Venerable Nile of Sora.

May 20(May 7, Art. Art.) the memory of one of the strictest ascetics of piety is celebrated Ancient Rus' - Venerable Nile of Sorsky, the ideological inspirer of the movement " non-possessors”, who opposed large monastic land ownership and called on the monastics to be guided by the example and way of life of the Athos monks. Reverend Neil became the founder of the monastic hermitage in Rus' and left behind a few, but very deep in spiritual content - consisting of internal improvement and contemplative prayer - works on the rules of monastic life.

Under Sophia, the best Italian craftsmen were summoned to Moscow, who built a new Assumption Cathedral, the Chamber of Facets and a new stone palace on the site of the former wooden mansion. At the same time, a complex and strict ceremony began to be established at the Kremlin, Ivan III for the first time began to call himself “Tsar of All Rus',” and a double-headed eagle appeared on his seals - a symbol of the royal power of the Byzantine emperors. At the same time, a theory appeared about the Divine origin of royal power, the development of which was greatly facilitated by St. Joseph Volotsky. So, for example, he argued that “the king is similar in nature to all people, but in power he is similar to the Most High God.”

Already under IvanIII, even more so under Vasily, the supreme power surrounded itself with that halo that so sharply separated the Moscow sovereign from the rest of society. The Ambassador of the German Emperor Herberstein, who observed Moscow under Vasily, notes that this Grand Duke finished what his father began, and in his power over his subjects surpasses almost all the monarchs in the world. He adds that in Moscow they say about the Grand Duke: the will of the sovereign- God's will, sir-executor of God's will. When Muscovites are asked about some unknown or dubious matter, they answer with confirmed expressions: we don’t know, God and the great sovereign know. According to Herberstein, they even called their sovereign the housekeeper and bed-keeper of God, applying the language of the Moscow court to such exalted relations. So, already by the time of Vasiliev’s successor IvanIV in Moscow the code of political concepts with which Muscovite Rus' later lived for so long was ready ().

In 1490, the first council was held against the “heresy of the Judaizers”: the Trans-Volga elders Paisius and Nil were invited to Moscow on this occasion. The monk was also present at the council of 1503. Then, in his polemic with St. Joseph of Volotsky, the Monk Nil, argued that monasteries should be freed from the management of estates, that is, inhabited estates. Many monks of Kirillo-Belozersky and some of other monasteries adhered to Nile’s opinion. In his objections, Rev. Joseph put forward mainly the following arguments: “if there are no villages near the monasteries, then how can an honest and noble man get a haircut? If there are no honest elders, how can we appoint a metropolitanate, or an archbishop, or a bishop, and all sorts of honest authorities? And if there are no honest elders and nobles, then there will be a wavering of faith.” And, although the victory remained with the supporters of monastic land ownership, the non-covetous people did not think of giving up their beliefs in the future.

IN. Klyuchevsky, while generally taking a middle position on this issue, gives, however, sufficient negative characterization monastery owners:

The most prominent opponents of the “Josephites,” as Joseph’s followers were called, were the monastic prince Vassian Patrikeev and the newcomer from Athos Maxim the Greek. Works of Vassian-accusatory pamphlets: taking a dig at his teacher Nil Sorsk, with bright, often truthfully sharp features he depicts the non-monastic life of patrimonial monasteries, the economic fussiness of the monks, their servility to the strong and rich, greed, covetousness and cruel treatment of their peasants... Vassian tends his speech to the same accusations that were later directly expressed by his like-minded Prince Kurbsky: the covetous monks, with their rural management, ruined the peasant lands, and with suggestions about the salvation of investments they made to their liking military rank, service landowners are worse than poor Kalikas. The writings of Maximus the Greek against monastic land ownership are free from polemical excesses. He calmly examines the subject to its essence, although in places he does not do without caustic remarks. By introducing strict communal life in his monastery, Joseph hoped to correct the monastic life and eliminate the contradiction between the monastic renunciation of property and the land wealth of the monasteries by a more dialectical than a practical combination: in the communal life-where everything belongs to the monastery and nothing separately to the monks. It’s the same, Maxim objects, as if someone, having joined a gang of robbers and plundered wealth with them, then caught and began to justify himself through torture: I’m not guilty, because everything was left with my comrades, and I didn’t take anything from them. The qualities of a true monk will never be compatible with the attitudes and habits of covetous monasticism: this is the main idea of Maximus the Greek's polemic ().

Primary causes The contradictions between supporters and opponents of monastic estates can be seen if you carefully study the initial history of the formation of cenobitic monasteries in Rus'. IN. Klyuchevsky speaks of two types of such monasteries: “deserted” and “secular.” The founders of the “desert” monasteries set out on their feat out of a deep inner calling and, usually, while still young. Having received the appropriate experience in the hostel, they were ready to go into solitude, then the ascetic elders, capable of edification, gathered the young brethren around them and, thus, a new hostel arose. The desert-dwelling monks spent their days in severe labors and prayer, avoiding all excesses and feeding on the labor of their hands.

