An example of God's indescribable long-suffering. Posthumous broadcasts of St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming Athos

In a miraculous appearance that happened in 1817, the Monk Neil said to the monk Theophan:

“When four twenty-five years have passed, what will monastic life be like then? If another three twenty-five years have passed: we say the number of the seventh year and five, rising to halfway to the eighth, there at halfway the number of five, what confusion will occur from the fourth to the fifth?.. "

The Russian translator of the book published in 1912 to explain this place (Part II, Chapter 31, p. 170) includes a note by the first scribes who lived in the last century.

"Note of the first descriptors: the saint said this to Theophan in the year from the Nativity of Christ 1817; from the creation of the world - 7325. Therefore, the saint says: when four twenty-five years have passed, that is, a hundred years, and the 7425th will come (1917 ) year, then what will happen to monastic life? If the other three twenty-five years still pass, that is, 75 years, and the 7500th year (1992) comes, “the number of seven years and five,” that is, seven thousand and five hundred years, "ascending halfway to the eight", that is, when we reach half of the eighth century (millennium), then there

in the “middle of the five,” that is, the fifth century, “what confusion will there be (from the fourth to the fifth)?”

We believe that from the fourth to the fifth, as the saint says, there are from 7400 to 7500; this is what we assume; who can interpret better,

1817 = 7325
+100 =+100
1917 = 7425
+ 75 = +75
1992 = 7500
-50 =-50
1942 = 7450

We, living in 1989, see with our own eyes what monasticism has become since 1917 (7425 from the creation of the world) - it has almost disappeared. And as for the confusion that occurred in the year 7450; creation of the world or 1942 A.D. - the critical year of the Second World War - everyone knows.

This amazing accuracy of fulfilled prophetic predictions encourages us to introduce the reader to those prophecies contained in the “Broadcasts” that have not yet come true (or have just begun to come true).

PROPHECY ABOUT MOUNT ATHOS
AND ABOUT DEPARTURE FROM HER
IVERIAN ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

(Part III, Chapter 94)

O most reverend fathers, the removal of Salvation will be like this.

Firstly, in a short time ahead the monastery in which the face of the Queen of Salvation resides will be shaken. This means that the insensitive earth will feel that it has to be impoverished by its Guardian, who protects it to this day. After the shaking, all the trees planted will shake very much and all the planted trees, we say, all the rooted ones, will tilt into captivity for the sake of the Queen (i.e. there will be a martyrdom of the Orthodox monks on the Mountain). Athos will beat with a terrible noise, a thin voice will emanate; when the face of our Lady Theotokos disappears, there will be a terrible and trembling sign.

The sign will be this: all churches will be bowed down for the sake of removing Salvation, like a wire to Salvation and a bow. For this reason, I tell you, insensibility will be felt, and feeling will be darkened, and will not be aware that Salvation is withdrawing. So, I tell you, most reverend fathers, as long as the face of the Lady is

our Mother of God inside this Mountain, may no one move to leave this honest Mountain; As soon as he moves to leave this honest Mountain, mental and physical punishment (permissiveness) will immediately be found on him. When they see that the icon of the All-Holy One has departed from this venerable Mountain, then you too can go wherever you please, as long as you keep your vow of monastic life intact and pure.

PROPHETIC CHARACTERISTICS
PEOPLE BEFORE THE END OF THE WORLD

(Part 1, Chapter 28)

If the seventh number of years passes and five ascending to the halfway point of the eighth...

What kind of theft will happen then? What kind of masculinity, adultery, incest, and debauchery will there be then? To what decline will people then descend, to what corruption through fornication? Then there will be confusion with great strife (addiction to disputes), they will incessantly bicker and will not find either beginning or end. Then the Eighth Council will gather to sort out the dispute and reveal good to the good and evil to the evil... the good will be excommunicated, separated from the evil, i.e. true believers from heretics, and for a short time people will be at peace... But then they will again turn the disposition

their (good) position, they will turn to evil through the evil destruction of those who are perishing, so that they will not know that there is a brother and that there is a sister, that a father is with a mother, and that a mother is with her son, they will not recognize the marriage crown. They will have only one destruction, one fall into destruction, like Sodom and Gomorrah, i.e. and five righteous people will not be found... And a brother will have a sister as a wife, a mother will have a son as a husband, the son will kill his father and commit adultery with his mother, and other dozens of evils will become customary. Since evil deeds begin to inculcate in people, disasters will befall them... People, the more disasters they encounter, the more they will cultivate evil, instead of repenting, they will become embittered against God. The atrocities that people will commit will surpass the atrocities of the people of the flood. Everyone will talk only about evil, only evil intentions, evil will, partnership only out of spite, everyone’s actions only evil, general evil theft, general evil oppression, general evil isolation; general evil disunion. With all this, they will think that the doer of evil is saved... Since it will be

As greed multiplies, disasters in the world will also multiply.

PROPHECY ABOUT THE RESIGNING OF THE ANTICHRIST

(Part 1, Chapter 21-25)

The love of money is the forerunner of the Antichrist... Everything that economically and providentially prepared and prepares people for faith and following the Lord is, was and will be the truth. On the contrary, everything that prepares people to reject the law of God and their Savior is a lie, this lie economically prepares the coming of the Antichrist and his acceptance by the human race... Just as the Forerunner preached the baptism of the Truth and thereby turned people to the path of salvation, so (on the contrary) much care will darken a person’s feelings in order to make a person insensitive to his salvation, so that he cannot feel salvation from the multitude of carnal worries. People will feel neither the desire for an eternal future life, nor the fear of eternal condemnation... Thus, salvation will remain and will not be taken away from the world, the opportunity to be saved and those who are saved will remain until the end of the world. She, and then there will be salvation, but for whom?

You do not keep your constant determination, that is, your proposal in spiritual achievement is not constant, your mood is not peaceful, but like a whirlwind spins in your head; You don’t know what’s happening to you, you don’t recognize good as good, or evil as evil, just like Judas, who had such a sense that for him sweet things became bitter, and bitter things became sweet. This is clear from the fact that he hanged himself on a tree in order to make himself betrothed to eternal torment... God did not allow Judas to do what he wanted, that is, he providentially made it so that his first attempts at suicide did not succeed. God, as one who does not remember evil, rebuked Judas - whether he would repent like Manasseh, or like a thief, or like a harlot, he, this upside-down Judas, remained the same as he was before; again he turned his head and disposition, that is, his thoughts and heart, to evil, evading the mercy of God!.. He betrayed the Lord, but God, having mercy on him, commanded the branch (on which he hanged himself) to bow, and it bowed; but Judas, enslaved by evil, made a place for himself even higher, climbed onto this place, shortened the noose for his neck and threw himself from the highest place in order to accomplish what had not been accomplished and thereby complete all his evil!.. God again bent the branch, but this one, insatiable with evil , again tied the noose, arranging the third floor to the height of his evil, with which he destroyed himself; again climbed to the height of the third floor, tied a noose around his neck, and threw his unclean body from the third degree of height, we say: (a body defiled) by the murder of his father, adultery with his mother and the murder of his brother.

Note. Above, the saint said about the story of Judas: “As we hear” - and in fact, there is a tradition about Judas known in the East, to which the saint hints here. In one of the copies of the book about Saint Nile, this legend is given in its entirety, and we also consider it necessary to cite it.

Judas came from the village of Iscaria. His father's name is Rovel. Before Judas was conceived, the mother had a terrible dream and woke up screaming. In response to her husband’s question, she said that she saw that she would conceive and give birth to a male, and he would be the destroyer of the Jewish race. Her husband reproached her for believing in dreams. That same night she conceived (without, therefore, heeding this warning from God) and therefore gave birth to a son. Due to the fact that the remembered dream continued to frighten her, she and her husband agreed to throw the child away; They made a box and, having tarred it, put the baby in it and threw it into Lake Gennesaret. Opposite Iscaria there was a small island on which sheep were grazed in winter and shepherds lived; It was to them that the box with the baby was brought; the shepherds took him out of the water, fed the child with sheep's milk and gave him to a certain woman to nurse him; this woman named the child Judas. When he grew up a little, the shepherds took him from his nurse and brought him to Iskaria to give him to someone as a foster child; here Judas’s father, Rovel, met them, and, not knowing that this was his son, took him into his foster home. The father and mother fell in love with Judas, who had a very handsome face, and, grieving over their son thrown into the water, they adopted Judas. After this, a son was born to them, and Judas began to envy him, fearing that he might lose his inheritance because of him, for Judas was by nature angry and money-loving.

Judas began to constantly offend his brother and beat him, for which his parents often punished Judas, but Judas became more and more inflamed with envy of his brother, carried away by the passion of the love of money, and finally, once taking advantage of the absence of his parents, he killed his brother. Grabbing a stone, he killed his brother, and then, frightened of the consequences, fled to the island on which he was raised, and here he entered the service of a Hellenic house, in which he eventually entered into an adulterous relationship with the wife of the owner’s son and, having killed him, fled to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, Judas was accepted into Herod's palace, where Herod fell in love with him for his agility and handsome appearance; Judas became the manager of the palace and bought everything he needed. His parents, not knowing that he had killed their son, and seeing that he was missing, grieved for him. So a lot of time passed; Finally, great unrest occurred in Iscaria, so Rovel and Judas’ mother moved to Jerusalem and bought themselves a house with a beautiful garden, next to Herod’s palace. It was then that Judas killed his father, as will be stated below through the mouth of the saint, married his mother, and they had a son. Therefore, by chance, in a conversation with his wife, it was revealed that they were blood relations - son and mother; Judas, leaving his mother, went to Christ with the intention of repenting, was taken by Christ as a disciple, made a treasurer and manager, but out of his love of money he continued to steal money and secretly send it to his mother, supposedly for the sake of feeding her.

And Judas knew his iniquity, that is, that he took his mother as his wife, killing her husband, who was his father, and, having killed the boy who was his brother, he learned from the words of his mother, since he did not know about this before; and hearing that Jesus was teaching in the outskirts of Jerusalem (that is, calling sinners to repentance), he went, found Him and joined Him to follow Him.

Seeing this Judas, Jesus Christ realized that he was a hateful, malicious and malicious man, but he accepted him with great joy in order to heal the soul of Judas. And Christ raised Judas to be a steward over all the apostles, so that he could manage everything; and Christ commanded the apostles: ask Judas for everything necessary for the flesh, whatever you need.

Hearing this command of Christ, the apostles carried it out with readiness, did not grumble about what Judas did, and never complained to Christ about him, although they saw many of his disobedience or outrages, for they accepted every word of Christ from Him, with the determination to fulfill it in practice.

That is why they did not grumble at all against their brother Judas. Then Judas was the brother of the apostles and the disciple of Christ; Christ washed his feet, like the other apostles; after his betrayal, he became the brother of the devil, a disciple of Dennitsa, and became, like one of the others, a devil. Then he was an apostle, now he is a devil... This (happened to him) because the apostles, fulfilling in practice (the words of Christ), became pillars of paradise, but Judas, although he listened to the words of Christ, did not listen to them willingly, resignedly and did not have the determination to do the job, that is, to carry them out in practice, (listened) with a murmur and obeyed reluctantly. The apostles clung to the words of Christ as if they were unshakable pillars, and they themselves became pillars of paradise; Judas clung to the words of Christ like a rotten pillar, and he himself became a collapse, that is, as if he broke away and fell away from the part of the Lord and the apostles, casting himself into the depths of hell.

He did not limit himself to having the power of external control over everything worldly, we say: over treasures, sales and purchases, but he wanted to take control of internal exchange as well; we say: Judas wanted to forbid people from bringing faith, ointment and divine glory to Christ, that is, he did not want to let people honor Christ as God, glorify Him as God, and pour precious ointment on Him, for which the people of that time spent as Even now people spend money to bring gifts to the church, we say: for the liturgy, which is the imprint of Christ; incense (burned in a censer and offered to the Lord in worship) is a type (or imprint) of the world (liated on the Lord during his lifetime); as the prophet-king David says: “May my prayer be corrected, like incense before You...”. The candle carried before the priest on exits is a type of the honest forerunner of the Baptist and his teaching in the desert before the coming of Christ, as the prophet said: “The voice of one crying in the desert, straighten the path of the Lord...” And again: “Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.” ..." And again: "Behold, the Lamb of God, take away the sin of the world..." And again: "I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than me is coming, of whom I am not worthy to cut off the thong of His boots, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire ..." (Luke 3:4-6 and John 1:36).

This (i.e., these sacrifices to Christ as God) was what Judas wanted to forbid, intending to prevent (their offering, i.e., the outpouring of peace on Christ) - but he himself was forbidden and overthrew with his boundless love of money, the insidious one with whom Dennitsa deceived him , to hell as follows.

One soul brought valuable ointment to Christ; Christ commanded that it be preserved for the time of the burial of Him, the Son of Man; Judas sought to sell it, for its value was excessive. Christ said: “Let it be preserved for the day of My burial...”

