Optina Elder Hieroschemamonk Ambrose was born on November 23, 1812 in the village of Bolshaya Lipovitsa, Tambov province, into the family of sexton Mikhail Fedorovich and his wife Marfa Nikolaevna. Before the birth of the baby, many guests came to his grandfather, the priest of this village.

The parent, Maria Nikolaevna, was transferred to the bathhouse. November 23 in the house of Fr. Theodore there was great turmoil - there were people in the house, and people were crowding in front of the house. On this day, November 23, Alexander was born - the future elder of the Optina Hermitage - the Venerable Ambrose of Optina. The elder jokingly said: “Just as I was born in public, so I live in public.”

Mikhail Fedorovich had eight people: four sons and four daughters; Alexander Mikhailovich was the sixth of them.

As a child, Alexander was a very lively, cheerful and intelligent boy. According to the custom of that time, he learned to read from the Slavic primer, book of hours and psalter. Every holiday he and his father sang and read in the choir. He never saw or heard anything bad, because... was brought up in a strictly church and religious environment.

When the boy turned 12 years old, he was sent to first grade at the Tambov Theological School. He studied well and after graduating from college, in 1830, he entered the Tambov Theological Seminary. And here studying was easy for him. As his seminary comrade later recalled: “Here, it used to be, you’d buy a candle with your last money, repeat, repeat the assigned lessons; he (Sasha Grenkov) studied little, but he would come to class and begin to answer the mentor, just as it was written, better everyone." In July 1836, Alexander Grenkov successfully graduated from the seminary, but did not go to the Theological Academy or become a priest. It was as if he felt a special calling in his soul and was in no hurry to attach himself to a certain position, as if awaiting the call of God. For some time he was a home teacher in a landowner family, and then a teacher at the Lipetsk Theological School. Possessing a lively and cheerful character, kindness and wit, Alexander Mikhailovich was very loved by his comrades and colleagues. In his last year of seminary he had to transfer dangerous disease, and he vowed to become a monk if he recovered. Upon recovery, he did not forget his vow, but for several years he put off fulfilling it, “sorry,” as he put it. However, his conscience did not give him peace. And the more time passed, the more painful the remorse became. Periods of carefree youthful fun and carelessness were followed by periods of acute melancholy and sadness, intense prayer and tears.

Once, being already in Lipetsk and walking in the neighboring forest, he, standing on the bank of a stream, clearly heard in its murmur the words: “Praise God, love God...” At home, secluded from prying eyes, he fervently prayed Mother of God to enlighten his mind and direct his will. In general, he did not have a persistent will and already in old age he said to his spiritual children: “You must obey me from the first word. I am a compliant person. If you argue with me, I can give in, but this will not be to your benefit.” In the same Tambov diocese, in the village of Troekurovo, lived the famous ascetic Hilarion at that time. Alexander Mikhailovich came to him for advice, and the elder told him: “Go to Optina Pustyn - and you will be experienced. You could go to Sarov, but now there are no experienced elders there, as before.” (Elder St. Seraphim died shortly before this). When did they come summer holidays 1839, Alexander Mikhailovich, together with his seminary comrade and colleague at the Lipetsk School Pokrovsky, equipped a tent, went on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra to bow to the abbot of the Russian land, Venerable. Sergius.

Returning to Lipetsk, Alexander Mikhailovich continued to doubt and could not immediately decide to break with the world. This happened, however, after one evening at a party, when he made everyone present laugh. Everyone was cheerful and happy and in a great mood went home. As for Alexander Mikhailovich, if earlier in such cases he felt repentance, now his vow given to God vividly appeared in his imagination, he remembered the burning of the spirit in the Trinity Lavra and the previous long prayers, sighs and tears, the definition of God conveyed through Fr. . Hilarion.

The next morning, this time the determination was firmly matured. Fearing that the persuasion of his relatives and friends would shake his determination, Alexander Mikhailovich secretly left for Optina from everyone, without even asking permission from the diocesan authorities.

Here Alexander Mikhailovich found during his lifetime the very flower of her monasticism: such pillars as Abbot Moses, elders Leo (Leonid) and Macarius. The head of the monastery was Hieroschemamonk Anthony, equal to them in spiritual height, brother of Fr. Moses, ascetic and seer.

In general, all monasticism under the leadership of the elders bore the imprint of spiritual virtues. Simplicity (no guile), meekness and humility were distinctive features Optina monasticism. The younger brethren tried to humble themselves not only in front of their elders, but also in front of their equals, afraid to even offend another with a glance, and at the slightest misunderstanding they rushed to ask each other for forgiveness.

So, Alexander Grenkov arrived at the monastery on October 8, 1839. Leaving the cabman at the guest yard, he immediately hurried to the church, and after the liturgy, to Elder Leo to ask for his blessing to stay in the monastery. The elder blessed him to live in a hotel for the first time and rewrite the book “The Salvation of Sinners” (translation from Modern Greek) - about the fight against passions.

In January 1840, he went to live in a monastery, not yet putting on a cassock. At this time, there was clerical correspondence with the diocesan authorities regarding his disappearance, and the decree from the Kaluga bishop to the rector of Optinsky had not yet been received from the monastery about the admission of teacher Grenkov to the monastery.

In April 1840, A. M. Grenkov finally received the blessing to wear monastic robes. For some time he was Elder Leo's cell attendant and his reader (rules and services). At first he worked in the monastery bakery, brewed hops (yeast), baked rolls. Then in November 1840 he was transferred to a monastery. From there the young novice did not stop going to Elder Leo for edification. At the monastery he was an assistant cook for a whole year. He often had to come to Elder Macarius in his service, either to receive a blessing regarding the meal, or to ring the bell for the meal, or for other reasons. At the same time, he had the opportunity to tell the elder about his state of mind and receive answers. The goal was not for temptation to defeat a person, but for a person to defeat temptation.

Elder Leo especially loved the young novice, affectionately calling him Sasha. But for educational reasons, I experienced his humility in front of people. Pretended to thunder against him with anger. For this purpose, he gave him the nickname "Chimera". By this word he meant the barren flower that occurs on cucumbers. But he told others about him: “He will be a great man.” Waiting imminent death, Elder Leo called Father Fr. Macarius and told him about the novice Alexander: “Here is a man who is painfully huddling with us, the elders. I am already very weak now. So I am handing him over to you from half to half, take possession of him as you know.”

After the death of Elder Leo, brother Alexander became the cell attendant of Elder Macarius (1841-46). In 1842, he was tonsured and named Ambrose (in honor of St. Ambrose of Milan, commemorated December 7). This was followed by hierodeaconry (1843), and 2 years later - ordination to hieromonk.

Health o. Ambrose suffered greatly during these years. During a trip to the priestly consecration in Kaluga on December 7, 1846, he caught a cold and was ill for a long time, having suffered complications from the internal organs. Since then he has never truly recovered. However, he did not lose heart and admitted that bodily weakness had a beneficial effect on his soul. “It’s good for a monk to be sick,” Elder Ambrose liked to repeat, “and when you’re sick, you don’t need to be treated, but only to be treated.” And he said to others as a consolation: “God does not require physical feats from the sick, but only patience with humility and gratitude.”

From September 1846 to the summer of 1848, the state of health of Father Ambrose was so threatening that he was tonsured into the schema in his cell, retaining his former name. However, quite unexpectedly for many, the patient began to recover and even went outside for walks. This turning point in the course of the illness was a clear action of the power of God, and Elder Ambrose himself subsequently said: “The Lord is merciful! In the monastery, the sick do not die soon, but drag on and drag on until the illness brings them real benefit. In the monastery, it is useful to be a little sick “so that the flesh rebels less, especially among young people, and trifles come to mind less.”

During these years, not only did the Lord cultivate the spirit of the future great elder through physical infirmities, but also communication with the older brethren, among whom there were many true ascetics, had a beneficial effect on Father Ambrose. Let us give as an example one case that the elder himself later spoke about.

Soon after Fr. Ambrose was ordained a deacon and was supposed to serve the liturgy in the Vvedensky Church; before the service, he approached Abbot Anthony, who was standing in the altar, to receive a blessing from him, and Fr. Anthony asks him: “Well, are you getting used to it?” O. Ambrose cheekily answers him: “With your prayers, father!” Then Fr. Anthony continues: “For the fear of God?...” Father Ambrose realized the inappropriateness of his tone at the altar and became embarrassed. “So,” Father Ambrose concluded his story, “the former elders knew how to accustom us to reverence.”

Communication with Elder Macarius was especially important for his spiritual growth during these years. Despite the illness, Fr. Ambrose remained as before in complete obedience to the elder, even in the smallest thing he gave an account to him. With the blessing of Fr. Macarius, he was engaged in the translation of patristic books, in particular, he prepared for printing the “Ladder” of St. John, abbot of Sinai.

Thanks to the leadership of Elder Macarius, Fr. Ambrose was able to learn the art of art without much stumbling - mental prayer. This monastic work is fraught with many dangers, since the devil tries to lead a person into a state of delusion and with significant sorrows, since an inexperienced ascetic, under plausible pretexts, tries to fulfill his will. A monk who does not have a spiritual leader can greatly damage his soul along this path, as happened in his time with the elder Macarius himself, who independently studied this art. Father Ambrose was able to avoid troubles and sorrows when undergoing mental prayer precisely because he had a most experienced mentor in the person of Elder Macarius. The latter loved his student very much, which, however, did not stop him from subjecting Fr. Ambrose undergoes some humiliation to break his pride. Elder Macarius raised him to be a strict ascetic, adorned with poverty, humility, patience and other monastic virtues. When for about. Ambrose will intercede: “Father, he is a sick man!” “Do I really know worse than you,” the elder will say. “But reprimands and remarks to a monk are brushes with which the sinful dust is erased from his soul; and without this, the monk rusts.”

Even during the life of Elder Macarius, with his blessing, some of the brethren came to Fr. Ambrose for the opening of thoughts.

This is how abbot Mark (who ended his life in retirement in Optina) talks about it. “As far as I could notice,” he says, “Fr. Ambrose lived at that time in complete silence. I went to him every day to reveal his thoughts and almost always found him reading patristic books. If I didn’t find him in his cell, then this meant that he was with Elder Macarius, whom he helped in correspondence with his spiritual children, or worked in translations of patristic books. Sometimes I found him on the bed and with restrained and barely noticeable tears. It seemed to me that the elder always walked before God or something would always feel the presence of God, according to the word of the psalmist: “...I will set out the sight of the Lord before me” (Ps. 16:8), and therefore, whatever he did, he tried to do for the sake of the Lord and to please Him. Therefore, he always complained, fearing that I would offend the Lord with something, which was reflected on his face. Seeing such concentration of my elder, I was always in trembling reverence in his presence. Yes, I could not be otherwise. When, as usual, I knelt before him, In order to receive a blessing, he very quietly asked me: “What do you have to say, brother?” Puzzled by his concentration and tenderness, I answered: “Forgive me, for the Lord’s sake, father. Maybe I came at the wrong time?” “No,” the elder will say, “say what is necessary, but briefly.” And, having listened to me with attention, he will reverently teach useful instruction and dismiss me with love.

