The Life and Ascetic Labor of Elder Paisius

The Life and Ascetic Labor of Our Father, Elder Paisius, Archimandrite of the Holy Moldavian Monasteries of Niamets and Sekoul. Part One.


The Life of Elder Paisius which we here present was written by his own disciples, chiefly by Schema-monk Metrophanes of Niamets Monastery, and was published in its present form exactly 125 years ago (1847) by the God-bearing Elders of Optina Monastery as the first of the texts of the veritable patristic revival which they inspired in 19th-century Russia. It is much to be preferred to the 20th-century biography1 in that it gives not only the facts of the Elder's life, but more importantly, the very savor of his struggles. It is itself a patristic text capable of guiding and inspiring the Orthodox believer today.

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1 Archpriest Sergy Chetverikov, The Moldavian Elder, Schema-Archimandrite Paisius Velichkovsky, two volumes, Petseri, Estonia, 1938. In the text below some passages (indicated in the footnotes) have been added to the original Life from this source, particularly where the words of Elder Paisius himself have been quoted. The author did research at Niamets Monastery and was thus able to use manuscripts written by Paisius himself; his whole tone and approach, however, are those of the worldly 20th century, and he does not do justice to the spiritual message of Blessed Paisius.


Blessed Paisius' great labors in the collection, textual correction, and translation of the writings of the Holy Fathers will be discussed in detail in later installments of his Life. In addition to the many patristic texts and a number of letters, Blessed Paisius also left two original works concerning the Prayer of Jesus and spiritual life. The first of these, "The Scroll" (a title which he gave to the work himself) will be printed in this and subsequent issues of The Orthodox Word. It was printed originally in Slavonic together with the Life of Elder Paisius in the Optina edition of 1847, and was later published in Russian in The Prayer of Jesus in the Tradition of the Orthodox Church (Valaam Monastery, 1938).


1. BIRTH AND PARENTS OF OUR FATHER PAISIUS.
2. HIS CHILDHOOD

OUR FATHER of blessed memory, Schema-hieromonk Paisius, was born in the year 1722 on December 21 in the city of Poltava in Little Russia, the eleventh of twelve children of pious parents, and was called in holy baptism Peter, after St. Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow, on whose feast day he was born. His father was John Velichkovsky, Archpriest of Poltava, and his mother was Irene. In the fourth year after his birth his father departed this temporal life into eternal life, and he was left with his mother and his eldest brother John, who after his father was also priest of the Poltava church of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-virgin Mary, where his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had also been priests.

His mother gave him over to learn reading and writing, and with the Lord's help, in a little over two years he had studied the reading primer, the Horologion, and the Psalter, and from his eldest brother he learned how to write. And so with God's help he began to read books quite easily and in part to understand them; and he read most industriously the books of the Divine Scriptures, the Old and especially the New Testament, the Lives of Saints, the instructions of St. Ephraim and St. Dorotheus, the Margarite of St. John Chrysostom, and others. And from reading such books, above all the Lives of our Holy Fathers who have shone forth in monasticism, there began to be born in his soul a zeal for abandoning the world and accepting the holy monastic Angelic habit; wherefore he would seclude himself and read these books insatiably.

He loved silence to such an extent that his own mother rarely heard him talk; for he was meek and very modest and shy, not only with others but even with his own family. Such was the fervent desire toward God of this wondrous man while still only ten years old, that everyone of good sense who saw or heard of him was astonished at his good behavior and zeal and fervency and glorified God, saying: Glory be to Thee, Christ God, for Thou hast raised up a chosen one from among Thy people.

3. THE YOUNG PAISIUS GOES TO THE CITY OF KIEV

WHEN HE reached the thirteenth year of his age, his older brother John also departed to the Lord, after having been priest just five years. And then it was needful for his mother, taking him with her (1734) to go to the Archbishop of Kiev Raphael, with a petition from Colonel Basil Basilevich Kochabei, who was Paisius' godfather, and some estimable citizens, so as to confirm for him by a document his father's place in the above-mentioned church. And when, in the presence of the hierarch, the boy recited, piously and with fitting expression, some verses which had been composed by a learned man, the hierarch rejoiced and, blessing him, said: "You will be your father's successor." And he gave his mother a document and, instructing her to send the boy to the church school in Kiev, let them go with his blessing. After returning home, she sent Paisius to Kiev for study, where he studied for just four years. With burning zeal he occupied himself above all in the reading of holy books, from which he more and more became confirmed in his unwavering intention to become a monk.