Something similar happened at the time when Judas trampled his father’s garden, taking the most beautiful flowers, called aromas; his mother was afraid to say anything to him, since he was a royal man; Judas did not ask his mother (for permission to pick flowers); but, being a predator and a ruler, he himself boldly picked the fragrant and precious flowers, left his father’s house and met his father in front of the door, returning from work to his house. The father, seeing the fragrances in Judas’s hands, asked: “Why did you pick these fragrances?” Judas answered with great insolence: “I need them, why are you asking?” The father, when he heard such a word from Judas, became angry and said: “You need it, but I don’t need it?” (That’s why) Christ said to Judas: “Leave it, I need it for the time of My burial...”

Judas said to his father: “How dare you speak to me, don’t you know that I am a royal man?” The father said to him: “Even though you are a royal man, why are you impudently saying this to me? Why should I be afraid of you? How dare you enter my house and take things without asking,” and the father tried to take them away from Judas’s hands. Judas, being arrogant and proud, could not bear the words of his father, did not allow him to hear even a small word, but immediately grabbed a stone in his hands and, hitting him on the head with it, killed his father - parricide Judas!.. With great arrogance he went he then went to his master and showed him the aromas. And the lord said to him: “How did they give them to you?” And Judas said: “I did not seek to be given them to me, but I killed him and took him!” The ruler said to him: “Is it true what you say?” Judas says: “I bear witness with my life that I killed him, my lord, for he reviled your command and insulted me.” The lord said: “Now I will send a man to find out if what you say is true, and if it is true, then I will expel you from my chambers and punish you properly, for it was not to him that you did such dishonor, but to me.” The lord sent a man, he found him killed; the messenger returned and announced what had happened; The ruler, hearing that this was true, became angry and extremely embarrassed. Judas, being wicked, resorted to the protection of intercessors; and they went with him (the palace people went to the king to intercede for him); The ruler, seeing that the palace people were indignant, was embarrassed, showed him leniency, took pity on him and, according to the law, ordered him to take the wife of the murdered husband as his wife.

Judas, like an evil vessel of evil, accepted this, but the mother did not want it and said that she was taking another, but did not want this, but the ruler threateningly commanded her so that she should not dare to take another, but only this one. In view of such a misfortune, his mother, unwillingly, accepted him - and Judas took his mother as his wife...

That is why Christ said (to remind Judas of all this) that let the myrrh remain for the time of My burial...

And a boil began to boil in the heart of the boiling anger, but Christ, as the Knower of the Heart, understood Judas’s plan...

On that day, after the washing of the feet of the apostles, when everyone had eaten and Judas was present, during the meal Christ sighed and said that of the twelve of you there is one who will deliver Me into the hands of human sinners. And the apostles said to each other: Who is he who will betray Him? Christ, seeing this excitement among the apostles, said that he stretched out his hand in front of Me, and Judas immediately stretched out his hand in front of Christ (towards the solilo).

Christ did not allow turmoil to occur, as is typical of modern people, but gave only one sign and did not say anything more...

Then He offered up the liturgical Sacrifice*, which we still offer today... Then, after the meal, Judas withdrew from the apostolic union, or better yet, from his brethren, and became an ally of Dennitsa and a brother to the devil...

And the insidious one said in his insidious and unclean thought: I will take gifts from those who seek Him, I will ask (more) and whatever I ask, they will give me... Immediately he went to the Jewish synagogue and said with a great voice: whatever you give me, I will give it to you. His? The Jews immediately presented him with thirty pieces of silver. Having received them, Judas said: follow me. Taking lamps, sticks, knives, ropes and other similar whips in their hands, they followed him...

Jesus Christ then prayed, after prayer he came to the apostles and said: “Watch and pray; you know neither the day nor the hour... for the Son of Man is betrayed. pray, for you know neither the day nor the hour, for the Son of Man is betrayed...” Again he went to the place of His prayer, prayed and said: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.” Immediately, at these words, Judas arrived with lamps, from the multitude of lights it became as bright as day, but the hour was night... And Judas said to the Jews: “Whoever I hug and kiss, grab him”... Then many soldiers entered to where the apostles were gathered together. Judas, with pieces of silver in his hand, the predatory unclean One embraced the Pure One, said: “Rejoice, Rabbi,” - he insidiously put his most vile lips to the undefiled Face and, having shown Him this honor before the soldiers, presented Him to them, retiring into the darkness of the love of money (i.e. that is, into darkness with his love of money, from the Light of Christ - to the devil)... And the soldiers seized Christ; The apostles, seeing Him captured by the soldiers, were very embarrassed. Peter grabbed one slave, threw him down, grabbed a short knife that he had and, prompted by jealousy, cut off the slave’s ear. Then Christ exclaimed and said: “Peter! Petre! Put the knife in its sheath, for (if) you give a knife, you also receive a knife..." And they took Christ as a thief to the judgment seat, and "feared in vain against the Lord and against His Christ" (Ps. 22). Then the reproach surrounded It! tormented!..

Seeing these passions of Christ, Judas, darkened by the love of money, became darkened and greatly repented, but did not fall to repentance, we say: to Christ - and, weeping bitterly, did not mourn his iniquity, like Peter, but went and cast down the pieces of silver where he received them, and said: “I have done evil, take your pieces of silver...” The scribes answered him and said: “You will see...” And they were concerned, saying among themselves that it was not worthy to put them in the corvan; Concernedly they asked what to do with them? Finally, they made a strange burial vault, which is still being found today...

Then Judas, throwing the pieces of silver there, withdrew into a deep place and, moving away, was concerned about what to do there (in the ravine). When he thought about this, a nasty thought came to his mind to commit suicide. The unclean one listened to the unclean one and did the deed in the following way. In the place where he was thinking, there was one tree, as if on purpose for execution. Judas immediately took off his belt, which was made of camel's hair, tied his neck with one end, and tied himself to a tree with the other... the branch bent at the same hour (that is, when he fell over to hang)...

God does not want the sinner to die, but rather for him to turn and live. God acted in every possible way so that Judas would not hang himself, for Judas was still a man. God expected Judas to repent. But Judas did not free himself from the noose in order to go, fall at the foot of the cross and say: “I crucified You, forgive me!.. My evil thought lifted You to the cross; have mercy on me...” If he had spoken these three words before the cross, fulfilling them in deed (expressing his repentance), Christ would have accepted him. But how to do it? This is the thing: so that he tears up bitterly, groans sobbing and weeps pitifully; but Judas did not do this (that is, he did not want to throw himself to the ground before the cross of Christ for his salvation), but threw himself to the ground in order to hang himself (despite the fact that) the branch was bowing, and on the cross was the most friendly Christ (of whom Judas could be undoubtedly sure that He would not reject his repentance)!..

Just as Basil the Great was friendly to Joseph (whom he baptized on his deathbed), so Christ was friendly to Judas, expecting words of repentance from him, but Judas (instead of saying these words, preferred) to tightly tighten his throat with a noose - Iscariot!.. Looks Christ will look into the distance on both sides of His cross to see if he will see Judas... He, Who thirsts for the salvation of people, also thirsted for Judas’s repentance and sought it... With a great voice, Christ cried out with a groan: “I thirst.” The Jews realized that He was demanding water and with their Jewish shamelessness, putting their lip on the reed, they gave him bile and vinegar to drink... Again He exclaimed and said: “It is finished”... Tell me now, why did Judas come to Christ to see Him? For the sake of your death or salvation? If for salvation, then why did he die, the unfortunate one? Because the most unstable (most fickle) did not have firm faith.

*The commandment about the Eucharist with the words: “Do this in remembrance of Me.”

About Nikita the recluse, who later was Bishop of Novgorod

And great fame spread about him, and everyone marveled at how his words came true. One day Nikita sent to Prince Izyaslav to tell him: “Today Gleb Svyatoslavich was killed in Zavolchye. Hurry up and send your son Svyatopolk to the throne in Novgorod.” As he said, it was so - a few days later the news of Gleb’s death came. And from then on the recluse became known as a prophet and the princes and boyars began to obey him. But the demon did not know the future, and what he himself did, or what he taught evil people - whether to kill or steal - he proclaimed. When they came to the recluse to hear advice or a word of consolation from him, the demon, an imaginary angel, told what happened because of himself, and Nikita prophesied. And his prophecy always came true. No one could also compete with Nikita in knowledge of the books of the Old Testament - he knew it all by heart: the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Judges, Kings and all the prophecies. In general, I knew all the Jewish books by heart. The Gospel and the Apostle, given to us in grace for our confirmation and correction, he did not want to see, hear, or read, and he did not allow others to talk to him about them. And from this everyone understood that he was seduced.

The reverend fathers could not tolerate this... And they all came to the seduced man, prayed to God and drove the demon away from the recluse, and after that he did not see him anymore. Then they took him out of the cave and asked him about the Old Testament in order to hear something from him. Nikita swore that he had never read the books of the Old Testament, which he had previously known by heart, but now he did not remember a single word from them. After the exorcism of the demon, he was in such a state that he almost forgot how to speak, so that the blessed fathers barely taught him to read and write.

From then on, Nikita devoted himself to abstinence, obedience, and a pure, humble life; so he surpassed everyone in virtue, and was subsequently appointed bishop in Novgorod.

About the Venerable Isaac the Caveman

This reverend father of ours, Isaac, when he still lived in the world, was a rich merchant, originally from Toropchan. And so he, having decided to become a monk, distributed all his property to the poor and monasteries and came to the great Anthony in the cave, begging to be tonsured a monk. And Anthony accepted him, and tonsured him as a monk, and gave him the name Isaac, but his worldly name was Chern.

And this Isaac began to lead a strict life, put on a hair shirt, ordered to buy himself a goat and tear off the skin from it, and put it on the hair shirt, and the raw skin dried on it. And he shut himself up in a cave, in one of the passages, in a small cell, four cubits deep, and then he prayed to God with tears. His food was only prosphora, and then every other day, and he drank water in moderation.

The great Anthony brought it to him and served it at the window, where his hand could barely fit through, and that’s how he took his food. And Isaac spent seven years in such a life, without going outside, not lying on his side, but sleeping while sitting, little by little.

One day, as usual, when evening came, he began to bow and sing psalms, and so on until midnight, and, tired, he sat down on his seat. And when he sat as always, having extinguished the candle, a light suddenly shone in the cave, as if from the sun, such that it could blind a person. And two beautiful young men with faces shining like the sun came up to him and said to him: “Isaac, we are angels, but here Christ is coming to you with the angels.” Isaac stood up and saw a crowd of demons, and their faces were brighter than the sun, and one among them shone brighter than all, and rays emanated from his face. And they said to him: “Isaac, this is Christ, having fallen, bow to him.” Isaac, not understanding the demonic obsession and forgetting to cross himself, left the cell and worshiped the demonic act as if he were Christ. Then the demons exclaimed and said: “Now you are ours, Isaac!”

They brought him into the cell, sat him down and began to sit around him. And the whole cell and the cave passage were filled with demons. And one of the demons, the one who was called Christ, said: “Take snuffles, and tambourines, and harps and play, and Isaac will dance for us.” And they burst into sniffles, and harps, and tambourines, and began to amuse themselves with them. And, having tormented him, they left him barely alive and left, having abused him.

The next day, when the day came and the time had come to eat bread, Anthony came, as usual, to the window and said: “Bless, Father Isaac!” And there was no answer. And Anthony said this several times, and no one answered, and then he thought to himself: “He probably died.” And he sent to the monastery for Theodosius and the brethren. The brethren came and dug up where the entrance was covered, and took Isaac, thinking that he was dead, and when they carried him out and laid him in front of the cave, they saw that he was alive. And Abbot Theodosius said that this happened to him because of a demonic act. They laid him on the bed, and Saint Anthony began to serve him.

It happened that at this time Izyaslav came from Poland and he began to be angry with Anthony because of Prince Vseslav. And Svyatoslav sent for Saint Anthony to take him to Chernigov at night. Anthony, having come to Chernigov, fell in love with a place called Boldin Mountains; he dug a cave and settled here. And to this day, the monastery of the Holy Mother of God stands here on the Boldin Mountains, near Chernigov.

Theodosius, having learned that Anthony had gone to Chernigov, went with the brethren, and took Isaac, and carried him to his cell, and looked after him. He was so relaxed in mind and body that he could neither turn from side to side, nor stand up, nor sit down, he only lay on one side, so that he often got worms under his thighs due to the fact that he urinated and walked under myself. Theodosius himself washed and changed him with his own hands, and he lay there for two whole years, and the saint served him.

And it was a wondrous miracle that for two years he did not take bread, water, or vegetables into his mouth and did not eat any food, did not speak anything and lay dumb and deaf for two years.

Theodosius prayed to God for him and performed prayer over him day and night, until the sick man spoke in the third year and asked to be raised to his feet like a baby, and began to walk. But he did not want to go to church, and he was forcibly dragged to church, and so little by little he began to go to church. After this, he began to go to the refectory, and they seated him separately from the brethren, and put bread in front of him, but he did not take it, but they put it in his hand. Theodosius said: “Put the bread in front of him, but don’t put it in his hand: let him eat it himself.” He didn’t eat for a whole week, and then little by little he looked around and began to taste the bread, and that’s how he learned to eat. And so the great Theodosius delivered him from the wiles of the devil and from his temptations. And Isaac again indulged in cruel abstinence.

