The elder Daniel is about visions - about spiritual delight. The vision of the holy apostle paul

"Lord, bless! I am the sinful servant John, Priest of Kronstadt, I am writing this vision. By me, and by my hand, what I saw, I conveyed it in writing."
On the night of January 1, 1908, after the evening prayer, I sat down to rest a little at the table. In my cell it was twilight, a lamp was burning in front of the icon of the Mother of God. Less than half an hour later, I heard a slight noise, someone lightly touched my right shoulder and a quiet, gentle, gentle voice said to me: "Get up, servant of God Ivan, come with me." I got up quickly.

I see standing in front of me: a wonderful, wonderful old man, pale, with gray hair, in a robe, in his left hand a rosary. He looked at me sternly, but his eyes were gentle and kind. I almost fell out of fear, but the wonderful old man supported me - my arms and legs were trembling, I wanted to say something, but my tongue did not turn. The elder baptized me, and it became easy and joyful for me - I also crossed myself. Then he pointed to the western side of the wall with his staff - there he drew with the same staff: 1913, 1914, 1917, 1922, 1930, 1933, 1934. Suddenly the wall was gone. I walk with the elder across the green field and see - the mass of crosses stands: thousands, millions, different: small and great, wooden, stone, iron, copper, silver and gold. I passed the crosses, crossed myself and dared to ask the elder, what are these crosses? He affectionately answered me: these are the ones who suffered for Christ and for the Word of God.
We go further and see: whole rivers of blood flow into the sea, and the sea is red with blood. I was horrified with fear and again asked the wonderful old man: "Why is this so much blood shed?" He looked again and said to me: "This is Christian blood."
Then the elder pointed with his hand to the clouds, and I see a mass of burning, brightly burning lamps. So they began to fall to the ground: one, two, three, five, ten, twenty, Then they began to fall in hundreds, more and more, and they all burned. I grieved very much why they did not burn clearly, but only fell and rotted away, turning into dust and ashes. The elder said: look, and I saw only seven lamps in the clouds and asked the elder, what does this mean? He bowed his head and said: "The lamps that you see falling, which means the Churches will fall into heresy, but seven burning lamps remained - the seven Apostolic Cathedrals Churches will remain at the end of the world."
Then the elder pointed out to me, look, and now I see and hear a wonderful vision: the angels sang: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts." And a large mass of people walked with candles in their hands, with joyful, radiant faces; here were kings, princes, patriarchs, metropolitans, bishops, archimandrites, abbots, schemniks, priests, deacons. novices, pilgrims for Christ's sake, laity, youths, youths, babies; cherubim and seraphim accompanied them to the heavenly heavenly abode. I asked the elder: "Who are these people?" The elder, as if knowing my thought, said: "These are all the servants of Christ who suffered for the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ." I again dared to ask if I could join them. The elder said: no, it's too early for you, be patient (wait). I asked again: "Tell me, father, how are babies?" The elder said: these babies also suffered for Christ from King Herod (14 thousand), and also those babies received crowns from the Heavenly King, who were destroyed in their mother's womb, and nameless. I crossed myself: "What a great and terrible sin for the mother will be - unforgivable."
We go further - we go into a large temple. I wanted to be baptized, but the elder told me: "Here is abomination and desolation." Here I see a very gloomy and dark temple, a gloomy and dark throne. There is no iconostasis in the middle of the church. Instead of icons, there are some strange portraits with animal faces and sharp caps, and on the throne there is not a cross, but a large star and the Gospel with a star, and resin candles are burning, - they crack like wood, and the cup stands, and a strong stench comes from the cup, and from there all sorts of reptiles, toads, scorpions, spiders crawl, it's scary to look at all this. Prosphora also with a star; in front of the throne is a priest in a bright red robe, and green toads and spiders are crawling on the robe; his face is terrible and black as coal, his eyes are red, and smoke comes out of his mouth and his fingers are black, as if in ash.
Wow, Lord, how scary - then some disgusting, disgusting, ugly black woman jumped onto the throne, all in red with a star on her forehead and spun on the throne, then shouted like a night owl to the whole temple in a terrible voice: "Freedom" - and became, and people, like insane, began to run around the throne, rejoicing at something, and shouted, and whistled, and clapped their hands. Then they began to sing a song - at first quietly, then louder, like dogs, then it all turned into an animal growl, then into a roar. Suddenly, a bright lightning flashed and a strong thunder struck, the earth trembled and the temple collapsed and fell through the ground. The throne, the priest, the red woman, everything mixed up and thundered into the abyss. Lord, save me. Wow, how scary. I crossed myself. Cold sweat broke out on my forehead. I looked around. The elder smiled at me: "Have you seen? - he said. - Have seen, Father. Tell me what was it? Scary and terrible." The elder answered me: “The temple, priests and people are heretics, apostates, atheists who lagged behind the faith of Christ and the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and recognized the heretical, renewed Church, which does not have the Grace of God. neither to confess, nor to partake, nor to receive chrismation. " "Lord, save me, a sinner, send me repentance - Christian death," I whispered, but the elder reassured me: "Do not grieve, - said, - pray to God."
We moved on. I looked - there was a mass of people, terribly exhausted, with a star on their foreheads. When they saw us, they growled: "Pray for us, holy fathers, to God, it is very difficult for us, but we ourselves cannot. Fathers and mothers did not teach us the Law of God and we do not even have a Christian name. We have not received the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. (and the red banner) ".
I burst into tears and went after the old man. "Here - look," the elder pointed with his hand, "do you see ?!" I see mountains. - No, this mountain of human corpses is all soaked in blood. I crossed myself and asked the elder, what does this mean? What are these corpses? - These are monks and nuns, wanderers, pilgrims, killed for the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, who did not want to accept the Antichrist seal, but wanted to accept the martyr's crown and die for Christ. I prayed: "Save, Lord, and have mercy on the servants of God and all Christians." But suddenly the elder turned to the north side and indicated with his hand: "Look." I looked and saw: the Tsar's Palace, and animals of different breeds and animals of different sizes, reptiles, dragons were running around, hissing, roaring and climbing into the palace, and had already climbed onto the throne of the Anointed One Nicholas II, - a pale face, but courageous, - he reads Jesus Prayer. Suddenly the throne swayed, and the crown fell, rolled. The beasts roared, fought, crushed the Anointed One. Tore apart and trampled like demons in hell, and everything disappeared.
Oh, Lord, how terrible, save and have mercy from all evil, enemy and adversary. I wept bitterly, suddenly the old man took me by the shoulder, - do not cry, as the Lord pleases, and indicated: "Look" - I see a pale radiance appeared. At first I could not distinguish, but then it became clear - an involuntary Anointed One appeared, on his head he had a crown made of green leaves. The face is pale, bloody, with a gold cross on the neck. He whispered a prayer quietly. Then he told me with tears: "Pray for me, Father Ivan, and tell all Orthodox Christians that I died as a martyr; firmly and courageously for the Orthodox Faith and for the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and suffered for all Christians; and tell everyone Orthodox Apostolic pastors, so that they serve a common fraternal dirge for all the killed soldiers on the battlefield: burned in the fire, drowned in the sea and for me, a sinner, suffered. Father Ivan, and forgive me, good shepherd. " Then it all disappeared into fog. I made the sign of the cross: "God rest, Lord, the soul of the deceased servant of God Nicholas, his eternal memory." Lord, how scary. My arms and legs were trembling, I was crying.
The elder again told me: "Don't cry, it is so pleasing to God, pray to God. Look again." Now I see a lot of people lying around, dying of hunger, eating grass, eating each other's earth, and dogs picking up corpses, everywhere there is a terrible stench, blasphemy. Lord, save us and strengthen us in Christ's holy faith, we are weak and weak without faith. Here the elder again says to me: "Look there." And now I see a whole mountain of different books, large and small. Between these books stinking worms crawl, swarm and spread a terrible stench. I asked: "What are these books. Father?" He replied: "Godless, heretical, who infect all people around the world with worldly blasphemous teaching." The elder touched the end of his staff to these books, and all this turned into fire, and everything burned to ashes, and the wind scattered the ashes.
Then I see a church, and around it lies a mass of memorial services and letters. I bent down and wanted to pick up one, read it, but the elder said that these are the memorials and letters that have been in the church for many years, and the priests have forgotten them and never read them, and the departed souls ask to pray, and there is no one to read and there is no one to remember. I asked: "Who will be?" "Angels," said the elder. I crossed myself. Remember, O Lord, the souls of Thy servants who have fallen asleep in Thy kingdom.
We moved on. The elder walked quickly, so I could barely keep up with him. Suddenly he turned around and said: "Look." Here comes a crowd of people, persecuted by terrible demons, who mercilessly beat and stabbed people with long lances, pitchforks and hooks. “What kind of people are these?” I asked the elder. "These are the ones," the elder replied, "who fell away from the Faith and the Holy Apostolic Catholic Church and accepted the heretical life-renewal one." There were: bishops, priests, deacons, laymen, monks, nuns, who accepted marriage and began to live depravedly. There were atheists, sorcerers, fornicators, drunkards, money-lovers, heretics, apostates of the Church, sectarians and others. They have a terrible and terrible appearance: their faces are black, foam and stench came from their mouths, and they screamed terribly, but the demons beat them mercilessly and drove them into a deep abyss. From there came stench, smoke, fire and stench. I crossed myself: "Deliver, Lord, and have mercy, all this is terrifying."
Then I see: a mass of people are coming; old and small, and all in red robes and carrying a huge red star, five-headed and at each corner of 12 demons sat, and in the middle sat Satan himself with terrible horns and crocodile eyes, with a lion's mane and terrible mouth, with large teeth and the mouth spewed a fetid foam. All the people shouted: "Get up, branded with a curse." A mass of demons appeared, all red, and they branded the people, putting a seal on their forehead and on their hand in the form of a star. The elder said that this is the seal of the antichrist. I was very frightened, crossed myself and read the prayer: "May God rise again." After that, everything disappeared like smoke.
I was in a hurry and barely had time to follow the elder, so the elder stopped, pointed his hand to the east and said: "Look." And I saw a mass of people with joyful faces, and in their hands were crosses, banners and candles, and in the middle, between the crowd there was a high throne in the air, a golden royal crown and on it was written in golden letters: "For a little time." Around the throne are patriarchs, bishops, priests, monks, hermits and laity. All sing: "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth." I crossed myself and thanked God.
Suddenly, the Elder swung in the air three times in a cruciform manner. And now I see a mass of corpses and rivers of blood. Angels flew over the bodies of the slain and barely had time to bring Christian souls to the Throne of God, and sang "Alleluia". It was scary to look at all this. I cried and prayed bitterly. The elder took me by the hand and said, "Do not cry. So the Lord God needs for our lack of faith and repentance, this must be so, our Savior Jesus Christ also suffered and shed His most pure blood on the cross. So, there will be many more martyrs for Christ, and these are those who will not accept the antichrist seal, shed blood and receive a martyr's crown. "
Then the elder prayed, crossed himself three times to the east and said: "Now Daniel's prophecy has been fulfilled. The abomination of desolation is final." I saw the Jerusalem Temple, and there is a star on the dome. Millions of people crowd around the temple and try to get inside the temple. I was about to cross myself, but the elder held my hand and said again: "Here is the abomination of desolation."
We entered the temple, where there were many people. And now I see a throne in the middle of the temple. around the throne in three rows, resin candles are burning, and on the throne sits in bright red porphyry the world ruler-king, and on his head is a gold crown with diamonds, with a star. I asked the elder: "Who is this?" He said, "This is the Antichrist." He is tall, his eyes are like coal, black, his beard is like a wedge, his face is fierce, cunning and sly - beast-like, his nose is aquiline. Suddenly, the Antichrist stood on the throne, straightened up to his full height, raised his head high and extended his right hand to the people - there were claws on his fingers, like a tiger, and growled in his bestial voice: “I am your god, king and ruler. Who will not accept mine seals - death to them here. " All fell on their knees and bowed and received the seal on their foreheads. But some boldly approached him and loudly exclaimed at once: "We are Christians, we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ." Then, in an instant, the sword of the Antichrist flashed, and the heads of the Christian youths rolled down and blood was shed for the faith of Christ. Here are the girls, women and small children. Here he became even worse furious and shouted at the beastly: "Death to them. These Christians are my enemies - death to them." Instant death immediately followed. The heads rolled to the floor and Orthodox blood spilled over the entire church.
Then they lead a ten-year-old boy to worship the Antichrist and say: "Fall on your knees," but the boy boldly approached the throne of Antichrist; "I am a Christian and I believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and you are the fiend of hell, the servant of Satan, you are the Antichrist." "Death," they roared with a terrible wild roar. All fell on their knees before the Antichrist. Suddenly, thousands of thunders thundered and thousands of lightning bolts from heaven flew like fiery arrows and struck the servants of the antichrist. Suddenly the largest arrow, fiery, cruciform, flew down from the sky and hit the Antichrist in the head. He waved his hand and fell, the crown flew off his head and crumbled to dust, and millions of birds flew and pecked at the corpses of the wicked servants of the Antichrist.
So I felt that the elder took me by the shoulder and said: "Let's go further." Here I see again a mass of blood, knee-deep, waist-deep, ox, how much Christian blood has been shed. Then I remembered the word that is said in the Revelation of John the Theologian: "And there will be blood according to the bridle of a horse." Ax, God save me a sinner. Great fear fell upon me. I was neither alive nor dead. Here I see angels flying a lot and singing: "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord". I looked around - the elder was on his knees and praying. Then he got up and affectionately said: "Do not grieve. Soon, soon the end of the world, pray to the Lord, He is merciful to His servants. It is not years left, but hours, and soon, soon the end."
Then the elder blessed me and pointed his hand to the east, said: "I am going over there." I fell on my knees, bowed to him, and I see that he was quickly moving off the ground. then I asked: "What is your name, wonderful old man?" Then I exclaimed louder. "Holy Father, tell me how is your holy name? "-" Seraphim, - he quietly and softly said to me, - and what did you see - write down and do not forget all this for Christ's sake. "
Suddenly, as if over my head, the ringing of a large bell struck. I woke up, opened my eyes. Cold sweat broke out on my forehead, my temples were pounding, my heart was beating violently, my legs were trembling. I made a prayer: "May God rise again." Lord, forgive me, your sinful and unworthy servant John. Glory to our God. Amen."

