torments the soul, read Psalms 101, 36 and 90. If, in the name of the Holy Trinity, you regularly read these psalms three times daily, with humility and zeal, surrendering yourself to the all-good providence of God, then the Lord, like light, will bring forth your truth and your destiny,
like noon. Submit to the Lord and beg Him (Ps. 36:6-7).
So that people would not remain careless and would not place their hope in outside prayer help, the elder repeated the usual folk saying: “God help me, and the man himself doesn’t lie down.” And he added: “Remember, the twelve apostles asked the Savior for their Canaanite wife, but He did not hear them; but she herself began to ask and begged.”

About the Jesus Prayer
To many Fr. Ambrose advised both in letters and verbally not to leave short prayer Jesus: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Say the Jesus Prayer even in a whisper, but many have been harmed by the clever one.
The priest talked about the power of the Jesus Prayer: “One priest had a starling who constantly heard the prayer from his owner and repeated it quite often. One day a kite flew at him on the street, and out of habit he said a prayer at that time. And what - a kite I didn’t dare touch him: I senselessly repeated the Jesus Prayer, and that saved me!”
The elder also said: “One brother asked another: “Who taught you the Jesus Prayer?” And he answered: “Demons.” - “How can that be?” “Yes, so: they bother me with sinful thoughts, but I did everything and said the Jesus Prayer, and I’m used to it.”

Sin
They asked the priest: “So-and-so doesn’t die for a long time, she always imagines cats and so on. Why is that?" Answer: “Every sin, no matter how small, must be written down as soon as you remember it, and then repented. That is why some people do not die for a long time, because some unrepentant sin is holding them back, but as soon as they repent, they are relieved.
In our barnyard (in Optina) there was a cowgirl in consumption, whose three sins had been forgotten, and it seemed to her that the cats were scratching her, or the girl was crushing her, and when she repented, she died. There was also a sick monk in the skete; It seemed to him as if someone was lying behind him, and he could not remember the sin. During the week, he remembered his sin and, as he repented, died. You definitely need to write down your sins as soon as you remember, otherwise we put it off: sometimes the sin is small, sometimes it’s embarrassing to say, or “I’ll say it later,” but when we come to repent, there’s nothing to say.”
Three rings cling to each other: hatred comes from anger, anger comes from pride.

Why do people sin?
The elder resolved this question this way: “Or because they don’t know what to do and what to avoid; go, if they know, then they forget; if they don’t forget, they become lazy and despondent. On the contrary: since people are very lazy in matters of piety, they very often forget about their main responsibility- serve God. From laziness and oblivion they reach extreme foolishness or ignorance. Laziness, oblivion and ignorance are three giants from which the entire human race is bound by insoluble bonds... Therefore, we pray to the Queen of Heaven: My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, with Your holy and all-powerful prayers, take away despondency from me, Your humble and accursed servant, oblivion, unreason, negligence..."

Self-justification
People always try to justify their actions. And the elder said that self-justification is a great sin.
As an example, he recounted the following incident: “The late Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich once came to the prison and began asking the prisoners why each of them was in prison. Everyone justified themselves and said that they were put in prison innocently, in vain. The Emperor approached one more of them and asked: “Why are you here?” And I received the answer: “For my great sins, prison is not enough for me.” Then the Emperor turned to the officials accompanying him and said: “Let him go free now.”

About our negligence in the matter of salvation
The elder related the following story on this subject: “A demon sat in the form of a man and dangled his legs. He who saw this with spiritual eyes asked him: “Why aren’t you doing anything?” The demon replied: “Yes, I have nothing left to do but dangle my legs: people do everything better than me.”
About sudden death The elder said to one person: “Death is not just around the corner, but behind us, but we can at least have a stake on our heads.”

Repentance
“What a time has come now,” said the elder, “it used to be that if someone sincerely repents of his sins, he will already change his sinful life to a good one, but now it often happens like this: a person will tell all his sins in detail in confession, but then again is taken for what it is."
Sins are like walnuts: you can crack the shell, but it’s difficult to pick out the grain.
An unfulfilled promise is like a good tree without fruit.

About the power of repentance and the goodness of God
The elder speaks about the power of repentance: “One man kept sinning and repenting - and so on all his life. Finally he repented and died. An evil spirit came for his soul and said: “He is mine.” The Lord says: “No, he repented.” “But even though he repented, he sinned again,” the devil continued. Then the Lord said to him: “If you, being angry, accepted him again after he repented to Me, then how could I not accept him after he, having sinned, again turned to Me with repentance? You forget, that you are evil and I am good."
True repentance requires not years or days, but one moment.
The elder expressed the goodness of God to us sinners with the following saying taken from St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov (teaching on the day of the Praise of the Mother of God): “The righteous are led into the Kingdom of Heaven by the Apostle Peter, and the sinners by the Queen of Heaven Herself.”

About the correction
In order for a person to correct himself, he does not need to suddenly lean on him, but rather, like pulling a barge: pull, pull - give, give. Not all at once, but little by little. Do you know the "rozhon" on the ship? This is a pole to which all the ropes of the ship are tied. If you pull on it, then little by little everything will be pulled, but if you take it at once, you will ruin everything from the shock.
Helps when correcting good example. The elder confirmed this idea with the following comparison: “When they put a lasso on a horse caught in a herd and lead it, it still resists and first walks sideways, and then, when it looks closely that the other horses are walking calmly, it itself will go in a row. So is a person.”

About the existence of demons
One gentleman came to the elder who did not believe in the existence of demons. The elder told him the following incident for his edification: “One gentleman came to the village to visit his friends and chose a room for himself to spend the night. They tell him: “Don’t lie here—it’s not safe in this room.” But he didn’t believe it and just laughed at it. He lay down and suddenly heard at night that someone was blowing directly on his bald head. He covered his head with a blanket. Then this someone moved to his feet and sat down on the bed. The guest was frightened and rushed to run as fast as he could, convinced own experience in the existence of a dark force."
After this, the gentleman said: “Your will, father, I don’t even understand what kind of demons these are.” To this the elder replied: “After all, not everyone understands mathematics, but it exists.” And he added: “How come demons do not exist when we know from the Gospel that the Lord Himself ordered them to go into the herd of pigs?” The gentleman objected: “Isn’t this allegorical?” “So,” the elder continued to convince, “pigs are allegorical, and pigs do not exist. But if pigs exist, then demons also exist.”

About the networks of the devil
“The spider sits in one place, releases a thread and waits - as soon as it catches a fly, now its head is off, and the fly buzzes. So the enemy always stretches out his nets: no matter who gets caught, now off with his head.” Then the elder, turning to the listener, said: “Look, don’t be a fly, otherwise you will buzz too.”
The enemy fights with both his gums and his back: now with melancholy and fear, now with arrogance and arrogance, and when his suggestions are rejected, he again whispers: “It’s good, he did good, he won, he became great.”
What does it mean: “A man will come, and the heart is deep. And God will be exalted, the arrows of the child came from their wounds”? The priest explained this: “An evil human enemy will come and sow weeds in the Lord’s field. The heart is deep - who listens to himself and does not look at who is doing what and how, and if he calls on God, then prayer will win and drive away the enemy’s attack, and then His arrows will be like the arrows of babes, and like flies that bite."
Our invisible enemy himself will put a sinful thought into a person’s soul and immediately write it down as his own, so that later on Last Judgment God's fault to accuse man.

About humility and patience
“If someone offends you,” the elder told one nun for edification, “don’t tell anyone except the elder, and you will be peaceful. Bow to everyone, not paying attention to whether they bow to you or not. You need to humble yourself before everyone. If we have not committed crimes that others committed, then this is perhaps because they did not have the opportunity to do so - the situation and circumstances were different. In every person there is something good and kind, but we usually see in people only vices, but good We don’t see.”
Saying that without humility one cannot be saved; The elder gave the following example: “One lady saw the Lord Jesus in a dream and a crowd of people in front of Him. At His call, a peasant girl came up to Him first, and then a man in bast shoes and all the other people of the peasant class. The lady thought that because of her simplicity, kindness and in general for all the virtues the Lord will call to Himself. Imagine her surprise when she saw that the Lord had already stopped calling. She decided to remind the Lord about herself, but He turned away from her. Then the lady fell to the ground and began humbly to admit that she is truly worse than everyone and is unworthy to be in the Kingdom of Heaven." Then the elder added: “But these are the ones that are suitable, these are the ones that are needed there.”
When someone annoys you, never ask why or why. This is nowhere in Scripture. On the contrary, it says: if someone hits you on the right side of your cheek, give him the other one too. It is actually inconvenient to hit the gum cheek, but you need to understand it this way: if someone slanders you or innocently annoys you with something, this will mean hitting the gum cheek. Don’t complain, but bear this blow patiently, putting your left cheek forward, that is, remembering your wrong deeds. And if, perhaps, you are now innocent, then you have sinned a lot before, and thus you will be convinced that you are worthy of punishment.
Elisha endured, Moses endured, Elijah endured, so I will endure.
“Father! Teach me patience,” said one sister. “Learn,” answered the elder, “and begin with patience with the troubles that are present and encountered.” - “I can’t understand how one can not be indignant at insults and injustices.” The elder’s answer: “Be fair yourself and do not offend anyone.”
If one of the brethren, out of cowardice and impatience, grieved that he had not been presented for a long time to the mantle or to the hierodeaconry and hieromonastichood, the elder used to say this for edification: “This, brother, everything will come in due time. Everyone will give; no one will give you anything to do."
Malice, envy, hatred and similar passions lie within and are born and grow from the inner root of self-love. No matter how you cut off the branches from the outside, as long as this root is raw and fresh and no means are used to cut the internal branches of this root, through which harmful moisture penetrates and produces external shoots, the labor will be in vain.
The ax to destroy the root of pride is faith, humility, obedience and cutting off one’s desires and understandings.
Once the elder said at a general blessing: “God visits only the humble with His mercy.” After that, after a short silence, he suddenly added: Be on the lookout, for you do not know the day, not the hour (Matthew 25:13)... A few minutes later, at the general blessing, the priest was informed about the death of one skete novice (Alexey of Kronstadt) .
To the words of one pilgrim standing near the elder that pride interferes with everyone, he replied: “And you wrap yourself in humility, then if the sky clings to the earth, you will not be afraid.”
Remember also what was said in the psalm: Ecu nymue the Lord's mercy and truth (Ps. 24:10). That is, one must show mercy and all condescension to one’s neighbor. And demand from ourselves all the truth - the fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord. Try to imitate that reverend mother who, seeing envy and hatred towards herself and hearing various slander, said to herself: “I am unworthy of their love.” And when confusion comes over you for these reasons, repeat the psalm word: Peace is there for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them (Ps. 119, 165).
Question: “Is it possible to desire improvement in spiritual life?” The elder’s answer: “You can not only wish, but you must also try to improve in humility, that is, in considering yourself in the feeling of your heart worse and lower than all people and every creature.” Elder Ambrose also spoke to edify his disciples about humility: “I came to the rector, Fr. one visitor to Archimandrite Moses, but not finding him at home, he went to his brother, O. Abbot Anthony. During the conversation, the guest asked Fr. abbot: “Tell me, father, what rule do you follow?” Father Anthony answered: “I had many rules, I lived in the desert and in monasteries, and all the rules were different, but now there is only one tax collector left: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”” At the same time, the priest added another story about that how she kept wanting to wander here and there - both to Kiev and to Zadonsk, and the old man alone said to her: “All this is not good for you, but sit still.” better at home and say the publican’s prayer.”
“As soon as a person humbles himself,” the elder used to say, “how humility immediately places him on the threshold of the Kingdom of Heaven,” which, let us add to this the apostolic words, is not food and drink, but truth and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14, 17).
“The Kingdom of God,” the elder said, “is not in words, but in power; you need to interpret less, be silent more, not condemn anyone, and have my respects to everyone.”