When Theodosius died and Stefan took his place, Isaac said: “You, devil, deceived me when I was sitting in one place, so now I will not shut myself up in a cave, but will defeat you with the grace of God, walking around the monastery.” And again he put on a hair shirt, and on top of the hair shirt he put on a coarse shirt and began to play the fool. He began to help the cooks and work for the brethren, and at Matins he came before everyone else, and stood firmly and motionless. When winter arrived and severe frosts set in, even then he stood in well-trodden shoes, so that his feet often froze to the stone floor, but he did not move his feet until Matins had been sung. And after Matins he went to the kitchen, lit a fire, brought firewood and water, after which the other cooks from the brethren came.

One of the cooks, also named Isaky, once said, mockingly: “Isaky, here sits a black raven - go and get him.” He bowed to the ground, went, took the raven and brought it in front of all the cooks. And they were all horrified when they saw this, and told the abbot and all the brethren, and after this the brethren began to honor him. He, rejecting human glory, began to act like a fool and began to mock first the abbot, then one of the brethren, then the laity, so that others even beat him. And he began to walk around the world, also acting like a fool.

And he settled again in the cave in which he had lived before - Anthony had already died by this time - and began to gather children to him, and dressed them in monastic robes. And he was beaten for this, either by Abbot Nikon or by the parents of these children. The blessed one endured all this, enduring beatings, nakedness, and cold day and night.

One night he lit a stove in a cave, and when the stove flared up - and it was dilapidated - the flames began to break out through the cracks, and he had nothing to put them in, and stood barefoot on the fire, and stood there until the stove burned out, and came down without harming himself. And many other things were told about him, and some I saw myself.

And he gained such power over the demons that they were like flies to him, and he did not value their fears and obsessions at all. He told them: “If you deceived me the first time, because I did not know your wiles and wickedness, now the Lord Jesus Christ, my God, is with me, and I hope in the prayers of my father Theodosius, and I will win victory over you.” Many times the demons spoiled him and said: “You are ours, Isaac, because you bowed to our elder.” He said: “Your elder is the Antichrist, and you are demons,” and he made the sign of the cross over his face, and that is why the demons disappeared.

Sometimes they came to him again, frightening him with a vision, as if many people had come with hoes and picks, saying: “Let's dig up this cave and fill him up here”; others said: “Come out, Isaac: they want to put you to sleep.” He told them: “If you were people, you would come during the day, but you are darkness and walk in darkness,” and when he made the sign of the cross, they disappeared. Sometimes they frightened him in the form of a bear, or a fierce beast, or a lion, or they crawled towards him with snakes, or toads, and mice, and all sorts of reptiles, and they could not do anything to him.

And they said: “O Isaac, you defeated us!” He answered: “Once you deceived me, taking on the image of Jesus Christ and the angels, but you were not worthy of such a dignity, and now you appear in your true image, bestial and bestial, and snakes, and various reptiles, which you and there really is." And from then on there was no harm to him from demons, which he himself told about, saying that he had this struggle with them for three years.

Then he began to live in strictness and observe abstinence, fasting and vigil. And so he lived, and the end of his life came. He fell ill in the cave, and they carried him, sick, to the monastery, and he remained ill until the eighth day, and by the righteous path he went to the Lord in a good confession. Abbot John and all the brethren removed his body, burying it honestly with the holy fathers in a cave.

Such were the monks of the Theodosius Monastery, who shine even after death like luminaries, and pray to God for the brethren living here, and for all those who work in the house of the Mother of God, and for the lay brethren, and for those who come and donate to the monastery, in which to this day the virtuous they live life together, all together, in singing and prayer, and in obedience, to the glory of Almighty God and His Most Pure Mother, observed by the prayers of the holy fathers Anthony and Theodosius.

May the Lord grant us, through their prayers, to escape the snares of the devil who catches us and find ourselves in the place where Fathers Anthony and Theodosius are found. And let us call, brothers, those blessed fathers and miracle workers to be helpers and prayer books to the Lord God, so that we will not be excommunicated from those venerable monks and rejected from the blessed and holy place, and not be deprived of the fact that it remains the dwelling of the most immaculate and Most Pure Virgin, as She herself promised; Let us strive to spend the rest of our lives in repentance and pleasing God. May we all have the grace to receive eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to Him be glory and power with the Father and the Most Holy and Life-giving Spirit.

In the life of St. Martin of Tours, written by his student, Sulpicius Severus, contains an interesting example of demonic machinations in connection with strange “physical” phenomena... A certain young man named Anatoly was a monk near the monastery of St. Martin, but... became a victim of demonic obsessions. He imagined that he was talking with Angels, and in order to convince others of his holiness, these “Angels” promised to give him “shining garments from heaven” as a sign that “the power of the Lord” dwells in this young man. One day, around midnight, near his monastery, a loud clatter of dancing feet and the murmur of as if many voices were heard, and Anatoly’s cell was illuminated with a dazzling light. Then there was silence, and the lost one appeared on the threshold of the cell in his “heavenly” clothes. “They brought light, and everyone carefully examined the robe. It was surprisingly soft, with an extraordinary shine and a bright scarlet color, but it was impossible to determine what kind of material it was. At the same time, upon closer inspection and to the touch, it seemed like clothing and nothing else." The next morning, Anatoly’s spiritual father took him by the hand to take him to St. Martin and find out if this is the wiles of the devil. The lost man refused to go in fear, and “when he was forced to go against his will, his clothes disappeared under the hands of those who led him.” The author of the narrative says in conclusion that “the devil was not able to continue his obsessions or hide their nature when they had to appear before the eyes of St. Martin.” “So much did he possess the power to see the devil that he recognized him under any guise, whether in his own form or in various guises of “spiritual evil” - including in the form of pagan gods or under the guise of Christ Himself, in royal robes, in a crown , illuminated by a bright red light."

(Bishop Ignatius. Fatherland)

Memorable tales:

Abba Pimen said: “The Scripture says: “What your eyes have seen, speak,” but I advise you not to even speak about what you have touched with your own hands. One brother was deceived in exactly this way. It seemed to him that his brother was sinning with a woman. He struggled with himself for a long time, finally he came up, pushed them with his foot, thinking that it was really them, and said: “It’s enough for you, how much longer?” But it turned out that they were sheaves of wheat. That is why I tell you: do not reprove, even if you touch with your own hands.”

Posthumous broadcasts of St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming Athos:

Someone named Konstantin also came to this monastery and laid the foundation, but began to strive in virtues without the permission of his confessor, wanting to reach the level of Andrei and become equal to him in virtues (i.e., in deeds), for Konstantin was jealous of Andrei, who received the grace to heal everyone illness and any infirmity.

Constantine asked one brother, how did Andrei receive this grace? The brother tells him that in order to receive this grace, Andrei used a great feat. Konstantin asks: “What feat did he use for this?” The brother tells him: “His feat was this: he was never satisfied with bread, he never drank enough water, he stood motionless for two days in prayer, making 1000 and 2000 bows, he did not know the taste of the brew or wine.” It seemed easy to Konstantin, but for the sake of appearance he pretended that it seemed difficult to him and said to his brother: “Well, where can I struggle with such a feat, may God help me, even if I remain as I am.” He left his brother, came to his cell and took up Andrei’s feat, described in the conversation (by his brother).

Three days after that, he was tonsured a monk and named Kunav. Some time after he was tonsured, out of his pride, he began to struggle on his own, without the permission of his confessor. He went secretly to one hidden place, there he labored alone, the unfortunate labored with such zeal that he surpassed Andrei, but his goal was not the same as Andrei’s, but proud, to achieve miracles. So he continued to perform his vain feat for five months, once a week he ate several crackers and drank a little water; He only fell asleep by leaning against the wall for a short time.

When five months had passed like this, a thought came to Kunavu and said to him: “You are performing such a great feat and, who knows, maybe God has already accepted your prayer? Wash the lamp, put a new lamp in it, take clean oil and place it in front of you during your prayer; if the lamp lights up by itself, then it means your desire has been fulfilled and God has accepted your prayer, and now, how do you know how God has you.” The unfortunate man accepted such an evil thought, did as his thought told him, prayed for three days before this lamp, but the lamp did not light up. Then the unfortunate man began to say: “Lord, give me grace to become a healer, to heal every ailment and every weakness! Grant, Lord, what I ask, and I don’t want salvation! Give me just this one grace, and then torture me! Give me the grace of healing, and then burn me in unquenchable fire!” When the unfortunate man spoke thus, suddenly, through a dreamy demonic action, a lamp was lit, a demon appeared in the form of Andrei and said to him: “Rejoice, Father Kunave, you have surpassed me in virtues (i.e., in feat). For I was at prayer outside my cell; During my prayer, I saw the radiance of a luminous light, which, circling, was looking for whose dwelling to descend on, but did not find a radiance worthy of any clean vessel to dwell on it, so it came to you and ascended into your dwelling; That’s why I came to look at you and ask you what means you used to receive such grace from God. When I was walking to you, an angel met me on the road and said to me: “Why are you sad, Andrei, that Kunav received such grace? He received it because he surpassed your own virtues (i.e., exploits).” And the demon in the image of Andrei began to retell all the feats that Kunav performed during these five months.

While he was still saying this, another demon came, shining strongly with a light that shone like the sun, and said to him: “Rejoice, Kunave, because you have pleased the Queen of Heaven; she herself comes to visit you, to look at your angelic life and your great feat. Come out to meet her and bow to her like a queen.” Hearing this, the unfortunate man went to meet the queen. The evil one says to Kunav: “Be careful not to call her by name, for she is modest and if she hears her name from you, she will become angry and will not give you the grace of healing.” Kunav asks: “How can I tell her?” The demon answers: “Say the words: “Rejoice, queen of the earth, who has honored my virtue! See my work, my feat, my sorrow, and give me the grace of healing.”

While he was saying this, another luminous demon came and said: “Let us prepare a throne for the queen, for she is coming.” Another demon says: “We will go with Kunav to meet her, and you prepare the throne.” The unfortunate Kunav went with the demon and both bowed to the demon, supposedly the Queen of Salvation; Kunav said as the demon taught him. The demon in the form of a queen, seeing that Kunav bowed to him, rose from his throne, hugged, kissed him and said: “It was desirable for me, my child, to just look at you and my glory was worthy of this. Now demand from me what you want.” And she gave up her throne to him, the demon elevated Kunav to the throne, sat down lower and said to Kunav: “Here I give you my glory along with my grace; I also give you the gift of healings. Sit on a throne worthy of you; I, as unworthy, will sit lower on the throne.” And the unfortunate man sat on the damned throne. And the demon said to other demons: “From now on, I am not worthy to rule over you, but let him have power over you here on earth, and let you obey him. For this reason, worship him as your queen.”

Immediately all the demons fell dreamily and bowed to Kunav. Then the demons say to the unfortunate Kunav with dreamy (i.e., uplifting) flattery: “The cherubim and seraphim trembled when they saw your glory, and we wonder how you were worthy of such glory.” Poor Kunav says with a sigh: “Oh, what work I had to do and what sorrow I had to receive such glory!” The demons say: “You worked hard, that’s why you received such glory with the grace of healing. The queen gave it to you, but if you do not go to her son, you will not be able to accept the grace of healing.” The queen says: “Take him, bring him down so that he can bow to my son and receive the grace of healing, for after he receives this grace, he still has sixty years to live on earth.” As soon as the damned queen said this, the demons seized Kunav along with his throne, presenting themselves to him in the form of angels, one in the form of Gabriel, the other in the form of Michael; They lifted him up to the first heaven and from there they suddenly threw Kunav down like Dennitsa; he fell onto a stone slab and instead of living another 60 years, the unfortunate man turned into six hundred pieces. It was midnight when he fell.

Another brother in the monastery of Servius had the same arrogance; This one also struggled to receive the grace of healing, for 15 days he left his cell at night at midnight, prayed, and while he was praying, he saw the overthrow of Kunav. - Seeing this pitiful sight, the brother was surprised and said: “What does this mean? Was it a dream, or what righteous soul was overthrown?” When he was thinking about this, God sent an angel to him, and he suddenly appeared before him, as if he were a wandering monk. They said a prayer to each other; After completing the prayer, the angel says: “What has been overthrown, Abba?” The brother says: “I don’t know!” The angel says: “Listen to me, Abba: this is neither a ghost nor a righteous soul, but this is a man named Kunav, the monk Servius; he was cast down because he hid his thoughts from his confessor, he dreamed of asceticism for the sake of miracles, he asked God for miracles, but he did not think at all about his salvation, for this he turned out to be forgotten by God and demons prevailed over him.”

And the angel said: “Blessed is he who does not hide any thoughts from his confessor, and woe to him who strives arbitrarily, according to his own will, without consulting his confessor.” The angel made a prayer and said: “Go, declare your proud thought and your proud deed to your confessor, so that you too will not be deceived, like Kunava, for your deed is not pleasing to God.” The angel ascended to heaven, and the brother was left alone in thought.

In the morning he went to Servius, telling him everything in order. When Servius heard such a thing, he sighed and said: “Ring the bell so that all the brethren can come together.”