Solovetsky monks possessed the gift of foresight. Numerous legends and traditions tell about the meetings of the monks with God, the Mother of God and other saints - the patrons of Solovki. Usually, during such meetings, the monks learned about important events that will happen to the Solovetsky Monastery in the future.

Visions of the Lord, the Mother of God and the Holy Solovetsky monks on Solovki

Amazing stories of foresight and the gift of vision "through time" are told in the Solovetsky Patericon.

The gift of foresight from the Solovetsky saints

When the hour of death came for Irinarch, Eleazar, being in his skete, said to the brethren: "My friend and interlocutor in the Lord, Abbot Irinarchus is dying today, I need to hurry to the monastery, but I will never find him alive." Irinarchus, on his deathbed in front of the Solovetsky brethren, said: "My spiritual brother, Eleazar, is leaving today from his skete to our monastery and wishes to arrive before my death, but, by the will of God, he will no longer see me alive."

The vision of Zosima Solovetsky in Novgorod

This story of foresight happened with Zosima Solovetsky and Martha Posadnitsa. This is how it is described in the Solovetsky Patericon:

Was the vision of Saint Zosima recorded retroactively?

When Novgorod's loss of its independence became a fait accompli, stories and legends about the ultimate fate of Novgorod appear in the Novgorod literature in retrospect. Of these legends, of particular interest is the legend about the vision of the hegumen of the Solovetsky monastery Zosima of six decapitated Novgorod boyars, predicting the defeat of the Novgorodians by John III at Sheloni in 1478, and the lives of Mikhail Klopsky and Varlaam Khutynsky, predicting the fall of Novgorod and impending natural disasters - pestilence and devastating fires. "( Khrapchenko M., Rosenfeld B., Gudziy N., Beletsky A., M. Gabel, A. Zeitlin, B. Mikhailovsky, R. Messer. Russian literature. Literary encyclopedia: In 11 volumes - Moscow, 1929-1939).

Vision of the Mother of God to the Solovetsky hermit

Another story of a vision from the Solovetsky patericon: the Solovetsky hermit Theophan in a dream appeared a Wife, shining with grandeur, with two radiant husbands and encouraged him, convincing him not to be faint-hearted and not to be afraid of demonic attacks. The vision had not yet ended, when hordes of demons appeared with threats. But when they saw the One who had appeared, the demons shuddered and cried out: "Woe to us! The one covering him has come here. If not for She, we would have destroyed this monk long ago." Having said this, they disappeared. This dreamy vision comforted the elder with the hope of the help of the Mother of God. Every day he made a hundred bows, reciting the Mother of God Prayer.

The vision of the Monks Zosima and Savvaty

Once Theophanes came to the Solovetsky monastery to venerate the relics of the monks and visit his disciples. Arriving at the church at Matins, the elder stood in a corner and watched the monks kiss the holy relics. And suddenly he sees that the Monks Zosima and Savvaty seem to be sitting at their crab and blessing some, while turning away from others. After that, the elder commanded the monks to kiss the shrine of the saints every day. (Solovetsky Patericon)

Twilight on Solovki. 2002. Photo by USA.

Vision of the dead Vassian and Jonah

Visions of monks

Tells Natalia Stepanova, a museum employee. ( Newspaper "Young Dalnevostochnik" Khabarovsk. 08/19/1999):

We got into a thunderstorm, waited out the rain in some bushes, covered ourselves with a plastic raincoat, then went out onto the road again and saw an unusual cloud: a monk was flying across the sky. So natural that we were stunned. I immediately remembered how one employee of our museum, being late for the plane, also saw a flying monk in the sky and tearfully asked for help. The flight was delayed, the employee was not late.

Natasha, looking into the sky, shouted: "You will help me! There is no point in vandalizing, let's do it. I want a big, big white mushroom!" Literally a minute later she screamed joyfully and with a cry: "Mushroom !!!" rushed forward. There really was a mighty boletus at the side of the road, but ... a stone one. As if someone specially for Natasha put a dummy - a hefty mushroom-shaped cobblestone with a white-gray leg and a light brown hat.

You are the one to blame. Visions must be treated with respect.

Anzera Monk's Vision

Warning: the text can cause unpleasant feelings in the believer. By clicking on this link, you open the text exclusively at will.

