Theophan the Recluse
(January 10, 1815 – January 6, 1894), Russian Orthodox bishop and theologian, recognized as a saint in 1988.
Born as Georgy Vasilievich Govorov, he became a monk in 1841, taking the name Theophan.
Do not think that the visible causes are the true causes of what happens to us and around us.
Everything is governed by invisible divine promptings – and these promptings are always in direct correspondence with the movements of human hearts.
God acts upon us according to how we conduct ourselves in relation to Him.
If we do not repent, He punishes; if we repent, He shows mercy.
The key to understanding upheavals and changes is not solely within our private lives!
A contrite and humble heart God will not despise.
Thus, all the future is in God's hands: therefore, either walk blamelessly in His will in devotion to God, or hasten with repentance to avert the formidable decree of His judgments.
This is a lesson drawn from the future.
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Saint John of Shanghai and
San Francisco
Mikhail Borisovich Maximovitch
(June 4(17), 1896, Adamovka village, Izyum district, Kharkov province, Russian Empire – July 2, 1966, Seattle, Washington, USA) was an prelate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia who is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
However, high a spiritual and moral state one might achieve, a gradual or even headlong and deep fall into the abyss of sin is always possible.
Therefore, communion of the holy Body and Blood of Christ, which strengthens our contact with Him and refreshes us with the living streams of the grace of the Holy Spirit flowing through the Body of the Church, is necessary for everyone.
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Commemoration of
St.Daniel of Moscow (prince)
March 4/March 17
The holy and right-believing Daniel of Moscow (late 1261, Vladimir, Vladimir- Suzdal Principality - 4 March 1303, Moscow, Duchy of Moscow), the Grand Prince of Moscow, son of the holy and right-believing Alexander Nevsky. Being the youngest son, he inherited the poor principality of Moscow that through his adroit and peaceful handling of the princely internecine warfare developed into the capital of a united Russian land. He founded the first monastery, St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow, at the Church of St. Daniel the Stylite.
The greatness of the work, by the completely meek and humble disposition of the right-believing prince, demonstrates that God is not in power, but in truth.
After his death, the saint himself testified that he conquered the world by the love of Christ.
In 1272, Daniel, a ten-year-old youth, ascended to the principality. During the division of his father's inheritance, he, as the youngest, received a more than modest legacy – Moscow and its surroundings. But the young prince did not grumble.
The Lord granted him other riches – meekness of heart, peacefulness, and non-possessiveness, and thanks to these virtues, even during the prince's lifetime, Moscow transformed from a poor village on the banks of the Moskva River into the center of an independent, rapidly developing principality.
And although it was still a long way from becoming the all-Russian capital, the foundations of future power were laid precisely during the reign of the holy Prince Daniel.
The founder laid the foundation of Moscow’s grandeur, modestly making only a small path to it. Just as any edifice, which is not built with excessive haste, but rather with great artistry and skill, receives a particular firmness and stands indestructible for a long time; like a tall tree that grows for many centuries after beginning as a small sapling, then slowly becomes sturdier, with its branches spreading about far around, so this city was to grow from small, but firm beginnings, so that its first sparkle would not bedazzle the eyes of the envious, and so it would not be shaken or felled early on, before it had attained its full height.
Thus did this founder prepare the great city given him, giving it a modest but steady radiance, undisturbed by any gusts of the wind.
He left the great glory of its rise to his son Great Prince John, called Kalita.
Metropolitan Platon of Moscow
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St. Metropolitan Nikolai (Mogilevsky)
Feodosiy Nikiforovich Mogilevsky
(April 9, 1877, Komissarovka, Yekaterinoslav Governorate - October 25, 1955, Alma-Ata) - bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan.
Thanks to the prayers of Bishop Nicholas, the plane with the failed engine was successfully landed.
He was canonized as a saint of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in 2000.
Vain, meager thoughts trouble us against our will and almost without our knowledge, seducing us by entering us so imperceptibly and cunningly that we can barely recognize them.
Their emergence does not depend on us, but accepting or rejecting them is within our will.