General view of the Kiev-Caves Lavra


Kiev-Caves Lavra: Entrance to St. Anthony's Caves above the Dnepr


4. HIS DESIRE FOR THE UNHYPOCRITICAL MONASTIC LIFE

AT THIS TIME Paisius had some friends who thought just as he did and had one and the same intention to become monks. Assembling in a certain secret and quiet place, they would talk the whole night through until the bell sounded, as to how they might bring their intention into actuality and where they might find a place where, with God's help, they might be tonsured monks and live truly according to the monastic vow. After much consultation and diligent study, they made in their souls an absolute and unchangeable covenant that their renunciation from the world, their tonsure and their monastic life would not be in those monasteries where there is a great abundance of food and drink and every kind of bodily convenience, glory, and ease. They quoted, in confirmation of their covenant, the holy writings of all the ancient saints who had been monks in poverty, and also St. Simeon the New Theologian, who spoke thus (Chapters on Activity, Ch. 6): "Flee the world; see that you do not give your soul over to comfort, etc.; since, being tonsured in such monasteries, it will be impossible for us to follow the poverty of Christ according to the monastic vow and live an abstinent life: that is, we should be in want of needful things and be in every kind of bodily discomfort for the sake of the soul's salvation. But because of our weakness, and yet again from disturbance and from contact with others, and most of all because of our own will and our uneven and unsteady fervency of soul, we shall have to depart from the narrow path that leads to eternal life and become lost on the broad. path that leads to ruin, according to the word of the Lord. And it is better to remain in the world than to renounce everything in the world only to live pleasing the flesh, in every kind of ease and abundance, to the scandal of the world and the dishonor of the monastic habit, and to the eternal judgment of our souls at the Day of Judgment."

Further, Paisius came to know with certainty from the Divine writings of the Gospels and the Fathers that for one who desires monasticism, without obedience and humility, without poverty and patience, without faith and love and the complete cutting off of one's own will and reasoning, and in a word: without the diligent keeping of all Christ's commandments, solely by Orthodoxy of faith it is not at all possible to be saved. And so the devout youth made a most firm covenant in his soul before God to force himself with all his soul to a double measure of bodily deeds in fulfillment of Christ's commandments. Likewise he resolved in no way to judge his neighbor even if he saw him sin with his own eyes. For he who judges his neighbor assumes the place of God; and can there be anything more terrible than this? (Matt. 7:1.)

Again, he resolved to have no hatred against his neighbor, inasmuch as, according to the Holy Scriptures, hatred and malice are greater than any other sins. Further, he covenanted with himself to forgive his neighbor with his whole heart and soul for any kind of offense, in hope that his own sins would be forgiven (Athanasius the Great; Abba Dorotheus; John 3:5; Matt. 5:16; Luke 6:36). For he who does not forgive his neighbor his offenses or any kind of hurt, himself will not have forgiveness of his sins from the Heavenly Father. And this covenant, given before God, Paisius kept in act for his whole life, God's grace giving him strength.

At the beginning of Paisius' fourth year of studies in Kiev, after the conclusion of peace between Russia and Turkey, which brought peace to the Orthodox lands of the Balkans, there came to Kiev the Metropolitan of Moldavia, Anthony. Paisius had the opportunity of receiving the blessing of the Metropolitan, and he loved very much the hierarch's celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the Moldavian language. From this time there arose in his heart, as he said later, a great love for the Moldavian people.

At this time it was noticed that Paisius had entirely abandoned his studies, and the Prefect of the school called him to demand an explanation for this. Paisius, usually meek and shy, then replied with a boldness hitherto unknown to him, saying: "The first reason is that, having the firm intention to become a monk and realizing the uncertainty of the hour of death, I wish as soon as possible to receive the tonsure. The second reason is that from outward learning I do not see any benefit for my soul, hearing only the names of pagan gods and wise men Cicero, Aristotle, Plato... Learning wisdom from them, people today have become completely blinded and have stepped away from the right path; they pronounce lofty words, but within they are full of darkness and obscurity, and all their wisdom is only on their tongues. Seeing no benefit from such teaching, and fearing lest I myself be corrupted by it, I have abandoned it. Finally, the third reason is this: looking at the fruits of this teaching in the clergy of the monastic order, I have noticed that, like worldly functionaries, they live in great honor and glory, adorn themselves with expensive garments, travel on splendid horses and in fine carriages – I do not say this in judgment of them, may this not be! I only fear and tremble lest I myself, after learning outward wisdom and becoming a monk, should fall into yet a worse infirmity. Behold, it is for all these reasons that I have abandoned outward learning." When the Prefect saw that his own arguments against these points had no effect on Paisius, he subjected him to a merciless physical punishment.1

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1 These two paragraphs are from Chetverikov, vol. I, pp. 12-13.


