Anna saw her father's pale face. Only before her tonsure did she realize how difficult it is for a man to let go of his beloved daughter. The joy in the girl's heart was mixed with a feeling of loss.
“Only for you, Lord,” she whispered. After the ceremony, the girl looked after the carriage taking away the priest. The carriage stopped and the man got out.
He looked at his daughter for a long time, then turned sharply and, without saying a word, rushed away. He let the girl go, because he knew that her calling was to be a nun...
Abbess Arsenia Sebriakova knew from her youth that her calling was to be with God
Love for God in Annette's little heart
The worldly name of the future abbess is Anna Sebryakov. Born in 1833
The girl's parents were deeply religious people. They tried to raise their children in the same spirit.
1833
year of birth of Anna Sebryakova, future abbess Arsenia
When Annette was 6 years old, her mother died. The father did not want to look for a new wife. The man found his consolation in children.
Mikhail Vasilyevich was a stern man with military training. He kept the guys strict.
He rarely played with them, but loved to gather in the living room and read passages of Scripture.
Long discussions touched the girl’s heart, but the teachings of Christ left an even greater mark.
The teachings of Christ greatly touched the heart of little Annette.
Annette began to study the Gospel on her own. Sometimes she hid it under the covers of other books so as not to attract too much attention to herself. The Savior's commandments and His instructions seemed wise and simple to the girl at the same time. And the thought that people do not follow the commandments and live in sin caused mental pain.
Not only did Annette study the Word of God. Her father graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics at Kharkov University and sought to educate his children.
Mikhail Vasilyevich hired teachers in various disciplines. So, the girl had the opportunity to learn the technique of icon painting.
“I love only the Lord; didn’t you yourself teach to love Him?”
In her youth, Annette’s faith became even stronger. The girl began to noticeably differ from her sisters. The desire for privacy and simple clothes surprised those around him.
One day, her father decided to bring Annette into the world. She humbly obeyed, but the girl did not like celebrations and parties.
Instead of getting married, Annette asked her father's permission to enter a monastery.
When Mikhail Vasilyevich looked for a worthy young man for his daughter, she replied that she loved only God and asked permission to go to a monastery.
It was not easy for a man to let go of his beloved child, knowing what trials awaited her within the walls of the monastery. For some time, the man hoped that this was a temporary impulse, that his daughter would change her mind.
He provided her with a separate carriage with horses, gave her the opportunity to attend services and be in solitude. But six months later, Annette repeated her request, and her father agreed.
Abbess Arsenia glorified in the Russian Church
What remained from Mother Arsenia (1833-1905) were “Notes” - letters, words, the most beautiful temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God built according to her plans, and the very experience of holiness.
The daughter of a rich and highly educated Don landowner, she received an excellent upbringing and education, but instead of marriage, her soul chose the search for truth. “If here, in my own family, I don’t find what my soul longs for, I’ll go to a monastery. If I don’t find it there, I’ll move on, I’ll leave the Fatherland, even religion, if I don’t find the truth in Christianity.”
Found it. A harsh life began in the Ust-Medveditsky convent, which was once created by the highest order to care for the widows and orphans of the Don Cossacks. The noble daughter took on the most menial jobs - chopping wood, heating stoves, cleaning dishes, serving dinner and scrubbing floors barefoot, just like ordinary girls. Some things were still difficult for her, for example, getting used to getting up early on a winter night. In addition to working, praying, reading spiritual books, she found time to paint. She painted six large icons.
At some point, taken into the chambers with the tender care of the abbess treating her (reverence for her in the monastery was preserved for a long time), she did not agree with this and found herself a spiritual leader - the daughter of a poor priest, schema-nun Ardaliona. “Your word is strong and truthful, but I don’t like your rudeness,” with these words Arseny’s mother approached her spiritual mentor. Devoted to her until the end of her life, she recalled at the end: “We were not led along an easy path, and the word, full of spiritual love, never had the veil of delicacy.” One day the schema-woman cut into pieces an embroidered rug that Arseny’s mother treasured. Then she forced me to go and take the generously given alms from the beggar—fifty kopecks. But in this way vanity was scraped from the soul, pride and self-pity were torn off. Five years of living with the schema monk were the best in life for nun Arsenia.
31-year-old mother Arsenia, soon becoming abbess, arranged for the education of illiterate nuns, compiled a library, and a four-year girls' school was opened in the monastery (funds for school furniture were given by her father), in which she herself taught.
