The weather is changing, it is raining. Something will happen tomorrow.

May 31/12 June. Yesterday, a little over 30 people gathered for the vigil, except for the guys. My soul rejoiced at the sight of this poverty, but in comparison with the former, one might say, some wealth. I involuntarily stood before God with one thought: Lord, soften the hearts of all people, especially those who believe and believe in You; Enlighten our mental eyes of the heart, grant us to comprehend Thy power, the sweetness of communion with Thee, and the loftiness of prayer to Thee from the depths of our souls; let everyone sincerely try to come to Thy temple to pray to Thee, and whoever really has no time, let him at least at home sincerely regret that he is not together with others before Thee; and so sincerely sigh before You, asking for Your grace. And those who, through the action of Satan, have weakened in faith or even fallen away, Thou Thyself by Thy wise means alone direct them again to Thy flock, put into their hearts by the force of the circumstances of their lives sincere repentance and bold, though humble, prayer before Thee, with a sincere desire to return to Thee; Lord, this is Thy work, and we are only Thy servants, unworthy laborers in Thy harvest field. Truly act Thyself through us, as the true master of this work, and give us Thy grace, enlightening, enlightening, stirring us up to Thy work; grant sincerity to all our deeds and words first of all, and then impregnate them with Thy grace, that Thy power may be clear to all, both faithful and unfaithful, that they may sincerely confess Thy holy name.

After the vigil, the worshippers sang for a long time in the large room; as it turned out today, it was the new Lord's Prayer; I sent them biscuits yesterday: after all, they will be more willing to do business. Today, before the mass, Tokito, about whom His Grace wrote, came: Fujia had not yet been with him, but he himself heard from inquiries that there was an Orthodox church here in Osaka, and he came. I asked him how he came to the idea of listening to faith; it turns out that he himself came up with the idea that it is impossible to live without God and true faith in Him. He is from Kagoshima, where we even have a priest, but he has not heard the teachings at all; there is a father, a mother and a brother.

I told him that if he really wanted to listen to the teaching, then let him always remember the following: one cannot be saved only by bearing the name of a Christian, and not by confessing and fulfilling the law of Christ in life. It is useless to go through the school of mastery and do nothing about this skill; Therefore, it is necessary to try to go to church to pray, to make confession, to take communion, and in general to sacredly fulfill the teaching of Christ in life: our Christian life is completely different, different from ordinary life; here we are gradually preparing for death, so that later we may be real citizens in the Kingdom of God. He is free twice a week, and therefore Fujii will go to him to preach in this way, who now has (in addition to Morioka) a new listener. I advised you to come to our church now, so that you can gradually get used to everything ecclesiastical here. It's a pity that he lives in a school that is outside the city and very far from here.

There were as many people at Mass as at Vigil; two took communion. For some reason, today's service was especially joyful for me: it must have been the continuation of yesterday's impression after the vigil, although I was not clearly aware of this. Thank God, this is His gift: my community is beginning to gather. After Mass, at the meeting, I spoke. Today's Sunday – the commemoration of all the saints – is a clear proof of the vitality of Orthodoxy: before us is a whole host of saints as real boats of the Kingdom of God. If we saw a people or a huge army that laid down its life for the Fatherland, or better yet, for the faith, we would understand that there is a real force here, the power of love: this would not be in vain, that is, such self-sacrifice. And before us: some of the saints for Christ endured various misfortunes and deprivations while preaching His teaching for the salvation of people, forgetting their comforts and tranquility, and even willingly and courageously endured torture and death – these are the holy apostles; others endured the beheading of limbs and death in various forms and forms, even terrible to remember, again only for the sake of Christ – these are the holy martyrs; still others went to deserts and solitary monasteries and, depriving themselves of any rest, performed the work of salvation – these are venerable men; some in general worked for salvation in life, spared no effort, and so on. And indeed they were saved: even here the power of God's grace was manifested in them; they were truly people, wholly filled and guided by the grace of Christ; After their death, their relics and miracles for believers, as proof of the reality of their salvation, and consequently, they received what they strove for here in heaven. This is really evidence. If we really put to our hearts everything that we hear in church, then for us the power of Christ's grace will be clear and understandable, effective. You understand the Japanese book well, because you used to make an effort to understand all the signs and now they are your own and not a secret at all; And I am holding the same book in my hands and do not understand anything in it, since I did not try to understand the signs.

In the same way, grace is a real power for all, but only those who truly accept and take it to heart recognize its power and live by it. Thus, remembering now all our saints, let us try to imitate them, so that we may be truly Christians, and after death in the Kingdom of God with the saints.

Then I briefly spoke about the joy with which Christians gathered for divine services in Kobe and Kakogawa, and many took communion; I advised them to confess during this fast, fasts are deliberate days for repentance. Of course, we must always have in our hearts a repentant mood before God, but we often forget this, and therefore, at least during the fasts, we must come to our senses and sincerely repent before God. After talking for about 20 minutes, I went to the children at school. And there the choir director had already placed them in rows for singing. To the violin, and first to the harmonium, they sang a lot – almost everything from the Liturgy, and then something from the vigil, very well. The guys liked it. I encouraged them and said that later it would be possible to sing on the kliros (although it is possible even now, but let it be gradually, so that it would come out as if my consent to their desire, and not my advice, it would be stronger later).

Then I offered them a treat for the first time - I gave them a box of cookies. At this time, some of the Christians who were leaving the congregation came and said goodbye. Then Peter Kawagutsi came to me; in conversation he told me about a weakened Tsikahara family.

