Stavronikita Monastery. Stavronikita, monastery, holy mountain, Athos Shrines and icons

Iversky Monastery The Iversky Monastery, otherwise called Iviron, occupies third place in the Svyatogorsk hierarchy. This monastery is located an hour and a half walk from Kary. The monastery stands in a small beautiful bay overlooking the sea. Not far from the monastery on the seashore

Kostamonit Monastery The Kostamonit monastery occupies the last, twentieth, place in the Svyatogorsk monastic hierarchy. But this circumstance in no way detracts from the dignity of the truly small monastery. The Kostamonit monastery is located in the forest on the southwestern slope

Danilov Monastery I say: the years will fly by, And no matter how much we are seen here, We will all descend under the eternal vaults - And someone’s hour is already close. A. S. Pushkin The Danilov Monastery is located in the south of Moscow, in the area of ​​​​Danilovskaya Square (Serpukhov Outpost Square). It was founded in 1282

Novospassky Monastery And the sadness of the graves is clear and close to me, And I listen to my family’s legends. I. Bunin This monastery has existed since 1490–1491 on the site of the Vasiltsev camp on the left bank of the Moscow River, near the present Novospassky Bridge. Go to the monastery closest to the station

Pokrovsky Monastery Ves is quiet: a dead sleep in a deaf monastery. But here the memory lives: And the traveler, leaning on the grave stone, tastes the sweet dream. K. Batyushkov Pokrovsky (Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary) monastery was located near the Abelmanovskaya outpost (Taganskaya

Simonov Monastery I am so sympathetic to the graves, There is so much of mine in the earth, Withered blessings, withered strength, That the cemetery is a dear shore to me, That its appearance is welcoming to me. P. A. Vyazemsky Simonov Monastery is located in the south-eastern part of Moscow, not far from the metro station

Donskoy Monastery Bantysh-Kamensky Dmitry Nikolaevich (1788–1850) – historian Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Bulgakova (b. 1811) – maid of honor Natalya Vasilievna Bulgakova (1785–1841) – her mother Fyodor Andreevich Buhler (1821–1896) – baron, actual privy councilor Alexandra Vasilchikova

Danilov Monastery Arsenyev Dmitry Nikolaevich (1779–1846) – colonel, chamberlain Venelin (Huia) Yuri Ivanovich (1802–1839) – philologist-Slavist Dmitriev Mikhail Alexandrovich (1796–1861) – poet, nephew of the poet-fabulist I. I. DmitrievZavalishin Dmitry Irinarkhovich ( 1804–1892) –

Novospassky Monastery Balk-Polev Petr Fedorovich (1777–1849) – Russian envoy to Brazil, actual privy councilor Maria Dmitrievna Boborykina (1782–1871) – acquaintance of the Karamzins Gagarin Ivan Alekseevich (1771–1832) – prince, actual privy councilor, senator, husband

Intercession Monastery Sergei Gerasimovich Baturin (1789–1856) – major general, senator, relative of the Pushkin family Anna Nikolaevna Baturina (1760–1839) – his mother Ekaterina Gavrilovna Levasheva (b. 1839) – cousin of the Decembrist I. D. Yakushkin Nikolai Nikolaevich Levashev

Simonov Monastery Aksakov Sergey Timofeevich (1791–1856)-writer (reburied in Novodevichi South) Aksakova Olga Semenovna (1793–1878)-his wifebologists Dmitry Nikolaevich (1775–1852)-Lieutenantverevitinov General Alexei Vladimirovich (1806–1872)-four A.

Hegumen: Archimandrite. Tikhon.

Tel. and fax (30-377) 23255.

Monastery Stavronikita(Greek Μονή Σταυρονικήτα) - one of the Athonite monasteries, occupying 15th place in the Svyatogorsk hierarchy. Located in the eastern part Athos a; founded in the 10th century.

Legend 1 version:

The monastery got its name from a legend that once lived in its place hermit Nikita, who made crosses (Stavronikita means “Nikita’s cross”).

Legend 2 version:

The monastery of Stavronikita, in which I spent the night, is Greek - there are, however, some Little Russians here who are provided with a small paraklis (church) for Russian services. This monastery was founded by the Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah in 1653

The area of ​​the monastery is beautiful. On the south side it is surrounded by vegetable fields, and on the west there is an orchard in front of it. The poplar remains an exceptional rarity of the latter, because here I could only notice this beautiful tree; I have not seen the Holy Mountain in other places.