The funeral bell was rung, the brethren thought that someone had died; The monks gathered, Servius announced the death of Kunav. All the brethren shuddered when they heard about this.

And Servius said: “Have you understood, my children, by what destruction Kunav perished?! Be careful that the lion of vanity does not snatch away any of you!”

(Posthumous broadcasts of the Monk Nile the Myrrh-streaming of Athos. Chapter 13. Kunav’s fall into delusion and his death)

Someone named Malpas, descended from Edessa, at one time became the inventor of the heresy of the Euchites, while he led a high life and endured the most difficult labors and sorrows. For they say that, being a disciple of blessed Julian, called Savoy, he went with him for a short time to Sinai and Egypt and saw the great fathers of that time, saw blessed Anthony, heard from him the mysterious words spoken by him about purity and the salvation of souls: heard subtle questions about the passions, in which Anthony explained that the mind, after its purification, has contemplation of spiritual mysteries and that the soul can, by grace, become worthy of dispassion when, by doing the commandments, it is stripped of old passions and comes to the health of its primitive nature. And when Malpas, in the bloom of his youth, listened to these words, he burned like fire and came to his city; and, since the passion of love for fame was kindled in him, he chose a hermitage for himself and devoted himself to works and severe sorrows and unceasing prayers. And when the passion of exorbitant love of fame flared up in him, that is, the hope of achieving for him those lofty talents that he had heard about, since he had not learned the art of confronting the enemies of truth, did not understand the intrigues, deceptions and tricks of the adversary, with which he draws the strong and strong into destruction , he relied only on works, on sorrows, on non-covetousness, on asceticism, on abstinence, without acquiring self-abasement, humility, heartfelt contrition - these insurmountable weapons against the resistance of the evil one, not remembering the Scripture, which says: when you have done the works, keep the commandments , endure sorrows, consider yourself obscene slaves; but on the contrary, he was kindled by a high self-conceit based on the accomplishments of his life, and burned with the desire for the high gifts that he heard about - after a long time, when the devil saw that he had no humility to do, but only longed for contemplation, in order to feel the mysteries that he had heard about, he appeared to him in immeasurable light, saying: “I am the comforter, and was sent to you from the Father to make you worthy to see the contemplation that you desire for your deeds, to give you dispassion and for the future to give you peace from affairs." In return for this, the evil one demanded worship from this poor man. And this fool, because he did not feel the scolding of the evil one, immediately accepted him with joy, and bowed to him, and that same hour became under his power. And the enemy, instead of Divine contemplation, filled him with demonic dreams, made him stop working for the truth, exalted him and mocked him with the vain hope of dispassion, saying to him: “Now you have no need for deeds, for the suffering of the body, for the struggle with passions and lusts"; and made him the leader of the heresy of the Euchites. When they multiplied and their teaching became evidently vile and wrong, they were expelled by the then bishop.
And another one, named Asinas, in the same city of Edessa, having composed many trilogies that are sung to this day, led a high life and recklessly bound himself to the most difficult affairs, until he became famous. The devil seduced him, took him out of his cell and placed him on the top of a mountain called Storium, made an agreement with him, showed him an image of chariots and horsemen and said to him: “God sent me to take you to heaven, like Elijah.” And as soon as he was deceived by his infant mind and climbed onto the chariot, this whole dream was destroyed, he fell from a great height, fell from there to the ground and died a death worthy of laughter.

(Venerable Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words. Word 55)

There was a certain Valens, a native of Palestine, proud in spirit... This Valens lived with us for a long time in the desert, exhausted his flesh a lot and was a great ascetic throughout his life, but then, deceived by the spirit of conceit and pride, he fell into extreme arrogance, so that he became a plaything demons Puffed up by the destructive passion of conceit, he finally began to dream, in self-delusion, that Angels were talking to him and serving him in every way.

Here's what people who knew him well said about him:

One day, in the late evening, when it was already dark, he was weaving baskets and dropped the awl on the floor. For a long time he did not find it, when suddenly, through a demonic delusion, a lit lamp appeared in the cell. With it he found the lost awl. This gave new food to his arrogance. In the ecstasy of pride, the ascetic dreamed of himself even more, so that he finally began to despise the very Mysteries of Christ.

One day some wanderers brought fruits to the church for the brethren. Blessed Macarius, our presbyter, sent them out to cells, a handful to each brother, including this Valens. Having received the fruit, Valens cursed and beat the one who brought it and said to him: “Go, tell Macarius that I am no worse than him, that he is sending me a blessing?”

Having learned from this that Valens was in seduction, Macarius a day later went to admonish him and said to him: “Brother Valens! You are in seduction, stop and pray to God.” But Valens did not heed the admonitions of Father Macarius. And since he did not listen to his convictions, he left in great sorrow over the fall of Valens. The devil, convinced that Valens has completely given himself over to deceiving him, takes on the appearance of the Savior and comes to him at night, surrounded by a host of demons in the form of Angels, with lit lamps. And behold, a circle of fire appears, and in the middle of it Valens sees, as it were, the Savior. One of the demons, in the form of an Angel, comes up to him and says: “You pleased Christ with your exploits and freedom of life, and He came to see you. So, do nothing else, but only stand in the distance and see Him standing among the whole host “, fall down and bow to him, then go to your cell.”

Valens went out and, seeing many spirits with lamps at a distance of about a stage, fell and bowed to the Antichrist. The deceived man showed his madness to such an extent that, coming to church the next day, he said in front of all the brethren: “I have no need for communion - today I saw Christ.”

Then the holy fathers bound him with chains and cured him for a year, destroying his pride with prayers, various humiliations and a harsh life, as they say, healing the opposite with the opposite.

(Bishop Palladius of Elenople. Lavsaik)

Elder. From this kind of delusion arose destructive heresies, schisms, atheism, and blasphemy. Its most unfortunate visible consequence is wrong, harmful activity for oneself and for one’s neighbors—evil, despite its clarity and vastness, is little noticed and little understood. Misfortunes, obvious to everyone, happen to those who are infected with “opinion”, but rarely: because “opinion,” leading the mind into the most terrible delusion, does not lead it into frenzy, as a disordered imagination does. – On Valaam Island, in a remote deserted hut, lived schemamonk Porfiry, whom I also saw. He was engaged in the feat of prayer. What kind of feat this was, I really don’t know. One can guess that it was incorrect from the schemamonk’s favorite reading: he highly valued the book of the Western writer Thomas à Kempis on the imitation of Jesus Christ, and was guided by it. This book is written from an “opinion”. Porfiry one evening, in the autumn, visited the elders of the monastery, from which its desert was not far away. When he said goodbye to the elders, they warned him, saying: “Don’t even try to walk on the ice: the ice has just risen and is very thin.” The Porfiry desert was separated from the monastery by a deep bay of Lake Ladoga, which had to be bypassed. Schemamonk answered in a quiet voice, with outward modesty: “I have already become light.” He left. A short time later, a desperate scream was heard. The skete elders became alarmed and ran out. It was dark; they did not soon find the place where the misfortune occurred, they did not soon find the means to get the drowned man; They pulled out the body, already abandoned by the soul.”

(Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov). Ascetic experiences. Volume 1. On the Jesus Prayer. Section II.)

In order to have special caution and sobriety towards various kinds of “light” and bright phenomena inside and outside us, we will present here some very instructive stories from the writings of the fathers, revealing the diversity, intricacy and deceit of demonic seductions.

Holy Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov says that “demons try to bring a person into communication with themselves and into submission to themselves, not always with clearly sinful thoughts; they initially inspire actions that apparently have nothing reprehensible in themselves, often apparently good, and then; having gained influence and power over a person, they plunge him into lawlessness, which, thus, are the consequences of initially following the suggestions of demons.”

Interesting and very instructive cases are described by one Holy Mountain resident, a monk who lived on Mount Athos in the nineteenth century, visited many places of interest on the Holy Mountain and described his impressions in letters to his friends in Russia [Letters from a Holy Mountain resident to friends in Russia. St. Petersburg, 1850, part 2].

When the author of the letters was heading with one monk of the Holy Mountain to that monk’s cell, passing along the way past a gigantic rock towering over an abyss, he told the following story connected with this place: before the last Turkish war, a Greek who was from a noble family escaped here, but, having renounced all his rights to the glory and honors of the world, he chose a desert life. It must be assumed that he was extremely strong in his exploits, otherwise he would not have provoked the demon. While all attempts in mental warfare with the hermit remained in vain for the demon, he found a weak side in him and used his own heart and mind as instruments for his wondrous fall. The demon turned the hermit's head with thoughts about the height of his exploits, convinced his mind with the idea of ​​variety and severity and their multitude, and thus little by little, over time, brought the unfortunate man to such a delusion that he began to desire mysterious visions and obvious experiences of the manifestation of the spiritual world. When pride and conceit were thus deeply rooted in him, the demon began to act decisively! He began to appear to the hermit in the form of an Angel and talk with him. The unfortunate man believed so much in the words of the “angel” and in his own thoughts that he began to desire to serve the Church in the rank of bishop, which, according to the “angel,” he had long been worthy of and to which he was destined by the Lord Himself. The importance of his relatives in the world occupied his imagination too much and the glory of their name tickled the thoughts of the forgotten ascetic. All that was missing was an opportunity that could call him out of the desert into the world... But the demon would have no business with this. One day, when the hermit was too busy with his high destiny in the future and, inventing means to achieve his goal, plunged into deep thought, suddenly someone rattled a porch ring. The hermit shuddered, crossed himself and, whispering a prayer, approached the door:

Who's there? - he asked.

Such and such,” they responded from behind the door, “we are from your homeland, we brought you a bow from your relatives and something else.” We have an important mission for you; let me come to you and talk to you, holy father.

The hermit opened the door and the two strangers respectfully greeted him.

Please welcome,” the hermit said modestly, opening the door. Strangers entered. The owner seated his guests on a mat sofa and sat down opposite them. Finally the hermit asked about the purpose of their visit, the strangers began to say:

This is what we must tell you, Holy Father: you know how we suffer under the Porte, how we, our families, our faith and our Church itself are oppressed... You, of course, know this yourself...

Yes, so,” the hermit said with feeling, “what of this?”

You know, right, and that,” continued the same stranger, “that the war between the Turks and Russia ended in peace, which was extremely beneficial for us, now we have been given the opportunity and freedom to live like a Christian... But here’s the problem: in our country, your homeland, there is no bishop. Can there be a Church without a bishop? Are we able to govern ourselves? Who will repel the predation of the Turks from us? Meanwhile, we know your relatives, we know you and your life; Therefore, forgive us that we, without your consent, asked you to be our bishop. This is what the Turkish ferman is for, and with it the patriarchal charter. “The strangers took out the papers and handed them to the hermit.

Have mercy! - objected the hermit, humbly lowering his eyes, and meanwhile ready to jump for joy. – Should I accept the rod of pastoral rule when I myself am not able to control myself? Should I take upon myself the burden of apostolic service when I feel my own weaknesses and multitude of sins? No, children, I renounce what is beyond my strength! Besides, my desert is my paradise, I made a vow before God to die here...

Think about yourself as you wish, Holy Father,” the strangers answered, “but the voice of the people is the voice of God: the will of the government is the will of God!” You know that the public good is preferable to our own. What about ferman? - No, father, don’t renounce!.. The Church is calling you. If nothing touches you, neither the misfortunes of the people, nor our family sorrows, then does the need of the Church really mean nothing to you?

“When that’s the case,” the hermit finally answered, after some reflection, “I agree.”

So, father, hurry up! - the guests noticed. “The sooner we set off, the better: not far from here, on the road, mules and guides are waiting for us.”

While the hermit was getting ready and putting something in his bag, the strangers did not stop hurrying him. Finally, they began to climb this path to the very height of the rock: heavy sadness and vague foreboding pressed the ascetic’s chest; he yearned for separation from his desert. When they climbed there, to the highest point of the rock, the unfortunate man did not want to leave without looking once again at the unearthly beauty of his austere desert; all three of them stood on a rock: an abyss lay under their feet... The hermit was so careless that, when talking with strangers, he walked up with them to the very steep edge of the rock. And then a strong push in the back threw him, like an autumn leaf torn from a tree by a whirlwind, into the abyss, a whistle was heard from the cliff, and satanic laughter echoed across the desert.

The unfortunate man, however, did not kill himself to death. God gave him time to repent and sent a monk to him from a neighboring cell. The overthrown man was completely broken, his very skull was broken, blood flowed in streams from his wounds, but he had enough time and strength to tell the details of his life and temptations, asked the hermits who knew him for remembrance and prayers, and in the arms of a weeping monk he gave up the ghost. After his terrible temptation, he was alive for no more than three hours.

The Holy Mountainer, having heard this terrible incident, standing on that very rock, was more surprised that, falling from such a height, that unfortunate monk was still alive: “It’s true, he had some kind of virtues, for the sake of which the Lord did not leave him to die without repentance.” , - the author of the letters concludes this story [Letters from Svyatogorets to friends in Russia. Letter 12].

Again: from the letters of the Svyatogorets it is clear that demons are not always afraid of our prayers, but can even encourage many of our incorrect prayer efforts.