He taught instructions not from his own wisdom and reasoning, although he was rich in spiritual intelligence. If he taught the spiritual children related to him, then it was as if in the midst of a student, and he offered not his advice, but certainly the active teaching of the Holy Fathers." If Father Mark complained to Father Ambrose about someone who had offended him, the elder would , will say in a mournful tone: “Brother, brother! I am a dying man." Or: "I will die today or tomorrow. What will I do with this brother? After all, I am not the abbot. You need to reproach yourself, humble yourself before your brother - and you will calm down." Such an answer evoked self-reproach in Father Mark's soul, and he, humbly bowing to the elder and asking for forgiveness, left calmed and consoled, "as if he had flown away on wings."

In addition to the monks, Fr. Macarius brought Fr. Ambrose and with his worldly spiritual children. Seeing him talking with them, Elder Macarius jokingly said: “Look, look! Ambrose is taking away my bread!” Thus, Elder Macarius gradually prepared himself a worthy successor. When Elder Macarius reposed (September 7, 1860), circumstances gradually developed in such a way that Fr. Ambrose was put in his place. 40 days after the death of Elder Macarius, Fr. Ambrose moved to live in another building, near the monastery fence, on the right side of the bell tower. On the western side of this building, an extension was made, called a “hut” for receiving women (they were not allowed into the monastery). Father Ambrose lived here for thirty years (before leaving for Shamordino), independently serving his neighbors.

There were two cell attendants with him: Fr. Mikhail and Fr. Joseph (future elder). The main scribe was Fr. Clement (Zederholm), the son of a Protestant pastor, converted to Orthodoxy, a most learned man, master of Greek literature.

To hear the rules, at first he got up at 4 am, rang the bell, to which the cell attendants came to him and read morning prayers, 12 selected psalms and the first hour, after which he remained alone in mental prayer. Then, after a short rest, the elder listened to the hours: the third, sixth with pictorial ones and, depending on the day, a canon with an akathist to the Savior or the Mother of God. He listened to these akathists standing. After prayer and a light breakfast, the work day began with a short break at lunchtime. The old man ate food in the amount that would be given to a three-year-old child. While eating, the cell attendants continue to ask him questions on behalf of the visitors. After some rest, hard work was resumed - and so on until late in the evening. Despite the extreme exhaustion and sickness of the old man, the day always ended in the evening prayer rule, consisting of Small Compline, the canon to the Guardian Angel and evening prayers. From the continuous reports, the cell attendants, who continually brought visitors to the elder and took out visitors, could barely stand on their feet. The elder himself at times lay almost unconscious. After the rule, the elder asked for forgiveness, “for those who have sinned in deed, word, or thought.” The cell attendants accepted the blessing and headed towards the exit. The clock will ring. “How much is this?” the elder will ask in a weak voice, “they will answer: “Twelve.” “It’s late,” he will say.

Two years later, the old man suffered a new illness. His health, already weak, completely weakened. From then on, he could no longer go to the temple of God and had to take communion in his cell. In 1869, his health was so bad that they began to lose hope of recovery. The Kaluga miraculous icon of the Mother of God was brought. After a prayer service and a cell vigil and then unction, the elder’s health responded to treatment, but extreme weakness did not leave him throughout his life.

Such severe deterioration was repeated more than once. It is difficult to imagine how he could, being pinned to such a suffering illness, in complete exhaustion, receive crowds of people every day and answer dozens of letters. The words came true on it: “The power of God is made perfect in weakness.” If he had not been the chosen vessel of God, through whom God Himself spoke and acted, such a feat, such a gigantic work could not have been accomplished by any human forces. Life-giving Divine grace was clearly present and assisting here.

The grace of God, which rested in abundance on the elder, was the source of those spiritual gifts with which he served his neighbors, comforting the grieving, confirming the faith of those who doubted and edifying everyone on the path of salvation.

Among the spiritual grace-filled gifts of Elder Ambrose, which attracted thousands of people to him, one should first of all mention clairvoyance. He penetrated deeply into the soul of his interlocutor and read in it, as in an open book, without needing his explanations. With a slight hint, imperceptible to anyone, he pointed out to people their weaknesses and forced them to think seriously about them. One lady, who often visited Elder Ambrose, became very addicted to playing cards and was embarrassed to admit it to him. One day, at a general reception, she began to ask the elder for a card. The elder looked at her carefully, with his special, intent gaze, and said: “What are you doing, mother? Do we play cards in the monastery?” She understood the hint and repented to the elder of her weakness. With his insight, the elder greatly surprised many and persuaded them to immediately surrender completely to his leadership, in the confidence that the priest knew better than them what they needed and what was useful and harmful for them.

One young girl who graduated from higher courses in Moscow, whose mother had long been the spiritual daughter of Fr. Ambrose, having never seen the elder, did not love him and called him a “hypocrite.” Her mother persuaded her to visit Fr. Ambrose. Arriving at the elder’s general reception, the girl stood behind everyone, right at the door. The old man entered and, opening the door, closed the young girl with it. After praying and looking at everyone, he suddenly looked outside the door and said: “What kind of giant is this? Is it Vera who came to see the hypocrite?” After that, he talked with her alone, and the young girl’s attitude towards him completely changed: she fell in love with him passionately, and her fate was decided - she entered the Shamordino monastery. Those who submitted with complete trust to the elder’s leadership never repented of it, although they sometimes heard from him such advice that at first seemed strange and completely impossible to implement.

Usually a lot of people gathered at the Elder’s place. And now one young woman, who was persuaded to visit Father, is in an irritated state that she is forced to wait. Suddenly the door opens wide. An old man with a clear face appears on the threshold and says loudly: “Whoever is impatient here, come to me.” He approaches the young woman and leads her to him. After a conversation with him, she becomes a frequent guest of Optina and a visitor to Father Fr. Ambrose.

A group of women and one elderly woman with a sick face, sitting on a stump, she said that she walked from Voronezh with sore legs, hoping that the elder would heal her. Seven miles from the monastery, she got lost, exhausted, finding herself on snow-covered paths, and fell in tears on a fallen log. At this time, some old man in a cassock and skufa approached her and asked about the reason for her tears; he pointed in the direction of the path with a stick. She went in the indicated direction and, turning behind the bushes, immediately saw the monastery. Everyone decided that it was the monastery forester or one of the cell attendants; when suddenly a servant she knew came out onto the porch and asked loudly: “Where is Avdotya from Voronezh?” Everyone was silent, looking at each other. The servant repeated his question louder, adding that Father was calling her. - “My dears! But Avdotya is from Voronezh, I myself am!” - exclaimed the storyteller who had just arrived with sore legs. Everyone parted, and the wanderer, hobbling to the porch, disappeared through its doors. About fifteen minutes later she left the house all in tears, and sobbing she answered questions that the old man who showed her the way in the forest was none other than Father Ambrose himself or someone very similar to him. But in the monastery there was no one like Fr. Ambrose, and he himself winter time due to illness, he could not leave the cell, and then suddenly he appeared in the forest as a signpost for the wanderer, and then half an hour later, almost at the minute of her arrival, he already knew about her in detail!

Here is one of the cases of elder Ambrose’s foresight, told by one of the elder’s visitors - a certain artisan: “Not long before the elder’s death, about two years old, I had to go to Optina to get money. We made an iconostasis there, and I received money from the abbot for this work. to receive quite a large sum of money. I received my money and before leaving I went to Elder Ambrose to take a blessing for the return journey. I was in a hurry to go home: I was expecting to receive a large order the next day - ten thousand, and the customers would certainly be there the next day me in K. The people on this day, as usual, were killed by the elder. He found out about me that I was waiting, and ordered me to tell him through my cell attendant that I should come to him for tea in the evening. Even though I had to hurry to the court, but the honor and joy of being with the old man and drinking tea with him was so great that I decided to postpone my trip until the evening, in full confidence that even though I would travel all night, I would manage to get there on time.

Evening came, I went to the elder. The old man received me so cheerful, so joyful that I didn’t even feel the ground beneath me. Father, our angel, held me for quite a long time, it was almost getting dark, and he said to me: “Well, go with God. Spend the night here, and tomorrow I bless you to go to mass, and after mass, come and see me for tea.” How is this so? - I think. I didn’t dare contradict him. I spent the night, was at mass, went to the elder to drink tea, and I myself grieved for my customers and kept thinking: Maybe, they say, I’ll at least have time to get to K in the evening. How could it not be so! I took a sip of tea. I want to say to the elder: “Bless me to go home,” but he didn’t let me utter a word: “Come,” he says, “to spend the night with me.” My legs even gave way, but I don’t dare object. The day has passed, the night has passed! In the morning I was already bolder and I thought: I was not there, but today I will leave; Maybe one day my customers were waiting for me. Where are you going? And the elder did not let me open my mouth. “Go,” he says, “to the all-night vigil today, and tomorrow to mass. Spend the night with me again!” What a parable this is! At this point I was completely saddened and, to admit, I sinned against the elder: here is a seer! He knows for sure that, by his grace, a profitable business has now slipped out of my hands. And I’m so uneasy about the old man that I can’t even express it. I had no time for prayer that time at the all-night vigil - it just pushed into my head: “Here is your old man! Here is your seer...! Now your earnings are whistling.” Oh, how annoying I was at that time! And my elder, as if it were a sin, well, just like that, forgive me, Lord, in mockery of me, he greets me so joyfully after the all-night vigil! ... I felt bitter, offended: and why, I think, is he rejoicing... But I still don’t dare to express my sorrow out loud. I spent the night in this manner for the third night. During the night, my grief gradually subsided: you can’t turn back what floated and slipped through your fingers... The next morning I come to the elder, and he told me: “Well, now it’s time for you to go to the yard! Go with God! God bless! And don’t forget about the time Thank God!"

And then all sorrow disappeared from me. I left the Optina Hermitage, but my heart was so light and joyful that it was impossible to convey... Why did the priest tell me: “Then don’t forget to thank God!?”... It must, I think, for that that the Lord deigned to visit the temple for three days. I drive home slowly and don’t think about my customers at all; I was very pleased that my father treated me this way. I arrived home, and what do you think? I am at the gate, and my customers are behind me; We were late, which means we were against our agreement to come for three days. Well, I think, oh my gracious old man! Truly wonderful are Your works, O Lord! ... However, that’s not how it all ended. Just listen to what happened next!

A lot of time has passed since then. Our father Ambrose died. Two years after his righteous death, my senior master fell ill. He was a person I trusted, and he was not a worker, but straight gold. He lived with me hopelessly for more than twenty years. Sick to death. We sent for a priest to confess and give communion while we still remember. Only, I see, the priest comes to me from the dying man and says: “The sick man is calling you to his place, he wants to see you. Hurry up, lest he die.” I came to the patient, and when he saw me, he somehow rose to his elbows, looked at me and began to cry: “Forgive my sin, master! I wanted to kill you...” “What are you, God bless you! You’re delusional.” you..." "No, master, he really wanted to kill you. Do you remember, you were three days late coming from Optina. After all, there are three of us, according to my agreement, for three nights in a row they were watching you on the road under the bridge; for money, what are you "I was bringing the iconostasis from Optina, they were envious. You wouldn't have been alive that night, but the Lord, for someone's prayers, took you away from death without repentance... Forgive me, the accursed one, let me go, for God's sake, in peace my darling!" "God forgive you, just as I forgive you." Then my patient wheezed and began to come to an end. The kingdom of heaven to his soul. Great was the sin, but great was the repentance!

