Otitis

The strongest protection against magic. Prayers against witchcraft

Pavel Ivanovich Plikhankov, a thirty-year-old colonel of the headquarters of the Kazan Military District, was in excellent standing with his superiors. His career began under Alexander III and rapidly went uphill. There was already talk about the rank of general. All that remained was to find a good wife and live in his own home.

But for some time now something in Pavel’s behavior began to surprise his colleagues. I stopped going to balls and to the theater too. But, he began to organize some kind of feasts for ragged children outside the city! “And all because,” they whispered behind his back, “he got involved with the monks.” The adoptive mother, who raised Pavel after the death of his natural mother, became worried about the future of her beloved stepson.

Stepmother:
- Why aren’t you, Pavlusha, looking for a bride? Soon your youth will pass, no one will want to marry you.

Pavel Ivanovich:
“Mother, just for obedience to you, I decided at the last dinner party that so be it, I’ll talk to the one who happens to be next to me at the table.” And there was a priest nearby! We spent the whole lunch talking about the Jesus Prayer. You know, mother, I thought for a long time about my future and firmly decided that I did not need to get married.

Stepmother:
- Pavlusha, are you really thinking about monasticism? I was afraid to tell you, but most of all I want you to devote your life to the Lord. Ever since you started serving at the altar as a five-year-old boy.

Pavel Ivanovich:
“Everything is going that way, mother.” And then - this incident in Moscow... It seems I didn’t tell you. When I was there on duty, I learned that Father John of Kronstadt had arrived and was serving mass in one of the military buildings. I immediately went there, but made it to the very end. I went to the altar. I see Father John transferring the Holy Gifts from the throne to the altar. Suddenly he puts the Cup down, comes up to me, kisses my hand and, without saying a word, goes back to the throne.

Stepmother:
– Father John is a great ascetic. He knows what we don't know. There is no other way, Pavlusha, for you to be a priest.

From then on, Pavel Ivanovich with all his soul rushed towards monastic life and began to live modestly and separately. One day, in the corridors of the headquarters, a magazine caught his eye. Having leafed through it, Pavel Ivanovich read: “In the Kaluga province, not far from the city of Kozelsk, there is Optina Pustyn. It contains the great elder Father Ambrose, to whom thousands of pilgrims flock daily from all over Russia.” “Who will tell me which monastery to enter,” thought Pavel Ivanovich, took a leave of absence from the service and went to the famous elder for advice. The Monk Ambrose blessed him to come to Optina Pustyn again two years later.
Exactly two years later, 46-year-old Pavel Ivanovich was promoted to general. And in the same 1891, he, leaving everything, came near Kozelsk, to a monastery famous throughout Russia under the leadership of the Optina elders. This ends the biography of Pavel Ivanovich Plikhankov and begins the life of the monk Barsanuphius.

13 years have passed. It was difficult to recognize the former brilliant, handsome officer in the meek, middle-aged monk. Not long ago, Father Barsanuphius became a hieromonk and began to confess to parishioners, and spiritual children were already coming to him from all over the country. Many called him a perspicacious old man. They also talked about miraculous healings that occurred through his prayers.
The monk would like to live the rest of his days in Optina Pustyn, never leaving it. But life decreed otherwise. In 1904, when the Russo-Japanese War began, a sixty-year-old elder, unexpectedly for everyone, was sent by his spiritual superiors to the front - to confess, give communion to the wounded and dying, and perform funeral services for the dead. Only three years later he returned to the monastery.

And in 1910, Father Barsanuphius went to the Astapovo station to give farewell to the dying Leo Tolstoy. This meeting never took place. Later the elder sadly recalled:

Rev. Barsanuphius:

– I come to Astapovo, they don’t let me see Tolstoy. I turned to his eldest daughter - she answers me with a letter, politely indeed, but with a refusal. I turn to another - she comes to me excited and tells me that it is impossible to let me see the count, since if he sees me, he will certainly die. In vain I assured that I would not start theological disputes with Tolstoy, I only asked to be allowed to bless the dying man at least from afar - no, they did not listen to anything.
I remember, on the very day of the count’s death, in the morning, a thought came to me: will they not allow me to see him today? Perhaps he will repent and be saved. At this very time they came to me to tell me that the count had died. And so the soul died. And yet how easy it was for him to be saved: I carried him the Body and Blood of Christ and went to forgive and resolve all his sins - “voluntary and involuntary.”

The last departure from Optina was the most difficult for Father Barsanuphius. Despite the elder’s great spiritual gifts, there were those dissatisfied with his activities. Due to slander and denunciations, the monk was transferred to another monastery. But the exile was short-lived. Less than a year later, the Monk Barsanuphius rested and returned to his beloved Optina Hermitage. Here, in the Vladimir Church, his relics rest to this day.

Barsanuphius of Optina

(Pavel Ivanovich Plikhankov, July 5, 1845, Samara - April 1, 1913, Kolomna, Moscow province).

« Truly, we are going through a terrible time: we are running from Christ and are ashamed of Him. But the Savior said: Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:38)...Meanwhile, especially rich people are ashamed to admit that they are Christians.”

“And not so long ago, when I was six years old, they were not ashamed of Christ. In the homes of the rich, even when they sat down at large tables, they first read a prayer and were baptized, but 60 years passed - and everything changed. Due to the indifference of educated, and often simple, people to the Church and its rituals, many are tempted... and finally perish.”

“In the Church we no longer have living prophets, but we do have signs. They are given to us for the knowledge of times. They are clearly visible to people who have a spiritual mind. But this is not recognized in the world...

“We will live to see a terrible time, but the grace of God will cover us...”

Everyone is going against Russia, that is, against the Church of Christ, for the Russian people are God-bearers, the true faith of Christ is preserved in them.”

“The eldership is now burning out... There is no longer an eldership everywhere, in Optina our little cinders are burning out. The enemy rebels against nothing more than the care of the elderly: it destroys all his strength.