Anzersk hermit monk came to the monastery. The brethren began to question him about the desert life. The monk recounts the vision:
- Somehow I was walking along the shore ... It's cold, the wind ... and suddenly 20 naked women seemed to meet me ...
- So what?!
- I say: FOR-KA-FOR-MOSE !!!

Solovetskaya book catalog:

Solovki and the rest of the World

General information about Solovki

| What is the "Solovetsky Myth"? | | | | | | | | | | | | Encyclopedia "Krugosvet" | | | | | | Coat of arms of the Solovetsky District | | Solovetsky calendar |

Solovetsky sensation!

served time in an ELEPHANT double?

Caution tourists: on Solovki you can ...

... meet the demon

The appearance of a demon in the form of a man with fiery eyes to the Solovetsky monk Pamphilus is described in the Solovetsky patericon. One night, standing in prayer, the monk Pamphilus was struck by a terrible vision from which he fainted, and the next morning he was found lying on the floor. “I saw then,” Pamphil later said, “a man with fiery eyes, breathing flame, standing in front of the window.

... survive the attack of ferocious demons

In the morning, when Theophan was praying, two formidable demons appeared: "You see," they shouted, "the old man does not want to reform, we will scatter the cell and kill the one who lives in it." They began to break the cell, knocked out the windows, smashed the doors and shouted: "Now he will not leave us." The elder was frightened and fell to his knees, asking God for help and intercession. The demons disappeared. After praying, the elder got up and saw that his cell was whole and unharmed.

... get into an argument with Satan

Elder Theophanes agreed to teach the two brothers the monastic life. Once an unclean spirit appeared to him and said: "You, an evil old man, pray for the disciples, but they will not always be like that ... my time will also come." "God will not allow this," Theophanes answered. Another time, the devil said to him: "You do yours, and I do mine: I struck one with two arrows, whisper to the other in the ear." The elder was saddened and, having called his disciples, found some minor transgressions in them. Having taught and instructed them, he let them go.

... succumb to the temptation and persuasion of the two-faced devil

The devil is the enemy of people, who wants the destruction of their souls and, seeing the exploits of God's chosen ones, does not sleep. To Father Job, a Solovetsky monk, once a tempter appeared in the guise of his familiar doctor.

"Beloved," said the hypocrite, "you should take care of your health, so that, having exhausted the flesh with labor and temperance, you do not weaken under the yoke that you took upon yourself for Christ's sake. God does not want labor or fasting beyond strength, but seeks a pure and humble heart. With your old age, you work for the monks as a bought slave, not accustomed to such labors. You should not work so hard because you are a priest. It is enough for you that, having left glory and honor in the world, you have come to poverty and took upon himself hard labor for the sake of food. I even wonder how you can take harsh food after sweet brushes. Be careful that your ailments do not increase beyond measure, then I will not undertake to help you, and you will die before time. If my advice is not listen, I'll be very sorry. "

“It is good not to spare the flesh, so that it does not rise up to fight with the spirit,” Father Job answered to his imaginary acquaintance, “however, even if the flesh was exhausted, the power of God in weakness is perfected. The Holy Apostle said more:“ The passions of the present time for who wants glory to appear in us. "Fasting is the mother of chastity, pay attention to yourself with others like you."

Hearing such an answer, it is reported in the Solovetsky Patericon, the devil immediately disappeared.

... become a victim of a werewolf

The Solovetsky abbot Irinarkh often visited Saint Eleazar himself or invited him through a servant to his monastery. One day a servant on a sleigh appears to the saint. He conveyed a bow from the abbot and an invitation to the monastery. Eleazar began to get ready for the journey and, earlier than usual, completed the morning prayer rule. Noticing that the messenger was leaving the cell at this time, he asked him: "Why do you leave your cell so often?" “I’m looking at the horse, standing still,” was the answer. At the end of the prayer, Eleazar wanted to treat the servant, but only he said: "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one," the werewolf instantly disappeared. The ascetic looked out the window - neither the horse nor the visitor was there. The saint realized that this was a temptation from the devil, and thanked the Lord God, who did not allow him to laugh at him.

Once Saint Andrew for Christ's sake, for the sake of the holy fool, having no refuge from the disaster that had come and despairing for his very life, he said to himself:

- Blessed be the Lord God! If I die of this cold, then let me die for my love for Him - but God is able to give me patience to endure this cold.

Going into one nook and cranny, the saint saw a dog lying there and, wishing to get warm from it, lay down with it. But, seeing him, the dog got up and left. And Andrey said to himself:

- About how sinful you are, accursed one. Not only people, but also dogs neglect you!

When he thus lay, trembling from the fierce cold and wind, his body froze and turned blue, he thought that the time had come for his last breath, and began to pray that the Lord would accept his soul in peace. And then suddenly he felt an inner warmth, and, opening his eyes, he saw a certain beautiful young man, whose face shone like the sun. He held in his hand a branch covered with various flowers. Looking at Andrey, the young man said:

- Andrey, where are you?

Andrey answered:

- Now I am “in the darkness, in the abyss” (Psalm 87, 7).

Then the young man who appeared lightly touched Andrey's face with a flowering branch, which he held in his hand, and said:

- Get your body revitalized.

Saint Andrew breathed into himself the fragrance of those flowers, he penetrated into his heart, warmed and revived his whole body. Following this, he heard a voice saying:

- Lead him so that he will calm down here for a while, and then he will return again.

With these words he found a sweet dream, and he saw inexpressible God's revelations, about which he himself reported in detail to the aforementioned Nicephorus, in the following words:

- What happened to me, I do not know. By divine will, I was in a sweet vision for two weeks, like a man who, having slept sweetly all night, wakes up in the morning. I saw myself in a beautiful and wondrous paradise and, wondering at this in my soul, thought: “What does this mean? I know that I live in Constantinople, but how I got here - I don’t know. ” And I did not understand, “in the body - I don’t know, outside the body - I don’t know: God knows” (2 Cor. 12: 2). But I saw myself clothed in a light garment, as if woven from lightning; on my head lay a wreath woven of many flowers; I was girded with a royal girdle and greatly rejoiced at the sight of that beauty; with my mind and heart I was amazed at the unspeakable charm of the paradise of God and delighted in walking on it. There were many gardens filled with tall trees, which, swaying with their tops, gladdened my eyes, and a great fragrance emanated from their branches. Some of those trees bloomed incessantly, others were adorned with golden leaves, while others bore fruit of unspeakable beauty; These trees cannot be compared in beauty to any earthly tree, for they were planted not by a human hand, but by God. In those gardens, there were countless birds with golden, white and multicolored wings. They sat on the branches of the trees of paradise and sang so beautifully that I could not remember myself from their mellifluous singing: my heart delighted so much, and I thought that their singing could be heard even at the highest heavenly heights. Those beautiful gardens stood in rows, like the way one regiment stands against another. When I walked between them with heartfelt joy, I saw a large river flowing in the middle of paradise, which irrigated those beautiful gardens. Grapes grew on both banks of the river, spreading vines adorned with leaves and golden clusters. There, quiet and fragrant winds blew from all four directions, from the breeze of which the gardens swayed, producing a wonderful rustle with their leaves. After that, some kind of horror fell upon me, and it seemed to me that I was standing at the top of the firmament, and before me was walking some kind of young man, with a face as bright as the sun, dressed in a purple robe. I thought it was the one that hit me in the face with a flowering branch. When I walked in his footsteps, I saw the Cross, large and beautiful, resembling a rainbow in appearance, and around it stood fiery, like flame, singers and sang a sweet song, praising the Lord, once crucified on the Cross. The young man walking before me, coming up to the Cross, kissed it, and gave a sign to me too, so that I too should kiss the Cross. Falling to the Holy Cross with fear and great joy, I kissed him earnestly. Kissing him, I was filled with unspeakable spiritual sweetness and smelled a fragrance stronger than heavenly. Passing the Cross, I looked down and saw beneath me, as it were, an abyss of the sea. It seemed to me that I was walking on air; frightened, I shouted to my guide:

- Master, I am afraid that I might fall into the depths.

He, turning to me, said:

- Do not be afraid, for we need to rise even higher.

And he gave me his hand. When I grabbed onto it, we were already above the second firmament. There I saw wonderful men. their peace and indescribable in human language the joy of their holiday. After that, we entered a kind of wondrous flame that did not scorch us, but only shone. I began to be horrified and again my guide, turning around, gave me his hand, and said:

“We should go even higher.

And after these words, we ascended above the third heaven, where I saw and heard a multitude of heavenly powers singing and praising God. We came to some kind of curtain shining like lightning, before which stood great and strange youths, looking like a fiery flame; their faces shone brighter than the sun, and they carried weapons of fire in their hands. Standing with fear, I saw the countless host of heaven. And the young man who was leading me said to me:

- When the veil is opened, you will see the Lord Christ. Bow down to the throne of His glory.

