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.

5. A manuscript collection of works by Elder Paisius from the library of the Novoniametsky Monastery in Bessarabia, containing: a) A Preface on the Rite and Statutes of Our Father Elder Paisius of Cenobitic Cathedral of Blessed Memory; b) Letter of Elder Paisius to the Most Reverend Theodosius, Skete of Tsibukan to the Abbot; c) A letter to the same Theodosius, Archimandrite of the Sophroniev Hermitage in Russia (more detailed than that available in print); d) Denunciation of Hieromonk Theopemptus, who blasphemes mental prayer; e) The answers of Elder Paisius, written by him to certain zealots in Russia to certain questions; f) By the same Elder Paisius, a very small work on the sign of the honorable and life-giving Cross, by which it behooves Orthodox Christians to make signs; g) A letter to the venerable teacher, Hieromonk Kir Nikifor (later Archbishop of Astrakhan); h) A letter to the desert fathers, who were silent for 25 years over the Voronoy stream, Onuphry and Nicholas; i) The same Paisius to the reverend priest Father John, a short epistle and others. 6. Sbornik Simonovskogo sobranie rukopisov moskovskogo synodal'noy (Patriarchal'shei) biblioteka No 56. It contains: 1) The Life of our Blessed Father Elder Paisius, collected from many writers, and composed by Father Platon, in the days of our right-believing sovereign Mikhail Grigorievich Strudtsa Voivode, with the blessing of the Right Reverend Metropolitan of Kiriu Kir Benjamin, under the archimandrite and elder of the holy monasteries of Neamt and Sekul Mardaria in the Neamt Ascension Monastery in the summer of 1830. In addition to the hagiography, this collection contains some other articles and translations of Elder Paisius from those listed above.

7. Manuscript No 47 of the Solovetsky hermit-dwellers of the same collection, containing the story of the Solovetsky Elder Hieroschemamonk Theophan about his visit to the Neamt Monastery during the time of Elder Paisius.

8. Collection of the Sekul Monastery (without a number), which includes: a) A preface on the rite and rule of our father Elder Paisius of blessed memory of his coenobitic council and the rite and rule itself in 18 points; b) the life and deeds of our blessed father and elder Paisius (monk Mitrophan); c) Funeral sobs to Elder Paisius from all his spiritual children: d) Service to the Venerable Elder Paisius; e) Letters of Elder Paisius: Theodosius, Tsibukan Skete, to the abbot; the scroll of the work of our elder Father Paisius, divided into chapters, on mental prayer; the complaint of the monks of the Polyano-Voronskaya monastery to their abbot against Hieromonk Theopemt, who blasphemes mental prayer, and their general complaint about the same Theopemt to Elder Paisius (June 19, 1793); the epistle of Elder Paisius to them; a letter to the teacher Hieromonk Nikephoros (Theotoki) in response to a request to send monks who could teach children in city schools; letter of Elder Paisius dated June 7, 1776 to the desert fathers Onuphry and Nicholas, concerning the latter's illness.

9. Collection of the Oryol Eparchial Archive No 354/111, which contains extracts from the patristic books about prayer, humility, patience, purity of heart, etc. The collection was written by Schema-monk Athanasius, a disciple of Elder Paisius of Svensk in the Bryansk Monastery, and was given by him in 1810 for blessing to another disciple of Elder Paisius, Schema-monk Athanasius Zakharov of the Ploshchansk Hermitage, the teacher of the Elder of the Optina Hermitage, Hieroschemamonk Macarius.

10. On monastic feats. A collection containing excerpts from the books of the Holy Fathers, on spiritual life. It was written by the abbot of the Optina Hermitage, Archimandrite Moses, during his hermitage in his youth in the Roslavl forests of 1812-21.

11. Manuscript of the Neamt Monastery in Moldavia. № 150. Schema-monk Mitrophan - The Life and Deeds of Our Blessed Father Elder Paisius, Fleeing from the World, His Wanderings, Gathering the Brethren to Him and Cohabiting with Him.

12. Manuscript No 155 of the same monastery. The chapters of our blessed father Elder Paisius against the blasphemy, which were against him from a certain Elder Athanasius, were written on the holy mountain of Athos. (Reread into a special book by the hieromonk of the Neamt Monastery Nathaniel in 1837).