The “Mir” monasteries had a completely different history. So, for example, a rich boyar or merchant, wanting to have a place in the monastery, where he hoped with the greatest benefit for the soul to pray and do good during life and rest after death, built a church and cells and gathered the brethren, providing its maintenance and real estate. The ruling prince decorated his capital city with monasteries; sometimes a monastery was built with the assistance of an entire community, urban or rural; it was considered very shameful if a city did not have its own monastery. The monastery was needed by the urban and rural districts so that the average person would have a place to take monastic vows in old age and, upon death, to “settle the soul” with posthumous commemoration. The brothers whom the builders recruited into such secular monasteries for church service, had the significance of hired pilgrims and received a “service” salary from the monastery treasury. People who were looking for peace from worldly worries in their old age in a secular monastery could not follow the strict, active rules of the monastic rule. Ideas of St. Nile of Sorsky were unacceptable here, since such monasteries initially had their own estates, and the inhabitants of precisely such “secular” monasteries already constituted a significant part of the Russian monasticism ().

Following the council of 1503, the decisions of which mainly concerned monastic estates, a second council was held in December 1504 against the “heresy of the Judaizers.” It was presided over by the eldest son of Princess Sophia, Grand Duke Vasily. The old prince practically did not take part in the activities of the cathedral, and representatives from non-possessors were not invited this time. Compared to 1490, the accused were given a much more severe sentence: St. Joseph, guided by the example of Western Europe and often appealing to Old Testament, now demanded the most severe punishment, arguing that “the heretic and apostate should not only be condemned, but also cursed, while it is appropriate for kings and princes and judges to send them to prison and subject them to cruel executions” (). Then, in Moscow, Fyodor Kuritsyn’s brother Ivan Volk Kuritsyn, Ivan Maksimov, and Dmitry Pustoselov were burned in specially built wooden log houses. Nekras Rukavov was sent to Novgorod to have his tongue cut, where he was burned along with the Yuriev Archimandrite Kasyan, brother Ivan Samocherny and others. The rest were sent to monasteries.

The executions of heretics caused a mixed reaction in Russian society. Confusion was caused by the discrepancy between the practice of executions and the Gospel, the writings of the holy fathers and canonical norms. Against the arguments presented in the “Enlightener”, the “Response of the Trans-Volga Elders” was compiled, the authorship of which is mainly attributed to the monastic prince Vassian Patrikeev. This letter sounds quite sharp and open, with a direct reproach to the Volotsk abbot:

And you, Mr. Joseph, why don’t you experience your holiness? You would bind Archimandrite Kasyan with your mantle, and until he burned, you would keep him bound in the fire! And we, who emerged from the flames, would have accepted you as one of the three youths! Understand, Mr. Joseph, there is a great difference between Moses, Elijah and the Apostle Peter, the Apostle Paul, and between you and them!

The fight against the “heresy of the Judaizers” itself at that time was closely intertwined with political struggle for power between two court factions: supporters of John III’s grandson from his first marriage, Demetrius, who had already been married to the Grand Duchy in 1498, and the party of his rival, the future Grand Duke Vasily III, eldest son of Sofia Paleolog. Ultimately, Vasily won, all his main opponents, including Dmitry himself and his mother Elena Voloshanka, were found guilty of heresy and suffered various degrees punishments. Ivan III annulled the decision to appoint Dmitry as heir and on April 11, 1502, ordered his daughter-in-law and former heir to be imprisoned. Elena Voloshanka died in prison a “necessary death” (that is, she was killed) in January 1505.

In his dying hour, Grand Duke John felt an inner need to repent before his eldest grandson. The knowledgeable Austrian ambassador Sigismund Herberstein claimed that on the threshold of eternity, the sovereign called Dmitry to himself and said: “Dear grandson, I sinned before God and before you, imprisoning you and depriving you of your rightful inheritance; I conjure you - forgive me the offense; be free, go and exercise your right.” Dmitry, touched by this speech, willingly forgave his grandfather’s guilt. But upon leaving his chambers, he was captured by order of Uncle Gabriel (the future Grand Duke Vasily III) and thrown into prison. Some believe that he died from hunger and cold, others that he was suffocated by smoke. Dmitry the grandson died in 1509 in prison ().

There are a lot of questions and blind spots in the dynastic crisis of the late 15th century, and only very meager information can be gleaned from the available sources. Unknown, for example the real reason the sudden death of Ivan III's eldest son, Ivan the Young, who was rightfully the legal heir to the Moscow throne. He died at the age of 31, after he began taking drugs from a person specially prescribed for him from Venice. Grand Duchess Sophia is a doctor who has entrusted herself with curing Ivan of his leg disease. Some researchers believe that it was from the end of the 15th century that the prerequisites for the subsequent split in Rus' became clear. In particular, the Russian publicist G.P. Fedotov wrote that “our holy history ends by the end of the 16th century.”

Theory of St. Joseph Volotsky about the need to tonsure “honest and noble” people for subsequent elevation to the episcopal see did not find its practical justification in the history of the Russian Church. Just a century and a half after the council of 1503, which finally secured the ownership of the monastery estates, all the bishops (except St. Paul of Kolomensky), tonsures of wealthy and prosperous monasteries, were unable to show strength of spirit and gave their consent to innovations detrimental to Rus'. On the other hand, it is known that such luminary fathers of theology as St. Nicholas of Myra, St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom and other holy archpastors of that time, strict ascetics and ascetics, before their accession to the episcopal throne, spent many years in the exploits of strict asceticism and desert living, and they all appeared as firm and uncompromising confessors of the true faith. For centuries-old history In the fight against heresies in ancient Byzantium, the main stronghold of Orthodoxy was the monastics. But in Rus', only the Solovetsky Monastery and skete ascetics showed open resistance against the church innovations of the 17th century, while other large monasteries did not enter into organized opposition, although it seemed that it was at this decisive moment that true zeal for the purity of faith should have manifested itself. It turned out quite the opposite: many of the most significant monasteries at that time became harsh prisons for confessors of ancient piety. A few more decades later, under Peter I and especially according to the decrees of Catherine II in 1764, a complete secularization of church lands was carried out, depriving the deserted New Believer monasteries of all their former privileges.

