For someone who has decided to fast for the first time in his life, everything may seem extremely simple. Well, those who have been fasting for more than one year are preparing for the next difficulties.
After all, they understand that for 7 weeks they need to refrain not only from food of animal origin, but also from many other temptations. They only hope that God will again help them to spend these almost two months before Easter with dignity.
The experience gained during the previous posts is a good thing. But it is he who is the main rival, he is often called the crafty one. He is improving with the person and is well studying his weaknesses.
The need for fasting
The first commandment of God that man received was the commandment to fast. Since Adam ate the forbidden fruit, the devil has access to the heart of every person. Adam and all of his many descendants began to be subject to passions. Jesus Christ Himself, who came to save mankind, at the very beginning of his great service in the name of salvation wandered for forty days in the wilderness, thereby reminding about the necessity and beneficial effects of fasting.
Three weeks
You should start preparing for fasting three weeks before it starts. This year, the main fast for the Orthodox begins on March 11.
1st week
- 1st preparatory week - from 17 to 24 February. It is called "continuous week". During this time, any type of fasting should be canceled.
- February 17 is the first of four preparatory Sundays. This day is called the "Week of the Publican and the Pharisee."
- And February 24 is the second preparatory Sunday. Its church name is "Week of the Prodigal Son".
2-week
- 2nd week - from February 25 to March 3. Her final day is the 3rd prep Sunday. Its name is "The Last Judgment Week".
Maslenitsa
And finally, the final week - from 4 to 10 March. Many people know that this last week before fasting is called "Shrovetide". However, it is often called “cheese week”.
During Shrovetide, many who are going to observe the fast try to eat as much as possible, arguing that then for seven whole weeks they will no longer have such an opportunity. But this is not entirely correct.
Shrovetide ends on the fourth preparatory Sunday. This day is popularly called Forgiveness Sunday. And its other name is "Cheeseweed Week".
Training
The main thing to do in preparation for the post is to correctly assess your strength. If they are overestimated, frustration can quickly arise, and then a complete refusal to fast.
You need to set a goal only achievable. Otherwise, everything will just become meaningless. If there is uncertainty that the fast will be observed for all seven weeks, then it is not worth starting it.
Strict and lax fasting
It is also necessary to decide in advance how the fast will be observed. After all, compliance with it can be strict or non-strict. In the first case, it is necessary to refuse all food of animal origin, including fish, as well as oil.
And with lax observance of the fast, you can eat everything except dairy and meat products. And even fish is allowed. However, it is also recommended to refuse this food on Wednesday and Friday.
Strict fasting is undoubtedly the most difficult. And therefore, not everyone is advised to follow it. Even if a person is very religious, he can only partially limit himself in food. Each priest will say that a person should not take on responsibilities that are not possible.
Can I eat fish?
As for fish and all the dishes that are prepared from it, this food is prohibited during strict fasting. There are only two days in which it can be consumed.
The first day is the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, celebrated by the Orthodox Church always on the same day - April 7. And the second day when you can eat fish is Palm Sunday. This holiday is transitional. The time of its celebration depends on the Easter itself. It is always celebrated on the last Sunday of Lent.
Nor should those who have never fasted before should fast fast. Such a sharp restriction in food can be detrimental to health. It is better to make your first fast in life not strict. And only then, next year, you can begin strict observance of the fast.
Forgiveness Sunday
The last day of Shrovetide is Forgiveness Sunday. On this day, preparation for fasting should be completely completed. Traditionally, believers ask each other for forgiveness for all those wrongs that were inflicted earlier. You cannot refuse a request to forgive. If the offense was too great, then the person should say: "God will forgive."
The beginning of the post
The first day of the pre-Easter fast is always Monday. It is called Clean Monday. This is one of the most severe days. Clergymen refuse to eat at all this Monday. Anyone who, after all, is not able to go all day without food, can eat bread and salt.
That is, it is best to eat raw food that has not been subjected to any heat treatment. It can be fruits, dried fruits, vegetables, nuts. Well, meat, fish and dairy products, of course, are strictly prohibited.
When compiling a lean menu, you can choose ordinary dishes that were consumed before the start of the fast. But only in advance, animal products should be excluded from these dishes.
"Guards feat"
Many people are familiar with such an expression as "guard feat". You do not need to take it literally and set goals for yourself that most likely will not work.
Be sure to take into account your age category.
There is no need to observe the fast according to the "method" of other people, that is, to project someone else's practice onto your body and soul.
Particular care must be taken with those recommendations and books that are sold in huge numbers and about which a lot is talked.
Conclusion
When assessing their capabilities, a person should understand that the existing fasting rules are more recommendations than mandatory measures. And the main thing in fasting is not even abstaining from food, but abstaining from all other sins.
During these seven weeks before Easter, you need, first of all, to cleanse your soul: be patient, remain humble, not swear, and pray more often. And the diet fades into the background. Every Christian knows that the soul always remains young.
For her, there are no such concepts as "young" and "old" at all. The soul has no time. It is eternal. But the body, in which the soul resides, on the contrary, tends to age. It inevitably gets weaker over the years. Therefore, so that it does not weaken even more, perhaps you should not limit yourself to food.
Abstaining from food of animal origin should not lead to a deterioration in health, but to the vision of one's sins and to the understanding that it is necessary to get rid of them.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR FASTING, CONFESSION AND COMMONMENT
Why posts are installed
Fasting is the most ancient church institution. The first commandment given to the first people in paradise was the commandment to fast. The Old Testament righteous fasted, St. John the Baptist fasted, and finally, our Lord Jesus Christ fasted for forty days before giving a sermon, following the example of which our forty-day Great Lent was established.
Despite all these examples, despite the fact that fasting has always existed in the Orthodox Church, many do not observe it. But fasting is a means of acquiring mental health.
What is the significance of fasting for the health of the soul?
As you know, fasting is primarily expressed by the transition from more nutritious meat food to less nutritious fish food, and sometimes even less nutritious plant food, and, finally, even to dry eating: this transition from one kind of food to another is prescribed by the Church not because it is one kind she considered food pure, and the other unclean: all food is pure and blessed by God. By changing food, the Church wants to weaken sensuality and give an advantage to our spirit over our flesh. By switching from more nutritious to less nutritious food, we make ourselves lighter, more mobile, more capable of spiritual life.
Fasting is not in the least harmful to health. It can be argued that those who fast get sick less.
The change of food prescribed by the Church during fasting also has that meaning for us that it gives us the opportunity to exercise our will in the struggle with our desires and habits and victory over them. Obeying the charter of the Church, we discipline ourselves, exercise our power over our habits and tastes. It hardens us, makes us more courageous, more enduring, stronger, helps us to rise above our habits.
But most importantly, the Church demands from us spiritual fasting. During fasting, we should take special care of suppressing and eradicating our bad inclinations, habits and desires.
On this occasion, St. John Chrysostom spoke as follows:
“Can't you fast? But why can't you forgive the insult to your enemy? Change your temper: if you are angry, try to be meek; if vindictive, do not take revenge; you like to slander and gossip, refrain and so on. Do more good in the days of fasting, be more sympathetic to people, more willingly help those in need of your help, pray harder, warmer, etc. In all these areas, fasting opens up a wide field for you to work on yourself - just have the desire to work! "
So, the Church has not in vain accepted and keeps holy fasts. Let's learn to respect fasting, appreciate its benefits, let's not break it lightly and treat it arrogantly!
