439. What is a litiya? 62

440. Has the Lord established a hierarchy in His Church? 64

441. The Hermit – Peacemaker of Princes (The Great Chosen One of God, St. Sergius) 66

442. For the Instruction of Adult Children.. 67

443. Letters to a sick friend. 69

444. Wax church candle. 70

445. "Learn righteousness, ye who dwell on earth!" 72

446. The Holy Great Martyress of Christ Barbara. 74

447. The Sea of Life. 76

448. "Christ from Heaven – pluck it down!" 78

449. The Feast of the Identity of Christ in Church Hymns. 79

450. The Circumcision of the Lord. 81

401. Holy Obedience

To the great elder, the saint of God, our venerable father Sergius, in his wilderness monastery, a young man once came and begged to be accepted into the number of the brethren. The elder received with love all those who came to him, but he refused this young man... "Go," he said, "to Serpukhov, to the monastery called Vysokoye; there Athanasius, the abbot, will receive you." It was difficult for the young man to fulfill the will of the monk: he had heard much about Sergius, he knew his holiness and wisdom, he hoped to find in him a perfect guide; and who Athanasius was, in all likelihood, he did not know at all; and therefore he could not have such faith in him as he had in Sergius... Who would not have wavered in the place of this young man? Who would not depart from St. Sergius with sorrow? But the good young man did not contradict him. He agreed to be away from Sergius in order to fulfill the feat of obedience to Sergius, he agreed to be a disciple of Sergius' disciple in order to attain greater humility. And so, he went to the High, gave himself over to the leadership of Athanasius, as if he were Sergius himself, and soon received the angelic image, and was honored with the dignity of priesthood. This was our venerable father Nikon, the Wonderworker of Radonezh. "Two or three years pass. Nikon came again to the Monk Sergius, and the elder now received him with love, commanded him to live in his cell, entrusted him with especially important obediences, and, before his death, appointed him his successor. No one during the lifetime of the Monk Sergius enjoyed such closeness to him as the Monk Nikon, and no one after the death of Sergius could better than the Monk Nikon lessen the feeling of orphanhood that weighed on the spiritual children of Sergius. For thirty-seven years Nikon was hegumen at the monastery of St. Sergius; he restored it from the ashes after the destruction by Edigai; he was honored with the happiness of uncovering the relics of his great elder and built a beautiful church in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, in praise of his father, the Monk Sergius.