Hearing this, I rejoiced and trembled, for horror and inexpressible joy seized me, I stood and watched, waiting for the curtain to be opened. And now some fiery hand opened the veil, and I, like the prophet Isaiah, saw my Lord “sitting on a high throne ... Around Him stood the Seraphim” (Isaiah 6: 1-2). He was clothed in a crimson robe; His face was bright, and His eyes looked at me with love. Seeing this, I fell on my face before Him, worshiping the bright and terrible throne of His glory. What joy gripped me when contemplating His face cannot be expressed in words, even now, when I remember that vision, I am filled with inexpressible joy. In awe I lay before my Master, amazed at such His mercy that He allowed me, a wicked and a sinner, to appear before Him and contemplate His Divine beauty. Reflecting on my unworthiness and contemplating the greatness of my Master, I was moved and repeated to myself the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Woe to me! I am lost! for I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell among a people with unclean lips — and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts ”(Isaiah 6: 5). And I heard my merciful Creator, who spoke to me with His sweet and pure lips three Divine words, which so delighted my heart and kindled it with love that I melted away from spiritual warmth like wax, and the word of David was fulfilled on me: “My heart has become melted like wax in the midst of my bowels ”(Ps. 21, 15). After that, all the heavenly host sang a wonderful and ineffable song, and then - I myself do not understand how - I again found myself walking in paradise. And I reflected that I had not seen the Most Pure Lady of the Theotokos. And so I saw a man, as light as a cloud, wearing the Cross and saying:

- Did you want to see the most luminous Queen of heavenly powers here? But She is not here. She retired to a world of many vicissitudes - to help people and comfort the mourners. I would show you Her holy place, but now there is no time, for you must again return to where you came from: this is how the Lord commands you.

When he said this, it seemed to me as if I had fallen asleep sweetly; then, waking up, I found myself in the very place where I was earlier, lying in the corner. And I wondered where I was during the vision, and what I was vouchsafed to see. My heart was filled with inexpressible joy, and I thanked my Vladyka, who deigned to show me such grace.

Before his death, Saint Andrew related this vision to his friend Nicephorus, and took an oath from him not to tell anyone about this until he renounced the bonds of the body. Nicephorus fervently entreated the saint to tell him at least one of the three words that the Lord had spoken to him; but the saint did not want to reveal it. So Saint Andrew, raptured, like the Apostle Paul, saw what the mortal eye did not see, heard what the mortal ear did not hear, and delighted in revelation with such heavenly beauties that the human heart could not even imagine (1 Cor. 2: 9 ).

(The life of Saint Andrew, Christ for the sake of the holy fool)

The Monk Euphrosynus ... in the monastery ... served the brethren in the cookery, and served not as people, but as if to God - in great humility and obedience.

He served the Lord in secret, so that it was revealed to him, as it really was.

This is how the Lord showed what His servant Euphrosynus deserved.

A certain priest, who lived in the same monastery with Euphrosynus, always prayed to God to show him in a sensual form those future blessings that are in store for those who love him. And then one night he had such a vision: it seemed to him that he was standing in paradise, with fear and joy contemplating its unspeakable beauty; there he saw the cook of his monastery, Euphrosynus.

Approaching him, the priest asked:

- Brother Euphrosynus - what is it? Is this heaven?

Euphrosynus answered:

- Yes, father, this is heaven.

The priest again asked him:

- How are you here?

Euphrosynus answered:

- By the great mercy of God, I settled here to live, for this is the abode of God's elect.

The priest asked:

- Do you have any power over these beauties?

Euphrosynus answered:

- As much as I can, I give so much from what you see.

The priest said:

- Can't you give me any of these blessings too?

Euphrosynus answered:

“By the grace of my God, take what you want.

Then the priest, pointing his hand at the apples, asked them. Euphrosynus, picking three apples, put them in a handkerchief to the priest, saying:

“Take what you asked for and enjoy.

At this time, they began to hit the church beat towards morning. The priest, waking up and regaining consciousness, considered what he had seen as a dream, but stretching out his hand to the handkerchief, he found in it those apples that he had received in a vision from Euphrosynus, and felt an ineffable fragrance from them, and therefore was amazed. Getting out of bed and putting apples on it, he went to church and saw Euphrosynus standing there at the morning service. Approaching him, the priest vowedly begged him to reveal to him where he was that night.

Euphrosynus answered:

- Forgive me, father, this night I was where you saw me.

The priest said:

“That is why I swore you to declare the works of God, so that you would not hide the truth.

Then the humble Euphrosynus said:

- You, father, asked the Lord to show you in a sensible form the reward of His chosen ones, and the Lord pleased your reverend to show this through me, bad and unworthy, and now you saw me in the paradise of my God.

The priest asked:

- And what did you give me, father, in paradise, when I asked you?

Euphrosynus answered:

- I gave you three apples - the same ones that you put in your cell on your bed, but forgive me, father, for I am a worm, not a man.

At the end of Matins, the priest gathered the brethren and, showing them three heavenly apples, recounted in detail what he had seen. Then everyone felt an inexpressible fragrance and spiritual joy from those apples, and in emotion marveled at what the priest had told him. They went to the kitchen to Euphrosynus in order to worship the servant of God, but they did not find him any more, for he left the church and hid, avoiding human glory, and could not find him in any way.

(Memory of the Monk Euphrosynus)

While blessed Martha, the mother of St. Simeon, staying with her youth in a place located in Antioch and called "Cherubim", Simeon had such a vision: he saw the Lord Jesus Christ, sitting on a high throne, and many righteous people flocked to Him from all sides; before the throne was opened the book of life, according to which the judgment was made; in the east there was a paradise of sweetness, in the west, gehenna of fire. Then the Holy Spirit said to Simeon:

- Listen, lad, and understand everything that you see here; try to please God, and then you will earn the same honor and glory with other saints and receive inexpressible blessings prepared for all who love the Lord.

... While the elder was talking with the brethren, blessed Simeon had a vision: it seemed to him that he was caught up to the heights and flew around the entire universe, as if having wings; then it seemed to him that he was erected by seven stairs to a high mountain, where, like the holy Apostle Paul, he saw what “the eyes did not see”, heard what the “ear did not hear” (1 Cor. 2: 9).

Saint Simeon, descending from there, asked the one who was taking him:

- What did I see?

The same one answered:

- This is the seven heavens, into which you were delighted.

Then the saint saw paradise, and beautiful gardens, and bright and great chambers, and the source of peace that flowed there. Here the monk did not see anyone except Adam and the prudent robber.

When Simeon came to his senses, he told Elder John about everything he had seen. The same, having listened, said:

- Child! Blessed is God who has given you such grace.

(The life of our reverend father Simeon Divnogorets)

Mystical union with God is often accompanied or preceded by visions, hearings, in general, the appearance in the mind of specific specific images.

St. Ioann Kresta (an Ispansky saint of the 16th century) finds that it is “the way of the flock”: everything that is inherently perceived as being thought to be sensible objects "(*). Bl. Cuzo, well-znakomy c this opytom and mozhet be bolee chvatyvayuschy vcyu polnotu micticheckoy life govorit: "Since the soul vcledctvie nemoschi tyazhelogo tela, ne vcegda mozhet prilezhat chictomu Dobru in cvobodnom From obrazov RESIDENCE, verily Rostral dolzhna imet chto-libo a picture of what would lead her there. The best for this is the attractive image (das liebreiche Bild) of Jesus Christ; in Him man finds life, He is the highest reward and the greatest benefit ”(**). All the life of bl. Suso passed in internal communion with the angels, Christ, the Mother of God; he saw them in beautiful images, heard the angelic singing and music. As a student and follower of M. Ekegart, he is well-signified with the teachings of negative God (***). He admits that the more superlative and unintelligible vision, the more blessed he is: he keeps pure truth in the sky, does not make a mistake. However, he adds that God's friends also receive visions, God

_____________________

*) Cm ... Baruzi, St. Jean de la Croix et le problème de l "expérience mystique, 504 c., 500, 510 c., 267, 386, 525.

**) Seuse, Deutsche Schriften, ed. Bihlmeyer, 391.

***) Seuse, Deutsche Schrifften, Büchlein der Wahrheit, ed. Ε. Diederichs, ed. and with the pre. W. Lehmann, II vol. P. 117 p., 129.

gaty images. The turning from a scattered life to God was accomplished in him at the age of eighteen after an unexpected contemplation of the fullness of the Divine Super-What: he "saw and heard something inexpressible in language: it was something without form and appearance, but containing a joyful pleasure from all forms and kinds." . "It was sweetness emanating from eternal life in a present, abiding calm sensation" (*).

After this contemplation, Suso began to zealously strive for "loving union with Eternal Wisdom" (I, II). Sometimes his theopathic state was something between the contemplation of the fullness of the Super Thing and the vision of images. The content of one of such contemplations was as follows: Wisdom soared high above him on a throne of clouds, shone like the Morning Star, and shone like a blazing sun, her crown was eternity, her clothes were bliss, her words were sweetness, her embrace was the satisfaction of everyone. enjoyment; she was far and near, high and low, she was present and yet intimate; She entered into communication and yet it was impossible to touch her. At the thought of Her, “a sort of primary outflow of all good penetrated into his soul, in which he spiritually found everything beautiful, worthy of love and desire” (I, 13). - But most often Suso had visions of Christ, angels in certain images (for example, Christ in the form of a six-winged seraphim) and hearing angelic singing and music.

