Kozelskie bushes
We visited Optina. This is Kozelsk. The town is described in detail in the diary of S. Nilus and in Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov. As in the novel, a pink bell tower still towers over the entrance to the monastery. Near the gates there are houses for pilgrims. True, the territories closed to women have become much smaller... I was lucky to visit Optina at the patronal feast. Celebrated the day of St. ave. Ambrose Optinsky. Not only in Kozelsk, but throughout Russia. Saint Ambrose of Optina entered literature under the name of the elder Zosima in F. Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, Bishop Nikita of Kozelsk and Lyudinovsky, Elder Iliy, confessor of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, served Liturgy in the Kazan Cathedral. From the open windows of the temples, beautiful, harmonious singing flowed, taking thoughts into eternity. Listening to him, the soul seemed to soar above the usual bustle. And I didn't think about anything else. The liturgy went on for a long time. Obviously, she was unabridged. There are two liturgies on the feast. Early - around six in the morning and late - around nine. The monks of Optina are very calm and, perhaps, happy. No one yells at the laity for anything, as in other monasteries. Even at confession, the priests do not teach sinners, but are silent. Confession is easy. But you have to wait a long time for your turn. But then it's easy on the soul. Frescoes and icons also impressed me! From the blue walls and simply giant ancient gilded plaques, images of saints looked, as if alive, although they were written not in an academic style, but in a canonical one. The relics of the Optina elders rested right there, in shrines and tombs. People kissed them and asked for the secret. The impressions from everything seen and heard were, of course, amazing! But the most interesting thing is that they coincided with the impressions of writers and pilgrims of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. “Nature is beautiful and sinless, but we, only we, the godless, do not understand that life is paradise, for if we want to understand, it will immediately come”... (Elder Zosima from The Brothers Karamazov, F. Dostoevsky) From the Orthodox point of view, the teachings of the elder Zosima either contain episodes from the Old Testament, or bear the imprint of Fyodor Mikhailovich’s personal experience of communion with God. Dostoevsky's trip to Optina Pustyn in June 1878 was one of the most important events in the writer's spiritual life. Caused by personal tragedy. Fyodor Mikhailovich conveyed in Zosima the common features of Orthodox saints. This is humility, love for people, popular veneration, miracles. Zosima saw the souls of people, their sorrows, read their thoughts, knew about problems, sins, about further life collisions. People visited the elder because he sympathized and consoled them, and sometimes just gave them money. The people believe that even now, through the prayers of the elder, they receive grace-filled help. The teachings of St. Ambrose were recorded and artistically processed by Dostoevsky long before the compilation of the life of the elder and have no analogy in church hagiography. Even in other places they contradict it. “Life is a vale of suffering, ” Orthodox theologians unanimously believe. Nevertheless, "Optina is a real paradise! " - so wrote absolutely everyone who has ever been there. The whole Optina atmosphere is imbued with peace, silence, peace, despite the crowds of pilgrims and temples packed with people. The feeling of peace is like a rolling wave. Near the monastery in the forest at the source of St. Paphnutia organized two baths - male and female. Water temperature +2. Even in the evening there is a queue for the bath. Looking at the wet, trembling "walruses", I did not dare to plunge. She collected drinking water from the tap into a bottle. The taste of the water reminded me of the stale sulphate narzan of Kislovodsk. The most interesting thing is that this water does not deteriorate at all! Near the skete there is another source - St. Ambrose of Optinsky. On weekdays in Optina you can live without spending. Many believers specially save up for the road in order to come to Kozelsk. Either through the pilgrimage travel agency, or on their own. In the monastery they are given shelter, fed, watered. But for this, pilgrims perform obediences - they wash, clean, clean. . . There is always a lot of work. If there is no desire to work in the kitchen, you can book a room in the pilgrims' house and rest there, but for three days. (No more. ) Green houses at the monastery gates in a flowering front garden are very cute. And inside almost luxury. Clean, beautiful. Lunch and dinner are all inclusive. True, the dining room, shower and toilet are shared. But the rules of the hostel are the strictest, because the people are nice and friendly. In general, you can make room. It is worth living for 12 hours 1600 rubles. In a five-star hotel - 2800, unsightly "Pilgrim" and "Vityaz" - from a thousand or less. But on July 10, it was not even possible to rent a barn! On the day of the holiday, so many pilgrims came from all over Russia that there were no free places in hotels, hotels, or private apartments! They offered only folding beds in the corridor. Many were forced to leave for Kaluga by night. . . In general, prices in the Kozelsky Monastery are extremely low. For example, 10 rubles - a prayer service or memorial service. 200 rubles - commemoration for six months. Prosphora (this is the name of the bread used to celebrate the liturgy) is free. But, you see, not everyone has the opportunity to travel. . For those who cannot make the pilgrimage, but want to be remembered for their health in the holy lands, Orthodox exhibitions and fairs are organized in some dioceses. In 2014, a similar event was held in the Pyatigorsk and Circassian diocese with the blessing of Archbishop Theophylact from September 2 to 9 in the Kavkaz Exhibition Center in Kislovodsk on the street. Chaliapin, 7. Representatives from Russian, Greek, Belarusian, even Ukrainian monasteries and churches gathered. People submitted their notes and provided assistance to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