The view of Mount Athos from here is open. The monastery itself, however, is very compressed and cramped. Little Russians may be prejudiced against Muscovites, but we were received here very well and in the spirit of sincere hospitality.

Tea and vine were the best consolation for our tired flesh. In particular, the first, that is, tea, is now part of the necessities of our Athos life, of course, due to our ancestral habit of it in Russia.

The Greeks themselves, who at first were extremely amazed at our tea whim and rarely told their fellow tribesmen that Russians “drink fire,” were not averse to a cup of tea, especially in case of sickness or cold. It happens that, leaving the flitjani of their aromatic kave (coffee), they come to us on the cold days of autumn and winter and, wincing, say:

Cryo! Poly cryo! Chai tora polla kala! (It's cold, very cold! Tea is a wonderful thing now!)

Legend - www.site

Father Tikhon the Russian lived on Kapsala not far from the monastery

.....After Karuli, he moved to Cape Kapsala (above Kaliagra), to a cell that belonged to the Stavronikita monastery, and took upon himself the care of one elder. When this elder died, he, having taken his blessing in advance, remained to live in his kaliva. Since then, he not only did not weaken his spiritual exploits, but strengthened them even more, for which he received the abundance of God’s grace, struggling with zeal and great humility.

Divine grace revealed him to people, and numerous sufferers began to flock to him for advice and consolation. Some asked him to accept holy orders so that he could help people even more, through the Sacrament of Confession, giving them remission of sins. He himself gradually became convinced that there really was such a need to help people, and agreed to accept ordination.

However, there was no temple in his cell, although one was now necessary. He also had no money, but had great trust in the Lord. So he prayed and went to Karea, believing that God would send him the money he needed to build the temple. Before Father Tikhon had time to reach Karei, he was noticed from a distance by the dike of the Russian monastery of the prophet Elijah (a monastery that was until recently Russian; now belongs to the monastery of Pantocrator - transl.) and called him to him. When he came closer, he said to him: “One good Christian from America sent me some dollars so that I could give them to build a temple for someone who doesn’t have one. You don’t have a temple, so take this money for yourself.”

The elder began to cry with emotion and gratitude to God, also thanked the dikei and said: “May the Lord have mercy on him,” that is, the man of God who sent him this blessing. The Good Lord, as the Knower of the Heart, took care of His temple even before the elder asked Him about it, so that when he asked for money, it would already be ready. God heard him, because the elder also obeyed Him from childhood and kept the commandments of God, receiving heavenly blessings for this.

Then he found two monastic builders so that while they worked, they would at the same time say prayer (usually construction work on the Holy Mountain is carried out by lay workers, but Father Tikhon decided not to hire them for the construction of his temple - transl.). When the temple was completed, he consecrated it in honor of the Honest Cross, since he especially revered it, and also for the purpose of naturally avoiding temple festivities, because on the day of the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord there is a fast, and this day is sad. The elder did not like patronal holidays because they break the silence and distract. But at the same time, according to his silent Cross-Sunday rule, he spiritually had a holiday every day, strictly laboring and having almost no human consolation in the Caliagra gorge, from where he contemplated the sky and where he experienced the joys of heaven together with the Angels and saints. When someone asked him: “Do you live here in the desert alone?” - the elder answered: “No, I live together with the Angels and Archangels, with all the saints, with the Mother of God and Christ.”

Indeed, he constantly felt the presence of saints and the help of his Guardian Angel. One day I came to him and found that, while going up the steps, he had fallen backward and got stuck in the door, as he was wearing a lot of clothes. I lifted it with difficulty. When after that I asked him: “What would you do yourself, elder, if I weren’t here?” - He looked at me in surprise and confidently answered: “My Guardian Angel would raise me.”

Although he lived in a deserted place alone and had almost nothing in his cell, he did not want to have anything so that Christ could dwell within him, because where Christ is, there is paradise, and for Father Tikhon the lot of the Mother of God was an earthly paradise.

For many years he did not go out into the world. However, once, when there was a fire in Kapsala, he, along with other fathers, was forced to go to Thessalonica as a witness. When the elder returned to the Holy Mountain, the fathers asked him:

- How did the city and people seem to you after so many years that you did not see the world? The elder answered:

- I didn’t see a city with people, but a forest with chestnut trees.