The life of St. Teresa is filled with visions and hearings no less than the life of Bl. Suso. In her youth, during a vain conversation with visitors to the monastery, she saw “through the eyes of the soul” Christ with a serious face. Describing her life, she says that she saw Him "more clearly than with bodily eyes" and, although 26 years have passed since then, she clearly remembers as if she sees His face (*). When her religious life was strengthened, she had many visions. Once she saw the hands, then the face of Jesus Christ "in supernatural glory and beauty"; finally, she saw all of Christ, as He is portrayed in the "Resurrection"; His whiteness and brilliance exceeded human imagination, the clarity of the sun in comparison with Him is darkness; nevertheless, this brilliance does not dazzle (XXVIII. Ch., pp. 363-369). She sometimes had

_____________________

*) Ibid., Vol. I, p. 10.

**) Theresia von Jesu. Das Leben der heiligen Theresia von Jesu und die besonderen ihr von Gott erheilten gnaden, auf Geheiss, ihrer Beichtväter von ihr selbst beschrieben, von Fr. Aloisius ab Immaculata Conceptione, Priester aus dem Orden der unbeschuhten Karmeliten, 1919, ch. VII, p. 69.

and visions of the kingdom of evil. Once she saw the devil: he had a disgusting mouth, flames emanated from his body; he said that Teresa had escaped his power, but he would again take possession of it (ch. XXXI, p. 415).

Not only great mystics and ascetics have visions. The visions of children, for example, are especially touching and significant in their consequences for the entire Christian world. the appearance of Our Lady of Bernadette and the transformation of Lourdes into a center of pilgrimage and healings for many people. Even more remarkable, perhaps, is the appearance of the Mother of God on the 19th of Sept. 1846 Two shepherd children Pierre Maximin Giraud (11 years old) and Melania Calvat 15 years old) on a mountain in the "Alpes daufinoises" near the village of Salette. Descending from the mountain, the children suddenly saw a ball of fire and a glow that filled the entire valley. When the radiance parted, the children saw the “Belle Dame” sitting on the stones in inconsolable grief, with her elbows on her knees, with her face covered by her hands. She got up and walked over to the children. On her head was a wreath of roses; her dress shone, on her chest, or rather, inside her was a crucifix with pincers and a hammer. She encouraged the children and gave them important messages. Some of them were addressed to both children, some - only to Maximinus, the most significant messages - to Melania alone with the order to publish them only twelve years later. The Mother of God spoke about the sins of the people and about the heavy punishment for them, about the times when hunger would come, the death of children, etc. fatherland or family; the new authorities will instill materialism, atheism, vices; churches will be closed and profaned; many people will fall away from faith (**).

The Mother of God also spoke about the bad life of the modern clergy ("cloaques d" impureté "), about their love of money, etc., she also advised not to trust the" double-minded "Napoleon, etc. Apparently, this part of the message was the reason for resistance to printing stories of Melania and their silence by the clergy.The full text was published only in 1879 by order of Pope Leo XIII. l oh ) to write the book Celle qui pleure (1908) about this vision. Our Lady commanded the founding of a new religious order "Les Apôtres des Derniers Temps"; Pope Leo XIII ordered

____________________

*) Monseigneur J. Giray, l "eveque de Cahors. Les miracles de la Salette, 2 vols., Grenoble 1921.

**) Α. Ρо rent , Le secret complet de la Salette, 1902.

hall in 1878 to introduce the charter of the order in the monastery at Notre Dame de la Salette, but the Bishop of Grenobol, says Blois, did not obey the order; he died, falling to the floor, tormented by a terrible vision *).

We have sufficiently varied material to raise the question of the types of visions and their source. Most often, mystics, saints, ghosts talk about spiritual seeing and hearing. St. Teresa says that she saw Christ “with the eyes of the soul” (ch. VII, 69); when Christ appeared before her in all splendor and glory, she described her experience as a “vision in the imagination,” but with the confidence that it was not a subjective creation of her fantasy, but the appearance of Christ himself (chap. VII, 69; chap. XXVIII , 365 p.). Bl. Suso talks about "inner vision." (*) Swedenborg calls his experiences "inner vision", "inner hearing", "inner speech" (**).

Catholic literature on mysticism calls this kind of vision and hearing imaginative (occurring in the imagination) and distinguishes from them sensory visions and intellectual contemplation. In the spirit of the teachings of perception developed by intuitionism, one can define the difference between sensory and imaginative vision in this way: in sensory vision, sensory qualities are given as perceived, and in imaginative, as imagined (for example, as they appear to the subject in memory, moreover, the recollection is considered to be focusing on the most authentic past). Intellectual contemplation is carried out without seeing images and hearing words. So, St. Teresa once on St. Petra experienced “not with her eyes or imagination” the clear presence of Christ beside her; the certainty of His presence was complete (ch. XXVII, 345-350). In such contemplations, despite the absence of an image, she knows which individual she is dealing with - with Jesus Christ, with Ap. Peter, Ap. Paul; she also knows on which side they are from her (***). Likewise, the perception of the "heavenly language", the revelation of the truth was carried out sometimes purely "spiritually" - without hearing words, sometimes even without any words at all. “Lovers,” says St. Teresa, “understand each other without signs” - (Ch. XXVII, 350-355). Visions and contemplations of St. Teresa, they usually say about her, were always

_______________________

*) L. B l oh, 80.

**) M. Lamm, Swedenborg, trans. On him. lang. (1922), pp. 148, 232, 236.

***) Delacroix, 100.

yes imaginative or intellectual, but not sensory. Only once in her life story does she report that while praying for a person who was planning to commit a sinful act, she heard with “bodily ears” a whisper that calmed her (ch. XXXIX, 566). Swedenborg also had some sensory visions (*).

Mystics describe their imaginative contemplations with the same words ("inner vision", etc.) as patients experiencing pseudo-hallucinations. This term designates a special type of hallucinations, studied most thoroughly by the Russian psychiatrist V. Kandinsky. In his monograph on pseudo-hallucinations, Kandinsky gives the following definition of this concept: pseudo-hallucinations are “very vivid and sensually extremely definite images, which, however, sharply differ for the perceiving consciousness itself from true hallucinatory images in that they do not have the character of objective reality inherent in the latter, but, on the contrary, they are directly recognized as something subjective, but at the same time as something abnormal, new, something very different from the images of memory and fantasy ”(**).

In modern psychology, thanks to E. R. Iaensch "y and his school, research is being carried out that can be used to explain pseudo-hallucinations. I mean the study of the features of memory in persons whom Iaensch calls eidetics: what is recalled in their memories with sensual fullness, equal completeness of perception, so that they, for example, can distinguish and observe in the remembered what they did not have time to notice at the moment of perception (***).

Every healthy person, in some exceptional circumstances, can have such ideas. So, a person dealing with any anatomical preparation, for example. by dissecting the muscles of the arm and focusing intensely on this object for several hours in a row, a person who has examined the preparations under a microscope for a long time experiences, going home and during rest, the repeated appearance of these objects in the field of vision. Even those objects that have not been

______________________

*) Lamm, 178.

**) V. X. Kandinsky. About pseudo-hallucinations. SPB. 1890, p. 26.

***) See works E. R. J ae ns c h, "Ueber den Aufbander Wahrnehmungswelt und ihre Struktur im Jugendalter", "Die Eidetik und die typologische Forschungsmethode" and others.

but are fixed, often appear in consciousness in their entirety, if for some reason they struck the imagination. The girl's face, which amazed the young man with its beauty, can appear in this consciousness with such liveliness and fullness, as at the moment of perception. In the same way, sometimes an aria sounds annoyingly in the ear for several days after hearing the opera.

Anyone who has lost or never had a significant degree of eroticism, which is so widespread in childhood and adolescence, refers to such contemplations as abnormal, different from ordinary memories, without seeing anything pathological in them, however. An experienced adult person does not take these contemplations for perceptions of present reality, although they appear in consciousness with a certain tinge of receptivity. This is probably due to the fact that such memories emerge in consciousness not at the initiative of the subject, but on the basis of the excitation of certain centers of the brain.

Pseudohallucinations can be considered in some cases in full, as such eidetic memories, and in other cases, as imaginary synthesis such eidetically remembered elements. This synthesis can be produced not by the subject himself, but by subordinate substantial figures who are part of the brain centers; therefore, persons suffering from pseudo-hallucinations in a pathological and obsessive form, although they do not take them for perceptions, nevertheless I see some kind of receptivity in them and build hypotheses corresponding to this, for example, they think that these ideas are the result of the influence of persecutors on their consciousness or that they are a kind of revelation from God, etc. (*)

In pseudo-hallucinations, according to the intuitive-realistic interpretation of them, given trans-subjective material, colors, sounds, etc., not through sensory perception, but through another intentional act, through memory, i.e. kind spiritual visions. Patients clearly see and note this. Kandinsky, an attentive observer, himself periodically exposed to mental illness, which was accompanied by the experience of many pseudo-hallucinations and actual hallucinations, in his book especially emphasized, on the basis of self-observation, testimony of other patients and observations of other psychiatrists, that distinctive feature of pseudo-hallucinations,

____________________

*) Kandinsky, p. 36, 38 p., 129.

which I call their spirituality. The patient, for example, experiencing auditory pseudohallucination, says that he soundlessly hears the thought of others (9). One of Kandinsky's patients says he hears internally rather than by the ear that he sees brightly colored images mentally(28). The recovered doctor describes his visual pseudo-hallucinations as expressively plastic representation(33). Kandinsky himself, wishing to clarify his observations, subjected himself to the effects of opium; he experienced both actual hallucinations and pseudo-hallucinations; when he was experiencing at the same time pseudo-hallucinations, for example. before him appeared the faces of acquaintances, a yellow rose, etc., he saw these objects not with his external eyes, but with his internal eyes, located somewhere behind the external eyes (41). Patients characterize their experiences as “seeing with the spirit”, “clairvoyance”, “hearing with the spirit”, hearing “inner voices”, “spiritual hearing”, “auditory sensation” as opposed to mental suggestion, etc. (70-87).

