Hieromartyr Onisim (Pylaev), Bishop of Tula and Belevsky (1876 - 1938)

Onisim (Bamblevsky)
(b. 1986), hieromonk, rector of the Moscow Church of St. Nicholas of Myra in Podkopayi, chairman of the Department of Religious Education of the Moscow City Diocese Born on August 13, 1986 in Moscow in a family of employees.

In 2003 he studied at educational center No. 1681 in Moscow. In 2003-2008 he studied at the Moscow Financial and Legal Academy, majoring in Journalism. In 2008-2011, he continued his postgraduate studies at the International Humanitarian-Linguistic Institute with a degree in General Pedagogy. History of Pedagogy".

In 2008 he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, after which in 2011 he entered the Moscow Theological Academy.

On April 21, 2011, he was tonsured a monk and named in honor of the Apostle Onesimus of 70 by Archbishop Evgeniy (Reshetnikov) of Vereisky in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

On April 24, 2011, he was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon by Archbishop Eugene of Vereya.

On March 24, 2012, he was ordained hieromonk by Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev) of Moscow.

In 2008-2009 - correspondent for the Press Service of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In 2009-2010 - secretary-referent of the Administrative Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In 2008-2010, he taught the special course “Fundamentals of Spiritual and Moral Culture” at the Moscow Financial and Legal Academy.

In 2011-2012, he was a senior lecturer at the Department of Humanities at Moscow University of Finance and Law, curator of the special course “Fundamentals of Spiritual and Moral Culture.”

Since 2012 - teacher at the Moscow City Pedagogical University and the Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry named after. Stroganov.

Since 2013 - Vice-Rector of the Moscow University of Finance and Law for Spiritual and Educational Work.

Since 2013 - member of the Council of Vice-Rectors of Russia for educational work. Rector of the Church of the Prophet Elijah in Northern Butovo, Moscow.

On March 5, 2013, he was appointed to the position of Chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Moscow City Diocese (from December 2021 - Department of Religious Education).

On August 1, 2021, he was appointed cleric of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, the patriarchal metochion in the Sviblovo estate in Moscow [1].

In 2021, he was invited to participate in meetings of the Supreme Church Council.

On June 20, 2021, he was appointed rector of the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra, the patriarchal metochion in Podkopayi, Moscow [2].

Essays

• Formation and development of spiritual and moral culture as the basis for the socialization of students of higher educational institutions (dissertation for the degree of candidate of pedagogical sciences, 2011).
• Current issues in the practice of using spiritually oriented media materials in teaching the fundamentals of spiritual and moral culture at a university. // Creative pedagogy, 2011, No. 13.
• From the practice of using spiritually oriented media materials in the course of teaching the Fundamentals of Spiritual and Moral Culture at a university. // Secondary vocational education, 2011, No. 9.
• Formation of the moral culture of the student’s personality. Methodological recommendations for teachers. // Pedagogical workshop, 2009, No. 2.
• Formation of moral culture of students of higher pedagogical school. M.: MGPI, 2011.
• Development of the educational ideal in Russia in the 18th century: spiritual and moral aspect. Sat. scientific works of graduate students and applicants. M.: MGLI, 2010.
• Spiritual and moral origins of Russian business life. AKSOR Bulletin. No. 3 (23) M. 2012. p. 82-88.

Chapter 3. Father Onesimus

I live with Father Onisim and I couldn’t be happier. I was pleasant and kind to this miserable little cell, which could barely accommodate the two of us, and I was delighted by the surrounding nature. All around us towered mountains of enormous height, at the tops covered with snow, and at the bottom overgrown with tall fir forest. The fir trees, despite such steep slopes, grew very regularly; they stretched to the sky like a stretched string. Often, looking at them, I thought that man, as a rational being, should rise with his mind from earth to Heaven, that he should not only crawl on the earth, spread out over it like these prickly blackberries or lovely rose hips, which with their sharp needles They not only tear the clothes of those who touch them, but also injure the body. Likewise, those people who have their minds attached to the ground are like these thorns: whoever touches them carelessly, they not only tear his clothes, but often his soul. In such reflection, I somehow thought about myself, so that I would not become like the prickly and barren thorns and obscene tares, knowing the Lord’s Gospel parable about the tares of the field, which will be burned with unquenchable fire21. So I often occupied myself with meditation on the Holy Scriptures and thereby strengthened myself in patience. True, it was difficult without the experience of desert life, but, remembering the words of the Lord in the Holy Gospel: Having taken hold of your hand, do not turn back22,

– I decided to endure everything for the glory of God, although the life of Father Onesimus was extremely harsh. His rule of prayer was almost endless. He either prayed the rosary with the Jesus Prayer or the Mother of God Prayer, or read tirelessly the holy Gospel and Psalter. He forced me to read often, especially the Psalter. Although I read very slowly and got confused, he patiently corrected me and pointed out mistakes. Sometimes he says to me in a meek tone:

– You, brother Dmitry, learn most of all to correctly pronounce words when reading, and you will learn reading speed gradually.

