Christians are members of Christ, who are perfect in every action of the Lord's commandments or the gift of the Holy Spirit, according to the dignity of the Head, which is Christ.

St. Basil the Great

Chapter 9

The last days of the life of St. Tikhon

Weakening of his health. –Vision. – Perfect solitude. - Communication with acquaintances through letters. –Will. "Another vision. – Preparation for death. – His death and burial. – A funeral oration above him. – His spiritual testament.

Strengthened spiritually and inflamed with holy love, St. Tikhon, meanwhile, weakened and faded away physically. From his exploits and old age, already weak in complexity, his health began to noticeably weaken and become upset. Those illnesses with which he suffered in the diocese, and from which he healed himself by retirement and bodily labors, with the onset of old age again returned with the same strength and troubled him. The disorder of the nerves increased more and more and produced insomnia, shudders in the limbs (convulsions), and even fainting. Awake in spirit, but due to the weakening of bodily strength, feeling the imminent deposition of his body, – St. At the end of his life, Tikhon gave himself over to complete solitude, silence and self-absorption.

The day of the feast of the Nativity of Christ in 1779 was the last day of Tikhon's departure from his cell to the church. On the occasion of the opening of the district town in Zadonsk, on this day many officials and people gathered in the cathedral for the liturgy. From the crowding and stuffiness in the church, the saint felt extreme exhaustion. When his cell-attendant, who was reading the Epistles, approached him for a blessing according to the monastic custom, Tikhon, having blessed him, ordered him to go forward and clear the road. Leaving the church and standing for a quarter of an hour on the northern porch, he again returned to the church in the same order and served the service. At the end of the Liturgy and upon leaving the church, the saint gave a blessing to the officials and the people, – and he became even more tired and exhausted. Returning to his cell, he gave orders to lock the doors and refuse visitors, whom, as usual, he received after the Liturgy for soul-saving conversations. This was the beginning of his complete solitude.

The dream that followed about this time caused him to completely shut himself up in his cell. It seemed to him that he had been led to a beautiful meadow, on which stood the most beautiful crystal buildings of enormous size, that banquet tables had been prepared in these buildings, that he had seen them rejoicing, heard their singing and rejoicing, although he did not understand the meaning of the chants he heard; – that he was allegedly asked: "Is it good here?" and he answered: "Very well," and to this he heard the following comforting words: "In three years you too can enter here, but now go and work."

Upon awakening, St. Tikhon felt an inexplicable joy in his heart. But because of his age and infirmity, he could not work as he had worked before. Burning with a burning desire to be freed from the bonds of the flesh and to be with Christ, and knowing by this revelation the term of his labor, he wanted to devote himself to contemplation of God and contemplation of the coming eternity for the rest of his time. Therefore, he initially shut himself up in his cell, did not show himself to anyone, and only occasionally went out to the back porch of his cell to refresh himself a little in the fresh air. He did not receive anyone to himself, except for the closest and most spiritual persons (spiritual, probably, in spirit, and not in rank and clothing), and then for a short time. He told his cellmates only the most necessary and necessary. Previously, when the cell-attendant read the Holy Scriptures to him, he explained many things to him, but at this time he only listened, remaining in silence: sometimes the cell-attendant would read him ten chapters or more, and he would only say: "Enough, thank you, go to yourself." The rest of the time he was in deep silence. The cell-attendant, who was allowed to enter his bedroom, often found him sitting on the bed, leaning on the table and lowering his head on his hand. Immersed in the contemplation of God with all his soul, it was as if the saint of God did not see or hear the person who entered, and only as if he did not see or hear the person who entered, and only, as if in a dream, did he feel that someone was with him. Therefore, afterwards he asked the cell-attendant in a tone of doubt: "Did you not come in at such and such a time?" and then explained to him about his condition. [99]

To the Reflection on Death and Eternity of St. Tikhon also disposed himself in a special way: he either looked at the picture hanging at the foot of his bed, on which was depicted an elder in a black robe lying in a coffin; or he went out into the closet, in which stood a coffin upholstered in black flannel and white braid, with all the clothes for burial, and looking at this coffin, he mourned the fall of man, saying: "This is what man has brought himself to, that being created by God blameless and immortal, as cattle bury themselves in the ground." Returning to his cell, he sometimes gave himself over to loud weeping and sobbing. Such visits happened every day. [100]

However, despite his complete solitude, St. Tikhon did not abandon the works of mercy. As before, poor beggars came to him in great numbers and still received alms, with the only difference that no one saw him personally, only the prison prisoners had the consolation of seeing him himself and hearing his soul-saving conversations. Since there were no government buildings in the new city, the courts and the prison were placed in the monastery for a while. Seeing in this closeness of the prison prisoners to him a special opportunity, given by the Lord Himself, for the service of these unfortunate brethren, and in their person to Christ Himself, the saint began to visit their sad dwelling frequently, spending several hours with the unfortunate in consoling conversations, and, as usual, when parting with them, he endowed them with alms. On the day of Holy Pascha, the Nativity of Christ, and on Cheesefare Sunday, in addition to consolations and almsgiving, he came to kiss them with the usual Christian greetings. But even now, as before, this work of mercy was hindered by the gossip of slanderers, and he was forced at times to deprive himself of the pleasure of visiting the unfortunate prisoners.

Declining personal visits, Saint Tikhon did not want to deprive of his instruction those who had recourse to his spiritual wisdom and awaited his advice. He did not refuse to answer such in writing until the last opportunity, as long as he could wield the pen. Therefore, one instruction written for monastics was not even finished, because of the extreme weakening of his health. Lying on his sickbed and hearing that some of his acquaintances, deprived of his beneficial influence, had begun to weaken in their virtuous life, the saint wrote an epistle to them, full of fatherly love and sorrow for his beloved children. We can look upon this epistle, which was not included in his writings, as the last.