About the Law of God and commandments according to the guidance of the Orthodox Catechism

Contents Preface About the law of God in general About conscience, or the internal law of God About the external positive Law of God About the incentives to fulfill the Law of God About the division of the commandments into two tablets About the first commandment About the second commandment About the third commandment About the fourth commandment About the fifth commandment About the sixth commandment About the seventh commandment About the eighth commandment About the ninth commandment About the tenth commandment The Orthodox Catechism, written by His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret of blessed memory, in its strict accuracy in expressing Orthodox teaching and conciseness in its presentation, has such highest merits, among other things, as a textbook that it will probably long remain a guide for both teachers and students of the holy Orthodox faith. But these very advantages of it - strict accuracy and conciseness - indicate the need for detailed explanations of many of its provisions. Experience has shown that in this case verbal explanations from teachers alone are not enough, but written instructions for students are also required. In view of this need, teachers of the law wrote detailed notes and compiled so-called notes on the subject of God's law. Recently, these notes began to appear in print, and some of them went through several editions: proof of the need for such works. The book “On the Law of God and Commandments” owes its origin to the same need - to add additional answers to the short and condensed, especially in the 3rd part, provisions of the Catechism. It was compiled gradually, over several years of teaching the Law of God in secondary educational institutions, male and female, with the active participation of the students themselves. Serving as nothing more than an addition to the Orthodox Catechism, it strictly follows this guide not only in teaching, but also in plan, and tries to approach it in a catechetical way of presentation. In some places, in order to connect the teaching presented and to avoid paraphrase, the expressions of the Catechism are literally repeated as completely clear and not raising any special questions. What is called the Law of God? The law of God refers to the rules that the Lord God, the Creator of the universe, was pleased to appoint for the life and activity of various creatures, called by Him from nothingness to existence. Inanimate creatures fulfill the law of the Creator out of necessity. Animals live and act according to their innate instinct. Man, as a rational being, must fulfill the law of God freely, with the consciousness of its importance and binding force. Why was God's Law given to people? The all-wise Creator has destined for man a lofty goal—to gradually improve in goodness to approach him as his Prototype. Be holy, for holy am I the Lord your God (Lev.19:2). Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). The Law of God guides us to achieve our high purpose: it shows which deeds are good and which are evil, what is pleasing to God and what is contrary to His holy will. Can man fulfill God's moral law? Having destined man for high perfection, God placed great powers in the depths of his spirit: mind, heart, will. In the present state, a person’s powers are damaged by sin, and by himself he cannot achieve the perfection destined for him. But God, out of His ineffable love, has given us a special divine power, with the help of which we can fulfill the law of God and achieve our destination, if we sincerely desire it. This power of God, given to every believer for salvation, is called grace, because it is given to us freely, not according to any of our merits. Only by the grace of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, who redeemed us with His Most Holy Blood. Can God's Law be Abolished? The law of God cannot be abolished by any person, because at its foundation is the unchangeable will of the Lord. If people, due to their sinful inclinations, violate the law of God, then this cannot remain without strict retribution. The truth of God must be fulfilled, otherwise the entire order of the moral world would be disrupted. If we see that here on earth, vice is not always punished and, on the contrary, good people often suffer a lot of grief, then this phenomenon is one of the strongest proofs of the truth that beyond this life there will be another, eternal life, in which just as virtue will receive its reward, so evil and vice will be given over to shame and punishment. Where is the Law of God depicted for us? The law of God is imprinted in man's own soul and then proposed by God externally, in various commandments. The first is called the internal law, or conscience, the second is the external positive law of God. About conscience, or the internal law of God Conscience is an inner voice that tells us that one thing is good and another is bad. After a good deed we feel calm and joy, and after a bad deed we feel anxiety and fear. How can we see that conscience is the law of God? The Holy Apostle Paul speaks of the pagans: They (the pagans who did not have the written Mosaic Law) show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as evidenced by their conscience and their thoughts, now accusing, now justifying one another (Rom. 2:15). Is one internal law of conscience enough for a person? God revealed his will to Adam and taught him in paradise - before the Fall. This means that even in an innocent state, man needed the revealed law of God - in addition to and explanation of the internal law of conscience. Since the fall of people, the sinful infection has penetrated the entire nature of man and eclipsed the features of the image of God in his soul. This sinful damage was also reflected in man’s conscience: its voice alone, without the external positive law of God, became insufficient to guide us. What is the imperfection of conscience as a human