Answer. Why is it very bad? There were ascetics who had never heard the Znamenny chant and nevertheless prospered spiritually. For example, Father John of Kronstadt. It is hardly possible to assume that in his church, in the middle of the 19th century, he heard znamenny chants or saw canonical icons. But that did not prevent him from becoming what he had become. Then nothing will hinder spiritual development, but everything will only contribute.

In general, I do not really approve of the desire to listen to church hymns outside of school hours. Sometimes you can. But if a person does this constantly, endlessly (except for singers, of course, who need such listening), then he spends his time in idleness. Perhaps he would have amused himself with pop music or some other music, but since it was impossible, he chose church music. This is better than listening to the stage, but it is probably even better to pray or read the Holy Fathers. Therefore, there is no need to be carried away by church music.

Question. It seems to me that God's commandments presuppose engaging in mental activity everywhere: both in the monastery and in the world. It is said, for example, do not judge. In order not to condemn, a layman also needs to refrain from condemnation in his thoughts, and so it is in everything. Do you agree with this?

Answer. Of course, I agree with this. It cannot be said that mental activity is the only way to fulfill the commandments, but it is the most convenient, the most easy, one might say. Of course, you may object: "Why should we take the easy path?" but only a presumptuous, proud person who for some reason believes that he can take the difficult path will dare to declare himself in this way. And a more or less prudent person will always choose the easiest way. Mental activity is the easiest and (although this word may not be appropriate) effective way to fulfill the commandments. But not the only one. Therefore, it is impossible to condemn those people who are not engaged in mental work, and it is necessary to write them down as those who are perishing. This is also unfair.

Question. What harm is there from a multitude of empty words, and how can one refrain from it? And they also say that as you behave in the monastery at first, so will the whole future life pass. How should a novice behave in order to achieve tonsure or at least succeed a little?

Answer. Of course, there is harm from idle talk, but not every conversation can be called idle talk. If this is a necessary conversation on obedience, even if sometimes it is lengthy (for example, in a sewing workshop they discuss how and what needs to be sewn), it will not be empty talk. And when they begin to talk about things that are not related to the case, or endlessly discuss what has been known for a long time or will come to light by itself, then this is already empty talk. Especially when they talk about extraneous topics. How to get rid of this? It is very difficult to do this, because the tongue is such a member of the body that is moved by all passions. The Savior said: "That which enters into the mouth defiles a man, but that which proceeds out of the mouth, for out of the heart proceedeth evil thoughts" (cf. Matt. 15:11,19). All evil thoughts, coming from the heart, move our tongue. And since we have a lot of evil thoughts in our hearts, a lot of passions, it is difficult to hope that our tongue and our speech will be purified before we get rid of the passions. And you need to try to restrain yourself as much as possible, to accustom yourself to silence as much as possible, at the same time understanding that this is a temporary measure, partial, and the main thing is the purification of the heart. But to neglect the struggle against idle talk, not to concern oneself with the purification of the tongue until we have cleansed the heart, and to act freely according to the passions, or, more correctly, according to many passions, is also wrong. Because by restraining the tongue, thus resisting the passion of empty talk, we also struggle with it. And this can be said in relation to any passion in general. If we want to cleanse ourselves of the passion of fornication, we must not only pray, but also resist it in practice. If we want to get rid of anger, we not only pray against anger, but actually resist. And in the same way, if we want to get rid of empty talk, we must actually resist it and pray at the same time, while understanding that complete victory, complete purity can be achieved only when we get rid of all passions. Therefore, this task is very difficult, for all its external simplicity.

And what does it mean "how will you behave in the monastery at first"? To be zealous for one's obedience, to be zealous for one's spiritual life – this is what is needed from the very beginning. In a monastery, it is impossible to behave well at first. If a sister, for example, has anger, how can she become meek in an instant? Of course, she will not succeed. It will stumble and fall, sin again and again with this sin, and there is nothing to be done about it, patience, repentance, self-compulsion are needed, it can stretch, and most likely it will be, for many years. It is not literally said that you behave as you behave from the beginning, so it will continue, because it is simply impossible. Whoever wants and tries to put such a yoke on himself, but suddenly falls again and again and becomes desperate because of this, he is simply acting unwisely. "We must endure our passions," says St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), "just as we tolerate the shortcomings of our neighbors." Of course, not to endure so much as to reconcile with them, but to endure this struggle with the passions. And the good beginning of a novice is to have zeal, to have zeal for the main virtues, from which all the others are derived. The main virtues are unceasing prayer, inner attention, revelation of thoughts, obedience to the eldress, obedience to the abbess, humility before the sisters. This is the beginning. If it exists, if there are these basic virtues, especially unceasing prayer and obedience, understood as obedience first of all to the eldress - that is, in the spiritual sense, then everything will gradually come. This is where a good start must be made. Those who did not do this, everything can go awry later. After all, if the foundation is laid crookedly, then the wall will be uneven, it may even crack or collapse. The basic virtues that I have named are the foundation, and everything else will gradually come. And besides, another very important point is to discard all thoughts of leaving the monastery. Because if a person thinks that in extreme cases he can leave, then he will always be unsteady. He will think: "Well, if anything, then I will leave. Either I will go into the world, or to another monastery." And when he cuts off this thought, he has no choice but to obey. And there should be one more important thought - the background of all our actions: we must understand that we do not have to fulfill our desires at all. In the world, people usually see the purpose of life in making all their desires come true. If a person has a desire, sinful or good, he strives with all his might to put it into practice. And we must keep in mind that it is not at all necessary to do this, especially if our desires are sinful. And when we have such an attitude, such a view of things, then it will be easier for us to struggle with sin. We know that it is not necessary to fulfill a desire if we know that it is sinful, and then we will look for the means to overcome sin. And if we think in advance that in extreme cases it is possible to fulfill some wish, then, of course, we have already reconciled ourselves to defeat before entering the battle. But the most important thing, I say again, is unceasing prayer and obedience. These are the two mites that our soul, like a poor widow, can sacrifice to God. And this may turn out to be more than what the ancient ascetics gave to God from the excess of their abilities. And we have nothing else - we are poor, wretched people, weak in all respects.