True monastic life was hidden in the hidden Old Believer hermitages that followed the rules of St. Nil Sorsky. Here, far from the bustle of the world, strict ascetics gathered, courageously risking their very lives for the sake of loyalty to ancient piety. Venerable spoke. Nile:

We will move into the tomb; we have taken nothing of this world, no beauty, no glory, no power, no honor, no other inheritance of life.

The basis of his creations, in contrast to the works of St. Joseph Volotsky, lies the turning of the mind and heart to the future age, where the righteous await an eternal reward and indescribable joy, to which we must strive with all the strength of our souls. He always urged his disciples not to return back to worldly temptations, but to strengthen their thoughts towards eternity, where there is real life Christian, the final goal of his earthly wandering:

You yourself know from experience how much sorrow and corruption this passing world has, and how much cruel evil it causes to those who love it, and how it mocks, moving away from those who enslaved it, appearing sweet to them when it caresses their feelings with things, turning out to be bitter later. After all, since people consider his blessings to multiply when they are held back by him, their sorrows increase. And his apparent blessings are apparently good, but inside they are filled with much evil. Therefore, to those who have a truly good mind, the world clearly shows itself-let him not be loved by them.

After the affairs of this life have passed, what happens? Confirm your thought in what I am talking about: what benefit has the world brought to those who hold on to it? Although some had fame, honor, and wealth, did not all this turn into nothing, and pass by like a shadow, and disappear like smoke? And many of them, revolving among the affairs of this world and loving its movement, were reaped by death during their youth and prosperity; as if wildflowers, as soon as they bloomed, fell and were taken away from here against their will. And when they were in this world, they did not understand its stench, but cared about the decoration and peace of the body, inventing methods suitable for obtaining profits in this world, and were trained in what brings crowns to the body in this transitory age. And although they received all this, they did not care about the future and endless bliss, then what should we think about those? Only that in the world there is no crazier than them, as a certain wise saint said ().

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1. V.O. Klyuchevsky “On Russian History”, part 1, pp. 188-189.
2. V.O. Klyuchevsky “On Russian History”, part 1, p. 201.
3. V.O. Klyuchevsky “On Russian History”, part 1, pp. 231-232.
4. V.O. Klyuchevsky “On Russian History”, part 1, pp. 221-222.
5. “The Enlightener”, ch. 13.
6. A. Vorobyov “Ivan III”, p. 87.
7. St. Neil Sorsky, "Epistle".

It was in the late XVI century. A monk returned from a long journey to the monastery of St. Kirill Belozersky, which is located in the Vologda land. The journey, which took him more than one year, was fraught with many dangers, with impassability and complete uncertainty along the way - in those years when the Second Rome fell under the blows of the Ottomans, few people dared to travel to the East: to the ancient monasteries of Syria and Palestine, to the Holy Land, captured many centuries ago, to the Holy Sepulcher.
But our hero dared to take this path, and, returning to Rus', he carried with him countless treasures. However, nothing, except for the modest monastic bag, burdened him on the journey. The treasure that he carried with him fit into one old parchment, the title of which read: “The monastery charter of our venerable father Anthony the Great.” This was a gift from the monks from Holy Mount Athos, who carefully preserved and enhanced the ancient traditions of monastic life. But much more powerful than the dead letters of the Charter, which our hero repeatedly read (and rewrote) in the library of his native monastery, was the life of the Palestinian and Athos monks etched into his memory. It seemed as if the pages of the ancients seemed to come to life before his eyes. It seemed as if the words of the holy fathers from ancient books came to life before his eyes. came to life before his eyes. Just like a thousand years ago, in these desert lands, where the foot of a worldly person rarely set foot, monastic virtues flourished: humility, silence, non-covetousness, chastity, obedience.
Just as the holy Prince Vladimir once brought the faith of Christ to Rus', just as the Venerable Anthony of the Kiev-Pechersk began monastic practice in Rus', so our hero, now known to us as the Venerable Nilus of Sorsky, came to his homeland with the monastic rule. Soon after returning to Rus', the Monk Neil retired with his friend and disciple Innocent in a swampy place on the banks of the Sora River, ten kilometers from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, and founded a small monastery there, which quickly filled with brethren.
The skete monks lived in solitude, gathering together only for temple services, which holidays lasted 12 hours. The rest of the time they worked and remained in constant prayer and silence. The Monk Nil taught his monks to feed themselves from the fruit of their own labors, without accepting alms and alms. The greatest alms, he told his disciples, is to endure insult, sorrow, reproach from a brother, to receive strangers, this is spiritual alms, and it is much higher than physical.