About monasticism
Those who have internally acquired the Kingdom of God in this life have free entry into the Kingdom of Heaven, but for those who have not acquired this in this life, the transition to the future occurs with fear.
What do you care what they say about you?
“Why, father,” asked one person, “is the abbess given the right to dispose of nuns like serfs?” The elder answered: “More than serfs. Serfs could even grumble at their masters behind their backs and scold them, but even this right was taken away from monastics; the nun herself voluntarily gives herself up to serfdom.”
The elder supplemented this same idea about monasticism with the following story: “This is what I heard from the old people. Tsarina Catherine II decided to free the serfs and called the highest people in the state to her council. Everyone gathered, and the queen came out to them. They're just waiting for the metropolitan, but he's not coming. We've been waiting for it for a long time, and it's finally here. He arrived and apologized for not being on time - the carriage broke down at the Kazan Cathedral. I sat down, he says, on the porch while they were looking for another, and I heard a wise word. A man is driving a flock of geese past me. There are many of them, but he is alone with the twig, and the geese walk evenly, not one of them lags behind. I was amazed and asked the man, and he answered me: “That’s why I alone manage them, because they all have wings connected.” Hearing this, the queen said: “The issue has been resolved - I am not abolishing serfdom.”
The elder said to one visitor who wanted to enter the monastery: “To live in a monastery, you need patience, not a cartload, but a whole convoy.” And one more thing: “To be a nun, you must be either iron or gold.” The elder explained it this way: “Iron means to have great patience, and golden means great humility.”
Do not go to your cell and do not bring guests to your place.
Asceticism is bloodless martyrdom.

What is the post?
“Does it matter to God,” some asked, “what kind of food you eat: fasting or fasting?” To this the elder replied: “It is not the food that matters, but the commandment. Adam was expelled from paradise not for overeating, but only for eating the forbidden. Why now on Tuesday, Thursday and others set days You can eat whatever you want, and we are not punished for it, but on Wednesday and Friday we are punished, because we do not obey the commandments. What is especially important here is that obedience is developed through obedience.”

About alms
If you do good, you should do it for God, therefore you should not pay attention to people’s gratitude. Expect your reward not here, but from God in Heaven, and if you wait here, then you are suffering deprivation in vain.
Saint Demetrius of Rostov writes: “If a man on a horse comes to you and asks you, give it to him. How he uses your alms, you are not responsible for that.”
Saint John Chrysostom says: “Start giving to the poor what you don’t need, then you will be able to give more and even with deprivation for yourself, and finally you will be ready to give everything you have.”
When Fr. They confessed to Ambrose that stinginess is attacking, he taught: “Give what you can, as much as your soul can.” A certain wanderer asked for alms; one was stingy and gave him a thin scarf, and the other was kind and whatever the stranger asked from her, she gave him everything. He just left He left them when there was a fire and everything burned up. The wanderer returned and gave everything to them - to the one who gave a lot, he gave a lot, and the stingy one said: “You are wearing your scarf.”

About pride
It is natural for a person to sin and needs to humble himself. If he does not humble himself, then circumstances will humble him, providentially arranged for his spiritual benefit. A person in happiness usually forgets himself and attributes everything to himself - to his impotent strength and imaginary power, but as soon as he encounters some misfortune, he asks for mercy even from an imaginary enemy. The elder expressed this truth with the following parable: “A man is like a beetle. When it’s a warm day and the sun is shining, he flies, is proud of himself and buzzes: “All my forests, all my meadows! All my meadows, all my forests!” And as soon as the sun disappears, the cold breathes and the wind starts blowing, the beetle will forget its prowess, press itself against the leaf and only squeak: “Don’t push me away!”
There are a lot of people who have nothing to be proud of at all. On this occasion, the elder relayed the following story: “One confessor tells her confessor that she is proud. “What are you proud of?” he asked her. “You’re noble, right?” “No,” she answered. - “Well, are you talented?” - "No". - “So, you’re rich?” - "No". “Hm... in that case you can be proud,” the confessor finally said.”
How sometimes circumstances inadvertently humble a person: “Once someone hosted a dinner at his place and sent his servants to invite guests. One of the invitees asks the sloppy servant sent to him: “Did your master really not find anyone better than you to send to me?” To this the messenger replied: “They sent good after good, but I was sent to your mercy.”
When asked how it is that the righteous, knowing that they live sinlessly, are not exalted by their righteousness, the elder replied: “They do not know what end awaits them, for our salvation must be accomplished between fear and hope. We must not betray ourselves to anyone under any circumstances.” despair, but one should not hope too much."
One nun wrote to the elder that she was very worried about pride and arrogance. Father Ambrose replied: “Beware of these evil passions. From the example of the holy prophet David, it is clear that pride and arrogance are more harmful than adultery and murder. The latter led the prophet to humility and repentance, the former led him to his fall.”

Panache
One spiritual daughter, a young woman, came to Father Ambrose, wearing a dress smartly trimmed with glass beads, the threads of which trembled, hitting one another. Father smiled, looking at her, and said: “Look what she has become, what toys she has hung on herself!” “Fashion, father,” she answered. - “Oh, your fashion for six months.”

About laziness and despondency
Boredom is a despondent grandson, and laziness is a daughter. To drive her away, work hard in action, don’t be lazy in prayer; then boredom will pass and diligence will come. And if you add patience and humility to this, you will save yourself from many evils.
When the blues come, don’t forget to reproach yourself; remember how much you are guilty before the Lord and before yourself, and realize that you are unworthy of anything better, and you will immediately feel relief. It is said: Many are the sorrows of the righteous (Ps. 33:20); and many wounds for sinners. This is our life here - all sorrows and sorrows, and it is through them that the Kingdom of Heaven is achieved. When you are restless, repeat more often: Seek peace, and marry (Ps. 33, 15).
Many of us say that it is impossible to live according to the commandments of the Lord: they cannot do this because of illness, that because of habit. For the edification of such people, the elder told the following incident: “One merchant kept saying the same thing: I can’t do this, I can’t do that. Once he was driving through Siberia at night, wrapped in two fur coats. Suddenly he saw a light in the distance, like flickering lights. He began to peer closely and realized that a pack of wolves was approaching him. There was nowhere to wait for salvation. He jumped out of the sleigh and in one minute climbed a nearby tree, forgetting his old age and weakness. And then he said that he had never been on a single tree before in his life. So I can’t. So the fear of God’s righteous judgment makes the powerless strong.”

Thy will be done
In one place, the elder said, they prayed for rain, and in another, so that it would not rain. It turned out that God wanted it.
Go where they lead you, see what they show you, and keep saying: “Thy will be done.”

About the death wish
One woman complained to the elder about her sorrows and overwork and expressed a desire to die as soon as possible. The elder answered: “One elder said that he was not afraid of death. One day, while carrying an armful of firewood from the forest, he became very exhausted. He sat down to rest and said in grief: “If only death would come!” And when death appeared, he got scared and asked her to carry an armful of firewood.”

About the difficulty of managing people
To one abbess who came to him for instructions on how to govern, the elder said in a conversation that since there are different people in the monastery, they need to be governed differently, and for edification he told her the following incident: “The late Emperor Peter the Great loved to sing in the choir. There was with him one deacon with good voice, but he was so shy and so afraid of the Tsar that the Tsar always forced him to sing. Then the deacon got so used to it that his voice drowned out the voices of all the singers and even the king himself. Then Peter the Great began to hold him by the sleeve to stop him, but that was not the case. The Emperor pulls, but he screams even louder."
To the question of one person who wanted to live in solitude, the elder said to her for edification: “When Lot lived in Sodom, he was holy, and when he went out into solitude, he fell.”
Or: “The thief robbed for 30 years and, having repented, entered paradise. But Judas was always with the Lord Teacher and finally betrayed Him.”

About Christian virtues
“The three apostles - Peter, John and James,” said the priest, “depict faith, hope and love. John depicts love - was closest to the Savior and at the Last Supper reclined on the Savior’s chest. Peter, although he was behind the doors with handmaids, then the Church was handed over and given the right to shepherd the flock of Christ: he depicts faith. Very little is said about Jacob in general. He is not even visible anywhere, but he, along with the other two apostles, was honored to see the glory of God - he depicts hope, since hope is not visible: it always lurks invisibly for others in a person and retains its strength, and hope will not put you to shame.”
We need to have more simplicity.
Teaching is not big stones throw from the bell tower, and to perform - carry large stones to the bell tower.
The Lord rests in simple hearts. Where there is no simplicity, there is only emptiness.
Humble yourself, and all your affairs will go well. He who gives in gains more.
Without instilling the fear of God, whatever you do with your children will not bring the desired results in terms of good morality and a well-ordered life.
Strengthen yourself with faith and hope in God's mercy.
Seeing yourself worse than others is the beginning of humility.

About evil passions and vices
Pride and disobedience give rise to lies - the beginning of all evil and disasters.
Hypocrisy is worse than unbelief.
You don’t have to believe signs, and they won’t come true.
If you don’t humble yourself, that’s why you don’t have peace.
Our pride is the root of all evil.
Malice, envy, hatred and similar passions lie within and are born and grow from the inner root of self-love.
Why is a person bad? Because he forgets that God is above him.
It is a sin to spend time in idleness.

Attitude towards yourself and others
To speak well is to scatter silver, and prudent silence is gold.
If you don’t like to hear about the shortcomings of others, you will have fewer of your own.
Tell your sins and blame yourself more than people.
He who reproaches us gives us gifts. And whoever praises steals from us.
We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be true, otherwise it will turn out badly.

About love
“Love,” the elder said in the words of the apostle, “forgives everything, is long-suffering, does not condemn, does not desire anything that belongs to others, and does not envy.
Love covers everything. And if someone does good to his neighbors out of the desire of his heart, and not driven only by duty, the devil cannot interfere with such a person, and where only out of duty, there he still tries to interfere with both.”
Love, of course, is higher than everything. If you find that there is no love in you, but you want to have it, then do deeds of love, although at first without love. The Lord will see your desire and effort and put true love in your heart. And most importantly, when you notice that you have sinned against love, immediately confess it to the elder. This can sometimes be from a bad heart, and sometimes from the enemy. You can’t make it out yourself; and when you confess, the enemy will leave.
Whoever has a bad heart should not despair, because with the help man of God can fix his heart. You just need to carefully monitor yourself and not miss the opportunity to be useful to your neighbors, often open up to the elder and give alms within your power. This, of course, cannot be done suddenly, but the Lord is patient. He only ends a person’s life when he sees him ready for the transition to eternity or does not see any hope for his correction.
God sends mercy to those who work, and consolation to those who love.
“You must love,” the elder said, “but you don’t need to become attached. The commandment commands us to honor our parents and even assigns a reward for this. But if you, says the same Lord, love your father and mother more than Me, then you are not worthy to be my disciple. This means, Only partiality is not allowed, not love."
One person asked the elder: “I don’t understand, father, how you not only are not angry with those who speak ill of you, but also continue to love them.” The elder laughed a lot at this and said: “You had little son. Were you angry with him if he did or said something wrong? Didn’t you, on the contrary, try to somehow cover up his shortcomings?” On this same question he used to say: “Whoever reproaches us gives us gifts, and whoever praises us steals from us.”

About the internal struggle of a Christian
You need to pay attention to your inner life, so as not to notice what is happening around you. Then you won't judge others.
When you feel that you are filled with pride, then know that it is the praise of others that puffs you up.
Expect your reward not here, but from the Lord in Heaven.
You need to force yourself, albeit against your will, to do some good to your enemies, and most importantly, not to take revenge on them and be careful not to accidentally offend them with the appearance of contempt and humiliation.
A person is constantly confused by sinful thoughts, but if he does not agree with them, then he is not guilty of them.
When someone praises you, you should not pay attention to it, not respond or argue. Let them praise, but only realize within yourself whether you are worthy of praise or not. If you contradict, then hypocrisy will result; after all, you still have a subtle feeling of pleasure from praise; and even those whom you contradict will not believe you, so when they praise you, do not say anything, lower your eyes and remain silent.
The enemy tempted the ancient Christians with torment, and the modern Christians with illnesses and thoughts.