guide? Firstly, conscience in our present state does not clearly represent the law of God, so that people can reinterpret its suggestions; for example: many consider pride to be a virtue, revenge on the enemy - heroism, while the Law of God teaches something completely different. Secondly, conscience in a person’s present state is not strong enough to curb his sinful desires and passions. When a person persistently acts against his conscience, it can weaken in him to the point that he no longer feels either shame or fear, committing the most lawless deeds. Can a person completely drown out his conscience? Although it seems that for some people conscience does not seem to work, a person cannot completely drown it out: it is the law of God. Sooner or later she will awaken, and the more silent she is, the more terrible her voice will be. It awakens with special force before death, and will be completely revealed at the Last Judgment of the Lord. We see an example of the awakening of conscience in Judas the traitor. What are our responsibilities regarding conscience? 1) We must try to live in peace with our conscience and not transgress its suggestions: when the conscience is outraged, then all the blessings of the world will not give peace and joy to a person’s heart. 2) You should awaken your conscience as often as possible. Experienced teachers of piety advise every day in the silence of the evening, before going to bed, when a person’s thoughts have calmed down, to question our conscience about what good or bad we have done during the day. 3) We must enlighten our conscience so that it faithfully and clearly conveys to us the will of God; For this, daily careful reading of the word of God is especially useful. Finally, 4) we must take care of reconciling our conscience with God. By the ineffable mercy of God, we have been given a means to pacify our conscience in the sacrament of Repentance. Here our sins are cleansed by the propitiatory Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, shed on the Cross. When the priest, with the authority given to him by God, says to the truly repentant “I forgive and absolve you,” peace with God is restored in our conscience, and the heart is filled with the sweetest feeling of peace and joy in God the Savior. On the external positive Law of God When and how was the Law given by God? God taught our first parents back in paradise. After the Fall, He repeatedly revealed His will to people through the righteous men Noah, Abraham, and Jacob. With particular solemnity, He pronounced the law on Mount Sinai - amid thunder, lightning and trumpet sounds - and after this He gave commandments to the people of Israel through their leader Moses. Are all the commandments of the Law of Moses binding on us? The commandments of the Law of Moses can be divided into ritual, civil and moral. Ritual commandments determined the sacred places, persons, times and actions of Old Testament worship. They were given for a time and served as prototypes of the times of the Savior. With His coming, they, as having lost their meaning, were abolished by His words “This is My Blood of the New Testament” and the decree of the Apostolic Council (Acts 15:28–29). The civil commandments were adapted to the life of the Jewish people and their special position among other peoples. With the coming of the Lord Savior, they also lost their power, because the Gospel was proclaimed not to one Jewish people, but to all nations, and by its nature the Kingdom of God is not visible, earthly, but spiritual. One can be a true Christian under any type of government and under the most varied conditions of social life. The moral commandments of the Law of Moses are not only left in full force, but are also widespread and exalted in the teaching of the Gospel. To the rich young man, when asked, “What good thing can I do to have eternal life?” The Lord answered: “Keep the commandments,” and at the same time pointed to some commandments of the Law of Moses: “Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery; don't steal; do not bear false witness” (Matthew 19:16–18). And in the Discourse on the Mount, the Lord explained that, for example, the sixth commandment is violated not only by the one who kills his neighbor, but also by the one who is angry with his neighbor and speaks offensive words to him; The third commandment not only prohibits vain oaths, but requires such honesty and mutual trust from Christians as not to resort to an oath at all, but to be content with the words: “her, her; neither, nor." What are the main and universal commandments of the Law of God? The following ten, which were written on two tablets, or stone tablets: 1. I am the Lord your God: let there be no gods for you but Me. 2. Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol or any likeness, such as the tree in heaven, and the tree below on earth, and the tree in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them. 3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy: you shall do six days, and in them you shall do all your work; and on the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 5. Honor your father and your mother, may you be well and may you live long on earth. 9. Do not listen to your friend’s false testimony. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy true wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his village, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor anything that is thy neighbor (Ex. 20:1-17). On incentives to fulfill the Law of God What motives does a Christian have to fulfill God’s commandments? The merciful God, desiring the salvation of all people, in various ways disposes them to fulfill His Law. He promises as a reward for fulfilling it both temporary benefits and, especially, eternal bliss. Honor your father and your mother, may you be well and may you live long on earth. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for of them is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:3). On the other hand, for failure to fulfill the Law, he threatens with temporary and eternal punishments: “Behold, you are healed,” the Savior says to the paralytic he healed, “sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14). “Do not be afraid,” says the Savior to the apostles, “of those who kill the body and then are unable to do anything more; Fear Him who, after being killed, can cast you into Gehenna: therefore, I tell you, fear Him” (Luke 12:4,5). The Holy Apostle Paul says: “It is terrible to fall into the hands of the living God!” (Hebrews 10:31). However, the higher a person stands on the path of virtue, the more he cleaves to the Law of the Lord and tries to fulfill it not out of fear of punishment, not out of a desire for rewards, but out of consciousness of his holiness and love for the Lawgiver. It is enough for him to think that this is good and pleasing to our Savior God (1 Tim. 2:8), and he is ready to fulfill God’s commandment with selflessness. The Lord Savior especially wants us to fulfill His commandments out of love for Him. He says in his farewell conversation to his disciples: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). “You are My friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me” (John 14:21). Love for the Savior will itself dispose us to imitate His perfections: “Learn from Me,” says the Savior, “for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). The feelings of a person devoted to God not out of hope for reward but solely out of love are expressed in the following words of the Psalmist: “Who is in heaven for me? and with You I want nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart fail: God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 72:25,26). On the division of the commandments into two tablets What does it mean that the Ten Commandments were divided into two tablets? This means that they contain two kinds of love, that is, love of God and love of neighbor, and therefore two kinds of offices are prescribed. Doesn't Jesus Christ say something about this? To the question: what is the greatest commandment in the law? He answered: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40). All people: The Lord showed us this in the parable of the Good Samaritan. For the Samaritan, a Jew robbed by robbers was a stranger, even an enemy; however, he did not look at it and gave him his help. Likewise, we must love everyone, not excluding our enemies. Are there people close to us among our neighbors to whom we owe special love? In addition to the same nature and common origin, people are connected by some special connections. These are the ties, firstly, religious, and secondly, family ties. What special connection binds Christians together? All Christians, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and by the grace of rebirth, are children of the one heavenly Father and members of one body - the holy Church. “You,” says the apostle, “are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). How should the special love of Christians be expressed among themselves? In a unanimous confession of the holy faith, in a living sense of mutual union that binds the members of the Church, and finally, in a readiness to serve everyone for the sake of the Lord. “Complete my joy,” writes St. Apostle Paul, “have the same thoughts, have the same love, be of one mind and of the same mind” (Phil. 2:2). “If one member suffers, all members suffer with it; If one member is glorified, all members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:26). “As long as we have time, let us do good to everyone, but especially to those who are of the family of the faith” (Gal. 6:10). What are the special family attachments based on? Nature itself, according to God’s dispensation, turns our love first to mother, father, brothers, sisters, and then to other people. We are connected with close relatives not only by blood, but also by spiritual kinship. In the bosom of our family we receive life, initial care, benefits for needs, education: all this naturally disposes us to love, devotion, trust and gratitude. Aren't the special family attachments of Christian love for everyone disgusting? Family affections are not only not contrary to Christian love for everyone, on the contrary, they should develop it in our hearts and guide us to its fulfillment. He who loves his mother dearly will certainly pity the mother of another person who is in need. One who cares for his own children will be attentive to the needs of other children. According to this meaning of kindred love, St. The Apostle Paul strictly condemns those who do not have it. “If anyone,” he says, “does not provide for his own, and especially for those at home, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel” (1 Tim. 5:8). Why is there no mention of self-love in the Ten Commandments? Self-love is our very nature; “no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it” (Eph. 5:29). This love in a present sinful state can receive the wrong direction, become selfishness (selfishness) and involve us in many sins. Therefore, we should be reminded more often to love ourselves less than to develop our already strong love for ourselves. However, if anyone wants to learn about the duties towards oneself, he can extract them from the commandments in relation to others. It is said: love your neighbor as yourself. This means: what is prescribed in relation to one’s neighbor can also be applied to oneself. For example, the sixth commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill.” While it prohibits killing others, it at the same time prohibits suicide. The eighth commandment prohibits, along with theft, laziness and parasitism. How should one talk about duties to God, one's neighbor and oneself, according to the degree of their importance? Duties to God should be the most important and sacred for a person. “This (i.e., the commandment to love God) is the first and greatest commandment,” said the Lord; they are followed by duties to one’s neighbor, and