“The demon is not so much strong as he is cunning and versatile in temptations,” says the Athonite man and gives the following story: one Russian elder lived in their monastery, he had a heartfelt attraction to prayer, but did not understand the dignity and importance of obedience, and so he became evade general monastic obediences and go into the forest to pray. His thoughts more and more often told him that prayer is a property of the angelic spirit and the food of the soul, and work is an everyday, worldly and vain need; So he deviated more and more into self-rule, until thoughts began to appear in him about the height of his feat and life. Finally, a “bright angel” began to appear to him and bless his feat of prayer; with the most convincing arguments he exalted prayer and belittled fraternal obedience. It is not known how the matter would have ended, but one Greek elder drew attention to his brother’s behavior. He questioned his brother in detail and was afraid for him when he heard about his visions. Then he gave him a strict instruction, he said the following words: “The demon will destroy you, he will drive you crazy for your unauthorized prayer feats, your prayer is imputed to you as a sin and gives the demon free access to you. Satan, not an Angel, appears to you. Try this if you want: do not go into the forest, work with your brothers, perform the cell canon in your cell, and when this “angel” appears before you, then do not pay any attention to him and strictly adhere to your prayer ... " “And the elder said much more in the same spirit, so that the Russian monk was seriously frightened and obeyed. He did just that - after working with the brothers, he went to pray in his cell. And sure enough, the “angel” appears again, but the old man pays no attention to him, doesn’t even look at him. And the “bright angel” went berserk; instead of the beautiful and lightning-eyed young man, suddenly there appeared an ugly Ethiopian with eyes sparkling like fire and began to jump in front of his praying brother. In vain he crossed himself and bowed more frequently, hoping to drive away the demon - he did not leave and did not allow the canon to be performed. Finally, the brother, indignant, lashed the demon with his rosary with all his might, and he hit the monk in the ear with his paw and disappeared like smoke. From that time on, the unfortunate brother became deaf and to this day, says Svyatogorets, he cannot hear anything with that ear.

Following this story, the author of the letters notes that the temptations of monks in the desert are even more dangerous, and as a result, on Athos it is accepted as a rule for each of those who go to silence in the desert: to resolutely not accept any visions and, with a humble consciousness of one’s unworthiness and sinfulness, to renounce the phenomena of the spiritual world , whatever. He further cites such cases.

The hermit of high life and rare exploits once quietly whispered a prayer in his cell in the evening. Suddenly a dazzling light spread before him and a young man of angelic beauty appeared before the hermit. Having made it a rule to shun sensory phenomena, no matter what kind they were, the hermit calmly remained in his place and, whispering a prayer, did not pay attention to the ghost. Meanwhile, the young man did not disappear. This surprised the hermit all the more because he who appeared was not afraid of either the cross or prayer. - Who are you? – the hermit finally asked him sternly.

“I am your Guardian Angel,” the one who appeared meekly answered.

Why are you here? - asked the hermit. “I was ordered by the Lord God,” he said, “to visit you in my real form, and I came to you.”

“I don’t need this,” the hermit noted, stood up and began to pray.

The angel did not disappear and seemed to be praying with the praying elder. The hermit did not understand what this strange phenomenon was. If it were a demon, he reasoned to himself, the cross and prayer would certainly crush it and destroy the ghost.

How will you assure me,” the hermit asked the one who appeared after some thought, “that you are truly an Angel of God?”

“Anything,” he answered. “You know,” the angel continued, “that demons are afraid of the power of the godmother and the sign of the cross, but I am not afraid.” I worship God, I worship, as you see, the cross... - Here the angel crossed himself and fell in touching reverence before the image of the Cross of Christ. The hermit hesitated.

What more do you ask of me? – the angel asked him, rising from the ground. “You see that I not only am not afraid of the cross, but I also worship it: that means I am your Guardian Angel.”

Maybe,” the hermit said calmly, “but still I don’t need you in your sensual form: our Guardian Angels are invisible!”

So you don't believe me yet? – the angel asked the hermit again.

“I will never believe it,” the elder answered decisively. - With God, get away from me, whoever you are, even the Archangel himself; I have no need for your visible presence. You distract me from prayer, and this alone proves that you are not an Angel.

In vain! - he objected. “I will not leave you, because I am commanded to stay with you.”

“Your will,” the hermit said calmly, “I don’t want to know you without asking or ordering from my confessor, get away from me!” I don't need you like this. - And the hermit stood up to pray; and meanwhile the angel became invisible, promising to appear again in the same way the next night.

When dawn broke, the hermit came to his confessor and told him about the vision. The confessor thought: worshiping the cross, being marked by the cross and not being afraid of prayer are properties of non-demonic actions. However, the confessor forbade the hermit both to speak and to engage in vision if it were repeated, but to know only prayer and not pay attention to the manifestation of the spiritual world. This is what the hermit did.

Meanwhile, to resolve his perplexities regarding the hermit’s vision, the confessor approached one of the elders, known here on Athos for his experiences in contemplative life, the gift of reasoning and strict observation of the demon’s manifestations, and asked for his advice: “What should a hermit do in the face of such phenomena? "

“Nothing,” he answered, “to know only yourself and God.”

What do you think about the worship of the cross of the young man who appeared: is he really an Angel? – asked the elder’s confessor.

Maybe,” he answered, “but most likely it’s a demon...

And the sign of the cross, which the young man is not afraid of? And what about kissing the cross? - the confessor objected. – What can you say about this?

“The same as about the vision itself,” answered the elder. Then, after some reflection, he continued. – You know and, of course, agree that the higher our path to God, the more dangerous and varied our battle with Satan; In order to show His power in us and at the same time expose the weakness of Satan, God sometimes allows him to act and fight against us in the way only he, the evil one, wants and can. As a result of this kind of permission from God, the cross itself may not be scary for the demon, and everything that in other cases is threatening and murderous for him, like God’s wrath, is not scary.

What can the hermit do if the vision repeats? – asked the elder’s confessor. - Maybe an Angel really appears to him?

Even if the one who appeared took the form of Christ Himself,” said the elder, “what’s the harm?” After the Ascension of the Lord, faith in Him is more useful to us than vision. One thing is required here: not to pay attention to the phenomenon, but to mind your own business, that is, prayer. Let the Angel appear: what kind of trouble? We have a business and prayerful relationship with God, with our Master and Lord, and the Angel is nothing more than His servant and servant... Judge: is it good to interrupt the conversation with the Lord and become His servant? If an Angel of God really appears to your hermit, do not accept him!.. The Angel will never be offended by our inattention to him during prayer, because he knows the divine importance of our prayerful relationship to God, and not only will he never distract us from them, but on the contrary, it should even more excite to the exact and constant fulfillment of them. And if an angel is upset by our composure towards his presence and interferes with our prayerful conversations with God, such an angel, even if he himself was covered in crosses, and not just kissed the cross, do not accept him: he is an opponent!.. So, my advice is the same and the same: not only accept, but should not even desire the sensory manifestations of the spiritual world, because we have no need for them, no benefit, and an abyss of dangers. In our mental warfare, we best see the actions of forces that are opposite to each other: we know in it what Satan is like in his shamelessness and bad thoughts, and we clearly see how bright, pure and blameless the Angels are in the manifestation of peaceful and calm thoughts that are induced by them on our hearts, while Satan overwhelms us with all sorts of impurities of arrogant, selfish and prodigal dreams, the fury of anger, and so on and so forth. What else is there? Why the sensory appearance of an Angel or Satan when we know them too well without it?

To convince you of the justice of my words,” the elder continued, “that is, that you should not accept phenomena because they are dangerous, listen to what I tell you about my desert neighbor: to him at night, when he was just getting up to pray, it seemed as if the cross hanging in the front corner of the cell suddenly lit up with a dazzling light, brighter than the sun. The radiance of this glory of the cross had such an effect on the heart of the one praying that he was beside himself with joy. When the neighbor revealed this to me, from the first time I attributed this phenomenon to a demonic game; however, I wanted to test the vision with experience. To do this, in fact, I went to my neighbor for the night. When it got dark, we sat in the corners of the cell. “Listen, brother,” I said to the owner, “due to my unworthiness, I think the light that comes from your cross will be invisible to me, therefore, when you notice, as usual, this is a miracle, tell me.” The owner said: “Okay,” and we silently began to finger the rosary in the deep darkness of the deserted evening. Less than an hour had passed before my master exclaimed in a triumphant voice: “Father! Light comes from the cross; I cannot even look at it... The joy of my heart is inexplicable... I am beside myself with admiration of the spirit at this vision, with the warmth of the Divine light !" - “Cross yourself!” – I whispered to him. “I can’t, father,” he cried, “joy has weakened me so much that I can’t raise my arms!” - "Unfortunate!" – I said bitterly and, rushing to him, baptized him. “Unfortunate!” I repeated. “What have you brought yourself to with your recklessness, your pride! Does the light still continue or is it no longer there?” – I then asked my neighbor. “There’s nothing,” he answered, “it’s still dark now.” “You see what happens to our brother,” the elder remarked to his confessor...

When the confessor conveyed to me his conversation with the elder, says the author of the letters, I accepted the latter’s words with complete conviction, bringing to my memory Saint Nikita, the recluse of Kyiv. And this hermit was warned against the temptations of Satan: this means that we can probably believe that Nikita also demanded the sign of the cross from the appearing angel, and the very prayer, moreover, incessant, which the demon was engaged in in view of the recluse, had to be necessarily accompanied in certain places by the cross and worship before image, without which, of course, St. Nikita. Without these signs in the angel’s prayer, the recluse could have immediately guessed and recognized the action of the angel of darkness under the bright vision. This means that there are temptations of this kind, where God allows Satan to act in such a way that neither prayer nor the cross produces fear and confusion on him. Of course, these are already impenetrable fates of our God. One thing can only be concluded from this: that everything that the Lord does to us, whatever Satan allows, is all so that we, going through various degrees of temptation, will justify by experience the justice of His words: My strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12, 9) [10].

But even today, there has been a noticeable increase in the appearance of spirits in the form of Angels or mysterious beings from outer space, who sometimes appear with crosses, “pray” or teach something seemingly virtuous and Christian, miracles performed or clearly demonic fantastic tricks against which they are powerless prayers and even moliebens and consecrations performed by the priest - isn’t this similar to the above-described God’s permission to act for Satan “as soon as he himself wants and can,” so that he is no longer afraid of everything that in other cases is threatening and murderous for him? Only this was allowed to happen not because of the height of our life, but because of the deepest internal deviation from God, from the Gospel, from Orthodoxy. The freedom with which demons now deceive and intoxicate people is reminiscent of the word from Holy Scripture about the coming of the Antichrist, that it will be, through the work of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception of those who are perishing for what they did not accept. love of truth... And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, so that they will believe lies... (2 Thess. 2:9-11).

There was such a case with Elder Hilarion the Gruzin: this father labored on Mount Athos in the nineteenth century; when he lived in complete seclusion in a tower, did not receive anyone and did not go out anywhere, the demons waged a strong battle against him. Once, some pilgrims tried to climb into the elder’s window to take his blessing, but the elder hid from them. The demons took advantage of what happened for their own purposes and waged a siege. Once, in the form of pilgrims, they climbed through the window and rushed to the elder, they began to say that they were forced to resort to such a measure, because he did not let anyone in, and it was very desirable for them to see him as their compatriot. For his sake, they allegedly came from such a distant country to consult on various matters. Mistaking them for real pilgrims, he entered into conversation with them, and this was all the demons needed. They began a long conversation about the misfortune of their people and the Church, and in conclusion they severely abused the elder, beating him so much that he lay silent for two months [Essays on the life and exploits of the elder Hieroschemamonk Hilarion the Gruzin. Jordanville, 1986].

Not only monks and hermits living a solitary life are exposed to such strong temptations, often with long-lasting, grave consequences, but also Christians in the world when they take on high feats without reason. With these efforts they irritate the demons, but since their exploits are incorrect, they do not produce the main thing, that is, by humbling the body, they do not humble the soul, but imperceptibly reign in it the strongest pride and conceit, then the grace of God does not protect such workers, but allows them for the sake of their own admonition, they should be deceived and ridiculed by demons, in order to humble them through this.

Bishop Ignatius describes a contemporary case: a certain soldier went to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra to Father Ioannikiy for spiritual guidance (at that time the future bishop himself turned to this mentor for spiritual advice), his name was Pavel, he was one of those who had recently converted from the schism , was previously even a mentor to schismatics, literate. Pavel's face shone with joy. But due to the strongest zeal that was kindled in him, he indulged in an immoderate and incongruous physical feat, having an insufficient understanding of spiritual feat.

One night Paul stood in prayer. Suddenly, a sun-like light appeared near the icons and in the middle of the light a dove shining white. A voice was heard from the dove: “Receive me: I, the Holy Spirit, have come to make you my abode.” Paul expressed joyful agreement. A dove ascended into him through his lips, and Paul, exhausted by fasting and vigil, suddenly felt a strong lustful passion in himself: he abandoned prayer and ran into the whorehouse. His hungry passion made saturation with passion insatiable. All the whorehouses and all the harlots available to him became his constant hangout. Finally he came to his senses. He outlined his seduction by the demonic phenomenon and desecration by the consequences of delusion in a letter to Hieroschemamonk Leonid. The letter revealed the fallen man’s former high spiritual state. Bishop Ignatius himself had a chance to read this letter [Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov. T. 5, ch. 11, p. 49].