Elder Ambrose's foresight was combined with another most valuable gift, especially for a shepherd - prudence. His instructions and advice provided visual and practical theology for people thoughtful about religion. The elder often gave instructions in a half-joking form, thereby encouraging the discouraged, but the deep meaning of his speeches did not detract from this. People involuntarily thought about the figurative expressions of Fr. Ambrose and remembered the lesson given to him for a long time. Sometimes on general techniques the constant question was heard: “How to live?” In such cases, the elder answered complacently: “We must live on earth the way a wheel turns, just one point touches the ground, and the rest tends upward; but we, as soon as we lie down, cannot get up.”

Let us cite as an example some other statements of the elder.

“Where it’s simple, there are a hundred angels, but where it’s sophisticated, there’s not a single one.”

“Don’t boast, peas, that you are better than beans; if you get wet, you’ll burst.”

“Why is a person bad? - Because he forgets that God is above him.”

“Whoever thinks that he has something will lose.”

The elder’s prudence also extended to practical issues, far from the problems of spiritual life. Here's an example.

A wealthy Oryol landowner comes to the priest and, among other things, announces that he wants to install a water supply system in his vast apple orchards. Father is already completely covered by this water supply. “People say,” he begins with his usual words in such cases, “people say that this is the best way,” and describes in detail the construction of the water supply system. The landowner, upon returning, begins to read literature on this topic and learns that the priest described the latest inventions in this technique. The landowner is back in Optina. "Well, what about the plumbing?" - asks the priest. Everywhere apples are spoiling, and the landowner has a rich harvest of apples.

Prudence and insight were combined in Elder Ambrose with an amazing, purely maternal tenderness of heart, thanks to which he was able to alleviate the heaviest grief and console the most sorrowful soul.

One resident of Kozelsk, 3 years after the death of the elder, in 1894, told the following about herself: “I had a son, he served at the telegraph office, delivered telegrams. Father knew both him and me. My son often carried telegrams to him, and I went for a blessing. But then my son fell ill with consumption and died. I came to him - we all went to him with our grief. He stroked me on the head and said: “Your telegram was cut off!” “It was cut off,” I said, “father!” and began to cry. And my soul felt so light from his affection, as if a stone had been lifted. We lived with him, as if with our own father. Now there are no such elders anymore. And maybe God will send more! "

Love and wisdom - it was these qualities that attracted people to the old man. From morning to evening they came to him with the most urgent questions, into which he delved deeply and lived with them at the moment of conversation. He always grasped the essence of the matter at once, explained it with incomprehensible wisdom and gave an answer. But during the 10-15 minutes of such a conversation, more than one issue was resolved, and during this time Fr. Ambrose contained in his heart the whole person - with all his attachments, desires - his entire world, internal and external. From his words and his instructions it was clear that he loved not only the one with whom he was speaking, but also all those loved by this person, his life, everything that was dear to him. Offering his solution, Fr. Ambrose had in mind not just one thing in itself, regardless of the consequences that might arise from it both for this person and for others, but meaning all aspects of life with which this matter came into any contact. How much mental stress must there be to solve such problems? And such questions were proposed to him by dozens of lay people, not counting monks and fifty letters that came and were sent daily. The elder's word came with power based on his closeness to God, which gave him omniscience. This was a prophetic ministry.

There were no trifles for the old man. He knew that everything in life has a price and its consequences; and therefore there was no question that he would not answer with sympathy and a desire for good. One day, the old man was stopped by a woman who had been hired by the landowner to go after the turkeys, but for some reason her turkeys were dead, and the landlady wanted to pay her off. “Father!” she turned to him with tears, “I have no strength; I can’t get enough of them myself, I can’t help but hurt more than my eyes. The lady wants to drive me away. Have pity on me, darling.” Those present laughed at her. And the elder asked her with sympathy how she fed them, and gave her advice on how to support them differently, blessed her and sent her away. To those who laughed at her, he noticed that her whole life was in these turkeys. Afterwards it became known that the woman’s turkeys no longer pricked.

As for the healings, they were countless and it is impossible to list them in this short essay. The elder covered up these healings in every possible way. He sent the sick to Pustyn to Rev. Tikhon of Kaluga, where the source was. Before Elder Ambrose, healings had not been heard of in this Desert. You might think that Rev. Tikhon began to heal through the elder’s prayer. Sometimes Fr. Ambrose sent the sick to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. It happened that they were healed on the way there and returned back to thank the elder. Sometimes he, as if as a joke, hits his head with his hand, and the illness goes away. One day, a reader who was reading prayers suffered from severe toothache. Suddenly the elder hit him. Those present grinned, thinking that the reader must have made a mistake in reading. In fact, he stopped toothache. Knowing the elder, some women turned to him: “Father Ambrose! Beat me, I have a headache.”

The spiritual power of the elder sometimes manifested itself in completely exceptional cases.

One day Elder Ambrose, bent over, leaning on a stick, was walking from somewhere along the road to the monastery. Suddenly he imagined a picture: a loaded cart was standing, a dead horse was lying nearby, and a peasant was crying over it. The loss of a nurse's horse in peasant life is a real disaster! Approaching the fallen horse, the elder began to slowly walk around it. Then, taking a twig, he lashed the horse, shouting at it: “Get up, lazy one,” and the horse obediently rose to its feet.

Elder Ambrose appeared to many people at a distance, like St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, either for the purpose of healing or for deliverance from disasters. To some, very few, it was revealed in visible images how powerful the elder’s prayerful intercession before God was. Here are the memories of one nun, the spiritual daughter of Fr. Ambrose.

“In his cell there were lamps burning and a small wax candle on the table. It was dark and I had no time to read from the note. I said that I remembered, and then in a hurry, and then added: “Father, what else can I tell you? What to repent of? “I forgot.” The elder reproached me for this. But suddenly he got up from the bed on which he was lying. Having taken two steps, he found himself in the middle of his cell. I involuntarily turned on my knees after him. The elder straightened up to his full height, raised his head and raised his hands up, as if in a prayerful position. At that time it seemed to me that his feet had separated from the floor. I looked at his illuminated head and face. I remember that it was as if there was no ceiling in the cell, it had parted, and the elder’s head seemed would have gone up. This clearly seemed to me. A minute later, the priest leaned over me, amazed at what I saw, and, crossing me, said the following words: “Remember, this is what repentance can lead to. Go." I left him, staggering, and cried all night about my foolishness and negligence. In the morning they gave us horses and we left. During the life of the old man, I could not tell this to anyone. He once and for all forbade me to talk about such cases, saying with a threat: “Otherwise you will lose my help and grace.”

From all over Russia, poor and rich, intelligentsia and common people flocked to the old man’s hut. Famous people visited him public figures and writers: F. M. Dostoevsky, V. S. Solovyov, K. N. Leontiev, L. N. Tolstoy, M. N. Pogodin, N. M. Strakhov and others. And he received everyone with the same love and goodwill. Charity was always his need; he distributed alms through his cell attendant, and he himself took care of widows, orphans, the sick and suffering. IN last years During the life of the elder, 12 versts from Optina, in the village of Shamordino, with his blessing, the Kazan women’s hermitage was established, into which, unlike other women’s monasteries of that time, more poor and sick women were accepted. By the 90s of the 19th century, the number of nuns in it reached 500 people.

It was in Shamordino that Elder Ambrose was destined to meet the hour of his death. On June 2, 1890, as usual, he went there for the summer. At the end of summer, the elder tried three times to return to Optina, but was unable to due to ill health. A year later, on September 21, 1891, the illness became so severe that he lost both his hearing and his voice. His dying sufferings began - so severe that he, as he admitted, had never experienced anything like them in his entire life. On September 8, Hieromonk Joseph administered unction to him (together with Fr. Theodore and Anatoly), and the next day he gave him communion. On the same day, the rector of Optina Hermitage, Archimandrite Isaac, came to the elder in Shamordino. The next day, October 10, 1891, at half past eleven, the elder, sighing three times and crossing himself with difficulty, died.

The funeral liturgy with the funeral service was performed in the Vvedensky Cathedral of Optina Pustyn. About 8 thousand people came to the funeral. On October 15, the elder’s body was interred on the southeastern side of the Vvedensky Cathedral, next to his teacher, Hieroschemamonk Macarius. It is very noteworthy that it was on this day, October 15, and just a year before his death, in 1890, that Elder Ambrose established a holiday in honor of miraculous icon The Mother of God “Different of the Loaves”, before whom he himself offered up his fervent prayers many times.

Immediately after his death, miracles began in which the elder, as in life, healed, instructed, and called for repentance.

Years passed. But the path to the elder’s grave was not overgrown. These are times of grave upheaval. Optina Pustyn was closed and ruined. The chapel at the elder’s grave was razed to the ground. But it was impossible to destroy the memory of the great saint of God. People randomly designated the location of the chapel and continued to flock to their mentor.

In November 1987, Optina Pustyn was returned to the Church. And in June 1988, the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Elder Ambrose of Optina was canonized. On October 23 (New Art.), the day of his death (the established day of his memory), a solemn bishop's service was performed in Optina Pustyn in front of a large crowd of pilgrims. By this time the relics of St. Ambrose had already been found. All those who participated in the celebration experienced on this day that pure and inexpressible joy that the holy elder so loved to bestow on those who came to him during his lifetime. A month later, on the anniversary of the revival of the monastery, by the grace of God a miracle happened: at night after the service in the Vvedensky Cathedral, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the relics, as well as the icon of St. Ambrose, streamed myrrh. Other miracles were performed from the relics of the elder, with which he certifies that he does not abandon us sinners through his intercession before our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever! Amen.

Venerable AMBROSIY OF OPTINA (†1891)

Reverend Ambrose was the third most famous and illustrious of all the Optina elders. He was not a bishop, an archimandrite, he was not even an abbot, he was a simple hieromonk. Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow once spoke very well about the humility of saints in front of the relics of our father Sergius of Radonezh:“I hear everything around you, Your Eminence, Your Reverence, you alone, father, just a reverend.”

This is how Ambrose, the elder of Optina, was. He could talk to everyone in his language: help an illiterate peasant woman who complained that turkeys were dying, and the lady would drive her out of the yard. Answer questions from F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy and other, the most educated people of that time. It was he who became the prototype of Elder Zosima from the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” and the spiritual mentor of all Orthodox Russia.

Alexander Grenkov, future father Ambrose, was born on November 21 or 23, 1812 , in the spiritual family of the village of Bolshie Lipovitsy, Tambov Diocese, grandfather is a priest, father, Mikhail Fedorovich, is a sexton. Before the birth of the child, so many guests came to the grandfather-priest that the mother, Marfa Nikolaevna, was transferred to the bathhouse, where she gave birth to a son, named in holy baptism in honor of the blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, and in this turmoil she forgot exactly what time the date he was born. Later, Alexander Grenkov, having already become an old man, joked: “Just as I was born in public, so I live in public.”