Everywhere he tried to extinguish it and extinguished it. There are monks who live regularly, but they know nothing about the revelation of thoughts, about eldership. Therefore, without eldership, in many monasteries there was only one form of monastic life, one appearance. Nowadays, rarely does anyone say the Jesus Prayer, and what is monasticism without the Jesus Prayer?”

“We think too abstractly about the torments of hell, as a result of which we forget about them. The world has completely forgotten about them. The devil inspired us all that neither he (i.e. the devil) nor the torments of hell exist.”

“I have to hear complaints that we are now going through difficult times, that complete freedom has now been given to all heretical and godless teachings, that the Church is being attacked from all sides by enemies and people are becoming afraid for it, that these muddy waves of unbelief and heresies will overcome it.

I always answer: “Don't worry! Don't be afraid for the Church! She will not perish: the gates of hell will not prevail against her until the Last Judgment. Don’t be afraid for her, but you need to be afraid for yourself, and it’s true that our time is very difficult. Why? Yes, because now it is especially easy to fall away from Christ, and then - destruction.”

“Something dark, terrible is coming into the world... A person remains, as it were, defenseless, he is so possessed by this evil force, and he does not realize what he is doing... Suicide is even suggested...”

He warned about the fading of faith among the Russian people:« We have a lot of thieves. Not those who pick pockets or rob houses, no, these thieves are meaner and more dangerous. They come to you in a suit, say loud phrases, and as a result they steal the most precious thing - your faith. When a person’s faith is stolen, he asks his teachers: “How can we live now?” “Live according to your own understanding,” they answer.

Reason, as we know, without faith, is not always a good adviser, and a person begins to follow the desires of his flesh and falls lower and lower. Children, take care of the holy faith, this is an invaluable treasure, with it you will enter the Kingdom: after all, we do not work for little things, but to conquer the Kingdom, and what a Heavenly one at that! »

« There was a rich man who suddenly became poor, it’s hard, but it’s fixable. He was healthy, he became sick, and this can be corrected - for Christ is with the poor and with the sick. If you lose faith, it will be a great misfortune. It is so terrible that a person has no support... ».

“At present, not only among the laity, but also among the young clergy, the following conviction is beginning to spread: as if eternal torment is incompatible with the infinite mercy of God, therefore, torment is not eternal. This misconception stems from a lack of understanding of the matter.”

“In the city of Kostroma there once lived a blessed man who often asked a pious merchant: “Well, are the dead people still alive?” Some laughed at his words, not understanding their meaning, but the spiritual man understood that by the dead, the blessed one meant passions that die out in pious people, but are still alive, and one must always be on guard.

People who struggle with passions, like all of us, are sometimes overcome by them, sometimes conquered by them. Those who fight will be saved, the Lord will not despise their labors and efforts and will send them a Christian death. Carnal people, who do not think at all about the salvation of their souls, will perish, unless, of course, they bring repentance before death.”

“They don’t think about how to try so that children gain Christ. They say that money can buy everything. Only Christ cannot be bought for any treasure in the world. And without Christ there is no life, no salvation. The students were surprised how I managed to say everything for the benefit. I answered them that I did not come up with what to say myself, but said what the Lord told me.”

“They write to me: “I hoped to find complete peace of mind in the monastery, I thought that there I would be imbued with a spirit of prayer, but what happens in reality? Life in the monastery is the same gray as in the world: envy, intrigue, gossip... No, I can’t stand this, what should I do now?”

“The death of unbelievers and blasphemers is terrible, and now there are so many of them! The writer Spencer characterizes many people this way: “People are pieces of wood, but their heart is a ruble.” What a profit from a piece of wood and from a ruble, and this expression very aptly characterizes people who are immersed in petty earthly interests and do not think at all about other, higher ideals. And indeed, the Lord is not mocked (Gal.6:7), and the law of retribution remains in full force. Sinners are punished not only in the future, but also in this life.”

He spoke about the spread of occult hypnosis in his time:« The priest also spoke about the terrible power of hypnotism. Truly this is a terrible force. Usually this power is used by sorcerers, sorcerers and other evil people to commit evil. For example, they order a man to kill himself, and he kills. Almost the only, if not the only, force against him is the Jesus Prayer » .

Not done Is this house a den of thieves in your eyes, over which named

My name? Behold, I have seen it, says the Lord» (Jer.7:4-11)

He wrote about how the enemy of the human soul seduced pre-revolutionary Russian society:« Terrible phenomena sometimes happen in the cells of monks. We live in separate cells, but there must be at least two people in a separate room. This is so that in case of any demonic obsessions you can knock on your neighbor’s cell and ask for help. We had an outbuilding where one monk lived, but now they don’t allow one to live there.

Once there was such a case. After the evening rule, the monk saw that some man, already of advanced years, was sitting in his cell and said to him: “Why are you only smoking the sky here! Return to your previous activities, you will bring much more benefit there and, receiving a good salary, you will live for your own pleasure.”

“But how to leave here? The doors of the monastery are well locked." "Don't worry about it, just wish it, and I will instantly transport you. There are already three at the gate." "But who are you? Right, demon? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!” exclaimed the monk who came to his senses, and the evil spirit disappeared... Only the devil can insult like that - so viciously, so boldly, so brazenly...

For example, today he may have insulted me so much and said such nasty things that I barely got up. He said it, of course, in a dream, in reality, thank God, he doesn’t appear to me, and you know, he says everything with a smile. So desperate villains, as they say, usually speak with a smile. So we fall under his power and do what pleases him: we offend others, allow laughter, idle talk, etc. And of course, he is to blame for everything...” .

“The pride in which they (demons) stand before God, we cannot even imagine. We cannot understand with what hatred they treat God... “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). Why is it not said that God opposes fornicators, or the envious, or anyone else, but it is said: specifically the proud? Because this is a demonic quality. The proud one becomes, as it were, akin to a demon... Behind pride, as if in its footsteps, fornication always follows ».

“The elder, when asked why demons bother us so much, answered: “Because we have rejected our weapons: self-reproach, humility, poverty and patience.”