Neil Sorsky:
Others say that it is impossible now to live the way the hermits lived in ancient times, but for us and for them there is one Scripture. They say that times are different, but Christ is always the same.
Enoch:
Since the monastery was built, father, we have heard more than once: “it is now impossible to live according to the Scriptures and according to the Holy Fathers.”
Neil Sorsky:
Although it is beyond our strength, we must, to the best of our ability, imitate their feat. They were with God, and if we are with God, then everything will work out for us. Because what is impossible for man is possible for God. We must live as the word of Truth teaches us, and then every time for us will be a time favorable for salvation.
Enoch:
So why are people afraid to go this route?
Neil Sorsky:
They are afraid because they do not want to cut off their own will and accept the will of God. It was hard to give up your will, it was even harder to give up acquisitions, honors and glory. We will distribute all our wealth to those in need, help everyone, accept everyone who wants to hear the word of God.

The monks in the skete were hospitable to strangers, but only a few were accepted by the Monk Nil into his brethren - because few were capable of the harsh skete life. As on the Holy Mountain, women were prohibited from entering the monastery, and the monks themselves practically did not leave the monastery.
The non-covetousness of the Monk Nil, his desire for modesty of life and poverty was known to many, although he himself came from a family of nobles, the Maykovs, and his brother served at the court of the Moscow sovereigns. Even what was donated to him for church decoration, he sold and distributed to the poor, and he commanded all his disciples to do the same.
The Monk Neil was faithful to his monastic path to the end. He did not strive for worldly fame and did not seek it, but his deep spiritual wisdom invariably attracted his contemporaries to him. Living in a monastery from a young age, most He devoted his life to reading spiritual books, many of which have survived to this day in his manuscripts. Having received wisdom from the Holy Fathers, Saint Nil himself left behind amazing works on asceticism and spiritual life.
In his will to the brethren, he asked no less than to throw his body to be devoured wild animals, or at least bury him without honors. The latter was fulfilled by the brethren - his body was buried in the monastery he founded, among the forests and swamps of the Vologda region.
This monastery still stands today, having survived Hard times, desolation and oblivion. And today the flow of pilgrims to the burial place of the great spiritual mentor, the wise teacher, whose life remains an example for everyone, does not dry out. An example of the fact that at any time and in any era we must and can live as our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us.

The 15th century is the golden age of Russian holiness, culminating with the Monk Nil of Sorsky. The biography of St. Neil has not reached us. Scarce information about him can be found either in his own works or in chronicles of that time.

It is known that the Monk Neil came from the noble family of the Maykovs and was born in 1433 in Moscow. In his youth, he took monastic vows in one of the strictest monasteries of that time - Kirillo-Belozersky. From there he goes to Athos to “see with his own eyes the true asceticism of the hesychast hermits.”

On the Holy Mountain, as Neil himself recalls: “I, like a bee, flew from one flower to another in order to study the basics of Christian life and revive my hardened soul in order to prepare it for salvation.”

Neil returned from Athos to White Lake, but did not stay in the Cyril Monastery. He chose a deserted place for his exploits on the Sora River, 15 kilometers from the monastery. “By the grace of God, I found a place in my thoughts that was little accessible to worldly people,” Neil writes to his disciple. This is how one of those who visited the Nilova hermitage describes the surrounding nature: “Wild, deserted and gloomy is the place where the monastery was founded by the Nile. The soil is flat, but swampy, there is forest all around, more coniferous than deciduous... It is difficult to find a place more secluded than this desert.” Gradually a small number of devotees gather around the Nile.

Here, in solitude, the views of the Monk Nilus were finally formed, set forth in his numerous epistles, letters to his disciples, and the rules of monastic life. All his works are integral and united in their inner spirit. All of them are aimed at clarifying only one thing - the path to salvation.

The reasoning of Nil Sorsky is devoid of formalism. It encourages the reader to think and appeals to his conscience. He does not argue, but analyzes. In this, Neil reveals himself as a thinker and a subtle psychologist. He does not want to come to terms with religious-ritual formalism, and therefore contrasts external religiosity with internal spiritual life. Performing only external feats of piety leads to vanity, the most hated sin for Nile. Without excluding external feats, the monk places emphasis on internal, spiritual feats - “smart deeds”, the fight against bad thoughts. Showing the degrees of human fall, Neil describes how a person, without realizing it, is overcome by sinful passion and falls.

"The peace of the soul is disturbed sinful thoughts. It is necessary to cut it off, but this is not always and not everyone can do,” writes the Sorsky hermit. - A weak soul, drawn by thoughts, enters the path of sweet inclination to sin and falls into captivity. This state turns into passion for a person, a thing or a thought.”

This is the path of sin, which Neil calls to fight, strengthening the weak forces of the soul with “mental prayer and heartfelt sobriety.”

In the life of the Monk Neil, in his service to the brethren, we will not see a desire for either management or teaching. Neil does not want to be an abbot or even a teacher. This is how he writes to his disciples: “My brothers. That’s what I call you, not my students. There is only one Teacher for us - God."

There is an opinion about the differences of opinion between two great representatives of Russian monasticism of the late 15th century, Joseph of Volotsky and Nil Sorsky. IN historical literature they are usually presented as the leaders of two “opposite” directions in Russian spiritual life - external activity and internal contemplation. This is deeply untrue. As much as Joseph's charter is distinguished by external severity, the works of the Nile contain deep information about inner life. Spiritual labor and physical labor constitute two sides of the Christian vocation. Both directions naturally coexisted in the Russian monastic tradition, complementing each other. We can say that both Neil and Joseph strove for the same goal, but they went towards it in different ways: one - by deepening their lives " inner man", the other is by strengthening the presence of the Church in all spheres of society. One - through mercy, the other - through severity, one - through leniency, the other - through power. The path of the Nile and the path of Joseph are not opposite, but complementary.