On the meaning of sorrows
The Lord Himself does not force a person’s will, although he admonishes him through many sorrows.
Blessed is he who endures tribulation for the sake of truth and a pious life.
If the Lord does not allow it, no one can offend us, no matter who he is.
The elder told a parable about jasmine: “One of our monks knew how to deal with jasmine. In November, he completely cuts it off and places it in a dark place, but then the plant is covered abundantly with leaves and flowers. The same thing happens to a person: you first need to stand in the dark and cold , and then there will be a lot of fruit."
The saints, like us, were sinful people, but they repented and, having set about the work of salvation, did not look back, like Lot’s wife. And to someone’s remark: “And we are all looking back!” - the priest said: “That’s why they drive us with rods and scourges, that is, with sorrows and troubles, so that we don’t look back.”
To the one who complained about sorrows, the elder said: “If the sun always shines, then everything in the field will wither; that’s why rain is needed. If everything rains, then everything will trample; that’s why the wind is needed to blow, and if the wind is not enough, then "Sometimes a storm is needed for everything to blow over. All this is useful to a person in due time, because he is changeable."
To a mother grieving over her daughter’s illness, the elder wrote: “I hear that you grieve beyond measure, seeing the suffering of your sick daughter. Indeed, it is humanly impossible for a mother not to grieve when she sees her little daughter in such suffering and suffering day and night. Despite this, you must remember that you are a Christian who believes in future life and in the future, blessed reward not only for labor, but also for voluntary and involuntary suffering; and therefore should not be foolishly cowardly and grieve beyond measure, like pagans or unbelieving people who do not recognize either future eternal bliss or future eternal torment. No matter how great the involuntary suffering of your little daughter S., they still cannot be compared with the voluntary suffering of the martyrs; if they are equal, then she will receive a blissful state equal to them in the heavenly villages. However, we should not forget the tricky present times, in which even small children receive mental damage from what they see and what they hear; and therefore purification is required, which does not happen without suffering. Mental cleansing for the most part occurs through bodily suffering. Let's assume that there was no mental damage. But you should still know that heavenly bliss is not given to anyone without suffering. Look: do the very infants also pass into the future life without illness or suffering? However, I am writing this not because I would like the death of the suffering little S., but I am writing, in fact, all this to console you and for correct admonition and real conviction, so that you do not grieve unreasonably and beyond measure. No matter how much you love your daughter, know that our All-Good God loves her more than you, providing in every way for our salvation. He Himself testifies about His love for each of the believers in Scripture, saying: “Even if the wife forgets her child, I will not forget you.” Therefore, try to moderate your grief for your sick daughter, casting this sorrow on the Lord: “As He wills and deigns, so He will do to us according to His goodness.” I advise you to communicate with your sick daughter with a preliminary confession. Ask your confessor to question her more prudently during confession.”

About irritability
No one should justify their irritability by some illness - it comes from pride. But the anger of a husband, according to the word of the holy Apostle James, does not bring about the righteousness of God (James 1:20). In order not to indulge in irritability and anger, one should not rush.

About family life
Married and beginners family life O. Ambrose gives the following instruction: “You must always remember and not forget that only then will our lives pass peacefully and prosperously when we do not forget and forget God, our Creator and Redeemer and Giver of temporal and eternal blessings. Not to forget Him means to try to live according to His Divine and life-giving commandments and to sincerely repent of violating them due to our weakness and immediately take care of correcting our mistakes and deviations from God’s commandments.
You write: “I would like my husband and I to avoid that disastrous disagreement in the matter of education, which I see in almost all marriages.” - Yes, this thing is really sophisticated! But arguing about this in front of children, as you yourself have noticed, is not useful. Therefore, in case of disagreement, it is better to either evade and leave, or show as if you did not listen, but do not argue about your different views in front of children.
Advice on this and discussion should be in private and as calmly as possible - so that it is more effective. However, if you manage to plant the fear of God in the hearts of your children, then various human quirks will not be able to act so harmfully on them.”

Letter to a sick friend
You complain about your illnesses, you grieve, my dear, and from me, a sinner, you seek consolation and reinforcement for your to the suffering soul... My friend! What can I, who am so weak, tell you as a consolation? better than that, with which the supreme apostle of Christ Paul consoled himself in his weaknesses: When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10). The Lord Himself said to him when he complained about his weaknesses: My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). That’s why he boasted about his weaknesses and only about his weaknesses: “I will not boast about myself,” he says, “except only in my weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:5). Look at the example of the great apostle, and the Lord will strengthen you with His omnipotent grace! And instead of my sinful word, I offer you the gracious word of the patrists.
This is a whole correspondence between one holy ascetic, St. Barsanuphius the Great, and a sick elder, monk Andrei. This elder asked the Abba to pray for his infirmities, and so the Monk Barsanuphius wrote to him: “Let God take care of you, cast all your concerns on Him, and He will arrange everything that concerns you, as He pleases. He knows better than us that It is good for us in soul and body, and as much as he allows you to grieve in the body, so much will he give you relief from your sins. God does not require anything from you except thanksgiving, patience and prayer for the forgiveness of sins. We have a compassionate, merciful, humane and loving Lord. stretching out his hand to the sinner until his last breath. Cling to Him, and He will arrange everything better than we ask or think."

About the victory of good over evil.
One day Fr. The following question was sent to Ambrose for his permission: “The duties of a Christian are to do good and try to ensure that good triumphs over evil. At the end of the world, the Gospel says, evil will triumph over good. How can one try for the victory of good over evil, knowing that these efforts will not be crowned with success and that evil will ultimately triumph? According to the Gospel, human society before the end of the world is presented in the most terrible form. This rejects the possibility of constant human improvement. Is it possible after this to work for the good of humanity, being sure that no means unable in the final result before the end of the world to achieve the possible moral perfection of humanity?
The elder replied: “Evil has already been defeated - defeated not by the diligence and strength of man, but by our Lord and Savior Himself, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who for this reason came down from heaven to earth, became incarnate, suffered as humanity and suffered on the cross with his suffering and resurrection crushed the power evil and the evil one - the devil, who ruled over the human race, freed us from devilish and sinful slavery, as He Himself said: Behold, I give you power to tread on the serpent and the scorpion, and on all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Now, in the Sacrament of Baptism, all Christian believers are given the power to trample on evil and do good through the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, and no one is anymore forcibly possessed by evil, except those who do not care about keeping God’s commandments, and especially those who voluntarily indulge in sins. To want to overcome evil with your own strength, which has already been defeated by the coming of the Savior, shows a misunderstanding of the Christian sacraments Orthodox Church and reveals a sign of haughty human arrogance, which wants to do everything on its own, without turning to God’s help, while the Lord Himself clearly says: Without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). You write: “The Gospel says that at the end of the world, evil will triumph over good.” The Gospel does not say this anywhere, but only says that in Lately faith will diminish (see: Luke 18:8) and for the increase of lawlessness the love of many will dry up (Matthew 24:12). And the holy Apostle Paul says that before the second coming of the Savior there will appear a man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, an adversary and one who exalts himself above all words of God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), that is, the Antichrist. But it is immediately said that the Lord Jesus will kill him with the spirit of His mouth, and will abolish him with the appearance of His coming (2 Thess. 2:8). Where is the triumph of evil over good? And in general, any triumph of evil over good is only imaginary, temporary.”

Life is eternal
When the heart clings to earthly things, then we must remember that earthly things will not go with us to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Spiritual life
The elder wrote to one spiritual daughter, likening her life to a rather deep ditch, which in rainy times fills up so much that it is impossible to move; at other times it dries out so that no water flows through it. The Holy Fathers boast of a life that flows like a small stream, constantly flowing and never drying up. This stream is convenient, firstly, for crossing, and secondly, it is pleasant and useful to everyone who comes, because its water is suitable for drinking as it flows quietly and therefore is never cloudy.
Don’t be like a bothersome fly, which sometimes flies around uselessly, and sometimes bites, and bothers both of them; and be like the wise bee, which in the spring diligently began its work and by autumn finished the honeycomb, which is as good as correctly written notes. One is sweet and the other is pleasant.
When they wrote to the elder that it was hard in the world, he replied: “That is why it (the earth) is called the vale of tears; some cry, and others jump, but the latter are not well.”
It’s not possible to become dispassionate now; Every time you feel your sinfulness, say: “Lord, forgive me!” The Lord alone is able to put love into a person’s heart.

Peace of mind
Said: To those who love God they will all make haste for good (Rom. 8:28). And in another place: There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them (Ps. 119, 165). And if there is no peace in our bones (Ps. 37:4), then it is obvious that it is from our sins and passions. And therefore, one should not care about settling circumstances, but try to correct oneself. This is not only more reliable, but also more relaxing.
Our soul is invisible and cannot be calmed by external circumstances alone, but requires internal and spiritual means for its pacification, to which the inspired prophet David points out, saying: There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them. These words show that you must first love the law of God and try to fulfill the Gospel commandments, outlined in the Evangelist Mark from the beginning of the 5th chapter to the 10th, and then you can hope to receive lasting tranquility and lasting peace of mind.
Listen, sister! Don't be excited, don't be colorful! But be constant and meek - and you will be peaceful!
Everywhere there is war, everywhere there is struggle; and only those who strive spiritually, guided by the law of God, receive peace. And those who seek only external and temporary peace are deprived of both that, that is, both earthly and heavenly. Unless they want to correct the matter with sincere repentance and great humility.
Let us seek consolation and joy in the One Lord and from Him alone let us seek mercy, which is eternal and endless: everything human is short-lived and transitory, although in appearance it attracts, it is deceptive. Human attention does not calm anyone for a long time, but only flatters, entices, and then always ends in trouble and repentance; Only we haven’t taken a good look at it yet, and that’s why we get carried away by appearances.
When they told the priest that they were not giving him peace, he answered: “Then peace will come for us when they sing over us: “Rest with the saints.”

About silence
One elder asked three monks about something. One explained it one way, another another, and the third answered: “I don’t know.” Then the elder said to him: “You have found the way.”
About non-judgment
The proverb says: “You can’t put a scarf over someone else’s mouth.” People interpret right and wrong, but the Lord, the impartial Judge, will judge everyone. Therefore, let us calm down regarding strangers and take care of our soul, so that it is not judged for wrong opinions, not to mention deeds.
Do not speak unfavorably about anyone in absentia, and you will not receive annoyance or harm from anyone.
Cry
They asked the priest: “What does crying mean?” The priest replied: “Crying means lamentation; crying does not come from tears, but tears from crying.”

God's help
Father sometimes explained the verses of the psalms, for example: Unless the Lord builds a house, it labors in vain to build it. This means: if the Lord has not blessed something, then the labors will be in vain: he will be careful in vain, and will not guard against anything, in vain will that person get up early, his work will not go well without the blessing of God (Ps. 126: 1).

About thoughts
If a thought says to you: “Why didn’t you tell this person who insulted you this and that?” - tell your thought: “Now it’s too late to talk - I’m late.”
If blasphemous and condemning thoughts come to you, then reproach yourself for pride and do not pay any attention to them.
One person told the priest: “There are thoughts that you, father, trust me.” To this he replied: “And I’ll tell you a parable. One hermit was chosen as a bishop; he refused for a long time, but they insisted. Then he thought: “I didn’t know that I was worthy; surely I have something good.” At this time, an Angel appeared to him and said: “Ryadniche (ordinary monk), why are you so proud? People there have sinned, and they need punishment, that’s why they chose him, because there was no one worse than you.”
A person is constantly confused by sinful thoughts; but if he does not deign to them, then he is not guilty of them.
Father often said: “No matter how heavy the cross that a person bears, the tree from which it is made grew from the soil of his heart.” Pointing to his heart, he added: “The tree is where the waters issue; the waters (passions) bubble there.”
“You are complaining about mental abuse,” the elder answered in one of his letters. “Although it is absolutely impossible to avoid this abuse in any place, its sharpness and strength are dulled by the right way of life and a convenient place.”

Simplicity
How is it: “Cast your sorrow upon the Lord?” Answer: “This means living simply and placing all your trust in the Lord and not speculating about what someone did, what and how it will happen. King David, when he thought and reasoned humanly, then reached a hopeless state, he did not find joy in anything: My spirit was mocked and faint-hearted, but when I placed my trust in God, then I was consoled: I remembered God and rejoiced (Ps. 76:4).

The rescue
Sometimes the thought comes: “Why save ourselves? We won’t be saved no matter how we live.” Moreover, now there are no survivors, as is written about the vision of the Athonite monk. To this the priest said this: “This is said to mean that now there are no perfect people in everything, but there are those who are being saved. Not everyone can be a general; but some are generals, others are colonels, majors, captains, soldiers and common people.”
When asked how to understand the words of Scripture: Be wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16), the elder replied: “A snake, when it needs to change its old skin for a new one, passes through a very narrow narrow place, and thus it is convenient for it to leave its "The old skin. So a person, wanting to remove his old age, must follow the narrow path of fulfilling the Gospel commandments. In every attack, the snake tries to protect its head. A person must protect his faith most of all. As long as faith is preserved, everything can still be corrected."
When they told the priest about the desire to change the monastery, he answered: “Where will you go? Where will you hide from the Omniscient and All-Seeing God, who denounces us through our conscience, so that we can take up the work of salvation as we should, instead of being needlessly embarrassed and blaming others.”

Fear of God
When asked how to acquire the fear of God, the priest answered: “You must always have God before you. I will foresee the Lord before me” (Ps. 15:8).
The fear of God is also acquired by fulfilling God's commandments and doing everything according to conscience.

