| Archim. John (Peasant) |
John (Krestyankin)
(1910 - 2006), archimandrite. In the world, Krestyankin Ivan Mikhailovich, was born on March 29, 1910 in the city of Orel in the family of Mikhail Dmitrievich and Elizaveta Illarionovna Krestyankin. He was the eighth child in the family. The boy was named John in honor of St. John the Hermit, celebrated on this day.
As a child, he served in the church and was a novice under the Oryol Archbishop Seraphim (Ostroumov), famous for his monastic severity. When Vanya was two years old, his father Mikhail Dmitrievich died. A deeply religious and pious mother raised her son. Father John retained in grateful memory the labors of love of those who led and instructed him spiritually. From infancy to youth, these are the Oryol archpriests: Father Nikolai Azbukin and Father Vsevolod Kovrigin. At the age of 10, he experienced the influence of the elder archpriest Georgy Kosov from the village of Spas-Chekryak, Oryol region, who was the spiritual child of St. Ambrose of Optina.
Father John received his first instructions about future monasticism in his adolescence from two friends - bishops: Archbishop Seraphim (Ostroumov), the future hieromartyr, and Bishop Nicholas (Nikolsky). The Oryol elder nun Vera Aleksandrovna Loginova, blessing him to live in Moscow, looked into the distant future of the young man John, scheduling him a meeting with her on Pskov land.
After high school, he completed accounting courses and, having moved to Moscow, worked in this specialty.
On January 14, 1945, he was ordained to the rank of deacon by Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) in the church on Vagankovo.
On October 25 of the same year, he was ordained to the priesthood by Patriarch Alexy I at the Izmailovo Nativity Church in Moscow, where he remained to serve.
Father John passed the exams for the seminary course as an external student, and in 1950, having completed 4 courses at the Moscow Theological Academy, he wrote his Ph.D. thesis. But it was not possible to finish it.
On the night of April 29-30, 1950, he was arrested and sentenced to 7 years in forced labor camps. Returning from prison early on February 15, 1955, he was appointed to the Pskov diocese, and in 1957 moved to the Ryazan diocese, where he served as a priest for a total of almost 11 years.
The Glina elders took the young priest under their spiritual care, and one of them, Schema-Archimandrite Seraphim (Romantsov), became his spiritual father, and it was he who accepted the monastic vows of his spiritual son.
June 10, 1966 Fr. John became a monk in the city of Sukhumi.
| Archim. John (Peasant) |
On March 5, 1967 he entered the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.
On April 13, 1970 he was elevated to the rank of abbot.
On April 7, 1973, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
Monasticism was taught by the priest and the monastery charter of life, and by the living elders who labored in the Pechersk monastery: Hieroschemamonk Simeon (Zhelnin), Schema-Archimandrite Pimen (Gavrilenko), Archimandrite Afinogen (Agapov), Viceroy Archimandrite Alypiy (Voronov); also the last Valaam elders: hieroschemamonk Mikhail (Pitkevich), schema-abbot Luka (Zemskov), schemamonk Nikolai (Monakhov); Bishops who retired in the monastery: Bishop Theodore (Tekuchev) and Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov).
Father John is known and revered in various countries of the world. It is impossible to express in words what Father John meant to his spiritual children and to the entire Russian Orthodox Church. In recent years, due to age and illness, he was not able to receive everyone who sought his advice. However, letters from different parts of the world continue to arrive at the address of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Father John's sermons and books continue to open up a new, spiritual world for thousands of people and bring yearning souls to God.
Among the most famous and popular books compiled from his conversations and letters are “The Experience of Constructing a Confession”, “Sermons, Reflections, Congratulations”, “Handbook for Monastics and Laity”, as well as the collection “Letters of Archimandrite John (Peasant)”. Conversations and letters of Father John have been translated and published in foreign languages.
He died on February 5, 2006, at the age of 95, in the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.