And I was grateful to him for that. He ate only cornmeal. I prepared it like this: I poured water into a small saucepan and sprinkled in a little salt, and when the water boiled, I poured in a quarter pound of flour and it turned out to be a thin paste. For my sake, he added the same amount, and that was our entire meal. True, he was a strong and strong man in everything, but I, having lived under such conditions for a month and a half, felt a great loss of strength. Although Father Onesimus noticed that it was difficult for me to endure the extreme poverty of food, he could not change anything, because he had no means and lived in extreme poverty. But here in our clearing, beautiful blackberries have ripened in abundance. I was happy, thinking, “Well, now I’ll get better.” I tried it with corn chowder and liked it. But, to my misfortune, the bears found out about the blackberries and started eating them. I had to shoo them away so they wouldn't trample on the berries. It used to be that I would pick blackberries, bring them to Father Onesimus and say: “Father, eat the berries.” And he will say: “Okay, put it down.” I'll put them down and they'll stay there until they go bad. Such was his abstinence. One day the thought came into my head to find out where he was from, but somehow I didn’t dare ask. And one day Father Onisim himself began to ask me where I was from and whether I had relatives. I told him everything about myself in detail, and then I dared to ask him where he was from. Here's what he told me about himself:

- I, brother, come from the Tambov province. My parents were peasants. They were not rich, but they did not tolerate poverty either. They adhered to the Old Believer sect. The father was a zealous Old Believer reader, and the mother was an inveterate Old Believer. This is what I was brought up with. But then the betrayal of the right hand of the Most High followed over our house. My father began to diligently consider what the difference of faith was between the Eastern Church and the Old Believers and saw his extreme delusion. He immediately began to prepare to accept the Orthodox faith. But the mother still remained in her former wisdom and did not want to listen to her father when he proved to her that the faith of the Eastern Church is true and unforgettable, that its holiness is proven by the great miracles that were performed through the Holy Saints from its beginning and to our time, asking for, like, for example, Saint Theodosius of Chernigov, Joasaph of Belgorod, Seraphim of Sarov. But the mother did not want to pay attention to the father’s arguments, and the father, seeing her gross ignorance and stubbornness, left his mother alone, and he himself became a true son of the Eastern Church. I was then only twelve years old, and I was under the influence of my mother. My father, loving me, cared about my enlightenment and often talked with me about faith, about why the Old Believers broke away from the Eastern Church, and argued that this was due to ignorance. Seeing my father’s prudence, I was more and more inclined to follow him. And then one day, when I was sitting in the garden and thinking about faith, I suddenly imagined that I was between some two columns. One column looked like it was my mother. A thick and stinking cloud emanated from her. It choked me with its stench so much that I began to choke, but I could not get away from this cloud. And the other column is like my father. Choking from the stinking cloud, with a great cry I turned to the column, as to my father, with the words: “Father, save me, save me, I’m perishing!” And suddenly a lightning-fast light suddenly flashed from my father’s column and seemed to swallow up the darkness, I became free from the cloud, and the vision disappeared. I crossed myself and ran into the house, looking confused and frightened. Mother and father noticed me in such a fright and began to persistently ask what happened to me. I immediately told them in detail everything I had seen. I noticed how tears rolled down from my father’s eyes, and he devoutly crossed himself, and my mother stood and looked at me with some kind of surprised and frightened face. There was deep silence in the house for several minutes. Then my father turned to me with the words: “Behold, my son, the Lord Himself is calling you to Orthodoxy. It is the path of truth. Leading from darkness to light, which is spoken of in the Holy Gospel: In him was life, and life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

<…>
There was the true Light, which enlightens every person coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him; He came to his own people, and his own people did not receive him. And to those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the power to become children of God23. So, my dear, we will have to bring you to the Church, our mother, because to whom the Church is not a mother, God is not a father.