finally – to oneself. Therefore, if necessary, one must renounce one’s neighbors for the sake of God, and oneself for the sake of God and one’s neighbors. “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself” (Mark 8:34). “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). An example of how love for oneself and one’s neighbors should be subordinated to love for God is provided by St. Patriarch Abraham, who decided to sacrifice his only son to the Lord. An example of sacrificing oneself for the sake of one's neighbors is St. Prophet Moses and St. Apostle Paul, who, in order to save the people of Israel, decided to sacrifice the most precious good - eternal salvation (Example from life: a mother at the bedside of a child, a doctor at a sick person, saving a drowning person, etc.). How should we love our neighbors and ourselves? We must love our neighbor and ourselves only out of love for God: our neighbor is dear to us because he was created by God and redeemed by the blood of Christ the Savior. The Holy Apostle Paul, teaching that one should not give a reason to offend a weak brother, bases it on the fact that Christ died for him. “And therefore,” he adds, “if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to stumble (1 Cor. 8:11,13). The same holy apostle, inspiring Christians to protect not only their souls, but also their bodies, in purity, encourages them to do this with the following words: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?.. You were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God both in your body and in your soul, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:15,20). What does the first commandment teach us? The first commandment instills two main duties to God: 1) to know God: “I am the Lord your God,” the Lord tells us; 2) to honor the one true God and “let you have no gods other than Me.” How important is it for a person to truly know God? There is no higher subject for our knowledge than God and His perfection. It is extremely ungrateful not to know about the One who created us and redeemed us with His Blood. Without true knowledge of God, one cannot have proper knowledge about one’s purpose, about one’s responsibilities, about the afterlife. Therefore, the duty to know God should be considered one of our most important duties. What does Scripture say about the responsibility to know God? The Lord Jesus Christ in His high priestly prayer speaks about us to God the Father: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). The Apostle Paul in his 2nd Epistle to the Thessalonians threatens with great punishment those who neglect the sacred duty of knowing God. “They,” says the apostle, “will undergo punishment, everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints” (2 Thess. 1:9,10). From the commandment to know God, what special positions can be derived? 1) Considering the knowledge of God the most important of all knowledge, one must study it with special diligence. The knowledge related here is of great importance both for this temporary life, and especially for the eternal. 2) The study of the Law of God should not be limited to school: we must try in every possible way to elevate ourselves in the knowledge of God. One must diligently listen to teachings in church, read books that teach the knowledge of God, firstly, the Holy Scriptures, and secondly, the works of the holy fathers, and try to develop in oneself a taste for spiritually edifying reading. 3) We must look with reason at nature as the work of God’s hands and learn the ways of Providence in the destinies of peoples and the circumstances of life, both our own and those around us. 4) One should value conversation with pious people about God and His works and try to draw benefit from it for one’s soul. How can the duties of reverence be presented more separately? Since man is a spiritual-physical being, he is obliged to render reverence to God, both in spirit and body, internally and externally. What positions relate to internal worship? 7) Worship God and glorify Him. 9) Call on God in every good undertaking and deed. What kind of faith should there be in God? Our faith must be living and sincere and not limited to the knowledge of God alone, but expressed throughout our entire life by submission to God and His holy law. An example of living faith is presented to us by the Holy Patriarch Abraham, who did not doubt that God was giving him offspring from Isaac, even at that moment when, at the command of God, he decided to sacrifice him. “God is able to raise people from the dead (Heb. 11:19),” Abraham thought in his heart, “and will certainly fulfill His promise.” What does it mean to walk with God? Walking with God means always remembering God, that He sees and hears us, and therefore live carefully and act according to His law. To explain this, we can point to the following examples. God told Abraham: “Walk before Me and be blameless” (Gen. 17:1); and Abraham kept this commandment throughout his life. King David says about himself: “I always saw the Lord before me” (Ps. 15:8). It is said about righteous Enoch that he walked with God and, by constant caution, so as not to offend the omnipresent and omniscient God, reached such a moral height that he escaped the suffering of death and was presented alive from earth to heaven (Gen. 5:24). About Patriarch Noah it is said: “Noah was a righteous and blameless man in his generation (that is, among the corrupt generation before the flood, which further elevated his holiness); Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:9). Where does the fear of God come from? God is the highest Being and our all-righteous Judge, who knows not only our deeds, but also our innermost thoughts. This concept of the greatness of God, His omniscience and justice instills in a person caution and fear, lest he should offend Him in any way. As an example of the saving fear of God, one can point to the chaste Joseph; “How can I do this great evil and sin before God?” - he said to Pentephry’s