Archimandrite's will Ioanna (Krestyankina)
My dears, family and friends! The day of my life has come to a close. And I have already received notification about this twice. The first time was ten years ago, but someone’s prayers bowed to the Lord’s mercy and extended my stay in the earthly vale. But now, on December 2, 2004, I visibly saw that I had already swum across the river of my life, and was standing on the threshold of Eternity. And as gratitude to God and the holy Mother Church, and most importantly as evidence that God’s Providence leads us along the path of life, I leave these brief notes as a mirror reflecting this obvious truth. My scattered episodic narratives have been recorded since 1981. And these were not stories about me, but illustrations of some life situations for others from my life. Now, when this “patchwork quilt” took shape, and I turned over the pages of my life, returning to the past, I myself was touched, seeing the wealth of God’s mercy towards me, a poor and sinful person. And on the threshold of a New Life, that Life that has ripened in earthly pastures, I stand with bated breath in anticipation of a meeting with my Lord, a meeting for which my soul has been striving all my life. And to you, as a request for prayerful memory of me, I leave these notes about life in God and a testament verified by my very life:
My dear children of God!
Believe God, trust His always good will for us. Accept everything in life, both joy and sadness, both prosperity and evil, as the mercy and truth of the ways of the Lord. And don’t be afraid of anything in life except sin. Only he deprives us of God’s favor and gives us over to the power of the enemy’s arbitrariness and tyranny. Love God! Love love and each other to the point of selflessness. The Lord knows how to save those who love Him. June 12/25, 2005 Archimandrite John.
Faith, trust in God's providence and modernity:
Faith is the creation of life with much, much patience and love.
The world is ruled only by the Providence of God, and in this lies the salvation of a believer, and in this lies the strength to endure earthly sorrows.
My dear children of God! Believe God, trust His always good will for us. Accept everything in life: joy, joylessness, prosperity, and evil, as the mercy and truth of the ways of the Lord. And don’t be afraid of anything in life except sin. Only he deprives us of God’s favor and gives us over to the power of the enemy’s arbitrariness and tyranny. Love God! Love love and each other to the point of selflessness. The Lord knows how to save those who love him.
Life is difficult now, a barrage of frightening information is shaking the already fragile balance. So that we do not react so painfully to these storms excited by the enemy, we must firmly believe that only God rules the world, and try, as much as possible, to live according to the commandments of God.
There are no coincidences in life and cannot be, God the Provider rules the world, and every circumstance has a higher spiritual meaning and is given by God to fulfill this eternal goal - to know God. It is necessary and possible to maintain fidelity to the highest goal, fidelity and devotion to Holy Orthodoxy, despite externally hostile circumstances.
We are given one thing to know: that with God there are no mistakes or untruths and that He is infinitely merciful.
Hope and faith are lamps in our lives. And the Lord is mercy and love. That's what we hope for.
God has no forgotten people, and God’s Providence sees everyone. And the world is ruled by God, only God and no one else.
Our spiritual limp on both knees: I can’t live according to God, and often I don’t want to, gives scope to that seal that everyone is so afraid of. But this seal is not external, but the mind, heart, soul is sealed by sin, so that nothing of God will ever enter the soul. But passports and cards are all cesarean. And according to the word of the Lord, give to God what is God’s, and to Caesar what is Caesar’s.
...don’t react to any prophecies. We will accept everything that happens in life from the Lord.
I am an old man, and in the days of my youth, when the foundations of the former life were clearly being crushed, blessed people did not dare to declare that time the end of history.
The Kingdom of God matures within us and does not depend on the place of life.
...the enemy... is robbing you, leading you astray from the only true Christian path of salvation to rebellious political passions...
...there is no power that is not from God. Saint Nonnus experienced two changes of power during his time at the see. He greeted both the pagan ruler and the Orthodox ruler with a cross and a word of greeting. But he welcomed the pagan as a scourge in the hand of God, and the Orthodox as God’s mercy and blessing.
His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, in response to my question about what to do when external and internal troublemakers demand following them, answered:
- Dear father! What did I give you when I ordained you?
- Missal.
- So, do everything that is written there, and endure everything that comes next.
Here's your answer.