For Orthodox Christians October 23- This Memorial Day of St. Ambrose of Optina.

On this day, in the Cathedral of Optina Hermitage, where the elder dedicated himself to serving God, they rule, a solemn service is performed and all the good deeds performed by the elder are remembered.

On this day, numerous parishioners strive to confess their sins and give alms to the needy. Life of Ambrose of Optina full of love for God and people, faith and humility.

In the Cathedral of Optina Hermitage there is a room where the venerable elder lived. In this room you can light a candle for the repose of your soul and pray for every need.

Ambrose Optinsky: biography

The Monk Ambrose in the world bore the name Alexander Mikhailovich Grenkov. He was born October 23, 1812 years in the Tambov province in the family of a clergyman.

Alexander graduated from theological school and successfully completed a course at the theological seminary. However, he did not go on to either the Theological Academy or the priesthood. After serving for some time as a home teacher in a landowner's family, he went to teach at a theological school in Lipetsk. Alexander had a naturally lively mind, kindness and cheerful disposition, which earned him love and respect among his comrades and colleagues.

While studying at the theological seminary, Alexander suffered a serious illness. It was at this time that he made a vow to take monastic orders if he recovered. After recovery, he did not forget about his vow, but for several more years he did not dare to fulfill it.

However, the pangs of conscience did not leave the young man. And the further he went, the more he was burdened by the unfulfilled promise. The young man’s cheerful and carefree mood increasingly began to give way to periods of melancholy and sadness. He spends a lot of time in tears and prayers of repentance. The elder later said that one day, when he was walking through the forest and came to the bank of a stream, in the murmur of the water he clearly heard a call to love God and praise him.

Optina Hermitage and ordination

By his own admission, Ambrose was not distinguished by perseverance and strong will. Already in his old age, he advised his spiritual children to listen to him from the very first word and never argue with him. He explained this to his softness and pliability, because of which he could give in to his students, which would not be good for them.

Secluded in your room, Alexander prayed a lot in front of the icon of the Mother of God and asked to guide him and enlighten his mind. Since the young man could not make the right decision and did not know what to do, he turned for help and support to his associate Hilarion, who lived in that area.

Hilarion advised the young man to go to Optina Pustyn and Grenkov listened to his advice. At the end of 1839, he arrived in Optina Pustyn, where he was kindly greeted by Elder Lev.

Soon Alexander took monastic vows And received name Ambrose which was given to him in memory of the Saint of Milan. Ambrose was ordained a hierodeacon and then a hieromonk.

When the Monk Macarius of Optina began publishing books, Father Ambrose became his closest and devoted assistant. He knew 5 languages, both ancient and modern.

Very soon after his ordination, Ambrose became seriously ill. This disease practically confined him to bed and undermined his health forever. Until the very end of his earthly life, he was not able to perform liturgies or participate in long services.

Good deeds and teachings

The serious illness that befell the Monk Ambrose was of no small importance for his spiritual achievement.

1. As a result of his long illness, his lively, cheerful character was significantly pacified.
2. Perhaps this illness saved him from excessive conceit and helped him look inside himself and get to know himself and human nature. Subsequently, Ambrose argued that it was even beneficial for a monk to be sick and that he only needed to be treated, and not be completely cured.
3. Father Ambrose helped Elder Macarius a lot in his publishing activities and continued this work after the death of Macarius. Under his supervision and direct leadership, many spiritual books were published, including the biography of Father Macarius.
4. However, the publication of books is far from the only thing that the saint’s soul longed for. He greedily sought communication with people and soon acquired a reputation as a wise and experienced mentor. This concerned not only spiritual issues, but also purely practical everyday matters.

The Monk Ambrose was distinguished by a very lively and sharp mind, great observation and insight. His mind was enlightened by constant prayer and deep knowledge, including ascetic literature. The experience of self-knowledge and understanding was not in vain human nature. Father Ambrose could freely see and read in a person’s soul even those hidden pages that were difficult for a person to admit.

Teachings of Father Ambrose

One day the Monk Ambrose was noticed that he spoke so simply. To this the elder replied with a smile that he had been asking God for this simplicity for 20 years.

After the venerable elders Leo and Macarius, he became the third. Of all the disciples of the illustrious elders, he became the most famous and revered.

Character and attitude towards people

Despite the fact that the elder was very sick and weak all his life, he had a very cheerful character and a richly gifted soul. He gave all his instructions to people in simple and even in a humorous way, so those listening easily remembered what was said.

However, if necessary, the elder could be strict and very demanding. It happened that he “admonished” the foolish with the help of a stick or the imposition of penance.

At the same time, the monk did not make any distinctions between people. Anyone could talk to him, from an old illiterate peasant woman to a capital senator. Solovyov, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky often turned to the monk for advice and guidance.

People came to the elder with a wide variety of troubles and complaints.

The elder’s character had another strong feature characteristic of a Russian person: he loved to create or arrange something. And the elder tried to teach others the same. And if someone came to him for a blessing for such an undertaking. The elder not only willingly blessed him, but also helped practical advice. It still remains a mystery where the monk could have gotten that deep knowledge in a wide variety of areas that he possessed and shared with others.

Life in Optina Skete

The life of the reverend elder in the desert proceeded according to a strictly established schedule:

• His day began at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning. At this time he called his cell attendant to begin the morning rule. The duration of the rule was more than 2 hours.
• After this Ambrose all alone indulged in deep devotions and prepared for the day's service.
• At 9 o'clock in the morning the elder began receiving visitors. At first the monks could go to him, and after that the laity. This reception continued until lunch.
• At 2 o'clock Ambrose took a meager meal and was left alone again for some time.
• After this, Vespers was read and the reception of visitors continued.
• At 11 o'clock in the evening it took place evening rule and by midnight the old man was left alone.

Ambrose really did not like to pray in the presence of strangers and always asked everyone to leave. The minister who read the rules was in another room during prayer.

last years of life

The Monk Ambrose accomplished his great spiritual feat for thirty years. During the last ten years of his life, the elder devoted himself to another concern. The construction of a women's monastic monastery began 12 versts from Optina Hermitage. In addition to the nuns, there was also a shelter for orphan girls, a hospital and for elderly women. The reverend elder saw in the construction of this monastery not only material concern, but also a great spiritual feat, which ended his earthly life.

The elder died in 1891. All Last year he spent in Shamordinskaya convent, as if he was in a hurry to finish the arrangement he had started. The work was carried out very quickly and the new abbess was in dire need of advice and guidance.

Due to his progressive illness, the elder constantly postponed his departure from the monastery. Suddenly news came that the Right Reverend was dissatisfied with Ambrose’s slowness and was going to personally come and pick him up from Shamordino. However, the reverend father’s health rapidly deteriorated, and as a result, the Right Reverend only managed to perform the funeral service for Elder Ambrose.

Elder Ambrose was buried on the territory of Optina Hermitage. The path to his grave was not overgrown long years until Optina Pustyn was devastated and closed.

In 1988, after the return of the desert to the Russian Orthodox Church, Elder Ambrose was canonized. On the icon, the elder is depicted in a monastic robe and with a rosary in his hands. The icon retains a portrait resemblance to the saint. Rak'a with his relics is located today in the desert. Orthodox Christians celebrate July 10 as the day of the discovery of the relics of the Venerable Elder Ambrose of Optina. The feast day of this saint is celebrated on October 23.

The monastery of Ambrose of Optina was founded in Belarus in 2005. Currently, several nuns and women who help them live there. You can turn to the icon of Ambrose of Optina for help in any case when you feel confused and don’t know how to act wisely and correctly.

PRECIOUS SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS OF THE REVEREND AMBROSY OF OPTINA. A God-wise mentor, consoler and man of prayer, the Monk Ambrose truly became the crown and adornment of the Optina eldership. Many people flocked to the door of his wretched cell for advice and consolation. Elder Ambrose became famous for his insight, the gift of healing bodily ailments and healing spiritual wounds. They pray to him for help in various everyday needs, for healing in illnesses, for the firm standing of the Russian people in the paternal faith, for good morals and the Christian upbringing of children. Commemoration: October 10/23 (Cathedral of the Optina Elders), October 11/24, June 27/July 10 (discovery of relics).

How to live? Those who came to Elder Ambrose often heard the general question: “How to live?” The elder usually answered in a joking tone: “Don’t bother living, don’t judge anyone, don’t annoy anyone, and my respects to everyone.” “Don’t grieve” means to endure sorrows and failures in life complacently. “Do not judge” indicates the common lack of judgment among people to judge their neighbors. “Not to annoy” - not to cause trouble or sorrow to someone. “My respect to everyone” - treat everyone with respect and not be proud. The main idea of ​​this saying is humility. The elder answered this same question somewhat differently: “We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be right, otherwise it will turn out badly.” Or this: “You can live in the world, but not in the South.” “We must live on earth like this,” said the elder, “like a wheel spins - just one point touches the ground, and the rest certainly strives upward; but we, as soon as we lie down on the ground, cannot get up.” To the question: “What does it mean to live according to your heart?” - the priest replied: “Do not interfere in other people’s affairs and see all the good in others.” “Look, Melitona,” the elder said to one nun, warning her against arrogance, “stick to the middle tone; if you take it high, it won’t be easy; if you take it low, it will be slimy; and you, Melitona, stick to the middle tone.”

About the cross. When a person walks the straight path, there is no cross for him. But when he retreats from him and begins to rush in one direction or another, then different circumstances appear that push him onto the straight path. These shocks constitute a cross for a person. They come in different varieties, depending on which one you need. The cross is sometimes mental - it happens that a person is confused by sinful thoughts, but the person is not guilty of them if he does not deign to them. One ascetic, the elder said, was overwhelmed by unclean thoughts for a long time. When the Lord who appeared to her drove them away from her, she cried out to Him: “Where have you been before, O my Sweet Jesus?” The Lord answered: “I was in your heart.” She asked: “How could this be, because my heart was filled with unclean thoughts.” And the Lord said to her: “Therefore, understand that I was in your heart, that you had no inclination towards unclean thoughts, but were sick about it and tried to get rid of them - by this you prepared a place for Me in your heart.” Although the Lord forgives the sins of those who repent, every sin requires cleansing punishment. For example, the Lord Himself said to a prudent thief: “Today you will be with Me in paradise,” and yet after these words they broke his legs. What was it like to hang on the cross for three hours on only your hands, with broken shins? This means that he needed purifying suffering. For sinners who die immediately after repentance, the prayers of the Church and those praying for them serve as purification; and those who are still alive must themselves be cleansed by correcting their lives and by alms covering their sins. Sometimes suffering is sent to a person innocently so that, following the example of Christ, he suffers for others. The Savior Himself suffered for people. His apostles also suffered for people.

About the sign of the cross. The elder wrote to one spiritual daughter: “Centuries-established experience shows that the sign of the cross has great power on all human actions throughout his life. Therefore, it is necessary to take care to instill in children the custom of protecting themselves with the sign of the cross more often, especially before eating, going to bed and getting up , before leaving, before leaving and before entering somewhere. And so that children make the sign of the cross not carelessly, but with precision, starting from the forehead to the chest and on both shoulders, so that the cross comes out correctly... Protecting yourself with the sign of the cross saved many from great troubles and dangers." The elder told the following story about the power of the sign of the cross: “One of them liked to drink too much. In this state, he got lost somewhere, and he imagined that someone was coming up to him, pouring a glass of vodka and offering him a drink. But he got lost first, according to his habit ", made the sign of the cross, and suddenly everything disappeared, and in the distance he heard the barking of a dog. Having come to his senses, he saw that he had wandered into some kind of swamp and was in a very dangerous place. If not for the barking of the dog, he would not have gotten out of there." One woman told the priest that she was ashamed to be baptized in a worldly house, so that they would not see her. To this he gave the following example: “P.V. S-na was in a good house, she was thirsty, and Father Macarius blessed her to be baptized. She thinks: “It is impossible to be baptized and it is impossible not to be baptized,” and she did not drink. So and you: if you don’t want to be baptized, don’t drink tea.”