I replied: “You, dad, know better.” And my mother, looking first at me and then at my father, did not object to anything, as happened before. After this incident, some time passed, and the Assumption Fast began. One day, when my mother was not at home, my father asked me: “How do you, my son, want to be Orthodox?” - “And, dad, how can one be Orthodox and what does it mean?” He explained to me: “To be Orthodox, my son, means to believe in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and to accept from it all seven sacraments and all its dogmas, as the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers taught us and as the Ecumenical Councils approved. So we must believe and fulfill and preserve all the statutes of the Church.” - “What do you believe, dad?” - “I believe as I tell you.” - “Well, I want to believe the way you believe, but I don’t want my mother’s faith.” “So, son, let’s wait for the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God and come with me to church. There the priest will read prayers over you and anoint you with chrism.” - “Dad, what is myrrh?” - “Myrrh is a sacrament, the seal of the Holy Spirit, without this sacrament baptism is imperfect.” - “Dad, I agree to everything, as you want.” “Okay, just don’t tell mom,” - obviously, my father wanted her not to know until the time came, so as not to interfere with our business. Having waited for the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, my father and I went to church. Although this was a little unpleasant for the mother, after the vision I told her, she began to treat my father much softer. While they were performing a church ceremony over me, I again saw a dark cloud above me, but when the priest began to anoint me and said the words: “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit

“- at that moment I saw how a lightning light illuminated me and the darkness disappeared.
Having received the Holy Mysteries, I felt some kind of inexpressible and sweet joy. And so I became Orthodox. I often went to church and in my young heart I prayed to God to convert my mother to the Orthodox faith. And the Lord heard my prayer: a year after me, my mother accepted Orthodoxy and was very zealous for the Orthodox faith, she began to go to church often and forced me. During all four fasts a year, I certainly confessed and partook of the Holy Mysteries. It used to be, she tells me: “Don’t go out and play pranks with the kids, but rather read the Psalter, and I’ll listen to what the prophet David writes.” And I used to read, and my mother listened with great attention. She was especially surprised by the words of the Prophet, who said: Every living person is troubled in vain.
He collects wealth and does not know to whom he collects it, he does not know who will have his wealth. But blessed is the man who places all his trust in the Lord his God. And in the Gospel of Matthew, you used to read where it is said:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves They do not break through or steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also25.
And my mother burst into touching tears from these words, and these divine words sank into my heart so much that they remain to this day as if they had just been read.
And I lived so happily with my family until I was twenty-one years old, when I was taken into military service. I served in the Caucasus in Batum and became friends with comrades who led a riotous and vile life. They lured me into the same vices: drunkenness, rioting and all sorts of abominations. When I first fell into mortal prodigal sin, I felt how grace had left me and my heart was filled with some kind of darkness. Feeling deprived of the spiritual sweetness and consolation that I had previously enjoyed, I began to grieve and cry, but, alas, the community of my former friends attracted me to new and new vices. And, as if rejoicing at my destruction, my heart became rude and cold towards God and towards all virtue. I graduated from military service with the rank of sergeant major and, on the recommendation of my friends, became a warden in the Batumi prison. I began to live in all bodily pleasure, but my conscience reproached me for my bad life, and in my heart there was melancholy, despondency, everything was boring and displeasing to me. I tried to suppress this boredom, now with theatrical entertainment, now with amusements of friends, but this gave a momentary oblivion of grief, and again a new and new wave of melancholy covered me, like a wave of the sea. And I could no longer find the consolation and joy that I had before the fall. Once I took a leave from work for two weeks with the goal of going somewhere and at least a little to relieve boredom, and I unintentionally stopped at New Athos near Sukhum. This monastery was of a magnificent appearance; Like a nursery for a wise gardener, it was decorated with various tropical trees, Shrovetide, orange and lemon gardens, cypress alleys and beautiful buildings. Athos gave every visitor a soothing and pleasant rest. Here from the first day I felt a certain joy of my soul. I began to go to church with the thought of confessing my sins and receiving Holy Communion. But the enemy, seeing this good intention of mine, began to instill in me various absurd and blasphemous thoughts against the monks, that, they say, they are hypocrites, formalists, deceivers and the like. I resisted, but thoughts came into my head, and I realized that this was the work of an unclean spirit. And I decided to confess, but when I approached the confessional, my thoughts inspired me that this was all unnecessary, that I could live without confession, that all this was invented by the priests and the monks. I was completely overwhelmed by all sorts of blasphemous thoughts. Still, with great difficulty, I decided to approach my confessor, the hieromonk, and confess my sins. But even then Satan began to inspire me: “Don’t say this and you don’t need to say that...” However, the hieromonk was spiritually experienced, he began to remind me of my sins himself, and I confessed everything sincerely. When the priest said the words: “By the authority given to me I forgive and permit in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,”
then I clearly felt that a dark veil had been lifted from my heart and light had illuminated it, and I was in tears from the consciousness of my iniquity flowed from my eyes like a stream.
Having received the Holy Mysteries, I felt completely free from my previous melancholy, and I felt joyful and calm. And this is truly a great sacrament for faithful Christians, through which we are reconciled with God. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, transferring this sacrament and spiritual power to the Apostles, said: I transfer this power to you;
and if you bind on earth, it will be bound in heaven, and if you loose it on earth, it will be loosed in heaven26 - and again:
Hear you, He listens to Me, sweep you aside, I am swept away27.
The apostles transferred this power to their successors, that is, the bishops, and the bishops transfer this power to the priests.
And through the clergy, grace acts on those who repent of their sins before their confessor. And before His suffering, the Lord broke bread and gave it to the disciples with the words: Take, eat, this is My body, which I broke for you for the remission of sins28
- and giving a cup of wine, he said:
Drink from it ecu, this is My blood of the new testament, I am for you and for many, poured out for the remission of sins29 - and again: He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.
I am the door: By me whoever enters will be saved, and will go in and come out and find pasture30 .
And happy is the person who unswervingly adheres to the faith of Christ. Scripture says: He who believes in Me will live and not see death31
And also:
Turn away from evil and do good32
. And I thought: in order to evade evil, I must leave the seductive Batum. He did so and entered the Drandovsky Monastery. I lived in it for three years. But I was not satisfied with monastic life. There are the same chores and connections with the world. And according to the monastery’s rules, I must fulfill everything without fail, even if I was sent to a courtyard somewhere in the city. After all, many monasteries had their own courtyards in cities and sent others there for obedience, without understanding the character of a person, and this killed many people. And I decided to go into the desert to mourn my iniquities. And so, as you see, I now live in this desert. I told you this, brother, as a rebuke and for your benefit.