John Krestyankin read sermons, you can listen to them on audio today
John Krestyankin read many sermons. Some of them were saved. Here is an excerpt from one of them:
“The Lord instructs, warns, warns, entreats. And we all need to strengthen ourselves to hear the word of God, for it is true that something completely terrible for life is hidden in the matter of division.
People against people, and kingdom against kingdom, and neighbors against neighbors, and parents against children, and children against parents - everything rises up, everything falls apart.
There is no unanimity, and love, the only source of true, unfalse knowledge, is drying up.
But for those for whom the word of God is life itself, there is no fear. The Lord will cover them in the secret of His habitation.
They will not waver, but will remain faithful even in difficult times of trial. And the word of God will lead them through the shadow and shadow of death. “Be vigilant, stand firm in the faith, be of good courage, be strong.
Let everything with you be done with love” (Cor. 16:13-14). And the Mother of God always is and will be with those who are faithful to Her Divine Son, who follow His call along the path of eternal salvation.
She, according to St. John Chrysostom, is the first Successor of Divine gifts and the first Distributor of these gifts and blessings to people who seek help from the Lord and mercy from Her.
It will always be this way, until the last hour and moment of the life of the world.
And may our believing heart, knowing the great power of the intercession of the Mother of God, always fall at the feet of the Mother of God with its sighs, needs, sorrows, in all trials and in moments of crying over sins.
And She, the Joy of all who mourn, our Heavenly Mother, extending Her sovereign Cover, will intercede and save and have mercy on us all. Amen".
Father John
priest
You can listen to John Krestyankin’s sermons on the Orthodox Audio website.
Orthodox audio
Or watch the video:
Church and world:
The fact that we find ourselves in the Church is not our right, but a gift from God.
Is the Lord either making mistakes or not ruling the world at all? And the true guardians of the Church are only those who were carried into it by the wind of “freedom”?
Is it possible, only by crossing the threshold of the church, to become a teacher and healer of human souls?
Each by his faith is saved in his own field. Human mistakes - mine, yours, those of the synods, the Holy Patriarch - are before the judgment of God. But not the court of God, not the court of man... Where are those who, with heavy accusations and streams of dirty slander and intrigue, pierced the heart of Patras with pain. Tikhon, nailing him to the Cross? But the Savior gave the Cross, and He also said the last word about the one who suffered: “Holy!”
...unbelief, hatred and demonic pride appeared and grew with incredible speed in all spheres of life and, most importantly, in the human soul, and they brought with them their offspring: lies, deceit and falsehood, which distorted life. And as a consequence of these new norms, confusion, confusion and confusion appeared in life. They also affected the Church in the form of heresies and schisms, and invaded the relationship between confessors and flocks, revealing hitherto unknown spiritual illnesses.
We go to church not to the priest, but to the Lord. And in any church everything is God’s.
...priesthood is voluntary martyrdom.
The time has come such that in order to save a person perishing in the ignorance of unbelief, it is necessary to come out of the deserts. 70 years of captivity could not but leave its mark on people. Captivity is over, but a new misfortune is on the doorstep - freedom and permissiveness to all evil.
Believers should be the salt of the earth and not isolate themselves from people. Preach not so much with words, but with your life, patience and love for suffering and lost people.
Ivan attended church throughout his childhood, and when work in Orel interfered with this, he had to break up with her
At the age of six, Ivan became a sexton in a local church. Then - subdeacon. He did not just blindly fulfill his duties, but actually developed spiritually and sought new knowledge.
He communicated with archpriests, who can be called his spiritual mentors. But the greatest influence was made by Archbishop Seraphim Ostroumov.
Six years passed, during which the desire to serve God did not disappear, but only strengthened. Vanya decided to become a monk. The priests approved of this, but it was too early for ordination.
The young man went to school and graduated in 1929. Then he chose to work as an accountant and took special courses. I found a position that suits my education.
Ivan Krestyankin told management that his work prevented him from visiting the temple.
There was so much to do that Ivan Mikhailovich simply did not have time to get to the temple. Life went at a completely different pace and in a completely different direction than he had expected.
This was annoying. The accountant expressed his irritation to management, for which he quickly lost his position.