The Sorsky hermit died in 1508.

His testament to his disciples was preserved in the manuscripts: “I pray you, brothers, throw my body in the desert, because it has sinned before God and is unworthy of burial. Let the animals and birds tear him to pieces. Or, if you prefer, dig a hole and put him there without any respect. All my life I have avoided the honor and glory of this age; I don’t want that even in death.”

The Monk Neil left a deep mark on the history of Russian monasticism. For his great spiritual exploits, the Russian Orthodox people called him “the great elder.”

Message from the same great elder to his brother, who asked him to write to him for the benefit of his soul

(Message from St. Nil of Sorsky to his disciple Herman Podolny, monk of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery)

In your letter, Mr. Father, which you wrote to me, you ask me to write you something useful in response and to inform you about myself. It seems to you that I grieve for you because of the speeches that we made during our conversation with you when you were here. And for that, forgive me. I advised, reminding myself and you, as always loved by me, as it is written, “I reveal my secrets to the sons of my house” - that it is not just like that or as it happens that it is appropriate for us to do any deeds, but according to the Divine Scriptures and according to according to the tradition of the holy fathers, first of all, this concerns leaving the monastery. We just need to monitor whether we are doing it for the sake of the soul, and not for the sake of something else? Because now we do not see the life preserved in the laws of God according to the Holy Scriptures and according to the tradition of the holy fathers, but everyone lives according to their own wills and human plans. And for many it turns out that we do the most corrupt things and imagine that by doing this we are doing virtue. And this happens because we do not know the Holy Scriptures, because we do not try with the fear of God and We study them with humility, but we neglect them and occupy ourselves with human affairs.

I talked to you like this because you truly, and not feignedly, want to hear the word of God and fulfill it. And I, without flattering you, without hiding the severity of the narrow and regrettable path, offered you my words. With others I talk according to the measure of each. You know from the very beginning my thinness, as always my spiritually beloved. That is why I am writing to you now, speaking frankly about myself, since your love, according to Bose, compels me and makes me crazy to write to you about myself.

When we lived together in the monastery, you yourself learned that I was moving away from worldly connections and acting as much as I could according to the Divine Scriptures, although I couldn’t cope because of my laziness and negligence. Then, after I went on a pilgrimage and returned to the monastery, outside the monastery nearby I built myself a cell and lived in the same way as long as I could. Now I have moved further from the monastery, since with the assistance of God’s grace I have found a place pleasing to my mind, since it is difficult for worldly people to access, as you yourself have seen.

And in particular, I study the Divine Scriptures: first of all, the commandments of the Lord, their interpretations and apostolic traditions, then the lives and teachings of the holy fathers - and I listen to that. And what is in accordance with my idea of pleasing God and benefiting the soul, I copy for myself, and thereby I learn, and in this I have my life and breath. And I laid my weakness, laziness and negligence on God and the Most Pure Mother of God.

And when it happens to me to do something, and I don’t find it in the Holy Scriptures, then I put it off for a while until I find it. Because I don’t dare do anything of my own free will and with my own mind. And if someone cleaves to me out of spiritual love, I advise him to do the same, and especially to you, since from the very beginning you have been close to me with spiritual love. That’s why I turned my word to you, advising you for the good, as for my soul; as I try to do myself, so I told you.

Now, although we are separated in bodies, we are united and united in spiritual love. And according to the law of this divine love, I talked with you then, and now I write for the salvation of my soul. And you, if you wish, imitate what you heard from me and saw written. If you want to be the son and heir of the holy fathers, keep the commandments of the Lord and the traditions of the holy fathers, and tell your brothers living with you to do the same.

Whether you live alone or in a monastery with your brothers, listen to the Holy Scriptures and walk in the footsteps of the holy fathers. Because the Divine Scriptures command us this way: either to obey such a person who will be attested in his work as a spiritual person by word and reason, as Basil the Great writes in his teaching, which begins: “Come to Me, all you who labor” (Matthew 11:28 ), or if this is not found, then obey God according to the Divine Scriptures, and not as senselessly as some who, even when they are in a monastery with their brothers, graze senselessly in self-will, believing that they are in obedience, and go into hermitage in the same way unreasonably, led by the carnal will and a reckless mind, not understanding either what they are doing or what they are affirming. About such John Climacus, arguing, in his word about various types silence says: “Out of conceit, they wished to swim better on their own than by following instructions.” What will not happen to us! But you, acting according to the Holy Scriptures and according to the lives of the holy fathers, with the help of the grace of Christ, will not sin.

Now I too am grieved because you are sorrowful. That’s why I forced myself to write to you, so that you wouldn’t grieve. May God, the giver of all joy and comfort, comfort your heart and will inform you of our love for you. Even if I wrote something rudely to you, it was not to anyone else, but to you, my unchanging beloved, not wanting to despise your request. For I hope that you will accept this with love and not judge my foolishness.

And our affairs, for which I asked your shrine, you tried to arrange them well, I beat my forehead about that. May God reward you according to your work.