She treated the nuns with great love, was lenient towards the drinking nun A., tried to help with admonition and cover sin with love.
She built a beautiful temple, “the decoration of the entire Don land,” the design of which was drawn up by Academician Gornostaev, but the work on its creation was supervised by the abbess herself. An unknown benefactor donated wonderful white marble columns to the temple. They can still be seen in the temple restored after Soviet destruction.
At the end of her life she dug caves. Today they contain the shrine of the monastery - a miraculous stone (stone slab) with imprinted hands and knees of a kneeling prayer book.
“Your mother is the poetry of the monastery,” a secular visitor to the monastery once said about her. Now “Mother Poetry” is glorified as a saint.
Having visited Kyiv, Anna realized that her place was in her native monastery
Neither the nuns nor the abbess of the monastery herself, Abbess Bathsheba, were ready to enter into complex discussions, so they never became the girl’s spiritual mentors.
Then novice Anna began to ask permission to go on a pilgrimage to Kyiv. The abbess was afraid to let her go on such a long journey.
Anna made her first test trip to the Kremenskaya monastery, which was located more than 80 km from the monastery.
Holy Ascension Kremensky Monastery, where novice Annette made her first pilgrimage
In 1853, the novice was released to Kyiv. Together with her companions, she walked. Ordinary gray clothes, a scarf, a knapsack - nothing betrayed the pilgrim as a girl of a noble family. The houses of poor peasants were chosen for lodging for the night. Sometimes they slept on the floor.
Having reached Kyiv, Anna learned that a cholera epidemic had begun in the city. Despite the entreaties of her companions, the girl decided to continue her journey. She bravely communicated with the sick and tried to ease their suffering. Thanks to God's help, none of the pilgrims became infected.
Traveling through the holy places of Kyiv, Anna admired the beauty of the temples. But the spiritual manifestations of life were not close to her. Then she decided to return to the Ust-Medveditsky Monastery, work there, pray, strengthen her own faith and help others find God.
Taking tonsure, serving the Lord and people
In 1854 Anna took monastic vows.
Since then they began to call her Arsenia, in honor of Saint Arsenius the Great.
In 1859 she was tonsured into the robe.
1854
this year Anna took monastic vows and received the name Arsenia
At this time, Mother Arsenia found a spiritual mentor.
She became schema-nun Ardalion. Despite her strict vow and desire for solitude, the schema-nun found time every day for discussions with Arsenia.
One day she said:
“You offer such questions,
that it is impossible to answer them in one word,
and it’s not always convenient to talk in church.
If the abbess gives her blessing, then it’s better for you to come to my cell,
although I don’t accept anyone, I will accept you,
not because you are Arsenia, but because I see
you truly desire to be saved.”
In 1862 Bishop John appointed Mother Arsenia to the position of treasurer and chief assistant to the abbess.
In 1864, after the death of Bathsheba, Arseny was elected abbess of the Ust-Medveditsk monastery.
1864
this year Mother Arsenia was elected abbess of the Ust-Medveditsk monastery
Having received the position, the young abbess launched active efforts to improve the monastery and educate young people.
Arsenia became the youngest abbess in history
For her actions, Arsenia received awards:
- Cross with precious decorations from the cabinet of His Imperial Majesty.
- Bible from the Holy Synod.
- The pectoral cross, decorated with jewelry, was donated by sisters from the monastery in 1994.
- Red cross sign.
From the notes of Mother Arsenia
Humility is the only state of spirit through which all spiritual gifts enter into a person. It is the door that opens the heart and makes it capable of spiritual sensations. Humility brings undisturbed peace to the heart, peace to the mind, and dreamlessness to thoughts. Humility is a force that embraces the heart, alienating it from everything earthly, giving it the concept of that feeling of eternal life that cannot ascend to the heart of a carnal man. Humility gives the mind its original purity. He clearly begins to see the difference between good and evil in everything, and in himself he knows a name for every state and movement of his soul, just as the primordial Adam gave names to animals according to the properties that he saw in them. Humility places the stamp of silence on everything that is in human man, and the spirit of man in this silence, standing before the Lord in prayer, listens to His broadcasts... Until the heart feels humility, there cannot be pure, spiritual prayer.
