Instructions of Benefit to the Soul

This edition was compiled from the "Collection of Letters of the Optina Elder of Blessed Memory Macarius", in six volumes, by Archimandrite John (Zakharchenko), a resident of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Bit by bit, it absorbed all the most valuable, the most important, contained in the letters of the elder, and will help every Christian to begin the active fulfillment of the instructions and covenants of the Monk Macarius, for "the fatherly scriptures are read by deeds. /// The...
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This edition was compiled from the "Collection of Letters of the Optina Elder of Blessed Memory Macarius", in six volumes, by Archimandrite John (Zakharchenko), a resident of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Bit by bit, it absorbed all the most valuable, the most important, contained in the letters of the elder, and will help every Christian to begin the active fulfillment of the instructions and covenants of the Monk Macarius, for "the fatherly scriptures are read by deeds. /// The teachings of the Monk Elder Macarius are given in alphabetical order by topic, and each ends with an indication of the volume, letter number and page according to the Collection of Letters, and the numbering of the volumes is as follows: /// Volume 1 - letters to the people of the world; /// Volume 2 - letters to the monks, including two articles compiled by the elder on the basis of the word of God and the scriptures of the holy fathers, and his own excerpts about humility; /// Volumes 3-6 are letters to nuns. /// Just like the previous publishers, the editors of this book considered it expedient to keep the syllable of the Monk Macarius as alive as possible. Spelling as a whole is close to the present day, excluding words with the prefix "without", spelling of proper names and some other cases that give us an idea of the living language of the elder. Quotations from Holy Scripture in the letters of the Monk Elder Macarius are not brought into conformity with the Scriptures, but are given in the account of the elder. We also tried to preserve the author's punctuation, even in cases that do not correspond to modern rules, as this serves to better understand the teachings of the reverend elder. /// Considering the peculiarities of this edition, some explanations of the compiler are given in angle brackets. To improve the perception of the text by the modern reader, some abbreviations are disclosed. /// In some volumes of the Collection of Letters of Elder Macarius 1862-1863, to which a reference is given in the text, the numbering of letters has been violated (in particular, in volumes 4 and 5). In this edition they are given in accordance with the correct numbering.