 Архимандрит Иоанн (Крестьянкин) |
| Архимандрит Иоанн (Крестьянкин) |
Pray!
Dear in the Lord E.!
God’s blessing to your family.
You know from your own life what can be accomplished by praying to the Lord. Continue living this way, tangibly sensing the presence of God in your life. Pray!
You will have trials and examinations without fail, and in them will you see yourself, and thus gain a living perception of God, and living repentance.
May God give you wisdom!
Do not forget about God
Dear in the Lord N.!
Do not forget about God, with Him even hardships are not hard, there is no loneliness, and your powerlessness will be strengthened by God’s power. People are allowed to be overcome by the confusion of life so that they might understand that we cannot live without God. Now many have crossed the threshold of the Church, but only outwardly, while inwardly they still place their hope in themselves and in other people. Meanwhile the Lord is waiting for us to cleave to Him like children, with our hearts. Only then will everything change in our lives. God’s blessing to you and your daughter; of course, your request for prayer is fulfilled.
The swamp of sin
Dear E.!
May God’s blessing be upon your studies in the institute, and to diligently finish your course. As for choosing your life’s course after the institute—it is too early to speak about that. The swamp of sin seeps into the monasteries no less than into the world, and there are no fewer quagmires, so it all depends on you. If you learn to avoid destructive falls in the world, you will not fall anywhere you chance to be.
Learn from your mistakes
Dear in the Lord M.!
God is the same everywhere: He is in Optina as well as in Dubna; and sin will find a person anywhere. Therefore, do not be confused by thoughts, live where God has led you, and do not tear S. away from work.
If she is inclined towards starting a family, then you need to pray about this and so does she, so that she might not repeat the mistake of your youth, so that she might choose a way of life in harmony with her soul, and receive a proper upbringing.
Who does not make mistakes in life? Do not stigmatize yourself. You have repented, and, glory be to God, you have been forgiven; but you need to extract experience from your mistakes, so that you will be wiser in the future.
May God help you!
Live in the present, in God
Dear in the Lord V.!
We pray for I. with the hope that her sufferings would intercede for her joy. We feel for you and pray, too.
Do not hasten to switch to new tracks of life. Continue the work that you began while your wife was alive, and the future will be in the future. You must live in the present, but in God.
May God give you wisdom!