I also pray to your sanctuary for this: may you not consider the words that we spoke then as sorrow. After all, although outwardly they seem cruel, but inside they are full of benefit. Because I did not speak my own, but from the Holy Scriptures. They are truly cruel for those who do not want to truly humble themselves in the fear of the Lord and retreat from carnal wisdom, but want to live according to their own passionate will, and not according to the Holy Scriptures. Such people do not study the Holy Scriptures with humility, spiritually. Some of them now do not even want to hear about living according to the Holy Scriptures, as if to say: they were not written for us, and it is not necessary to observe them in the present generation.

For true workers, both in ancient times, and now, and forever, the words of the Lord are pure, like silver melted and purified seven times (see Ps. 11:7), and His commandments are bright and desirable for them more than gold and precious stones, and they delight them more than honey and honeycombs, and they store them. And when they save, many will receive rewards (see Ps. 18:9 and 11-12).

Hello in the Lord, Mr. Father, and pray for us sinners, and we greatly strike your shrine with our foreheads.

sources: "Bogoslov.ru", "ABC of Faith"

The Vologda land is famous for its saints, but St. Nil of Sorsky stands apart in the history of Russian monasticism. Last fall, documentary photographer Alexei Myakishev and I went to the village of Pustyn, near Kirillov. In this village there is the Nilo-Sorskaya Hermitage, which has housed a psycho-neurological boarding school since 1961.

Photo by Alexey Myakishev

Archpriest Alexy Mokievsky provided us with enormous assistance during the trip. A priest of the Goritsky Monastery, he also spiritually cares for the patients of the boarding school. Father Alexy has long been studying the life of St. Nilus of Sorsky and has written many articles on the topic of the saint.

Photo by Ekaterina Solovyova

Here is an excerpt from Fr. Alexy about the fate of the relics of the monk:

“A thinker, writer, creator, who left behind a precious teaching about moral improvement, and during his lifetime honored with the attention and veneration of people, Neil remained the same humble monk. He signed his works in Greek - “sinful and foolish Nile.” His non-covetousness was expressed as nowhere else in his famous will. In this autograph of the monk, written on his deathbed, he humbles himself, denying himself even the right to a decent burial. This expressed his lack of acquisition of even posthumous veneration. In these last words, as if in a certain mirror the whole essence of his path to Christ was reflected.”

Photo by Ekaterina Solovyova

« To this end, I also unworthy Nile, my dear masters and brothers, who are the essence of my character, I pray: at the end of my death, cast my body into the desert, so that the animals and birds may eat it, for I have sinned much to God, and it is unworthy to eat burial. If you don’t do this, then dig a ditch in the place where we live and bury me with all dishonor. Fear the word that the Great Arseny bequeathed to his disciples, saying: at the trial I will stand with you if you give my body to anyone. For I too had this diligence, great in my strength, so that I would not be worthy of any honor and glory of this age, just as in this life, so also after my death.I pray to everyone to pray for my sinful soul, and I ask forgiveness from everyone, and may there be forgiveness from me: God forgive us all».

Photo by Ekaterina Solovyova

But the loving disciples still buried the saint with due honor. The brethren dressed the deceased in a robe. The hair shirt was removed. Subsequently, many found healing in it, wearing it when praying to the monk. They also preserved a rosary made of simple braid of the roughest work, two arshins long. They were buried in the monastery cemetery opposite the altar of the temple, in a hill that the Nile himself filled up, carrying earth in boxes, filling up the swamp. They erected a cross, “placing a stone and writing on it the summer, the month and the day of his repose, and also writing the image of his likeness, what the venerable man was.”

In subsequent years and centuries, attempts to glorify the relics of the saint continued: at first, Ivan the Terrible wanted to erect a stone church in honor of the Nile, but did not carry out his plan. In 1840-1842, they began to build a stone temple, but its vaults collapsed, almost crushing three workers. The brethren did not hear the call of the monk and the temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God was erected over the grave. This is what Fr. writes. Alexy Mokievsky:

“Inside the temple, the grave of St. Neil was marked by a rich shrine with a beautiful carved canopy. The rector of the desert, Hieromonk Nikon (Prikhudailov), removed fragrant bones from the foundation excavation near the supposed grave of the monk and placed them in his cell. They didn’t make a sensation out of this, they didn’t even notify the Consistory, but particles of the saint’s relics began to disperse like relics throughout the churches. This is how the icon of Nil Sorsky with relics appeared in the Georgian Church Mother of God Krasnogorsky Bogoroditsky monastery Arkhangelsk diocese. But the investigative commission of the Novgorod spiritual consistory that arrived at the monastery decided to bury them, which was done.”

In 1930, the monastery, which was formed on the site of the Nile monastery, was closed and transferred to the home for the disabled under the Lipovsky village council. And in 1961, all the buildings were given to the use of a closed medical institution- psycho-neurological boarding school. In 1978, the remains of one of the monks, possibly the monk himself, were discovered. They were kept in the museum, and only in 2001 were sent for examination to Moscow.

Photo by Alexey Myakishev

Father Alexy writes:

“Since these remains were taken for examination to Moscow in the Pustynsky psychoneurological boarding school (a place living its own rather measured and calm life), a number of tragic events have occurred. In 2005, a terrible fire destroyed the garages and the gate church, which was planned to be made into a functioning temple. In 2006, there was a new fire - the boarding school pigsty burned down. Troubles and disorder visit people living and working in the Desert. It all ends with the director of the boarding school, Lidiya Alekseevna Gracheva, breaking her arm. After this, the director, on behalf of all those living in the Desert, angrily demands from Abbot Damascene the return of the disturbed remains. In 2007, these bones were returned. Quietly, without any fanfare, they were again placed under the floor in the Tikhvin Church, which today is used as a canteen for the mentally ill.”