5. HIS WANDERING.
6. PAISIUS ENTERS THE MONASTERY OF LYUBETZ.

BEING IN SUCH a state of zeal for monastic life, and occupying himself with reading and instruction in these things, and even more weeping and lamenting, and being in perplexity as to what to do, he began to pray, with contrite heart and many and bitter tears, beating his breast and falling down before Christ God, that He might instruct him on the path of salvation. Weeping, he thought to himself: "What shall I do, and where shall I go?" Then his soul became afire with the love of wandering, and having left school, he departed from the city of Kiev. And so he wandered, sad of soul, like a poor stranger, seeking the Heavenly Fatherland; for the Lord gave him even in his youth the gray hair of understanding, wisdom, and humility of wisdom. At the same time he left also his friends, who placed obstacles in the way of his speedy departure.

And so he went, God instructing him, to the Holy Monastery of Lyubetz, which is near the city of Lyubich, on the bank of the river Dnepr. When he came, with God's help, to this monastery, a certain father indicated to him: "That is Father Nicephorus our abbot standing there"; and he brought Paisius to him. And Paisius fell at his feet, asking his blessing. The abbot, according to custom, blessed him and asked: "Where are you from, brother, and what is your name, and why have you come to our monastery?" And the youth replied: "I am from the land of Kiev, and I have come to this Holy Monastery to be in obedience, and my name is Peter." The abbot, hearing this, accepted him with love and assigned him a cell and an obedience in the storeroom. He fell to the abbot's feet, took a blessing from him, and undertook his obedience with all fervor.

7. THE GOD-PLEASING GOVERNANCE OF ABBOT NICEPHORUS.

PAISIUS HAD great joy in his soul being in this monastery, for he saw that this holy abbot governed the brethren as a loving father, with great love and meekness, humility and longsuffering. And if it happened that one. of the brethren, being human, sinned in something, being asked for forgiveness he would correct such a one in a spirit of meekness, chastising him by soul-profiting words and giving him a spiritual punishment according to his strength, depending on the sin. Therefore all the brethren remained in deep peace and in love for their father and for each other.

Being concerned for the outward life of Paisius, the abbot also did not leave his inward life without guidance. He gave him the book of St. John of the Ladder, and this book so pleased Paisius that he resolved, in his free time at night, to copy it out for himself. Having no candles, he lit a splinter of wood, and thrusting it into a crack in the wall, he copied out the book by its light. The smoke from the splinter filled the cell, hurt his eyes and made it difficult to breathe. Then Paisius would open the window for some time, let the smoke out, and again set to work copying. In time he was able to acquire a little lamp, and then the copying went more quickly, so that by the time he left the monastery he had succeeded in copying out almost half the book.1

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1 This paragraph is from Chetverikov, I, pp. 29-30.


8. CHANGE OF ABBOTS.
9. PAISIUS UNINTENTIONALLY ANGERS THE NEW ABBOT.
10. НЕ LEAVES THE MONASTERY SECRETLY.

AFTER PAISIUS had been in this monastery for three months, another abbot was assigned to it, a learned man, Herman Zagorovsky. After he had come to the Lyubetz monastery, he began to govern it not like the preceding blessed abbot, with love, but rather dictatorially; and the brethren, having found out about his way of governing, became quite terrified, and some of them out of fear fled from the monastery, without knowing where to go. Paisius, remaining in his obedience in the storeroom, feared and trembled greatly lest he sin in something, but even so he did not escape the evil. Once the abbot called him and commanded him to give him a certain food (cabbage) for his meal. But Paisius, because of the briefness of his words, did not understand what kind of food it was, and he did not dare to ask him. He told the cook, and they, deciding which food might be best, took it and cooked it for the abbot. The abbot called Paisius to his cell and, getting up from his meal, said to him: "Is this the kind of food you give me for my meal?" And saying this, he struck him on the cheek so hard that he could hardly stay on his feet; and in addition, the abbot so fiercely pushed him that he fell over the threshold of his cell. When he got up, the abbot yelled at him: "Get out, lazy one!" The humble Paisius went out, all trembling from fear, and thought to himself: "If he gets angry at me, the poor one, only for this, then if I should happen to sin before him in something greater, what will I not suffer from him?" Besides this, Paisius heard from his spiritual father that the abbot was boasting that he would yet punish him with a most cruel punishment. And so he thought of leaving across the Dnepr. Praying to the Lord secretly at night with tears, he went down to the Dnepr and with God's help he crossed to the other side on the ice; and giving thanks to God with joyous tears, he went down the river Dnepr to the monasteries in the Ukraine.