“It should be noted,” says Bishop Ignatius, “that the fallen spirit, wanting to take possession of Christ’s ascetic, does not act in an authoritative manner, but seeks to attract a person’s consent to the proposed delusion and, upon receiving consent, takes possession of the person who has expressed consent...”, and “The Holy Spirit acts autocratically, like God: he comes at a time when a humbled and humbled person does not at all expect His coming. He suddenly changes the mind, changes the heart. With His action, He embraces all the will and all the abilities of a person who does not have the opportunity to reflect on the action taking place in him" [ibid. ].

But here is an incident that happened quite recently, it was told by one monk. This tragic story happened to his brother, with whom both of them had recently converted to faith, began visiting the temple, began making pilgrimages together to holy places, and visiting monasteries. The brothers began reading the holy fathers and the Jesus Prayer. But, apparently, the monk’s brother in these exercises deviated from the right path and fell into conceit, which is why the following happened: one day, when he was alone in the house and was engaged in prayer, a disgusting demon appeared before him and began to interfere with prayer, the brother was not afraid, but boldly entered into conversation with the demon. He began to exhort the demon to repent, began to tell him about the ineffable mercy of God, that even God could have mercy on him if he, the demon, repented. And he punished the demon for something else in the same spirit. The demon listened as if attentively, then he thought seriously and finally took on the appearance of a repentant, began to pray, groan, began to bow before the icon, in general, with all his appearance he expressed deep contrition, repentance for the evil he had done and showed himself to be thirsty for a speedy pardon. His brother watched his actions in fascination (apparently internally rejoicing). And so, indeed, after a while some kind of bright cloud, as if light, as if grace, descended on the demon, and before the eyes of the triumphant young man he turned into a bright angel. And this angel begins to warmly thank his brother, bowing at his feet; calls him his savior: thanks to his word he is saved, he is again a holy angel - and finally, he must thank his brother; the former demon offers to be his ever-faithful guardian, to enter into him and always protect him and help him with his revived angelic power. The brother is indescribably delighted, beside himself with happiness, and agrees. An angel enters, and... - the brother begins to rage, scream, swear in terrible words, destroy icons, throw them out the window, and do other terrible things. Now he is in a psychiatric hospital. Sometimes he lives at home with his relatives, but when the illness worsens, he has to be taken to a hospital, since his actions are then disgusting. But when he feels better, he can pray a little. His brother, a monk, sent a request to many monasteries to pray for his unfortunate brother.”

(From the book: Archimandrite Lazar (Abashidze). About the secret ailments of the soul)

Nowadays, when there is a constant struggle between the bearers of true spiritual values ​​and those who are trying to replace them with new-fangled and sometimes far from Christian teachings, the prophecies made several centuries ago by the great ascetic and ascetic ─ St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming One have acquired particular relevance. His words, born of personal experience of knowledge of God, may help the current generation of people find the right spiritual guidelines.

The Orphan of St. Peter's Village

From the life history of St. Neil, it is known that he was born at the end of the 16th century (the exact date is unknown) in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The village where the house of his parents, pious and deeply devout people, was located, was called Agios Petros tis Kinourias. In Russian it is usually called simply the village of St. Peter.

Having been orphaned in adolescence, Neil was raised by his uncle, Hieromonk Macarius, who, with the warmth of his heart, managed to replenish the boy with the lost warmth of parental love. Sensitively tracking all the movements of his pupil’s soul, he skillfully directed them towards the path of serving God, while helping to enrich his mind with the knowledge that would help him in this difficult field.

Beginning of monastic service

The labors of Hieromonk Macarius were not in vain, and the young man in a short time mastered not only the grammar of the Greek language, thanks to which he thoroughly studied the books of the Holy Scriptures, but was also imbued with the wisdom of the works of the holy fathers of the church. Having reached the right age, Neil decided to forever reject the joys of the corruptible world and devote himself to monastic service.

Fulfilling his intention, he accepted and soon after was ordained first as a hierodeacon, and then as a hieromonk. Having taken this decisive step, which determined his entire future life, the Myrrh-Streaming Nile, together with his venerable uncle, labored in one of the local monasteries, serving the Lord and exhausting the flesh with strict asceticism.

First time on the holy mountain

However, the thirst for spiritual achievement that dried up their souls was so great that the life they led within the walls of the monastery could not quench it. Both were irresistibly drawn to where the heavenly world found its earthly embodiment. One of these places was Mount Athos, which for many centuries was revered as the inheritance of the Most Holy Theotokos, or Her “vertograd” (vineyard), as she herself told St. Nicholas about it. It was there that the pious monks directed their steps.

Arriving on Athos, they first of all walked around the deserts located there, choosing a place that fully met their spiritual needs. Soon the Lord led the monks to a part of the mountain that was then uninhabited and covered with wild vegetation, which from ancient times bore the name Holy Stones.

Legal aspect of desert living

There, far from a world filled with sin and temptations, they could fully indulge in silence and feat of prayer. However, before building the cells, the uncle and nephew went to the Lavra and asked for the blessing of its abbot, who was in charge, among other things, of the distribution of land plots among those who sought salvation on the holy mountain.

Seeing the sincerity and purity of the intentions of his petitioners, the abbot generously blessed them, supporting his words with a document granting the right to use the land. In turn, Hieromonk Macarius gave him a certain amount of money, as if expressing his deep gratitude and filial obedience.

Departure to the Lord of Hieromonk Macarius

Having thus become the owners of the land, the Myrrh-Streaming Nile and his companion began clearing it of the forest that densely covered the mountainside. The God-loving relatives had to put in a lot of work before their cells appeared in the place where the forest had recently stood like an impenetrable wall. But perseverance, supported by unceasing prayer, is known to be capable of working true miracles.

Soon after the completion of the work, the Lord called Hieromonk Macarius to His heavenly abodes, and the nephew was left alone, becoming his worthy heir and successor on the path of acquiring spiritual perfection. He spent long days and nights in prayer, making efforts to finally merge in spiritual unity with the Heavenly Father. For this, in addition to the internal attitude, external factors were also necessary, the first of which was complete solitude from people, and this was often lacking.

Thirst for complete solitude

In order to avoid the devil's snares and clear the path to salvation for himself, the pious hermit decided to move to another place - one where his solitude would not be disturbed by anyone's presence. Leaving his barely habitable cell, the hermit set out on the road again, and very soon found what he wanted.

On a steep mountain

It was a completely wild place, consisting of a small cave, the entrance to which was barely visible among the wild rocks. Its location, as well as the abyss that began a few meters from the entrance to the cave, made the shelter impregnable not only for people, but also for wild animals. Just as many Christian saints sought the greatest possible difficulties on the paths of earthly life, the overcoming of which would bring them closer to the gates of heaven, so the Monk Nile, despising all dangers, chose a cave as the place of his further stay, which more closely resembled the shelter of a mountain bird than human habitation.

It was in it that he spent the rest of his earthly days, shedding warm tears of love for God and accomplishing great feats in the fight against devilish temptations. Until his last breath, the Athonite hermit endured cramped conditions, hunger and various other bodily torments, contemplating before him heavenly visions and the faces of angels. The story of how much he had to endure is forever hidden from us. Only the all-seeing Lord and the holy Mount Athos know the price that the ascetic paid in this life for the keys to the gates of heaven.

Myrrh-streaming rocks

Finally, in 1651, the end of the earthly life of the holy hermit came, and the all-merciful Lord called him to His Heavenly Kingdom. The abbot of the Lavra learned about this event from his night vision, and the next morning he sent monks to bury the mortal remains of the holy righteous man. With great difficulty, the brothers climbed the steep slope of the mountain to the shelter, where a lifeless body lay on the rocks, and, having dug a grave in the cave, they buried it.

The Life of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile, compiled shortly after his canonization, tells that soon after his blessed dormition he was glorified by the Lord, who revealed the miracle of myrrh-streaming from the walls of the cave that served him as a refuge for many years.

The aromatic oily liquid, which had healing properties, poured out so abundantly that, flowing down the mountain slope, it rushed to the coastal strip and there mixed with the sea waves. In those days, pilgrims from all over the Orthodox East came to Athos to collect the miraculous composition. From that time on, the Monk Neil was named the Myrrh-Streaming One, and his official canonization soon followed. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates his memory twice a year: May 7 (20) and June 8 (21).

God-sent gift of insight

Having spent many years in cave seclusion, the holy hermit left behind a rich literary heritage, devoting his free time from prayer to writing works of an ascetic nature. A special place in them is given to Divine revelations, which he accepted as a reward for his asceticism.

As has often happened in the history of Christianity, the Lord sent down to His faithful servant the great gift of clairvoyance, which allowed his inner gaze to capture pictures of the future life prepared for people. Many of them served as the basis for writing the famous prophecies of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile.

But the Athonite desert dweller made his main prophecies more than a century and a half after his death. In the period from 1813-1819. He repeatedly appeared in a night vision to the pious Svyatogorsk monk Theophan, who each time, rising in the morning, conscientiously wrote down what he heard. Thus, a collection of prophecies, repeatedly published as a separate book, and called “The Posthumous Broadcasts of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile” became the property of the Orthodox world.

About the intercession of the Queen of Heaven

Among them are cited, in particular, that the times are already close about which the Lord said that, having come into the world, he may not find believers in it. But even in such disastrous times, the Monk Nile proclaimed to all those seeking the salvation of the soul about the inexhaustible power of the Protection extended over the world by the Most Holy Theotokos.

The guarantee of salvation, according to him, was the miraculous Iveron image of the Queen of Heaven, kept on Athos. The Monk Neil commanded the brethren not to leave the holy mountain as long as this icon was with them. If for some reason she leaves the Lavra, then all pious monks must immediately leave it. Unfortunately, the life of modern society has in many ways become confirmation of what the prophecies of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile contain.

"The Antichrist is closer than ever"

The Athonite ascetic reveals to us in great detail the time of the appearance of the Antichrist in the world and reports on those social phenomena that will precede his arrival. He devotes a significant place in his prophecies to a description of the anarchy that is destined to engulf the world in its last times, about the general depravity that has crowded out the good beginnings of morality from human hearts, as well as the bitterness that the acceptance of the Antichrist seal will bring to people.

Forerunners of the Antichrist

One of the most important thoughts of the monk is the assertion that the forerunner of the appearance of the Antichrist on earth will be the love of money and the thirst for carnal pleasures, which overwhelmed the hearts of people and crowded out from them any desire to acquire eternal life.

The Monk Nile the Myrrh-Streaming One, in his reasoning, reminds descendants of the appearance on the banks of the Jordan of the Forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist, who for many years tormented his flesh in the desert and rejected all earthly joys before announcing to people the nearness of the One who would take them from the hands of eternal death.

Following this, he paints pictures of how greed and lust are conquering the world, being the harbingers of the Antichrist and thereby creating the basis for the rejection of the Law of God and the denial of the Savior. But even in this case, according to the monk, not everyone will perish, but only those who voluntarily submit to the power of the antitype (with this term he denotes everything that precedes the appearance of the Antichrist).

Son of the Progenitor of Lies

Having appeared in the world, the Antichrist will begin to show people all sorts of signs and wonders, striking their imagination, forcing them to believe in his divinity. Outwardly, this enemy of the human race will be like a meek and humble lamb, but inwardly, in his essence, he will be like a predatory wolf thirsty for blood. His food will be the spiritual death of people who have given preference to the passions of this world and have closed the gates of the Kingdom of God for themselves.

At the end of the world, such vices as oblivion of faith, covetousness, envy, condemnation, enmity, hatred, adultery, boasting of fornication, masculinity and a whole series of similar sinful aspirations of crippled human souls will reach a special scale at the end of the world. All this evil will become life-giving food, giving the Antichrist new strength.

In contrast to how Jesus Christ appeared in the world to do the will of God the Father who sent Him, so the Antichrist will appear on earth to fulfill the will of his father, who, without a doubt, is the devil. From him, the progenitor of lies, he will receive the ability to darken the views of people with the deception of his flattering words. This will ultimately lead him to the pinnacle of earthly power, and will give him the opportunity to rule humanity, or rather, that part of it that will succumb to his cunning fabrications. Being on the brink of death, they will naively believe that Christ the Savior is leading them forward.

Predicting a future Russian tragedy

Many of the predictions of Nile of Athos (as he is often called in church literature) are coming true today, and give us the opportunity to see with our own eyes the truth of his statements. It is enough to give just this very typical example.

At the end of October 1817, during one of his nightly apparitions to the monk Theophan, the saint said that four twenty-five years would pass, and monasticism would dry up in a significant part of the Orthodox world. At that time, contemporaries could in no way imagine how accurately the events that followed exactly a century later in Russia, engulfed in the flames of the Bolshevik revolution, were foreshadowed.