About the temple and prayer. By the time the service begins, you will be more sober. When you go to church and come back from church, you should read “It is worthy to eat.” And when you come to church, bow three times with the words: “God, be merciful to me a sinner,” and so on. You must definitely go to church services, otherwise you will be sick. The Lord punishes us with illness for this. And as you walk, you will be healthier and more sober. You shouldn't talk in church. This is a bad habit. For this, sorrows are sent. Read the “Our Father,” but do not lie: “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive...” In all matters, a person needs God’s help, and therefore always and in everything ask for God’s help, that is, fervent prayer is necessary. When you wake up, first cross yourself. The state you are in in the morning will be the same for the rest of the day. When you go to bed, cross your bed and cell with the prayer “May God rise again.” First of all, one must pray, asking for mercy from God: “Beholden by fate, have mercy on me, a sinner.” In the morning, when you wake up, say: “Glory to you, God.” "Theotokos" must be read 12 times or 24 times a day. She is our only Intercessor. When you pray fervently, just be sure that there will be temptation. When the clock strikes, you should cross yourself with the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” As St. Demetrius of Rostov writes, “have mercy on me because the hour has passed and I am closer to death.” You don’t have to be baptized in front of everyone, but depending on who you can or shouldn’t be with, you have to say the prayer in your mind. And when you start to dig (that is, when during prayer you become bothered by irritability towards someone), pray like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners!” One brother complained to the elder that during prayer there were many different thoughts. The elder said to this: “A man was driving through the market. There is a crowd of people around him, talk, noise, and he keeps on his horse: “But, but! But, but!” So, little by little, the whole bazaar passed through. So you too, no matter what your thoughts say, do all your work - pray!” Instructing that God first of all looks at the inner prayerful mood of a person’s soul, the elder recalled: “Once I came to Fr. Hegumen Anthony is sick with his legs and says: “Father, my legs hurt, I can’t bow down, and this confuses me.” Father Anthony answers him: “Yes, the Scripture says, “Son, give me a heart,” and not legs.” One nun told the elder that she saw an icon of the Mother of God in a dream and heard from Her: “Make a sacrifice.” The priest asked: “ What, did you make a sacrifice? " She answered: "What will I bring? I have nothing.” Then Father said: “It is written in the psalms: the sacrifice of praise will glorify Me.” One believer said to Father: “When I am angry, I pray absent-mindedly.” And Father replied: “Whoever is angry is deprived of the protection of God. You need to pray without rancor." When the priest was asked to pray in order to correct himself, he answered: "You yourself need to help yourself. The prophet Nathan prayed for King David, and he wet his bed with tears, and prayed for Saul, but he was faster and snoring." If you don’t want to pray, you have to force yourself. The Holy Fathers say that prayer with compulsion is higher than arbitrary prayer. You don’t want to, but force yourself: “The Kingdom of Heaven is in need.” “You should not pray for the sisters,” the elder wrote to one nun. “This is the enemy, under the guise of goodness; this is the work of the perfect. And you just cross yourself and say: “Lord, have mercy on us.” ". When they hit the “It is worthy”, if you are in the cell, you need to stand up and make three bows to the Holy Trinity: “It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Ask for the intercession of the Queen of Heaven and read: “It is worthy to eat as truly...", and if someone is a stranger (in the cell), then just cross himself. Father Ambrose advised, in the machinations of man and the enemy, to resort to the psalms of the holy prophet David, which he prayed when he was persecuted by enemies, namely read Psalms 3, 53, 58 and 142. Select from these psalms verses appropriate to grief, and read them more often, turning to God with faith and humility. And when despondency overcomes or unaccountable grief torments the soul, read Psalms 101, 36 and 90. If, in the name of the Holy Trinity, you regularly read these psalms three times daily, with humility and diligence, surrendering yourself to the all-good providence of God, then the Lord will bring out your truth like light and your destiny like noon. Submit to the Lord and beg Him (Ps. 36:6-7). So that people would not remain careless and would not place their hope in outside prayerful help, the elder repeated the usual folk saying: “God help me, and the man himself does not lie.” And he added: “Remember, the twelve apostles asked the Savior for their Canaanite wife, but He did not hear them; but she herself began to ask and begged.”

About the Jesus Prayer. To many Fr. Ambrose advised both in letters and orally not to abandon the short Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Say the Jesus Prayer even in a whisper, but many have been harmed by the clever one. The priest talked about the power of the Jesus Prayer: “One priest had a starling who constantly heard the prayer from his owner and repeated it quite often. One day a kite flew at him on the street, and out of habit he said a prayer at that time. And what - a kite I didn’t dare touch him: I senselessly repeated the Jesus Prayer, and that saved me!” The elder also said: “One brother asked another: “Who taught you the Jesus Prayer?” And he answered: “Demons.” - “How can that be?” “Yes, so: they bother me with sinful thoughts, but I did everything and said the Jesus Prayer, and I’m used to it.”

Sin. They asked the priest: “So-and-so doesn’t die for a long time, she always imagines cats and so on. Why is that?" Answer: “Every sin, no matter how small, must be written down as soon as you remember it, and then repented. That is why some people do not die for a long time, because some unrepentant sin is holding them back, but as soon as they repent, they are relieved. In our barnyard (in Optina) there was a cowgirl in consumption, whose three sins had been forgotten, and it seemed to her that the cats were scratching her, or the girl was crushing her, and when she repented, she died. There was also a sick monk in the skete; It seemed to him as if someone was lying behind him, and he could not remember the sin. During the week, he remembered his sin and, as he repented, died. You definitely need to write down your sins as soon as you remember, otherwise we put it off: sometimes the sin is small, sometimes it’s embarrassing to say, or “I’ll say it later,” but when we come to repent, there’s nothing to say.” Three rings cling to each other: hatred comes from anger, anger comes from pride. Why do people sin? The elder resolved this question this way: “Or because they don’t know what to do and what to avoid; go, if they know, then they forget; if they don’t forget, they become lazy and despondent. On the contrary: since people are very lazy in matters of piety, they very often forget about their main duty - to serve God. From laziness and oblivion they reach extreme foolishness or ignorance. Laziness, oblivion and ignorance are three giants from which the entire human race is bound by insoluble bonds... Therefore, we pray to the Queen of Heaven: My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, with Your holy and all-powerful prayers, take away despondency from me, Your humble and accursed servant, oblivion, unreason, negligence..."

Repentance. “What a time has come now,” said the elder, “it used to be that if someone sincerely repents of his sins, he will already change his sinful life to a good one, but now it often happens like this: a person will tell all his sins in detail in confession, but then again is taken for what it is." Sins are like walnuts: you can crack the shell, but it’s difficult to pick out the grain. An unfulfilled promise is like a good tree without fruit. About the power of repentance and the goodness of God. The elder speaks about the power of repentance: “One man kept sinning and repenting - and so on all his life. Finally he repented and died. An evil spirit came for his soul and said: “He is mine.” The Lord says: “No, he repented.” “But even though he repented, he sinned again,” the devil continued. Then the Lord said to him: “If you, being angry, accepted him again after he repented to Me, then how could I not accept him after he, having sinned, again turned to Me with repentance? You forget, that you are evil and I am good." True repentance requires not years or days, but one moment. The elder expressed the goodness of God to us sinners with the following saying taken from St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov (teaching on the day of the Praise of the Mother of God): “The righteous are led into the Kingdom of Heaven by the Apostle Peter, and the sinners by the Queen of Heaven Herself.” About the correction. In order for a person to correct himself, he does not need to suddenly lean on him, but rather, like pulling a barge: pull, pull - give, give. Not all at once, but little by little. Do you know the "rozhon" on the ship? This is a pole to which all the ropes of the ship are tied. If you pull on it, then little by little everything will be pulled, but if you take it at once, you will ruin everything from the shock. A good example helps when correcting. The elder confirmed this idea with the following comparison: “When they put a lasso on a horse caught in a herd and lead it, it still resists and first walks sideways, and then, when it looks closely that the other horses are walking calmly, it itself will go in a row. So is a person.”

About the existence of demons. One gentleman came to the elder who did not believe in the existence of demons. The elder told him the following incident for his edification: “One gentleman came to the village to visit his friends and chose a room for himself to spend the night. They tell him: “Don’t lie here—it’s not safe in this room.” But he didn’t believe it and just laughed at it. He lay down and suddenly heard at night that someone was blowing directly on his bald head. He covered his head with a blanket. Then this someone moved to his feet and sat down on the bed. The guest was frightened and ran as fast as he could, convinced by his own experience of the existence of a dark force.” After this, the gentleman said: “Your will, father, I don’t even understand what kind of demons these are.” To this the elder replied: “After all, not everyone understands mathematics, but it exists.” And he added: “How come demons do not exist when we know from the Gospel that the Lord Himself ordered them to go into the herd of pigs?” The gentleman objected: “Isn’t this allegorical?” “So,” the elder continued to convince, “pigs are allegorical, and pigs do not exist. But if pigs exist, then demons also exist.” About the networks of the devil. “The spider sits in one place, releases a thread and waits - as soon as it catches a fly, now its head is off, and the fly buzzes. So the enemy always stretches out his nets: no matter who gets caught, now off with his head.” Then the elder, turning to the listener, said: “Look, don’t be a fly, otherwise you will buzz too.” The enemy fights with both his gums and his back: now with melancholy and fear, now with arrogance and arrogance, and when his suggestions are rejected, he again whispers: “It’s good, he did good, he won, he became great.” What does it mean: “A man will come, and the heart is deep. And God will be exalted, the arrows of the child came from their wounds”? The priest explained this: “An evil human enemy will come and sow weeds in the Lord’s field. The heart is deep - who listens to himself and does not look at who is doing what and how, and if he calls on God, then prayer will win and drive away the enemy’s attack, and then His arrows will be like the arrows of babes, and like flies that bite." Our invisible enemy himself will put a sinful thought into a person’s soul and immediately write it down as his own, in order to later accuse the person at the Last Judgment of God.

About humility and patience. “If someone offends you,” the elder told one nun for edification, “don’t tell anyone except the elder, and you will be peaceful. Bow to everyone, not paying attention to whether they bow to you or not. You need to humble yourself before everyone. If we have not committed crimes that others committed, then this is perhaps because they did not have the opportunity to do so - the situation and circumstances were different. In every person there is something good and kind, but we usually see in people only vices, but good We don’t see.” Saying that without humility one cannot be saved; The elder gave the following example: “One lady saw the Lord Jesus in a dream and a crowd of people in front of Him. At His call, a peasant girl came up to Him first, and then a man in bast shoes and all the other people of the peasant class. The lady thought that because of her simplicity, kindness and in general for all the virtues the Lord will call to Himself. Imagine her surprise when she saw that the Lord had already stopped calling. She decided to remind the Lord about herself, but He turned away from her. Then the lady fell to the ground and began humbly to admit that she is truly worse than everyone and is unworthy to be in the Kingdom of Heaven." Then the elder added: “But these are the ones that are suitable, these are the ones that are needed there.” When someone annoys you, never ask why or why. This is nowhere in Scripture. On the contrary, it says: if someone hits you on the right side of your cheek, give him the other one too. It is actually inconvenient to hit the gum cheek, but you need to understand it this way: if someone slanders you or innocently annoys you with something, this will mean hitting the gum cheek. Don’t complain, but bear this blow patiently, putting your left cheek forward, that is, remembering your wrong deeds. And if, perhaps, you are now innocent, then you have sinned a lot before, and thus you will be convinced that you are worthy of punishment. Elisha endured, Moses endured, Elijah endured, so I will endure. “Father! Teach me patience,” said one sister. “Learn,” answered the elder, “and begin with patience with the troubles that are present and encountered.” - “I can’t understand how one can not be indignant at insults and injustices.” The elder’s answer: “Be fair yourself and do not offend anyone.” If one of the brethren, out of cowardice and impatience, grieved that he had not been presented for a long time to the mantle or to the hierodeaconry and hieromonastichood, the elder used to say this for edification: “This, brother, everything will come in due time. Everyone will give; no one will give you anything to do." Malice, envy, hatred and similar passions lie within and are born and grow from the inner root of self-love. No matter how you cut off the branches from the outside, as long as this root is raw and fresh and no means are used to cut the internal branches of this root, through which harmful moisture penetrates and produces external shoots, the labor will be in vain. The ax to destroy the root of pride is faith, humility, obedience and cutting off one’s desires and understandings. Once the elder said at a general blessing: “God visits only the humble with His mercy.” After that, after a short silence, he suddenly added: Be on the lookout, for you do not know the day, not the hour (Matthew 25:13)... A few minutes later, at the general blessing, the priest was informed about the death of one skete novice (Alexey of Kronstadt) . To the words of one pilgrim standing near the elder that pride interferes with everyone, he replied: “And you wrap yourself in humility, then if the sky clings to the earth, you will not be afraid.” Remember also what was said in the psalm: Ecu nymue the Lord's mercy and truth (Ps. 24:10). That is, one must show mercy and all condescension to one’s neighbor. And demand from ourselves all the truth - the fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord. Try to imitate that reverend mother who, seeing envy and hatred towards herself and hearing various slander, said to herself: “I am unworthy of their love.” And when confusion comes over you for these reasons, repeat the psalm word: Peace is there for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them (Ps. 119, 165). Question: “Is it possible to desire improvement in spiritual life?” The elder’s answer: “You can not only wish, but you must also try to improve in humility, that is, in considering yourself in the feeling of your heart worse and lower than all people and every creature.” Elder Ambrose also spoke to edify his disciples about humility: “I came to the rector, Fr. Archimandrite Moses received one visitor, but, not finding him at home, he went to his brother, Fr. Abbot Anthony. During the conversation, the guest asked Fr. abbot: “Tell me, father, what rule do you follow?” Father Anthony answered: “I had many rules, I lived in the desert and in monasteries, and all the rules were different, but now there is only one tax collector left: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”” At the same time, the priest added another story about that , how she kept wanting to wander here and there - both to Kiev and to Zadonsk, and the elder alone said to her: “All this is not good for you, but you better sit at home and say the publican’s prayer.” “As soon as a person humbles himself “, - the elder used to say, “how humility immediately places him on the threshold of the Kingdom of Heaven,” which, let us add to this the apostolic words, is not food and drink, but truth and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14, 17). “The Kingdom of God,” the elder said, “is not in words, but in power; you need to interpret less, be silent more, not condemn anyone, and have my respects to everyone.”

