St. Joseph Petrograd message to his flock

Letter of Metropolitan Joseph to His Spiritual Children

To a soul yearning among the adversities and storms of the present sea of life.

The word of the Lord is not false, He promised to stay with us until the end of time and to preserve His Church undefeated by hell, that is, even on the edge of perdition.  Yes, now we are on the edge of perdition, and many, perhaps, will perish; the Church of Christ will be reduced, perhaps, again to 12, as at the beginning of its foundation.  After all, these words of the Lord cannot fail to be fulfilled:  "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"

Everything is done according to the Lord's foreknowledge, people here can neither add nor subtract one iota.  Those who do not want to perish are more secure from perishing, and we can say that hell will be only for those who themselves desire it.  So let this truth be first of all a consolation and encouragement for those who are discouraged by the events of this world.  The deprivation of the churches of God and magnificent Divine Services, we used to have, with numerous worshippers, brilliant hosts of priests, Angelic singing of choirs, etc. — of course, it is sad and worthy of pity, but inner service to God in silence and tenderness, and concentration of the spirit in ourselves is not taken away from us.  Just as the famous Chelyuskins, deprived of their ship, did not die, but managed to create a tolerable life for themselves on the wreckage of a deceptive floating ice floe until they were lifted up on the wings of airplanes from the abyss that threatened to engulf them, in the same way, after the pitiful collapse of our spiritual ships, we should not panic or lose self-control and hope for salvation, but we must calmly begin to adapt to the new environment and refine our prayerful work of serving the Lord and enjoying Him "in psalms and chants and spiritual hymns," as the Apostles and all the first Christians prayed.

And the hermits who have voluntarily spent decades away from the temples of God, do they not deserve our holy envy more than those who live among churches and magnificent Diving services, but have not yet achieved such closeness to God and enjoyment of Him?

You, who have been deprived of the recent joys of prayer in the temples of God, remember — you are not exempt from the obligation to prayerfully arrange your life and are not deprived of the opportunity to do so, in addition to the opportunity to have constant servants of Christ around you and enjoy their spiritual support and care.  Even without them, you should spend your life as is you were your own priests, tempering your life into a sacrifice to the Lord and enduring all sorrows and hardships, with unceasing prayer of he soul to Him, remembering Him with love and gratitude for all His mercies and sorrows and joys, and longing for His salvation, when He send His angels to take your souls from earthly troubles and dangers, and on wings to lift you up to Himself, where there will be "neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing."  And until then, and for that purpose, get all printed and written liturgical and prayer books and "sing to our God," sing intelligently as you can and as much as you can in your prayerful homes and [prayer] corners in specially dedicated time to Him, free from other worries and labors.

Our liturgical books are an inexhaustible source of spiritual consolations, and who does not have the opportunity to use them?  Only the Book of Psalms is worth so much: it permeates, like a canvas,426 all our prayer books and hymns

Do not weaken, do not lose heart, and the grace of God will be with you.  Amen.427

 

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 This reference to Chelyuskins shipwreck dates St. Joseph's letter  1934 – 1937†  ~jh

426  In this context, "канва" (canvas) metaphorically refers to the foundational or underlying structure.  Thus, the phrase suggests that prayer books and hymn serve as the fundamental framework or basis for something, similar to how a canvas serves as the base for a painting.  [Editor's Note]

427  The original letter has not been preserved.  Handwritten copies were kept in the Josephite communities and have survived to our time.

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 pages 371-373 typeset from
St. Joseph of Petrograd is Biography & Writings
ISBN:: 979-833-821-2851
www.orthodoxtraditionalists.com

 

 

download pdf:

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Челюскин» и его судьба. Программа Леонида Млечина
Chelyuskin and its fate. Leonid Mlechin's program
actual film footage documents journey, camp, rescue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BBNJkMN7QE

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