On the Bank of the River of God

2nd ed. /// The Lord put a pen in my hands, planted it on the bank of the River of God, near the Optina fence: write, servant of God Sergius, write down everything that, like God's gift, the river will bring into the open waters during your prayer hours. /// And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which...
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2nd ed. ///
The Lord put a pen in my hands, planted it on the bank of the River of God, near the Optina fence: write, servant of God Sergius, write down everything that, like God's gift, the river will bring into the open waters during your prayer hours. ///
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Rev. 9:20-21). ///
The righteous demise of a monk. /// Father Gervasius followed the Holy Mysteries, and Fr. Joachim began to read the sacrament prayers. I lay back on the sofa again. /// At half past two in the morning he was introduced. He no longer owned a single member, but his memory and consciousness were preserved in such fullness that, noticing our doubt, whether he had swallowed the Holy Mysteries, he gathered all his strength and uttered the last word: - I swallowed it! The righteous demise of the laity. The death of a repentant sinner. The death of a fierce sinner. "In heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 18:10).