About monasticism. Those who have internally acquired the Kingdom of God in this life have free entry into the Kingdom of Heaven, but for those who have not acquired this in this life, the transition to the future occurs with fear. What do you care what they say about you? “Why, father,” asked one person, “is the abbess given the right to dispose of nuns like serfs?” The elder answered: “More than serfs. Serfs could even grumble at their masters behind their backs and scold them, but even this right was taken away from monastics; the nun herself voluntarily gives herself up to serfdom.” The elder supplemented this same idea about monasticism with the following story: “This is what I heard from the old people. Tsarina Catherine II decided to free the serfs and called the highest people in the state to her council. Everyone gathered, and the queen came out to them. They're just waiting for the metropolitan, but he's not coming. We've been waiting for it for a long time, and it's finally here. He arrived and apologized for not being on time - the carriage broke down at the Kazan Cathedral. I sat down, he says, on the porch while they were looking for another, and I heard a wise word. A man is driving a flock of geese past me. There are many of them, but he is alone with the twig, and the geese walk evenly, not one of them lags behind. I was amazed and asked the man, and he answered me: “That’s why I alone manage them, because they all have wings connected.” Hearing this, the queen said: “The issue has been resolved - I am not abolishing serfdom.” The elder said to one visitor who wanted to enter the monastery: “To live in a monastery, you need patience, not a cartload, but a whole convoy.” And one more thing: “To be a nun, you must be either iron or gold.” The elder explained it this way: “Iron means to have great patience, and golden means great humility.” Do not go to your cell and do not bring guests to your place. Asceticism is bloodless martyrdom.

What is the post? “Does it matter to God,” some asked, “what kind of food you eat: fasting or fasting?” To this the elder replied: “It is not the food that matters, but the commandment. Adam was expelled from paradise not for overeating, but only for eating what was forbidden. Why even now on Tuesday, Thursday and other established days you can eat whatever you want, and we are not punished for this, and for Wednesday and Friday we are punished, because we do not obey the commandments. What is especially important here is that obedience is developed through obedience." About alms. If you do good, you should do it for God, therefore you should not pay attention to people’s gratitude. Expect your reward not here, but from God in Heaven, and if you wait here, then you are suffering deprivation in vain. Saint Demetrius of Rostov writes: “If a man on a horse comes to you and asks you, give it to him. How he uses your alms, you are not responsible for that.” Saint John Chrysostom says: “Start giving to the poor what you don’t need, then you will be able to give more and even with deprivation for yourself, and finally you will be ready to give everything you have.” When Fr. They confessed to Ambrose that stinginess is attacking, he taught: “Give what you can, as much as your soul can.” A certain wanderer asked for alms; one was stingy and gave him a thin scarf, and the other was kind and whatever the stranger asked from her, she gave him everything. He just left He left them when there was a fire and everything burned up. The wanderer returned and gave everything to them - to the one who gave a lot, he gave a lot, and the stingy one said: “You are wearing your scarf.”

About pride. It is natural for a person to sin and needs to humble himself. If he does not humble himself, then circumstances will humble him, providentially arranged for his spiritual benefit. A person in happiness usually forgets himself and attributes everything to himself - to his powerless strength and imaginary power, but as soon as some misfortune visits him, he asks for mercy even from an imaginary enemy. The elder expressed this truth with the following parable: “A man is like a beetle. When it’s a warm day and the sun is shining, he flies, is proud of himself and buzzes: “All my forests, all my meadows! All my meadows, all my forests!” And as soon as the sun disappears, the cold blows and the wind starts blowing, the beetle will forget its prowess, press itself against the leaf and only squeak: “Don’t push me away!” “So many people have nothing to be proud of at all. On this occasion, the elder relayed the following story: “One confessor tells her confessor that she is proud. “What are you proud of?” he asked her. “You’re noble, right?” “No,” she answered. - “Well, are you talented?” - "No". - “So, you’re rich?” - "No". “Hm... in that case you can be proud,” the confessor finally said.” How sometimes circumstances inadvertently humble a person: “Once someone hosted a dinner at his place and sent his servants to invite guests. One of the invitees asks the sloppy servant sent to him: “Did your master really not find anyone better than you to send to me?” To this the messenger replied: “They sent good after good, but I was sent to your mercy.” When asked how it is that the righteous, knowing that they live sinlessly, are not exalted by their righteousness, the elder replied: “They do not know what end awaits them, for our salvation must be accomplished between fear and hope. We must not betray ourselves to anyone under any circumstances.” despair, but one should not hope too much." One nun wrote to the elder that she was very worried about pride and arrogance. Father Ambrose replied: “Beware of these evil passions. From the example of the holy prophet David, it is clear that pride and arrogance are more harmful than adultery and murder. The latter led the prophet to humility and repentance, the former led him to his fall.” Panache. One spiritual daughter, a young woman, came to Father Ambrose, wearing a dress smartly trimmed with glass beads, the threads of which trembled, hitting one another. Father smiled, looking at her, and said: “Look what she has become, what toys she has hung on herself!” “Fashion, father,” she answered. - “Oh, your fashion for six months.”

About laziness and despondency. Boredom is a despondent grandson, and laziness is a daughter. To drive her away, work hard in action, don’t be lazy in prayer; then boredom will pass and diligence will come. And if you add patience and humility to this, you will save yourself from many evils. When the blues come, don’t forget to reproach yourself; remember how much you are guilty before the Lord and before yourself, and realize that you are unworthy of anything better, and you will immediately feel relief. It is said: Many are the sorrows of the righteous (Ps. 33:20); and many wounds for sinners. This is our life here - all sorrows and sorrows, and it is through them that the Kingdom of Heaven is achieved. When you are restless, repeat more often: Seek peace, and marry (Ps. 33, 15). Many of us say that it is impossible to live according to the commandments of the Lord: they cannot do this because of illness, that because of habit. For the edification of such people, the elder told the following incident: “One merchant kept saying the same thing: I can’t do this, I can’t do that. Once he was driving through Siberia at night, wrapped in two fur coats. Suddenly he saw a light in the distance, like flickering lights. He began to peer closely and realized that a pack of wolves was approaching him. There was nowhere to wait for salvation. He jumped out of the sleigh and in one minute climbed a nearby tree, forgetting his old age and weakness. And then he said that he had never been on a single tree before in his life. So I can’t. So the fear of God’s righteous judgment makes the powerless strong.” Thy will be done. In one place, the elder said, they prayed for rain, and in another, so that it would not rain. It turned out that God wanted it. Go where they lead you, see what they show you, and keep saying: “Thy will be done.”

About the desire for death. One woman complained to the elder about her sorrows and overwork and expressed a desire to die as soon as possible. The elder answered: “One elder said that he was not afraid of death. One day, while carrying an armful of firewood from the forest, he became very exhausted. He sat down to rest and said in grief: “If only death would come!” And when death appeared, he got scared and asked her to carry an armful of firewood.” About the difficulty of managing people. One abbess, who came to him for instructions on how to govern, the elder said in a conversation that since there are different people in the monastery, they need to be governed in different ways, and for edification he told her the following incident: “The late Emperor Peter the Great loved to sing in the choir "There was one deacon with him with a good voice, but he was so shy and so afraid of the Tsar that the Tsar always forced him to sing. Then the deacon got so used to it that with his voice he drowned out the voices of all the singers and even the Tsar himself. Then Peter the Great began to hold him by the sleeve to stop, but it didn’t work out that way. The Emperor pulls, but he screams even louder.” To the question of one person who wanted to live in solitude, the elder said to her for edification: “When Lot lived in Sodom, he was holy, and when he went out into solitude, he fell.” Or: “The thief robbed for 30 years and, having repented, entered paradise. But Judas was always with the Lord Teacher and finally betrayed Him.”

About Christian virtues. “The three apostles - Peter, John and James,” said the priest, “depict faith, hope and love. John depicts love - was closest to the Savior and at the Last Supper reclined on the Savior’s chest. Peter, although he was behind the doors with handmaids, then the Church was handed over and given the right to shepherd the flock of Christ: he depicts faith. Very little is said about Jacob in general. He is not even visible anywhere, but he, along with the other two apostles, was honored to see the glory of God - he depicts hope, since hope is not visible: it always lurks invisibly for others in a person and retains its strength, and hope will not put you to shame.” We need to have more simplicity. To teach is to throw small stones from the bell tower, and to perform is to carry large stones to the bell tower. The Lord rests in simple hearts. Where there is no simplicity, there is only emptiness. Humble yourself, and all your affairs will go well. He who gives in gains more. Without instilling the fear of God, whatever you do with your children will not bring the desired results in terms of good morality and a well-ordered life. Strengthen yourself with faith and hope in God's mercy. Seeing yourself worse than others is the beginning of humility. About evil passions and vices. Pride and disobedience give rise to lies - the beginning of all evil and disasters. Hypocrisy is worse than unbelief. You don’t have to believe signs, and they won’t come true. If you don’t humble yourself, that’s why you don’t have peace. Our pride is the root of all evil. Malice, envy, hatred and similar passions lie within and are born and grow from the inner root of self-love. Why is a person bad? Because he forgets that God is above him. It is a sin to spend time in idleness.

Attitude towards yourself and others. To speak well is to scatter silver, and prudent silence is gold. If you don’t like to hear about the shortcomings of others, you will have fewer of your own. Tell your sins and blame yourself more than people. He who reproaches us gives us gifts. And whoever praises steals from us. We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be true, otherwise it will turn out badly. About love. “Love,” the elder said in the words of the apostle, “forgives everything, is long-suffering, does not condemn, does not desire anything that belongs to others, does not envy. Love covers everything. And if someone does good to his neighbors out of the desire of his heart, and is not driven only by duty, the devil will not interfere with him.” maybe, but where only out of duty, he still tries to interfere with both.” Love, of course, is higher than everything. If you find that there is no love in you, but you want to have it, then do deeds of love, although at first without love. The Lord will see your desire and effort and put true love in your heart. And most importantly, when you notice that you have sinned against love, immediately confess it to the elder. This can sometimes be from a bad heart, and sometimes from the enemy. You can’t make it out yourself; and when you confess, the enemy will leave. Anyone who has a bad heart should not despair, because with the help of God a person can correct his heart. You just need to carefully monitor yourself and not miss the opportunity to be useful to your neighbors, often open up to the elder and give alms within your power. The Lord is patient. He only ends a person’s life when he sees him ready for the transition to eternity or does not see any hope for his correction. God sends mercy to those who work, and consolation to those who love. “You must love,” the elder said, “but you don’t need to become attached. The commandment commands us to honor our parents and even assigns a reward for this. But if you, says the same Lord, love your father and mother more than Me, then you are not worthy to be my disciple. This means, Only partiality is not allowed, not love." One person asked the elder: “I don’t understand, father, how you not only are not angry with those who speak ill of you, but also continue to love them.” The elder laughed a lot at this and said: “You had a little son. Were you angry with him if he did or said something wrong? Didn’t you, on the contrary, try to somehow cover up his shortcomings?” On this same issue he used to say: “Whoever reproaches us gives us gifts, and whoever praises us steals from us.”