Father Onesimus lowered his head and fell silent. Then he told me:

- Come on, brother, let's pray.

And we began to pray. But suddenly Father Onisim shuddered and crossed himself. This interested me, and after the prayer I asked him, apologizing:

“Forgive me, Father, for my insolence, but answer for God’s sake: why did you tremble so much during prayer?”

“I wouldn’t like to tell anyone about this, but I’ll tell you if you ask.” While standing in prayer, I remembered one terrible vision I had and it made me shudder. And it happened like this: one day I was sitting in a cell and they found unclean thoughts on me. I imagined those personalities with whom I had once been in bad company: now their prodigal songs, now dancing and caresses, now the blinking of black eyes, now luxurious tables with wine and various snacks, now the music was blaring, and young people of both sexes were intoxicated was spinning. And many different pictures came into my head, and I could not fight back with anything: neither with a cross, nor with prayer. God allowed me to live a careless life. In such a struggle, I fell to the ground and lay face down, just crying out: “Lord, save me! Lord have mercy!" The storm of thoughts subsided a little, and I stood up. My head was buzzing, as if from a stupor, and I thought: let me walk a little in the air in the yard, and see if this demonic stupor will go away from my head. I left the cell and went up to the clearing, which is located above our cell. And suddenly a monster of terrible height appeared before my eyes, which had the appearance of a female creature. <…>33) It emitted pus and an unbearable stench. And I hear this monster say in a woman’s voice: “Come to me and we will enjoy lust with you.” I fell to the ground from fear and stench, but managed to cross myself. He lay there for a long time with his eyes clenched, then he looked at this place, but the monster was no longer there, and the stench was spreading. Having experienced a shock, I returned to my cell and began to pray. And now, remembering this sight, I am in awe. This, brother, is the reason why I trembled during prayer.

I was quite surprised by Father Onesimus’ story about his vision and asked him again:

“Tell me, father, how does the demonic stench differ from the natural stench?”