The elder achieved such a spiritual state of holiness because he really loved Christ, humility and poverty. In his cell it was not possible to see a single convenient thing that a person could use. What he had in his cell could be found in any quantity thrown out somewhere in a ditch. However, no matter how old Father Tikhon’s things were, they were of great value to spiritual people because they were consecrated. People even looked at some of his rags with reverence and took them with them as a blessing. Everything old and clumsy that he carried on himself did not seem ugly, since it was decorated with the inner beauty of his soul. He sewed his skufia himself with a large bag needle from pieces of cassock. Despite this, they spread around them greater grace than the precious mitres of the rulers (unless, of course, there is a “pearl of great price” in the heart of the bishop - Matt. 13:46).

One day, a visitor took a photograph of the elder as he was: in a skufya in the form of a bag and in pajamas, which were thrown over his shoulders so that he would not freeze. And now those looking at this photograph of Father Tikhon think that he wore a bishop’s robe, although it is just old colorful pajamas.

He really liked wretched things. He also loved non-covetousness, which made him free and gave him spiritual wings. And so, with an inspired soul, he labored sternly, not feeling physical labor, just as a child does not feel tired when he does the will of his father, but, on the contrary, feels the love and tenderness of his father, which, of course, cannot even be mentally compared with the Divine grace-filled consolation .

As I have already said, his handicraft was spiritual deeds: fasting, vigil, prayer, bows, and so on, and not only for himself, but also for everyone (the living and the dead). When he was already old and could not rise after bowing to the ground, he tied a thick rope high and held on to it in order to get up. Thus, even in old age, he continued to make prostrations, worshiping God with reverence. He observed this rule until he went to bed, after which, having rested for twenty days, he passed into true and Eternal Life, where he rests with Christ forever. Until his old age, he constantly observed the same rule of dry eating that he had in his youth. He considered cooking to be a waste of time: well-prepared food does not correspond to monastic life. Naturally, after so many exploits and with such a spiritual dispensation, good food did not evoke any feelings in him, for Christ dwelt in him, Who delighted him and nourished him with heavenly food.

During his conversations, he always talked about sweet paradise, and tears of tenderness flowed from his eyes. When worldly people asked him about anything, his heart was not distracted by vain things.

What little he needed to support his existence, he received from his small needlework: every year he painted one Shroud and received five or six hundred drachmas for it (the elder learned icon painting while living in the Russian Belozersk monastery - transl.). He lived on this money for a whole year.

As I already said, he ate little and was very unpretentious in food: he cut one fig into two parts and ate it in two sittings. He told me: “Oh-oh-oh, my child, she’s too big for me!” - whereas I needed to eat a kilogram of such figs to be full.

Every Christmas, the elder bought himself one herring so that he could spend all the joyful days of Christmastide with permission to fish. However, he did not throw away the skeleton from her, but hung it on a string. When the Lord's or Mother of God holiday came and fish was allowed, he boiled some water in an empty tin can, dipped the skeleton of the herring in the water two or three times so that the water began to smell a little, and then threw some rice into it. So he respected the fish permit and condemned himself for even eating fish soup in the desert! He then hung the skeleton again on a nail until the next holiday, boiled it until it turned white, and only then threw it away.

When he noticed that people treated him with reverence, he became upset and told them: “I am not an ascetic, but a false ascetic.”

Only at the end of his life did he agree to a little care from those who especially loved him, since he did not want to cause them grief.

When someone donated something edible to him, he kept it with him and then sent it to the elders in Kapsala. If money was sent to him, he gave it to one pious grocer, so that he would buy bread and distribute it to the poor.

One day someone sent him a money order from America. When the elder was picking it up at the post office, one layman noticed this and, being overcome by the thought of love of money, came to the elder’s cell at night to rob him, hoping to find other money from him. The thief did not know that even what the elder received then, he immediately gave to Mr. Fedor so that he could buy bread for the poor. Having tormented the old man - squeezing his throat with a rope - he became convinced that he really had no money and got ready to leave. Then Father Tikhon speaks after him: “May God forgive you, my child.”

This villain then went to another elder for the same purpose, but there he was captured by the police and he himself said that he had also been with Father Tikhon. The policeman sent a gendarme and asked the old man to come for questioning, because the thief had to stand trial. The elder was upset and said to the gendarme: “My child, I forgave the thief with all my heart.”