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metropolitan John (Snychev)
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow
and all Russia Alexy II
What is the main point of the post
The commandment to observe fasting is the first commandment received by man after his creation.
Adam sinned by eating the fruits of the forbidden tree, and a terrible sinful corruption penetrated the entire human race.
From that time on, the devil gained access to the heart of a fallen man. From that time on, the perfect creation of God - Adam, who previously knew neither malice nor sorrow - became subject to passions, in which up to now, as in the pitch of hell, our hearts boil, having lost the blessed communion with God.
Is this not why the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, having come into the world to save perishing sinners, starting His ministry on earth, fasted for forty days and nights in the wilderness, reminding us by his own example of the beneficial and obligatory fasting? Is it not because of this threefold rejection of the slander of the enemy that He showed us the image of spiritual warfare, inevitable for everyone who strives to combine the good fruit of fasting abstinence with inner spiritual growth?
However, in order to walk steadily along the narrow path of salvation, avoiding the wide road leading, according to the Savior's word, to destruction, one must clearly understand that sin is overcome not only by abstinence in food and fleshly life, but by the purification of the heart and zealous striving for the immaculate purity of the soul.
The main meaning of fasting is in aiding this holy striving, this blessed and wholesome zeal.
"Avoid evil and do good"
(), – these words of the Holy Scripture must first of all be remembered by all of us during Great Lent.
Unfortunately, even among the people of the Church there are now lost and unreasonable people who do not understand the high spiritual meaning of Great Lent, who consider it sufficient and exhaustive to simply abstain from eating forbidden food.
Alas for us, fools, and woe to us - hypocrites!
Hear yourself, not eating meat: have you not grieved your neighbor? did not he murmur against God in the sorrows and burdens of his soul? do not you harbor resentment, anger, envy at whom? are you not proud of your imaginary virtues? do you thank the Lord for everything sent down to you? Does not the vain earthly cares possess your heart?
Or - spewing meat from his meal, humbling the body - do you careless about your own soul, delaying to vomit from your heart anger and hypocrisy, avarice and willfulness, arrogance and pride?
The Holy Orthodox Church threatens us that there will be no benefit for us from bodily abstinence, if we do not combine it with spiritual abstinence - from evil, from passions, from sin that torments us.
“From the fasting, my soul,
- we hear in Lenten prayers, - and if you are not cleansed of the passions, you rejoice in vain in non-eating: if it is not your fault it will be for correction, as if you will be hated false from God "
("You rejoice in vain, my soul, at abstinence from food, while you are not cleansed of passions: if abstinence does not become the cause of your correction, you will be hated from God").
Great Lent - the path of following Christ
The way of Christ is the way of every Christian. And I also want to tell you: the path taken by Christ the Savior is the path of each of us Christians.
When the Lord called you and me into the bosom of the Church, when we received Holy Baptism and then at a certain moment were blessed, when the Divine light touched our hearts, then we felt an extraordinary joy and seemed to be in the upper room of Zion with Christ. Then everything was bright and joyful, because the Lord strengthened our mental and physical strength, so that we could taste and know how good the Lord is.
But our journey did not end there. We followed Christ further. The path of teaching followed, when we had to justify that Divine joy, that Divine grace that visited our hearts at the beginning of our exploit.
Here we, like the apostles in their time, like Christ, met all kinds of hardships, all kinds of difficult circumstances and even began to hesitate. Or, like the disbelieving followers of the Lord, they even fell asleep at the moment of spiritual trials.
But in order to triumph over sin, in order for good to be finally established in our hearts, it is required to follow Christ not only to the Garden of Gethsemane. It is necessary to continue the path to the house of the high priests Anna and Caiaphas, go to the praetor to Pontius Pilate and hear the terrible words: "Crucify, crucify Him!"
Further the path will lead us to Calvary, so that here together with Christ we crucified our flesh with passions and lusts.
On this path, we are to be buried with the Lord. And only after that will the resurrection of our soul begin. Only then will the triumph of good come in our hearts. And our spiritual peace will be even more affirmed when we, having passed the way of the cross, receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
This is what we need to experience and experience on our saving path. This path is difficult, but they need to go. To go, despite the hardships and grief - both from our neighbors and from our sinful habits ... Sometimes we will not even know what to do. But if we zealously adhere to Christ's path and, invoking Divine help, go fearlessly to Calvary even before burial with Christ, the Lord will send us His Divine grace, strengthen our weak forces, help us overcome all sinful passions and instead of them plant good skills that will help for us to achieve eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What the parable of the prodigal son reveals
Man has been given the commandments of God, keeping which, he thereby acquires a life of grace for himself.
But the whole grief is that a person does not always appreciate this wealth - the fulfillment of the Divine commandments, from which his soul feeds. Sometimes such moments come when in a person love for his Source of life, love for his Creator becomes scarce, and then everything that serves as food for the human spirit becomes, as it were, a burden to him. He tries to free himself, remove himself, throw off the burden of God's commandments and take an independent path, to live the way he wants.
In other words, a person removes himself from the Lord and goes into the arms of sin. This is the beginning of the fall.
So, the beginning of the removal from the fatherly home is the cooling of love for God. A person tries to cast off the good yoke of Christ and retire to a distant country, to the land of sin, where, as it seems to him, he will have fun and rejoice without end. Sin draws in the human mind all the sweets, all the delights of the world. He calls, beckons to him. And a person, not understanding this deception, leaves spiritual food and turns to animal food - to sin.
In the beginning, while he has not yet squandered the makings of the grace of the Holy Spirit, he feels strength, life in himself. It is like a broken branch. After all, when a branch separates from a healthy tree, it does not immediately dry up, but has some juices received from the tree. And for some time this branch feeds on the remaining juices. Well, then? And then comes the well-known end - drying up.
The same thing happens with the man of sin. A person becomes spiritually impoverished. Everything that was given to him through the fulfillment of the commandments of God from Divine grace, everything becomes scarce, is abolished, and a person gradually dries up spiritually. An emptiness forms in the human heart. This terrible sinful emptiness does not give a person a minute of peace. And then a person begins to rush, look for various kinds of entertainment, kindling himself with the lust of the flesh, then with pride, then with malice, anger, envy, money-grubbing and other sinful deeds. But none of this is satisfying. And if not for the mercy of the Lord, what would become of us, deceived by the wiles of the devil ?! Even in sin, the Lord does not abandon a person by His grace. He in His Providence has many ways to return us to the true path. Sometimes these are very bitter medicines: difficult circumstances of life, and illness, and need ...
But sending all kinds of sorrows, the Lord awakens a person, knocks on him: wake up, rise, man, you are in danger!
This is the area into which a person enters, who has left spiritual food and turned to sinful food. He loses spiritual joy, empties himself, and becomes a slave to sin. And if sin does not completely destroy the good principles in a person, then there always remains the possibility of awakening from sinful sleep.
But it also happens that sin completely enslaves a person, so that he atrophies, loses his sense of spiritual perception and turns out to be incapable of any spiritual life, or any awakening. But if a corner of good soil still remains in the human heart, then Divine grace throws its seed on this soil. And then awakening comes. How does it come about?
Like the gospel prodigal son. It is said: when he was exhausted from hunger, he came to himself. What does it mean - recover?
It means realizing your dangerous situation, your destructive state. Before the man of sin, by the grace of God, a veil is, as it were, opened, and he sees himself standing on the edge of the abyss, so that one more step - and he will inevitably fall into the abyss and perish completely. This is what is called recover.