wife (Gen. 39:9). What should be the fear of God? The fear of God must be imbued with a feeling of love for God, that is, we must fear God not so much out of fear of punishment, but out of the consciousness that He is our greatest benefactor, and it would be extremely ungrateful on our part to offend Him. What inspires hope in God? Hope in God is aroused by ideas about the goodness of God, about His providence, which extends to the whole world and especially to man, and about His great promises. The Lord Jesus Christ said: “neither hair of your head shall perish without the will of the Heavenly Father” (Luke 21:18). “Your Father in heaven knows that you need all this” (Matthew 6:32). He who trusts in God is calm in life. He is confident that no one can harm him without the will of God. In times of difficulty and need, he knows whom to turn to for help, and with faith and love he surrenders to God his fate and that of his neighbors. The feelings of a person who trusts in God are beautifully expressed in the following words of the Psalmist: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I will lack for nothing: He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters; strengthens my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff - they calm me. Thou hast prepared a table before me in the sight of my enemies; anointed my head with oil; my cup is overflowing. So may Your goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord many days” (Ps. 23:1-6). How can we hope for God's mercy when we sin against Him? According to the law of truth, we, as sinners, should expect from God not mercy, but condemnation and punishment. But our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for us and with His Blood reconciled us with God’s justice. He gave us the right, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, to be children of God and taught us in prayer to cry out to God with the boldness of love: Our Father. Therefore, expecting mercy from God, we should not rely on any of our rights, but solely on the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must ask God in the name of His Only Begotten Son, who suffered for us. “Truly, truly, I say to you,” the Lord said to his disciples, “whatever you ask the Father in My name, he will give it to you” (John 16:23). As a sign of this trust in the merits of the Son of God, when we pray to God, we imprint the sign of the cross on ourselves. In what attitudes and actions is love for God expressed? He who loves God with all the strength of his being strives towards God as the highest and most perfect Being. Therefore, above all else, he honors the all-holy will of God and tries in every possible way to be as close to God as possible and to unite more closely with Him. He who loves God always and everywhere joyfully remembers Him, works calmly and cheerfully where the Lord has placed him, and places the highest reward in His favor. Feelings of love for God are expressed in the following words of the Psalmist: “I will love You, O Lord, my strength! The Lord is my rock and my refuge, my Deliverer, my God is my rock; in Him I trust, my shield, the horn of my salvation and my refuge” (Ps. 17:2,3); “With all my heart I seek You; do not let me wander from Your commandments. I have hidden Your word in my heart, so that I would not sin against You” (Ps. 119:10,11). “I will stretch out my hands to Your commandments which I have loved, and I will meditate on Your statutes. This is my consolation in my distress, that Your word gives me life” (Ps. 119:48,50). “I am sure,” writes St. Apostle Paul, “that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor the present, nor the future, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38,39) 1. What does it mean to obey God? To obey God means to be continually ready to do what He commands. So, for example, the apostles Peter, Andrew, John, James, Philip, Matthew and others immediately obeyed the Lord when He ordered them to follow Him. A great example of devotion to God is represented by the Blessed Virgin Mary, when at the Archangel’s gospel she answered: “Behold, the Servant of the Lord; Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). People testify to their devotion to God when they are content with their condition, knowing that each person’s share is assigned by God, and they do not complain when they are deprived of wealth or persons close to them. In this regard, an example of submission to God is provided by the righteous Job, who, in the midst of disasters, glorified and blessed God just as much as in the days of happiness. How should we worship and glorify God? The Lord Savior taught us this in a conversation with a Samaritan woman: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). God, as the highest Spirit, is also pleased with spiritual sacrifice, that is, feelings of love, devotion, humility, gratitude, etc. But since a person consists of soul and body, the reverent feelings of the soul cannot but be expressed in corresponding bodily actions, such as bowing, kneeling, raising one’s eyes to heaven. These expressions of inner reverent feeling must be true, that is, they must come from the reverent disposition of the soul and be imbued with it. True glorification of God requires not only the harmony of external acts of reverence with the heartfelt disposition in moments of prayer, but also the correspondence of the entire life of a Christian with feelings of love and reverence for God. The Apostle James speaks about the sins of the tongue: “With it (that is, with the tongue) we bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men, created in the likeness of God. From the same mouth comes blessing and curse: it must not be so, my brethren” (James 3:9,10). Therefore, as St. teaches. Apostle Paul, let everyone who confesses the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness (2 Tim. 2:19). What should we thank God for? We must thank God for all His mercies towards us, especially for the fact that He redeemed us