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Saint Luke, Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea
Commemoration
March 5/March 18
Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky
(14 April 1877, Kerch, the Soviet Union–11 June 1961, Simferopol) – was a Russian surgeon, spiritual writer, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, and archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea from May 1946 until his death.
He was a laureate of the Stalin Prize in medicine in 1946.
Saint Luke the Physician, Archbishop of Simferopol, was born in 1877 in the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea. He married Anna Vasilievna, who reposed at the age of 38, so the Saint took the full responsibility of raising his four children. In 1920 he was elected Professor of Topographic Anatomy and Surgery at the University of Tashkent.
His research on the issue of purulent infections were innovative and he wrote the manual still used today.
He was ordained a Priest in 1921, Bishop of Tashkent in 1923, and in 1946 he was promoted to Archbishop of Simferopol in Crimea.
He remained in this position until his repose, on 11 June 1961.
From 1922 till the end of his earthly life he suffered arrests, exiles and horrific tortures. Many times they attempted to kill him, but God protected him. Throughout the last nine years of his life he was blind from glaucoma, but in this also he showed Job-like patience.
Studying the life of Saint Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol, one cannot distinguish the Bishop from the physician. Saint Luke was both together everywhere.
He would heal patients with the use of medical science, but also through prayer. Also, his pastoral ministry included him being a physician, since he tried to heal people both physically and spiritually. Because of his great love for God, he loved others, all without exception, without discrimination. He had fiery zeal and great self-denial. As he himself confessed, he loved martyrdom.
Besides, all his life was a continuous martyrdom and a thunderous testimony for Christ. However, he also tasted of many spiritual joys and heavenly blessings.
What is striking was his great obedience to Christ and the Church. When the Bishop invited him to become a Cleric, immediately he responded with great eagerness, because he considered the call to have come from God Himself, although he had not previously considered it and although he was a successful physician-surgeon with a great reputation. He notes in his autobiography:
I know there are very many people that wonder how I managed, having gained fame as a wise and great surgeon, to leave science and surgery to become a preacher of the Gospel of Christ. Those who have such thoughts, make a big mistake thinking that it is impossible to reconcile science and religion... The history of science teaches us that even the genius sages Galileo, Newton, Copernicus, Pasteur, and our great physiologist Pavlov, were deeply religious people. And I know that among our professors, our contemporaries, there are many who believe.
Indeed, they even ask for my blessing.
...The Lord in my tender youth led me to the priesthood, which I never thought about, since I passionately loved being a surgeon and I was dedicated to it with all my soul.
I always had to serve the poor and suffering, and I disposed all my strength to alleviating their pain and to aid their needs.
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St.Ambrose of Optina
Aleksander Mikhaylovich Grenkov
(December 5, 1812 – October 23, 1891) was a starets and a hieroschemamonk in Optina Monastery, canonized in the 1988 convention of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
It is useless to accuse those around us and those who live with us of somehow interfering with or being an impediment to our salvation and spiritual perfection…
Spiritual or emotional dissatisfaction comes from within ourselves, from inexperience and from poorly conceived opinions we do not want to abandon, but which bring on doubt, embarrassment, and misunderstanding.
All of this tires and burdens us, and brings us to a sorry state. We would do well to comprehend the Holy Fathers’ simple advice:
If we will humble ourselves, we will find tranquility anywhere, without having to mentally wander about many other places, where we might have the same, or even worse, experiences.
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Innocent of Alaska
Ivan Evseyevich Popov-Veniaminov
(26 August 1797, Irkutsk Governorate – 12 April 1879, Moscow), also known as Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow, was a Russian Orthodox missionary priest, then the first Orthodox bishop and archbishop in the Americas, and finally the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna.
If the path into the Kingdom of Heaven seems difficult, then consider how incomparably more dreadful are the eternal torments in fiery Gehenna. If the path toward heavenly bliss seems difficult, compare it with the path toward earthly happiness, and you will see that the path toward earthly happiness is not really easier at all. Just observe how much people toil to amass earthly things, how many disappointments, fights, sleepless nights and deprivations they bear. Or remind yourself of how much effort and expenses it takes to achieve some meaningless and fleeting pleasure!
