I address you with Paschal greetings, dear friends. Christ is risen! He fell ill so unexpectedly that he did not have time to do a lot of urgent things. And the meetings with all of you were so unexpectedly interrupted. The treatment is going to be long, difficult and expensive, so I am infinitely grateful to everyone who helps me.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. And now I see how many real and ardently devoted friends I have. Unfortunately, I cannot list everyone by name, although I know, no, not even hundreds, but thousands of names and destinies of you, my spiritual friends, everyone who comes and, I hope, will continue to come to me for confession. Fortunately, I have an excellent memory, so now, not even being able to get out of bed, I go through your names like beads on a rosary and try not to forget anyone. When you are sick, you understand especially keenly what it means. Christ rose from the dead. When on the very first day of Holy Pascha I was able to take Communion, and all of you were taking Communion in our church at that time, some at night and some in the morning, I felt incredibly happy that I was one of you and that the risen Christ stood among us. Perhaps the zealots of the ancient rules will say that before the Liturgy the words "Christ is in your midst" can only be spoken by priests in a low voice to one another, but I love this moment so ardently, when hundreds, almost a thousand voices respond to "and is and will be", that I simply cannot convey it to you in words, but only with the love that I feel for all of you. My dear and dear brothers and sisters.

May the Resurrected Lord and His Most-Pure Mother protect you all, and I fraternally embrace you all.

Yours in Christ, Priest Georgy Chistyakov.

Congratulations on the Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit

Less than a month before his death, Fr. George wrote an appeal from the hospital to his parishioners and spiritual children, congratulating them on the Feast of Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit. It was sent to the website of the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian damian. ru and published there on May 27, 2007.

Dear friends! Brothers and sisters!

It is with great joy that I congratulate you all on the wonderful feast of Pentecost, and I prayerfully wish that the Holy Spirit would truly come to us and wash our hearts with the rays of His radiance. On this day, I would like to tell you in particular how during my illness I deeply and anewly understood the words of the Apostle Paul: "Rejoice always!" The joy that "no man shall take away from you" is a special gift that Jesus has given to us Christians, as stated in His farewell discourse to His disciples in the Gospel of John.

Радость, поистине делает нас другими людьми, новыми людьми, которые все переживают по–новому. Нельзя заставить себя радоваться даже самыми сверхчеловеческими усилиями воли. Радость — это действительно дар, поэтому будем благодарить Бога за то, что мы одарены Им радостью. На некоторых иконах Пресвятая Дева Богородица изображается вместе с апостолами в момент, когда на всех на них сошел Дух Святой в виде огненных языков. Я очень люблю такие иконы, потому что действие Духа Святого на нас — это еще и дар, который мы получаем по молитвам Пресвятой Девы. Поэтому будем всегда обращаться к ней со словами “Богородице, Дево, радуйся” и искренне сознавая, что Она, Матерь Божия, есть Мать каждого и каждой из нас, ни на минуту не забывающая о своих детях.

Да хранит вас всех Господь, ваш брат иерей Георгий Чистяков.

Умирание или эвтаназия

Больно и невыносимо видеть, как страдают умирающие. Современный человек разучился переносить боль стоически, а человечество в целом во многом утратило умение терпеть.