and saves us in His Church. God doesn't need our gratitude. We ourselves need it for our salvation. Through gratitude we testify that we understand who our benefactor is and attract God's favor to ourselves. An example of gratitude can be seen in the Samaritan, who was one of the ten healed who returned and gave thanks to the Lord. The Lord said to him: “Get up, go; your faith has saved you” (Luke 17:19). Thus, the grateful Samaritan, in addition to physical healing, received spiritual salvation. Where does ingratitude to God come from? Firstly, it’s scary to say, sometimes from the multitude and greatness of God’s blessings. We often forget ourselves in the midst of happiness, and only when some grief visits us do we begin to feel how merciful God was to us, and little did we know how to appreciate His mercy. Secondly, because we often attribute success to ourselves by saying “I succeeded,” “I guessed it,” or to other people, and not to God. Thirdly, because we more often look at our sorrows than at our well-being, and therefore we more often grumble than thank God. Meanwhile, in life there are more joyful days than sad ones. And the very sorrows are sent to us from God for our correction and salvation. Therefore, a true believer thanks God for the very sorrows and misfortunes, without which it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:13,14). Why should we call on God? Doesn't He know our needs? We must call on God not in order to make our needs known to the omniscient God or to move the All-Good One to mercy. We need this for ourselves. 1) This is required by the property of our nature. We are free beings. The gifts of God cannot be given to us under duress, as if by force. We must recognize our need and need for God's help. Prayer expresses a feeling of humility, and neglect of prayer expresses arrogance and pride. 2) This is required by love of God. A loving son without hesitation opens his heart, his needs and desires to his father in full confidence that his father will do everything useful and possible for him. Likewise, a person who loves God feels the need to resort to Him with filial prayer, undoubtedly believing that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from Him alone. 3) The Lord Himself deigned to combine the receipt of God’s mercy with prayer for it: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7). ...without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation (Matthew 26:41). And He Himself taught us how and for what we should pray to the heavenly Father. What positions relate to external worship? 1) Confess God, that is, admit that He is our God, and not deny Him, even if for recognizing Him one had to suffer and die. 2) Participate in public worship established by God and established by the Orthodox Church. Who can be presented as an example of confession of faith? As an example of a confession of faith, one can cite St. martyrs who, despite terrible torture, firmly confessed Christ and decided to die rather than renounce God. Some Christians suffered torture and imprisonment for their confession of faith and were then released by their torturers. They were called confessors and enjoyed great respect in the Church. For the sake of their intercession, the time limits for the baptism of catechumens and the acceptance of penitents into the Church were shortened. Emperor Constantine the Great, at the first Ecumenical Council, expressed his respect in a touching way to the confessor Paphnutius, Bishop of Thebaid. He kissed his wounds that were inflicted on him during the persecution. Is it possible for the Church to confess God in this time of peace? It can and should. For example, when we hear blasphemy against the faith, against the Church, we should not sympathize with such blasphemers and approve of them even in silence, but we should express our faith with the same or even greater firmness, as if, for example, they began to blame our father or mother in front of us. The Lord said: “...everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess before My Father” (Matthew 10:32). “...whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels” (Mark 8:38). 1) It is possible and should; but we should also pray in church. Fulfilling one duty does not exempt you from fulfilling another. 2) Church prayer expresses the spirit of mutual Christian love: we feel lonely at home and go to join our brothers in church. Church prayer teaches us to think not only about our own needs, but also about those floating, those who are sick, and others in need. This spirit of love pleases the Lord. He said: “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). 3) Church prayer can maintain a prayerful mood longer than home prayer. Here we hear singing, reading, preaching, we see a magnificent ceremony, images of the Old and New Testaments are presented to us. 4) Finally, in the church the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist is celebrated, established by the Lord in remembrance of Him and as a guarantee of communion with Him and among ourselves. What are the sins against the first commandment? 10) Laziness in regard to the teaching of piety, prayer and public worship. 