Eldership.

In the camps, I met with elders who mastered the art of mental prayer. There was such a father that during his prayer the snow melted! But you can't learn much in the camp, where there is neither strength nor time, so, the basics. Yes, I studied all the spiritual literature that I had, but everything was the same, I wanted to get in touch with everything, directly. And now I set out on my journey, in search of the science of spiritual work.

Knock and it will be opened, for almost ten years I lived with a certain elder, the keeper of the great wisdom of salvation, which Optina brought to people, only occasionally leaving for his village for services. Before his death, he blessed me to follow the same path. So I'm limping, sinner, to the best of my ability.

The Vision of Elder Anthony.

Somewhere in the early seventies, during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, I was vouchsafed my first vision. And it was like this. At that time, people began to be fascinated by the West and, accordingly, the features inherent in the Slavs - unpretentiousness, hospitality, non-acquisitiveness - were erased. Acquisitiveness, in fact, becomes the cornerstone of a new view of the world, money and things are placed above morality and spirituality. And what happened most terribly was that the way of life of people who call themselves Orthodox, very often, strictly observing church rituals, becomes the same as that of the surrounding pagans! The same immodesty in everyday life, the same desire for a career, for a high position in society. For children from religious families, joining the Pioneers, the Komsomol, the Party does not cause mental anguish. And the excuse is at hand: "And how can we do without this, we do not live in the desert, among people. Well, it's a sin, so start sorting it out - it's all sin, let's go and repent." Such a lightweight attitude caused great fears for the very possibility of salvation. I reread the Gospel, especially about the end times, the Apocalypse, and the question of the desert to which people must flee haunted me.

And then I see a huge number of people walking, people driving. Some, it seems, do not go, some feast, others fornicate, still others play dirty tricks on their neighbors, but all the same they are carried forward like a river. All of them are very different, there are laymen, clergy, military, politicians, everyone, everyone. Most people just rush forward, and some go calmly. On their way there is a terrible abyss, an abyss to hell. It would seem that everyone should fall into it, but no. Most of the people, as it is, fly down, I can see how they are drawn there, some cars, some feasts, some money, some expensive outfits. And some calmly cross this abyss, even above it. Some do not fall through, but descend into the abyss - luminous men help to get over, support. Not only the rich fail, but also people who clearly do not have large funds. But they all have one idol - the lust of the world.

It was scary. From the abyss came not just a moan, but the howl of those who fell there, and the stench. It's not just a smell, no. As there is no description of the fragrance, the fragrance is not from flowers or grass, but the fragrance of grace, that which is given by the Lord from relics, miraculous icons, or something else. The stench of hell is not just a bad smell, like the smell of sulfur, it is a feeling of horror and irretrievability, in a word - hell.

Here is the desert for you. And there the hermits were seduced by a murderer, trying to arouse the passion for profit, lust, and despondency. Many fell, many. At the same time, how many princes and mighty men of this world were saved, and not only were saved, but glorified by the Church among the saints – they had everything, but their heart belonged not to the corruption of the world, but to the things above.

But our time is frightening because temptations lie in wait for a person everywhere, every step, and most often, such that it is difficult to unravel them. How many people come to me, it seems that everyone is concerned about one question - how to be saved, how to act in this or that situation. But is it possible to take a blessing for every action, not only during a day, but even a month?! This means that it is necessary to imagine the ways of temptation, its main directions. And they have been immutable since the creation of the world, for the devil is not the creator. Another thing is that over many millennia he has gained experience, and now his proposals to mankind to descend to his hell have become more sophisticated, in fact, the entire modern world is his continuous proposal. A proposal, because he cannot force it, it is not in his power, but to pack the sin into a wrapper that is tempting for a person, here yes, this is please, the servants of darkness are always ready with their: "What do you want?"

Another feature of today is the imminent arrival of the Antichrist. Many spiritual people say that he has already been born. It is difficult to judge this, the enemy is cunning, he is cunning even with those who serve him. Many of them considered themselves antichrists, they were such in their essence the worldview of their actions, but they were not the one about which the Church speaks. Maybe he was born, maybe - no, that's not the point. When St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) was asked about the coming of the Antichrist, he replied that there was no exact date, the coming of the Antichrist would be determined by people with their malice. So now is the time of final preparation for his arrival. Here is the concentration of world power, after all, he will be the ruler not of one country, but of the world, and the "bestialization" of humanity is necessary. But even this is not enough to bring all mankind to its knees, it is necessary to create such a system of life, the slightest violation of which would entail catastrophic consequences for people - hunger, cold, devastation. And this system is being created. I saw how everything would happen later, a few years later.

The second vision of Elder Anthony. Teachings.

It was difficult to perceive this in those years of seeming Soviet prosperity, I did not think then that I would live to see the years of fulfillment of much of what I saw.

So, as I said, the second vision was not a continuation of the first, no. And in time it was much later, and in content it was also very different. The first vision is a kind of edification, admonition, or something. I asked for an answer and received it. The second vision is of a completely different kind, properties, one might say. I did not ask for anything, but it was given from above to see what the people who came to me asked. If the first vision could be retold with greater or lesser accuracy, then the second, in principle, cannot be retelled. I, from. Alexander, in general, for the first time I will try to explain it to you at least in some sequence, in the language of secular science - to systematize. But it is precisely to set it out in a certain order, and not at all in the way I was given to see. For one thing was given to me, for greater benefit, for you and your parishioners, I think, better in a different order. Until then, everything that was given to me to see, I used only in answers to the perplexed questions of believers.

A few more words, not from the vision, but about the universe, in order to better understand what follows. The Lord creates all living things in a single, very rigid system. The whole universe is absolutely connected by every action of its smallest part, and for a rational being, a human being, even by an action that is not related to the visible world, by thought. The actions of irrational creatures cannot cause damage to the universe - they are limited both by internal brakes, that is, instincts and the like, and by the self-regulating properties of nature itself. A person is a different matter. He is created in the image and likeness of God. And no matter how much we argue about what is an image and what is a likeness, what is erasable and what is not erasable, what he, a person, has from birth, and what he is called to acquire throughout his life, in this case, something else is important - his actions, both in the material world and with invisible properties, are reflected in the environment, in the environment of his habitat, in the entire universe. It was not God who wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah from the face of the earth, but people who renounced the Creator's providence. This is to say that all the misfortunes that must befall humanity and nature are not the result of God's wrath, for we confess that He is All-Good and All-Merciful, and we truly confess the truth, but are the consequence of the all-destructive action of mankind itself, which did not even follow the lead of the enemy, there is no reason and cannot be, the reason is coercion, but the devil who blasphemed for the tricks. Well, now, about the vision itself, about what awaits everyone, alas, in the not so distant future, and some of it is happening at the present time. And so that I saw about the future.