“The monastic hieromonk and confessor Fr. Illary told me that Fr. Macarius, the Elder of Optina, once said under Archimandrite Moses that we will not see the last times, but our descendants will, as if hinting at the imminent end of the world.”

“The spirit of this age reigns in the world. Vice is not restrained there. For example, what a disgrace it is in Moscow, especially on holidays. It’s scary for a chaste girl to walk through the streets: the windows display such nasty paintings and statues that, looking at them, you feel how your sense of modesty and chastity is offended” (1910).

“Now it is especially easy to fall away from Christ and fall under the power of dark power.”

“In our monastery lives schemamonk Father Boris, an old man of about eighty, of good life, loved and respected by everyone. He recently told me that at night many demons in the form of wanderers came to the doors of his kalia and knocked on him. He performs the obedience of the goalkeeper in the monastery, and his cell has a window overlooking the forest surrounding the monastery, and the door opens into the courtyard of the monastery. Since the gates are locked at night, therefore, no outsider can enter the monastery at night.

The night before last, the same Father Boris said, the demons terribly approached him and knocked on the gate, asking him to open it. Both times Father Boris drove away the demons with the Jesus Prayer.

This same Father Boris had previously lived for about three years in one of the corner towers of the monastery. At this time, demons bothered him a lot. For example, at night his kalias will start dancing over the ceiling, singing bad songs, playing musical instruments, and sometimes appearing in the form of large rats. Father Boris is silent about other insurances, he just waves his hand. He says that if you walk past this tower at night, you can hear the screaming and howling of demons.”

“The head of our monastery, Father Anatoly, also personally conveyed to me the following incident. In the house of his friend, who now serves as the manager of the treasury chamber in one of the provinces of the Kingdom of Poland, a demon appeared. His appearance was marked by knocking at night, the movement of furniture in the rooms, and most importantly, by the horror that attacked everyone living in the house, especially at night. Children saw him as a small boy, dressed in a red jacket and performing various somersaults and jumps.

This acquaintance told one city archpriest, an academician, about everything that was happening in his house. The highly learned father archpriest, in response to this, only laughed at the simplicity and gullibility of his friend, but, however, promised to come in and personally see the demonic tricks. Upon his arrival, during evening tea, suddenly he, and everyone else, sitting... saw that a glass of vodka was flying through the air and stood opposite him on the table.

Behind her came another, then a third, so that many glasses filled with vodka, liqueurs, and wines appeared in the same way before the archpriest’s father, who from amazement and horror could not come to his senses, seeing what was happening before his eyes. At the same time, he was also quite embarrassed by the fact that he really liked to drink. The scientist inevitably believed in the existence of demons.”

“The monastery monk Father Adrian told me the following incident. He was about seven years old. One day he went to visit relatives who lived in the same village. In these relatives’ house it was, as they say in general about houses like this, “restless.” While playing in the room, the children suddenly saw some creature peeking out from under the bed. It was in the middle of the day, although there were no adults in the room.

The eldest girl, the daughter of the owner, was no more than twelve years old. The children rushed to run from the room, and he was with them; the girl ran last, and he ran ahead of her. When he ran out into the hallway and looked back, he saw that some living creature, similar to a ball and covered with hair, had run out from under the bed. At that time the girl wanted to close the door, but the creature rested its forehead on the door and did not allow it to be closed, so the door remained open a quarter, at which time he managed to see the invisible creature.

At the cry of the girl and other children, adults came running, but at the very moment when they approached the girl, who was leaning against the door from the hallway, the creature instantly disappeared, and they did not see it. The height of the unknown creature was about an arshin.”

“The head of our monastery, Father Anatoly, told me: “In our monastery, a certain Zhadkevich, originally from the nobility, lived as a novice. The demon did not give him peace, confusing him with the thought that at death he would immediately grab his soul and drag him to hell. The devil and insurance brought it upon him.

So, when Zhadkevich was one day walking through the monastery, he saw a cook suddenly run out of the meal with a broom with burning coals on it, and rushed to strike him with the broom. In horror, Zhadkevich rushed to run away from him, but the cook suddenly disappeared. It turned out that it was not the cook, but a demon who took his image.”

"Reverend JacobWith his life as an equal to the angels, he achieved such holiness that he performed great miracles: he healed the sick, cleansed lepers, cast out demons, raised the dead. But then one day temptation came upon him. At night a woman knocked on his cell, asking for shelter, as she had lost her way. The monk took pity on her and, fearing that wild animals might tear her apart, allowed her to spend the night with him.

After a meager meal, the saint went into his inner cell, but an evil thought began to confuse him; he entered again and, seeing the woman naked, fell into sin with her against her will. When the sin was committed, the devil began to inspire Jacob to kill the woman so that his sin would not be made public and the entire monasticism would not be reproached. Listening to these evil suggestions, he committed another mortal sin - murder.”

“I remember a terrible incident that happened at one ball, back when I was in the world. In one rich aristocratic house there was a masquerade ball (I wasn’t there, but my comrades told me about it). There was one wonderful beauty at this ball. The only daughter of rich parents, she was well educated, brought up (of course, only in a secular way), why not give her pleasure?

Her parents spared nothing for her. Her costume depicted a pagan goddess, cost several hundred rubles, and much was said about this costume. The ball opened, as always, with a polka dance, followed by other dances, and finally a French quadrille. During the quadrille, the beauty suddenly fell in her death throes. She tore off her mask, her face turned black and looked terrible. The jaws were set, the eyes expressed horror with a plea for help that no one could give her. And so she died in the middle of the ball...

She appeared before the court of God, and the Lord said: “What I find you in, I judge you in.” So the Lord found her among the games, in the clothes of the goddess of debauchery, and her soul went into the dark confines of hell. This is where serving the world ends!”

“Usually the period of time from Christmas to Epiphany, but often this concept is combined with the concept of sinful pleasures, of which there are so many at this time.

The enemy mocks Christians, and the time in which the mystery of our salvation was accomplished turns into a rampant of all kinds of vices. That’s why I called it a feat that you left all worldly pleasures: theaters, balls, masquerades - and came to our quiet abode to spend these days in prayer, spiritual conversation and moving away from worldly vanity.”