And for what?
Instead of the expected happiness, you are left with disappointment and weariness.
When you carefully examine the heart of the matter, it becomes evident that people stay away from the Heavenly Kingdom not because the path to it is more difficult than the other paths of this world, but because it appears that way to them...
Work for your salvation while it is still daylight, for the night will come in which there will be no chance to change anything.
Strive for the Heavenly Kingdom while you can still walk.
Walk even a little bit, even if by crawling, but do it in the right direction.
Then in eternity you will truly rejoice for every step you have taken!
May the All-merciful Lord help us all in this!
Glory and thanksgiving be to Him throughout the ages of ages. Amen
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St. Ignatius Brianchaninov
Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov
(February 5 [18],1807-April 30 [May 13],1867) stands out as one of the greatest patristic writers of the nineteenth century.
This great Russian saint left to Orthodox Christians a compass by which we can check our direction as we traverse the complex path of spiritual life, to avoid the dark forests and pitfalls of spiritual delusion and pride.
"My Father, prayed the Saviour, if it is possible, let this Chalice pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt (Mat. 26,39)."
Pray to God for the removal of trials from. you, and at the same time renounce your own will, as a sinful and blind will. Surrender yourself, your soul and body, and your circumstances both present and future, and surrender your neighbours who are nearest and dearest to your heart to the all-holy and wise will of God.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
"The spirit is willing enough, but the flesh is weak (Mat. 26,41)."
When troubles surround you, repeat the prayer frequently so as to draw to yourself the special grace of God.
Only with the help of special grace can we be victorious over all temporal troubles.
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Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)
Ivan Mikhailovich Krestiankin
(April 11,1910, Orel—February 5, 2006, Pskov-Pechersk Monastery).
One of the most revered elders of the Russian Orthodox Church at the end of the XX — beginning of the XXI century.
Everything in our life proceeds in its own way...
We walk, we stumble on the path and sometimes fall, we get up and walk again.
We carry our cross, and through it our soul is raised to God, like a living sacrifice.
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness, and so we shed ours in heartfelt pain for our loved ones, in pain for our sins.
Such is the path to God, such is the path of purifying the soul and its rebirth.
And we will not abandon this path.
Always remember the words:
"Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.""Hebrews 2:18
Our temptations and falls, strangely enough, give birth in us to compassion for people, an understanding of what is happening, and they also teach us to provide effective help to others.
And how they bring us closer to God, both through the Sacrament of Repentance and through the realization of our weakness and His strength, manifested through God's help to us...
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St. Silouan the Athonite
Semyon Ivanovich Antonov (January 17, 1866, village of Shovs1koye, Tambov 1 — September 11 [24], 1938, Athos, Greece) - Russian Saint who lived on Mt. Athos in the Monastery of St. Panteleimon and known for his ascetic feats and spiritual teachings.
He was glorified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople on November 26, 1987.
We must always pray the Lord for peace of soul that we may the more easily fulfil the Lord’s commandments;
for the Lord loves those who strive to do His will, and thus they attain profound peace in God.
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Theophan the Recluse
(January 10, 1815 – January 6, 1894), Russian Orthodox bishop and theologian, recognized as a saint in 1988.
Born as Georgy Vasilievich Govorov, he became a monk in 1841, taking the name Theophan.
Don’t be tempted to indulge yourself in not coming to church at the beginning of the service or leaving before it is over.
Remember, each service is a complete unit and it can provide its full benefit only in its entirety.
Just as food is tasty only when it is fully seasoned, so the service can completely satisfy the spiritual taste only when it is heard in full.
Thus, he who misses the beginning or does not remain until the end is laboring, but he deprives himself of the fruit of his labor; he creates with one hand and destroys with the others...
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St.Philaret of Moscow
Vasily Mikhaylovich Drozdov
(26 December 1782/6 January 1783 – 1 December 1867) - Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna and the most influential figure in the Russian Orthodox Church for more than 40 years, from 1821 to 1867.