The characteristic words that mark the difference between pseudo-hallucinations from sensory perception and from real hallucinations coincide with the expressions with which mystics, saints, visionaries describe their visions. Therefore, modern researchers, as a rule, classify such visions as pseudo-hallucinations. However, such a solution is a dubious oversimplification of the question of visions. The term pseudo-hallucination should be used to denote the spiritual contemplation of an object that does not belong to the composition of reality, either this worldly or the other world: it is an object composed of trans-subjective elements subjected to subjectivity or, in general, mental synthesis, which does not create real being. However, there are cases of spiritual contemplation of sensory data relating to objects that are part of the real world. So, according to intuitionism, any eidetic memory, for example. anatomical specimen, the face of a beautiful girl, etc. there is a spiritual maturation of real objects. Even in normal perception, for example, when we hear some sounds like barking dogs, others like ringing bells without seeing these objects, we see softness velvet, rigidity metal inkwell, without touching these objects, the presence of these sensory data in the consciousness is their spiritual contemplation, more immediate than recollection (*). The ability of such

___________________

*) See my theory of perception in the article "Intuitivism and the doctrine of trans-subjectivity of sensory qualities", Zap. Russian. Scientific. Institute in Belgrade, no. 5, 1931.

spiritual contemplation of sensory data is explained by the coordination of the subject with all objects of the world, the presence of the entire cosmos in the subject's preconsciousness and the possibility of cases when the stimulus for their identification is not irritation of the sense organs, but some other conditions - sometimes psychophysiological, and sometimes purely mental or spiritual ...

Bearing in mind the possibility of spiritual contemplation of sensible objects, one should not rush to equate the imaginative visions of the mystics with the pseudo-hallucinations of the mentally ill. Indeed, in the first place, great mystics are by no means insane. Psychiatrist Quercy, in his remarkable study, L "hallucination," proves that St. Teresa's neuropathic states do not in the least undermine her “eminently normal mental performance.” In her activity, astonishing in intensity and variety, she displays a rare combination of high virtues: generosity and humility, courage and modesty, firmness and obedience, the wisdom of the serpent and the meekness of the dove (*). Secondly, the great mystics have a particularly refined ability of self-observation. spirit from the "words" attributed by her to an external cause. self-confidence, they can be stopped; if the words come from God, then there is no activity of the human mind, the words are completely clear, you cannot stop them, they are in the highest degree de are clear: these words are the essence Affairs, they bring with them genuine consolation, tranquility; they have greatness and compelling persuasiveness, they are unforgettable. They are obtained regardless of our desire: when you want to hear them, you do not receive them; when you don’t think about them at all, they appear. Once or twice St. Teresa experienced words from the devil; they were kind in content, but after them dryness and anxiety remain in the soul. About visual images, she also says that some of them come from her own imagination, others from an evil spirit, and others from God. The latter surpass the power of the human imagination, enrich the soul, strengthen the health of the soul and body, free from evil habits and properties (**). Third, about many of his visions

______________________

*) G. Quercy, L "hallucination, I, vol. Philosophes et mystiques, (1930), pp. 183, 218.

**) Ch. XXV, pp. 318-325; ch. XXVIII, pp. 372-375.

the mystics say that the presence of God in them has the character of complete certainty.

Is it possible to allow the Lord God Himself to enter the consciousness of a person in a definite, limited manner? This question can be answered as follows. The super-personal aspect of God does not prevent Him from having at the same time a personal aspect, even being a trinity of Persons; in the same way, the super-image of God does not exclude the availability of an image for Him, or rather, any images that have, of course, the highest degree of perfection. Some theologians believe that Christ, while remaining the Superworldly principle, at the same time creates the real on earth an object, visible to a person who is worthy of this appearance of Him (*).

According to Christian teachings, the Church is the Body of Christ, she is the perfect aspect of the world, embracing the universe; therefore, the Body of Christ embraces the whole world, it is space body. In the same way, the members of the Kingdom of God, the Mother of God, the angels, the saints, embracing the whole world with their love, can have nothing other than cosmic bodies; their bodies are individual aspects of the Body of Christ, encompassing the entire universe (**). For such beings, in their essence super-dimensional, it is quite possible to manifest in a private limited image in a certain place in space, which, of course, does not exhaust their existence, and does not exclude the possibility of their appearing simultaneously in other places in other images. About such a multipraesentia, for example, Christ, the Church speaks in both hymns: “In the grave of the flesh, in hell with the soul as God, in paradise with the robber, and on the throne you were, Christ, with the Father and the Spirit, all fulfill the Undescribed "(***). The vision caused by such a phenomenon of the celestials must have a sensory character. Perhaps this was, for example, the appearance of the Mother of God to the children of Maximinus and Melania near Salette.

Otherwise, imaginative visions can be interpreted. The super-existent God is closer to every existing thing, to every person, to every particle of matter, to an atom, an electron, than they are to themselves (****); He comprehends everything, embraces everything, for everything

___________________

*) Cm . Qu er su, I 335; theologians Saudreaux, Etats mystiques, 211; Poulain, Grâces d "oraison, 325; Farges, Théologie mystique, II, 51.

**) See my article "On the Resurrection in the Flesh", "The Way" 1931.

***) Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. On multipraesentia in the space of superdimensional beings, see my article: "The intellect of a primitive man and an enlightened European", in "Sovr. Zap. ", 1926, issue. 28.

****) Cm. Seuse, vol. I, 82.

influences, being united with everything inseparably, although not merged. He can therefore appear to a person to a certain extent "from the inside" in the imagination and, nevertheless, real: in fact, He can affect the human body and cause those changes in it that serve as a stimulus for eidetic memories. In the same way, members of the Kingdom of God who participate in divine life and power can act on the human body. In such cases, they are clothed in those trans-subjective sensory qualities that serve as the subject of recollection. They can be embodied in them, really "to be formed". Hence, it is clear why God and the members of the Kingdom of God are "in accordance with the soul of the one who receives them," as V. Lehmann put it in the preface to the works of Suso published by him (*): they are present in visions through statues, paintings, icons seen by the subject, says Quercy ( **). Otherwise, those who are would not have been recognized by man.

Quercy is very close to the theory of the incarnation of celestials in the images of the imagination, which I developed. It is possible that the difference between our views is reduced only to the fact that, as an intuitionist, I consider the remembered sensory qualities to be trans-subjective and in this sense I give a more real character to the image. Quercy speaks of the visions of St. Teresa, that if she had a hypnotist, it was God himself. He explains the visions by the fact that God influences the activity of our faculties of remembrance and refers to the words of John of the Cross: "Deus omnia mo vet secundum modum eorum." The mechanism of visions, he says, is the same as that of hallucinations; nevertheless, one must decisively distinguish between natural visions (hallucinations), demonic and divine, depending on the reason that affects our body. In the case of a vision conditioned by the influence of God, the mechanism of our process is full of His presence (***).

Intellectual contemplation can be explained by the direct influence of God or members of the Kingdom of God on a person, prompting him to focus on the trans-subjective Divine world itself, having in mind his non-sensible essence or the non-sensible content of truth communicated from this sphere.

From all that has been said, it is clear how one should relate to the final conclusion of Delacroix in his valuable study "Etudes d" histoire et de psychologie du mysticisme ".

_____________________

*) Page XXXVIII.

**) L "hallucination, pp. 175-179.

***) P. Quercy, pp. 185, 336 pp.

Having watched the experiences of brilliant mystics with a wide breadth of horizons and recognizing their high nature, he nevertheless ends, apparently in the spirit of psychologism, with the thought that all peculiar phenomena in the consciousness of mystics should be explained by the activity of the subconscious (*). That the region of the subconscious plays an essential role here, there can be no doubt about it. However, where Delacroix stops, it is for the first time that the main and final problem arises: is this a purely subjective activity of the subconscious or is it a reason for the genuine influence of the higher world on a person, and the contemplated content is the highest trans-subjective reality. An answer in the spirit of pure psychologism would be untenable. If any phenomenon in consciousness has the character of "given to me", then it is a manifestation of my self: it comes from some substantial figure. True, this may be an agent of a lower type than the human self, who is part of the human body, for example, the head of some nervous center. But one has only to admit this possibility, and it becomes clear that there are also possible manifestations of other figures who stand above the human "I" or on a par with him and who have entered into close contact with him only for a short time.

Many visions are symbolic in nature and contain the expression of such truths and sides of the world or Divine life, which cannot be given in an image otherwise than symbolically. It does not follow from this that such images are the subjective actions of the human "I". They can be real symbols, specific symbolic phenomena of the Divine world (**). Bl. Suso saw, for example, once Christ and a multitude of people as members of him (***). St. Teresa says that through the vision of the humanity of Christ she often comes to comprehend the mysteries of God (****).

Thoughts of remarkable depth were sometimes revealed to Swedenborg under the guise of living concrete events. So, one day he wondered: how is it possible that the goodness of the Lord allowed demons to remain forever in hell. “I just thought about it,” says Swedenborg, “as one of the angels of the right subhealth extremely quickly descended into the seat of the great Satan

_____________________

*) Page 405 s.

