The asceticism of St. Theophan the Re­cluse as a key to the pastoral guidance of Archimandrite Ioann (Krestyankin) as exemplified by one letter

Abstract

The article attempts to comprehensively analize the letter of Archimandrite Ioann (Krestyankin) to an unidentified hierodeacon. The letter has been regularly published since 2004 in collections of Archiman­drite Ioann's epistolary legacy. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that the topic of the letter's dating has been examined and it has been estab­lished that the author, in a slightly paraphrased form, quotes the report of Metropolitan Youvenaliy of Krutitsy on the day of the canonization of His Eminence Theophan (Govorov) on June 6, 1988. It has been established that the letter was accompanied by an enclosure of a typewritten text by St. Theophan “Consolation in Sorrows”. The letter and the enclosure briefly discuss the topic of eternal and temporal torment, the monastic vow of obedience, and the vows of the Sacrament of Ordination, with emphasis on the Hesychastic exercises in the remembrance of death and the revelation of thoughts; in mental prayer, unceasing as breathing; in the emphasized struggle against the passion of despondency. The importance of the spiritual gift of enlightenment of the heart and natural contemplation is noted. The letter also contains an allusion to the correlation of spiritual events with the three stages of a Christian's ascetic path, according to Archimandrite Ioann, similar in meaning to the reasoning of Saint Theophan. Various types of spiritual guidance in the Russian Hesychast tradition are considered. It also traces how sorrows assist a person in spiritual guidance beyond that of a spiritual father, as described by  Archimandrite Ioann, St. Seraphim (Romantsov, Archimandrite Ioann’s spiritual father), St. Theophan the Recluse. The author concludes that such a comprehensive analysis allows for a more fundamental reading of Archimandrite Ioann (Krestyankin's) pastoral  letters, placing them in the necessary historical and ascetic context, providing additional information significant for theological research on Russian hesychasm.