God and man:
Our entire salvation is in God, but not in hours-long rules, but in a living, trusting attitude towards the living God.
Human happiness lies in nothing other than unity with God, the fulfillment of His saving commandments. So solve your vital problems from this position.
To be with the Lord means to do the will of God.
The will of God is clear and given to everyone in the Holy Scriptures, and the main task of a Christian is to live according to God’s commandments.
...life's truths are understood only when they are fulfilled by life itself...
On our part, it is necessary and important to have an inner spiritual aspiration to desire to fulfill the will of God in life. And believe me, the Lord will accept and justify the sincerity of our feelings. He, in addition to our understanding and comprehension, will guide our fragile boat through life with His firm hand.
Live not as you want, but as God commands. And you see your powerlessness so well in all this, self-reproach arises so easily, and humility follows closely behind it. And the only hope remains in the Grace of God. And this is exactly what is needed.
After all, the main and fundamental thing in life is walking before God and living in God, and poverty not only does not interfere with this, but contributes to the development in us of trust only in God, and believers are not put to shame.
Our tempting desert lasts a lifetime. And in this spiritual school, in the first stages, we are given lessons from which we have no opinion, but in real practical life we must learn the boundless depth of our weakness, so that, already avoiding all the charming tricks of the enemy, we surrender to God, His power and wisdom. And we will give ourselves over to Christ God.
Our monastery elder said about himself: “I am not a scientist, but a beaten one.” From such crushed ones the Lord creates the people of God.
...nowadays there are many daring people, but we must live, we must save ourselves, and God’s mercy is still the same, but we have become so coarse that only the tangible blows of life bring us somewhat to the consciousness of our fragility and turn us to God.
... whether we want or not to agree with our fate and position, it will still be as God’s Providence provides, foreseeing us now and in our future and leading us to the fulfillment of the vows taken voluntarily. And all this is for our good, and for salvation, and for future joy. And from experience I will say that the sooner we accept with our hearts what is given by God, the easier it will be for us to bear God’s good yoke and His light burden. It becomes heavy because of our internal resistance.
All our difficulty and pain is precisely because we do not want to accept God’s and we keep striving for our own. But God loves us more than we love ourselves, because we don’t understand anything about the spiritual and are all concerned about the body.
We cannot escape the cross. But there is one for salvation, which is carried with the help of the Lord and with His blessing, and there is a self-made one, under which a person often falls, because there is no help for him from above, and this cross does not console a person with the hope of salvation.
Christianity is a feat of life, it is a crucifixion, it is work. But today’s Christianity is only on the tip of the tongue for many, while the sky above is cloudless.
God will not betray Him, but we betray Him at every step. We have one thing in our tongue, another in our mind, and a third in practice.
Now acting is sweeping the world, and this is the enemy. This is something to be afraid of. Lies, falsehood, deceit - this is death.
On earth, Heavenly Truth is nailed to the cross.
This is what we need to watch vigilantly and with all care - who we serve in life, what we live by.
It is better to participate in creation little by little than to destroy in one fell swoop - and even out of ignorance and misunderstanding.
Our rightness in God is always evidenced by the peace of spirit that the Holy Spirit generates in a right soul.
...everything happens on time for those who know how to wait (wisely, of course).
Yes, the Law of God remains unchanged, but in life everyone has their own path and their own bumps along it. But the Lord knocks on everyone’s heart, and when and how a person will respond and whether he will respond, we are not given to know. The Lord has a lot of patience, and even more love and pity. He waits and hopes to the end, and does not give up.
No two people are alike, there are darkness in life, and there are different paths to God. And it’s good when a person does not act according to a stereotype. He will not immediately decide on his path, but he is sure.
...if the goal in life is determined - the salvation of the soul for eternity - then we will go through all temptations with thanksgiving to God and stand firm in the Truth.
Father Ivan was unable to graduate from theological seminary due to arrest
Ivan Mikhailovich took a serious approach to realizing his plan - he got a job at the Moscow Theological Seminary. Along the way, he actively preached, which attracted the attention of the authorities to him.