About the internal struggle of a Christian. You need to pay attention to your inner life, so as not to notice what is happening around you. Then you won't judge others. When you feel that you are filled with pride, then know that it is the praise of others that puffs you up. Expect your reward not here, but from the Lord in Heaven. You need to force yourself, albeit against your will, to do some good to your enemies, and most importantly, not to take revenge on them and be careful not to accidentally offend them with the appearance of contempt and humiliation. A person is constantly confused by sinful thoughts, but if he does not agree with them, then he is not guilty of them. When someone praises you, you should not pay attention to it, not respond or argue. Let them praise, but only realize within yourself whether you are worthy of praise or not. If you contradict, then hypocrisy will result; after all, you still have a subtle feeling of pleasure from praise; and even those whom you contradict will not believe you, so when they praise you, do not say anything, lower your eyes and remain silent. The enemy tempted the ancient Christians with torment, and the modern Christians with illnesses and thoughts.

About the meaning of sorrows. The Lord Himself does not force a person’s will, although he admonishes him through many sorrows. Blessed is he who endures tribulation for the sake of truth and a pious life. If the Lord does not allow it, no one can offend us, no matter who he is. The elder told a parable about jasmine: “One of our monks knew how to deal with jasmine. In November, he completely cuts it off and places it in a dark place, but then the plant is covered abundantly with leaves and flowers. The same thing happens to a person: you first need to stand in the dark and cold , and then there will be a lot of fruit." The saints, like us, were sinful people, but they repented and, having set about the work of salvation, did not look back, like Lot’s wife. And to someone’s remark: “And we are all looking back!” - the priest said: “That’s why they drive us with rods and scourges, that is, with sorrows and troubles, so that we don’t look back.” To the one who complained about sorrows, the elder said: “If the sun always shines, then everything in the field will wither; that’s why rain is needed. If everything rains, then everything will trample; that’s why the wind is needed to blow, and if the wind is not enough, then "Sometimes a storm is needed for everything to blow over. All this is useful to a person in due time, because he is changeable." To a mother grieving over her daughter’s illness, the elder wrote: “I hear that you grieve beyond measure, seeing the suffering of your sick daughter. Indeed, it is humanly impossible for a mother not to grieve when she sees her little daughter in such suffering and suffering day and night. Despite this, you must remember that you are a Christian who believes in a future life and in a future blessed reward not only for work, but also for voluntary and involuntary suffering; and therefore should not be foolishly cowardly and grieve beyond measure, like pagans or unbelieving people who do not recognize either future eternal bliss or future eternal torment. No matter how great the involuntary suffering of your little daughter S., they still cannot be compared with the voluntary suffering of the martyrs; if they are equal, then she will receive a blissful state equal to them in the heavenly villages. However, we should not forget the tricky present times, in which even small children receive mental damage from what they see and what they hear; and therefore purification is required, which does not happen without suffering. Mental cleansing for the most part occurs through bodily suffering. Let's assume that there was no mental damage. But you should still know that heavenly bliss is not given to anyone without suffering. Look: do the very infants also pass into the future life without illness or suffering? However, I am writing this not because I would like the death of the suffering little S., but I am writing, in fact, all this to console you and for correct admonition and real conviction, so that you do not grieve unreasonably and beyond measure. No matter how much you love your daughter, know that our All-Good God loves her more than you, providing in every way for our salvation. He Himself testifies about His love for each of the believers in Scripture, saying: “Even if the wife forgets her child, I will not forget you.” Therefore, try to moderate your grief for your sick daughter, casting this sorrow on the Lord: “As He wills and deigns, so He will do to us according to His goodness.” I advise you to communicate with your sick daughter with a preliminary confession. Ask your confessor to question her more prudently during confession.”

About irritability. No one should justify their irritability by some illness - it comes from pride. But the anger of a husband, according to the word of the holy Apostle James, does not bring about the righteousness of God (James 1:20). In order not to indulge in irritability and anger, one should not rush. About family life. For those who are married and starting family life, Fr. Ambrose gives the following instruction: “You must always remember and not forget that only then will our lives pass peacefully and prosperously when we do not forget and forget God, our Creator and Redeemer and Giver of temporal and eternal blessings. Not to forget Him means to try to live according to His Divine and life-giving commandments and to sincerely repent of violating them due to our weakness and immediately take care of correcting our mistakes and deviations from God’s commandments. You write: “I would like my husband and I to avoid that disastrous disagreement in the matter of education, which I see in almost all marriages.” - Yes, this thing is really sophisticated! But arguing about this in front of children, as you yourself have noticed, is not useful. Therefore, in case of disagreement, it is better to either evade and leave, or show as if you did not listen, but do not argue about your different views in front of children. Advice on this and discussion should be in private and as calmly as possible - so that it is more effective. However, if you manage to plant the fear of God in the hearts of your children, then various human quirks will not be able to act so harmfully on them.”

Letter to a sick friend. You complain about your illnesses, you grieve, my dear, and from me, a sinner, you seek consolation and reinforcement for your suffering soul... My friend! What can I, who am very weak, tell you as a consolation better than what I consoled myself in my weaknesses? supreme apostle Christ's Paul: When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10). The Lord Himself said to him when he complained about his weaknesses: My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). That’s why he boasted about his weaknesses and only about his weaknesses: “I will not boast about myself,” he says, “except only in my weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:5). Look at the example of the great apostle, and the Lord will strengthen you with His omnipotent grace! And instead of my sinful word, I offer you the gracious word of the patrists. This is a whole correspondence between one holy ascetic, St. Barsanuphius the Great, and a sick elder, monk Andrei. This elder asked the Abba to pray for his infirmities, and so the Monk Barsanuphius wrote to him: “Let God take care of you, cast all your concerns on Him, and He will arrange everything that concerns you, as He pleases. He knows better than us that It is good for us in soul and body, and as much as he allows you to grieve in the body, so much will he give you relief from your sins. God does not require anything from you except thanksgiving, patience and prayer for the forgiveness of sins. We have a compassionate, merciful, humane and loving Lord. stretching out his hand to the sinner until his last breath. Cling to Him, and He will arrange everything better than we ask or think."

About the victory of good over evil. One day Fr. The following question was sent to Ambrose for his permission: “The duties of a Christian are to do good and try to ensure that good triumphs over evil. At the end of the world, the Gospel says, evil will triumph over good. How can one try for the victory of good over evil, knowing that these efforts will not be crowned with success and that evil will ultimately triumph? According to the Gospel, human society before the end of the world is presented in the most terrible form. This rejects the possibility of constant human improvement. Is it possible after this to work for the good of humanity, being sure that no means unable in the final result before the end of the world to achieve the possible moral perfection of humanity? The elder replied: “Evil has already been defeated - defeated not by the diligence and strength of man, but by our Lord and Savior Himself, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who for this reason came down from heaven to earth, became incarnate, suffered as humanity and suffered on the cross with his suffering and resurrection crushed the power evil and the evil one - the devil, who ruled over the human race, freed us from devilish and sinful slavery, as He Himself said: Behold, I give you power to tread on the serpent and the scorpion, and on all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Now, in the Sacrament of Baptism, all Christian believers are given the power to trample on evil and do good through the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, and no one is anymore forcibly possessed by evil, except those who do not care about keeping God’s commandments, and especially those who voluntarily indulge in sins. To want to overcome evil with one’s own strength, which has already been defeated by the coming of the Savior, shows a misunderstanding of the Christian sacraments of the Orthodox Church and reveals a sign of haughty human arrogance, which wants to do everything with one’s own strength, without turning to God’s help, while the Lord Himself clearly says: Without Me you cannot you can do nothing (John 15:5). You write: “The Gospel says that at the end of the world, evil will triumph over good.” The Gospel does not say this anywhere, but only says that in the last days faith will diminish (see: Luke 18:8) and because of the increase of lawlessness the love of many will dry up (Matthew 24:12). And the holy Apostle Paul says that before the second coming of the Savior there will appear a man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, an adversary and one who exalts himself above all words of God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), that is, the Antichrist. But it is immediately said that the Lord Jesus will kill him with the spirit of His mouth, and will abolish him by the appearance of His coming (2 Thess. 2, 8). Where is the triumph of evil over good? And in general, any triumph of evil over good is only imaginary, temporary.”

Life is eternal. When the heart clings to earthly things, then we must remember that earthly things will not go with us to the Kingdom of Heaven. Spiritual life. The elder wrote to one spiritual daughter, likening her life to a rather deep ditch, which in rainy times fills up so much that it is impossible to move; at other times it dries out so that no water flows through it. The Holy Fathers boast of a life that flows like a small stream, constantly flowing and never drying up. This stream is convenient, firstly, for crossing, and secondly, it is pleasant and useful to everyone who comes, because its water is suitable for drinking as it flows quietly and therefore is never cloudy. Don’t be like a bothersome fly, which sometimes flies around uselessly, and sometimes bites, and bothers both of them; and be like the wise bee, which in the spring diligently began its work and by autumn finished the honeycomb, which is as good as correctly written notes. One is sweet and the other is pleasant. When they wrote to the elder that it was hard in the world, he replied: “That is why it (the earth) is called the vale of tears; some cry, and others jump, but the latter are not well.” It’s not possible to become dispassionate now; Every time you feel your sinfulness, say: “Lord, forgive me!” The Lord alone is able to put love into a person’s heart.

Peace of mind. It is said: For those who love God, all things will work out for good (Rom. 8:28). And in another place: There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them (Ps. 119, 165). And if there is no peace in our bones (Ps. 37:4), then it is obvious that it is from our sins and passions. And therefore, one should not care about settling circumstances, but try to correct oneself. This is not only more reliable, but also more relaxing. Our soul is invisible and cannot be calmed by external circumstances alone, but requires internal and spiritual means for its pacification, to which the inspired prophet David points out, saying: There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them. These words show that you must first love the law of God and try to fulfill the Gospel commandments, outlined in the Evangelist Mark from the beginning of the 5th chapter to the 10th, and then you can hope to receive lasting tranquility and lasting peace of mind. Listen, sister! Don't be excited, don't be colorful! But be constant and meek - and you will be peaceful! Everywhere there is war, everywhere there is struggle; and only those who strive spiritually, guided by the law of God, receive peace. And those who seek only external and temporary peace are deprived of both that, that is, both earthly and heavenly. Unless they want to correct the matter with sincere repentance and great humility. Let us seek consolation and joy in the One Lord and from Him alone let us seek mercy, which is eternal and endless: everything human is short-lived and transitory, although in appearance it attracts, it is deceptive. Human attention does not calm anyone for a long time, but only flatters, entices, and then always ends in trouble and repentance; Only we haven’t taken a good look at it yet, and that’s why we get carried away by appearances. When they told the priest that they were not giving him peace, he answered: “Then peace will come for us when they sing over us: “Rest with the saints.”

About silence. One elder asked three monks about something. One explained it one way, another another, and the third answered: “I don’t know.” Then the elder said to him: “You have found the way.” About non-judgment. The proverb says: “You can’t put a scarf over someone else’s mouth.” People interpret right and wrong, but the Lord, the impartial Judge, will judge everyone. Therefore, let us calm down regarding strangers and take care of our soul, so that it is not judged for wrong opinions, not to mention deeds. Do not speak unfavorably about anyone in absentia, and you will not receive annoyance or harm from anyone. Cry. They asked the priest: “What does crying mean?” The priest replied: “Crying means lamentation; crying does not come from tears, but tears from crying.” God's help. Father sometimes explained the verses of the psalms, for example: Unless the Lord builds a house, it labors in vain to build it. This means: if the Lord has not blessed something, then the labors will be in vain: he will be careful in vain, and will not guard against anything, in vain will that person get up early, his work will not go well without the blessing of God (Ps. 126: 1).

About thoughts. If a thought says to you: “Why didn’t you tell this person who insulted you this and that?” - tell your thought: “Now it’s too late to talk - I’m late.” If blasphemous and condemning thoughts come to you, then reproach yourself for pride and do not pay any attention to them. One person told the priest: “There are thoughts that you, father, trust me.” To this he replied: “And I’ll tell you a parable. One hermit was chosen as a bishop; he refused for a long time, but they insisted. Then he thought: “I didn’t know that I was worthy; surely I have something good.” At this time, an Angel appeared to him and said: “Ryadniche (ordinary monk), why are you so proud? People there have sinned, and they need punishment, that’s why they chose him, because there was no one worse than you.” A person is constantly confused by sinful thoughts; but if he does not deign to them, then he is not guilty of them. Father often said: “No matter how heavy the cross that a person bears, the tree from which it is made grew from the soil of his heart.” Pointing to his heart, he added: “The tree is where the waters issue; the waters (passions) bubble there.” “You are complaining about mental abuse,” the elder answered in one of his letters. “Although it is absolutely impossible to avoid this abuse in any place, its sharpness and strength are dulled by the right way of life and a convenient place.”

