Teachings of Elder Avvakum (Vakarov)
1. Whatever obedience God gives you, do not mutter, for you are a monk.
2. The Jesus Prayer is the foundation of wisdom and a weapon against the enemy.
3. Reading the Psalter is spiritual medicine. Read several kathismata each day insofar as you can; it will strengthen you greatly.
4. Pray to the Icon of the Mother of God Who-is-Quick-to-Hear, our most rapid helper (“Rejoice, O Most Good Lady who art quick to hear, who fulfillest our petitions unto good”).
5. God sends us trials. A monk ought to devote himself to work and prayer.
6. One ought to work and prayer in such a way that one is invisible for people, but noticed by the Mother of God.
7. Keep the fast on Wednesday and Friday, and pray.
8. It is impossible to live without faith in God.
9. One must love all people as the Lord does. If we keep the commandments of the Lord, we will be saved.
10. Nature is the beauty of God. God created all things. One must have love for everything created by God.
11. We all live here for a short time, like guests: we are here today, but tomorrow we might not be alive. But there, in heaven, we will have eternal, everlasting life. Happy is the man who here in this short life will make himself worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven, where there will be everlasting and eternal joy.