“Why does it happen that someone thinks that he is lower than every creature, but his action does not correspond to this thought? “If you do not see actions that correspond to a humiliated opinion of yourself, then this latter is not true, but the seduction of demons.”

He said a year before his death:“The end comes ... (to faith) in Russia, according to the prophecies of the monk Abel and Saint Seraphim of Sarov. Dark clouds are gathering over Russia...

There are monks who live regularly, but they know nothing about the revelation of thoughts, about eldership, for the elder stands much higher than the monk and many bishops. Therefore, without eldership, in many monasteries there was only one form of monastic life, one appearance. When the last elder disappears, we can say that Orthodoxy in Rus' has come to an end. ThirdRome will fall, and then seven bowls will be poured on the Earth by the great heavenly Judge.”

Barsanuphius of Optina did not live to see 1917 and did not know how prophetically his predictions about God’s punishment of Russian Sodom had come true. He spoke about this many times to his disciple, the future hieromonk Elder Nikon (Belyaev):“We will leave, and you will be participants and contemporaries of all these horrors...

You will live to see terrible times. Mark my words, you will see “the day of cruelty.”

Simultaneously with Rev. Joseph and Rev. Anatoly, and after their death, the monastery leader, Ven. Barsanuphius, later Schema-Archimandrite.

Elder Barsanuphius, in the world Pavel Ivanovich Plikhankov, from hereditary nobles, was born on July 5, 1845. After completing his education in the Polotsk Cadet Corps, he entered military service and rose to the rank of colonel of the Orenburg Cossack Army as the head of the mobilization department and senior adjutant of the Kazan Military District. But the spiritual direction, instilled in him by his pious parents in childhood, took precedence over other interests, and he decided to devote himself to God.

Subsequently, about himself, Rev. Barsanuphius said: “I went to early mass every day. This is how my stepmother taught me, and how grateful I am to her now! It happened in the village, when I was only five years old, she woke me up every day at 6 o’clock in the morning. I didn’t want to get up. , but she pulled off the blanket and forced me to get up; and I had to go, no matter what the weather, a mile and a half to mass. Thanks to her for such an upbringing. She showed her good persistence, instilled in me a love for the Church, since she herself always prayed fervently! ".

When the elder was still an officer, he was lucky enough to attend the liturgy served by St. right O. John of Kronstadt. Pavel Ivanovich walked into the altar. At that time, St. John transferred the Holy Gifts from the throne to the altar. Having placed the Chalice of St. John quickly approached him, kissed his hand and, without saying anything, went back to the throne. Everyone present looked at each other and said afterwards that he would probably be a priest. But Pavel Ivanovich did not even think about it then.

And so, one day, seriously ill with pneumonia and feeling the approach of death, he ordered the orderly to read the Gospel aloud, and he himself forgot... And at that time a wonderful vision followed him: he saw the heavens open and shuddered all over with great fear and light. His whole life flashed instantly before him. He was deeply imbued with the consciousness of repentance throughout his life, and heard a voice from above commanding him to go to Optina Pustyn. A revolution took place in his soul, his spiritual vision was opened, he understood the full depth of the words of the Gospel. According to Elder Nektarios, “from a brilliant military man, in one night, by the will of God, he became a great old man.” He bore the name Paul in the world, and this miracle that happened to him recalls the wonderful calling of his heavenly patron - the Apostle Paul. Pavel Ivanovich himself, being born on the day of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, considered him his patron.

To the surprise of everyone, the sick colonel began to recover quickly, recovered and left for Optina Pustyn. The elder in Optina at that time was the Venerable. Ambrose, who told him to finish all his business in three months with the understanding that if he did not arrive on time, he would die. And then various obstacles began. Colonel Plikhankov came to St. Petersburg for his resignation, but he was offered a more brilliant position and his resignation was delayed. His comrades laughed at him, payment of money was delayed, he could not pay for everything he needed, he looked for money on loan and could not find it. But Elder Barnabas from the Gethsemane monastery helped him out: he showed him where to get money and hurried him to fulfill God’s command. People, opposing his departure, even found him a bride... Only his stepmother was happy and blessed him for his monastic feat. With God's help, he overcame all obstacles and appeared in Optina on the last day of his three-month sentence. Elder Ambrose lay in a coffin, and he clung to his coffin.

In December 1891, Pavel Ivanovich was accepted into the brotherhood of the Baptist monastery. And Elder Ambrose’s successor, Rev. Anatoly gave him the obedience to be a cell attendant under the Rev. Nectarias. Near Elder Nektarios, St. Over the course of ten years, Barsanuphius passed through all the monastic degrees, up to hieromonk, and studied theoretically and practically the Holy Fathers. For three years, every evening he went for long conversations to Elder Anatoly, and then to Elder Joseph. In 1903, His Eminence Anthony, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, summoned him for a higher appointment, but Rev. Barsanuphius, out of humility and love for a solitary life, declined the bishop’s offer and remained in Optina, where in 1907 he was appointed monastery commander, elevated to the rank of hegumen, and awarded the club. He was entrusted with the spiritual care of the brotherhood and all visitors, with whom he then established continuous spiritual communication, the fruit of which was daily correspondence, reaching no less than 4000 letters annually.

The rigor of life, theological erudition and rare prudence very soon attracted the attention of many to him. With the death of St. John of Kronstadt and Elder Barnabas of Gethsemane, the influx of pilgrims to Optina increased noticeably. Among them were many people from the upper classes, as well as students of both sexes in higher educational institutions. Excited by various feelings and confused by doubts, they resorted to the help and guidance of Elder Barsanuphius and from him, with the assistance of the grace of God, they found appropriate healing.

At Rev. Barsanuphius had a character somewhat similar to that of the great Optina elders Leo and Anatoly. His incorruptible justice, simplicity and directness were unbearable for all the proud, arbitrary and unconfessed sinners. He could never be disingenuous and could not tolerate double-mindedness in anything.