When this happens, then the person begins to remember the previous grace-filled life in the fatherly house.
The commandments of God, which once seemed to him very heavy, now take on a completely different color and evoke in the memory not bitterness, but sweetness. At such a moment, determination ripens. Determination to rise up and move away from the abyss.
it second
the step of God's grace on the human soul.
Then comes third,
the saving stage of awakening is the one when the prodigal son not only decided to return to his father's house, but got up and walked, that is, he has already overcome sinful slavery in himself and with a feeling of deep repentance returns to normal.
This is how saving repentance is accomplished. That is what is required of us - to return to our father's house and pray to our Lord and Creator for forgiveness.
But remember: The Lord accepts only sincere repentance.
Only when a person realizes his fall into sin, humbles himself before his Creator and exclaims: “Father, I have sinned in heaven and before You, I am no longer worthy to be called Your son, because I broke all Your commandments, squandered everything that You gave me gave! Therefore, accept me even as Your mercenary, so that I may work and receive the allotted portion of the food that I could eat by eating. " Only in this case the Lord returns to us the bright garments.
This is what the Saint reveals to us in the week about the prodigal son. It reveals how a person, gradually moving away from the truth of God, finds himself in the area of \u200b\u200bsin, reveals how the awakening and return to the fatherly home occurs.
And I want us never to leave the fatherly fence, so that the yoke of God would not be burdensome for us. It is essentially and not painful. Can't we hear the voice of our Divine Savior: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, as I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Igo bo My goodness and My burden are easy to eat. "
Here it is, the true verb of God! If we fulfill the commandments of God with love and for the sake of love, then the yoke of Christ will be easy for us. Then we will not go to a distant country, then sin will not take possession of us, then we will not need to return.
What is repentance
Repentance is the greatest gift of God to man - the second baptism, in which, having been washed from our sins, we regain the grace that was lost in the fall. Once we are sinners, we become saints. It opens the sky for us, introduces us to paradise. There is no salvation without repentance.
Repentance is not public self-flagellation, but hard and painstaking internal labor to cleanse the heart from the moral impurities that have accumulated there during the time of a scattered, careless, graceless life.
To repent means change the way of life, first of all, “come to your senses”.
It means seeing sin in yourself: in thought, word and action - to realize it, to hate it, and then use the grace-filled church means to eradicate it from your being. Having lost our understanding of true spirituality, we have lost our common sense of this good.
The fruit of repentance is correction, change of life.
A person must mercilessly, with roots, rip out vices and passions from the soul, turn away from evil and unrighteousness, approach the Lord and begin to serve Him alone with all the forces of soul and body.
He who repent and deliberately sins again, aggravates the guilt, "turning back" and trampling on the mercy of God. “The sins we have committed do not so much irritate God as our unwillingness to change,” says St. ...
Why We All Need Repentance
The most lofty sermons and appeals, the wisest and well-meaning advice, will be vain and fruitless if we do not know how to actively apply them to our of today's
life ...
No one knows how much more has been given to us to come to our senses and improve, so everyone, without delay, without delay, ask yourself: “Am I not the cause of the present shame? Is it not my sin that keeps the Fatherland in the abyss of falling? Is it not my negligence that postpones the bright moment of the resurrection? "
Russian people, think sensibly - there is no one among us who could justify himself if he happened to answer these questions not before the earthly, biased and weak human judgment, but before the Omniscient and All-perfect Judge.
Repent before it's too late! There are no innocent people - "you are all corrupted, you have been filthy."
For several years now, according to all earthly laws and human calculations, Russia should be ablaze in the fire of civil war, perishing in the darkness and glory of economic disruption, anarchy, lawlessness and chaos. What is keeping her from this terrible fate? Our diligence and foresight? No! Our vigilance, wisdom, courage? No! Our unity, strength and dedication to duty? No!
The Providence of the All-good God, trampling on the "rank of nature", crushing the inevitability of earthly laws and the calculations of experienced destroyers, keeps Russia on the edge of the abyss, mercifully about our blindness and weakness, giving - once again! - time to change your mind, repent, change.
And what? Are we using this generous, undeserved gift? Alas, we are looking for excuses, seeing the reasons for what happened anywhere: in unfavorable historical conditions, in the betrayal of leaders, in the shortcomings of neighbors, in external influence - but not in ourselves!
Fully mock the truth - God is not mocked! We ourselves, with our vices and passions: lust for power and vanity, envy and hypocrisy, arrogance, exaltation and lack of faith, are the cause of all troubles!
Yes, the evil force, thirsting for our destruction, has tremendous power and authority in the modern world. Yes, the centuries-old experience of destruction, the devilish art of corruption and deceit was put at her service. But this is no excuse!
He who does not feel sin in himself is deluded immeasurably and perniciously. Everyone is to blame ...
Remember everything: if we do not repent, we will not be cleansed; if we are not cleansed, we will not revive with the soul; if we do not revive with our soul, we will perish.
Choosing your path to salvation
Let's think about our choice. Let us think and look into our soul - are we not creating an impassable chasm between us and God?
Perhaps, by our negligence, by our inattention to salvation, we atrophy in ourselves the sense of spiritual perception and become incapable of perceiving the action of Divine grace? If this is really so, then what bitter tears you and I deserve!
While we still live here, on earth, while God's longsuffering still extends over us, until it's too late, let us understand the state of our spirit.
And if our heart is drawn to God, to holiness and integrity, then let us strengthen this saving choice in ourselves!
If we notice that lack of faith, doubt and other vices creep into our spiritual state, then we will be afraid of this! Let us be afraid of the disastrous abyss in which a rich sinful man finds himself, and, calling upon ourselves the help of the Divine, let us eliminate, while possible, the disastrous abyss between us and the Lord! Let us make a saving choice not only with our mind, but also with our heart!
How to achieve salvation
Salvation is achieved by the constant fulfillment of the commandments of God. So we will set ourselves up to fulfill God's commandments, overcoming all difficulties on the path of salvation. And then the path of our salvation will be successful. Then the mercy of God will descend on us, strengthen us and keep us from all evil. Then we will achieve eternal blissful life in Christ Jesus.
How to learn to love God
Why did the apostle Peter not resist in love for Christ?
This happened because at that time the Apostle Peter still had love for God. carnal.
She has not yet been sanctified by Divine grace and has not received strength from Divine love.
And if so, then there was no firmness in his resolve, in his intention to follow Christ to Calvary to the end.
Yes, it is not easy to love God; you need to love Him as the Lord, the Savior of the world, commanded us.
Love for God is only real when it is based on humility,
when a person removes fleshly imaginary love from his heart. How is carnal love expressed? It is expressed in extraordinary self-produced delight.
A person strains in himself all his strength to delight, excites his nervous system, and at the same time the blood boils, an extraordinary imagination, ardor arises. The ardor and hotness of blood and nerves - this is carnal love.
Such love is never pleasing to God, for it is offered on the altar of pride. Such love does not last long, it quickly disappears.
Therefore, in order to have a constant spiritual love,
need to love God humbly,
meekly and strive to achieve spiritual love,
which calms the nervous system, cools the outbursts of our blood and gives inner peace in a humble and meek spirit.
This is what Divine or spiritual love should be. How can we learn such love? One can learn to love God on the condition that we fulfill, to the best of our strength and ability, everything that the Savior of the world has commanded us.