However, he did not attach the slightest importance to the elder’s words, since he was carrying out the order, and forced him to go with him: “Come quickly, elder! There is no “forgive” or “bless” for you here!”

In the end, the chief took pity on the elder and allowed him to return from Ierissos to his cell, because he cried like a little child, thinking that what happened to him would be the reason for punishment for the robber.

When he remembered this incident, he could not understand with his mind what had happened and told me: “Oh-oh-oh, my child, these worldly people have a different charter! They have neither “bless” nor “God forgive”!”

The elder himself always used the word “bless” in all its monastic meanings, humbly asking for blessings from others, so that he could then give the blessing himself with the wish: “God bless you.”

After the usual greeting, he led the visitors into the temple, and together they sang “Save, Lord, Thy people...” and “It is worthy to eat...” If the weather was good, they went outside, under the olive tree, and he sat down with the guests for a minute by five. Then, with a joyful look, he stood up and said in broken Greek: “I’m now ... a treat.”

He drew water from the cistern and filled the visitor's mug with it, then also filled his tin (a tin can, which he also used as a teapot). Then he would find some kind of Turkish delight, sometimes dried out and sometimes eaten away by ants, which, being the blessing of Father Tikhon, did not cause any disgust. Having prepared everything, the elder made the sign of the cross, took water and said: “First, bless me!” - and waited until the visitor said to him: “The Lord bless you,” otherwise he did not drink water. After that, he himself taught the blessing. He considered blessings from others a necessity, not only from priests or monks, but also from lay people, young and old.

After the treat, he waited to see if the visitors would turn to him with their questions. If he saw that in front of him was an idle person who had come only to somehow pass his time, he would say to him: “My child, even the lazy will go to hell, and not only sinners.”

If he stayed and did not leave, the elder left him, entered the temple and began to pray, and as a result the visitor had to leave. When again someone wanted to take advantage of the elder’s simplicity for one purpose or another, Father Tikhon, with the help of Divine enlightenment, recognized this and told him: “My child, I don’t know Greek. Go to some Greek. He will understand you well.” ".

Of course, he never spared time and effort if he saw spiritual interest in people. He taught advice with his lips, and prayed with his heart and mind. His prayer was spontaneous, heartfelt. The people who approached him felt it because they left strengthened. And the elder blessed them until they disappeared from sight.

One day Father Agafangel Iverit visited him, while he was still a deacon. When he left, it was dark in the yard, since it was not yet dawn. Father Tikhon foresaw the danger that awaited the deacon, and this time he even climbed onto the fence of his hut, constantly blessing him. Having reached the slope, the deacon saw that the elder was still blessing him. He felt sorry for him and shouted to him not to tire himself and to go to his cell. However, he calmly, with his hands raised, like Moses, continued to pray and bless. Meanwhile, carelessly walking along his path, the deacon was suddenly ambushed by hunters who were waiting for wild boars. One hunter shot, but the elder’s prayers saved the deacon from death and the hunter from prison. Therefore, the elder always told me: “My child, never come to me at night, because animals walk at night, and hunters wait for them in ambush...”

He also told another monk, who helped him as a chorister, to come to the Divine Liturgy in the morning, at dawn. During the liturgy, he asked him to stay in a small corridor outside the church and sing “Lord, have mercy” there: he wanted to feel completely alone and be free in prayer. When the Cherubic hymn began, Father Tikhon was delighted with grace for twenty to thirty minutes, so that the singer had to repeat the Cherubic hymn many times until he heard his steps at the Great Entrance. When I asked him after that: “What do you see, elder?” - he answered me: “The Cherubim and Seraphim glorify God.”

He also said: “After half an hour, my Guardian Angel lowers me, and then I continue the Divine Liturgy.”

Father Theoclitus Dionysiatus once visited him. Since Father Tikhon’s doors were closed, and touching singing could be heard from the church, he did not want to disturb anyone by knocking on the door and decided to wait until the service was over, thinking that they were already singing the communion verse. Soon, opening the door, Father Tikhon came out to him. When Father Theoclitus went inside, he found no one there. Then he realized that it was angelic singing.

When Father Tikhon grew old and his infirmities became more and more evident, Father Maxim and Father Agafangel from the Iveron Monastery, located nearby, came to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. They also left him the Holy Gifts, because he received communion every day. Thanks to his pious life, he was always ready for this.