Rev. Barsanuphius had the gift of foresight no less than other elders. In him this gift was especially openly expressed. He saw the human soul, and this made it possible to raise up the fallen, direct them from the wrong path to the true one, heal mental and physical illnesses, and cast out demons.

This is how he describes the confession of the Rev. Barsanuphius is one of his spiritual sons. “He was a wonderful old man who had the gift of clairvoyance, which I experienced myself when he accepted me into the monastery and confessed me for the first time. I was speechless with horror, seeing before me not a person, but an angel in the flesh, who reads my innermost thoughts, reminds me of facts and people whom I had forgotten. I was obsessed with unearthly fear. He encouraged me and said: “Do not be afraid, it was not I, sinful Barsanuphius, but God revealed to me about you. During my life, don’t tell anyone what you are experiencing now, but after my death you can talk.”

A similar incident occurred with Sofia Mikhailovna Lopukhina, née Osorgina, who told her loved ones about her meeting with Rev. Barsanuphius, which influenced her entire future life. She came to Optina Pustyn as a 16-year-old girl. She was struck by the crowd of thousands around the old man’s “hut,” as the wooden houses where the elders received people were called. She stood on a stump to look at the old man when he came out. Soon the elder appeared and immediately beckoned her. He brought her into the cell and told her her whole life year after year, listing all her misdeeds, when and where she committed them, and called the characters by their names. And then he said: “Tomorrow you will come to me and repeat to me everything that I told you. I wanted to teach you how to confess.”

The elder, dressed in a half-robe, epitrachelion and vestments, conducted conversations before confession. In them, he, revealing the souls of those present with the help of various incidents in life, pointed out forgotten or dubious sins, while he did not look at anyone, so as not to confuse and clearly indicate. So one girl later said: “But it was the priest who described me! It was my secret, how could he know?!” After the general confession, the elder confessed each one separately. He slowly asked questions, listened and gave instructions. At the same time, he had exactly the same attitude towards both the elders and the very last. Being very attentive and loving, he healed souls, for he knew to the subtleties the spiritual structure of everyone.

Blessing those who fast, he advised after Compline, at which the canons are read, not to eat anything before receiving the Holy Mysteries. In exceptional cases, he was allowed to drink one tea. “Sometimes on the day of communion there is a painful mood, but there is no need to pay attention to this and there is no need to despair, since on this day the devil especially takes up arms against a person and acts on him through hypnosis. Hypnosis is an evil, not a Christian force. Thanks to this hypnosis, the devil confuses us, the clergy, when we celebrate the liturgy,” said the elder. I did not recommend going to bed during the day on the day you received communion.

Rev. Barsanuphius said: “You should not leave the church before the end of mass, otherwise you will not receive the grace of God. It is better to come to the end of mass and survive than to leave before the end. Here in our church they read the Six Psalms, and people often leave the church at this time. But they do not understand or feel that the Six Psalms is a spiritual symphony, the life of the soul, which captures the entire soul and gives it the highest pleasure."

During his entire stay in Optina, the elder never left the monastery and left it only out of obedience. His last trip was in 1910 to the Astapovo station to address and give farewell to the dying Count L. Tolstoy, but, as everyone knows, those around the Count did not allow him, to the general regret of all Orthodox Christians and the Venerable himself. Barsanuphius, who sadly said: “They weren’t allowed to see Tolstoy. I prayed to the doctors and relatives, nothing helped... The late Tolstoy was bound with an iron ring; although Leo was there, he could neither break him nor get out of him...”

Despite the great spiritual gifts of St. Barsanuphius and his administrative abilities, there were people dissatisfied with his activities. These were mostly new monks who came to the monastery from a spiritually degraded pre-revolutionary environment. They did not understand the essence of monastic feat in general and the idea of eldership in particular. They wanted to make changes in the monastery, in particular, to close the monastery, and for this, they wanted to occupy positions of authority. Things came to an open revolt. Unfortunately, through complaints and slanderous denunciations, they misled the bishop, Bishop Seraphim Chichagov, at whose petition Elder Barsanuphius was removed from Optina Pustyn and appointed abbot of the Golutvinsky Monastery, one of the most backward monasteries in Russia. This happened in April 1912. Golutvinsky Monastery St. Barsanuphius found it in a state of disrepair both from the outside and from the inside. But, despite his old age, illness and difficult experiences of the last days, he did not lose heart. With his characteristic energy, he set to work as a rector, taking care of the external and internal improvement of the monastery. His labors were prohibitively great and associated with great sorrows, mainly when he came into contact with the dissolved brethren.

In a very short time, the monastery began to renew itself and prosper. Meanwhile, as Orthodox believing people from everywhere flocked to the elder to receive relief from mental and physical ailments, the Venerable himself. Barsanuphius was suffering from illness. He managed somehow throughout 1912, but already from the beginning of 1913 he began to weaken rapidly... 365 days had elapsed since leaving Optina Pustyn, with which the death of the priest was supposed to coincide, according to the hidden prophecy of Blessed Paraskeva of Sarov.

Father suffered greatly and sometimes even groaned. In addition to the holy saints of God and the Mother of God, for whom he had love, he also called upon the Optina elders, saying: “Father Lev, Father Macarius, Father Ambrose, Father Hilarion, Father Anatoly, Father Joseph, help me with your holy prayers!”

On April 1, 1913, at 7:07 am, he betrayed his pure soul into the hands of the Lord, Whom he loved so much and for whose sake he crucified himself all his life until the last minute. Immediately the elder’s body was hidden and clothed in the schema, which he had secretly had since 1910 and in which he bequeathed to be placed in the coffin.

To the great consolation of his spiritual children, the Holy Synod allowed him to be buried in Optina Pustyn, where his body was transported. Here, near the tombs of the great Optina elders, opposite the grave of Hieroschemamonk Pimen and next to the great elder Fr. Anatoly, with his beloved spiritual father and leader, and found the place of his final resting place, Rev. Barsanuphius. The great old man died and rested in his beloved Optina Pustyn.