Simplicity. How is it: “Cast your sorrow upon the Lord?” Answer: “This means living simply and placing all your trust in the Lord and not speculating about what someone did, what and how it will happen. King David, when he thought and reasoned humanly, then reached a hopeless state, he did not find joy in anything: My spirit was mocked and faint-hearted, but when I placed my trust in God, then I was consoled: I remembered God and rejoiced (Ps. 76:4). Salvation. Sometimes the thought comes: “Why be saved? We will not be saved no matter how we live." Moreover, now there are no one who is being saved, as it is written about the vision of the Athonite monk. To this the priest said this: "This is said to mean that now there are no people who are perfect in everything, but there are those who are being saved. Not everyone can be a general; and another is a general, another is a colonel, a major, a captain, a soldier and a common man." When asked how to understand the words of Scripture: Be wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16), the elder replied: "A snake, when it needs to change old skin onto new skin, a very tight narrow place passes through, and thus it is convenient for her to leave her old skin. Likewise, a person, wanting to remove his old age, must follow the narrow path of fulfilling the Gospel commandments. During any attack, the snake tries to protect its head. A person must protect his faith most of all. As long as the faith is preserved, everything can still be corrected." When they told the priest about the desire to change the monastery, he answered: "Where will you go? Where can you hide from the Omniscient and All-Seeing God, who convicts us through our conscience, so that we can take up the work of salvation as we should, instead of being needlessly embarrassed and blaming others.”

Prayer to St. Ambrose of Optina. O great elder and servant of God, reverend our father Ambrose, praise to the Optina and all Rus' teacher of piety! We glorify your humble life in Christ, which God has exalted your name, still existing on earth for you, but especially crowning you with heavenly honor after your departure to the palace of eternal glory. Accept now the prayer of us, your unworthy children, who honor you and call on your holy name, deliver us through your intercession before the Throne of God from all sorrowful circumstances, mental and physical ailments, evil misfortunes, corrupting and evil temptations, send peace to our Fatherland from the great-gifted God, peace and prosperity, be the immutable patron of this holy monastery, in which you yourself labored in prosperity and you have pleased our glorified God with all in the Trinity, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever forever and ever. Amen. #Salvation of the Soul #Spiritual Instructions #SpiritualTreasury

“My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my covering is the Holy Spirit. Most Holy Trinity, Glory to Thee!” The group was created for the Glory of God! (UOC-ROC MP)

The Venerable Optina Elder Ambrose was born two centuries ago and canonized 25 years ago - in the year of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'. It was thanks to this kind, cheerful, simple old man that people from all over the world flocked to Optina Pustyn.

“Just as I was born in public, so I live in public,” joked the Monk Ambrose, remembering that his mother gave birth to him in a bathhouse, on the day family holiday when there were many guests in the house.

At the age of 12, Alexander (that was the name of the saint in the world), who grew up as a cheerful, lively, intelligent boy, was sent to the Theological School, which, without special effort, he graduated first in his class. He studied just as easily in the seminary. Here, having loved the Holy Scriptures most of all, theological, historical sciences, he received the knowledge that would be useful to him in the future.

Having survived a series of trials, at the age of 28 Alexander found himself in the place of his future feat - in Optina Pustyn, and at the age of 30 he was tonsured here into a mantle with the name Ambrose.

By the providence of God, the path of clergy and eldership was opened to him. All day long his cell was open. The elder received with equal affection and love both old women and famous public figures, and writers, among whom were F.M. Dostoevsky, V.S. Soloviev, K.N. Leontyev, L.N. Tolstoy, M.N. Pogodin and others.

Why did the Monk Ambrose so attract the hearts of people?

“We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be true, otherwise it will be bad.”

“To live is not to bother, not to judge anyone, not to annoy anyone, and my respect to everyone.”

“Where it’s simple, there are a hundred angels, but where it’s sophisticated, there’s not a single one.”

It was in this way that the elder often spoke to his visitors.

The Monk Ambrose, endowed by God with the gifts of prudence, love for one's neighbor, foresight and miracle-working, was humble and never taught directly from himself; he based his words on the words of the Holy Scriptures or spoke secretly, hiding his knowledge behind the words: “people speak.” The holy elder even hid the gift of healing, sending the sick to well-known miraculous springs or shrines.

We offer you some of the teachings of Elder Ambrose, as well as his sparkling proverbs and sayings.

Teachings

We must live on earth the way a wheel turns: only one point touches the ground, and the rest constantly strives upward; but we lie down on the ground and cannot get up.

Reasoning is the highest, and prudent silence is the best, and humility is the most durable.

The freedom of rational beings has always been tested and is still being tested until it is established in goodness, because without testing goodness does not exist firmly.

The main matter of our correction and salvation depends on ourselves; and from the outside there is only assistance in this, although considerable, because in every matter and in every art testimony is required. And without testimony, a commoner will not weave a bast shoe, a girl will not knit a stocking.

The instructions of others act on the mind, but the instructions of a mother act on the heart.

Perseverance is nowhere listed among the virtues, but rather constitutes a deficiency, even in great people.

Living in a simple hut and not putting up with it will not lead to good things. It is more beneficial for the weak in soul and body to live in a comfortable cell and humble himself, despising and reproaching himself for the convenience and spacious cell.

Christian reasoning requires that we verify not only our actions, but also our very thoughts and opinions according to the rules of the Orthodox law, and according to the rules of the patristic laws, and, above all, according to the commandments of God. And whatever in us disagrees with the commandments of God and the rules of the patristics, we must repent and humble ourselves before God and people, and not invent new rules to justify ourselves.

God forgives man even great sins against Himself; but he does not forgive sins against his neighbor unless he makes peace with him and satisfies him properly.

If we abandon our desires and understandings and strive to fulfill the desires and understandings of God, then we will be saved in every place and in every state. And if we adhere to our desires and understandings, then no place, no state will help us. Even in paradise, Eve transgressed the commandment of God, and for the unfortunate Judas, life under the Savior Himself did not bring any benefit.

Truly, despair is the worst of all evils. Let us assume that a person sometimes suffers a lot and greatly, but there are few people who suffer following the example of the righteous Job. Most of Those among us who suffer are subject to suffering as a consequence of either wrong thoughts and opinions, or erroneous actions. But there is a comforting word of the apostle for those who suffer: “Whom the Lord loves, he punishes: and he beats every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6).

No matter how plausible and reliable the thoughts that come may seem, if they lead to confusion, this is a clear sign that they are from the opposite side and, according to the Gospel word, are called wolves in sheep's skins. Correct thoughts and reasoning soothe the soul rather than disturb it.

Gratitude in a Christian is such a great thing that, together with love, it will follow him into the future life, where he will celebrate eternal Easter with him.

Proverbs and sayings

“God sends mercy to the one who works, and consolation to the one who loves,”

About life as preparation for eternity:"How you live is how you die"

“Why is a person bad?” - “Because he forgets that God is above him”

“The house of the soul is patience, the food of the soul is humility. If there is no food in the house, the tenant gets out.”

"Be smart and humble. Don't judge others"

"He who gives in gains more"

“Humble yourself, and all your deeds will go well”

"Whoever thinks of himself that he has something will lose"

“If they really catch you, say: not calico, you won’t fade”

“It is better to foresee and remain silent than to speak and then repent”

"Be silent in front of everyone, and everyone will love you"

“In sorrows, you pray to God, and they will go away, but you can’t drive away the disease with a stick.”

“An unfulfilled promise is like a good tree without fruit.” “Don’t boast, peas, that you are better than beans: if you get wet, you’ll burst.”

“If you want to prick someone with a word, then put a pin in your mouth and run after the fly.”

"God Himself heals the proud" - which means that internal sorrows (by which pride is healed) are sent from God, but the proud will not suffer from people. But the humble one bears everything from people and will always say: “he is worthy of this.”»

Many proverbs correlate with the texts of Holy Scripture:

"Follow the publican's path and you will be saved"

"Judge not lest ye be judged"

“You have to look down. Remember: you are earth, and you will go to earth”; "Blessing lips have no grievance"

"I languish the languishing me. The languor is worse than death"

“The Kingdom of God is not in words, but in power: you need to interpret less, be silent more, not judge anyone, and my respect to everyone.”

“Go where they lead you; see what they show you, and keep saying: Thy will be done!”

To one head of the monastery, in response to her words that the people entering the monastery are different, the elder replied:"Marble and metal - anything goes." Then, after a pause, he continued:"The age is copper, the horn is iron, whoever's horns cannot be erased. In Holy Scripture It is said: I will break the horn of sinners, and the horn of the righteous will be exalted (Ps. 74:11). Sinners have two horns, but the righteous have one - humility." (The two horns of sinners here apparently mean two passions - pride and vanity.)

Some of the proverbs, which have parallels with Russian folk proverbs and sayings, were creatively reworked by the elder, with emphasis placed on other meanings:

“To speak well is to scatter silver, and prudent silence is gold” (cf.: “The word is silver, and silence is gold”)

“The mind is good, two is better, but three is good,” i.e. the advice of many people will not be useful (cf.: “A mind is good, but two are better”)

“Everyone is the smith of his own destiny,” i.e. each person is the cause of his own sorrows (cf.: “Everyone is the smith of his own happiness”)

Some proverbs are addressed primarily to monastics:“To live in a monastery, you need not a cartload of patience, but a whole trainload of patience.”

“To be a nun, you must be either iron or gold: iron means having great patience, and gold means great humility.”

“Whoever reproaches us gives us gifts, and whoever praises us steals from us.”

However, most proverbs contained instructions addressed to all listeners.

For example, about the fact that it is easier to teach than to do something yourself:

"Theory is a court lady, but practice is like a bear in the forest"

“You need to force yourself to dig ridges and do anything.”

“Sins are like walnuts - you can crack the shell, but it’s difficult to pick out the grain.”

During confession the elder taught:“Tell your sins and blame yourself more than people”

"Don't pass on other people's business"

Loving simplicity, i.e. sincerity, absence of duplicity and hypocrisy, he said:

“Look at everyone simply”; “Be simple and everything will pass”; “To live simply means not to judge, not to despise anyone.”

To the words of one lady that it is difficult to work with young people, I answered her this way:“It’s not a problem if there’s quinoa in the rye, but it’s a disaster when there’s neither rye nor quinoa in the field.”

And he added:“If you sow rye, quinoa grows; if you sow quinoa, rye grows. In your patience gain your souls [Luke 21:19]. But you endure from everyone, endure everything, and endure from children.”

“During Lent, N is in church retreat, and I, both during Lent and not during Lent, am constantly at the people’s council and gathering and analyzing other people’s affairs.”

“Don’t take your word for any nonsense indiscriminately - that you can be born from dust and that people used to be monkeys. But it is true that many people began to imitate monkeys and humiliate themselves to the point of monkeys.”

“Infirmity, and weakness, and fatigue, and exhaustion, and also laziness and carelessness - these are my companions! And with them is my constant presence.”

“Mother! It was said long ago not to lose heart, but to trust in the mercy and help of God! Listen to what they say, and eat what they serve.”

“Listen, sister! Don’t be angry, don’t be colorful! But be constant and meek - and you will be peaceful!”

“Don’t like to hear about the shortcomings of others, then you will have fewer of your own.”

“Know that grief is like a sea: the more a person enters it, the more he sinks.”

“The Lord Himself does not force a person’s will, although he admonishes him in many ways.”

How can one not remember the prayer of the holy Optina elders?

Lord, give me s peace of mind to meet everything that the coming day will bring me.
Let me completely surrender to Your Holy will.
At every hour of this day, instruct and support me in everything.
Whatever news I receive during the day, teach me to accept it with a calm soul and the firm conviction that everything is Your Holy will.
In all my words and deeds, guide my thoughts and feelings.
In all unforeseen cases, do not let me forget that everything was sent down by You.
Teach me to act directly and wisely with each member of my family, without confusing or upsetting anyone.
Lord, give me strength to endure the fatigue of the coming day and all the events during the day.
Guide my will and teach me to pray, believe, hope, endure, forgive and love.
Amen.