106. Chelny Hermitage of the Oryol Diocese.

107. Yakut Monastery.

From what has been said, it is clear how wide was the circle of influence of Elder Paisius. In Russia, it extended to the monasteries of 35 dioceses, and the largest number of monasteries that had disciples of Elder Paisius is in the Moscow diocese (14); followed by: the Oryol diocese (12), Kaluga (9), Novgorod (7), Vladimir (6), Kursk and Smolensk 5 each, Olonets 4, St. Petersburg, Tula, Voronezh, Orenburg and Ufa 3 each, Kostroma, Pskov, Kiev and Chernigov 2 each, and the rest one each.

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This book was written in exceptional days, when not only in Russia, but everywhere there is a fierce struggle against the very foundations of Christianity. A striving is developing to build the life of mankind on other new foundations, which are called socialist and communist, but which it would be more correct to call atheistic and materialistic. For two thousand years, Christianity has shown mankind that neither in humanity itself nor in man himself, who is cut off from the eternal beginning of life, from God, can the true meaning and justification of life be found. They can be found only in the knowledge of God, in unity with Him and in love for Him, and in the alignment of one's life with the will of God. Without this submission to the will of God, human life turns into a complete chaos of embittered struggle and mutual destruction.

Christianity has revealed to mankind the deepest mystery of the salvation of the world and of man through the Incarnate and Crucified Son of God, the God-Man Jesus Christ, through His Holy Church, and His Holy Mysteries, especially the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and through His teaching. In the name of this salvific faith, it calls people to fraternal unity and the peaceful construction of a common life, to the continuous development of all aspects of human life - intellectual, moral, aesthetic and material. Christianity does not neglect earthly life, although it sees in it only a preparatory stage for eternal life. It promises people immortality. With its worldview and its religiously practical way of life, Christianity has been educating mankind for two thousand years, producing a tremendous upsurge in its spiritual forces, creating enormous values in works of painting, music, architecture, literature and science, which have ennobled human morals and relations. It opened up to people the boundless world of a new, deep, boundless life.

It is this Christian worldview and the spiritual image of the human soul that it creates that are repugnant to the new people. Their idol is man, whom they regard as the supreme being of nature, and at the same time they do not believe in his immortality: for them man is only the highest of the animals, and his existence is limited to the earth alone. Contradicting themselves, they do not notice the insignificance of human existence, they build a building on sand. And while Christianity calls people to common fraternal unity, they deepen discord, sow enmity, and call for mutual extermination in the name of class interests. And now a great struggle is going on in the arena of the world: godlessness is fighting Christianity. From the Revelation of John the Theologian, we know on whose side the victory will be. But how many souls are torn away in this struggle from God, from the fullness of a meaningful and happy life! Elder Paisius Velichkovsky, with all his life and all his spiritual appearance, is a bright and attractive exponent of the Christian spirit, which is contrary to the spirit of godlessness. From early childhood, his soul was already inseparably linked with God by faith and love. He was infinitely far from the proud exaltation of the human personality. He had no other desire than the desire to be the executor of God's will. In this striving to harmonize his will with the will of God and in constant spiritual growth in the image and likeness of God was contained the meaning and joy of his life. But it was not only in itself that he created and bore this meaning and this joy. He spread them both around himself and above all in the crowded Christian brotherhood that united around him. If you like, it was a commune, but a commune created not by violence or blood, but by free will, self-denial and brotherly love in the name of Christ.

In publishing our book, we want that in the living example of Elder Paisius Velichkovsky, not only monastics, but all Christians find vital confirmation of the reasonableness and correctness of the Christian path and the possibility of its practical implementation, provided, of course, of complete and self-sacrificing obedience to God, taking upon themselves the good and easy yoke of Christ (Matt. 11:30).

INDEX OF LITERATURE ABOUT ELDER PAISIUS VELICHKOVSKY

A. MANUSCRIPT SOURCES.

1. Manuscript of the Imperial Academy of Sciences on the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Collection of A. I. Yatsimirsky No 58. "The story of the holy assembly of the most beloved in the Lord fathers and brethren and spiritual children, gathered in the name of Christ to me, unworthy of salvation for the sake of my soul, who by God's providence dwells in these holy and honorable monasteries: To the holy and Great Monastery of the Astoration of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, called Neamts; and in the holy monastery of the Honorable Glorious Prophet Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, called Sekul; how and for what reason did this holy council gather to me, a sinner and unworthy?" The manuscript presents the autobiographical notes of Elder Paisius, written during his stay in Neamt and ending at his first stay in Moldovlachia.

2. Manuscript No 65 of the same collection: Epistle of Elder Paisius to the monks about the precepts of monastic life and about his life.

3. Manuscript No 66 of the same collection: Epistle of Elder Paisius on Silent Prayer and Other Ascetic Matters.

4. Manuscript of the Petrograd Imperial Theological Academy No 279: containing: a) The Life and Deeds of Our Blessed Father Elder Paisius: "Fleeing from the World, His Pilgrimage, Gathering the Brethren to Him and Cohabiting with Him". The Life was compiled by the elder's disciple, Schema-monk Mitrophan, who was with him for about 30 years, b) Instruction for monastic tonsure; c) Epistle to a certain priest Demetrius; d) Epistle to the bishops of the Orthodox Moldavian land, with an exposition of the rule and rite of the monastic community of the elder; e) Funeral sob to the elder; f) Service to the Venerable Elder Paisius.