Alexander was the sixth of eight children in the family. At the age of 12 he entered the Tambov Theological School, which he brilliantly graduated first out of 148 people. Then he studied at the Tambov Seminary. However, he did not go to the Theological Academy or become a priest. For some time he was a home teacher in a landowner family, and then a teacher at the Lipetsk Theological School. Possessing a lively and cheerful character, kindness and wit, Alexander was very loved by his comrades. Before him, full of strength, talented, energetic, lay a brilliant life path, full of earthly joys and material well-being. In his last year at the Seminary, he had to suffer a dangerous illness, and he vowed to become a monk if he recovered.

Upon recovery, he did not forget his vow, but for four years he put off fulfilling it, “repenting,” as he put it. However, his conscience did not give him peace. And the more time passed, the more painful the remorse became. Periods of carefree fun and carelessness were followed by periods of acute melancholy and sadness, intense prayer and tears. Once, when he was already in Lipetsk, walking in a nearby forest, he, standing on the bank of a stream, clearly heard the words in its murmur:“Praise God, love God...”

At home, secluded from prying eyes, he fervently prayed to the Mother of God to enlighten his mind and direct his will. In general, he did not have a persistent will and already in old age he said to his spiritual children: “You must obey me from the first word. I am a compliant person. If you argue with me, I can give in to you, but it will not be to your advantage.”. Exhausted by his indecision, Alexander Mikhailovich went for advice to the famous ascetic Hilarion, who lived in that area.“Go to Optina,” the old man told him,- and you will be experienced.”

After tears and prayers in the Lavra worldly life, entertaining evenings at a party seemed so unnecessary and superfluous to Alexander that he decided to urgently and secretly leave for Optina. Perhaps he did not want the persuasion of friends and family to shake his determination to fulfill his vow to devote his life to God.

St. Vvedensky stauropegic monastery Optina Pustyn

Optina Pustyn. Vvedensky Cathedral

In the fall of 1839, he arrived in Optina Pustyn, where he was kindly received by Elder Leo. Soon he took monastic vows and was named Ambrose, in memory of St. Milan, then was ordained a hierodeacon and, later, a hieromonk. It was five years of labor, ascetic life, hard physical work.

When the famous spiritual writer E. Poselyanin lost his beloved wife, and his friends advised him to leave the world and go to a monastery, he answered: “I would be glad to leave the world, but in the monastery they will send me to work in the stables”. It is not known what kind of obedience they would give him, but he correctly felt that the monastery would try to humble his spirit in order to turn him from a spiritual writer into a spiritual worker.

So Alexander had to work in a bakery, bake bread, brew hops (yeast), and help the cook. With his brilliant abilities and knowledge of five languages, it probably would not have been easy for him to become just an assistant cook. These obediences cultivated in him humility, patience, and the ability to cut off his own will.

For some time he was a cell attendant and reader to Elder Leo, who especially loved the young novice, affectionately calling him Sasha. But for educational reasons, I experienced his humility in front of people. Pretended to thunder against him with anger. But he told others about him: “He will be a great man.” After the death of Elder Leo, the young man became the cell attendant of Elder Macarius.

Venerable Leo of Optina	Venerable Macarius Optinsky

Soon after his ordination, exhausted from fasting, he caught a severe cold. The illness was so severe and prolonged that it forever undermined the health of Father Ambrose and almost confined him to bed. Due to his illness, until his death he was unable to perform liturgies or participate in long monastic services. For the rest of his life, he could barely move, suffered from perspiration, so he changed clothes several times a day, could not stand the cold and drafts, and ate only liquid food, in an amount that would barely be enough for a three-year-old child.

Having comprehended Fr. Ambrose's serious illness undoubtedly had providential significance for him. She moderated his lively character, protected him, perhaps, from the development of conceit in him and forced him to go deeper into himself, to better understand himself and human nature. It’s not for nothing that subsequently Fr. Ambrose said: “It is good for a monk to be sick. And when you are sick, you don’t need to be treated, but only healed!”.

Perhaps none of the Optina elders bore such a heavy cross of illness as St. Ambrose. The words came true on it: “The power of God is made perfect in weakness.” Despite his illness, Father Ambrose remained in full obedience to Elder Macarius, reporting even the smallest things to him. With the blessing of the elder, he was engaged in the translation of patristic books, in particular, he prepared for publication the “Ladder” of St. John, abbot of Sinai, letters and the biography of Fr. Macarius and other books.

In addition, he soon began to gain fame as an experienced mentor and leader in matters not only of spiritual, but also of practical life. Even during the life of Elder Macarius, with his blessing, some of the brethren came to Fr. Ambrose for revelation of thoughts. So Elder Macarius gradually prepared himself a worthy successor, joking about this: “Look, look! Ambrose is taking away my bread.” When Elder Macarius reposed, circumstances developed in such a way that Fr. Ambrose gradually took his place.

He had an unusually lively, sharp, observant and insightful mind, enlightened and deepened by constant concentrated prayer, attention to himself and knowledge of ascetic literature. Despite his permanent illness and frailty, combined inexhaustible cheerfulness, and was able to give his instructions in such a simple and humorous form that they were easily and forever remembered by everyone who listened:

“We must live on earth the way a wheel turns, just one point touches the ground, and the rest tends upward; but we, as soon as we lie down, cannot get up.”

“Where it’s simple, there are a hundred angels, but where it’s sophisticated, there’s not a single one.”

“Don’t boast, peas, that you are better than beans; if you get wet, you’ll burst.”

“Why is a person bad? - Because he forgets that God is above him.”

“Whoever thinks that he has something will lose.”

“Living simpler is the best thing. Don’t break your head. Pray to God. The Lord will arrange everything, just live simpler. Don’t torment yourself, thinking about how and what to do. Let it be - as it happens - this is living simpler.”

“You need to live, don’t bother, don’t offend anyone, don’t annoy anyone, and my respects to everyone.”

“Live - don’t bother - be happy with everything. There’s nothing to understand here.”

“If you want to have love, then do things of love, even without love at first.”

Once they told him: “You, father, speak very simply.”, the old man smiled: “Yes, I’ve been asking God for this simplicity for twenty years.”.

The elder received crowds of people in his cell, did not refuse anyone, people flocked to him from all over the country. So for more than thirty years, day after day, Elder Ambrose accomplished his feat. Before Father Ambrose, none of the elders opened the doors of their cells to a woman. He not only accepted many women and was their spiritual father, but also founded a convent not far from the Optina Monastery - the Kazan Shamordin Monastery, which, unlike other convents of that time, accepted more poor and sick women.
The Shamordino monastery first of all satisfied that ardent thirst for mercy for the suffering, with which Fr. Ambrose. He sent many helpless people here. The elder took a very active part in the construction of the new monastery. Sometimes they would bring in a dirty, half-naked child, covered with rags and a rash from uncleanness and exhaustion. “Take him to Shamordino,” the elder orders (there is a shelter for the poorest girls). Here, in Shamordino, they did not ask whether a person was capable of bringing benefit and benefit to the monastery, but simply accepted everyone and put them to rest. By the 90s of the 19th century, the number of nuns in it reached 500 people.

O. Ambrose did not like to pray in public. The cell attendant who read the rule had to stand in another room. Once they were reading a prayer canon to the Mother of God, and one of the skete hieromonks decided at that time to approach the priest. Eyes o. Ambrose were directed towards the sky, his face shone with joy, a bright radiance rested on him, so that the priest could not bear it.

From morning until evening, the old man, depressed by illness, received visitors. People came to him with the most burning questions, which he internalized and lived with during the moment of conversation. He always immediately grasped the essence of the matter, explained it with incomprehensible wisdom and gave an answer. There were no secrets for him: he saw everything. stranger could come to him and be silent, but he knew his life, and his circumstances, and why he came here. The cell attendants, who continually brought visitors to the elder and took out visitors all day long, could barely stand on their feet. The elder himself lay unconscious at times. Sometimes, in order to somehow ease his foggy head, the elder ordered one or two of Krylov’s fables to be read to himself.

As for the healings, they were countless and impossible to list. The elder covered up these healings in every possible way. Sometimes he, as if as a joke, hits his head with his hand, and the illness goes away. It happened that the reader who was reading the prayers suffered from severe toothache. Suddenly the elder hit him. Those present grinned, thinking that the reader had made a mistake in reading. In fact, his toothache stopped. Knowing the elder, some women turned to him:“Father Abrosim! Beat me, my head hurts.”

From all over Russia, poor and rich, intelligentsia and common people flocked to the old man’s hut. And he received everyone with the same love and goodwill. People came to him for advice and for conversation. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, F.M. Dostoevsky, V.S. Soloviev, K.N. Leontyev (monk Clement), A.K. Tolstoy, L.N. Tolstoy, M.P. Pogodin and many others. V. Rozanov wrote: “Benefits flow from him spiritually and, finally, physically. Everyone is lifted up in spirit just by looking at him... The most principled people visited him (Fr. Ambrose), and no one said anything negative. Gold has passed through the fire of skepticism and has not tarnished.”

The spiritual power of the elder sometimes manifested itself in completely exceptional cases. One day Elder Ambrose, bent over, leaning on a stick, was walking from somewhere along the road to the monastery. Suddenly he imagined a picture: a loaded cart was standing, a dead horse was lying nearby, and a peasant was crying over it. The loss of a nursing horse in peasant life is a real disaster! Approaching the fallen horse, the elder began to slowly walk around it. Then, taking a twig, he whipped the horse, shouting at it: “Get up, lazy one!” - and the horse obediently rose to its feet.

Elder Ambrose was destined to meet the hour of his death in Shamordino. On June 2, 1890, as usual, he went there for the summer. At the end of summer, the elder tried three times to return to Optina, but was unable to due to ill health. A year later the disease worsened. He was given unction and received communion several times. Suddenly news came that the bishop himself, dissatisfied with the elder’s slowness, was going to come to Shamordino and take him away. Meanwhile, Elder Ambrose grew weaker every day. October 10, 1891 the elder, sighing three times and crossing himself with difficulty, died. And so, the bishop had barely managed to travel half the way to Shamordin and stopped to spend the night in the Przemysl monastery when he was given a telegram informing him of the death of the elder. The Eminence changed his face and said embarrassedly: “What does this mean?” The Eminence was advised to return to Kaluga, but he replied: “No, this is probably the will of God! Bishops do not perform funeral services for ordinary hieromonks, but this is a special hieromonk - I want to perform the funeral service for the elder myself.”

It was decided to transport him to Optina Pustyn, where he spent his life and where his spiritual leaders, the elders Leo and Macarius, rested. A heavy deathly smell soon began to be felt from the body of the deceased.