11) Loving creatures more than God. What is the sin of godlessness, and how is it different from unbelief? Atheism is that sin when people completely deny the existence of God, and unbelief manifests itself when people, although they recognize God, do not believe His providence and revelation. Can a person completely deny the existence of God? Only a fool can say in his heart: “There is no God” (Ps. 13:1). But a person who has not lost his mind cannot deny the existence of God, because the human soul is created in the image of God and can never deny the existence of the One whose image it bears. Therefore, there cannot be perfect atheists. If they try to reject the existence of God, then the thought of God is transferred to something else, for example, to material nature (matter), to which, contrary to the obvious indications of experience, divine properties are attributed: originality, eternity, rationality, etc. Why do people try to deny the existence of God? Firstly, because they want to live outside the law of God and follow their passions without hesitation. Secondly, because they are afraid of God’s judgment. The voice of conscience, reminiscent of God, the Judge and Avenger of iniquities, is extremely unpleasant for them; but the more they try to drown out this voice, the more it cries out and denounces them. Why does unbelief occur? From the same reasons as atheism: from disobedience to the Law of God and from the desire to weaken the reproaches of conscience. The unbeliever does not have the audacity, like the atheist, to reject the existence of God, but is content with the cold recognition of such a deity, which exists somewhere in an unattainable distance from us and who does not care about the lives of people. Such false thinking refutes itself: if there is a God, then He cannot, in His goodness, leave us without guidance and providence. And His almighty power must extend to everyone. If a person does not try to get out of the state of unbelief, if he becomes rigid and persists in it, he can finally completely block access to his heart to the saving grace of the Holy Spirit. A stubborn unbeliever comes to the point where seeing does not see, hearing does not hear and does not understand the voice of truth. Therefore, the sin of persistent unbelief is called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which, according to the word of the Lord Savior, will not be forgiven either in this life or in the future (Matthew 12:31,32). In such a disastrous error were the Pharisees, who had every opportunity to know the divine truth of the Gospel, but stubbornly remained in their unbelief. What is the sin of heresy and how is it different from schism? Heresy is a false teaching that is contrary to any dogma of faith and stubbornly maintained. Schism is a willful deviation from the Church and the divine services performed in it. The sin of the schismatics lies not so much in the customs that they adhere to and which, with the maternal condescension of the Church, would not have prevented their salvation, but rather in the disobedience of their God-established hierarchy and hatred of the Orthodox. As an example of heresy, one can point to the false teachings of Arius, Macedonia, Nestorius, Eutyches, who stubbornly adhered to their errors even after they were condemned by the Church at the Ecumenical Councils. For example, our Old Believers are called schismatics, who adhere to their pseudo-rites (Alleluia, two-fingered sign of the cross, salting walk, etc.) and because of them they are alienated from the Holy Orthodox Church. However, the so-called non-priests who do not accept the Priesthood and other Sacraments cannot be called schismatics, but must be called heretics. What sin is called apostasy? Apostasy is that sin when people renounce the true faith out of human fear or for worldly gain. Apostasy is a shameful betrayal of the Lord, trampling on the merits of the Son of God and humiliation of the Spirit of grace. After such a rejection of God's mercy, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrible expectation of judgment and the fury of fire, ready to devour opponents (Heb. 10:26,27). An example of apostasy can be seen in Julian, who renounced the Christian faith and wanted to restore paganism in order to strengthen his reign with the help of the pagan party, especially strong in Rome. Despair is a sin when people have no hope of receiving grace and salvation from God. Despair, like stubborn unbelief, is a sin against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven a person either in this life or in the future. Judas the traitor is guilty of this sin. No matter how great the sin of betrayal, if Judas had resorted to the Lord with sincere tears of repentance, like the Apostle Peter, he would have been forgiven. Despair destroyed him: his soul, darkened by despair, closed itself to the grace of forgiveness. Those people who, despairing of the possibility of correction from any passion or vice, completely indulge in them, are also guilty of this sin, as well as those who, despairing of getting out of the difficult circumstances of life and forgetting about God's mercy and justice, like the traitor Judas, raise their hands to themselves and forcibly end their lives by suicide. What sin is called magic? Magic is that sin when people, abandoning faith in the power of God, believe in the secret and, for the most part, evil forces of creatures, and especially evil spirits, and try to act with them. The book of Exodus speaks of two wise men, Janais and Jambres, who resisted the prophet of God Moses and were able, by the power of the devil, to turn their rods into serpents. Those who resort to the help of wizards reveal disbelief in God, opposition to the ways of His providence and an audacious desire to discover the secrets He has hidden for our benefit. What sin is called superstition? Superstition is the sin of believing some ordinary thing as if it had divine power and relying on it instead of God. For example, when they are thinking about any business, instead of calling on God’s help through prayer, they sort out happy and unhappy days, guess from various meetings and other signs whether they will succeed or not, as if not all working days are the same and the success of our affairs does not depend on the all-effective power of God. Superstition exposes the weakness of faith and lack of reasoning; it keeps the human soul in mental blindness, in complete dependence on random circumstances and in constant fear. Superstitions still retain that darkness in which the human race once wandered during pagan times and from which it was brought out by the mercy of the Lord the Savior, who gave us the light of truth. What is the sin of man-pleasing? When, out of pleasing people, someone does not care about pleasing God. An example of man-pleasing is the servant