The unceasing memory of God is hindered by the absent-mindedness of our thoughts, which draw our minds into vain worries. Only when our whole life is completely directed towards God, does a person become capable and begin by faith to see God in everything, both in all the important circumstances of life, and in the smallest ones - and in everything to submit to His will, without which there can be no memory of God, there cannot be be pure and unceasing prayer. Feelings and passions even more harm the memory of God, and therefore prayer. Therefore, one must strictly and constantly listen to the heart and its hobbies, firmly resisting them, for hobbies lead the soul into impenetrable darkness. Every passion is the suffering of the soul, its illness, and requires immediate healing. The very despondency and other kind of cooling of the heart towards spiritual activity is the essence of the disease. Just as a person who was sick with a fever, after the illness has passed, remains weak, lethargic, incapable of work for a long time, so a soul sick with passion becomes indifferent, weak, infirm, insensitive, incapable of spiritual activity. These are spiritual passions. Arming yourself with them and fighting them, defeating them is the main work. It is necessary to work hard in this struggle with spiritual passions. Prayer reveals to us the passions that live in our hearts. Whatever passion hinders our prayer, we must fight it urgently, and prayer itself will help in this fight, and through prayer passion is eradicated.
The lamp with which virgins can meet the Bridegroom is the Holy Spirit, Who illuminates the soul, dwelling in it, purifies it, likens it to Christ, and forms all spiritual properties according to the Great Prototype. Christ recognizes such a soul as His bride and recognizes His likeness in her. If it is not illuminated by this lamp, the Holy Spirit, then it is all in darkness, and in this darkness the enemy of God dwells, who fills the soul with various passions and likens it to himself. Christ does not recognize such a soul as His own and separates it from His fellowship. In order for the lamp not to go out, one must constantly add oil, and oil is constant prayer, without which the lamp cannot shine.
* * *
There is a natural desire in the soul for good. I call this desire the calling of God when it acts so strongly in some souls that nothing earthly can satisfy it. I have always given great value to this aspiration, but today my soul has learned that fear protects it more, and the soul needs it even in its prosperity as well as in its weakest state. What leads to the fear of God is the frequent memory of death, the frequent reminder to oneself that perhaps one is living for the last day, the last minute. And it is the grace of God that plants it in the heart. “Thy fear, Lord, plant in the hearts of Thy servant,” prays the Holy Church.
* * *
It is impossible to acquire pure, unadulterated prayer if it is not preceded by selfless activity. But every day we must place in our hearts or affirm our will in it, reject every deed, word, feeling, thought that is displeasing to the Lord, direct every deed according to the commandments of God, educate every feeling with His word, fill every thought with His truth. With such activity, or although with the purpose of such activity, every alien feeling or thought entering the soul is seen and through prayer is rejected from the soul. With such a will of the soul, the Name of Jesus acts autocratically in it and cuts off every thought that is contrary to Himself, overcomes every feeling that is displeasing to Himself, enlightens the soul to the knowledge of His will, and establishes peace of heart and silence of thoughts in it.
* * *
The enemy mixes his poison with every feeling. Thus, he mixes despair and hopelessness with contrition over sinfulness, and the soul becomes depressed and relaxes; to renunciation - hard-heartedness, coldness, insensibility; for love - voluptuousness; to the consolation of the mercies bestowed by the Lord - vanity, and so on. A person cannot separate this poison from a good feeling, but with prayer in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, pronounced with faith from a contrite heart, this poison is separated; from the light of Christ the darkness from the heart is dispersed, the resistive force becomes visible; from the power of Christ, the influence of the enemy disappears, and a natural state remains in the soul, not always strong, not always pure from carnal filth, but serene and capable of bending under the active hand of God.
* * *
The state of the soul of a fallen sinner fully corresponds to the words of the Lord: “The earth will grow for you thorns and thistles.” And the soil of our heart constantly grows passions and sins. The activity of the soul, not overshadowed by the grace of God, aimed at purifying the heart, is always difficult, heavy and powerless. “By the sweat of your brow you shall bear your bread.” With great difficulty and long-term feat, passions are eradicated, like thorns from the ground, and again, with a little negligence, in exciting cases, they are ready to be reborn, and are born, and grow in the heart, drowning out the seed of the word of God, which has not had time to take root and grow stronger in it , and not just bear fruit and nourish the soul. As soon as the source, our mind, is cleansed, with much difficulty, streams of unclean thoughts will again disturb it, fill it with impurity and will not allow the thirsty soul to drink from the pure water of Divine revelations. “By the sweat of your brow you shall bear your bread.”