Bishop Tryphon, who knew the elder from that distant time when he was a novice and deeply revered him, said the following: “You only knew how to love, only do good, and what a sea of anger and slander poured out on you! You accepted everything with humility, like long-suffering Job. I am a witness that I have not heard a single word of condemnation from you to anyone... I, as a shepherd, know that in our time His instructions are all the more valuable because he combined them with education. height of monastic life..."

The skies are clearer here, and their azure is purer...
Carrying a worldly yoke, and performing sorrowful
In the midst of darkness and rapids, the thorny path of life,
I was honored to see a glimpse of paradise.
Art. Barsanuphius

Born in Samara into a pious family. My father came from the Orenburg Cossacks. He studied at the Orenburg Military School and at officer courses in St. Petersburg. He lived in the world like a monk.

In 1889 I was in Optina for the first time; With the blessing of Elder Ambrose, after a miraculous healing from a fatal illness, he entered the St. John the Baptist Skete. He spent ten years in seclusion, living under the guidance of elders Anatoly and Nektarios, studying ascetic literature and doing the Jesus Prayer. He became an assistant to the monastery commander, confessor of the Skete and the Shamordino monastery. He possessed the gift of spiritual reasoning and insight.

Was in spiritual communion with St. right John of Kronstadt, Elder Barnabas of Gethsemane, Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg, Metropolitan Tryphon of Moscow.

Venerable Barsanuphius (Plikhanov), Elder of Optina - image from the page “Kolomna Saints” of the book “Temples of the Cathedral Square of Kolomna”.

While still in the world, the young colonel suddenly fell ill with pneumonia. Doctors determined his situation was hopeless. Feeling the breath of death, the patient ordered the orderly to read the Holy Gospel. Suddenly he saw the heavens open and shuddered with great fear and light. The deepest repentance suddenly pierced his soul. “From a brilliant military man, in one night, by the will of God, he became a great old man,” Elder Nektarios said about what happened.

In his entire appearance there is something similar to the great prophets or apostles, who reflected the glory of God on themselves with a bright light.

In the memories of Fr. Vasily Shustin reported that Fr. John of Kronstadt, having seen in spirit a true ascetic in the person of Father Barsanuphius, kissed the hand of the young officer, the future elder and schema-monk, in the altar of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kronstadt.

Many saw the elders illuminated by light during their prayer. Father Barsanuphius was also seen as if in flames during the Divine Liturgy.

“Once I was present when Father Barsanuphius served the liturgy,” one nun recalled, “I had to see and experience something indescribable: Father was illuminated by a bright light. He was, as it were, the focus of this fire and emitted rays. A ray of light emanating from him illuminated the face of the one serving the deacon is with him."

Life of the Venerable Optina Elder Barsanuphius (1845-1913)

“All life is a wondrous mystery, known only to God. There are no random combinations of circumstances in life, everything is providential. We do not understand the meaning of this or that circumstance. Before us are many boxes and there are no keys to them...”
Venerable Barsanuphius

Our Reverend Father Barsanuphius, in the world - Pavel Ivanovich Plikhankov, was born on July 5, 1845. His path to the monastery was long and difficult; 46 years passed in the world - most of his life. Cadet corps, military service, brilliant career. A direct opportunity to acquire all worldly goods. And... giving up everything. Colleagues and acquaintances could not understand: what kind of “flaw” was in the slender, handsome colonel, whose whole appearance breathed some kind of amazing inner nobility? He does not get married, he avoids balls and dinner parties, as well as other social entertainments. I used to go to the theater, but then I quit. Sometimes they even said behind Pavel Ivanovich’s back: “He’s crazy, what a man he was!..”

Meanwhile, these were only milestones on Pavel Ivanovich’s path to leaving the earthly and ascending the mountain. Somehow his feet “by themselves” led him to a small, poor monastery dedicated to St. John the Baptist. There he fell in love with praying at the relics of St. Barsanuphius of Kazan; he stood for long hours in the monastery church at the shrine of the saint. The thought of monasticism was frightening at first; entering a monastery seemed impossible. But gradually the determination to leave the world matured. All that remained was to make a choice: in which monastery to begin the monastic feat? During the period of these thoughts, Pavel Ivanovich came across a spiritual magazine, and in it there was an article about Optina Pustyn and the Venerable Elder Ambrose.

When he was just approaching the Optina monastery, one blessed woman who was in Elder Ambrose’s “hut” unexpectedly joyfully said:

Pavel Ivanovich has arrived.

“Thank God,” said the Monk Ambrose calmly...

Here, in the “shack,” Pavel Ivanovich heard the reverend’s words that struck him: “Come in two years, I will receive you.” After two years, Colonel Plikhankov submitted his resignation. He arrived in Optina on the last day of the time allotted to him by the monk, but he no longer found the elder alive.

On February 10, 1892, Pavel Ivanovich was enrolled in the brotherhood of St. John the Baptist Skete and dressed in a cassock. Every evening for three years he went to talk to the elders: first to Rev. Anatoly, and then to Rev. Joseph.

A year later, on March 26, 1893, during Great Lent, novice Pavel was tonsured into the ryassophore, and in December 1900, due to illness, he was tonsured into the mantle with the name Barsanuphius, on December 29, 1902 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and on January 1, 1903 he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk. ..

In 1903, Rev. Barsanuphius was appointed assistant to the elder and at the same time confessor of the Shamordino women's hermitage and remained so until the outbreak of the war with Japan.

Soon the Russian-Japanese War begins, and Rev. Barsanuphius, for obedience, goes to the front: confesses, administers unction and gives communion to the wounded and dying, and is himself repeatedly exposed to mortal danger. After the end of the war, Rev. Barsanuphius returns to clergy. In 1907, he was elevated to the rank of abbot and appointed head of the monastery.

By this time, his fame was spreading throughout Russia. The holy righteous father John of Kronstadt and the venerable elder Barnabas of Gethsemane have gone to their eternal abodes. The country was approaching a terrible war and an immeasurably more terrible revolution, the sea of life, agitated by the whirlwinds of crazy ideas, was already “rising up a storm of misfortunes,” people were drowning in its waves...

