Holy Men and Human Frailty — The Brothers Karamazov

Before dawn Alyosha is called to Father Zossima, who takes communion and extreme unction, then speaks to the crowded cell. He jokes that talking is now harder than silence, and urges the monks to love God's people, confess without pride, and know they are responsible to all men for all sins, not holier because of their walls.

Excitement spreads when Madame Hohlakov's letter confirms Zossima's word to a widow about her son returning from Siberia. Father Paissy warns the brothers not to proclaim the miracle until it is confirmed, yet whispers that greater things may come. Rakitin sends Alyosha the news; the Obdorsk monk flits between groups, already biased against elders.

That monk visits Father Ferapont beyond the apiary: the fierce faster who sees devils in cassocks, claims the Holy Spirit appears as birds that speak, and describes Christ in the elm at night. The visitor leaves half convinced Ferapont is holier than Zossima, though the stories are wilder than the elder's gentle teaching.

Zossima sends Alyosha back to the world to keep his promises, promising a last word before death. Father Paissy blesses him with a long warning that modern analysis has picked faith apart while the whole still stands, and the gates of hell shall not prevail. Alyosha leaves feeling Paissy has become a new teacher armoring him for temptation.