There are many similar examples that can be given. All of them illustrate insight ─ the great gift of God, acquired through deeds that are described in detail in the life of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile, and have been passed on from mouth to mouth for many generations.

Prophecy of the Myrrh-streaming Nile.

According to the testimony of the Athonite monk Theophan, on January 18, 1817, the Monk Nile the Myrrh-Streaming appeared to him, and in a long conversation, under the guise of an elder, he spoke to him “Prophecies,” which the monk Theophan, by the “grace of the Holy Spirit,” then wrote down in detail with the help of his literate friend Father Gerasim. They published their manuscript “Broadcasting” in 1819 in Greece.
[Nile the Myrrh-Streaming (died 1651) - Athonite hermit, righteous man, known as a zealous denouncer of the deviations of Athonite monasticism, author of ascetic works, was born in the 16th century in Morea, in modern Greece. In his early years he lost his parents and was raised by his uncle, Hieromonk Macarius.
The desire for great feats in monastic work led the uncle and nephew to Holy Mount Athos. After the death of his blessed uncle, ascending to higher spiritual exploits, Nile settled in a rocky cave, in which he built himself a small temple, and lived there for the rest of his life. After his death, the Saint was glorified by the abundant flow of healing myrrh, which flowed out in the rocky cave where the holy relics of the Myrrh-streaming Nile were located. The name of the Venerable One became even more famous after his appearance from the afterlife to the monk Theophan and the appearance of the book “The Posthumous Broadcasts of the Venerable Nile the Myrrh-Streaming One.”
Theologians and theologians argue that the “Broadcasts”, due to the wealth of material, can rightfully take a prominent place among such famous works as: “The Ladder”, “Words” of St. Ephraim the Syrian, Isaac the Syrian or Macarius the Great.
Today, “Broadcasts” attract attention also because they say a lot about the modern fate of our world.
The monk warned the monks seeking salvation on the Holy Mountain not to lose faith and not to leave Athos until the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God leaves it, for for the wickedness of the peoples of Europe the Holy Mountain will plunge into the sea. Pious monks should hasten to leave Athos as soon as the miraculous Iveron icon leaves:
“Athos will beat with a terrible noise, a thin voice will emanate; when the Face of our Lady Theotokos disappears, there will be a terrible and trembling sign. The sign will be this: all churches will be bowed down for the sake of removing Salvation, like a wire to Salvation and a bow. For this reason, I tell you, insensibility will be felt, and feeling will be darkened, and will not be aware that Salvation is withdrawing.
So, I tell you, most reverend fathers: as long as the face of our Lady Theotokos is inside this Mountain, let no one be moved to leave this honorable Mountain. As soon as he moves to leave this honest Mountain, mental and physical punishment will immediately be found on him. When they see that the icon of the All-Holy One has departed from this venerable Mountain, then you too go wherever you please, just keep the vow of monastic life intact and pure” (“Posthumous broadcast of St. Nile the Myrrh-streaming Athos,” Edition of the Cell of the Annunciation of Elder Parthenius on Athos, p. 317).
The Reverend also opened with “great details” about the times of the “Antichrist”: about the World Anarchy that will precede the coming of the “Antichrist”, about when to expect this, about the degree of depravity of the population of Europe and the world, about how it will act on human hearts accepting the seal (sermons about compassion and justice) of the Antichrist, etc.
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Now let's get acquainted with part of the prophecy of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile, omitting general phrases:
“... Now is autumn for monasticism, and the queen of destruction will take possession of it. You ask: What kind of autumn is this? Autumn is the time we are in now. Now is autumn, in which the grace of monastic life perishes. But hold on […], hold on to what you still hold, so as not to make you guilty of ruining your monastic life […]
Now it's autumn! Grace, the beauty of the soul, that is, the former beauty of the souls of ascetics in monasticism, fades. Winter is coming! The Queen of Perdition heard that monastic life had become desolate, called upon the seven-headed beast of lawlessness, mounted this beast and commanded it: “Take possession!” He took possession of the first rein of disobedience, monasticism, that is, the obedience of monastics to the monastic order and elders […]
The seven-headed beast of lawlessness has rushed into the feeling of monasticism and is jumping in it in order to water monasticism with the cup of insensibility […]
When you are about four twenty-five years old, what will monastic life be like then?
When three twenty-five years have passed from them, we say: the number seven years and five ascending to halfway the eighth, there at half the number five, what confusion will occur from the fourth to the fifth?
[For this reason I tell you: when there are four; twenty-five, then what will monastic life be like then?
If they pass and; the other three twenty-five: we are talking about the number of s;dmoo, l;t and five entering the polyuti of the eighth, there for half; the number of five, what confusion occurs from the fourth to the fifth] (Part II, chapter 31: “Two types of vices in which prayer cannot enter a person”).
Recently, Orthodox monks have begun to deviate into the Destruction of Destruction, and to cultivate the Path of lawlessness. About 25 years ago, monasticism took a turn; destruction invaded the environment of monasticism. Monasticism has become impoverished in grace, and there are few who strive in it.
If during these twenty-five years destruction has invaded the circle of monasticism with such ease, i.e., the spirit of worldly care has greatly developed in it, then what will monastic life be like when the next twenty-five years have passed?
And in the third twenty-fifth anniversary, what kind of disastrous expanse will there be among monasticism?
At the end of the fourth twenty-fifth anniversary, we will have: 7 and 4, i.e. – 7400 from the Creation of the world, what kind of will will death in monasticism receive then?
[Over recent times, the mopahs began to deviate into the destruction of perdition and to ascend the path of lawlessness. About 25 years ago, monasticism took a turn, pain invaded the environment of monasticism, monasticism became impoverished in grace, that is, there were few of us ascetics.
If during these twenty-five years destruction invaded the circle of monasticism with such ease, then... Having greatly developed in him the spirit of a world of great piety, what will monastic life be like when the other twenty years have passed?
; in the evening I realized what a disastrous expanse it would be; monasticism;
In the fourth twenty-five years it will be: 7 n 4, i.e. 7400 years from the creation of the world; what kind; will then receive the will to become a monk;?...] (Part III “Convictions of the Holy Mountain people of the past century”, Chapter I, “From now on the ascetic spirit began to change into monasticism; and it began to get carried away by vanity”) […]
At that time, thanks to the power of great destruction and fornication, people will be deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they received in Holy Baptism, and will also lose remorse. The Churches of God will be deprived of God-fearing and pious shepherds, and then the trouble will be for the Christians remaining in the world, who will completely lose their faith, because they will be deprived of the opportunity from anyone to see the Light of knowledge. Then they will withdraw from the world to holy refuges in search of relief from mental suffering, but everywhere they will encounter obstacles and constraints.
When it will be?
Accept this sign, and you will know as I tell you: when I take my hand away from them, then they will perform vigils and Liturgies at a gallop along the high road. They will mutually send messages and receive messages of different content. And they will show good to the good and evil to the evil. The farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. They will be excommunicated, the good from the evil, the faithful from the heretics will be separated, and they will be at peace for a while.
When the time approaches the coming of the Antichrist, the minds of people will be darkened by carnal passions, and wickedness and lawlessness will increase more and more. The world will become unrecognizable, the appearance of people will change and it will be impossible to clearly distinguish men from women, thanks to shamelessness in clothing and the shape of the hair. Love will disappear. Christian shepherds will become vain men, completely unable to distinguish between right and left. Then the morals and traditions of the Church will change. Modesty and chastity will disappear, and fornication and licentiousness will reign […]
What kind of theft will happen then?
What kind of masculinity, adultery, incest, and debauchery will there be then?
To what decline will people then descend, to what corruption through fornication?
Then there will be confusion with great strife (addiction to disputes), they will incessantly bicker and will not find either beginning or end. Then the Eighth Council will gather to sort out the dispute and reveal good to the good and evil to the evil […] the good will be excommunicated, the good will be separated from the evil, i.e. the faithful from the heretics, and for a short time people will be at peace […].
But then they will again change their disposition, turn to evil with the evil destruction of those who are perishing, so that they will not recognize that there is a brother and that there is a sister, that a father is with a mother, and that a mother is with her son, they will not recognize the marriage crown. They will have only one destruction, one fall into destruction, like Sodom and Gomorrah, i.e. and five righteous people will not be found […].
And a brother will have a sister as a wife, a mother will have a son as a husband, the son will kill his father and commit adultery with his mother, and other evils will become common. Insofar as evil deeds begin to instill themselves in people, disasters will befall them […]. People, the more disasters they encounter, the more they will cultivate evil; instead of repenting, they will become embittered against God. The atrocities that people will commit will surpass the atrocities of the people of the flood. Everyone will talk only about evil, only evil intentions, evil will, partnership only out of spite, everyone’s actions only evil, general evil theft, general evil oppression, general evil isolation; general evil disunion. With all this, they will think that the doer of evil is saved […]. Since greed will increase, disasters in the world will also increase [...]" ["Posthumous broadcast of St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming Athos." Edition of the Cell of the Annunciation by Elder Parthenius on Mount Athos. The Russian edition of “Broadcasting” was made from a complete and carefully verified list found in the book depository of Athos in 1911, and was published in the Russian press in 1912, pp. 170-175].
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In the Russian Empire, they learned about the Greek manuscript after 1830; its free translation was brought by pilgrims visiting Athos. Soon hundreds of rewritten copies were circulating throughout the country.
When the second Great Optina Elder, Rev. Father Macarius (Ivanov, 1788-1850), was asked for clarification, he replied:
“Read the manuscript, like other prophetic books, if you wish, but do not go into subtleties, do not fall into the temptation of calculations and foreknowledge of events, but pray to God to enlighten your mind and give you peace.
- Why is that? - they asked the Reverend.
– You will get confused, only elders who have achieved moral perfection and acquired wisdom inaccessible to the world can read such manuscripts. Our statutes do not allow spiritual acquisitions to be taken outside the monastery walls and protect ascetics from worldly temptations. To read such manuscripts in the world means exposing your soul to great temptation, and who knows whether you will be able to resist the temptation […].”
This answer of the elder by the monks was perceived as an indisputable postulate; now all spiritual children were asked not to analyze the events taking place in the world.
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Note from the first Orthodox “researchers”:
“[...] “Now is autumn, in which the grace of monastic life perishes” - that is, fruitfulness from the Holy Spirit ceases.
“I will take my hand away from them” - that is, the Lord will take away the grace of the Holy Spirit from the Church in the last period.
“In recent times, Orthodox monks have begun to deviate into the Destruction of perdition, and to cultivate the Path of iniquity” - that is, the monastics will not devote time to the flock itself, but will devote more time to considering scientific, theological and political issues, thereby they will turn from the spiritual to worldly things, but spiritual things, especially prayer, will be curtailed.
The saint said this to Theophan in the year after the Nativity of Christ in 1817, or from the Creation of the world in 7325. Therefore, the Saint says: when four twenty-five years have passed, that is, a hundred years, the year 7425 comes, then what will happen to monastic life?
If there are another 75 years, then the year 7500 will come, that is, seven thousand and five hundred years, “ascending halfway to eight,” that is, when it reaches half of the eighth millennium, then what great confusion will there be among the nations. We believe that from the fourth to the fifth, as (the Saint) says, that is, from 7400 to 7500 […]” [“The Posthumous Broadcast of the Venerable Nile the Myrrh-Streaming Athonite,” Edition of the Cell of the Annunciation by Elder Parthenius on Athos, 1912, p. 176].
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In the “Posthumous Broadcast of St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming Athos” [Orthodox Path, Jordanville, 1991], a note to this text says:
“Christian shepherds will become vain men, completely unable to distinguish between right and left. Then the morals and traditions of the Church will change - see the prediction of St. Athanasius the Great about the transfer of church power in recent times into the hands of worldly dignitaries and the predictions of St. Seraphim of Sarov about the fall towards the end of the hierarchical rank and the impoverishment of zeal for the glory of God in it. Also, the instructions of the Optina elders say that in recent times there will be no experienced and skilled people in spiritual life on the thrones of the saints and in monasteries, and as a result of the general impoverishment of piety, heresies and schisms will enter the Church, and will deceive many, and how, finally, heretics will take power over the Church and will place their servants everywhere and will oppress and expel the true servants of God in every possible way.”
* * *
Modern Broadcasting researchers have added to this interpretation:
“In general, the Reverend’s prophecies are remarkably accurate. In order not to be unfounded, we present one of the predictions that came true.
In a miraculous appearance that happened in 1817, the Monk Neil said to the monk Theophan:
“When four twenty-five years have passed, what will monastic life be like then?
If another three twenty-five years pass, we say: the number seven years and five, rising to halfway the eighth, there at half the number five, what confusion will occur from the fourth to the fifth?
“Note of the first descriptors: the saint said this to Theophan in the year after the Nativity of Christ 1817 [from the Creation of the world - 7325]. Therefore, the saint says: when four twenty-five years, that is, a hundred years, have passed, and the year 7425 (1917) comes, then what will happen to monastic life? If the other three twenty-five years still pass, that is, 75 years, and the 7500th year (1992) comes, “the number of seven years and five,” that is, seven thousand and five hundred years, “rising halfway to eight,” that is, when we reach half of the eighth century (millennium), then there in the “middle of the five,” that is, the fifth century, “what confusion will there be (from the fourth to the fifth)?”
We believe that from “fourth to fifth,” as the saint says, there are from 7400 to 7500: 1817 = 7325 +100 = 1917 = 7425 + 75 = 1992 = 7500 – 50 = 1942 = 7450
We, living in 1996, see with our own eyes what monasticism has become since 1917 (7425 from the Creation of the world) - it has almost disappeared. As for the “confusion” that occurred in 7450 from the Creation of the world or in 1942 A.D. - the critical year of the Second World War, then everyone knows it” (“On the last destinies of our world. Three views from different eras”, publishing house “Father’s House”, Moscow, 1997).
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This interpretation of the “Broadcasting”, to calculate from the moment of the appearance, that is, from 1817, is found in many works devoted to the interpretation of the prophecy of St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming.
However, how true is it?
After all, for some reason interpreters do not take into account the beginning of the prophecy, which reads:
“About 25 years ago monasticism took a turn, destruction invaded the environment of monasticism” - the vision was in 1817, which means 25 years ago means 1792 - the time of the French Revolution, that is, the starting point should be taken not from the moment of the appearance of the Venerable Monk Theophan, but from 1792.
“Monasticism has become impoverished in grace; there are fewer ascetics in it. The spirit of worldly multi-care developed strongly in him” - during this period there was a massive departure of the population, both in Europe and in the Russian Empire, from Catholicism and state Orthodoxy. So widespread that in 1815 the government turned its attention to this phenomenon in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Concerned Emperor Alexander I set a task for the members of the State Council, which was to reassure millions of schismatics by “granting them freedom of worship,” but so that the ruling Orthodox Church would be fully protected from any damage from the schism.
Researcher of the Russian schism Andrei Pechersky (P.I. Melnikov, 1818-1883) writes:
“The failure of the unity of faith was recognized by everyone. Not without reason, in 1819, Ekaterinburg merchants told the Minister of Spiritual Affairs, Prince A.N. Golitsyn:
“Your Excellency is well aware that the government, appeasing the Old Believers, due to various complaints up to this point, allowed us to have churches according to the points of Metropolitan Plato. What came of it? Some of these churches were deserted, others remained with several families...”
The main reason for the failure of Edinoverie was that the Old Believers and schismatics were left under the authority of the Orthodox diocesan authorities. Dependence for spiritual matters on a pastor who recognized pre-Nikon rituals as incorrect - the very rituals in which adherents of “ancient piety” see the very essence of faith - was disgusting to their conscience, and therefore they considered joining the Orthodox Church on the terms of unity of faith as an apostasy from those beliefs , for which their fathers and grandfathers died at the stake and on the scaffold, endured torture, exile and all kinds of persecution. Moreover, experience has shown that not all diocesan leaders looked condescendingly at Edinoverie, in which, due to their zeal for the rituals corrected under Nikon, they often saw the same schism […]” (“Essays on Priesthood”).
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“At the end of the third twenty-fifth anniversary, what kind of disastrous expanse will there be among monasticism?” – (1792 + 75 = 1867), the government of Emperor Alexander II began to carry out reforms in the spiritual sphere: the inheritance of church positions, the sale of church positions, the ownership of “serf souls” by clergy were abolished, the “holy fathers” were prohibited from engaging in manufacturing and crafts outside the walls of monasteries . There were also reproaches expressed by the authorities that bishops sometimes display “irresistible stubbornness” in not paying attention to the complaints of parishioners about the parish clergy not satisfying them. It was said: “persistence of this kind can be invincible,” and it was easier to remove a bishop from his post than to force him to do anything for the clergy or flock, that is, for the people.
* * *
“At the end of the fourth twenty-fifth year we will have: 7 and 4” - (1867 + 25 = 1892, that is, 7400 years from the Creation of the world).
In 1867, Saint Theophan the Recluse wrote, addressing the Synod (in the world, Georgy Vasilyevich Govorov):
“What have we come to? And what will happen to us?
The Church in Russia has become detached from the people and lives on its own. We often praise ourselves: Holy Rus', Orthodox Rus'. May we forever remain holy and Orthodox, at least loving holiness and Orthodoxy. What a sure guarantee of indestructibility we would have in these titles. But look around. What is sad is not only the corruption of morals, but also the apostasy from the image of confession prescribed by Orthodoxy.
Have you ever heard blasphemy against God and Christ in Russian? And now they not only think, but speak, and write, and publish a lot of things against God. Do you think it will remain for nothing?
No. He who lives in heaven will respond to us with his wrath, and will crush us with his wrath. You rightly mourn the reduction of parishes and the closure of churches. Something needs to be done, but there are no leaders. Nobody wants to do anything. Let us pray to God that the Lord will have mercy on his holy Church, since we ourselves do not want to do anything. We see everything, we understand everything about the need for change, but we can’t do anything. We say a lot that faith among the people has weakened.
In the people or in us? There are no living actors. The arsonists of people's hearts must burn themselves. Grief, walk everywhere - and in oral conversation set hearts on fire. This is what is needed now.
Where can we get this? We have forgotten how to talk to the people, we don’t want to listen to people’s complaints about oppression by officials, we don’t want to help the humiliated and offended, we have no desire to stand up for the robbed. All that remains is to pray again to the Giver of all gifts.
But where will this lead the Church? Evil is growing: malice and unbelief are raising their heads, the Orthodox faith is weakening. Will we really not come to our senses? Lord, save and have mercy on Orthodox Rus' […]” (“Thoughts for every day of the year according to church reading from the Word of God,” M. 1902).
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“What kind of will will death in monasticism receive then?” – the history of the renovation movement in the Russian Church of the 20th century is divided into two periods, the boundary between which was the events of the revolution of 1917 and the work of the All-Russian Local Council of 1917-18. Until the fall of autocratic power, the position of the Russian Orthodox Church was very far from the rosy picture that some later historians and especially publicists of the period of the “Beast from the Abyss” paint for us. Statistical data on the number of churches, monasteries operating in Tsarist Russia and the clergy serving in them do not provide an exhaustive description of the internal church situation on the eve of the events of February 1917. A serious consideration of the sources and a number of recent studies in this area shows that already on the eve of the 20th century the Russian Orthodox Church was in a state of serious crisis. A visible manifestation of this trouble was the decline in the religiosity of the population, the strengthening of religious indifference and the growth of sectarianism, in a word, the gradual loss by the hierarchy of its former authority in society.
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“The Orthodox faith will be trampled upon, the bishops of the Church of God and other clergy will depart from the purity of Orthodoxy, and for this the Lord will severely punish them” - The Orthodox Church met the February Revolution, the October seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, the Civil War and the beginning of the Soviet period in its history with 68 dioceses , they have approximately 50 thousand parishes, 1253 male and female monasteries and monasteries with almost 95 thousand monastics and novices. The highest hierarchy consisted of 200 metropolitans, archbishops and bishops. The number of white clergy (priests and deacons) was approximately 70 thousand people. Church personnel were trained by 185 district theological schools, 57 seminaries (22,734 students) and 4 theological academies (995 students). However, the moral authority of the clergy in society was seriously undermined. Contemporaries wrote about the “cultural and social isolation” of the provincial clergy, whose “gravest vice” “remained drunkenness caused by difficult living conditions.”
* * *
“When you are about four twenty-five years old, what will monastic life be like then?” – (1892 + 100 = 1992, that is, 7500 years from the Creation of the world). Here we can agree with all the researchers of Broadcasting: “Those living today see with their own eyes what monasticism has become since 1917 (7425 from the Creation of the world) not only in Russia, but throughout the world - it has almost disappeared.”
“When three twenty-five years of them have passed” - (1892 + 75 = 1967) Bishops and other clergy apostatized from the purity of Orthodoxy. Incomplete data on the persecution of the Church for 8 months from January to August 1918: 1 metropolitan was killed, 18 bishops, 102 priests, 154 deacons, 94 monks and nuns. 94 churches and 26 monasteries were closed. 4 bishops, 198 priests, 8 archimandrites and 5 abbots were imprisoned for “counter-revolutionary” activities.
This was just the beginning; arrests and executions of priests continued continuously until May 1953.
Data on the number of clergy who died in clashes during the confiscation of valuables and were shot in court only during 1922: white clergy - 2691, monks - 1962, nuns and novices - 3447 (from the book “New Russian Martyrs” by Archpriest M. Polskikh).
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“We say: the number seven years and five ascending to halfway the eighth, there at halfway the number five, what confusion will occur from the fourth to the fifth?” - by 1967, the old pre-revolutionary priests had passed on to another world, and a new generation of priests appeared. Children who began to be born this year will take an active part in the III-th Earthquake (Islamic Revolution) and in the IV-th Earthquake (period of the Lord of the World) [read “Revelation” of John the Theologian].
1992 (that is, 7500 years from the Creation of the world) + 7 years = 1999 – the arrival of the King of Terror.
1999 + 5 = 2004 – the first term of the reign of the King of Intimidation.