As if to a saving haven, they strove to the blessed Optina monastery to Rev. Barsanuphius sought to heal not only bodies, but also tormented, sin-weary souls, seeking an answer to the question: how to live in order to be saved? He saw the human soul, and through prayers the most hidden things in a person were revealed to him, and this gave him the opportunity to raise up the fallen, direct them from the wrong path to the true one, heal illnesses, mental and physical, and cast out demons.

His gift of insight was especially evident when he performed the Sacrament of Confession. S. M. Lopukhina told how, having arrived as a 16-year-old girl in Optina, she ended up in a “shack” where the elder received her. The Monk Barsanuphius saw her and called her into the confessional and there he recounted her whole life, year after year, offense after offense, not only indicating the exact dates when they were committed, but also naming the names of the people with whom they were associated. And having completed this terrible retelling, he ordered: “Tomorrow you will come to me and repeat to me everything that I told you. I wanted to teach you how to confess.”...

Optina throughout his monastic life, St. Barsanuphius left only a few times - only out of obedience. In 1910, also “for obedience,” he went to Astapovo station to give farewell to the dying L.N. Tolstoy. Subsequently, he recalled with deep sadness: “They didn’t allow me to see Tolstoy... I prayed to the doctors and relatives, nothing helped... Although he was a Leo, he could not break the ring of the chain with which Satan bound him.”

In 1912, Rev. Barsanuphius is appointed rector of the Staro-Golutvin Epiphany Monastery. Despite the elder’s great spiritual gifts, there were those dissatisfied with his activities: through complaints and denunciations, he was removed from Optina. He humbly asked to be left in the monastery to live in peace, asked to be allowed to stay at least as a simple novice.

“Father, he can’t hear you,” the mother exclaims in confusion, “he’s deaf...” “He’s the one who can’t hear you,” the elder answers, “but he can hear me,” and again he says something in a whisper in his ear. to a young man. His eyes widen in horror and he obediently nods his head...

After confession, Rev. Barsanuphius gives him communion, and the illness leaves the sufferer.

The elder ruled the monastery for less than a year. His suffering during his dying illness was truly martyrdom. Refusing the help of a doctor and any kind of food, he only repeated: “Leave me, I’m already on the cross”... The elder took communion every day.

On April 1/14, 1913, he gave up his pure soul to the Lord. Our venerable father Barsanuphius was buried in Optina, next to his spiritual father and teacher, the venerable Anatoly “The Elder.”

(1845−1913)

On July 5, 1845, a son was born to merchant Ivan Plikhanov in Samara; the baby was named Pavel. Ivan's wife died immediately after giving birth, so he was forced to remarry.

Elder Barsanuphius said: “My stepmother was a deeply religious and unusually kind woman, so she completely replaced my mother... She got up very early, and was with me every day at Matins... She also loved to pray at home. Sometimes an akathist reads, and I sing in a thin voice throughout the apartment: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!”

Once, when I was 6 years old, there was such a case. We lived in a dacha on our estate near Orenburg. Our house stood in a huge garden-park and was guarded by guards and dogs, so it was impossible for an outsider to enter the park unnoticed.

One day my father and I were walking in the park, and suddenly, out of nowhere, an old man appeared in front of us. Approaching my father, he said:

Remember, father, that the child will in due time drag souls from hell.

Having said this, he turned and disappeared. They looked for him everywhere in vain; none of the watchmen saw him...

For ten years I was sent to a gymnasium... Then I entered the service and settled in Kazan under the protection of the Queen of Heaven...

When I was 35 years old, my mother turned to me:

Why are you, Pavlusha, always avoiding women, soon your years will be over, no one will marry you?

For obedience, I fulfilled my mother's wish... On this day, some friends were hosting a dinner party. “Well,” I think, “whoever I have to sit next to, I’ll enter into a lengthy conversation with.” And suddenly, at dinner, a priest, distinguished for his high spiritual life, sat next to me and started a conversation with me about the Jesus Prayer...

When lunch was over, I had a firm decision not to get married.

The Lord led me to monasticism in mysterious ways. By the grace of God, I recognized Optina and Father Ambrose, who blessed me to enter the monastery.”

In 1881, Pavel fell ill with pneumonia. When, at the request of the sick colonel, the orderly began to read the Gospel, a miraculous vision followed, during which Paul’s spiritual insight occurred. According to Elder Nektarios, “from a brilliant military man, in one night, by the will of God, he became an old man.”

On March 26, 1893, novice Pavel was tonsured into the ryasophore, and in December 1900 he was tonsured into the mantle with the name Barsanuphius.

On December 29, 1902 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and on January 1, 1903 he was ordained a hieromonk...

In 1903, Hieromonk Barsanuphius was appointed assistant to the elder and at the same time confessor of the Shamorda women's hermitage and remained so until the outbreak of the war with Japan.

In 1904, Father Barsanuphius was sent to serve the infirmary named after St. Seraphim of Sarov, to confess, give communion, and unction to wounded and dying soldiers. Upon returning to Optina Pustyn after the end of the war, Father Barsanuphius was elevated to the rank of abbot and appointed by the Holy Synod as rector of the Optina monastery.

Elder Barsanuphius would later write: “All my actions and desires boiled down to one thing - to protect the holy covenants and institutions of the ancient ascetic fathers and our great elders, in all their Divine beauty, from various pernicious trends of this world...”

Continuing the traditions of the Optina eldership, he healed the souls of people, “dragged souls from hell.” By the grace of God, the lives of people who came to him were revealed to him. Helping believers remember forgotten sins, carefully denouncing them, he taught repentance; through his prayer, people were healed mentally and physically.

From the memoirs of the spiritual daughter of Elder Barsanuphius:

We reached the monastery, the enemy distracted me in every possible way and encouraged me to leave, but, having crossed myself, I firmly entered the hut... I crossed myself there at the icon of the Queen of Heaven and froze. Father came in, I was standing in the middle of the cell... Father walked up to Tikhvinskaya and sat down...

