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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 6

Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

Choosing a helpmate

Dear in the Lord A.!

Your resolve is needed before you choose your life’s path.

Your heart is more inclined towards family life; this is also a podvig, like monastisicm, if not even more complicated. After all, you would be responsible not only for yourself, but for your wife and children. But you must decide. There is no salvation in life without podvig.

You must also choose a friend according to your heart, knowing well the podvig of life for which you are taking a helpmate. But if you marry and your wife is a hindrance, this is tragedy for a priest.

I will pray to the Lord and ask that He give you a helpmate for your life and for your service to the Church.

You also need to fulfill Vladyko’s blessing.

May God give you wisdom!

The Lord will behold the fruit of your labors

P.

God blessed your entering the seminary — so study hard, and grow there physically and spiritually.

You will prove yourself during these years of study, where your matured little heart will incline itself. Only, firmly preserve your purity of soul and body, and avoid all “romance.” God needs a pure sacrifice.

In the final year of seminary the Lord will behold the fruits of your labors, and determine your life’s path.

God’s blessing to you!

Stand firm in the truth

Slave of God Y.!

I have no advice for you. Everything was said to you already by those with whom you discussed the priesthood. How could you accept the priesthood when you cannot even arrange your own life properly, and abandon your hope in God whenever you are met with temptations?

We are living in such times, when only faith in the fact that Divine Providence arranges life can overcome all the difficulties of life.

If your goal in life is specific — the salvation of your soul for eternity, then we will pass through all temptations with thankfulness to God, and we will stand firm in the Truth.

Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

1/3/2008

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 18

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 18
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 18

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 18
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
You are impatient. For, only those who endure to the end will be saved. Yes, and after all, there is reason to endure. The Holy Fathers say that the living children of mothers who killed their own infants take revenge upon their mothers for their brothers and sisters who never saw God’s light. Yes, and there are many other sins, known and unknown, and sorrows are a penance from God, but you have to bear them without murmuring.

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 Monks and Nuns. Part 8

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Monks and Nuns. Part 8
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Monks and Nuns. Part 8

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Monks and Nuns. Part 8
What are you saying about God, and what are you doing, all the while reproaching everything and everyone for not opening fatherly embraces, or teaching you how to live? What human embraces do you want, when the Father, God, has received you in His embrace, and you have brought Him three such clear and simple vows: obedience, non-acquisitiveness, and chastity?

See also

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 5

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 5
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 5

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 5
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
We are obligated to pray for baptized people, for they received the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit at baptism. We cannot pass judgment on these people before God’s judgment, and only the Lord sees the inner man. How did they live, what made them tick, whose prayers upheld them in this life?

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 1

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 1
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 1

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 1
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
Proof of our rightness in God is a peaceful spirit, which the Holy Spirit generates in the righteous soul. You do not have this peace, which means that you have no rightness. You are governed by fleeting impressions, and do not delve into the depths of God’s judgments, Holy Scripture, and the whole history of the Church which witnesses to them.

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople, part 1

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople, part 1
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople, part 1

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople, part 1
Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
Everything will be very simple and easy if you decide to do it unto God, for God’s sake, and to the glory of God. Everything in life and in the soul will immediately come together. Do not leave your job, live on your salary from the museum, and work at home for your soul. Do not accept gifts, and do not count on getting your only profit from payment for icons.