Photo by Ekaterina Solovyova

In a Report addressed to the Administrator of the Vologda Diocese, His Eminence Maximilian, Abbot Damascene (Orlovsky) summed up the long and painstaking research: “The examination convincingly showed that the grave of St. Nilus of Sorsky was destroyed during the construction of the temple, and the will of the reverend founder of the desert, recorded in the text of his will, was performed during the construction of the temple by the hands of the builders, who hid its relics among the remains of the brethren.”

Photo by Ekaterina Solovyova

However, it’s too early to put an end to this, says Father Alexy:

“In an oral tradition from the same abbot of Damascus, we learn that in one of the fragments of the skeleton, whose age dates back to the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, chemical composition bone tissue some nickel content was detected. As is known, in our district this metal is not found in either soil or water. But there is a lot of it on Athos! This may serve as indirect confirmation that one of the skeletons belongs to the remains of the Monk Neil, who lived on the Holy Mountain for a long time.”

The monk bequeathed that his relics should not be venerated. But the memory of the people's saint is alive. In Kirillov, Nil Sorsky Street appeared, and in Ferapontovo, on May 5, 2008, a temple was consecrated in honor of the saint, on the eve of the 500th anniversary of the repose of St. Nil Sorsky. The Goritsky Monastery houses an icon of the saint in modern writing.

Photo by Ekaterina Solovyova

Prepared by Ekaterina Solovyova.

Photo: Ekaterina Solovyova, Alexey Myakishev.

Reverend Neil is a great father of the Russian Church, in his asceticism and instructions.

He was from the noble family of Maykov, born in 1433. He began his monastic life in the monastery of St. Kirill of Belozersky. Here he used the advice of the intelligent and strict elder Paisius Yaroslavov, who later was the abbot of the Sergius Lavra and did not want to be a metropolitan. Then Neil traveled to the East to see spiritual life in experiences; he was, in his words, “on Mount Athos, in the countries of Constantinople and other places.” Upon returning from the East, he lived for a short time outside the fence of the Kirillov Monastery in a secluded cell. Then, 15 versts from the monastery, on the Sorka River, he erected a cross for himself with a chapel and a cell, and to those who wanted to share his exploits, he offered life not as a communal life, but as a monastery.

The history of his inner life was partially revealed by the monk himself in a letter to the prince monk Vassian, at his urgent request.

“I am writing to you,” he says, showing himself, “your love according to God compels me to do this and makes me crazy to write to you about myself. We should not act simply and not on occasion, but according to the Holy Scriptures and the tradition of the holy fathers ". Wasn't my removal from the monastery (Kirillov) for the sake of spiritual benefit? For her, for her sake. I saw that they live there not according to God's law and paternal tradition, but according to their own will and human reasoning. There are also many who, So, they incorrectly dream that a virtuous life is passing... When we lived together with you in the monastery (Kirillov), you know how I moved away from worldly connections and tried to live according to the Holy Scriptures, although due to my laziness I did not have time. I came to the monastery (Kirillov) and outside the monastery, near it, I built a cell for myself, lived as long as I could. Now I have moved away from the monastery, and by the grace of God I found a place in my thoughts that was not very accessible to worldly people, as you yourself saw. Living alone, I study spiritual scriptures; First of all, I test the commandments of the Lord and their interpretation and traditions of the Apostles, then the lives and instructions of the holy fathers. I reflect on all this, and whatever, according to my reasoning, I find pleasing to God and useful for my soul, I rewrite for myself. This is my life and my breath. For my weakness and laziness, I placed my trust in God and the Most Pure Mother of God. If something happens to me and if I don’t find it in the scripture, I put it aside for a while until I find it. I don’t dare do anything of my own free will and according to my own reasoning. Whether you live as a hermit or in a community, listen to the Holy Scripture and follow in the footsteps of your fathers or obey the one who is known as a spiritual man in word, life and reasoning... The Holy Scripture is harsh only for those who do not want to humble themselves by the fear of God and retreat from earthly things thoughts, but wants to live according to his passionate will. Others do not want to experience humility Holy Bible, they don’t even want to hear about how we should live, as if Scripture was not written for us and should not be fulfilled in our time. But to true ascetics, both in ancient times, and in the present, and in all ages, the words of the Lord will always be pure words, like refined silver; The commandments of the Lord are dearer to them than gold and costly stones, sweeter than honey and honeycomb.”

From this letter it is clear, by the way, that the path of life chosen by Nile amazed his contemporaries. And there was truly something to be amazed at, especially for the weak.

Wild, gloomy, deserted is the place that the Monk Neil chose for his monastery. This is not the Athos region, where there is so much beauty of nature, where the air is life-giving, the fruits are luxurious.

The Sorka River, which gave its name to the Russian saint of God, looks more like a swamp than a flowing river, stretches slightly down. The entire area of the monastery is low-lying and swampy. And it was here that the Russian hermit labored. The pond dug by the Monk Nile, and his labors, a well with delicious water, which is used for healing, are still intact. Neil's clothes are still intact; her hair pricks like needles.

