Письмо 59
Maintaining Inner Stillness
The author advises on guarding the heart against the distractions of social life and maintaining a focus on prayer.
What’s all that turmoil in your house? The moment I read the letter, I feel as if a wind is moving through the rooms. That isn’t quite appropriate.1 Of course, not everything here is in your power, but some of it is. For example: keep yourself collected during visits, with remembrance of the Lord and with the fear of God; don't talk more than you need to, don't fall into judging others, and don't make empty plans—all this, and much else, is in our power. And when it is in our power, we are responsible for it. When you have seen them off and are left alone, then you must quickly take your soul in hand and hurry to clear out everything that has been sown in it, set it again before the Lord in a reverent state, and take up once more the order of your usual occupations—whether reading, needlework, or something else.2 There’s no need to worry about returning visits; if the chance comes, fine; if it doesn’t, no harm done. So do just that. Fly to church as if on wings, and gather there the fragrance of prayer and meditation on God.3 May the Lord bless you.
The Root of Spiritual Restlessness
Spiritual dissatisfaction often stems from a refusal to align one's life with the deeper needs of the spirit.
You're surprised at N.'s melancholy, or at that feeling of never being satisfied. N.4 That's just how it is! Her spirit demands what is its own—the spiritual, the heavenly. But she gives it something else. And so it keeps troubling her.5 Let her change her life and cast off vanity. Does it take much? She only needs to change her intentions and break a few habits, since her life itself is blameless. .6 .7 But look—she simply won't, and she won't; and because of that, she suffers. So who's to blame?
The Discipline of Fasting
A sharp pastoral rebuke regarding the necessity of following traditional ascetic rules for fasting.
And there you go too! You've started reasoning about the fast like a pagan!8 Just look at what the Rule says.9 It says: eat sparingly—dry food or some Lenten broth—and eat late.10 So what is it here—is only quantity taken into account, or something else as well? It’s not just quantity, but quality as well. And yet you all aim to count yourselves among the Orthodox! What good are you with a head like that?
Read the original Russian
Что у вас там за сумятица в доме? Как прочитал письмо, так и ощущаю, что ветер как бы по комнатам ходит. Это не совсем-то ловко. Конечно, тут не все в вашей воле, но иное и в вашей. Например: держать себя при посещениях собранною, с памятью о Господе и со страхом Божиим, лишняго не говорить, в осуждения не вдаваться и не строить пустых планов; все сие и многое другое в нашей власти. А когда в нашей власти, стало быть и ответ за то на нас лежит. Когда проводили и остались одни, тут поскорее надо взяться за душу и поспешить вычистить все насеянное, восставить ее опять пред Господа в благоговейное положение и восприять опять порядок прежних обычных занятий – чтением ли, рукодельем или другим чем. Об отдавании визитов нечего заботиться; пришлось, – хорошо, а не пришлось, – не беда.
Так и сотворите. В церковь только летите, как на крыльях, и собирайте там ароматы молитв и Богомыслия. Благослови вас, Господи!
Удивляетесь вы тоске или чувству не удовлетворимости N. N. Это в порядке вещей! Дух ея требует своего – духовнаго, небеснаго. А она дает ему не то. Вот он и теребит ее. Пусть переменит жизнь, отбросит суету. Много ли нужно?
Переменить только намерения и отбросить некоторые обычаи, ибо жизнь ея незазорна. . . Но вот не хочет и не хочет; за то и страдает. Кто же виноват?
Вот и вы туда же! О посте по басурмански стали рассуждать! Посмотрите-ка, как в уставе написано! Там написано: есть по малу, сухоядение или отвар какой постный, и есть поздно. Что тут – одно количество берется во внимание или еще что? Не количество только, но и качество. А все метите попасть в православные! Куда годитесь с такою головою?
Notes
- 1 ↩Russian «не совсем-то ловко» can mean not quite apt, proper, or seemly; rendered as social-spiritual impropriety rather than mere clumsiness.
- 2 ↩«насеянное» is the seed of disturbance, chatter, and impressions left by the visit; kept as sown rather than paraphrased away.
- 3 ↩Богомыслие is rendered as 'meditation on God' (devotional recollection of God), not generic 'thinking about religion'.
- 4 ↩Bare name token alone in the source segmentation; likely a print/OCR split residual rather than an independent sentence.
- 5 ↩теребит: to tug at, pester, keep agitating; rendered as 'keeps troubling' for natural modern force.
- 6 ↩Source sentence is only a bare period ('.'); no recoverable Russian text to translate.
- 7 ↩Source sentence is only a bare period ('.'); no recoverable Russian text to translate.
- 8 ↩«по басурмански» is a pejorative for non-Orthodox/non-Christian (historically 'Muslim/infidel') manner of thinking; rendered as 'in a heathen way' to keep the reproach without archaic ethnic coloring.
- 9 ↩«устав» here is the monastic/church rule of fasting practice (typikon/rule of life), not a secular statute.
- 10 ↩«сухоядение» is traditional dry fare (xerophagy: plain dry food without oil/seasoning). «отвар постный» is a simple Lenten decoction/broth.
Letters on the Christian Life companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit