Письмо 8
The Narrow Path of the Monastery
The monastic life is a journey through the wilderness toward the promised land, where spiritual consolations serve only to strengthen us for the narrow path.
It's so good that the Lord has brought you into a monastery—and such a one at that, dedicated to the Mother of God! Now you can really understand why monastics don't get bored—or, for that matter, anyone who attaches themselves to the house of God.1 There the angels of the Lord hand out spiritual sweetnesses, so as to draw people by them onto the narrow and sorrowful path. That is where all the strength is.2 The sweetnesses and consolations are, as it were, something incidental.3 But because we are weak, they use them to draw us along. Before the Exodus from Egypt the Israelites ate the lamb — and afterward, what did they meet in the wilderness? Everyone has to pass through this wilderness to reach the promised land.
The True Beginning of Spiritual Work
Spiritual consolations are not the goal; the true work begins when the fear of God takes root in the heart.
Yet the Lord Himself builds it all. And we need to pray: By whatever ways You know, save me.4 I only wanted to remind you of this so you wouldn't get confused in your thinking when you sometimes find yourself in consoling dispositions. That isn't the real work yet, and it's not even the beginning of the work.5 The beginning comes when the fear of God starts to crush the bones. This isn't a metaphor—it's the real thing. Pray for this: O Lord, plant Your fear in my heart.
Guarding the Mind
The mind must be disciplined and kept from wandering, lest it be caught by the enemy.
By nature, our mind is alive. Vanity weighs it down. When little by little this yoke falls from it, it begins to soar everywhere, ranging over both heaven and earth, seeing everything, understanding everything—and it finds it easy. There’s nothing wrong with this, but there’s little good in it either. This little bird of a mind needs to be put in a cage and told: sit right here, and sing this—and don't dare fly here and there: a hawk will catch you.
Trusting in Divine Providence
Nothing in life happens by accident, as all things are governed by the beckoning of God.
Again I turn to your journey, and I rejoice and thank the Lord. For there are no accidents in the world. Everything yields to God's beckoning.6
Read the original Russian
Как хорошо, что Господь привел вас в обитель, и еще такую – к Матери Божией! Теперь можете хорошо обсудить от чего монахам не скучно, или вообще приметающимся к дому Божию. Там Ангелы Господни раздают сладости духовные, чтоб заманивать ими на путь тесный и прискорбный. Ибо в сем вся сила. Сладости и утешения, как бы стороннее нечто. Но как мы немощны, то ими заохочивают нас. Израильтяне пред исходом из Египта ели агнца, а потом что встретили в пустыне? Сию пустыню всякому надобно пройти, чтоб достигнуть земли обетованной.
Все же строит Сам Господь. А нам молиться надобно: ими же веси судьбами спаси мя. Я только хотел вам напомнить о сем, чтоб вы не сбились в мыслях, бывая иногда в утешительных расположениях. Это еще не дело, и не начало дела. Начало, когда страх Божий начнет сокрушать кости. Это не метафора, а дело. О сем молитесь: страх Твой, Господи, всади в сердце мое.
Ум наш по природе жив. Суета отяжеляет его. Когда мало по малу спадет с него это ярмо, он начинает парить всюду, обходит и небо и землю, все видит, все понимает, и легко ему. Ничего тут нет худаго; но и проку мало. Эту пташку-ум, надобно засадить в клетку и сказать ему: вот тут-то сядь, и пой вот-что, а летать туда и сюда не смей: ястреб поймает.
Опять обращаюсь к вашему путешествию, и радуюсь и благодарю Господа. Ведь случайностей на свете нет. Все покорствует манию Божию.
Notes
- 1 ↩приметающимся к дому Божию: those who cling/attach themselves to God's house — not only vowed monastics, but anyone who binds their life to the Church.
- 2 ↩в сем most naturally points back to the narrow and sorrowful path (s3), not the spiritual sweetnesses — confirmed by s5 treating consolations as incidental.
- 3 ↩стороннее нечто: something off to the side / secondary / not the main business — not 'foreign' in a hostile sense.
- 4 ↩«ими же веси судьбами спаси мя» is a fixed Church Slavonic prayer formula. «судьбами» can mean destinies, dispensations, or providential paths; rendered as 'ways' for natural modern English while keeping the petition's sense of total trust in God's unknown means.
- 5 ↩«дело» here means the actual spiritual work/business, not a mere 'matter' or 'affair'.
- 6 ↩Russian «мание» (here «манию Божию») is the older sense of a beckoning gesture or wave of the hand—God's commanding nod—not modern «mania». Rendered as «beckoning» to keep that concrete image.
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