Ah, friends, without faith in the Lord Christ there is no salvation!
We must by all means kindle in ourselves the spirit of faith, that is, stimulate it, feed it with prayer, the Word of God, patience, sincere remembrance of the Saviour Who suffered for us. All of this can be done every day.
When you wake up, first of all let your soul and heart say “Glory to Thee, O Lord, Who has preserved us this night! Glory to Thee, Who has shown us the light! Lord, bless this day for us!”
In doing this, think about how God gives you the day which you could not give to yourself, and devote the first hour, or perhaps the first quarter hour of the day given you and offer it as a sacrifice to God, in grateful, supplicatory prayer.
The more zealously you do this, the more you will sanctify your day, the more strongly you will protect yourself from the temptations that we meet every day.
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40 Martyrs of Sebaste
Commemoration
March 9/March 22
In 313, Saint Constantine the Great issued a decree according to which Christians were allowed freedom of religion and they were equal in rights with pagans. But his co-ruler Licinius was a staunch pagan and decided to eradicate Christianity in his part of the empire, which had spread significantly there. Licinius was preparing for war against Constantine and, fearing treason, decided to purge his army of Christians.
At that time, in the Armenian city of Sebaste, one of the military leaders was Agricolai, a zealous supporter of paganism. Under his command was a squad of forty Cappadocians, brave warriors who emerged victorious from many battles. They were all Christians. When the soldiers refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, Agricolaus imprisoned them. The soldiers devoted themselves to fervent prayer and one night they heard a voice: "He who endures to the end will be saved."
The next morning, the soldiers were brought back to Agricolaus. This time, the pagan used flattery. He began to praise their courage, youth, and strength, and again suggested that they renounce Christ and thereby gain the honor and favor of the emperor himself. When Agricolaus again heard the refusal, he ordered the soldiers to be chained up. However, the eldest of them, Cyrion, said, "The Emperor did not give you the right to put shackles on us." Agricolaus was embarrassed and ordered the soldiers to be taken to the dungeon without shackles.
Seven days later, a noble dignitary, Lysias, arrived in Sebastia and held a trial of the soldiers. The saints answered firmly: "Take not only our military rank, but also our lives, for us there is nothing more precious than Christ God." Then Lysias ordered the holy martyrs to be stoned. But the stones missed their target; the stone thrown by Lysias hit Agricolaus in the face. The tormentors realized that some invisible force was protecting the saints. The soldiers spent the night in prayer in the dungeon and again heard the comforting voice of the Lord: "Whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Be bold and do not be afraid, for you will receive incorruptible crowns."
The next day, the trial before the tormentor and the interrogation were repeated, but the soldiers remained adamant.
It was winter, and there was a severe frost. The holy warriors were stripped, led to a lake near the city, and placed under guard on the ice for the entire night. To break the will of the martyrs, a sauna was melted nearby on the shore. In the first hour of the night, when the cold became unbearable, one of the soldiers could not stand it and ran to the bathhouse, but as soon as he crossed the threshold, he fell dead. At three o'clock in the morning, the Lord sent joy to the martyrs: suddenly it became light, the ice melted, and the water in the lake became warm. All the guards were asleep, but only one named Aglaius was awake. Looking at the lake, he saw that a bright crown appeared above the head of each martyr. Aglaius counted thirty-nine crowns and realized that the fleeing warrior had lost his crown. Then Aglaius woke up the other guards, took off his clothes and told them: "And I am a Christian!" – and joined the martyrs.
The feat of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste truly shines like the sun. Throughout the entire history of the Church, there have been many true ascetics and genuine heroes of the spirit, but their feat stands apart, it is somehow special, amazing.
We are absolutely incapable of this, and we shouldn't even reach for it.
Moreover, God does not demand this of us at all. Now is the time for very small deeds: to endure a little bit, to be a little less lazy, to force ourselves a little in something, to curb our flesh a little – that is, the feat should be easy, but constant, undertaken for Christ's sake.
Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov
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St.Tikhon of Zadonsk
Timofey Savelyevich Sokolov (1724, Novgorod region –1783, Zadonskiy Nativity Virgin Monastery).
Russian Orthodox bishop and spiritual writer whom the Eastern Orthodox Church glorified (canonized) as a saint in 1861.
He forbade corporal punishment of the clergy, cared about education, opened many schools.
Prayer does not consist merely in standing and bowing your body or in reading written prayers….
It is possible to pray at all times, in all places, with mind and spirit.
You can lift up your mind and heart to God while walking, sitting, working, in a crowd and in solitude.
His door is always open, unlike man’s.
We can always say to Him in our hearts Lord, Lord have mercy.
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Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Andrei Borisovich Bloom
(June 6, 1914, Lausanne — August 4, 2003, London) was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Sourozh. In 1965-1974 - Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe, author of numerous books, memoirs and articles about spiritual life and Orthodox spirituality. One of the most popular Orthodox preachers of the 20th century.
We are called to be children of God…yet no man can attain any of this through his own efforts. Neither by our own efforts or by our own desire can we become a part of the body of Christ…nor can we become partakers of the divine nature simply by our own efforts…
The way in which any of this can be realized are through the sacraments of the Church [in Her Liturgical Life].
The sacraments are the actions of God within the Church in which God grants us His grace by means of this material world.
It is in the sacraments [such as baptism, confession and communion] that brings us the grace which we cannot acquire by any other means,…
She brings grace to us as a gift through the material substance of this world, the water of baptism, the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist, and the myrrh of Chrismation…the world even though it is enslaved to corruption is itself pure and without sin.
And God takes this world, the matter of this material creation, and unites it in an incomprehensible way with Himself, and this material world brings to us the grace which we are unable to raise ourselves up to.
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Sergey Iosifovich Fudel
(December 31, 1900 (January 13 1901, Moscow — March 7 1977, Pokrov, Vladimir Region).
A literary scholar, Orthodox thinker, and spiritual writer, creator of numerous religious-philosophical and theological writings
He was repeatedly repressed for political reasons, was in camps and exiles.
Throughout his entire life, Iosif Fudel kept the flame of a true Christian soul and succeeded in passing on that flame to his children. From early childhood, and to his death, Sergei Iosifovitch was in the Church, and his life is a part of the history of the Church.
Our love is woefully insufficient... tear down the web of deceit.
What love truly demands from us, above all else, are not grand romances or learned theological treatises,
however well-intentioned, but everyday interactions with real people.
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Priest Daniel Sysoev
Daniel Alexeyevich Sysoev (January 12, 1974, Moscow - November 20, 2009, Moscow) - a Russian Orthodox priest, rector of the Moscow Church of the Holy Apostle Thomas on Kantemirovskaya, and a prominent missionary.
The eyes of the Lord are always directed towards God’s temple, the church.
In the church, He Himself is present in His Body and Blood. In the church, He revives us in the Baptism, therefore the church is our lesser motherland.
In the church, God forgives us our sins in the Mystery of Confession, He gives us His own self in the most holy Communion.
Where else can we find such sources of incorruptible life?
According to the word of an ancient ascetic, they who throughout the week fight against the devil, hasten on Saturdays and Sundays to church to partake from the sources of the living water of Communion, in order to quench the thirst of their hearts and to be cleansed of the filth of their defiled conscience.
Ancient legends tell us that deer hunt snakes and eat them; but when the poison starts burning their interior parts they run to a spring of clear water.
So also we have to hasten to the church, in order to cool the irritation of our hearts with the communal prayer.
As Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer said, “Try to gather together more frequently to celebrate God’s Eucharist and to praise him. For when you meet with frequency, Satan’s powers are overthrown and his destructiveness is undone by the unanimity of your faith. There is nothing better than peace, by which all strife in heavenly and earthly spirits is cast out” (Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer. Epistle to the Ephesians, 13).
People forget that only church prayer can save man from the devil’s attacks, for he is trembling before the power of God and is unable to harm the person who abides in Divine love.
