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May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 4

Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

Pskov. In the Holy Trinity Cathedral, by the relics

Pskov. In the Holy Trinity Cathedral, by the relics

Choose your path

C., every man has to choose his own life’s path. This is so that no one can hide behind another person’s back.

Think through everything well. There are only two paths blessed by God: family and solitary—monastic.

Both of these paths are of the cross. So, make your choice, which cross is more suitable for your salvation.

May God give you wisdom!

Your first blessing after you have chosen should be that of your parents, and the second, that of your father confessor.

Get to know yourself

Dear M.!

It would be good for you to work as a chef, and until you are twenty-five years old, root yourself in Orthodox life and in the Church, getting to know yourself. There is no need for you at this point to discuss monasticism or marriage. That would be all too early. You need to grow some more in order to choose your cross consciously and responsibly. Also, remember that without your parents’ blessing you should neither join a monastery nor start a family. Work also on bringing your parents to God. There is no other way.

May the Lord give you wisdom.

Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

2/22/2007

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 3

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 3
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 3

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 3
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
There is Someone who knows about all our troubles. Not one troubled thought of ours slips by Him. He knows that troubles cause suffering. That is why He always wants to help us. He promises to take all our troubles upon Himself. Could we have anything better? He wants to take away everything that weighs upon us. He wants to pave a pathway for us in those regions where we do not see any way out. He wants to change all the conditions that burden us. He wants to send us help.

The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin

The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin

The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin

The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin
A year has passed since the repose of Russia’s righteous elder, Archimandrite John Krestiankin of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. But his memory has far from faded; to the contrary, it is spreading far beyond the Russian borders, his writings being translated into other languages. Pravoslavie.ru (English edition) is therefore pleased to present each week day excerpts from the forthcoming book May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin (published by Sretensky Monastery and St. Xenia Skete). May our readers find in them answers to perplexities, sober instruction, and deep Christian wisdom, coming from a true elder and confessor of the Faith.

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 5

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 5
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 5

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 5
Pray to the Holy Martyr Tryphon, and through his intercessions you will always have work. Go to church to pray, and help whomever you can, but your main work should be your occupation in the world.

See also

On Contemporary Monasticism

On Contemporary Monasticism
Interview with Archbishop Mark (Arndt)

On Contemporary Monasticism

On Contemporary Monasticism
Interview with Archbishop Mark (Arndt)
Kristina Polyakova
One of the main problems faced by Christians and especially monastics today is that people are not used to restraining themselves, to enduring, or forcing themselves to do anything, to assume obligations, first and foremost to prayer. For some reason we stubbornly and persistently chase after sin, but good deed—alas!

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 5

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 5
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 5

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 5
Pray to the Holy Martyr Tryphon, and through his intercessions you will always have work. Go to church to pray, and help whomever you can, but your main work should be your occupation in the world.

May God Give You Wisdom! <BR>The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Introduction. Recollections of a spiritual son

May God Give You Wisdom!
The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Introduction. Recollections of a spiritual son

May God Give You Wisdom! <BR>The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Introduction. Recollections of a spiritual son

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Introduction. Recollections of a spiritual son
A year has passed since the repose of Russia’s righteous elder, Archimandrite John Krestiankin of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. But his memory has far from faded; to the contrary, it is spreading far beyond the Russian borders, his writings being translated into other languages. Pravoslavie.ru (English edition) is therefore pleased to present each week day excerpts from the forthcoming book May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin (published by Sretensky Monastery and St. Xenia Skete). May our readers find in them answers to perplexities, sober instruction, and deep Christian wisdom, coming from a true elder and confessor of the Faith.