Question. Is it necessary to trust a mentor for the confession of thoughts, or is it enough to believe that the mentor is given to you from God?

Answer. If you believe that a teacher is given to you from God, then, it seems to me, this is the greatest degree of trust - we believe in God.

Question. If the Lord knows who will be saved, but at the same time does not exert any pressure on the freedom of human choice, then can our activity influence God's predestination?

Answer. Why think about it? Here is my thought: even if there were God's predestination that I, such a sinner, should perish, it seems to me that I would not be reconciled to this. How can I reconcile? They told me: "You know what, Vasya, you have no way out, we will sink you now, and that's it." Won't I resist: "Well, if there is no way out, then drown it"? Therefore, there is no need to talk about this, you need to take care of your salvation. Christian teaching is entirely a teaching about salvation, and St. Ignatius rightly says that salvation is necessary for the perishing. We must all be aware of ourselves as perishing. And in this sense we have a terrible predestination on ourselves: we are all doomed to perdition if we do not make every effort; and with God's help it is hardly possible to be saved. Why should we reason about whether it is predestined or not predetermined? Let's say P. decides that she is predestined to be saved, and she says: "You know what, I won't go to the sewing workshop, because I'm saving myself anyway, you'd better bring me some chocolate. And bring K. here, or I'm bored." Or vice versa, a person who for some reason assumes that there is God's predestination for him, that he will perish, will also not care about his salvation. I do not know whether my opinion is correct from a dogmatic point of view, but it seems to me that God's predestination can be changed both in one direction and in the other. Otherwise, why would it be said in the Apocalypse that the name of anyone who omits something from this book will be struck out of the Book of Life? This means that you can be crossed out. And if someone is expelled, then a place will become vacant and, maybe, I will be registered. That's all. And so we will think: "Everything is predetermined. In the accounting department - it is impossible to save yourself there In the kitchen - yes, you can be saved there."

Question. What do the words of the Savior mean: "For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice of salt shall be salted" (Mark 9:49)?

Answer. For everyone will be salted with fire - this applies to every person. Food without salt for ordinary people, and not for some naturopaths, is tasteless. And everyone knows that since ancient times, food has always been salted. When it is salted, it acquires a taste and becomes suitable for consumption. Salt is added everywhere. If there is no salt, the food becomes disgusting. So it is with every person. If there is a fire of grace in him, a fire of zeal, then he acquires a "taste" and becomes fit for eternal life. And if he doesn't have that, then no matter what he does, nothing will come of it.

And if thy eye complicates thee, pour it out: it is kinder for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye, than to be cast into hell of fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice of salt shall be salted (Mark 9:47-49). That is, if we do not have renunciation, if we do not have such a fierce struggle with ourselves, if there is no such zeal, then our faith loses its meaning. We become unsalted food. And every sacrifice of salt shall be salted. Here the comparison is probably taken from the Old Testament, when sacrifices were made. Every sacrifice to God must be salted. Without jealousy, all our good deeds also lose their meaning. If we do some deeds, but at the same time we do not have the zeal that forces us to fight with ourselves so cruelly, as it is said in the Gospel, then our sacrifice will also be unsalted and therefore tasteless. Good salt, if the salt is not salted, what will be salted? (Mark 9:50). And here salt means all Christians in general. We are the salt of the world. If we lose our saltiness, then we have nothing to salt ourselves from. Have salt in yourself. That is, we need to have jealousy, because otherwise, if we do not have it, then there is nowhere to take it from. We will not get it from anywhere else, from the outside. The word "salt" is used here several times, but in different senses, in relation to different objects. First, we must be salted with fire; secondly, our sacrifice must be salted; thirdly, we must be salted salt, that is, salt that corresponds to its purpose; and fourthly, we must have salt in us, that is, we must not be tasteless and unleavened.