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Saint Luke, Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea
Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky
(14 April 1877, Kerch, the Soviet Union–11 June 1961, Simferopol) – was a Russian surgeon, spiritual writer, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, and archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea from May 1946 until his death.
He was a laureate of the Stalin Prize in medicine in 1946.
The Holy Apostle Paul says that all the essence of the gospel message is found in hope, faith and love. Consequently, it is necessary that we have a strong and steadfast faith for us to be Christians and inheritors of divine grace.
If you believe that the electron exists without seeing it, then by what right do you say that our faith in God, Who also has not been seen by anyone, is unreasonable?
I will say that we too know God by His energies; by the manifestations of His power; by how He acts in our hearts; by the grace that we feel. Not anyone can prove faith. Many have tried to prove that God exists and many that He does not exist. ‘But never has anyone been able to prove one or the other. Only with a pure heart can one see God…
Faith is the most valuable treasure on Earth and we must guard it more than anything.
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Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
Alexander Vasilievich Mileant
(22 July 1938, Odessa – 12 September 2005, California) - bishop of Buenos Aires and South America of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
Bishop Alexander is well known for his missionary leaflets. From 1985 to 2005 Bishop Alexander published a total of 763 brochures: 300 in Russian, 192 in English, 168 in Spanish and 103 in Portuguese.
As an ill person on his way to recovery begins to feel hunger, so a sinner as he restores spiritual health begins to desire perfection or righteousness.
This is expressed by the next commandment: «Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled,» in other words, with God's help, they will attain it. Experiencing at this level the great mercy of God, man begins to feel compassion for others: «Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy» As a charitable person overcomes his passionate desire of material goods and related turmoil, His heart, like the water of a quiet lake, becomes more and more permeated with divine light. «Blessed are the pure of heart: for they shall see God.»
This vision gives him wisdom to guide others and helps them to find peace with themselves and with God. In his peacemaking mission, the servant of Christ becomes likened to his Master, who came to the world to pacify mankind with heaven.
This is expressed by the next commandment: «Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
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Alexander Yelchaninov
Alexander Viktorovich Yelchaninov
(March 1 (13), 1881, Nikolaev — August 24, 1934, Paris) - priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, a church historian, and a writer.
Father Alexander Yelchaninov left behind a rich literary and spiritual legacy.
His book "Notes" was published in unprecedented numbers in a resurgent Russia, inspiring many, especially in the 1990s, to embrace faith!
The opinion of others about us is the mirror before which almost everyone, without exception, poses.
A person makes themselves what they want to be seen as.
The real person, as they truly are, is known to no one, often including themselves, and a fabricated and embellished figure lives and acts.
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Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
(11 November [O.S. 30 October] 1821 – 9 February [O.S. 28 January] 1881)
was a Russian philosopher, novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces.
Dostoevsky's literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed novels include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), Demons (1872), The Adolescent (1875) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). His Notes from Underground, a novella published in 1864, is considered one of the first works of existentialist literature.
Young man, do not forget to pray. Each time you pray, if you do so sincerely, there will be the flash of a new feeling in it, and a new thought as well, one you did not know before, which will give you fresh courage; and you will understand that prayer is education. Remember also: every day and whenever you can, repeat within yourself: “Lord, have mercy upon all who come before you today.”
For every hour and every moment thousands of people leave their life on this earth, and their souls come before the Lord- and so many of them part with the earth in isolation, unknown to anyone, in sadness and sorrow that no one will mourn for them, or even know whether they had lived or not.
And so, perhaps from the other end of the earth, your prayer for his repose will rise up to the Lord, though you did not know him at all, nor he you.
How moving it is for his soul, coming in fear before the Lord, to feel at that moment that someone is praying for him, too, that there is still a human being on earth who loves him.
And God, too, will look upon you both with more mercy, for if even you so pitied him, how much more will he who is infinitely more merciful and loving than you are.
And He will forgive him for your sake.
Elder Zosima is a character from the book “The Brothers Karamazov”
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