If during the war years Orthodoxy could temporarily forget about persecution, then immediately after it its positions again became precarious. The most zealous and irreconcilable Orthodox Christians were the first to come under attack. Father Ivan is among them.
He did not have time to complete his seminary education. The candidate's dissertation remained, but the arrest disrupted the plans. The accusation, as often happened, was the anti-Soviet content of the sermons.
The parishioners believed that another priest had denounced Father Ivan, who was immediately boycotted. But this did not help the arrested man.
Freedom of choice. Good and evil:
God has given everyone personal freedom; do not strive for slavery yourself, and learn to value the freedom of others.
The Lord gave man spiritual freedom, and He, He Himself, in no case and never deprives a person of it - this freedom.
No one can decide our vital issues for us, and even in former times the elders did not command the inheritance of God. The person himself must think about what to take a blessing for.
...the choice of a life path must be made by every person himself. And this is so that no one can hide behind someone else’s back.
God has no predestination for man, but man is certainly a co-creator of his life with the Lord. And the Lord, looking over our lives, sees whether prolonging our lives is useful for us, whether we are living our days for good, is there still hope for repentance? There is no arbitrariness in life. And the state of our soul affects the timing of our earthly life.
Feel sorry for yourself first of all. Without your participation, the Lord will not be able to save you.
Three wills guide life: God’s, the enemy’s and our human, and no one will free a person from the struggle of choosing whom he will follow.
The Lord creates only good, only good, but the will of the dark force and our human will, making a choice between good and evil, is the cause... of evil...
I want indiscriminate freedom, to be like everyone else. But “like everyone else” is according to the elements of this world, and not according to God. Like everything else, this is a terrible disease in the future and grief that cannot be avoided.
No one has ever achieved anything good through violence. And if Christianity had been imposed with a fist, it would not have existed on earth long ago. And the Lord is love. And love understands and feels more and more vividly.
Camp
And at the beginning of 1950, the Izmailovo priest was arrested. He spent several months in Moscow prisons, and then was convicted under the article “anti-Soviet agitation”, receiving seven years in the camps.
Father John was sent to the Chernaya Rechka crossing in the Arkhangelsk region. Before Stalin's death, he worked in a logging camp with other prisoners. The priest made a huge impression on his fellow prisoners. One of them recalled:
“When he spoke to you, his eyes, his whole face radiated love and kindness. And in what he said there was attention and participation; there could also be a fatherly instruction, brightened with gentle humor. He loved a joke, and there was something of an old Russian intellectual in his manners.”
In the spring of 1953, Father John was transferred to the Kuibyshev region, where he was able to work as an accountant. In February 1955, the priest was released early.
Sin and repentance:
It is common for people to fall, but once you fall, you must get up immediately.
The development of sin and the distortion of life occurs gradually: it begins with a darkening of the mind (in order for the mind to be bright, one must read the Holy Gospel daily and see life and evaluate it in the light of the Gospel truths), this is followed by relaxation of the will, and a snowball of sin rolls off, growing and growing until you get crushed. The relaxation of the will is followed by a distortion of conscience, when we see everything in a distorted light, and for everything we receive corruption of the body.
...without repentance, our salvation is doubtful.
Nothing is impossible for the Lord: He will heal the leper, and He will bring the robber-murderer who has repented and believed into heaven. And he calls us, lepers, to salvation and brings us into the Church - the Holy Ark of Savior. And there is only one condition - living faith in the living and omnipotent God and real knowledge of one’s fall, which gives rise to repentance.
...we should not lose hope, God is strong and strong - he will cleanse the leper. But it takes work and a lot of patience.
Conscience is a delicate matter, and if it worries, we must listen to it, because otherwise it will retreat, and there will not be the most faithful controller in our life.
Spiritual life and prayer:
Spiritual life is hard, never-ending work throughout one’s life. And in this struggle there are victories and defeats. But we will overcome everything in the name of Jesus. And woe to a man when, at the instigation of the enemy, he suddenly sees himself completely prosperous and contented.
...how often the most terrible substitution of spiritual life begins - the game of spiritual life.