And not only perform,
but also inside your heart to stir up enmity towards every sin that removes us from the love of God.
This will be the beginning of love for God.
But only the beginning. For this love to be affirmed and strengthened, it is necessary to constantly monitor yourself. And if ever through our weakness we fall into this or that sin, then we must quickly get up and bring sincere tearful repentance.
In order for our heart to constantly abide in love, it is necessary to study in the Gospel the will of God that the Savior of the world reveals to us, to know what the Lord wants from us, to know His good and perfect will and to fulfill it until the end of our life.
Only with constant loyalty to God is true Divine love preserved in us. And if at some point in our life we \u200b\u200bviolate this fidelity, then thereby we will also violate the love of God. This inner relationship between the love of God and our love will be interrupted.
Our love for God must be improved day by day. She receives a direct connection with God, enters into union with Him and through this union receives consolation, enlightenment, and exaltation.
But we must well understand that in achieving or strengthening this love for God, it is necessary to go through a certain path of testing, way of struggle
- and above all with myself.
Why? Because inside of us is old man,
smoldering in his lusts. Because it is necessary to kill this old man in oneself - to kill everything sinful. And when we begin to do this, then, naturally, the devil, the father of sin, will rise up against us in order to protect his property, and then a struggle will arise. Not an easy fight.
For example, in order to curb our language, how much strength, attention, energy is needed! Is it easy to overcome pride, self-love, vanity, love of praise, or any other sin? Of course, all this requires a lot of effort on our part, constant battle.
But our path goes not only in inner temptations. Remember what tests the Apostle Peter was subjected to by people! Do we not feel the same fear when some people come to us with questions: “Do you believe in Christ? Are you Christian? Do you go to church?" And what do we answer? Do we sometimes not allow cowardice? Are we not afraid to confess Christ at times? We are miserable at this time, not having the courage to declare that we are indeed Christians who honor the commandments of God.
So let's check ourselves, do we truly love God? Doesn't it happen that we try to love God out of our carnal wisdom? We excite our nerves, get excited even in prayer and in fasting. Yes, this happens in our life, especially at the beginning of our conversion to God, when we, excited by this or that Divine beauty, admire, get excited, are ready for any feat: to fast too much, to pray a lot, and to do alms, and for our neighbors. care. Everything seems to be easy for us! But then this impulse passes, and there comes a period when we are left alone with our natural capabilities. And here we have not enough strength for any deeds, because we do not yet have Divine love, which is achieved by constancy and humility.
Remember that love for God is necessarily connected with love for neighbor.
How do we know that we love our neighbors and the Lord? If we feel that memory malice has died out in us, then we are already on the path of love for our neighbor. If a peaceful, compassionate attitude towards our neighbor has been born in our hearts under any circumstances, then you should know that we are already at the very doors of love for our neighbor and for God.
This is how we need to cultivate in spiritual love.
How to enter into fellowship with Jesus Christ
"Without Me," says the Lord, "you cannot create anything."
Indeed, this is so - in order to achieve eternal salvation, it is necessary to abide closely with Christ. And if a person fulfills this condition, he will undoubtedly gain spiritual success. He will improve, he will not only bloom spiritually, but also bear fruit of the spirit.
How, then, does a person enter into the closest communion with Christ the Savior? Let us clarify this question.
Christ came to earth in order to redeem humanity from the curse of sin and death. And in order for a person to come back into union with his Lord, Christ in his honest blood
creates the Church. it His body,
whose head is He Himself.
And through the Holy Spirit, through the third hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, Christ revives His church body.
Here through this Church, through the body of Christ, man enters into the closest communion with Christ the Savior.
How is this done?
This is how it works. Man believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is the true Lord and true man. Having believed, he receives the sacrament of holy Baptism, and through this sacrament he enters the church body, is cleansed of all sin and receives revival from the Holy Spirit.
But in order to constantly stay in this organism and revive, it is not enough just external stay. No, one must dissolve, merge with the church organism, organically unite.
Unite in the same way as a branch unites with a vine, and constantly be quickened by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
And having entered into unity with the church body, strengthen this unity love.
This love is manifested in prayer, and in repentance, and in abstinence, and in compassion for one's neighbor.
But this is not enough. Love should also manifest itself in constantly crucifying your flesh with passions and lusts.
And not only crucify, but through deep humility and meekness, through constant communion with the Lord, to attain the fruits of the Holy Spirit - reverence and righteousness.
And the fruits of the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle Paul testifies, are meekness, abstinence, faith, love.
These are the fruits that we, who are in the church body, need to achieve in order to constantly abide with the Lord.
If we do not strive for this, if we comfort ourselves with the fact that we, they say, have received Baptism and chrismation, and then let the Lord Himself guide us, then by such negligence we will break the mysterious thread that connects us with the Lord. And once a rupture occurs, then, naturally, our heart will dry up in the same way as sometimes a branch, which, although it is on the vine, is infected with something. And as our spiritual organism dries up more and more, removing ourselves from the action of the grace of God, as this we will expose ourselves to excommunication from the church organism. And then we will become like those dry branches that separate and throw into the fire.
How to prepare for fasting
Now we are experiencing, as the Jews were once captive, spiritual burden. And we remember, we often remember those sweet moments when the Lord visited us with His Divine grace, and, remembering, weeping.
Spiritual slavery is very difficult. It is necessary to get rid of it. But how? Only through repentance, through constant striving of your mind and heart to the heavenly Jerusalem.
Just as the Jews could not sing the song of the Lord on a foreign land and did not forget Jerusalem, so we need to remember those moments in life when we faithfully served God and bear the fruits of repentance. And if we take this path, we will undoubtedly free our souls from the shackles of sinful and our spirit will sing again!
This is how our Mother Church helps to awaken our souls through sacred pictures. And recalling the danger of sinful captivity. The church shows them the path to liberation. Indeed, it remains for us to cry, weep and cry to our poor soul: "My soul, my soul, rise up that write off, the end is approaching!"
Time is fleeting. Will you have time, my soul, to free yourself from the slavery of sin? Will you manage to do good deeds that will justify you at the Judgment Seat of Christ? Until the doors of God's mercy have closed yet, wake up, my accursed soul, wake up and cry out to your Savior: “Merciful God, have mercy and cleanse me from all sin, clothe you with a robe of righteousness, so that you can be strengthened on the right saving path and glorify You with a pure, holy heart and mouth now and forever! "
How to test your conscience
At the gates of the Kingdom of God, there are special gatekeepers who will check our inner baggage.
What is it filled with? What is more in our heart: good or bad?
It will take a considerable amount of virtues to let us into the Kingdom of Heaven, into the life of the century to come.
And we, if we carefully examine our luggage, we will surely find that you will not find virtues with us in the daytime with fire, but, perhaps, you will not embrace sins in your arms. So how do we go to the Kingdom of God, into which not wide gates lead, but very narrow ones?
Constantly review the baggage of your soul! Think if there are sins in it that we can begin to get rid of right now, filling the empty spaces with the necessary virtues! For this it is required to awaken from sinful sleep, as the Monk Mary of Egypt once awakened. And our Lord our Savior of the world calls us to this.
So let us wake up from sleep, feel the danger of destruction, and retreat into the wilderness of righteousness. And we'll arm ourselves there patience,
generosity, arm yourself love,
arm ourselves prayer
and measured abstinence, trust in the will of God!