11. HE ENTERS THE MEDVEDOVSKY MONASTERY OF ST. NICHOLAS

HAVING COME to the Monastery of St. Nicholas, which is on an island in the river Tyasmin and is called Medvedovsky, where the abbot was the reverend Hieromonk Nicephorus (different from the Nicephorus already mentioned), Paisius came up to him, fell to his feet, took a blessing from him, and began to beg him to accept him into his holy monastery under obedience. The abbot accepted him with love and gave him a cell and the obedience of serving in the refectory and going to the cliros to read and sing. And when the Fast of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God arrived, on the Transfiguration of the Lord, the abbot tonsured him as a Rasophore Monk,1 changing his name from Peter to Platon; he was then nineteen years old. And remaining in this monastery, he served his obedience in the refectory with fervor; he strove by all means to observe the rule of church prayer during the day as much as his obedience gave him time, and at night he never omitted it; likewise, at the abbot's command, he went to the cliros. Further, his fervor in labor gave much help to the cook.

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1 Rasophore Monk: One who has put on the rasson or outer monastic robe, but has not given the monastic vows and been tonsured in the mantle.


However, Paisius was not able in this monastery to live in obedience to an experienced elder, as he desired, as we know from his own words many years later: "When I left the world, desiring with warm zeal to serve the Lord fervently in monasticism, I was unable at the beginning of my monasticism to see even a trace from anyone of sound and correct understanding, instruction and advice in accordance with the teaching of the Holy Fathers, concerning how I, an inexperienced beginner, should begin my poor monastic life. Settling in one remote monastery, where by God's mercy I was enabled to receive the beginning of the monastic calling, I did not hear from anyone a proper explanation of what obedience is, with what meaning and purpose it was instituted, and what benefit it has for a novice. Neither the superior of the monastery nor my elder gave me any instruction in this regard. Having tonsured me (as a Rasophore monk) without any period of trial beforehand, they left me to live without any spiritual direction. The elder to whom I was entrusted, having stayed in the monastery only a week after my tonsure, left for no one knows where, telling me in parting: 'Brother, you have been to school; live as God instructs you.' ...Thus I was left like a sheep wandering without a shepherd or instructor. And nowhere was I able to live in submission to some father, even though in my youth my soul was most inclined to submission; yet I did not receive such a divine gift because of my unworthiness."1

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1 This paragraph is from Chetverikov, I, pp. 82, 38.


12. PERSECUTION BY THE UNIATS.
13. PAISIUS GOES TO KIEV.

WHILE HE WAS laboring thus in the monastery in peace and quiet, by God's permission a persecution was raised in the Ukraine against the Orthodox Faith by the evil-opinioned Uniats, who strove to convert the Orthodox Christians to their impiety.

Some of the terrors of the Uniat rule in the Ukraine at this time are described by Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov in his Church History: "It is difficult to imagine all the cruelties to which the Orthodox were subjected at that time. Orthodox priests were tied to pillars, beaten with whips, placed in prison, tortured with hunger, their fingers were cut off with swords, their arms and legs broken. Whoever then remained alive but did not desire the Unia was chased out of his house. Attacks were made on monasteries in broad daylight, they were pillaged and burned, the monks were tortured and often killed. The residents of villages and small towns were tortured with inhuman tortures in order to make them Uniats. The Orthodox people were chased like sheep into the Latin and Uniat churches. During the very reading of the Gospel in an Orthodox church, an official would enter, beat the people with a whip and chase them like cattle from their stalls. Many suffered the destruction of their homes, terrible beatings, and some death."1

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1 This paragraph is from Chetverikov, I, pp. 32-33.


Because of the Uniat persecution there was great disturbance and anger in the monastery; and when the fathers who were living there saw that the Uniats kept the church locked and sealed for more than a month, some of them began to leave, each going wherever he wished. Paisius went with some of the brethren who were going to Kiev, inasmuch as for fear of the Poles it was impossible then to go to Moldavia. This was clearly by God's Providence, so that His faithful servant would find out about his mother. Coming to Kiev, he was accepted into the Kiev Caves Lavra and assigned to the printshop under the reverend Hieromonk Macarius, in order to learn how to make engravings. And while the Blessed one was staying in the Lavra, there came from Poltava to Kiev to venerate the holy places his relative, the wife of his deceased brother the Archpriest John, and meeting him she began to tell him concerning his mother:

14. IN KIEV HE IS INFORMED OF HIS MOTHER'S SORROW.

YOUR MOTHER, after your departure from Kiev, fell into such sorrow beyond words that she wept inconsolably and lamented bitterly, and in her boundless sorrow she even thought of eating and drinking nothing until she died, and after some days her mind began to be affected. But then some kind of fear came over her, and she became afraid and began to read the Akathist. Then, entering an ecstasy of mind, she became silent, and in half an hour she cried out in a loud voice: 'If such is the will of God, then I will sorrow no longer over my son.' Returning to herself, she confessed before her spiritual father and before everyone the following: 'When I became weak from not eating and from sorrow and expected soon to die, a terror and great fear came upon me, and I saw a multitude of demons, very dark and fearful, who tried to fall upon me. Then I began to ask you for books, and I fervently read the Akathist to the Most Holy Mother of God, without ceasing all day and night, and by reading this I guarded myself against the attacks of the demons; for they, hearing me read the Akathist, trembled from fear and could not at all come near me. And after this I was in an ecstasy, and looking up I saw the heavens opened and an Angel of God coming down from the heavens like lightning most bright. And when he stood near me he began to say to me: "O miserable one! What have you done? Rather than love the Lord and your Creator with all your heart and soul, you have loved His creation, your son, more than your Creator; and for the sake of your senseless and God-denying love you have purposed to kill yourself by hunger, and for this to fall into eternal condemnation. But be it known to you that your son, God's grace attending him, will unfailingly be a monk. And it is fitting for you also, imitating your son in this, to renounce the world and everything in the world and become a nun. Such is the will of God; and if you shall oppose this will of God, then by the permission of Christ the Lord, my God and Creator, I will give you over to the demons who wait to devour you, so that your soul and body may be dishonored and that other parents may learn not to love their children more than God." The Angel of God having said this and other like things to me, I cried out: "If such is the will of God, from now on I will sorrow no longer over my son." And immediately the demons vanished; and the Angel of the Lord, rejoicing. ascended into Heaven.' Her spiritual father and relatives, hearing this from her, in fear glorified God, and at the same time rejoicing, they went to their homes."

15. HIS MOTHER BECOMES A NUN.

PAISIUS, hearing this from his relative, had great fear in his soul for having brought such great sorrow to his mother by his departure; but he was comforted by his mother's intention, obeying the will of God, to become a nun. This intention was fulfilled, for she entered a convent and was tonsured, receiving in place of Irene the name of Juliana. Remaining in the convent, she labored in monasticism for the salvation of her soul for ten years and more, and then she departed to the Lord.

16. PAISIUS LEAVES KIEV AND COMES TO VLACHIA.

BEING in the Holy Lavra of the Kiev Caves, as was said above, Paisius went often to the holy caves and kissed the holy relics with fervent love and with tears, begging help from the Saints to direct him on the path of salvation. With fervent desire he desired the quiet life of silence in the desert with a spiritual father who was versed in all the Divine and patristic writings and who forced himself and prospered in deeds, and who was not unskilled in the monastic warfare against the demons and the passions. He desired to remain in poverty and want in the desert, working with his own hands for whatever he needed. And after a short time, by God's Providence, he found two estimable monks who were seeking to go into Vlachia; he begged them to accept him also on the journey, and when they agreed he prepared for the journey, and, praying to the Lord, they set out on their way.

17. THE SKETE OF TREISTENY; ELDER BASIL.
18. PAISIUS DOES NOT DESIRE TO ACCEPT ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD.

HAVING SAFELY crossed the Ukraine and likewise Moldavia, and having journeyed for many days, with God's help they reached Vlachia and came to the Skete of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which is called Treisteny, where the superior, Hieromonk Demetrius, received them with love and comforted them. The Elder of this Skete, Schema-hieromonk Michael, had gone on urgent business for a time to the Ukraine, to the monastery of St. Matrona. Our Father was remaining in this Skete under general obedience, when there came for a visit some brothers of the Skete of Merlopolyany, that is, Apple Fields, where the common teacher and instructor in monastic life of all the brethren was the holy Elder, Schema-monk Basil, concerning whose elevated life and wisdom our Father wrote a little, which I here give word for word: "Out of zeal for God he had lived previously in Russia and in the mountains of Moshensk and in other wildernesses not a little time with great zealots of monastic life, and he came with the aforementioned Hieromonk Michael, his disciple, to the God-preserved land of Vlachia to stay. This God-pleasing man was very skilled in understanding of the Divine Scriptures and the teachings of the God-bearing Fathers, and in spiritual understanding, and in perfect knowledge of the sacred canons of the Holy Eastern Church and of their interpretations, incomparably surpassing all the Fathers of his time. The fame of his teaching and his God-pleasing instruction on the path of salvation was spread everywhere."

