Russka - Edward Rutherfurd [537]
They sang a psalm and a hymn.
The sermon of the Archimandrite Leonid was, similarly, very simple and delivered with expressions of extraordinary gentleness.
They must all be grateful, he reminded them, for signs of God’s Providence, which signs by their very nature are wholly unforeseen. They remind us, he pointed out, that the Wisdom of God is great indeed and that, though we may glimpse it, we may not know more than an infinitesimal part of His great purpose. How else was it, he suggested, that at such an hour, on such a day, one Paul, descendant of the founder of this monastery, should appear by chance at the monastery gates, having travelled for thousands of miles? And was it not significant, he remarked, that having come in search of his earthly house, and found it gone, he should now have come all unaware to this, his spiritual house?
He turned then to the former life of the monastery – the centuries of its existence – and to the fact that now that life, after a short death, was resuming again.
But it was his words on the Elder Basil himself which Paul would always remember.
‘For many years, the Elder Basil dwelt in his Hermitage, praying and giving spiritual guidance; to him also are ascribed a number of miracles. But today, as we have his blessed remains before us, it is to the very start of his life as a hermit that I wish to turn.
‘It was always said that the Elder Basil had a gift with animals. It was remarked that a large bear would often appear, and that he would find this bear and talk to it like a kindly father to a child; and people therefore decided he had a gift.
‘In fact the opposite was the case. The Elder, at the start of his seclusion, was very much afraid when the bear appeared. So much so that, the first time, he cowered in his little hut all night and almost returned to the monastery the next day. The second night, the same thing happened.
‘Only on the third night did the Elder Basil understand what he must do.
‘For on the third night, Basil remained outside his hut, seated quietly on the ground. And he said the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” Not because he asked any longer that his body be saved; but rather that, he considered – “What can this bear do to me, who by God’s Grace have eternal life?”
‘And thus his fear of the bear disappeared. And so, my children, we here are not without fear. We know what has passed in former decades in the Russian land. But in rebuilding this monastery, and in remembering the example of the Elder Basil, we know that we must not fear the bear. We must love him. For perfect love casteth out fear.’
It was just then that, to his surprise, Paul realized that his friend Sergei was trembling, and that he himself was crying.
The monks had fed them. They departed in the late afternoon with an extraordinary feeling of lightness. And for a long time they drove slowly back towards Moscow in silence.
Only after an hour did Sergei speak.
‘We shall do it. We shall rebuild Russia, you know.’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t think we want pure capitalism, though. A sort of mixed economy.’
‘I dare say it could be done.’
For another hour after that Sergei did not speak. It was not until they were entering the suburbs of Moscow that he suddenly, said: ‘How long do you think it will take? Five years?’
‘Perhaps longer.’
‘Well, you may be right. Not more than ten, though. We’ll catch up in ten years.’
‘I hope so.’
‘There’s nothing Russia can’t do, you know. Nothing.’
‘I’m sure that’s right.’
Sergei Romanov smiled. ‘It just needs the right leadership,’ he said. ‘Then we’ll do it.’ Then an idea seemed to strike him.
‘By the way,’ he said. ‘There was something I meant to ask you this morning, when you were telling me about your business. Something I didn’t quite understand.’
‘Yes?’
Sergei glanced at him with a slight frown.
‘What is a salesman?’
Paul Bobrov did not feel like sitting in the gloomy darkness of the dining room that night. He glanced at his watch. Eight forty-five. The bar on the fifth floor was open for another fifteen