This book was compiled from many sources as I became accustomed to the prayer structure of the Church, to the experience of clergy and pastoral counseling. The direct material for this collection was the conversations of Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), which were held in the seventies in the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery during the first week of Lent, after reading the penitential canon of Andrei of Crete. Many remember those evenings of reverent penitential standing before the living and close God and their own conscience; they remembered the convicting and healing word of pastoral edification. The conversations were recorded. Naturally, during rewriting and reprinting, many errors appeared in them. By publishing conversations at the request of pilgrims and parishioners, we sought not only to eliminate errors, but also to preserve the conversational intonation to the greatest extent. “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” By publishing these conversations, we hope that they will help at least some to hear and fulfill this call of God.