Only under this condition will spiritual transformation take place in us. Only then will all sins be thrown out of our heart's luggage and drowned in the abyss, and only good deeds, our good dispensation will remain - that foundation will remain that will make us worthy of the Kingdom of God.
On the need to forgive offenses before starting a fast
Fasting is, as it were, the threshold of heavenly life, the threshold of celebration.
But in order to achieve the triumph, you need to go through the vestibule, where the heavenly servants will check each of us and ask: with what baggage do you want to celebrate Holy Easter or enter the Heavenly Hall?
If your burden is a sinful nature, then do not dare, man, to meet the bright Resurrection of Christ and enter the Heavenly Hall with a joyful heart. Heavenly servants will take you and plunge you into pitch darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Fasting is a special time when we must carefully look at the state of our soul, at the state of our spirit. What is the soul obsessed with? Is there something akin to it that connects us to heavenly life? Or maybe there is nothing good left there?
So, we are on the eve of Great Lent. We already want to enter the field of spiritual and bodily abstinence. Will we be able to pass this test with dignity, will we be able to whiten our clothes, cleanse them of all sinful filth and enter the Heavenly Hall, so that we may rejoice and rejoice with all who have pleased God?
Let us remember the man who, as stated in the Gospel, did not appear at the wedding feast in festive clothing. Although he entered the house, being invited, he heard the terrible verdict of the Householder: “Evil servant, how dare you enter here without your wedding clothes? Take it and cast it into total darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. "
You see how this man, although he passed through the doors, but without cleansing himself with tears of repentance, without washing the filthy clothes of his soul, was cast out of the bridal chamber.
The same can happen to all of us, if we do not pay for our sins, if we do not whiten our clothes with tears of repentance. How terrible it will be then to hear the Divine voice: "Get out of My bright palace, depart from Me all who practice iniquity!"
So that this does not happen, so that we can hear the joyful, comforting voice of our Creator and Lord: "Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!" - let us strive to work worthily in the field of Great Lent. To work so that the heart cries, so that tears wash away all the filth and filth of sin, cleansing the temple of our soul for the Holy Spirit, which strengthens us on the path of salvation.
Let us begin our difficult path to the bright Resurrection of Christ with forgiving all their offenders.
It is necessary that everyone should forgive each other unhypocritically, sincerely, to the end, without leaving a single drop of irritation and annoyance on their neighbor in the hidden corners of their hearts. Without this, it is impossible to observe physical and spiritual abstinence, and such a fast is not pleasing to God.
Communion on the days of Great Lent
The days of Great Lent are a time of salvation, a time when the Divine word removes the veil of sinful night from our eyes and we enter the realm of light, into the realm of spiritual work.
What do you and I need in these great days? An ardent desire is necessary to free ourselves with the help of divine grace from the bondage of sin and to enter into a close union with virtue.
It is necessary to do what the holy apostle Paul tells us about: reject the works of darkness and put on the weapon of light.
Let us heed the apostolic voice and with a joyful heart we will enter the days of the Holy Forty-day. Let us embark on the path of struggle with all kinds of sinful inclinations, let no one be timid, let no one be afraid of the salvation feat. I know there is a lot of work to be done before we achieve liberation from the bondage of sin, but don't let that frighten us. The Lord is with us, the Lord is near us. It will be easy for us with the Lord. So, let's get down to spiritual work!
I bless each of you to determine your physical and spiritual capabilities and to impose on yourself a feasible bodily abstinence, focusing on the purification of your soul. Try to talk and receive the Holy Mysteries three times: on the first week of Lent, on the fourth and on Holy Thursday - on Great Thursday.
How to Get Started with Spiritual Development
Spiritual virtues include eradication from your heart of irritability, anger, rancor, condemnation and winning generosity and patience, purity of soul.
These virtues will help us in our work spiritual improvement.
Without them, our salvation will be in doubt. Therefore, it is necessary for us to train ourselves in spiritual virtues.
In fact, we have not yet worked in this area, allowing ourselves to go with the flow of life and not seeking to establish control and exercise in these great virtues within ourselves.
So, we need to direct our spiritual gaze to this side of our life with you. Because here we have a lot to lose by not practicing the spiritual virtues properly. We do not eradicate in ourselves irritability,
nor anger,
nor memory malice,
nor condemnation,
no other spiritual vices, and we do not acquire virtues instead: meekness, humility and generosity.
Oh, how I wish that all of us, starting from today, gradually began to exercise in eradicating sinful habits from our hearts! To cultivate in the soul the fragile sprouts of this or that spiritual virtue! I would like from today to start fighting primarily with irritability, anger and memory malice.
Why are these sins so important to us to undo? Yes, because these vices: irritability, anger, and rancor
- they prevent us from acquiring high virtues, they prevent us from walking the salvific path, they prevent us from doing good for the sake of God, for our neighbor.
Think: how can you, having irritation, anger or rancor in your heart, calmly perform, say, the prayer rule ?! Never in such a state will we bring forth a sincere prayer, because irritation and anger, let alone rancor, will surely defile in us the purity of our inner eye, the purity of prayer. And every time we begin to pray, every time the thought of irritation and anger will mentally return us to that offense, to the insult that our neighbors have inflicted on us. Return with such power that we cannot refrain from evil. Thoughts will inspire us that the offender has annoyed us not for nothing, but for the purpose, but is it not a devil in him? And so the enemy will stir up evil thoughts in us without end, in order to finally destroy the purity of prayer in us. So think, is it possible, when our irritation is to make a pure prayer? No, no and NO! Can we have favor with our neighbor, having anger and resentment against him? Can we then condescend to his weakness? In anger, can we not envy his happiness and well-being? Or grieve if the one offending us has some kind of misfortune? ..
That is why I want us to start our feat by fighting against irritability, anger and rancor. How to make this difficult undertaking for the good? How to overcome these passions? This question is answered by the spirit-bearing fathers, who themselves walked this path and showed us the means to help us, using which we could really learn to overcome irritation, anger and rancor in ourselves. After all, how is it going in our life? Someone told us some insulting word, and we immediately admit irritation, or, as the monk says, embarrassment, and we begin to reason: why did he tell me this? Apparently he wants to hurt me. Well, wait, I'll repay you in the same coin! This is how irritation arises. And if we do not defeat him immediately, then it will turn into anger. And in order to overcome irritation, it is necessary, as the pious monks did, to bow down to your neighbor who grieved you, and say: forgive me, brother or sister, that I caused such irritation in you!
And thereby extinguish confusion in oneself and prevent it from taking root. If we don't do this at the very beginning, then irritation will take root and turn into anger, which, burning in us and burning out, will leave behind a whole heap of hot coals that are ready to ignite at any moment, even after many years.
So how do you overcome these sins? Only love.
As the holy fathers say, in moments of turmoil, we must pray for a person who offends us, turn to God for help with a prayer cry: "Lord, have mercy on my brother and by his prayer intercession have mercy and save us from the wiles of the enemy!"
This is how one should act, then neither irritation nor anger, much less rancor, will take root in us.
Check yourself, my beloved children! For example, today we seemed to be praying, but we hardly ever asked for the eradication of anger and irritation in ourselves. Essentially no. You see how carelessly we strive!
It turns out that we are not ready for this feat. So how can we succeed in spiritual virtues, if you and I don't practice virtues at all? Even any mundane art requires constant participation. After all, we do not learn with you in words, for example, to cook food, sew or cultivate a garden! We listen to advice, watch how others are doing, and then try to do it ourselves.
