Print

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

Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

She knows not what she does

Dear Matushka M.!

God’s blessing to you. Well, the time has come for us to live not as we want, but as God commands. This is God’s blessing for us. Just think, dear Matushka, about how just a half-step is left of our earthly trek, and now we are nearing the end. God’s mercy will cover our infirmities. The One Whom you served and loved all your life will receive you into eternal joy and rest. So forgive and have pity on the one who is attacking you, for she knows not what she does. The Lord is infinite Love, and only the loving can be joined to Him.

Pray for the past and present

Dear Matushka!

I will say only one word to you — pray. Pray, Matushka, pray for the past, and for the present, while the future is in God’s hands.

That you have come to an awareness of the precipice yawning under your feet is already God’s mercy. So thank the Lord for His mercy and pray, without forgetting from what ruination the Lord has called you, and upon what path He has placed you. May the Lord give you strength! Read the Canon of Repentance for forty days, and afterwards, receive Unction. Let this be the end of it all. Give yourself over into God’s hands—your past and your future.

Experience is the most important thing

Dear L.!

I received your letter and pray for you. Get medical treatment, my child, and gather your strength; after the hospital you can decide everything with your spiritual father. You need to endure much in order to learn to live according to God’s will. Your inner state is good — everything for God and for God’s sake. So, get treatment, rest, and then write Matushka Abbess a letter, asking her blessing for you. Do not worry about anything; not everyone in the world is perishing, and not all in the monasteries are saving themselves. We will pray and save ourselves.

Do not lose contact with your batiushka. You have lived through much, received much experience, and this is the most important thing for a monastic. Our monastery’s elder used to say of himself, “I am not learned, but I am crushed.”^[1] The Lord builds the people of God out of such crushed ones.

May the Lord be with you!

^[1] In Russian this rhymes: “Ya ne uchony, ya tolchony” [trans.].

Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

5/4/2007

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 15

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 15
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 15

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 15
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
Heartfelt congratulations to you, my dear eldress, with your eightieth birthday. Well, you and I have lived to see this blessed time, when the field of our lives is white with the harvest, and the stalks heavy with grain are leaning toward the earth.

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 Clergymen,To Those Desiring the Priestly Rank, and to Priests’ Wives. Part 3

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Clergymen,To Those Desiring the Priestly Rank, and to Priests’ Wives. Part 3
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Clergymen,To Those Desiring the Priestly Rank, and to Priests’ Wives. Part 3

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Clergymen,To Those Desiring the Priestly Rank, and to Priests’ Wives. Part 3
It is necessary and important on our part to have an inner spiritual yearning and desire to fulfill God’s will in our lives. Believe me, the Lord accepts and justifies our sincere feelings. Beyond our understanding and comprehension, He leads our rickety little boat with His firm hand.

See also

An Optina Elder. A Story

An Optina Elder. A Story
Olga Rozhneva, Protodeacon Leonid Mickle

An Optina Elder. A Story

An Optina Elder. A Story
Olga Rozhneva
“Well, that is that,” she thought. “It did not work… It was stupid of me to even hope… The Elder has more than enough things to do without having a conversation with every old woman who wants to talk to him!” The very next day, the phone rang, and, interrupting her daily tasks, she picked up the receiver. She picked it up, and almost dropped it again, for it was batiushkahimself who was calling! And he invited her to come see him at the metochion.

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

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

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

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Monks and Nuns. Part 5
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
Fr. Hierodeacon is alive and well, and continues to carry his obedience on the holy hill. (This is a hill in the Pskov-Cave Monastery, located over the Holy Caves, where the reposed fathers are buried [trans.]). What do you have to be afraid of in the monastery? Be obedient to Matushka Abbess and save yourself.

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

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

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

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Monks and Nuns. Part 3
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
I read the prayer [of absolution] in absentia over your head, thanking the Lord that He gave you the opportunity to open up, and not be disturbed by the present temptations—this is a redoubled monastery attack. Confess, repent, and be more attentive to yourself and to your thoughts. All the rest has been written to you already: strive to live in the presence of your Guardian Angel, and you will see how wondrously he will arrange everything.