There are three of them, but they are completely behind the church. It turns out that they are not even included in the metric and, obviously, none of our people knows them. Kawagutsi also gave their address in detail; I will certainly try to find and do what God blesses. From exactly 1 o'clock there was a women's monthly meeting; in it two Christian women give sermons, explaining the New Testament; and then they collect 10 or 5 yen each per month; With this money, they help various unfortunate people or do what is necessary for the church. Only about 10 Christian women gathered today; only one spoke the teaching, for the other did not come; then the catechists spoke; But I didn't understand them all well. Then they collected money; I also gave 1 yen. I said nothing myself, as this would be my first meeting, and I decided only to acquaint myself with the matter. I did not go to the Christians today, since the catechists had already dispersed, although I had been talking about this Sakuma for the third day. Having told Vladyka about this, I write to him.

"I wrote to you that the Akashi is asking for a catechist. But in addition to the opinion I expressed earlier, in order to gradually accustom Christians by their own means to participate in and create the needs of the Church, I propose: is it not possible now to begin preaching at the expense of Christians?

That is, is it possible to offer the pagans Akashi: if you really want to listen to the teaching, then support a catechist and give him so much per month for this. Perhaps this will make it difficult for the pagans to quickly join the Church; but there will be more security for the business. Then only those who really desire it will listen; And you can always find those who are really poor and unable to pay. After all, there is no need to chase the number of baptisms for the Kingdom of God and for salvation; Let it be a little, but strong. How do you think? And if such a combination is possible, then how much is needed from the audience for a catechist?" I wrote: "In the meantime, let's wait a little and correct and buy a new one. Let us see how this work will take root and go; then it will be possible to do what is necessary; And now those who wish can strum on this creaking machine."

On June 1/13 in the evening I went to see Maruyama Theodora; she and her daughter are engaged in combing women's hair, and therefore it is as if she does not have the opportunity to come to church for much work; I told her that she would leave the Church completely, for if you do not do something today and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, then you will not do it out of habit, and then you will become completely cold to it; so remember one thing, that we will all die, and then answer before God: what then shall we say to Him about our separation from Him? So, from time to time, at least take turns, come to church, and during this fast, be sure to confess. Although during my words she even shed tears (which I have not yet met), but her nature is too callous; however, I may be mistaken: it seemed so to me from appearances. We asked her about Tsikahara, about whom Kawagutsi spoke yesterday; and she knows such a Christian and has indicated his place approximately. We went to look for him, but all our numerous inquiries along the street led to nothing; No one knows such a thing here. Maybe Kawagutsi was a little mistaken; Let's ask him again and find it. We came to Kishimoto Aquilina; she is only with her schoolboy son Kirill; conducts a small, but very brisk trade; says that she cannot even leave; Can she come on Saturday evening, and really did come on this Saturday; I said that this is for the salvation of the soul, and therefore at least sometimes, stop trading on a feast day in order to come to church to pray; And during Lent, be sure to confess, especially since you have not yet confessed this year. He sends Kirill to Sunday school, but since he is very far from church (and really very far away), he finds it difficult to be alone; I advised him to read the Gospel at least at home and to pray in the morning and evening, otherwise his heart would gradually grow cold to God. She seems to be a good woman after all, but, of course, she does not want to lose income by closing the shop on a holiday. Perhaps he will heed and rise. Then we went to see Sirai Andrew, a doctor, a very zealous Christian, almost the whole family always attends the service. I encouraged him and others to be encouraged to the Church; for that is the only point; we are here only temporarily, and then we will pass over to God, and if we are worthy, we will live in His Kingdom, and if not, then in darkness and torment. So, apart from this, there is no other meaning in life; we must gradually ascend to God. Since all these weakened people did not go through prayer properly, they do not understand that only in it is true joy, for we live in it with God. At half past 10 o'clock we returned.

June 2/14. On the occasion of the rain, I did not go out to the Christians, but took advantage of this free evening for a bath. And today we first went to Nakayama Anna. Her husband is a pagan, her eldest son is a Protestant. The husband listened to the Protestants, but remained undecided. Anna does not go to church, she did not confess this year; says that it is difficult for her to get out; There are seven children, and it is very far away (indeed, quite on the edge of the city). And we are told that it is the husband who prevents this; I did not find this: he met us and immediately told his wife about it and sent her away; She listened very attentively and with pleasure to my words. It has both an icon and an oil at the top; on Easter she decided to be in church, but, unfortunately, she fell ill. I told her that she had to try somehow to come to church from time to time. During Lent, he advised us to confess and take communion: we must constantly remember our sins and repent before God, but we often forget this in the midst of many works; therefore, although during the fasts we must certainly come to God and repent. He advised me to talk with my husband about learning; She is very sorry that the family is so diverse in faith: she herself lived in a Christian family from birth and was a Christian. Since she does not have a calendar and a prayer book, I promised to give them to her when she came to church. From here we went to the Eye of Nina; the husband died a pagan last year; a big daughter Olga, and a boy born in Japan, not yet baptized; I advised him to baptize during Lent. He does not go to church, because they are lonely, and far away; I repeated what Nakayama had said and added: we are always close to death, and this is what we must remember; after death we shall come before God, and what answer shall we give to Him? Today we performed a pannikhida for a certain Tita Utsikava; he had not gone to church for a long time, had not confessed, and so he died; That's the end we have to run. And this is what will happen: today we are lazy for God, but tomorrow there is no time to pray and so on, and the day after tomorrow laziness and weakness will overcome us out of habit, and we will completely lose the habit of God and prayer to Him, and our hearts will fall spiritually.

It must have struck a chord, for Nina even shed tears.