**) On real symbolism, see N. Berdyaev "The Philosophy of the Free Spirit", I volume, 101 pp.

***) II, 125.

****) Ch. XXII, 280.

And from there he took out, by the inspiration of the Lord, one of the most evil demons, in order to give him heavenly bliss. But it was given to me to see that as the angel ascended to the Heavenly spheres, his captive changed the proud expression of his face to a suffering one, and his body turned black; when, in spite of his resistance, he was drawn into the middle heavens, then terrible convulsions became with him, with all his appearance and movements he showed that he was experiencing the greatest and intolerable torments; when he approached the heart region of heaven, his tongue went out far out, like that of a very tired and thirsty dog, and his eyes burst as if from a burning heat. And I felt sorry for him, and I prayed to the Lord to tell the angel to let him go. And when, by the will of the Lord, he was released, he threw himself head downward with such impetuosity that I could only see how his extremely black heels flashed. And then it was suggested to me: the stay of someone in heaven or in hell depends not on the will of God, but on the inner state of being, and moving from hell to heaven according to someone else's will would be just as painful for those who are being moved, like moving from heaven to hell ... And in this way I understood that the eternity of hell for those who find their pleasure in it equally corresponds to both the wisdom and the goodness of God ”(*). It should be noted, however, that many revelations appeared in the mind of Svendenborg in the form of "inner speech" with beings from other kingdoms of the world (**).

Until now, we have been talking about visions of bodily images, which cannot be otherwise interpreted as single, individual acts of communication of the other world with an individual; in them most often consolation, reinforcement, and instruction are given to an individual, but sometimes also through this person and revelation to the whole world (for example, through the biblical prophets). But apart from such individual manifestations of corporeality, the members of the Kingdom of God and the very head of its Divine Logos, in that aspect of it, in which He is the God-man Jesus Christ, has a transformed spirit-bearing corporeality, which is also significant for the Kingdom of God itself: in this corporeality it possesses fullness being and absolute beauty.

Without a doubt, each of us, to the extent of his love for good or the need for its revelation, more or less participates in the vision of the reflections of this Kingdom, for example, in that

______________________

*) Arcena coelestina, app. Memoralibia.

**) Lamm, 236.

a sublime perception of the beauties of nature or the beauty of man, which fills the soul with an indestructible confidence in the existence of God and His Kingdom. A particularly profound vision of this Kingdom, clearly leading to the area of ​​the other world, requires a different psychophysical organization, more or less deviating from the one that we consider normal for a person. Indeed, if the stimuli for the perception of the external world are the stimuli of our nervous system caused by it, then it is clear that this system and the whole body should deviate from the general human type in persons with an increased susceptibility to other worlds, whether it will be the upper world, the Kingdom God, or lower - the kingdom of evil. Dostoevsky clearly expressed this idea in the words of Svidrigailov, who joined the kingdom of evil. Svidrigailov argues as follows: They say: "you are sick, therefore, what you imagine is only one non-existent delirium." But there is no strict logic here. I agree that ghosts are only sick; but this only proves that ghosts can appear only as sick, and not that they are not by themselves. "

The theory of visions, similar to the one that I developed, was apparently outlined in the mind of Vl. Solovyov. This can be seen from the following story about him from a friend of his prince. E. Trubetskoy. “Early in the morning, immediately after his awakening, an oriental man in a turban appeared to him. He uttered extraordinary nonsense about an article that Solovyov had just written about Japan ("I was driving along the road; I read about Buddhism; here's Buddhism") and poked him in the stomach with an unusually long umbrella. The vision disappeared, and Soloviev felt severe pain in his liver, which then lasted for three days. "

“He almost always had such painful sensations and other painful phenomena after visions. On this occasion, I once told him: "Your visions are simply hallucinations of your illnesses." He immediately agreed with me. But this agreement cannot be interpreted in the sense that Soloviev would deny the reality of his visions. In his mouth, these words meant that illness makes our imagination susceptible to such influences of the spiritual world to which healthy people remain completely insensitive. Therefore, in such cases, he did not deny the need for treatment. He recognized in hallucinations the phenomena of a subjective and, moreover, a sick imagination. But this did not prevent him from believing in the objective cause of hallucinations, which is in us imagined, embodied through the

a means of subjective imagination in external reality ”. (*).

Before the war, the most talented young Russian philosopher D.V. Boldyrev, who considered himself a follower of intuitionism. He spent the summer of 1914 in the Pyrenees, bearing in mind that the apparitions of the Mother of God often took place there and wishing to get a vivid idea of ​​the nature in which they took place. He outlined his impressions of this trip and hints at his theory in the article "The Fiery Font" (in Russian Thought, 1915). It is possible that later, as a professor in Perm, he developed his theory in precise philosophical form and presented it in a manuscript, which is kept after his death in his family in the Far East.

Among people, whose consciousness is attached to "other worlds", we often come across persons whose two planes of being are mixed and confused with each other; they cannot really identify the data of their experience, they cannot express it in a meaningful form. As a rule, such persons, wishing to expand their philosophical education, are attracted to exotic literature, especially Hindu; reading European philosophical classics, for example, Descartes, which would help discipline their thoughts, turns out to be boring for them. They cannot fit their experiences into any framework, since they cannot find their connection with the rational aspects of being; therefore philosophically they turn out to be sterile. Some of these persons still find the strength to express their experience in literary works, but they contain a bizarre mixture of great and small, otherworldly and this-worldly. Such are, for example, in Russian literature Anna Schmidt's "revelations" "About the future", "Third Testament", etc .; by the way, she was inclined to consider herself the incarnation of the Church, and Vl. Solovyov - the incarnation of Christ (**).

In Western European literature, an example of confused mysticism is Swedenborg's messages about his visits to other planets and about his conversations with their inhabitants; Vl. Soloviev considers them “essentially delusional” (***).

___________________

*) Book. E. Trubetskoy, Vl. Solovyov, I, p. 20 p.

**) From the manuscripts of Anna Nikolaevna Schmidt, with letters to her from Vl. Soloviev (Moscow 1916), Preface, p. XIV.

***) V. Soloviev, vol. IX, p. 241.

The great mystical philosophers, on the other hand, have a heightened sensitivity to the rational aspect of being. They enter the realm of the superrational not only on the basis of mystical intuition, but also because the strict sequence of rational thinking obliges them to ascend into a higher sphere. This is the thinking of Plotinus, Proclus, Ertigens, Anselm of Canterbury, Hugo Victorinz, Richard Victorinz, John Bonaventure, Raymund Lull, Roger Bacon, Nicholas of Cusan, Pascal, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Vl. Solovyov, from. P. Florensky.

From the works of such mystics, who know the connection between the super-rational and the rational, it is clear that the mystical systems of philosophy are not a set of incoherent foggy broadcasts: on the contrary, for the first time these systems achieve the greatest consistency and intelligibility of the world available to the human mind, since they eliminate the incoherence and gaps of one-sided rationalism ... Hegel says: “The mystical, it is true, is mysterious, but only for reason, and moreover, simply because the principle of reason is an abstract identity, and the mystical (as equivalent to the speculative) is a concrete unity of those definitions that reason considers to be true only in their separation and opposition ". "Thus, everything reasonable should be designated at the same time as mystical, which, however, only says that it goes beyond the limits of reason, and not at all that it should be considered in general as inaccessible to thinking and incomprehensible" (*) ...

The passive nature of visions is fraught with danger. The source of their emergence may be in some cases the lower substantial figures of our own body, in others - beings from other kingdoms of being, and moreover, as different as members of the kingdom of evil, then - members of the Kingdom of God and even the Lord God himself. If in a person's soul there is the slightest stain of evil, for example, even an insignificant shade of proud recognition of oneself as the exclusive chosen one of God, a special instrument of the Holy Spirit, then it almost, probably, falls under "delusion", that is, will have false visions from an evil force. Artificial training of oneself, deliberate education of passivity in oneself in order to achieve visions, verbal revelations, automatic writing is a particularly dangerous ground on which falsifications of communication with the higher world can arise. Reduced

_______________________

*) Hegel, Encycl. I th., Die Logik (1840) VI. B. § 82. Zusatz, p. 159 p. See, in general, my article: "Hegel as an Intuitivist", Zap. Russian. Scientific. inst. in Belgrade.

the Borg in the last period of his activity wanted to achieve complete passivity; after one of the visions of Christ, he began to passionately focus on the image of the crucifixion; it is possible that as a result of these exercises he had states of duplication of personality. Already in the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church began to develop "spiritual exercises" (exercitia spiritualia), meditations consisting in intense concentration of attention on the sufferings of Christ, at various periods of His life, represented with possible sensory concreteness. A wonderful system of such exercises was created by Ignatius Loyola (*). Therefore, perhaps in the Catholic Church there are people who are able to contemplate for hours various episodes from the life of Jesus Christ. Such visions, for example, became famous at the beginning of the 19th century. Ekaterina Emmerich. Clemens Brentano lived for several years with her, writing down her contemplations, whence the edifying book “Das bittere Leiden unserer Herrn Jesu Chrsti. Nach den Betrachtungen der gottseligen Anna Katharina Emmerich Augustinerin des Klosters Agnetenberg zu Düllmen nebst dem Latensmris dieser Begnadigten "(**).In our time, Theresa Neumann of Connersreith ( Konnersreuth ); her way of life (she goes almost completely without food) is also similar to the life of Catherine Emmerich. St. John of the Cross warns against such a visionary life: he says that a demon can use memory data to tempt a person through visions and "revelations." It is better not to think about the human image of Christ, but to approach Him even closer than in visions by imitating Him (***)

Especially dangerous is passivity without purifying the soul and striving for God, developed, for example, during spiritualistic seances in order to make oneself an instrument (medium) of beings of another world (automatic writing, spiritualistic phenomena, etc.). At best, in this case, we are dealing with the intensified activity of lower figures who control our nerve centers (therefore, usually, messages received by means of automatic writing are colorless and mediocre), at worst, these are the activities of beings who take possession of our body from the kingdom of evil.