However, long ago he directly spoke about this circumstance to his cell attendant, Fr. Joseph. When the latter asked why this was so, the humble elder said: “This is for me because I have accepted too much undeserved honor in my life.”. But what is amazing is that the longer the body of the deceased stood in the church, the less the deathly smell began to be felt. And this despite the fact that there was unbearable heat in the church due to the multitude of people who hardly left the coffin for several days. On the last day of the elder’s funeral, a pleasant smell began to be felt from his body, as if from fresh honey.

In the drizzling autumn rain, none of the candles surrounding the coffin went out. The elder was buried on October 15, on that day Elder Ambrose established a holiday in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “The Spreader of the Loaves,” before which he himself offered up his fervent prayers many times. The marble tombstone is engraved with the words of the Apostle Paul:“I was weak, as I was weak, that I might gain the weak. I would be everything to everyone, so that I might save everyone” (1 Cor. 9:22).

The icon above the shrine of the holy elder Ambrose streams myrrh.

In June 1988, by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Monk Ambrose, the first of the Optina elders, was canonized.On the anniversary of the revival of the monastery, by the grace of God, a miracle occurred: at night after the service in the Vvedensky Cathedral, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the relics and the icon of St. Ambrose streamed myrrh. Other miracles were performed from the relics of the elder, with which he certifies that he does not abandon us sinners through his intercession before our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever, Amen.

Troparion, tone 5:
Like a healing source, we flow to you, Ambrose, our father, for you faithfully instruct us on the path of salvation, protect us with prayers from troubles and misfortunes, console us in bodily and mental sorrows, and, moreover, teach us humility, patience and love, pray to the Lover of Mankind, Christ and Zealous Intercessor for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion, voice 2:
Having fulfilled the covenant of the Chief Shepherd, you inherited the grace of eldership, sick at heart for all those who flow to you with faith, and we, your children, cry out to you with love: Holy Father Ambrose, pray to Christ God to save our souls.

Prayer to St. Ambrose, Elder of Optina
Oh, great elder and servant of God, reverend our father Ambrose, praise to the Optina and all Rus' teacher of piety! We glorify your humble life in Christ, which God has exalted your name, still existing on earth for you, but especially crowning you with heavenly honor after your departure to the palace of eternal glory. Accept now the prayer of us, your unworthy children, who honor you and call on your holy name, deliver us through your intercession before the Throne of God from all sorrowful circumstances, mental and physical ailments, evil misfortunes, corrupting and evil temptations, send peace to our Fatherland from the great-gifted God, peace and prosperity, be the immutable patron of this holy monastery, in which you yourself labored in prosperity and you have pleased our glorified God with all in the Trinity, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever forever and ever. Ah min.

OPTINA PUSTIN (2010)

The Monk Ambrose was the third most famous and illustrious of all the Optina elders. He was not a bishop, an archimandrite, he was not even an abbot, he was a simple hieromonk. Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow once spoke very well about the humility of saints in front of the relics of our father Sergius of Radonezh: “I hear everything around you, Your Eminence, Your Reverence, you alone, father, just a reverend.”

This is how Ambrose, the elder of Optina, was. He could talk to everyone in his language: help an illiterate peasant woman who complained that turkeys were dying, and the lady would drive her out of the yard. Answer questions from F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy and other, the most educated people of that time. It was he who became the prototype of Elder Zosima from the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” and the spiritual mentor of all Orthodox Russia.

Alexander Grenkov, future father Ambrose, was born on November 21 or 23, 1812, in the spiritual family of the village of Bolshiye Lipovitsy, Tambov Diocese, grandfather is a priest, father, Mikhail Fedorovich, is a sexton. Before the birth of the child, so many guests came to the grandfather-priest that the mother, Marfa Nikolaevna, was transferred to the bathhouse, where she gave birth to a son, named in holy baptism in honor of the blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, and in this turmoil she forgot exactly which the date he was born. Later, Alexander Grenkov, having already become an old man, joked: “Just as I was born in public, so I live in public.”

Alexander was the sixth of eight children in the family. At the age of 12 he entered the Tambov Theological School, which he brilliantly graduated first out of 148 people. Then he studied at the Tambov Seminary. However, he did not go to the Theological Academy or become a priest. For some time he was a home teacher in a landowner family, and then a teacher at the Lipetsk Theological School. Possessing a lively and cheerful character, kindness and wit, Alexander was very loved by his comrades. Before him, full of strength, talented, energetic, lay a brilliant life path, full of earthly joys and material well-being. In his last year at the Seminary, he had to suffer a dangerous illness, and he vowed to become a monk if he recovered.

Upon recovery, he did not forget his vow, but for four years he put off fulfilling it, “repenting,” as he put it. However, his conscience did not give him peace. And the more time passed, the more painful the remorse became. Periods of carefree fun and carelessness were followed by periods of acute melancholy and sadness, intense prayer and tears. Once, when he was already in Lipetsk, walking in a nearby forest, he, standing on the bank of a stream, clearly heard the words in its murmur: “Praise God, love God...”

At home, secluded from prying eyes, he fervently prayed to the Mother of God to enlighten his mind and direct his will. In general, he did not have a persistent will and already in old age he said to his spiritual children: “You must obey me from the first word. I am a compliant person. If you argue with me, I can give in to you, but it will not be to your advantage.”. Exhausted by his indecision, Alexander Mikhailovich went for advice to the famous ascetic Hilarion, who lived in that area. “Go to Optina,” the old man told him, - and you will be experienced.”

After tears and prayers in the Lavra, worldly life and entertaining evenings at a party seemed so unnecessary and superfluous to Alexander that he decided to urgently and secretly leave for Optina. Perhaps he did not want the persuasion of friends and family to shake his determination to fulfill his vow to devote his life to God.

St. Vvedensky stauropegic monastery Optina Pustyn

Optina Pustyn. Vvedensky Cathedral

In the fall of 1839, he arrived in Optina Pustyn, where he was kindly received by Elder Leo. Soon he took monastic vows and was named Ambrose, in memory of St. Milan, then was ordained a hierodeacon and, later, a hieromonk. It was five years of labor, ascetic life, hard physical work.

When the famous spiritual writer E. Poselyanin lost his beloved wife, and his friends advised him to leave the world and go to a monastery, he answered: “I would be glad to leave the world, but in the monastery they will send me to work in the stables”. It is not known what kind of obedience they would give him, but he correctly felt that the monastery would try to humble his spirit in order to turn him from a spiritual writer into a spiritual worker.

So Alexander had to work in a bakery, bake bread, brew hops (yeast), and help the cook. With his brilliant abilities and knowledge of five languages, it probably would not have been easy for him to become just an assistant cook. These obediences cultivated in him humility, patience, and the ability to cut off his own will.

For some time he was a cell attendant and reader to Elder Leo, who especially loved the young novice, affectionately calling him Sasha. But for educational reasons, I experienced his humility in front of people. Pretended to thunder against him with anger. But he told others about him: “He will be a great man.” After the death of Elder Leo, the young man became the cell attendant of Elder Macarius.

Venerable Leo of Optina	Venerable Macarius of Optina

Soon after his ordination, exhausted from fasting, he caught a severe cold. The illness was so severe and prolonged that it forever undermined the health of Father Ambrose and almost confined him to bed. Due to his illness, until his death he was unable to perform liturgies or participate in long monastic services. For the rest of his life, he could barely move, suffered from perspiration, so he changed clothes several times a day, could not stand the cold and drafts, and ate only liquid food, in an amount that would barely be enough for a three-year-old child.

Having comprehended Fr. Ambrose's serious illness undoubtedly had providential significance for him. She moderated his lively character, protected him, perhaps, from the development of conceit in him and forced him to go deeper into himself, to better understand himself and human nature. It’s not for nothing that subsequently Fr. Ambrose said: “It is good for a monk to be sick. And when you are sick, you don’t need to be treated, but only healed!”.

Perhaps none of the Optina elders bore such a heavy cross of illness as St. Ambrose. The words came true on it: “The power of God is made perfect in weakness.” Despite his illness, Father Ambrose remained in full obedience to Elder Macarius, reporting even the smallest things to him. With the blessing of the elder, he was engaged in the translation of patristic books, in particular, he prepared for publication the “Ladder” of St. John, abbot of Sinai, letters and the biography of Fr. Macarius and other books.

In addition, he soon began to gain fame as an experienced mentor and leader in matters not only of spiritual, but also of practical life. Even during the life of Elder Macarius, with his blessing, some of the brethren came to Fr. Ambrose for revelation of thoughts. So Elder Macarius gradually prepared himself a worthy successor, joking about this: “Look, look! Ambrose is taking away my bread.” When Elder Macarius reposed, circumstances developed in such a way that Fr. Ambrose gradually took his place.

He had an unusually lively, sharp, observant and insightful mind, enlightened and deepened by constant concentrated prayer, attention to himself and knowledge of ascetic literature. Despite his constant illness and frailty, he had an inexhaustible cheerfulness, and was able to give his instructions in such a simple and humorous form that they were easily and forever remembered by everyone who listened:

“We must live on earth the way a wheel turns, just one point touches the ground, and the rest tends upward; but we, as soon as we lie down, cannot get up.”

“Where it’s simple, there are a hundred angels, but where it’s sophisticated, there’s not a single one.”

“Don’t boast, peas, that you are better than beans; if you get wet, you’ll burst.”

“Why is a person bad? - Because he forgets that God is above him.”

“Whoever thinks that he has something will lose.”

“Living simpler is the best thing. Don’t break your head. Pray to God. The Lord will arrange everything, just live simpler. Don’t torment yourself, thinking about how and what to do. Let it be - as it happens - this is living simpler.”

“You need to live, don’t bother, don’t offend anyone, don’t annoy anyone, and my respects to everyone.”

“To live - not to grieve - to be happy with everything. There’s nothing to understand here.”

“If you want to have love, then do things of love, even without love at first.”

Once they told him: “You, father, speak very simply.”, the old man smiled: “Yes, I’ve been asking God for this simplicity for twenty years.”.

The elder received crowds of people in his cell, did not refuse anyone, people flocked to him from all over the country. So for more than thirty years, day after day, Elder Ambrose accomplished his feat. Before Father Ambrose, none of the elders opened the doors of their cells to a woman. He not only accepted many women and was their spiritual father, but also founded a convent not far from the Optina Monastery - the Kazan Shamordin Monastery, which, unlike other convents of that time, accepted more poor and sick women.
The Shamordino monastery first of all satisfied that ardent thirst for mercy for the suffering, with which Fr. Ambrose. He sent many helpless people here. The elder took a very active part in the construction of the new monastery. Sometimes they would bring in a dirty, half-naked child, covered with rags and a rash from uncleanness and exhaustion. “Take him to Shamordino,” the elder orders (there is a shelter for the poorest girls). Here, in Shamordino, they did not ask whether a person was capable of bringing benefit and benefit to the monastery, but simply accepted everyone and put them to rest. By the 90s of the 19th century, the number of nuns in it reached 500 people.

O. Ambrose did not like to pray in public. The cell attendant who read the rule had to stand in another room. Once they were reading a prayer canon to the Mother of God, and one of the skete hieromonks decided at that time to approach the priest. Eyes o. Ambrose were directed towards the sky, his face shone with joy, a bright radiance rested on him, so that the priest could not bear it.