Come closer.

I approached timidly.

Get down on your knees... It’s customary for us, we sit, and around us, out of humility, they kneel down.

I just collapsed, not that I became... Father took me by both shoulders, looked at me infinitely affectionately, like no one had ever looked at me, and said:

My dear child, my sweet child, my precious child! Are you 26?

Yes, Father.

You are 26, how old were you 14 years ago?

After thinking for a second, I answered:

That’s right, and from this year you have sins that you began to hide in confession.

Do you want me to tell you them?

Tell me, Father,” I answered timidly.

And then Father began to tell my sins by year and even by month as if he was reading them from an open book...

Confession, therefore, lasted 25 minutes. I was completely destroyed by the consciousness of my sinfulness and the consciousness of what a great man was in front of me.

How carefully he revealed my sins, how he was obviously afraid of hurting me and at the same time how powerfully and severely he denounced them, and when he saw that I was suffering cruelly, he moved his ear close to my mouth so that I could only whispered:

But in my conceit I thought that I stood out from people with my Christian life. God, what blindness, what spiritual blindness!

Arise, my child!

I stood up and went to the lectern.

Repeat after me: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb.” Where do these words come from?

What icon is in front of you?

Queen of Heaven.

And what kind of Queen of Heaven is this? Tikhvinskaya. Repeat the prayer after me...

When I bowed my head, and Father, covering me with his stole, began to read the prayer of permission, I felt that such incredible weights had been lifted from me, it was becoming so easy and unusual for me...

After everything that the Lord has revealed to me about you, you will want to glorify me as a saint, this should not happen - do you hear? I am a sinful man, you won’t tell anyone... You are my treasure..., God help and save you!

Father blessed me again many, many times and let me go...

During conversations with spiritual children, Elder Barsophius said:

There are different paths to salvation. The Lord saves some in the monastery, others in the world...

You can be saved everywhere, just don’t leave the Savior. Cling to the robe of Christ - and Christ will not leave you.

A sure sign of the death of the soul is avoidance of church services.

A person who grows cold towards God, first of all, begins to avoid going to church, first tries to come to the service later, and then completely stops visiting the temple of God.

Those who seek Christ find Him, according to the true gospel word: “Knock and the door will be opened to you, seek and you will find,” “In My Father’s house are many mansions.”

And note that here the Lord speaks not only about heavenly, but also about earthly abodes, and not only about internal, but also about external.

The Lord puts each soul in such a position, surrounds it with such an environment that is most conducive to its prosperity. This is the outer abode, but the soul is filled with peace and joy - the inner abode that the Lord prepares for those who love and seek Him.

Do not read godless books, remain faithful to Christ. If asked about faith, answer boldly. You cannot learn to fulfill God’s commandments without labor, and this labor is threefold - prayer, fasting and sobriety...

Life is bliss... Life will become bliss for us when we learn to fulfill the commandments of Christ and love Christ. Then we will live joyfully, joyfully endure the sorrows that come our way, and ahead of us will shine with indescribable light the Sun of Truth - the Lord... All the Gospel commandments begin with the words: Blessedness - blessedness of meekness, blessedness of mercifulness, blessedness of peacemakers... From here it follows, as a truth, that fulfilling the commandments brings people the highest happiness.

Our whole life is the great mystery of God. All circumstances of life, no matter how insignificant they may seem, are of great importance... There is no accident in life, everything happens according to the will of the Creator. To become like God, you must fulfill His holy commandments.

How to escape? The only way is through humility. “Lord, I am a sinner in everything, I have nothing good, I only hope in Your boundless mercy.”

When the valve in the heart closes to perceive worldly pleasures, then another valve will open to perceive spiritual ones. But how to acquire this?

First of all, peace and love for neighbors: “love is patient, merciful, love does not envy, love is not arrogant, is not proud, does not act rudely, does not seek its own, is not offended, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth.. ."

Then patience. Who will be saved?

I do not want to say that reading the works of our great writers was a sin, but there is reading that is more useful and edifying. Firstly, reading the Psalter... This book, although written by St. king and prophet David, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophet David himself says: “My tongue is the reed of a scribe.”

Then - “The Lives of the Saints” represent irreplaceable reading, which has such a beneficial effect on the soul, especially when read in the Slavic language...

Visit monasteries, especially on holidays... to rest your soul...

Although monastic life is full of sorrows and temptations, it also brings with it great consolations, about which the world has not the slightest idea.

However, no matter how hard it is to be saved, just to be saved and achieve the Kingdom of Heaven, which may the Lord vouchsafe us all. Amen.

In 1912, Elder Barsanuphius was appointed rector of the Staro-Golutvin Epiphany Monastery. Despite the elder’s great spiritual gifts, there were those dissatisfied with his activities: through complaints and denunciations, he was removed from Optina. He humbly asked to be left in the monastery to live in peace, asked to be allowed to stay at least as a simple novice.

Courageously enduring the grief of separation from his beloved Optina, the elder sets about improving the monastery entrusted to him, which is extremely upset and neglected. And as before, people flock to Elder Barsanuphius for help and consolation. And as before, he, already exhausted from numerous painful ailments, accepts everyone without refusal, heals physical and mental ailments, instructs, directs them on a narrow and sorrowful, but the only saving path. Here, in Staro-Golutvin, through his prayers, a miracle of healing of a deaf-mute young man was performed. “A terrible illness is a consequence of a grave sin committed by a young man in childhood,” the old man explains to his unfortunate mother and quietly whispers something in the ear of the deaf-mute. “Father, he doesn’t hear you,” the mother exclaims in confusion, “he’s deaf...” “He doesn’t hear you,” the elder answers, “but he hears me,” and again he says something in a whisper in his ear. to a young man. His eyes widen in horror, and he obediently nods his head... After confession, Elder Barsanuphius gives him communion, and the illness leaves the sufferer.

Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina, pray to God for us!