Not very good at first. And then? Then we gradually acquire this or that skill and become good, skilled cooks, seamstresses, gardeners ... But if exercise is required in worldly affairs, then how do we want to master the art of the arts - spiritual virtues - without exercising them?
I want all of us, with the help of God, to begin daily to set ourselves up for the struggle against sin and for the acquisition of spiritual virtues. Only with an effort on our part can we eradicate this or that sin in ourselves, or protect ourselves from the fall of sin and acquire this or that virtue.
How to start cleansing your soul
Our main concern with you is to notice in our actions, in the movement of our heart, certain sinful tendencies.
And not only to notice, but also to make efforts to eliminate these sinful tendencies. This is all our labor on the path of salvation - cleanse your heart, transform your soul, planting in it all that is good, all that is holy, all that is the basis for a future life.
Remember that nothing unclean will enter the kingdom of God.
As the apostle Paul says: "Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor molesters, nor drunkards, nor profane language can inherit the Kingdom of God."
That is why our main feat on the path of salvation consists in cleansing our souls from all sinful filth and in implanting good Christian skills. And we need to fight very firmly and thoroughly, to fight constantly and invariably. In this matter, it is useful to educate ourselves in such a way as to always check what spiritual state we are in. Have we ascended the stages of spiritual perfection, or have we just approached them, or, on the contrary, have moved away from these levels and turned back on the path of sin, on the path of destruction?
In addition, we also need to have spiritual experience and check ourselves - are we not deceived in our hope for eternal salvation? Maybe we think that we have killed every movement of sin in ourselves, but in fact this sin still reigns in our heart, in our soul, it dominates our forces, both spiritual and physical.
We struggle very, very weakly to kill our sinful tendencies. And passions, of course, dominate within our hearts, within our souls. And how they dominate! Scary to say. How they command us, how they rule and lead us into every iniquity, to every fall. And we, like dumb sheep, are led to the slaughter, but not to Christ, but to sin.
Look each one in his own heart and there you will see really the abyss of your sinful inclinations. How much anger, hatred, envy, irritation, pride, vanity, love in our hearts to be praised, and much more. But is it enough just to see your fall into sin? No, the Church does not only call us to this, in order to see her fall into sin, but calls us to arm ourselves, to arm ourselves against sin. We armed ourselves firmly, armed ourselves diligently, in order to eradicate from ourselves every movement of sin.
How to start healing your soul
Idleness is the basis for emptying our spiritual gifts. And if we look into our heart, into our soul, we will see that after we were weakened in attention and in good will, a heart appeared bitterness, devastation.
So the question arises: how is this so? After all, we have received holy Baptism, have received holy anointing, visit the temple of God, as if we are performing prayers, but within ourselves we do not experience joy or strength of spirit. Why is this happening?
Because our spirit weakened in attention, weakened in good deeds and took on an inner striving for spiritual, sinful peace.
And to the extent that we strengthen ourselves in this striving for sinful rest, to the extent that we drive out the grace-filled action of the Holy Spirit from our hearts. As we do this, we lose from our hearts the heavenly joy, the heavenly affirmation. That is why we experience heartbreak in our hearts.
And in order to free ourselves from such a state, we need to work and work. To look not only at ourselves, but also to look at the sorrows and needs of our neighbors, to try, to the best of our strength, to alleviate their mental and physical sorrows, at least in a small measure.
We need to practice good deeds.
And if we practice good deeds, it will surely be banished from our hearts a spirit of idleness, a spirit of despondency, a spirit of desolation.
And instead of all this, Divine love will be kindled - love for good deeds, love for that which is the basis of the future life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How to deal with pride
The main sin that almost all of us, without exception, are possessed by, is sin self-exaltation,
or the sin of pride.
This is the greatest serpent, which very subtly enters our hearts, and sometimes even transforms into a bright angel, and whispers to us that which separates us from Divine love, which removes us from union with God. And we, like innocent sheep, are caught by this wicked serpent of pride and led to the slaughter.
Pride is a great sin. This sin once brought down a bright angel from the height of glory and turned him into an enemy to God, turned him into an evil angel, into Satan. Pride brought down Satan from heaven and cast him into the abyss of destruction. And not only this luminous angel was overthrown by pride, but overthrown many even famous people of the Church of God.
The opposite of pride is humility.
This is the greatest virtue, which undoubtedly helps you and me on the path of spiritual ascent, it does. The humility of many led to salvation. And all devotees of piety were trained in this greatest virtue, for they thought that without humility it is impossible to please God. To come into the real consciousness of ourselves, in order to really realize that we are sinful people, is already a great thing. Don't just say that i am a sinner or a sinner.
No, this is not enough. But to come into full consciousness, the inner consciousness of the feeling that we really are sinful people, and since sinners, then can we then condemn someone, or annoy someone, or rebuke someone or object, and even more so on be angry or angry about anyone? Of course not. Here it is, the greatness of humility.
And if we accept all this and try to fulfill it in our life, that is, reject pride in ourselves, but accept spiritual real humility, that is, the thought and feelings about ourselves that we are not such great ascetics, but we are sinners both before God and before people; if, I say, we perceive such a mood of the spirit, then, believe me, we will undoubtedly succeed on the path of salvation.
How to Build Patience
The great work that you and I must do, beloved brothers and sisters, is undoubtedly patience. It is not for nothing that our Lord Jesus Christ clearly announced this: "In your patience, save your souls."
And this greatest virtue lies at the basis of our salvation, at the basis of other virtues. We need to perceive it not only with our mind, but also with our heart, in order to realize it in our life and with the help of this virtue to overcome all kinds of obstacles on the path of salvation.
If we look at ourselves, we will see what kind of spiritual weakness we are in. Indeed, we are very weak. We cannot always endure patiently this or that sorrow, which by God's permission is given to us, to endure it generously. Look, grief has just begun to us, how we already come to despair, come to cowardice and let our hands down, weaken our legs and fall, not wanting to withstand this or that test sorrow.
But the venerable and spirit-bearing fathers looked at sorrows as something good, as something necessary in the work of our salvation.
Let's remember the instructions of the apostle Paul. He tells us that with many tribulations it is necessary for us to enter the kingdom of God. And then he testifies not only of himself, but also of the apostles: we boast of sorrows, because sorrow breeds patience; patience is an art; art is hope, but hope does not shame.
You see how the spirit-bearing and God-bearing fathers and, in particular, the holy apostles looked at these or those sorrows in the world. This means that they saw in sorrows not only some kind of hardships, troubles, both moral and physical, but also saw in them something sweet, something that one can even boast about. And all this is only because they saw with their minds the essence and meaning of certain sorrows and, of course, endured these sorrows generously. The Lord certainly helped them.
“Three times I,
- said the apostle Paul, - i prayed to God that the Lord would drive away the angel of Satan from me, and the Lord answered me that My strength is perfected in weakness. My grace is enough for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. "
Do we ever say to God like this: "Lord, we are ready to endure everything, sickness and sorrow"? I'm afraid to believe we are saying this. No, perhaps we never say, but always only hear oohs and sighs: "Lord, why did You punish me?" A little bit of an illness, whether the head ached a little, whether the throat or some other member of our body ached, we already gasped: "Oh, oh, Lord, it's hard."