This Elder of holy life, I say again, stayed there in the Skete of Treisteny for several days, speaking many soul-profiting words to the brethren; and our Father, hearing them, rejoiced with inexpressible joy and glorified God with tears that He had enabled him to see such a man and hear such words from him. And the Elder, through the superior, called a certain Dometius and our Father to come and live with him. But Paisius, being warned by one father, feared that the Elder would force him even against his will to accept the priesthood, and so he replied through the superior: "I have no intention to enter upon such a great and fearful rank to my very death." This is the reason why our Father was not enabled to live in the Skete of Merlopolyany with such a holy Elder, but remained in the Skete of Treisteny. Inasmuch as this Skete, as also the Skete of Dolgoutsy, was under the spiritual guidance of the Elder Basil, some have said that our Father was for a certain time under obedience to Elder Basil. Even if he did not live with the Elder, however, he was nonetheless enabled to be his disciple, as will be set forth below.1

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1 Unfortunately, almost nothing is known of the Elder Basil except what is contained in this Life of Elder Paisius. He wrote four profound introductions to the writings of Sts. Gregory of Sinai, Philotheus of Sinai, Hesychius, and Nilus of Sora, advising hesychasts how to make practical use of these writings; these were printed together with the Life of Elder Paisius in the Optina edition.


19. A TRIAL.

AFTER THE DEPARTURE of Elder Basil, a short time passed and then there came the all-joyful news that Elder Michael was returning from the Ukraine and was already approaching the monastery. Hearing this, the superior and all the brethren rejoiced, and going out to meet him, they rer ceived his blessing, and there was great joy to all.

Our Father, going through general obedience, as has been said, was given by the superior a cell not far from the Skete next to a creek, from where the church was visible. And once, while living in this cell, it happened that when sleeping alone at night, he did not hear the beating of the wood for Matins; and it was Sunday. When he woke up he immediately ran to church, and hearing that the Gospel had already been read and they had begun to sing the canon, he became exceedingly sad, and out of shame and confusion he did not enter the church but returned to his cell, sorrowing and weeping over such a trial that had befallen him. And so much was he overcome by sorrow and fear and shame beyond words, that he could not at all come even to the Divine Liturgy, but going a little way from his cell, he sat down on the ground under a tree and bitterly wept. After the Liturgy, when the time for the meal came, the Elder and the superior and the brethren, not having seen him either at the Matins or at the Liturgy, were surprised at this. And the Elder said to the brethren: "I beg you, for the Lord's sake, wait a little with the meal until we find out what has happened to our brother Platon." And having said this, he sent one brother, the monk Athanasius, a copier of patristic books, to seek him out; and he, having with difficulty found him sitting on the earth and bitterly weeping, began to ask the cause of his weeping. But he, out of shame, could answer nothing but only wept again, and he was scarcely able, being persuaded by the monk, to confess the cause of his sorrow. The monk, spiritually consoling him, greatly begged him not to sorrow beyond measure over the trial that had befallen him, but to go immediately to the Skete to the holy fathers "who," he said, "are waiting for you and have not sat down to eat."

Paisius on his part could scarcely say to him: "And how, holy father, can I go to the holy fathers, and with what countenance shall I appear before them, having committed such a crime to my eternal shame before God and before them?" And be begged Athanasius with tears to leave him and not compel him to go to the fathers; but Athanasius, without weakening, all the more begged him and exhorted him not to sorrow but to go. And he was scarcely able to compel him even against his will to go with him to the Skete. Having gotten up, he went, weeping and lamenting, and when he came to the Skete and saw the Elder with all the brethren sitting at table – Oh! what fear and measureless shame fell upon him then, and he fell before them to the ground, weeping bitterly and lamenting inconsolably and begging forgiveness.

All became terrified, and immediately the Elder, the superior and the brethren got up and raised him from the ground. And when they heard from the monk who had brought him the cause of his weeping and sorrow, all the brethren were astonished and, sighing over their own state, became silent. The Elder, as a loving father, began to console him with spiritual words, asking, begging, and exhorting him not to grieve beyond measure over such an involuntary thing that had happened; and the Elder having consoled him a little, all gave thanks to God that they had found him well in soul and body; and so they went into the refectory and began to eat, commanding him also to sit with them at table and eat. Paisius, however, out of the sorrow and shame which overcame him at that time, could not eat at all, only eating a little later on, as he himself has written. And from that time on, for as long as he remained there, he did not dare to sleep at night lying down on a bed, but only slept a little sitting on a bench.