In spiritual life there is no one recipe for everyone. Therefore, do not apply all the examples to yourself.
Peace of mind is found only after struggling with one’s passions.
Archim. John (Krestyankin) at the festive Assumption service
...learning to pray is a long process and great work, you need a lot of patience in this school. But for those who endure all the hardships of this science, life becomes a joy in the Lord. Begin this work by acquiring attention to your thoughts and the ability to instantly turn a repentant sigh to the Lord. Don’t think highly of yourself, and the Lord will help you. “If you want to live easily and close to God, keep your heart high and your head low.”
Pray short prayers more often: “Lord! bless!”, “Lord! help! — learning to do everything in life with God’s blessing and with God’s help. Also, take this prayer to heart:
"God! You know everything; Do with me as you please. Amen".
We do not have the goal of starving ourselves and exhausting ourselves, but the goal of prayer is to learn to humbly surrender ourselves to the will of God and patiently endure everything that the Lord allows.
...Do not become despondent, for it takes away the power of prayer.
…pray for those you would like to help and commit them to God. His power and authority are real, but ours are apparent.
Ivan Krestyankin grew up in a large family with a believing mother
Ivan Mikhailovich Krestyankin was born in Orel on April 11, 1910. He had eight sisters and brothers, and he himself was the ninth. This is how almost every biography of that time begins.
And this one would have become the same, but it was aggravated by the fact that the father, Mikhail Dmitrievich, died early, so all worries about the family fell on the mother, Elizaveta Illarionovna Krestyankina.
April 11, 1910
birthday of Ivan Mikhailovich Krestyankin
She had a deep and sincere faith, which she shared with her children. It was she who became the person who opened the path to spiritual life for little Ivan and told him about God and the Good News.
Love for neighbors and condemnation:
Life itself teaches life. And the most important and important art for a person is to learn to live in peace and love with everyone.
Love for humanity - verbal fornication, love for a specific person, on our life path given by God - is a practical matter, requiring work, effort, struggle with oneself, one’s laziness.
…it’s good that you are fully aware of your weakness—the lack of love. Take care of this and do not call your works and efforts hypocrisy. No, this is not hypocrisy, but a sincere desire to have something that does not exist, but is extremely necessary. Read 1 Corinthians, ch. 13 is about love. Write this chapter out for yourself so you can have it before your eyes. And the first step to love is pity.
For now, take one single commandment to put into practice - do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself, and love your neighbor as yourself. So work hard.
Read 1 Corinthians - all the characteristics of true love are there. And if “love” ruins life and brings death to loved ones, this is rampant demonism and nothing more.
...and we often have to be forgiving of ourselves, because our weaknesses turn out to be stronger than us. So learn to live. Don't demand much from your loved ones.
Don't judge anyone; where there is judgment, there is no love.
Do we know the measure of others, their ability to repent? No and no.
Day Angel. July 13, 2005
And you try... live carefully for at least one day, watch yourself. Who are you in relation to people? First get to know yourself, then try to live at least a day resisting sin. You will find out how difficult it is; and, having learned, you will learn to be forgiving of human weaknesses and will not condemn anyone. The two most terrible sins for salvation in man are condemnation and temptation.
By God's command, both saints and sinners leave the battlefield. Both those who created and those who destroyed. And will you or I pronounce judgment on how they lived? No and no! But for myself, I know for sure, I will have to answer.
Do not look for support in people, but in God, and the Lord will send reliable friends in spirit.
...if we cannot bear the infirmities of others, let us cling to Christ and surrender both ourselves and that tempter to the will of God by prayer for him and for ourselves. And this will be the Gospel path of kindness.
It means very little to me how you judge me or how other people judge me; I myself do not judge myself, for the Lord alone can judge us. One thing is valuable - loyalty to your Lord.
Father John received people in the monastery for more than 30 years and gave advice
Life in the monastery became calmer. The monk was not as concerned about the authorities as the priest. In 1970 he became abbot, in 1973 he became archimandrite.
But still, Father John would not be himself if he forgot about the recent noisy past. He enjoyed preaching and instructing. Therefore, he took upon himself the responsibility of communicating with people who were looking for advice, blessings or asking for prayers.