– The demonic stench can be distinguished from natural stench in that it shakes all the emotional feelings, makes the mind and heart confused, restless and heavy, and darkens all the powers of the soul. But natural stench is unpleasant only to the sense of smell, while the mind and heart remain calm and peaceful. I'll tell you one more case. Once I happened to be in Siberia, in the Yakut region, and I had to spend the night with a pagan. He gave me a very warm welcome, and to show even greater respect for me, he decided to place me for the night in his inner room, which was his prayer room. When I entered this room, I saw many different kinds of statues standing along the walls. There were statues here, both large and small, wooden, stone and metal of various types. Lamps were burning in front of them, that is, small lamps, from which a semi-dark light reigned in the room. The owner turned to me, pointing at the statues and speaking in broken Russian, which was difficult to understand: “Molis, molis!” Then he turned to the corner of the room and pointed with his hand at a narrow bed, which was covered with a beautiful rug, and at the head of it lay a pillow, and said: “Sleep, sleep.” Having bowed to me, he went out. I was left alone and, having prayed to the Lord God, lay down quite calmly on the bed, reflecting on the error of the rational creature, created by God in His own image and likeness and wandering outside the true knowledge of the path of Christ. These thoughts of mine were interrupted by some unusual noise emanating from the statues. I turned around at the statues and saw: one, the largest of them, was staggering and was about to fall, then it stopped. And a minute later the whole room was filled with a terrible stench, and I, gasping for breath, rushed from corner to corner throughout the room. But I had nowhere to go - I really didn’t want to wake up the owner. This stench was indescribably disgusting, I could not imagine that there would be a stench like this on earth. A terribly unpleasant feeling nestled in my soul, my heart trembled and my mind was confused. But there was a firm and unshakable hope in God. I said a prayer and protected myself with the sign of the cross. When I read the prayer to the Mother of God: Chosen Voivode, victorious

... - then I felt some kind of stream of fragrant air that spread through all my members; my heart was filled with joy and gladness, my soul calmed down, and I thanked God and the Most Pure Mother of God for such Her help provided to me, a sinner. I then ventured to examine the carefully tottering statue to make sure that it was not the work of its owner. But no, the statue was on a shelf, and I was able to pick it up and look at it. And I admitted that it was none other than Satan who shook her, and he released his stench. Behold, brother, such is the demonic stench, disgusting and embarrassing! And the blessed fragrance is pleasant and peaceful.

This story of Father Onesimus was very edifying for me.

I lived with him for three months and became extremely weak from abstinence and vigil without sleep.

Father Onesimus, seeing my weakness, said to me:

- You, brother, I see, have weakened.

- Yes, father, I feel weak.

- Well, don’t grieve: when the body is weak, the soul is cheerful. You go to Azhary to talk, let’s pray to the Lord, and He will arrange everything for good.

I did so and went to the village to fast. There I met my first acquaintance, Father Joseph. Seeing him, I was very happy, and he began to ask me how I was living with Father Onesimus and whether I was grieving, and noted that I had lost a lot of weight. I told him that we have nothing but cornmeal, and even that is not enough; that the cell is too small for two, and that winter is just around the corner. And he says to me:

– Aren’t you afraid to live alone?

“Since I went into the desert, I must ask God so as not to be afraid.”

- Well, brother, here one father is moving to another place. You need to ask him if he would give you his cell. If you want, I'll talk to him about you.

I was very happy about this opportunity and asked where I could see this father.

“He’s at home now, and his cell is on that mountain over there, three west from the church,” and Father Joseph pointed with his hand.

I asked him to come with me to this father. He agreed and said:

- Okay, let's go after mass.

And then they rang the little bell, and we went to church. The liturgy began. About twenty lay people and about five hermit monks who lived around Azhar gathered. Having received the Holy Mysteries, Father Joseph and I went to the monk with a request for a cell. We had to climb a rather steep mountain, covered with a beautiful pine forest. On the slope of this mountain, on a small ledge, a clearing was cleared from the forest, on which stood a small cell. Seeing her, Father Joseph said: “Here is the cell of Father Moses.” Coming closer to her, we said a prayer and heard the answer: “Amen.” The doors creaked and Father Moses came out to us. Upon our greeting, he affectionately invited us to come into the room. His cell was so small that it seemed to me that it could not have accommodated more than three people. Somehow we sat down on logs cut from trees instead of benches. After talking with us a little, Father Moses began to worry about what to treat us with. But what else can a hermit treat him with if not what grows in his garden? So Father Moses treated us to a skillfully prepared dinner from his vegetables. There were boiled beans, sweet pumpkin mush, and cornmeal hominy. There was plenty of everything served, and after my usual meal with Father Onesimus, it seemed to me that I was sitting at a royal dinner. During the meal, to my surprise, deep silence remained between us. The fathers were silent, and I was silent, although I wanted to ask about the cell. After the meal, Father Joseph turned to Father Moses, saying:

– We came to you with a request. You seem to be thinking about moving to another place?