From morning until evening, the old man, depressed by illness, received visitors. People came to him with the most burning questions, which he internalized and lived with during the moment of conversation. He always immediately grasped the essence of the matter, explained it with incomprehensible wisdom and gave an answer. There were no secrets for him: he saw everything. A stranger could come to him and be silent, but he knew his life, and his circumstances, and why he came here. The cell attendants, who continually brought visitors to the elder and took out visitors all day long, could barely stand on their feet. The elder himself lay unconscious at times. Sometimes, in order to somehow ease his foggy head, the elder ordered one or two of Krylov’s fables to be read to himself.

As for the healings, they were countless and impossible to list. The elder covered up these healings in every possible way. Sometimes he, as if as a joke, hits his head with his hand, and the illness goes away. It happened that the reader who was reading the prayers suffered from severe toothache. Suddenly the elder hit him. Those present grinned, thinking that the reader had made a mistake in reading. In fact, his toothache stopped. Knowing the elder, some women turned to him: “Father Abrosim! Beat me, my head hurts.”

From all over Russia, poor and rich, intelligentsia and common people flocked to the old man’s hut. And he received everyone with the same love and goodwill. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, F.M. came to him for advice and for conversation. Dostoevsky, V.S. Soloviev, K.N. Leontyev (monk Clement), A.K. Tolstoy, L.N. Tolstoy, M.P. Pogodin and many others. V. Rozanov wrote: “Benefits flow from him spiritually and, finally, physically. Everyone is lifted up in spirit just by looking at him... The most principled people visited him (Fr. Ambrose), and no one said anything negative. Gold has passed through the fire of skepticism and has not tarnished.”

The spiritual power of the elder sometimes manifested itself in completely exceptional cases. One day Elder Ambrose, bent over, leaning on a stick, was walking from somewhere along the road to the monastery. Suddenly he imagined a picture: a loaded cart was standing, a dead horse was lying nearby, and a peasant was crying over it. The loss of a nursing horse in peasant life is a real disaster! Approaching the fallen horse, the elder began to slowly walk around it. Then, taking a twig, he whipped the horse, shouting at it: “Get up, lazy one!” - and the horse obediently rose to its feet.

Elder Ambrose was destined to meet the hour of his death in Shamordino. On June 2, 1890, as usual, he went there for the summer. At the end of summer, the elder tried three times to return to Optina, but was unable to due to ill health. A year later the disease worsened. He was given unction and received communion several times. Suddenly news came that the bishop himself, dissatisfied with the elder’s slowness, was going to come to Shamordino and take him away. Meanwhile, Elder Ambrose grew weaker every day. October 10, 1891 the elder, sighing three times and crossing himself with difficulty, died. And so, the bishop had barely managed to travel half the way to Shamordin and stopped to spend the night in the Przemysl monastery when he was given a telegram informing him of the death of the elder. The Eminence changed his face and said embarrassedly: “What does this mean?” The Eminence was advised to return to Kaluga, but he replied: “No, this is probably the will of God! Bishops do not perform funeral services for ordinary hieromonks, but this is a special hieromonk - I want to perform the funeral service for the elder myself.”

It was decided to transport him to Optina Pustyn, where he spent his life and where his spiritual leaders, the elders Leo and Macarius, rested. A heavy deathly smell soon began to be felt from the body of the deceased.

However, long ago he directly spoke about this circumstance to his cell attendant, Fr. Joseph. When the latter asked why this was so, the humble elder said: “This is for me because I have accepted too much undeserved honor in my life.”. But what is amazing is that the longer the body of the deceased stood in the church, the less the deathly smell began to be felt. And this despite the fact that there was unbearable heat in the church due to the multitude of people who hardly left the coffin for several days. On the last day of the elder’s funeral, a pleasant smell began to be felt from his body, as if from fresh honey.

In the drizzling autumn rain, none of the candles surrounding the coffin went out. The elder was buried on October 15, on that day Elder Ambrose established a holiday in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “The Spreader of the Loaves,” before which he himself offered up his fervent prayers many times. The marble tombstone is engraved with the words of the Apostle Paul: “I was weak, as I was weak, that I might gain the weak. I would be everything to everyone, so that I might save everyone” (1 Cor. 9:22).

The icon above the shrine of the holy elder Ambrose streams myrrh.

In June 1988, by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Monk Ambrose, the first of the Optina elders, was canonized. On the anniversary of the revival of the monastery, by the grace of God, a miracle occurred: at night after the service in the Vvedensky Cathedral, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the relics and the icon of St. Ambrose streamed myrrh. Other miracles were performed from the relics of the elder, with which he certifies that he does not abandon us sinners through his intercession before our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever, Amen.

Troparion, tone 5:
Like a healing source, we flow to you, Ambrose, our father, for you faithfully instruct us on the path of salvation, protect us with prayers from troubles and misfortunes, console us in bodily and mental sorrows, and, moreover, teach us humility, patience and love, pray to the Lover of Mankind, Christ and Zealous Intercessor for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion, voice 2:
Having fulfilled the covenant of the Chief Shepherd, you inherited the grace of eldership, sick at heart for all those who flow to you with faith, and we, your children, cry out to you with love: Holy Father Ambrose, pray to Christ God to save our souls.

Prayer to St. Ambrose, Elder of Optina
Oh, great elder and servant of God, reverend our father Ambrose, praise to the Optina and all Rus' teacher of piety! We glorify your humble life in Christ, by which God has exalted your name while you were still on earth, especially crowning you with heavenly honor upon your departure to the chamber of eternal glory. Accept now the prayer of us, your unworthy children, who honor you and call on your holy name, deliver us through your intercession before the Throne of God from all sorrowful circumstances, mental and physical ailments, evil misfortunes, corrupting and evil temptations, send peace to our Fatherland from the great-gifted God, peace and prosperity, be the immutable patron of this holy monastery, in which you yourself labored in prosperity and you have pleased our glorified God with all in the Trinity, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever forever and ever. Amen.

Elder Ambrose's foresight was combined with another most valuable gift, especially for a shepherd - prudence. The elder often gave instructions in a half-joking form, but this did not diminish the deep meaning of his speeches.

People involuntarily thought about the figurative expressions of Father Ambrose and remembered this lesson for a long time. Often at general receptions the question was heard: “How to live?” The elder answered complacently: “We must live on earth as a wheel turns, just one point touches the ground, and the rest tends upward; and even if we lie down, we can’t get up.”

“God gives grace to the humble”

One nun was severely reprimanded by the abbess for involuntary disobedience. She was hurt and offended, but, suppressing her pride, she fell silent and only asked for forgiveness. Returning to her cell, she noticed that her soul was light and joyful. In the evening of the same day, she reported everything that had happened to Father Ambrose. The elder said: “This incident is providential, remember it. The Lord wanted to show you how sweet the fruit of humility is, so that, having felt it, you would always force yourself to humility, first to the external, and then to the internal. When a person forces himself to humble himself, the Lord comforts him internally, and this is the grace that God gives to the humble. Self-justification only seems to make it easier, but in fact it brings darkness and confusion to the soul.”

About self-conceit

Father Ambrose tirelessly warned his spiritual children about the dangers of conceit and pride. The priest told one of the visitors, who had a vain thought, a parable: “One hermit was chosen as a bishop; he refused for a long time, but they insisted. Then he thought: I didn’t know that I was worthy, surely I have something good. At this time, an angel appeared to him and said: “Ryadniche (ordinary monk), why are you ascending, people there have sinned and they need punishment, that’s why they chose him, because they couldn’t find someone worse than you.” The elder said: “Memory, envy, hatred and similar passions lie within and are born and grow from the inner root of pride. No matter how you cut off the branches from the outside, as long as this root is raw and fresh and no means are used to cut the internal branches of this root, through which the harmful moisture penetrates and produces external shoots, the labor will be in vain. The ax to destroy the root of self-love is faith, humility, obedience and cutting off one’s desires and understandings.”

About the fight against sins

“Why do people sin?” - the elder sometimes asked a question and answered it himself: “Either because they do not know what to do and what to avoid, or, if they know, they forget, or are lazy, or are despondent... These are three giants - despondency or laziness , oblivion and ignorance - from which the entire human race is bound by insoluble bonds. And then comes negligence with all its host of evil passions.”

On the patience of sorrows and insults

To those who complained about sorrows, the elder said: “If the sun always shines, then everything in the field will wither; That's why it needs rain. If everything rains, then everything will trample; That's why you need wind to blow through. And if there is not enough wind, then a storm is also needed for everything to blow through. All this is useful to a person in due time, because he is changeable.”

“When someone annoys you, never ask why or why.” This is nowhere in Scripture. It says the opposite: they will hit you on your right cheek, turn your left also; and this is what it means: if they beat you for the truth, then do not complain and give the left one, that is, remember your wrong deeds, and you will see that you are worthy of punishment.”

Human weakness

When someone told the priest “I can’t” (to endure or do something), he often told about one merchant who kept saying: “I can’t, I can’t - I’m weak.” And once he had to travel across Siberia; he was wrapped in two fur coats and dozed off at night; he opened his eyes and suddenly saw - like a radiance in front of him, everything seemed to be flashing by wolves; looks - they really are wolves. How he jumps... yes, forgetting about the weight of his fur coats, straight onto the tree!

About the dangers of praise

“When people praise you, you should not pay attention to it, not respond or argue. Let them praise, but only realize within yourself whether you are worthy of praise or not. If you contradict, then hypocrisy will result; after all, you still have a subtle feeling of pleasure from praise; and even those whom you contradict will not believe you, so when they praise you, don’t say anything, lower your eyes, and be silent.”

About repentance

The elder said about repentance: “What a time has come now! It used to happen that if someone sincerely repents of their sins, they will already change their sinful life to a good one; and now it often happens like this: a person will tell all his sins in detail in confession, and then again take up his own.”

“It is not the food that matters, but the commandment”

One opponent of fasting said to the priest: “Does it matter to God what kind of food?” To this the elder replied: “It is not the food that matters, but the commandment; Adam was expelled from paradise not for eating, but for eating, only for eating what was forbidden. Why is it that even now on Thursday or Tuesday you can eat whatever you want and are not punished for it, but on Wednesday and Friday you are punished because you do not obey the commandments. What is especially important here is that obedience is developed through obedience.”

“Turkeys are her whole life.”

One day, the old man was stopped by a woman who had been hired by the landowner to go after the turkeys, but for some reason her turkeys were dead, and the landlady wanted to pay her off. “Father! - she turned to him with tears, - I don’t have the strength: I can’t finish eating them myself - I’m closer than my eyes, but they’re hurting. The lady wants to drive me away. Have pity on me, darling." Those present laughed at her. And the elder asked her with sympathy how she fed them, and gave her advice on how to support them differently, blessed her and sent her away. To those who laughed at her, he noticed that her whole life was in these turkeys. Afterwards it became known that the woman’s turkeys no longer died.

Sad Comforter

Prudence and insight were combined in Elder Ambrose with an amazing, purely maternal tenderness of heart, thanks to which he was able to alleviate the heaviest grief and console the most sorrowful soul.