For Father Tikhon, almost every day of the year was Easter, and he always lived with Easter joy. One could constantly hear from his lips: “Glory to Thee, O God, glory to Thee, O God.” He advised everyone: “Let us say “Glory to Thee, O God,” not only when we feel good, but also when trials come to us, for the Lord allows them as medicine for the soul.”

The elder grieved greatly for the souls suffering from the godless authorities in Russia. He told me with tears in his eyes: “My child, Russia is still suffering penance from God, but it will survive everything.”

The old man did not care about himself at all. He also was not afraid of anything, because he had a great fear of God (he was, as it were, bound by it) and reverence. Since he labored with great humility, he was also not in danger of spiritual fall. Therefore, how could he be afraid of anything and what could frighten him? Are they demons that tremble at the sight of a humble man, or death, which he constantly thought about and for which he joyfully prepared? He even dug a grave for himself so that it would be ready, and also erected a cross, which he also made himself, and wrote on it, seeing the time of his death, the following: “Sinful Tikhon, hieromonk, 60 years on the Holy Mountain. Glory to Thee, God ".

The elder always began any business with “Glory to Thee, O God” and ended with “Glory.” Having already been reconciled with God, he said more “Glory to Thee, O God,” than “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” He lived, as we have seen, in the Divine heavenly world, taking part in heavenly praise together with the Angels during the Divine Liturgy.

Since the flame of Divine love was kindled in his heart, he, as I already said, was not worried about vain things. His cell was small. There was one table on which there were icons, as well as an unquenchable lamp and a censer. His schema and worn cassock hung nearby. On the other side of the wall hung a Crucifix, and in the corner lay three planks that served as his bed, with a torn blanket instead of a mattress. He covered himself with an old quilt with pieces of cotton wool that had come out, which mice had taken away to line their holes. On top of the so-called pillow lay the Gospel and a book with conversations of St. John Chrysostom. The floor of his cell, although it was made of planks, seemed plastered because it had never been swept. The dirt from outside, along with beard and head hair that had fallen over the years, formed the actual plaster.

Father Tikhon attached importance not to the cleansing of his cell, but to the cleansing of his soul, and therefore he was honored to become a vessel of God’s grace. He constantly washed his soul with tears and used thick towels, because he no longer had enough ordinary ones. The elder reached a high spiritual state. His soul became very sensitive, but since his mind was constantly in God, he acquired bodily insensibility, and therefore did not experience the slightest disturbance from flies, mosquitoes, or lice, of which he had thousands. His whole body was bitten, and his clothes were covered with red spots. My thoughts tell me that even if insects sucked his blood with syringes, he still wouldn’t feel it. In the elder’s cell, everything was given complete freedom: from insects to mice.

One day, a monk, seeing mice scurrying everywhere around him, said to him:

- Father, do you want me to bring you a cat? He replied:

- No, my child, I already have a cat, one and a half times larger than usual. She comes here, and I feed her, pet her, and then she goes to her kaliva at the bottom of the hollow and is silent there.

It was a fox who constantly visited the old man, like a good neighbor.

He also had a wild boar, which every year bred near the fence of his garden, being under the protection of the elder. When Father Tikhon saw hunters passing in those places, he told them: “My children, there are no big pigs here. Go away.”

The hunters thought that there were no wild boars and left.

The holy elder, like a caring father, gave spiritual food to people, and fed wild animals with the little he had. But he saturated them even more with his abundant love, and allowed small insects to feed on his blood.

The old man had a strong constitution, but from many exploits he gradually became exhausted. When someone asked him: “How are you, old man, are you healthy?”, he answered: “Glory to Thee, God, it’s good, my child. I’m not sick, but I feel weak.”

He was very upset when he saw well-fed young men, and especially well-fed monks, since obesity is incompatible with the angelic image.

One day a very fat layman visited him and told him the following:

- Elder, I have bodily abuse and unclean thoughts that do not give me any peace.

Father Tikhon answered him:

- If you, my child, listen to me, then with the help of the grace of Christ I will make you an Angel. Constantly say, my child, the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” and also spend all your days on bread and water, only on Saturday and Sunday eating food with a small amount of vegetable oil. Do also one hundred and fifty bows at night, and after that read the canon of the Mother of God, one chapter from the Gospel and the life of the saint for that day.

Six months later, when the layman again visited the elder, he could not recognize him, because he had completely lost excess weight and could easily pass through the narrow doors of his temple. The elder asked him:

- How are you doing now, my child? He answered him:

- Now I really feel like an Angel, because neither the flesh nor unclean thoughts bother me. After I lost weight, it became very easy for me.

