St. Theophan the Recluse: A Farewell to his last Diocesan Flock in Vladimir (July 24, 1866)

Do not blame me, for the sake of the Lord, for leaving you. I am departing not because I am compelled to leave you. Your kindness would not have allowed me to exchange you for another flock. But, as one who is led, I am being led into a state free from cares, seeking and hoping for something better—as this is natural to our nature. How this has come to be, I do not venture to explain. I will say only one thing: apart from the external course of events that determine actions, there are also internal changes of disposition that lead to certain decisions. Besides external necessity, there is an internal necessity to which the conscience heeds and to which the heart does not strongly object. Being in such a state, I ask only one thing from your love—leaving aside judgments and condemnations of the step I have already taken, increase your prayers so that the Lord may not let my hope be in vain and may grant me, though not without labors, to find what I seek. And I will pray for you—I will pray that the Lord may always send you every good thing, improve your well-being, and avert every misfortune; but above all, that He may arrange your salvation. Be saved, and you shall be saved in the Lord. I know not how to wish you anything better. Everything else will come when you are saved. The path to salvation is known to you, and so is the whole salvific order of God! In this regard, it is enough to remind you of the words of the Apostle Paul: "O Timothy! Keep that which is committed to thy trust." Preserve what has been handed down to the Church by the Lord and His holy apostles, and what one generation of Christians passes on to another. I am compelled to remind you of this because many false teachings now circulate among us—corrupting doctrines that undermine the foundations of faith, destroy family happiness, and ruin the welfare of the state. Beware of these teachings for the sake of the Lord. There is a touchstone by which gold is tested. Let the sacred teaching, preached in the Church from ancient times, be your touchstone. Reject everything that does not conform to this teaching as evil, no matter what honorable title it may bear... If you only hold to this, everything else will be added to you. Upon the purity of faith follows the overshadowing of grace. Grace, together with faith, will build your hearts to be holy and blameless. Those who are pure in heart begin to see God even here, and they shall surely see Him there, and will eternally behold and rejoice in this vision. This small reminder I ask you to accept as a "final testament"; and I will not burden your attention with anything more. You already know everything yourselves. Strive only to stand in the ranks of those blessed ones whom the Lord pointed out in His word: "Ye know these things; blessed are ye if ye do them." And so—farewell! Farewell, if I have offended, hurt, wronged, or in any way caused scandal to anyone.

May the Lord God, by His grace, forgive and have mercy on us all! And I ask yet again—do not forget me in your prayers.

 

Source: Сказание о житии преосвященного Феофана и его «затворе» [The Narrative of the Life of the Most Reverend Theophan and His "Seclusion"], by Protopriest Mikhail Khitrov, Moscow: University Press, 1895.