For forgiveness and advice

This is an eyewitness account of how the elder arranged the fate of one already desperate young woman. She was the daughter of a famous merchant, educated but modest. The girl became interested in the young professor and was already expecting a child, but his father refused to marry her. The angry merchant kicked his daughter out of the house with nothing. One must imagine that at that time the attitude towards similar situations was the most severe, and a girl who found herself in such a situation covered herself with shame for the rest of her life. She crossed over to a neighboring town, handed the child over to some bourgeois woman, promising to pay for his upbringing, and went to Optina Pustyn to Elder Ambrose “for forgiveness and advice.” Having reached Optina, she, in the crowd of visitors waiting for the elder, prepared for a difficult, shameful confession. Imagine her bewilderment and embarrassment when, bypassing everyone, Father Ambrose called her from afar, and as soon as she approached the elder, he kindly and sympathetically asked her where she had left the baby she had given birth to. She told everything in tears. Then he told her to immediately take the child, return to her father’s city, “and God will send money for food.” She did just that. The boy grew up to be extremely capable, studied well, the woman, with the blessing of the elder, began to paint icons, which is how she earned her living, leading a pious life, in works and prayers, often visiting Father Ambrose, who treated her son with special love and attention. Over time, the woman’s father softened and began to financially support his daughter and grandson.

“Your telegram was cut short”

One resident of Kozelsk, three years after the elder’s death, in 1894, told the following about herself: “I had a son, he served at the telegraph office, delivering telegrams. Father knew both him and me. My son often brought him telegrams, and I went for a blessing. But then my son fell ill with consumption and died. I came to him - we all went to him with our grief. He patted me on the head and said: “Your telegram was cut short!” - “It’s broken,” I say, “father!” - and cried. And my soul felt so light from his caress, as if a stone had been lifted. We lived with him as with our own father. Now there are no such elders anymore. And maybe God will send more!”

“Who is crying so bitterly here?”

One young girl with a good education, aspiring to better life, but exhausted by her internal duality, doubts, the emptiness of life and the interests of her environment, unconsciously, under the influence of stories about the elder, she went to see him in Optina, without having any specific goal in mind. The elder was holding an all-night vigil in his cell. There were a lot of people. Standing with everyone, the girl felt some inexplicable excitement. A gracious warmth filled her heart. Looking at the large image of the Mother of God “It is worthy to eat,” she suddenly felt as if the affection of the Queen of Heaven Herself and, without noticing it herself, began to cry bitterly. Suddenly an old man comes out of his cell and, with a face full of compassionate love and sympathy, asks: “Who is crying so bitterly here?” They answered him: “No one, father, is crying.” “No,” the elder repeated, “someone is crying here.” The girl was deeply amazed. From that moment on, her fate was sealed. She asked the elder to accept her into the monastery in Shamordino. Soon her mother arrived to “snatch her daughter from this terrible monastic world.” With sorrow and reproaches she went to the priest. The elder offered her a chair. Several minutes of conversation passed, and the distressed mother involuntarily, not understanding what was happening to her, got up from the chair and knelt down next to the old man. The conversation continued, but the girl’s mother was already in a completely different state. Soon her mother, who also entered the monastery, joined the nun daughter.

Healing the sick

As for the healings through the prayer of the elder, they were countless. The elder covered up these healings in every possible way: he sent the sick to holy springs, directed them to St. Mitrophan of Voronezh, so that they would think that they were healed through prayers to the saint. Sometimes he, as if as a joke, hits his head with his hand, and the illness goes away. One day, a reader who was reading prayers suffered from severe toothache. Suddenly the elder hit him. Those present grinned, thinking that the reader must have made a mistake in reading. In fact, his toothache stopped. Knowing the elder, some women turned to him: “Father Abrosim! Beat me, my head hurts.”

“It’s not I who heal, but the Queen of Heaven”

The story of one of the elder’s spiritual daughters, who was brought to him by a friend for healing. For a long time she suffered from a throat disease that none of the doctors could cope with, and had already reached such a state that she could not swallow food: “When I went up to the priest’s room with Mrs. Klyuchareva, she knelt before him and began to cry ask: “Father! Heal her as you know how to heal.” The Elder became very angry at these words and ordered Mrs. Klyuchareva to leave immediately. He said to me: “It is not I who heal, but the Queen of Heaven; turn and pray to Her.” There was an image hanging in the corner of the room Holy Mother of God. Then he asked where his throat hurt. I showed right side thereof. The elder crossed the sore spot three times with prayer. It was as if I immediately received some kind of cheerfulness. Having accepted the priest’s blessing and thanked him for his gracious welcome, I left. I arrived at the hotel, where my husband and a lady I knew were waiting for me... In front of them, I tried to swallow a piece of bread to make sure whether I felt better through the prayers of the elder. Before, I couldn't swallow anything solid. And suddenly - what was my joy! “I was pain-free, very easy, I could eat everything, and until now the pain has never returned, 15 years have already passed.”

Healing a sick child

“One summer,” said the Optina monk Pamva, “I had to be in Kaluga. On the way back to Optina Pustyn, a priest with his wife and a boy of about eleven caught up with me. Having talked about Father Ambrose, the priest Father John said that his parish was not far from the Podborok station, in the village of Alopov, and that this boy, his son, was born through the holy prayers of Elder Ambrose. The priest's wife confirmed her husband's words. “The truth is true,” she told me. “We didn’t have children. We were bored and often came to Father, who consoled us, saying that he was praying to the Lord God for us. We had this very boy. Besides him, We have no children." The priest said the following: “At one time, our son’s eye fell ill. My wife and I went to Kozelsk to see a doctor, but first we stopped in Optina and came to Father Ambrose. The elder, blessing the boy, began to lightly hit the sore eye ". My hair stood on end for fear that the old man would hurt the boy's eye. The mother began to cry. And what happened? We came from the old man to the hotel, and the boy told us that his eye was better, and the pain in him subsided, and then completely passed. Having thanked the priest, we returned home, glorifying and thanking God."

“Get up, lazy one!”

One day Elder Ambrose, bent over, leaning on a stick, was walking from somewhere along the road to the monastery. Suddenly he imagined a picture: a loaded cart was standing, a dead horse was lying nearby, and a peasant was crying over it. The loss of a nursing horse in peasant life is a real disaster! Approaching the fallen horse, the elder began to slowly walk around it. Then, taking a twig, he whipped the horse, shouting at it: “Get up, lazy one!” - and the horse obediently rose to its feet.

About the benefits of monasticism

At that time, a low opinion of monasticism and monks was widespread in secular society, who were reproached for ignorance, idleness, etc. The universal worship of education, science and the human mind led to a humiliation of the importance of spiritual life and prayerful feats. Exposing these accusations, the elder wrote: “The opinion that in monasteries the monk and hieromonk should be educated would have some probability if the twelve chosen disciples of Christ the Savior were educated. But the Lord, in order to disgrace human pride and arrogance, chose His disciples, simple fishermen, who simply and quickly believed in His teaching. And in order to convert and lead the educated Saul to faith, it was necessary to first punish him with blindness. Because the educated believe uncomfortably and do not easily humble themselves, inflated by scientific knowledge.

If the eloquent preacher against monasticism had lived at least three months in some deserted monastery and attended all church services, getting up every morning at two o’clock or earlier, then he would have learned by experience how “monks in monasteries do nothing.”

No matter how bad monasticism is, the evil Satan wants in every possible way to destroy bad monasticism. Apparently it is salty to him and greatly hinders his intrigues and evil deeds. That is why he incites the educated people who are submissive to himself against the monastics. Every society needs educated, average and simple people. If everyone were educated, then who would do the lesser tasks..."

The Monk Ambrose was the third most famous and illustrious of all the Optina elders. He was not a bishop, an archimandrite, he was not even an abbot, he was a simple hieromonk. Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow once spoke very well about the humility of saints in front of the relics of our father Sergius of Radonezh: “ I hear everything around you, Your Eminence, Your Reverence, you alone, father, just a reverend».

This is how Ambrose, the elder of Optina, was. He could talk to everyone in his language: help an illiterate peasant woman who complained that turkeys were dying, and the lady would drive her out of the yard. Answer questions from F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy and other, the most educated people of that time. It was he who became the prototype of Elder Zosima from the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” and the spiritual mentor of all Orthodox Russia.

http://files.predanie.ru/mp3/%C6%E8%F2%E8%FF%20%F1%E2%FF%F2%FB%F5%2C%20%F7%F2%E8%EC%FB %F5%20%EF%F0%E0%E2%EE%F1%EB%E0%E2%ED%EE%E9%20%F6%E5%F0%EA%EE%E2%FC%FE/104_%CF %F0%EF.%20%C0%EC%E2%F0%EE%F1%E8%FF%20%CE%EF%F2%E8%ED%F1%EA%EE%E3%EE%20%281891% 29.mp3

Alexander Grenkov, future father Ambrose, was born on November 21 or 23, 1812, in the spiritual family of the village of Bolshiye Lipovitsy, Tambov Diocese, grandfather is a priest, father, Mikhail Fedorovich, is a sexton. Before the birth of the child, so many guests came to the grandfather-priest that the mother, Marfa Nikolaevna, was transferred to the bathhouse, where she gave birth to a son, named in holy baptism in honor of the blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, and in this turmoil she forgot exactly which the date he was born. Later, Alexander Grenkov, having already become an old man, joked: “ Just as I was born in public, so I live in public».

Alexander was the sixth of eight children in the family. At the age of 12 he entered the Tambov Theological School, which he brilliantly graduated first out of 148 people. Then he studied at the Tambov Seminary. However, he did not go to the Theological Academy or become a priest. For some time he was a home teacher in a landowner family, and then a teacher at the Lipetsk Theological School. Possessing a lively and cheerful character, kindness and wit, Alexander was very loved by his comrades. Before him, full of strength, talented, energetic, lay a brilliant life path, full of earthly joys and material well-being. In his last year at the Seminary, he had to suffer a dangerous illness, and he vowed to become a monk if he recovered.

Upon recovery, he did not forget his vow, but for four years he put off fulfilling it, “repenting,” as he put it. However, his conscience did not give him peace. And the more time passed, the more painful the remorse became. Periods of carefree fun and carelessness were followed by periods of acute melancholy and sadness, intense prayer and tears. Once, when he was already in Lipetsk, walking in a nearby forest, he, standing on the bank of a stream, clearly heard the words in its murmur: “ Praise God, love God...».

At home, secluded from prying eyes, he fervently prayed to the Mother of God to enlighten his mind and direct his will. In general, he did not have a persistent will and already in old age he said to his spiritual children: “ You must obey me from the first word. I am a compliant person. If you argue with me, I may give in to you, but it will not be to your advantage." Exhausted by his indecision, Alexander Mikhailovich went for advice to the famous ascetic Hilarion, who lived in that area. " Go to Optina, - the old man told him, - and you will be experienced».