With such practical advice he instructed people who sought his help. In addition to the experience gained, thanks to his severe ascetic deeds, he also received Divine enlightenment. The instructions were followed by prayers, the power of which was greatly felt by his visitors.

He almost never took off his stole, since it often happened that, lifting it from one person, he immediately extended it over another, removing their sins from people and giving them relief through the Sacrament of Divine Confession. He immediately forgot what was confessed to him and, thus, always saw people as good, having only pure thoughts about everyone, since his heart and mind were purified.

One day one abbot asked him:

- Starce, which of the brethren of the Kinovia is the purest?

Father Tikhon answered him:

- Holy Father, all the brothers are clean.

He never hurt a person, but healed their wounds with the balm of Christ's love. He said to the suffering soul: “My child, Christ loves you, He has forgiven you. Christ loves most of all sinners who repent and live in humility.”

He always emphasized the importance of humility and spoke about it like this: “One humble man has more grace than many people. Every morning God blesses the world with one hand, but when he sees a humble man, he blesses him with both hands. Yes, my child, he whoever has the most humility is the most!"

He also said about virgins that they should also have humility, otherwise they will not be saved by their virginity alone, for hell is filled with proud virgins.

“If someone exalts himself because he is a virgin,” said Father Tikhon, “Christ will tell him: “Since you also do not have humility, go to hell.” Whereas to the one who was a sinner, but repented and now lives humbly, confessing with contrition of heart that he is a sinner, Christ will say: “Come, my child, here, to the sweetest paradise.”

In addition to the importance of humility and repentance, he also emphasized the importance of thinking about Divine things, that is, for a person’s mind to constantly remain in God. He also spoke about the need to study the Holy Scriptures and patristic works: “Evergetinos” (the book is named after the monk Paul Evergetinos, who lived in the 11th century and compiled a soulful collection of excerpts from patristic works - trans.), “Philokalia”, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Maximus the Confessor, Simeon the New Theologian, Abba Macarius and Abba Isaac.

“The study of these works,” the elder repeated, “warms the soul and cleanses the mind.” And then a person begins to strive zealously, acquiring virtues. When he does not strive, he acquires passions.

One day he asked me:

- You, my child, what books do you read? I answered him:

- Abba Isaac.

- Yes, my child, this is a great saint! Abba Isaac did not kill a single fly.

With these words, the elder wanted to emphasize the great spiritual sensitivity of the saint.

Father Tikhon tried to imitate Saint Isaac not only in his hesychast spirit, but also in the spiritual nobility of his feelings, and also in the fact that he did not burden himself with a single person. He told the monks that they should live an ascetic life, free themselves from cares, and not work like workers and not eat like laymen, because the work of a monk is bowing, fasting, prayer, and not only for himself, but also for all over the world, about the living and the dead. You need to work a little in order to have the most necessary things and not burden others. For through excessive labor and care, man forgets God. The elder said:

- Pharaoh gave the people of Israel a lot of work and food so that they would forget God.

Before a spiritual conversation, the elder used to first say a prayer, calling on the Holy Spirit to enlighten him. He advised others to do the same. He said: “The Lord left us the Holy Spirit so that He would enlighten us. He is the Ruler of the world. Therefore, our Church begins every divine service with the prayer “To the Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Soul of Truth.” When he spoke this way about the Holy Spirit, his face changed, and many pious people noticed this change.

Some visitors secretly took photographs of the elder. Others asked for his blessing, and he simply allowed them to do this. He immediately got up, went to the temple and put on the schema. He took the cross in one hand, and straightened his long beard with the other, collecting it in a bun, and thus looked like the real patriarch Abraham, especially in the last years of his life, when he became completely white, both inside and outside. Having prepared to be photographed, he stood under an olive tree, looking like a small child at that moment. Having matured spiritually, the elder became like a small, gentle child, which Christ calls us to be like.

The monks who used his spiritual advice as he grew old began to visit him more often to provide him with any help. They asked him:

- Elder, maybe you want us to chop some wood for you?

He answered:

- Be patient, if I don’t die in the summer, then chop wood for me for the winter.

In 1968, he felt death approaching and began to talk about it constantly. The last of his bodily strength was leaving him. After the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (August 15), he lay down and drank only water, as he felt an internal heat. However, even in this state, he still did not want anyone to live near him and interfere with his unceasing prayer.