______________________

*) See, for example, the German edition J. Loyola, Das Exerzitienbuch. Perev... Ferder "a, explanations M. Meschler, S. I., Feb. i Br.

**) Cl. Brentano, Saemmtl. Werne, hrg. von C. Scheddenkopf, 1912, exactly Bd. XIY, I Abth. "Religioese Schriften" with introduction W. About ehl "i.

***) In aruzi, 540 p., 239, 257, 260; cm . also Qu er su, 310.

In both cases, we are in danger of a split personality, obsession, hysteria (*).

Some mystics, for example, the quietist M-me Guyon, cultivated in themselves an extreme degree of passivity, considering any manifestation of their will to be evil, and hoping, by refusing to be active, to turn themselves into a pure instrument of the will of God. Literature prompted by the extremes of quietism (the dispute between Fenelon and Blet, et al. Cit.) Correctly indicates that evil does not lie in personal activity, but in its focus on selfish goals. And in fact, if the primordial essence of substantial agents, created in the image and likeness of God, is endowed with creative power, then it is clear that the agents are called to individual creative participation in the Divine plan of the world process. The ideal of communion with the Divine life consists in a harmonious relationship between the very heterogeneous processes of creative initiative in good, the obedient fulfillment of God's commands and the joyful acceptance of visiting God and members of the Kingdom of God in cases where there is no reason to suspect their authenticity.

The Orthodox Church does not sympathize with artificial exercises that lead to the emergence of visions, but in those cases when they involuntarily arise among the holy ascetics, she joyfully notes them; such is, for example, the tradition according to which St. Sergius of Radonezh, while celebrating the Liturgy, always saw a co-serving Angel, whom his disciple Isaac once saw at the same time.

Recognition of the reality of some visions presupposes a transformed corporeality and requires an explanation of how light, sound, warmth and other sensory qualities are possible, where there is no material body. To answer this question, one must realize that even in a material environment, where sound, light, etc., are accompanied by the attraction and repulsion of particles of matter or their elements, these repulsions and attractions are not at all the cause that produces sensory quality. As in all other cases, a new event is a creative act of substantial agents, usually involving a combination of the forces of several agents. In the realm of psycho-material being, however, this is not only the union of several actors for joint activity, but also the exclusion of some other actors, accompanied by repulsion. This relationship of mutual isolation does not strengthen

_____________________

*) See about this from. P. Florensky, "The Pillar and Statement of Truth" notes - pp. 697 pp., 706 pp.

They reduce and do not improve creative activity, but, on the contrary, weaken it and lower the value of its results: sound, light, etc., accompanied by repulsive processes, are sensory qualities containing interruptions, irregularities, chaotic impurities, etc. imperfections that diminish their beauty or even lead to disgrace. In the Kingdom of God, where there are no repulsive processes, the transformed corporeality is created by the joint creative acts of many figures without any confrontation and oppression by each other; it consists of sensual qualities, pure, perfect, harmoniously correlated with each other, embodying absolute beauty.

H. Lossky.

The page was generated in 0.12 seconds!

VISIONS OF THE SAINTS DURING THE LITURGY. Why is the liturgy sometimes called the angelic ministry? Because angels are always present at the Eucharist and help the clergy to celebrate it. According to the testimony of the Elder Jacob of Euboea, who more than once received the wondrous visions of God, as soon as the priest utters the initial exclamation at the liturgy, the Heavenly Forces immediately flock to the altar. Another righteous man, St. John of Kronstadt, wrote: “All saints, starting with the Mother of God, are called to participate in the service of the liturgy. All the saints and all the angels participate in the ministry with the priest. " The Monk Euthymius the Great (+ 473) told some of his disciples that he often saw an angel celebrating the Liturgy with him. In 1892 the Monk Anatoly Optinsky (Zertsalov) came to Petersburg. Here he met the righteous John of Kronstadt. Father John invited the Monk Anatoly to his church in Kronstadt. When the Liturgy began, Fr. John saw that two angels were serving with the Monk Anatoly. The Sacrament of Holy Communion, performed at the Liturgy, unites heaven and earth into one union. This unity, invisible to the eyes of ordinary people, in all its beauty appears before the spiritual gaze of the saints. - “People are blind and do not see what is happening in the church during the Divine Liturgy. to the holy altar. I thought it was a psalmist. I turn around and see a huge wing put on my shoulder by the Archangel and leading me to the great entrance. What happens in the altar during the Divine Liturgy! I often break down and sit down, while the attendants think that something is wrong with my health, but they do not know what I see and hear. " Elder Jacob. - The Monk Seraphim of Sarov was honored with a special blessed vision during the Divine Liturgy on Great Thursday, which was celebrated by the rector, Father Pachomius and Elder Joseph. When, after the troparion, the monk uttered "Lord, save the godly" and, standing at the royal gates, directed the orarion at the worshipers with an exclamation "and forever and ever," suddenly a ray of light overshadowed him. Raising his eyes, the Monk Seraphim saw the Lord Jesus Christ walking through the air from the western doors of the temple, surrounded by Heavenly Ethereal Forces. Reaching the pulpit. The Lord blessed all those praying and entered the local image to the right of the royal gates. The Monk Seraphim of Sarov, looking at the wondrous apparition in spiritual delight, could not utter a word or leave his place. They took him by the arms into the altar, where he stood for another three hours, changing his face from the great grace that illuminated him. - In his notes, Abbot Theodosia (Popov; † 1903) recalls his grandmother's recollections of her childhood, when she was seven or eight years old. “In the church, I stood at the very pulpit, opposite the Royal Doors, and vigilantly watched all the actions of the priest. The reason for my observation of the priest was that once, while on a holiday with my parents at Mass, I saw above the throne, a little higher than the head of the priest, right above the holy bowl, a soaring Dove, which was white as snow and motionless, barely perceptibly fluttering its wings kept in the air. And I saw this more than once, and not twice, but several times, which I conveyed to my girlfriend, and we are always with her, as soon as we hear the ringing of a bell, we run with all our might, wanting to overtake each other, and let us stand together at the pulpit, waiting for the appearance of the brilliant white Dove. And how we loved Him because He was so white, so cute! But there were days when we could not wait for this miracle, which took place only during the ministry of the old priest Rosnitsky. It was only in his ministry that we always saw our Dovewing. Under the other priest, this did not happen. When we told our parents about this, and our parents told the priest Rosnitsky, since then my friend and I have no longer seen the wonderful Dove. " - The great Athonite ascetic Hieroschemamonk Tikhon (+ 1968) served the Liturgy in his secluded Athonite temple with the help of only one monk-singer. He did this because he wanted to freely indulge in deep prayer in the altar in complete solitude. When the Cherubic Canto began, Father Tikhon usually immersed himself in spiritual contemplation for twenty to thirty minutes. Therefore, the monk repeated the Cherubic Canto many times until he heard the steps of Father Tikhon walking from the altar to the Great Entrance. Once after the service, the chorister asked: - What do you see, elder? - Cherubim and seraphim praising God. My guardian angel lets me go only after half an hour, and then I continue the Divine Liturgy. Sometimes Hieroschemamonk Tikhon performed the Liturgy even without the help of the chanter. However, at the same time, the singing in the temple still sounded! Once Theoclitus Dionysios visited the elder. Father Tikhon was in the church, and from there they heard touching singing. Theoclitus wanted to go inside, but the door was closed. Not wanting to bother anyone with a knock on the door, he decided to wait until the end of the service near the temple. Soon the singing stopped, and after a while Father Tikhon opened the door. Going inside, Theoclitus did not find anyone there, except for Father Tikhon. This astonished him, and he realized that angels were singing during the liturgy. - The Valaam schema monk Kyriakos had a vision during the liturgy. He stood in the altar, and when the ministering priest exclaimed: “Yours is from yours, who bring you, for everyone and for everything,” an extraordinary fragrance poured out from the throne. When the priest began to pray for the condescension of the Holy Spirit on the presented Gifts, Kyriakos saw that the altar was filled with cherubim, which surrounded the throne. The priest was engulfed in fire, and as soon as he bowed to the ground in front of the throne, a white dove flew down from above and began to hover over the diskos. Then the dove flew up to the top of the holy cup and, squeezing its wings, sank into it. And immediately the angels, prostrating themselves, bowed down to the holy throne. When the priest exclaimed: "Fairly about the Most Holy Ones," the Heavenly Forces bowed down to the ground again. After chanting “It Is Worthy,” they bowed a third time. Then the angels surrounded the priest, overshadowed his head with a wonderful shroud, and after that they became invisible.