The soul works and must work with bloody sweat, so as not to die of hunger, so that with this constant and hard work it does not allow the thorns of its passions to grow within itself, so that it does not turn into the wilds where animals hover, so that by constant cleansing, cutting them off it could the soul to feed on the daily bread that the Great Sower sows on its land. The Lord does not leave a person’s labors without reward. It will send early and late rain to the earth, and the earth will give birth to grass, the same grain (ed. - Ed.), the same wheat will be fulfilled in the grain, how, he himself does not know. The grace of God, which has overshadowed the soul, burns up the thorns of passions and itself bears fruit. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood will have eternal life” and “rivers of living waters will flow from his belly.” In such a state, the soul will no longer thirst and will not come and will not want to draw from earthly sources. Our work also consists in gradually cleaning these earthly springs, so that we can drink clean water from them at least drop by drop, and not draw frogs and all kinds of impurity mixed with it with muddy water. “By the sweat of your brow you shall bear away your bread,” until the bread that came down from heaven nourishes you.
* * *
Be abolished and understand that I am God. In order to accept even partly this understanding, it is necessary for the heart to be freed from every feeling, the mind from every thought.
By breaking the commandments of God, we sin before God, and before people, and before our conscience, and we fall not only under the judgment of God, but also under the judgment of man. Insulting the Lord, dishonoring His glory in ourselves and ourselves, we constantly do harm to our neighbors, tempting them, dragging them into sin, setting an example of sinful life, not giving them the due tribute of general assistance on the path to salvation, and in all truth we are put to trial of people. This judgment, expressed by condemnation, slander, slander, hatred and every deed that comes from this view of us, such as persecution, torment, death, we must accept as a worthy reward and always feel like debtors to our neighbors.
While we walk in the flesh, we also see our neighbor as our debtor; we demand from him both legal truth and gracious shrines as the common heritage of humanity. We judge him and hate him, persecute him and torment him when he does not pay us our debt. But when we are led by the Spirit, when the Spirit of God pours into our spirit all the riches of His goodness, then we do not seek anything from our neighbor, we forgive him his debt to us, we even cease to see him as our debtor.
Human weakness is expressed mainly in the variability to which human nature is constantly subject. After spiritual understanding, the mind is able to perceive unclean and bestial thoughts. From the sensations of saints, the feeling passes to carnal, low sensations. The soul moves from peace, joy, and zeal for virtue to confusion, sadness, and despondency. This property of changeability is inherent in human nature and is especially recognized by those who strive with all the strength of their souls to work in the house of God, before His face, to keep their mind in the constant teaching of His Name, their heart on the paths of His commandments, their soul - at the foot of His Cross. Having experienced the variability of nature, they with this knowledge came to deep humility, which does not allow them to fall: neither with pride in the days of peace, nor with despondency and despair in the days of confusion; We have come to fear, which guards the work and, in times of peace, awaits battle.
The ability to change is especially powerful when there is a lot of nature-fire in the soul, that is, passion. Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer said: “There is no material fire of love in me, but there is water in me, flowing and crying within me: go to the Father.” This flowing water extinguishes the fire - it is the Holy Spirit.
No human virtue can extinguish this fire, cannot reduce its strength. But virtues, rightly practiced, bear fruit; eating spiritual fruit acquaints the inner sense with living, pure, sweet sensations, after tasting which the desire to taste carnal, unclean, passionate sensations weakens. For example, the virtue of silence, practiced rationally, cutting off every word, every thought and every unnecessary deed, brings fruit: silence of thoughts, peace of mind. When the soul tastes this fruit, it remains silent or, having lost it, quickly returns to it, not because silence is a commandment of monastic life, but because of the sweetness of the fruit that it received from silence. And so the very fruit received from doing virtues preserves life.
When the perfect comes, then that “partially” will be abolished. The tools of virtues become unnecessary when the field bears abundant fruit. But for those in whom the substance of fire is still alive, it is very important and necessary to keep themselves on the paths of God’s commandments, to follow the path of virtues according to His word and, having received the taste of the spiritual fruit, not to hesitate in deviations that occur from the variability of our nature, not to weaken the taste of one’s own. sensual sensations. “If you have fallen, rise,” fortunately there is a place where your foot can stand. “Till then you will comprehend His way before us.”