When the last week of his earthly life approached, he asked me to stay with him, because we were soon to be separated, for he had to depart to Eternal Life. However, even during these ten days, he did not leave me near him the entire time, but after I provided him with a little help, he asked me to go to the next cell and pray there. Of course, I didn’t have everything I needed to make his situation easier. But since his exhausted body never knew rest, even the slightest help seemed very significant to him.

One day I bought two lemons and made lemonade from them. After drinking a little, he became refreshed and looked at me in surprise: “Well, well, my child, this water is very good! Where did you find it? May Christ give you forty golden crowns.”

It seems he never drank lemonade, and if he did, it was only when he was very small, and had already forgotten its taste.

Since he lay motionless in bed, having lost his last bodily strength, and could not get up to go to the Church of the Holy Cross, where he had served the Liturgy with reverence for many years, he asked me to bring him the cross from the Holy Altar for consolation. When he saw the cross, his eyes shone. Having kissed it reverently, he squeezed it in his hand - tightly, with all the strength that he had left. I tied the cross with a cornflower stalk and said to him:

- Old man, does it smell good? He answered me:

- Heaven, my child, smells much better.

On one of the last days of his life, I went out to bring him some water. When, upon returning, I opened the door and entered the cell, he suddenly looked at me in surprise and asked:

-Are you Saint Sergius?

- No, elder, I’m Paisiy.

- Just now, my child, the Mother of God, Saint Sergius and Saint Seraphim were here. Where did they go?

I realized that something had happened and asked:

- What did the Mother of God tell you?

- The holiday will pass, and She will take me away.

It was the evening before the Nativity of the Mother of God, September 7, 1968, and three days later, September 10, the elder rested in the Lord.

The day before his death he told me:

- Tomorrow I will die and I want you to stay awake so that I can bless you.

That evening I felt especially sorry for him, because he took it upon himself to continually hold his hands on my head for three hours, blessing and kissing me for the last time. In gratitude for the water that I brought him at last, he said to me:

- My beloved Paisius, we, my child, will have love forever and ever. Our love has a great price. You will pray here, and I will pray in Heaven. I believe that God will have mercy on me, because for sixty years, my child, I, as a monk, constantly repeated: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

He also said:

- Now I will serve in heaven. You pray here, and I will come every year to see you. If you stay in this cell, I will be glad. However, as God pleases, my child. I have supplies for you - canned food for three years. And he showed me six small jars of sardines and four jars of squid, which someone had brought him a long time ago and which he had left lying in the same place where the visitor had put them. (For me, these canned goods would not last even a week.)

The elder repeated:

- We, my child, will have great love forever and ever, and I will come every year to see you. Tears kept flowing from his eyes.

Truly, those last ten days that I was near the elder were the greatest blessing of God for me, since during this time I received greater benefit than during any other time I came here, for I was given the opportunity to live a little next to him and get to know him better. What made the greatest impression on me was how much he cared about the issue of saving the soul. Next to his bed lay prepared letters that I should have sent by mail to his bishop friends immediately after his death so that they would remember him. He bequeathed to me to invite the bishop to read a prayer of permission over him. He also commanded that it be left in the grave until the Second Coming of Christ and not removed from the ground (according to tradition, on Holy Mount Athos, the bones of all deceased monks are removed from the grave three years after death; then they are washed and placed in special storage facilities - ossuaries - transl. ).

I informed the monastery that Father Tikhon’s last hours had come, and Father Vasily came from there to prepare him for his departure with me. It was clear how little by little the old man was fading away, like a lamp in which the oil runs out and remains only in the wick, so that the fire is already making its last flashes.

His sanctified soul departed from us, leaving us his body and an irreparable emptiness. The two of us prepared the body, and in the morning we notified other fathers about the elder’s death. The priests who knew Father Tikhon performed his funeral service with reverence. With his departure, he left pain in our souls, since his presence quenched pain and gave consolation. Now the elder will visit us from Heaven, giving us even greater help. For he himself promised: “I will come every year to see you.”

Three whole years passed, but he did not appear to me. Thoughts had already begun to arise in me: “Perhaps I have sinned in something?” However, three years later he visited me. If the elder meant that “every year” would begin in three years, this greatly consoles me, then it turns out that the reason for the delay was not in me.