The Elder and other of the eldest spiritual fathers, going out of the refectory, sat down under the fruit trees and, conversing, glorified God the Giver of gifts, being astonished at such divine zeal in one so young. And the Elder said to all the brethren present, especially to the youngest ones, our Father being still in the refectory: "See, brethren, what zeal for God and fiery sorrow this brother has; let him be for all of you an example for emulation in diligent rising and going to the rule of prayer in church. For he, even for an involuntary missing of prayer became so sad in soul, and grieved and wept so bitterly, that he deprived himself even of bread and did not wish to see the light of the sun for his great pain and contrition of heart. And so do you also pray with your whole soul to Christ God, forcing yourselves to do all His commandments, so that the Lord may grant to blaze up in you all such zeal and fiery sorrow, concerning which the divine Isaac in many places (Homily 55) and other Holy Fathers command that we should pray and beg for ourselves from God." And having said this, the Elder became silent; and the brethren, with heads bowed, went each to his own cell.

20. ELDER MICHAEL.

OUR FATHER, remaining, as has been said, in obedience in this Skete, most diligently attended to the spiritual words which came from the mouth of the Elder Michael. For so much did this man prosper in the humility of wisdom and in love and in spiritual understanding, and to such an extent did he receive from God the gift of revealing the mysteries of the Scriptures, that he became like unto his own Elder Basil; for he had zeal to imitate actively in everything his labor and asceticism. Wherefore the Spirit shone forth in him in such gifts as have been described and, but for a little, in every other gift. Often he would instruct the brethren concerning the numerous most needful matters of the soul, saying: "It befits us, brethren, in these poor times, with all our soul even unto death to hold on, as a true and inexhaustible instructor of the monastic spiritual work and understanding, to the teaching and instruction of our Holy and God-bearing Fathers, and to follow them faithfully in word and deed." And again he would speak to them of the diligent and correct keeping of the soul-saving commandments of the Gospel of Christ; and again, of the keeping of the canons, traditions, and teachings of all the Holy Orthodox Ecumenical and Local Councils of the Eastern Church and those of the great God-bearing Fathers and the Apostles; and again, of the diligent keeping of the Holy Fasts and other church regulations handed down by the Holy Apostles and great God-bearing Fathers to all Christians. And of other needful things this blessed Elder with sighings and with tears would say to the brethren: "Let us not heed the condition of these fierce times and the weakness of men who live without fear, but let us keep what has been handed down by the Holy Apostles and by the Holy Fathers at the Councils, as Basil the Great says: Everything which has been handed down from of old from the Holy and God-bearing Fathers is worthy of veneration, but what is newly proposed is most unfitting and infirm." Seeing and hearing all this, our Father Paisius rejoiced with joy beyond words, and with many tears he gave thanks to God that He had enabled him to hear and make use of such spiritual words from such holy men as Basil and Michael.

21. SCHEMA-MONK ONUPHRIUS.
22. PAISIUS GOES TO THE SKETE OF KYRKOUL WITH SCHEMA-MONK ONUPHRIUS.

AFTER A TIME there came to the Skete the reverend Schema-monk, Father Onuphrius, from the Skete called Kyrkoul, to visit the Elder and the brethren. And, with the blessing of Elder Michael, Father Onuphrius, in the presence of all the brethren, gave a spiritual talk in the Lord, speaking of the condition of his Skete Kyrkoul, informing about its beauty, and the healthfulness of the waters and air, and the multitude of various fruits and vegetables, and of everything else suitable for monastic life, and of how great was its quietness and silence. By this he inspired our Father also with zeal to see this place; and so, thanking the most honored Elder Michael for his fatherly love and instruction, and taking his blessing, he went with Father Onuphrius on the road that lay before them through immense forests and beautiful meadows and high mountains, and with God's help on the third day he came to the Skete in which the superior, the reverend Hieromonk Theodosius, received him with love; and in the morning he was assigned a desert cell, and he remained in his cell rejoicing and praising God with tears, learning true monastic silence, the mother of repentance and prayer, in the words of St. Isaac (Homily 41). And for necessities in the beginning he had help from the superior, Father Theodosius.

23. HIS STAY AND LABORS IN THE SKETE OF KYRKOUL.

THE RULE of this Skete was according to that of the Sketes of the Holy Mountain Athos: only on Sundays and feast days did all the brethren gather together for the rule of prayer in church, and after the Divine Liturgy a common meal was set before everyone. After the meal the brethren occupied themselves in spiritual conversations and counsels, and strengthening each other with sighings and with tears, they begged each other to endure manfully and gratefully in the various fierce trials and sorrows of soul and body, and they prayed often, falling down before Christ God with tears. They spent their time in this way until Vespers; and after Vespers all who were living as hermits dispersed to their cells.