Firstly, 2004 + 4 (halfway through the eighth) = 2008 - the second term of the reign of the King of Intimidation.
Secondly, 2004 + 8 = 2012 - Ukraine: Orange Revolution - a wide campaign of peaceful protests, rallies, pickets, strikes, which took place in a number of cities in Ukraine from November 22, 2004 to January 2005. It began after November 21, 2004 Central The Ukrainian election commission announced the preliminary results of the presidential election, according to which Viktor Yanukovych, who was then prime minister, won with a margin of 3%. Supporters of Yanukovych’s main rival in the elections, Viktor Yushchenko, believed that Yanukovych’s advantage in the vote was achieved due to election irregularities. On December 3, 2004, the Supreme Court of Ukraine recognized that it was not possible to determine the winner, and scheduled a re-vote for December 26, 2004. The re-vote recorded the victory of Viktor Yushchenko with a margin of 8%.
The center of the Orange Revolution was Maidan - Independence Square in the center of Kyiv, where a continuous rally took place for about two months and there was a tent camp of protesters.
In fact, ten years later everything repeated itself from the beginning: the period from the “Orange Revolution” to the “Euromaidan”.

“There is half of the number five” - firstly, 2008 + 2.5 (half of the number five) = July 2010 - events in the Russian Federation, including the Russian Orthodox Church.
Secondly, 2012 + 2.5 (half of the number five) = July 2014 - Ukraine: Euromaidan - a massive, months-long protest in the center of Kiev, which began on November 21, 2013 in response to the suspension by the Azarov government of preparations for the signing of an association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and supported by public performances in other cities of Ukraine.
December 1 – there was a people’s meeting on the Maidan, and the radicals seized the building of the Kiev City Council and the House of Trade Unions, and also tried to storm the Presidential Administration. A split has emerged among the protesters into radicals and “moderates.”
On January 16, 2014, the protest action took on a sharply anti-presidential and anti-government character and ultimately led to a change in government power in February. Social injustice, huge polarization of incomes and living standards of the population of Ukraine and rampant corruption permeating the executive and judicial authorities and law enforcement agencies are cited as the main reasons for the radical development of events.
On February 23, President Viktor Yanukovych flees Kyiv.

“What an embarrassment will happen from the fourth to the fifth” - firstly, July 2010 + 4 = July 2014, events in the Russian Federation, the beginning of an active confrontation between Europe and the United States against Russia over Ukraine.
Secondly, July 2014 + 4 = July 2018, events in Ukraine.

Firstly, July 2014 + 5 = July 2019, events in the Russian Federation.
Secondly, July 2018 + 5 = July 2023, events in Ukraine.

Moreover, the Myrrh-Streaming Nile predicts:
“At that time, thanks to the power of great destruction and fornication, people will be deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they received in Holy Baptism, and will also lose remorse. The Churches of God will be deprived of God-fearing and pious shepherds, and then the trouble will be for the Christians remaining in the world, who will completely lose their faith, because they will be deprived of the opportunity from anyone to see the Light of knowledge. Then they will withdraw from the world to holy refuges in search of relief from mental suffering, but everywhere they will encounter obstacles and constraints […].
The love of money is the forerunner of the Antichrist […].
Everything that economically and providentially prepared and prepares people for faith and following the Lord is, was and will be the truth. On the contrary, everything that prepares people to reject the law of God and their Savior is a lie, this lie economically prepares the coming of the Antichrist and his acceptance by the human race […].
Just as the Forerunner preached baptism with the Truth and thereby turned people to the path of salvation, so much care will darken a person’s feelings in order to make a person insensitive to his salvation, so that he cannot feel salvation from the multitude of carnal worries. People will feel neither the desire for an eternal future life nor the fear of eternal condemnation […]
Likewise, the Church is almost impoverished from the supremacy of spiritual authorities […]. “After this impoverishment, the love of many will grow cold (Matt. 24:12), and He who restrains will be taken out of the way” (2 Thess. 2:7) […].
What will happen according to this, God alone knows. We know only one thing, that the deeds done in life by each person will be sorted out, so that good deeds will be separated from evil deeds, “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32)” [“Posthumous broadcast of St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming Athos ", Edition of the Cell of the Annunciation by Elder Parthenius on Athos, 1912, pp. 170-175].
DTN.