Lord I don’t know what to ask of you! You alone know what I need. You love me more than I can love myself. Father! Give Thy servant what I myself am not able to ask. I do not dare to ask for either a cross or consolation: only I stand before Thee, my heart is open. You see needs that I don’t know. See and do with me by thy mercy. Hit and heal, put me down and raise me up. I am reverent and silent before Your holy will and Your destinies incomprehensible to me. I sacrifice myself to you. I surrender to you. I have no other desire than the desire to fulfill Your will. Teach me to pray. Pray in me yourself! Amen.
This great prayer of Filaret Drozdov is known to the whole world and has the tremendous power of God's grace for those who recite it with faith from the bottom of their hearts.
Prayer - the wings of the soul
By nature, our soul is an inhabitant of the Divine world. She should be there with her heart and thoughts, but the burden of worldly cares and passions takes her from the sublime down to the earthly. Pursuing the solution of life problems, problems, experiencing incurable diseases of the body, one must resort to the help of not only doctors, psychologists, teachers, lawyers, but also seek meetings with God, with His almighty love, seek help from above. Not in vain does the expression exist: prayer is the wings of the soul. Prayer offered to God with faith gives rich spiritual and earthly fruits. Holiness is the power of God, manifested through the person, this is life in eternity, a life that is poured out on us in love in abundance. As a rule, saints respond to our, as a rule, non-spiritual needs with grace. This Divine love and power, the breath of holiness cannot be felt and tested by reason, from theory, from books. This needs to be approached. In order for the soul to cry out to God, one must first teach it to turn everything into the glory of God: each one’s work, small and large. In the holy prayer of Filaret Drozdov for every day there are the words "I have no other desire than the desire to fulfill Your will." Here the humble soul of a monk appears, who desires the only thing - fulfilling the holy will of his Creator, Creator, God and does not dare to ask for anything else.
Great shepherd
In the 19th century, many great, pious and educated people appeared on Russian soil, who the Orthodox Church ranked as saints. One of them is Metropolitan Filaret of Moscow, in the world - Vasily Mikhailovich Drozdov. He belongs to the family of hereditary clergy. His homeland is the city of Kolomna.
One of the most important tasks of the metropolitan was enlightenment.
People felt high warm feelings for the shepherd, sought his parting words and blessings. Until his very old age, he took a personal part in temple services. According to the testimonies, many people were healed by the prayers of St. Philaret to God. One of them is widely known today as the prayer of Filaret Drozdov. She survived the Tradition of the Holy Russian Orthodox Church. This prayer is for every day. Filaret Drozdov himself daily turned to God in it, kneeling and humbly raising his mind and heart to the heights of the monastery.
The literary heritage of the saint
Metropolitan Filaret in his works considered a fairly wide range of tasks and subjects that deserve attention. One of his first and most important works is the interpretation of Holy Scripture, in particular the Book of Genesis. The interpretation of Filaret Drozdov is considered exemplary, since it combines scientific objectivity, fidelity to the dogmas of the Holy Fathers, spiritual clarity and in-depth divine vision. Thanks to the work of St. Filaret, Russia received the content of the Word of God in its native language. In his enlightening mission, the Metropolitan acts primarily as an interpreter of the Bible. With the participation of the pastor, teachers of the Moscow Academy translated into Russian the writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church. Filaret is the author of the Catechism of the Orthodox Faith. In addition, he left a lot of work on writing everyday interpretations, instructive thoughts, searching for the meanings of Scripture, which for a wide range of readers can be instructions from the spiritual father. The saint gives answers to many questions and doubts in various biblical places.
Childhood and youth
Vasily Drozdov's father was a deacon who gave his son an excellent moral education and a proper primary education. From an early age, Vasily had a thirst for knowledge, did not like noisy companies, preferring to spend time in solitude reading books. He enjoyed playing the harp and the chess.
At the appropriate age, Vasily Drozdov entered the seminary, where he proved to be one of the best students. He studied with great desire and interest. Later, his training took place in the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra, after which Vasily Mikhailovich was offered to stay working as a poetry teacher. And he agreed.
Monastic life
In 1808, Vasily Drozdov decided to abandon secular life and took monastic tonsure with the name Filaret. Immediately after this, he was elevated to the rank of hierodeacon, proposing to spend the next life in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. But fate decreed otherwise, he was appointed a mentor of philosophy at the St. Petersburg Academy. In addition, Father Filaret taught the history of the church. Later, having received the rank of hieromonk, he begins his preaching work. Soon, father Filaret became known even on the outskirts of the city and in circles of high secular society. Three years later, Hieromonk Filaret revealed himself as a professor of theology and took the post of rector of the academy, combining all this with the activities of a writer. After winning the battle with Napoleon, he composed a prayer text about the salvation of the motherland.
In 1820, Father Filaret was transferred to Yaroslavl and a little later to Moscow, where five years later he received the high well-deserved spiritual rank of Metropolitan. His body rests in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Poetic dialogue of Pushkin and St. Philaret
An interesting fact from the life of the saint, which is known to many connoisseurs of Russian poetry, was the literary correspondence of Filaret with A.S. Pushkin, in which the poet wrote a kind of confession:
A gift in vain, a gift of chance
Life, why are you given to me?
Or why fate is a mystery
Are you sentenced to death?
Who me hostile power
Cried out of insignificance
I filled my soul with passion
Was the mind excited by doubt? ..
There is no purpose in front of me:
The heart is empty, the mind is idle
And tormenting me with longing
Monotonous life noise.
Metropolitan Answer:
Not in vain, not by chance
Life from God has been given to us,
Not without the will of God secret
And condemned to execution.
I myself am wayward power
Evil from the dark abyss cried out
He filled his soul with passion
The mind excited doubt.
Remember me, forgotten by me!
Shine through the gloom of thoughts, -
And is built by you
The heart is pure, the mind is bright.
Continuation of the theme of the poet:
In hours of fun or idle boredom,
I used to be my lyre
Entrusted the pampered sounds
Madness, laziness and passion.
But even then the strings are crafty
I interrupted the ringing involuntarily
When your voice is grand
I was suddenly struck.
I poured streams of tears of the unexpected
And the wounds of my conscience
Your fragrant speeches
Pleased clean was the oil.
And now from a spiritual height
You stretch my hand
And the power of meek and loving
Humble violent dreams.
Your fire warmed the soul
Rejected the darkness of earthly vanities
And listen to the harp of Philaret
In sacred horror, the poet.
Prayer is a conversation with God. Such communication is real if the person is sincere and honest, first of all with himself.
With the prayers of Philaret (Drozdov), our holy father, and all saints, Lord, have mercy on us!