- I think, yes.

“Then give up your cell to this brother.”

Moses looked at me and asked:

-Where is this brother from?

- He lives with Onesimus.

Moses turned to me:

- So why are you leaving Father Onesimus? It’s difficult to live alone, especially when you’re young. Although the village is not far from here, in winter it will be covered with snow for two months, and you may be tormented by despondency, and various thoughts will also come over you. This especially happens in winter, when it is impossible to go out, and there is no one close, and Satan is just waiting for an opportunity to make the soul his prey. I’ll tell you one incident that happened in this very place,” and he pointed with his hand, “there was a cell at the end of the garden on that ledge. A hieromonk named Mikhail lived in it. He was unfamiliar with this life. One winter, when there was terribly deep snow, various thoughts attacked him. It seemed to him that it was better to go into the world and save others, or else go to a monastery, just not live in this desert. It seemed to him that this life was useless, that he was putting up such labor in vain, that he would be old and would not be able to bear the labor in this desert. And many other things came into his head, but he resisted the thoughts, albeit with difficulty. Suddenly he sees in front of him a bright, inspired young man who says to him: “Rejoice! I was sent from God to comfort you in your sorrow, because you are great before God. Bow down to me, because I am your patron." Before this phenomenon, as I said, Father Mikhail was overwhelmed by all sorts of thoughts and, as if in a frenzy, did not understand the charms of Satan. He forgot that Satan, for the sake of human destruction, can be transformed into an angel of light, and fell to his knees and bowed to him. And suddenly, he imagined that his cell shook and the walls fell apart. In fright, he rushed to run down the mountain, but the snow was so deep that he realized that he was between life and death. Moving away from the cell two hundred yards down, he felt some enlightenment of his mind, began to reflect on what had happened to him, and let, sitting in the snow, with tears ask God for help. He prayed to God for a long time, crying, and realized that it was all a demonic obsession. Father Mikhail decided to climb back up the mountain. Because of the deep snow, he had to walk for a very long time. When he went out into his clearing, he was surprised to see his cell unharmed. Crossing himself with a trembling hand, he entered her, very exhausted from his journey. This Father Mikhail himself told me his temptation. And he, poor man, still could not live in the desert and went to a monastery, where there were many brethren, because there could not be such temptations there. There they are tempted more from each other, now by condemnation, now by anger, now by malice, now by envy. These temptations come from people, but are caused, of course, by Satan, because he tries to lay his nets everywhere, which only the humble can avoid.

And Father Moses turned to me with the words:

– So, brother, such are the temptations for inexperienced ascetics in the desert.

But I almost in tears began to tell the inconvenience of life with Father Onisim: that I embarrassed him, and that there was nothing to eat, and that the cell was small for two. Here Father Joseph supported me, saying to Moses:

“It’s okay that he’s young, give him your cell, he’ll ask God not to allow him to fall into any evil, and he’ll pray for you.”

Father Moses looked at me intently and said:

- Okay, I’ll give you my cell, and with it, ten pounds of potatoes, and pumpkins, and cabbage will remain for you, however, brother, if you have any money, then give me for my relocation, and you will have a cell with vegetables left.

- Yes, father, I have five rubles that I saved for bread for the winter, so I’ll give them to you.

But he didn’t want to take all the money, but I forced him to take the whole amount. Having received the promise that the cell would be mine, and having said goodbye to my fathers, I went to Father Onesimus to tell him about my relocation. I walked and thought about how I could arrange it in such a way that it would benefit my soul, knowing very well the sayings of the Holy Fathers: Woe to one: if he falls, who will raise him up?34

Yes, and the Lord says:
...where two or three are in My name, there I am in the midst of them35.
And David, the prophet, writes:
...what is good or what is good, but the life of the brethren together36.
And I cast my sorrow on God37. While thinking about my new life, I did not notice the cell of Father Onesimus.
I met him very joyful and cheerful. After sitting, we began to discuss how I could get settled in my new cell. The next day, early in the morning, I said goodbye to Father Onesimus and by lunchtime I was already with Father Moses. That same day, Father Moses gave me his cell, and he himself retired to his new place. Alone, I prepared myself for silence.