So, the first visit was on September 10, 1971, after midnight. While saying the Jesus Prayer, I suddenly saw an old man entering his cell. I threw myself at his feet, hugged them and began to kiss them with reverence. However, in a way unknown to me, he freed himself from my hands. I just saw him enter the temple and disappear there. Of course, anyone will be confused if this happens to them. Just as he cannot explain this using logic, which is why it is called a miracle. I immediately lit a candle - when all this happened, I only had one lamp burning - to mark the day of the elder’s appearance on the calendar and remember him. When I saw that it was the day of Father Tikhon’s death (September 10), I was very upset and began to reproach myself for completely forgetting about it. I believe that my good father forgave me, since all that day from dawn to dusk I had visitors in the kaliva. I was running around, tired and completely forgot about everything, otherwise I would have done something to both benefit myself and bring the elder a little joy with all-night prayer.

I don't know if he appeared to others before he first visited me. In any case, once he appeared in my cell to a monk unfamiliar to me (who previously lived in the Caracalla monastery), Father Andrei.

He came to my cell so that I could help him in one matter. At the same time, neither I knew him, nor he me. He was waiting for me outside, under the olive tree, thinking that I was not at home. I was in the workshop, and no one could hear me: I was varnishing the icons. Having finished the job, I sang “Holy God...” and left. When Father Andrei saw me, with a stunned look he said the following:

“While I was waiting for you under the olive tree, my eyelids closed, but I continued to feel everything. And then I see a certain old man coming out from behind those rosemary bushes, and he says to me:

- Who are you waiting for? I answer him:

- Father Paisius.

The elder told me:

“He’s here,” and pointed his finger at the cell.

At that moment I heard you singing "Holy God..." and you walked out. Father Paisius, this must be some kind of saint - I immediately felt it. I've seen this before!

Then I told him a little about the old man and said that there, behind the bushes, was his grave. Around it I planted rosemary bushes, which grew and hid it, so that his remains would not be trampled underfoot, for he had commanded that they not be removed from the grave.

I think that from the little that I have mentioned and written about the life of the honest old man, those who have experience of spiritual life will understand a lot. Those who live humbly and unnoticed understand how unfair it is to see in saints only external virtues that cannot be hidden and only described, while the real spiritual wealth of saints is almost unknown to us. What little we usually know about saints becomes known either because they could not hide it, or because their great love forced them to perform this spiritual alms.

Only God knows the spiritual measure of the saints. Even the saints themselves did not know it, since they measured only their sins, and not their spiritual measure. Bearing in mind this rule of the saints who did not like human praise, I tried to limit my description to only what was necessary.

I believe that Father Tikhon will be happy and will not complain, as his friend Elder Silouan complained to him when Father Sophrony first published his biography. Then Elder Silouan appeared to Father Tikhon and said: “This blessed Father Sophrony wrote many praises addressed to me. I would not want this.”

That's why they are saints. God glorified them because they shunned human glory.

May the prayers of Father Tikhon and all known and unknown saints help us all in these difficult times that we are going through. Amen.

(Below is the elder’s prayer, which he wrote with great sorrow and many tears and which he sent to suffering souls in Russia like a balm from the lot of the Mother of God.)

Glory to Christ's Golgotha!

O Divine Golgotha, sanctified by the Blood of Christ! We ask you, tell us how many thousands of sinners you have cleansed with the grace of Christ, repentance and tears and brought into the Bridal Chamber of heaven! O Christ the King, with Your ineffable love and grace You filled all the heavenly palaces with repentant sinners. Here too, down below, you have mercy and save everyone. And who can adequately thank You, even if he had the mind of an angel! Sinners, hurry up. Holy Golgotha ​​is open, and Christ is blessed. Fall down to Him and kiss His holy feet.

Only He, being of good womb, can heal your ulcers! ABOUT! We will be happy when the multi-compassionate Christ deigns to wash His most pure feet with great humility, fear of God and hot tears and kiss them with love. Then the gracious Christ will deign to wash away our sins and open to us the doors of paradise, where in great joy, together with the Archangels and Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim and with all the saints, we will forever glorify the Savior of the world, the Sweetest Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit , Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity.

Hieromonk Tikhon, Holy Mountain.

The biography of the elder was compiled on May 26, 1977, on the day of remembrance of the holy Apostle Carp, in the cell of the Holy Cross, Stavronikita Monastery. Glory to You, God!

Monk Paisiy.