Father John had a large library and donated it to the monastery.
Father John always easily endeared himself to people, so the believers quickly gravitated towards him. The flow of those wishing to communicate did not dry up from the time after the Divine Liturgy until late, sometimes after midnight. The monk only took a break for a meal and began his duties again.
The believers immediately made it clear that for them he was not just a monk, but an elder with the gift of clairvoyance. Although he himself did not agree with this assessment.
They brought him books from all over the country - some lives, some spiritual literature. Over time, a large library accumulated. The priest gave it to the monastery.
His statement regarding concerns regarding the assignment of numbers to people when adopting a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) in 2001 was widely circulated:
“My dears, how did we succumb to panic - to lose our Christian name, replacing it with a number?
But how can this happen in the eyes of God?
Father John
priest
Friendship, love, family:
Make friends without crossing the boundaries of what is permitted. After all, if you put sin at the foundation of a family, then you can no longer expect prosperity.
Take care of your good relationships and do not violate them either by breaking up or by unauthorized actions. Take care of each other.
Just remember both, so as not to lay the sin of premature rapprochement into the foundation of creating a family, otherwise it will be difficult to build what you reach for in your desire. And remember that happiness must also be cultivated patiently and with much effort on both sides. Only when both of you have a deep sense of responsibility before God will the family be built.
Learn to save your family. Love, sympathy and understanding...
...mother's prayer for children - help for life.
It would be easier with children if they were not left to their own devices in their aspirations. After all, you can have everything: a TV set, a tape recorder, but everything must be in its place, and nothing should possess us. And now things are beginning to possess the souls of people. This is the kind of tinsel that the enemy of the human race traps souls with. Don’t leave children and their upbringing to chance, on TV and on the street. This is a sin, and a considerable one. Pray and, as much as possible, influence their choices in life. Of course, not by violence, but by suggestion and awareness of the disastrousness of the modern consciousness imposed from the outside.
They were taught everything, except in Whom the power of life lies. They don't know God. And so the Lord allows the younger generation to really experience the violence of an evil dark force, but even then not everyone begins to turn and seek salvation in God. Pray with hope and living faith, but surrendering yourself and your children to the will of God.
The structure of earthly life:
Life is an art. And there is no general recipe for all occasions.
The will of God can and must be fulfilled in any matter and in any activity and in any place. It's not about what we do, but how we approach things and what's important to us.
...building your life on the tears of others, you can’t dream of happiness.
...don’t complain about creativity, this activity is no worse than any other. If you do not forget in Whose Name and in the name of what you are creating, then the attitude will be different: it is one thing to preach for the glory of God with your creativity and life the ideas that the Savior brought, another thing is to shine and distinguish yourself for your glory.
Photo May 25, 2003. Next to the priest is Hieromonk Prokhor (Andreychuk). Author: Vera Salakhova.
The Lord allowed man to invent a lot of all kinds of technology, and many people who were later recognized as saints in the Church used it. And technology did not prevent them from giving their hearts undividedly to God. The computer is from the same series. And some publish religious literature on the computer, while others create disgrace. And using the same technique, some are saved, others die here on earth. So don't be afraid of fear, where there is no fear.
Life in the Church
In Moscow, Archpriest Alexander Voskresensky became the spiritual mentor of the future archimandrite, and his social circle included Alexander Moskvitin, Vasily Serebryanikov, Konstantin Nechaev and Vladimir Rodin, who would later occupy important places in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church.
At that time, the Church was going through difficult times - it was necessary to compromise with the authorities, register churches or go under arrest. Archpriest Voskresensky managed to instruct young people, convinced them not to condemn ministers collaborating with communists and to give future priests the right direction.
Book of Archimandrite John Krestyankin
Ivan spent the war in Moscow, where he miraculously received registration. The young man was not drafted into the army or the front due to severe myopia, and he left work in 1944, completely devoting himself to serving in the church. After the death of Voskresensky, Abbot Sokolov became Krestyankin’s mentor and helped him understand his future path.