After tears and prayers in the Lavra, worldly life and entertaining evenings at a party seemed so unnecessary and superfluous to Alexander that he decided to urgently and secretly leave for Optina. Perhaps he did not want the persuasion of friends and family to shake his determination to fulfill his vow to devote his life to God.

St. Vvedensky stauropegic monastery Optina Pustyn

Optina Pustyn. Vvedensky Cathedral

In the fall of 1839, he arrived in Optina Pustyn, where he was kindly received by Elder Leo. Soon he took monastic vows and was named Ambrose, in memory of St. Milan, then was ordained a hierodeacon and, later, a hieromonk. It was five years of labor, ascetic life, hard physical work.

When the famous spiritual writer E. Poselyanin lost his beloved wife, and his friends advised him to leave the world and go to a monastery, he answered: “ I would be glad to leave the world, but in the monastery they will send me to work in the stables" It is not known what kind of obedience they would give him, but he correctly felt that the monastery would try to humble his spirit in order to turn him from a spiritual writer into a spiritual worker.

So Alexander had to work in a bakery, bake bread, brew hops (yeast), and help the cook. With his brilliant abilities and knowledge of five languages, it probably would not have been easy for him to become just an assistant cook. These obediences cultivated in him humility, patience, and the ability to cut off his own will.

For some time he was a cell attendant and reader to Elder Leo, who especially loved the young novice, affectionately calling him Sasha. But for educational reasons, I experienced his humility in front of people. Pretended to thunder against him with anger. But he told others about him: “He will be a great man.” After the death of Elder Leo, the young man became the cell attendant of Elder Macarius.

Venerable Leo of Optina Venerable Macarius of Optina

Soon after his ordination, exhausted from fasting, he caught a severe cold. The illness was so severe and prolonged that it forever undermined the health of Father Ambrose and almost confined him to bed. Due to his illness, until his death he was unable to perform liturgies or participate in long monastic services. For the rest of his life, he could barely move, suffered from perspiration, so he changed clothes several times a day, could not stand the cold and drafts, and ate only liquid food, in an amount that would barely be enough for a three-year-old child.

Having comprehended Fr. Ambrose's serious illness undoubtedly had providential significance for him. She moderated his lively character, protected him, perhaps, from the development of conceit in him and forced him to go deeper into himself, to better understand himself and human nature. It’s not for nothing that subsequently Fr. Ambrose said: “ It is good for a monk to be sick. And when you are sick, you don’t need to be treated, but only healed!”.

Perhaps none of the Optina elders bore such a heavy cross of illness as St. Ambrose. The words came true on it: “ The power of God is made perfect in weakness" Despite his illness, Father Ambrose remained in full obedience to Elder Macarius, reporting even the smallest things to him. With the blessing of the elder, he was engaged in the translation of patristic books, in particular, he prepared for publication the “Ladder” of St. John, abbot of Sinai, letters and the biography of Fr. Macarius and other books.

Cell of Elder Ambrose of Optina

In addition, he soon began to gain fame as an experienced mentor and leader in matters not only of spiritual, but also of practical life. Even during the life of Elder Macarius, with his blessing, some of the brethren came to Fr. Ambrose for revelation of thoughts. So Elder Macarius gradually prepared himself a worthy successor, joking about this: “Look, look! Ambrose is taking away my bread.” When Elder Macarius reposed, circumstances developed in such a way that Fr. Ambrose gradually took his place.

He had an unusually lively, sharp, observant and insightful mind, enlightened and deepened by constant concentrated prayer, attention to himself and knowledge of ascetic literature. Despite his constant illness and frailty, he had an inexhaustible cheerfulness, and was able to give his instructions in such a simple and humorous form that they were easily and forever remembered by everyone who listened:

“We must live on earth as a wheel turns, just one point touches the ground, and the rest tends upward; and even if we lie down, we can’t get up.”

“Where it’s simple, there are a hundred angels, but where it’s sophisticated, there’s not a single one.”

“Don’t boast, peas, that you are better than beans; if you get wet, you’ll burst.”

“Why is a person bad? “Because he forgets that God is above him.”

“Whoever thinks that he has something will lose.”

“Living simpler is best. Don't break your head. Pray to God. The Lord will arrange everything, just live easier. Don't torture yourself thinking about how and what to do. Let it be - as it happens - this is living easier.”

“You need to live, not bother, not offend anyone, not annoy anyone, and my respect to everyone.”

“To live - not to grieve - to be satisfied with everything. There’s nothing to understand here.”

“If you want to have love, then do things of love, even without love at first.”

Once they told him: “ Father, you speak very simply", the old man smiled: " Yes, I asked God for this simplicity for twenty years».

The elder received crowds of people in his cell, did not refuse anyone, people flocked to him from all over the country. So for more than thirty years, day after day, Elder Ambrose accomplished his feat. Before Father Ambrose, none of the elders opened the doors of their cells to a woman. He not only accepted many women and was their spiritual father, but also founded a convent not far from the Optina Monastery - the Kazan Shamordin Monastery, which, unlike other convents of that time, accepted more poor and sick women.

The Shamordino monastery first of all satisfied that ardent thirst for mercy for the suffering, with which Fr. Ambrose. He sent many helpless people here. The elder took a very active part in the construction of the new monastery. Sometimes they would bring in a dirty, half-naked child, covered with rags and a rash from uncleanness and exhaustion. “Take him to Shamordino,” the elder orders (there is a shelter for the poorest girls). Here, in Shamordino, they did not ask whether a person was capable of bringing benefit and benefit to the monastery, but simply accepted everyone and put them to rest. By the 90s of the 19th century, the number of nuns in it reached 500 people.

Shamordino. Kazan Amvrosievskaya women's hermitage

O. Ambrose did not like to pray in public. The cell attendant who read the rule had to stand in another room. Once they were reading a prayer canon to the Mother of God, and one of the skete hieromonks decided at that time to approach the priest. Eyes o. Ambrose were directed towards the sky, his face shone with joy, a bright radiance rested on him, so that the priest could not bear it.

From morning until evening, the old man, depressed by illness, received visitors. People came to him with the most burning questions, which he internalized and lived with during the moment of conversation. He always immediately grasped the essence of the matter, explained it with incomprehensible wisdom and gave an answer. There were no secrets for him: he saw everything. A stranger could come to him and be silent, but he knew his life, and his circumstances, and why he came here. The cell attendants, who continually brought visitors to the elder and took out visitors all day long, could barely stand on their feet. The elder himself lay unconscious at times. Sometimes, in order to somehow ease his foggy head, the elder ordered one or two of Krylov’s fables to be read to himself.

As for the healings, they were countless and impossible to list. The elder covered up these healings in every possible way. Sometimes he, as if as a joke, hits his head with his hand, and the illness goes away. It happened that the reader who was reading the prayers suffered from severe toothache. Suddenly the elder hit him. Those present grinned, thinking that the reader had made a mistake in reading. In fact, his toothache stopped. Knowing the elder, some women turned to him: “ Father Abrosim! Beat me, my head hurts».

From all over Russia, poor and rich, intelligentsia and common people flocked to the old man’s hut. And he received everyone with the same love and goodwill. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, F.M. came to him for advice and for conversation. Dostoevsky, V.S. Soloviev, K.N. Leontyev (monk Clement), A.K. Tolstoy, L.N. Tolstoy, M.P. Pogodin and many others. V. Rozanov wrote: “ Benefit flows from him spiritually and, finally, physically. Everyone is lifted up in spirit just by looking at him... The most principled people visited him (Fr. Ambrose), and no one said anything negative. Gold has passed through the fire of skepticism and has not tarnished».

The spiritual power of the elder sometimes manifested itself in completely exceptional cases. One day Elder Ambrose, bent over, leaning on a stick, was walking from somewhere along the road to the monastery. Suddenly he imagined a picture: a loaded cart was standing, a dead horse was lying nearby, and a peasant was crying over it. The loss of a nursing horse in peasant life is a real disaster! Approaching the fallen horse, the elder began to slowly walk around it. Then, taking a twig, he whipped the horse, shouting at it: “Get up, lazy one!” - and the horse obediently rose to its feet.

Elder Ambrose was destined to meet the hour of his death in Shamordino. On June 2, 1890, as usual, he went there for the summer. At the end of summer, the elder tried three times to return to Optina, but was unable to due to ill health. A year later the disease worsened. He was given unction and received communion several times. Suddenly news came that the bishop himself, dissatisfied with the elder’s slowness, was going to come to Shamordino and take him away. Meanwhile, Elder Ambrose grew weaker every day. October 10, 1891 elder, sighing three times and crossing himself with difficulty, died. And so, the bishop had barely managed to travel half the way to Shamordin and stopped to spend the night in the Przemysl monastery when he was given a telegram informing him of the death of the elder. The Eminence changed his face and said embarrassedly: “What does this mean?” The Eminence was advised to return to Kaluga, but he replied: “No, this is probably the will of God! Bishops do not perform funeral services for ordinary hieromonks, but this is a special hieromonk - I want to perform the funeral service for the elder myself.”

It was decided to transport him to Optina Pustyn, where he spent his life and where his spiritual leaders, the elders Leo and Macarius, rested. A heavy deathly smell soon began to be felt from the body of the deceased.

However, long ago he directly spoke about this circumstance to his cell attendant, Fr. Joseph. When the latter asked why this was so, the humble elder said: “ This is for me because in my life I accepted too much undeserved honor" But what is amazing is that the longer the body of the deceased stood in the church, the less the deathly smell began to be felt. And this despite the fact that there was unbearable heat in the church due to the multitude of people who hardly left the coffin for several days. On the last day of the elder’s funeral, a pleasant smell began to be felt from his body, as if from fresh honey.

Optina Pustyn. Temple in honor Vladimir icon Mother of God

In the drizzling autumn rain, none of the candles surrounding the coffin went out. The elder was buried on October 15, on that day Elder Ambrose established a holiday in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “The Spreader of the Loaves,” before which he himself offered up his fervent prayers many times. The marble tombstone is engraved with the words of the Apostle Paul: “ I was weak, as I was weak, that I might gain the weak. Everyone would be everything, but I’ll save everyone"(1 Cor. 9:22).

The icon above the shrine of the holy elder Ambrose streams myrrh.

In June 1988, by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Monk Ambrose, the first of the Optina elders, was canonized. On the anniversary of the revival of the monastery, by the grace of God, a miracle occurred: at night after the service in the Vvedensky Cathedral, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the relics and the icon of St. Ambrose streamed myrrh. Other miracles were performed from the relics of the elder, with which he certifies that he does not abandon us sinners through his intercession before our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever, Amen.

Troparion, tone 5:
Like a healing source, we flow to you, Ambrose, our father, for you faithfully instruct us on the path of salvation, protect us with prayers from troubles and misfortunes, console us in bodily and mental sorrows, and, moreover, teach us humility, patience and love, pray to the Lover of Mankind, Christ and Zealous Intercessor for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion, voice 2:
Having fulfilled the covenant of the Chief Shepherd, you inherited the grace of eldership, sick at heart for all those who flow to you with faith, and we, your children, cry out to you with love: Holy Father Ambrose, pray to Christ God to save our souls.

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OPTINA PUSTIN (2010)