How do you get rid of this? You see, we do not have enough patience. Of course, one must get rid of the disease even by natural means, resorting to the art of medicine, but, nevertheless, here it is also necessary to rely entirely on Divine Providence. If the Lord wants to heal us even through natural medicines, then, of course, our bodily organism will be restored. If the Lord wants us to bear the podvig of patience in sickness, then here it is necessary to show magnanimity and complete obedience to the Divine will.
That's what I wanted to tell you. To tell you that we should acquire the great virtue of patience and in our patience would save our souls. Whether the Lord will visit us with one sorrow or another, let us not give up our hands and weaken our legs. Let's not relax our heart and groan and gasp, but just say: “Lord, then. You so please, help us to endure this sorrow generously, so as not to weaken our patience and not to be deprived of Thy heavenly goods. "
How to learn good nature
Without forgiveness, without eradicating rancor, peace of mind is impossible! Because malice produces in the mind a storm of thoughts against one's neighbor - a storm of passions that overturns everything within us, uproots everything that is good, destroys almost to the ground all the germs of virtues. We ourselves are not happy about this unfortunate storm, which comes from resentment towards our neighbor. And if this storm arises, can we then perform any pious feats? Even a feat of abstinence in food, even a prayer feat, even helping others, even magnanimity and humility? No. Then no feat is possible, because the storm of anger in our heart will sweep away all our good intentions, and no good will be subject to us.
This is the law sin,
and especially sin rancor, irritation.
That is why the great ascetics of Christ's Church tried to destroy even the slightest manifestation of sin with malice. Because if you give room to his movement, then he, I repeat, will destroy to the ground all our good dispensation. In addition, the monastic fathers also remembered the commandments of God: "Blessed are the peacemakers", "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will be called the sons of God and will see God."
They also honored the apostolic commandment: "May the sun not go down in your anger."
That is why they sought to eradicate the sin of malice from its very inception.
I want these pious rules of the ascetics to become a guide in our life as well. And if someone from our neighbors hurts us - we will not allow malice to dominate our hearts!
Remember that otherwise our weaknesses will be immediately exploited by the enemy of the human race. He will undoubtedly inspire us that the offense is too great and unforgivable; will inflate, as they say, small into large, represent an elephant from a fly.
Malice, having entered the heart, will not give us peace either day or night, not at prayer, or at work. It will sharpen our heart, so much so that we, as they say, will be completely unsettled.
Look, do not give room to the devil! And if we notice in our hearts an offense against our neighbor, then we will hasten to reconciliation, if only this is possible.
It happens, however, that a person asks for forgiveness, but the offended one does not forgive. In this case, leaving everything on the conscience of our neighbor, let us purify ourselves before God and before people.
How to treat enemies and offenders
God's commandment of patience reads: "He who endures to the end, will be saved"
(). And we forget it completely. We are tormented by an inner torment of the heart: how dare you offend us? How did they say such a mournful word to us? Why did they do it? Are they good people? So we begin to sort out everyone, and forget the commandments of God.
How we want people to think and say only good things about us. It is, of course, good when people say good about us, provided that we are truly good and, above all, humble people. What if we don't have humility? There is no real virtue, but only one semblance of virtue, do you think it’s good, then what good people say about us? No, the Savior of the world said bluntly: "Woe to you when all people speak well of you."
Yes, precisely grief, because a person who inclines his ear and heart to the glory or praise of men is not established in goodness. And it is enough just to say something humiliating or regrettable about such a person, as he immediately changes both in his face and in his mood. That is why the monk advises us, if only we want to be saved, if we only want to achieve spiritual dispensation for real, then we must create in our hearts such a mood so that we are like the dead - not thinking about resentment or fame.
Treat both of them equally. Now, if we have such a dispensation, then, of course, then we will be firm on the path of salvation.
On the Spiritualization of Worldly Life
In order to dispose the heart to holiness, to create, as it were, the abode of the Divine Spirit, so that thoughts rush to grief through the visible world, the great ascetic of the Russian land, the saint advises us to spiritualize every thing, that is, to add any good thoughts to every thing, to put a spiritual meaning into this or that ordinary thing.
Here's how to do it. Let's say you noticed a stain on your dress. Immediately turn your gaze to grief and say to yourself: “Look, it’s not good to appear at people in such a dirty dress, but how will you appear before God with a defiled soul? Will it not be ashamed to stand before the immaculate Judge and Creator? " And then weep for your fall, and stop yourself.
So it is necessary to act in all other everyday affairs. If something does not work out in business, say this: "You see, it is difficult to achieve success in everyday affairs, but how do you want to achieve eternal salvation without labor, being in laziness and carelessness?"
The monk designated each place for himself by names from the Holy Scriptures.
The river that flowed nearby was named by him Jordan. The hills that were nearby, he called one Tabor, the other - Eleon. This means that he combined the gospel stories with every geographical subject.
And every time when he came to the river, his thought was immediately thrown to those events about which the Holy Gospel narrates - to the Baptism of the Lord. If he climbed a hill, he mentally imagined Tabor and the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so his mind always rose to grief.
If we want to please God, we will try to implement in our lives the advice of the spirit-bearing ascetics of Christ's Church. Let us spiritualize material deeds with soul-saving reflections, and then every thing will direct our mind to grief.
Do not postpone this work for some future time! Start from today. Come and define, spiritualize literally everything: cooking, rest, our relationship with each other ... Believe me: how easy it will be then to improve spiritually and endure all kinds of troubles that happen in our life! Then, God willing, we will be able to educate ourselves in true piety and become worthy of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
About voluntarily accepting sorrows
A terrible picture appears before our mental eyes.
After Pilate condemned Christ the Savior to be crucified, the soldiers took Jesus and, placing the cross on Him, led him to Golgotha….
Christ bears the cross without complaint. Simon of Cyrene helps him in this. And here it is, Calvary. A great and terrible event is taking place here. Christ is nailed to the cross and together with Him two thieves.
One is on the right side and the other is on the left.
But unlike the robbers, the Divine Teacher does not endure the crucifixion for his sins. He accepts suffering voluntarily in order to redeem humanity from the curse of sin and death. The Lord nails and tears apart the handwriting of the sins of all people on the cross and washes away these sins with His life-giving blood. There comes a reconciliation between God and man. The redemption of the human race is being made. And on both sides of the Savior there are criminals hanging on crosses who have defiled themselves with various atrocities. How do these robbers feel about their torment and the sufferings of Christ?
At first both robbers wore out blasphemy from their lips. But soon their opinions were divided. One of the robbers, who was hanging on the right side of Christ the Savior, was filled with compassion for the God-man, and the other, who was nailed to the left, remained with a darkened mind. He continued to blaspheme the God-man, addressing Him with these words: "If you are the Christ, then save yourself and us." Then another robber, who in his heart sensed the mystery of the sufferings of Christ the Savior, rebuked him: “Or are you not afraid of God when you yourself are condemned to the same? And we were justly judged, because we received what was worthy according to our deeds, but He did nothing wrong. " And after that he turned to Christ with a prayer: “Remember me. Lord, in Thy Kingdom. " And since his prayer was sincere, emanating from the depths of a contrite heart, since the prudent robber recognized himself worthy of this crucifixion, since he truly, internally repented of his atrocities, then Christ answered his prayer with the following words: “Now you will be with I'm in paradise. "
Thus, the prudent robber, although he shed a lot of human blood, although he caused many sorrows to people, but, having accepted suffering on the cross, received retribution for all his atrocities and, having been cleansed by repentance, received justification from the Lord.