I read Climacus’ “On Pride” and stopped at the words: “The punishment of the proud is his fall.” The Lord wisely uses this punishment as a medicine for pride. But all the actions of God’s Providence and His punitive allowances serve only for the benefit of man when he strives to achieve unearthly goals. If he has set the goal of his life to be one salvation - the One God, then everything that happens to him will serve to his success. When deprived of all earthly blessings, when inflicting and receiving a blow to all one’s feelings, when enduring dishonor, etc., where the strongest soul would be crushed, but having set some earthly good as the goal of its quest, there the God-loving soul receives strength, wisdom, freedom , and if she is deprived of anything in these occasional sorrows, then she is deprived only of that connection with the passions in which she was imprisoned and with which she could not break the connection of her own free will, but only it was destroyed by the action of God, due to the passions. It is a great blessing not to be enslaved to anything earthly, even by the will of the soul; then every action of God aimed at salvation acts correctly, killing only the passion, but not the soul, and otherwise the soul is killed along with the passion. A soul that has renounced passions receives a sense of virtues. Having renounced lust, she experiences humility, and so on. Having renounced her desires, her sin-loving will, her understanding, she is introduced to the knowledge of the will of God. In the active fulfillment of the will of God, which appears to her in the saving benefit of her neighbor, she is enlightened by Divine revelations and, enlightened by them, enters not only purity, but also dispassion.
Silence clears the mind of thoughts. The knowledge of one’s sinfulness, one’s unreason, one’s powerlessness, one’s insufficiency in everything leads the soul to the faith of reason. Rejection of one's desires in everything leads to active faith, expressed in great simplicity and humility. The first leads to purity of mind, and the second to purity of heart.
Death of the Mother Superior during a pilgrimage
At the age of 72, health ig. Arsenia’s condition worsened, and more and more often she began to think about death. Then, in June 1905, the old woman decided to go on the last pilgrimage in her life.
She went to the Savor Hermitage to venerate the relics of St. Seraphim, whose teaching was close to her in spirit. The old woman was not destined to return to her monastery.
72
at this age Arsenia made her last pilgrimage
Abbess Arsenia Sebryakov reposed on July 21, 1905. The coffin with the deceased was taken to the Ust-Medveditsky Monastery and placed in the crypt of the Arsenyevskaya Church.
Essays
The epistolary legacy of Abbess Arsenia, her personal notes and teachings, the content and spirit of which, according to the testimony of her contemporaries: His Eminence Nikanor (Brovkovich), later Archbishop of Kherson and Odessa, Archimandrite Justin (Tatarinov), rector of the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery, disciple of Bishop, has been preserved. Ignatius, Peter Alexandrovich Brianchaninov, brother of Bishop. Ignatius very closely echoes the thoughts of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninova) and Rev. Seraphim of Sarov, to whom Abbess Arsenia treated with reverence and veneration.
Publications
- Letters to P.A. Brianchaninov and other persons. Publishing house of the Moscow Compound of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. M., 1998
The legacy of the Mother Superior in her letters and instructions
You can learn about the circumstances of the old woman’s life and her thoughts from the book “Abbess Arsenia (Sebryakov) Life and Instructions” from the audiobook, and by reading the letters.
21 July
Memorial Day of Abbess Arsenia Sebryakova
Here are some phrases from her letters:
“What does it mean to believe in God? It is necessary to believe not only in the existence of God the Creator and in the salvation given to us through Jesus Christ,
but we must believe invariably, in all circumstances of life, no matter how difficult it may be, that God is merciful, wants our salvation and, seeing, knowing,
not only what is our temporary good, but also what is eternal, leads us to it like a loving but wise father of his children, guiding them with the same love, affection and severity.”
“In case of any confusion and temptation, the only way out and peace is humility.
Only along this path does the soul come to the truth that resolves everything, to the warmth that heals, to freedom that makes it easier.”
“Open the Gospel, read it, delve into what the Lord taught His disciples, and you will find out what commandments He gave to His followers.
He taught them to renounce everything, especially themselves, even to renounce their souls.
This renunciation is necessarily necessary, because in our soul there is so much impurity, passions contrary to the spirit of Christ, that without renouncing them communion with Christ is impossible.”
Arsenia Sebryakov
nun
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