In this way our Father also remained in silence in his cell, doing some small handiwork (spoons), paying careful heed to prayer and to the reading of patristic writings and to the love of God, and understanding his sins and daily faults, and the death which will come unexpectedly, and the terrible Judgment of God, and the fierce and eternal tortures prepared for the demons and unrepentant sinners, weeping bitterly and lamenting every day; thus he placed a beginning to his correction before God, and his burden was lightened by confession with tears, and he obtained peace and joy in the Lord and some consolation of soul. Restraining his thoughts from wandering and his mind from evil thoughts, he remained for a time in humility and in hope on Christ God His Saviour.

24. HE VISITS ELDER ONUPHRIUS.

FATHER PAISIUS would go also to the aforementioned Onuphrius the desert-dweller, who lived on a high mountain an hour's distance from the Skete. His cell was on the very peak of this mountain, and from it there were visible from afar beautiful wildernesses, mountains and hills, and valleys, all covered with great forests; and below, at the foot of the mountain, there was a spring of ever-flowing water. The Elder remained in prayer, in reading and psalmody, and handiwork. In words he was most consoling, and with fervor he would tell his questioners in detail of the passions of soul and body, of the terrible and unrelenting battle with the demons, of their unimaginable snares and artifices. "And if," he would say, "Christ the true Saviour did not stand up for His people in His love for mankind and defend the faithful, not one of the Saints in truth would be saved, as is clearly affirmed by the Most Holy Patriarch of Constantinople Callistus II." Again, he would say: "But for those who with faith and love, with humility and with tears fall down before Christ God, there is soon consolation of soul beyond words, peace, joy in the Lord and fervent love for God. As witness of these there will come undeceived tears abounding from love, self-reproach, humility and unending thanksgiving to Christ God; and the hour when these come makes the whole man, out of love for God, unaffected by this world. And if anyone has come to this even in part, he knows that I speak the truth."

All this the blessed Onuphrius clearly set forth to our Father, who was thirsting with all his soul; and from his holy conversation our Father became so inflamed in heart, and was so much burning with Divine love as with a flame, and became so exceedingly zealous for spiritual labor, that hiding himself somewhere, he fell with his face to the earth, beating his breast, and with bitter tears he prayed to Christ God, begging help; and thus he resolved to make his vows for the beginning of the (monastic) work. However, he could not give himself over in obedience to those God-inspired fathers, inasmuch as he was in the sketes and not in the desert; and he feared to remain there, lest he would be compelled, as has been said, to accept the fearsome yoke of priesthood, which he did not desire.

The Blessed one remained there in Vlachia just three years and a little more in order to learn the Moldo-Vlachian language, and also, given such a favorable time, that he might gather from those Holy Fathers the spiritual honey that came forth from their lips, which he delighted in even to satiety. This he kept in the closet of his heart and sealed it for a time with silence, that the souls which would later attach themselves to him might delight in it and be filled with it and be aroused to virtue. From these fathers he came to understand what is true obedience, from which is born true humility and is accomplished the mortification of one's own will and understanding and of everything that is of this world, which is the beginning and end never-ending of true monastic activity.

As for the nature of vision, and true silence of the mind, and heedfulness to prayer performed by the mind in the heart these he not only came to understand, but in part also came to enjoy in actuality their Divine power ever moving in the heart. For he would never have been able to endure such poverty and sorrow with ease and good-heartedness, and to rejoice in every trial and difficulty, and to glorify God in every sorrow, so that he was enabled to become an emulator to a certain extent of Christ his Lord Who became lowly for our sake, if his heart had not been inflamed from Divine prayer with love for God and his neighbor. Of love for God he had already made a beginning in his youth by reading books, and this Divine seed, in accordance with the words of the Lord, falling on good earth later gave forth fruits of the Spirit a hundredfold. And there, strengthened by the doing of God's commandments among those skete ascetics, and by diligent attention to moral virtue and unceasing mental prayer, he made in his heart a fragrance of Christ; which, being watered by many tears, with God's cooperation, grew and blossomed.

Thus our Father, being strengthened by Divine heedfulness of mind, prospered in the Grace of Christ, which filled his soul with perfect love for God and his neighbor and with joy in the Lord beyond words, and which inflamed his soul with zeal, as was said, for spiritual labor, as a deer thirsting for springs of water.

Next Issue: II. Blessed Paisius on Mount Athos, 1746-1763.