So, we stand on Calvary and see how the redemption of the human race is being accomplished. We comprehend here the great truth that it is necessary not only to realize our sins, but also to voluntarily take upon ourselves certain sorrows and sufferings in atonement for our sins. Only then will our correction truly be accomplished. Of course, if we take the path of the second, unreasonable robber, who blasphemed the Savior to the end, if we challenge God and say: "Lord, why are you punishing me, it seems as if I didn’t do anything bad in my life?" - if we grumble against the Lord for the sorrows sent to us, then, naturally, these sorrows will not bring us any benefit in the work of salvation and our repentance will not be accepted by the Lord, but will be rejected.
We need to truly bring repentance ...
It is necessary whenever we commit one or another sin, to impose on ourselves the feasible physical and spiritual labors that will serve to cleanse our souls.
If we reject all sorrows, considering them undeserved, if we justify ourselves before God, then our repentance will be in vain.
We have something to punish for. Look closely at your deeds. We do a lot of bad things. And how little we do good! Very little. And those good deeds that we do are sometimes defiled by our own self-conceit or pride. And what is even sadder, when we commit a sin, we often do not even feel remorse. In doing so, we will become stagnant in sin and forget about the cleansing of the soul.
But the Lord calls us to repentance! He, out of His love, does not want our destruction, and therefore He sends us certain sorrows to awaken you from your sinful sleep. So that, having awakened from oblivion, we reproached ourselves and knew our weaknesses. And as soon as we realize our sinful essence and dispose ourselves to resignedly endure all kinds of trials and sorrows, then the goodness of God will be given to us, which will enter our hearts, strengthen us and establish us on the path of salvation.
These and other questions are answered by Bishop Job of Shumsky, rector of the Pochaev Theological Seminary.
Vladyka, the preparatory weeks for Great Lent begin on February 5. How to conduct them correctly, what to pay attention to in the first place on each week?
This year, soon after the Feast of the Epiphany, the preparatory weeks for Great Lent begin. Almost literally, as stated at the beginning of the 4th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Christ was "led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and after fasting for forty days and forty nights, finally hungry." Mark says it was "immediately" after His Baptism (1:12). Such an early fast and preparation for it is a great joy for true disciples of Christ. In addition, in such a year as the one that came with early Easter, the apostolic fast is also longer.
The Holy Church precedes the time of Great Lent with preparatory weeks so that everyone begins to study the complex science of repentance - real repentance, without which no one will enter the Kingdom of God, as stated in the brief Gospel reading of the Week after the Enlightenment (Matthew 4: 12-17) ...
Repentance is like changing citizenship for the sake of living in a better country; this is the opening of the door through which light enters our soul and thereby expels darkness from it ... For this to happen, so that we can enter the Kingdom of God, it is necessary that our new year begins with the study of the Word of God, the spiritual laws of the new Kingdom and change yourself - repentance - in accordance with the gospel law.
The Gospel reading of the Sabbath before the Week of the Publican about the Pharisee (Luke 18: 2-8) contains a sad prediction of our Lord that, having come a second time, He is unlikely to find on earth such faith as a widow's. Probably, on the day of His coming, believers like the Pharisees will be found, but there will be no real faith in God, the number of real believers will be small. But before that, Christ, saying that God will not leave those crying to Him day and night, gives great consolation. The parable of the unrighteous judge and the widow shows that one should always pray and not lose heart. Even if the unrighteous judge heeded the insistent requests of the widow, then the righteous God, the loving Father, will surely protect His children who cry out to Him day and night, although sometimes it seems to us that He is slowly doing it. So, we need to have a constant and living connection with God, and He will always be our Helper and Patron. And then neither the Antichrist, nor his servants, nor his seal will be afraid of us ...
On the eve of fasting, at the very beginning of the preparatory weeks, we receive advice from Christ regarding our prayer. She should be persistent, unrelenting, but also humble and non-judgmental. Let us try, with God's help, to put this edifying teaching of Christ into practice.
On the first Sunday of these weeks, every Christian needs to think about why it is dangerous to be proud of imaginary or real successes in the spiritual life, why it is not necessary to pray like a Pharisee. Repentance and humility are the basis of spiritual life, the basis of contemplation is theology and prayer.
The Pharisee praised himself, condemned another, had no love, he was very far from the merciful God, did not want to sacrifice anything for the salvation of the sinful publican. He is like a patient who does not see his illness and considers himself healthy.
The tax collector did not see anyone but himself, realized his sins, condemned only himself and, as a condemned person, needed a Savior and asked for mercy for himself.
The conclusion is this: everyone who exalts himself, that is, who puts himself in the place of God in order to judge others, will be humiliated (he removes himself from God), and whoever humbles himself, humbles himself will be exalted and draw near to God!
The reproof of the Pharisees by Christ concerns us too. What prevented the Pharisee from being justified before the eyes of God while in the temple? Hypocrisy, that is, the desire to look better than he really was! There is a deception of God, Who cannot be deceived. In words, thanks to God, the Pharisee actually did not thank God, but praised himself.
Good deeds must be done so that people praise not us, but thank God! After all, before teaching others, one must learn well the first lesson of the Heavenly Teacher - the lesson of humility. For example, St. Silouan the Athonite asserted: "A humble person does not say anything from himself." The Holy Fathers did nothing for show, for the sake of glory and fame, but only for spiritual benefit.
It is interesting that after the Sunday about the publican and the Pharisee, fasting is canceled on Wednesday and Friday: with the purpose of shaming the proud Pharisee within himself, who exalted himself over the other two external fasting during the week. The Church by this indicates to us that the main thing for us is to gain humility - peace with God and our neighbors, to learn the frequent humble repentant little prayer: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" Then the post will be more successful for us.
- The next week is about the prodigal son ...
On Sunday, about the prodigal son, one must learn not to feel like the eldest son in the Church, who looks with contempt at the youngest son, the fornicator and the embezzler, who returns to his father, who greets him with open arms. The Gospel reading about the prodigal son also reminds us that the younger son, by his sinful and prodigal life, himself fell into a trap, the trap of shameful slavery, and as a result - life with pigs. The Apostle Paul warns that the fornicator is his own enemy and destroys his body, spoils his life.
Singing in the temple of the Old Testament psalm "On the rivers of Babylon ..." says that separation from the earthly homeland is not so terrible, how much separation from God, the visible sign of whose presence in ancient Israel was the Jerusalem temple ...
Psalm 136 says that life on earth after the Fall is a captivity with which we have become accustomed. The Jews for the sins of spiritual fornication with false and alien gods were taken away into distant captivity. A similar thing happened to our people after the 1917 revolution ...
But we are citizens of Heaven. To gain freedom, we must resolutely smash the "babies" of sinful thoughts and pride against the stone of faith. It is easy to do this at the very beginning of the appearance of sinful thoughts, when they have not yet grown up and have not bridged us.
Your Eminence, what practical advice can you give from your life experience during the preparatory weeks? What are the common mistakes you make with this?
Many people think that these preparatory weeks are not yet fasting. But, in my opinion, this is nothing but a real spiritual fast, attunement of the soul to further fasting. Just as a singer is prepared for the performance with a tuning fork at the very beginning of his singing, so the preparatory weeks determine our spiritual route. It is very unwise to neglect them and make of them a time of insane fun and pleasing to the flesh.
Let us make sure that by this Great Lent our souls, yearning for the Heavenly Fatherland, are freed from sinful captivity.
Recorded by Sergey Geruk