The entire monastic society of the monk consisted of a hieromonk, a deacon and 12 elders. Among them came from the Joseph Monastery Dionysius from the princes of Zvenigorod and Nil Polev - a descendant of the princes of Smolensk. The first of them, when he lived in Joseph, “worked for two in a bakery and, moreover, sang 77 psalms and performed 3,000 bows every day. But, loving solitude, he asked and received the blessing to go to Father Nile, who then shone like shone in the desert on Beloozero,” So says a contemporary.

For the needs of the brethren, the Monk Neil built a small mill on the river. When they decided to build a temple, a lot of work had to be done. High mounds for the temple had to be made on the swampy soil, especially since there was also supposed to be a fraternal tomb here. The hands of the holy elder and his hermitages built a high hill for the temple and tomb. Each cell is placed on an elevation and each is separated from the other and from the temple at the distance of a thrown stone. The hermits gathered in their temple, following the example of the Eastern ones, only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. On other days, everyone prayed and worked in their cell. The all-night vigil of the monastery continued throughout the night, in the full sense of the word: for each kathisma, three and four readings from the fathers were offered. During the liturgy, they sang only the Trisagion, Hallelujah, Cherubim and Worthy; everything else was read in a drawn-out, sing-song manner. On Saturday they came to the brotherly burial vault, where a memorial service was held for the repose of the deceased. This is the church charter of the Nile.

The Monk Neil was one of those who grieved in his soul over the damage to church books, and tried to correct them. This, like the hermitage life, hitherto unprecedented, aroused displeasure against him. He patiently walked his way.

In 1491 we see St. Neil at a council about Judaizing heretics. In the case of them, the zealot of Orthodoxy, Blessed Gennady, in 1492, wanted to personally see the Monk Nile in order to hear his judgment on the subjects of perplexity.

An unknown contemporary wrote: “Nil Maikov, a student of Paisius, was in the Holy Mountain. Grand Duke kept them (Paisius and Nila) in great honor. When the council on widow priests and deacons ended (1503), Elder Nil proposed that there should be no villages near monasteries, but that they should live by the labor of their hands. The Belozersky hermits also joined him." Another contemporary speaks of the same thing: "Some fathers, who lead and love silence and a solitary life (among them the first Saint Nile), firmly remembering the fatherly instructions about the non-covetousness necessary for the monks, mourned that that the monasteries owned the villages, and they believed that it was in vain for the monks to renounce the world, for they, just like the laity, worry and quarrel with the laity and among themselves, go to court and conduct litigation. Therefore, they offered this to the autocrat as having access to him because of their strong life and great virtue and as respected by the autocrat. "According to the news of one and another contemporary, at the council Joseph of Volokolamsk and others cast a different voice about the monastic property, and their voice was respected .

In his dying testament, the monk, commanding his disciples to throw his body into the desert, as food for animals, or to bury it in a hole with contempt, wrote: “It sinned gravely before God and is unworthy of burial,” and then added: “I tried as much as I could.” not to enjoy any honor on earth, in this life; so let it be after death." The monk reposed on May 7, 1508.

The relics of the saint rest in secret. In 1569, the Terrible Tsar wanted to build a stone temple instead of a wooden one. But the monk, appearing to John, strictly forbade him to build such a temple. So even after the grave he remains a zealot of monastic simplicity.

Just as the life of St. Neil was special, so in his writings he was such a mentor as had never before been seen in the Russian Church. He is the teacher of the contemplative life.

The “Rule of the monastery life of St. Nil,” after the preface on mental work, offers instructions:

1) About the difference in mental warfare;

2) About the fight against thoughts;

3) How to strengthen yourself in feat against thoughts;

4) About the content of spiritual warfare;

5) About 8 thoughts;

6) About the fight against each of them;

7) How important it is to remember death!

8) About tears;

9) About keeping contrition;

10) About death for the world;

11) About the fact that everything should be done in due time.

In conclusion, Saint Nile says with what intentions he proposed his charter. “Mental prayer,” he says, “is higher than physical prayer: bodily work is a leaf, and internal, mental prayer is the fruit. He who prays only with his lips, but does not neglect the mind, prays to the air. For God listens to the mind. Exercise in inner prayer brings a person to a higher spiritual state, in which the spirit does not even have prayer, nor movement, nor autocracy, but is instructed by another force.” On this path, in addition to prayer, a struggle with thoughts is necessary. “If you cannot pray in silence, without thoughts, and even see them multiplying in your mind, do not be faint-hearted, remain constantly in prayer.” St. Neil's instructions on thoughts contain deep psychological observations of the actions of the soul.

He decomposes the matter of the soul into the most subtle, barely noticeable parts; shows how a thought gradually passes from a sinless thought into an action that is more and more criminal and dangerous. Relatively external activities St. Neil prescribes the monastery's complete non-covetousness and simplicity in everything. He orders us to acquire what is necessary for life only through the labor of our hands, repeating the words of the Apostle: “If anyone does not want to work, let him eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). “Monastic almsgiving is to help a brother with a word in time of need, to console a brother in sorrow with spiritual reasoning: spiritual alms are as much higher than physical alms as the soul is higher than the body. If a stranger comes to us, we will calm him to the best of our ability and, if he demands bread, we will give him and let him go.” . The Monk Nil often speaks in the words of the fathers and more often than others cites the words of Gregory the Sinaite and Simeon the New Theologian. About the first he says: “This blessed one, embracing the content of the writings of all spiritual fathers, according to their order, commands us to have diligent care for prayer.”