of the high priest Annas, who, out of pleasure to him, dared to hit the Lord on the cheek. The Apostle Paul considers it impossible to serve the Lord while pleasing people: “If I still pleased people,” he writes, “I would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). What sin is called trust in man? When someone relies on their own or other people’s abilities and strengths, and not on the mercy and help of God, for example, they dream of achieving success in business and happiness only with their own mind and do not ask for God’s blessing. Or when he seeks support for himself in other people, he becomes complacent in thought and boasts about them, but forgets about God, by whom they themselves live and move. “Listen, you who speak,” writes St. Apostle James - “today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and live there for one year, and we will trade and make a profit”; you who do not know what will happen tomorrow... Instead of saying to you: “If the Lord wills and we live, we will do both,” you, in your arrogance, become vain: all such vainglory is evil” (James 4:13-16). “Do not put your trust in princes, in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation,” the prophet David warns us. “His spirit departs, and he returns to his land: on that day all his thoughts perish. Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob as his helper, who has hope in the Lord his God, who created heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who is ever faithful, who brings justice to the oppressed, who gives bread to the hungry” (Ps. 145:3-7). The Holy Prophet Jeremiah, in the name of God, threatens with curse the one who trusts in people in oblivion of God: “Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes the flesh his support, and whose heart departs from the Lord” (Jer. 17:5). In order to better succeed in fulfilling one’s duties to God, what should a person do with himself? Must deny himself. “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself,” says the Lord (Mark 8:34). What does it mean to deny yourself? To deny oneself does not mean to leave without care one’s soul and body, which were created by God and redeemed by the Blood of Christ. Self-sacrifice has the goal of elevating them to the highest perfection and making them pure and holy, a temple of the Holy Spirit and worthy of eternal bliss, to which the Lord destined soul and body (2 Cor. 5:10). According to the explanation of St. Basil the Great, self-denial has the following degrees: 1) putting off the old man with his deeds, smoldering in delusional lusts, that is, a constant and intensified struggle against sinful inclinations, skills and passions; 2nd) denial of worldly attachments that can hinder piety, and finally, 3rd) impartiality towards life itself, in order to be ready to lay down it if the will of God required it. In what ways are the attractions of our sinful nature especially expressed? In pride or selfishness. Self-love is the beginning of human actions, the opposite of Christian love. Everything that flows from it and is animated by it is unclean in the eyes of God. Therefore, self-sacrifice is expressed primarily in the rejection of self-love. A follower of Christ should not have attachment to the desires of his own will and to the favorite concepts of his own wisdom, betray his mind, heart and will to Jesus Christ as King and Lord, just as a warrior during a battle renounces his own will and carries out the orders of the commander, or a patient does not believe himself, but entrusts everything to his doctor. How should a Christian look at wealth, family happiness and other blessings of life? In themselves they are a gift of God’s love, for which we should thank the all-good Creator and Provider. But we should not have such an addiction to them that would weaken the love for God in our hearts. We must remember that our fatherland is not here, but in heaven: and we must look at temporary life as a traveler looks at a temporary stop on the way. The Gospel presents the following examples of how attachment to temporary goods can hinder salvation. Someone expressed a desire to follow Christ, but at the same time was distracted from Christ by the affections of family love. The Lord told him: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Another example is a rich young man who himself strived for eternal life and received a calling to it from the Lord, but did not follow Christ because he was very rich (Luke 18:18-25). What consolation can a person have when, by denying himself, he is deprived of many natural pleasures? The consolation is gracious, divine, which even suffering cannot disturb. The Apostle Paul says: “...as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, our consolation also abounds through Christ” (2 Cor. 1:5). Examples of such consolations can be seen in the lives of saints: God, preparing them for labors and exploits, gives their hearts a presentiment of the blessings that are prepared for them in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Apostle Paul says: “I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago... was caught up to the third heaven... and heard unspeakable words, which it is impossible for man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:2,4) 2. Saint Tikhon of Christ speaks more than once about wondrous visions, the presentation of which consoled him in enduring sorrows. The martyrs went to severe torture with a joyful face and among them sang songs of praise to the Lord. Examples of such consolations can often be seen in life: if someone, out of love for God, tries to endure the sorrow sent from God without complaint, then he receives gracious consolation from God in his heart. Peace and joy flow in his soul: how they came to his sorrowful soul, he cannot explain to himself, but simply - it becomes easy and joyful in his heart. If the first commandment commands to reverently honor the only God, is the honoring of angels and saints consistent with this commandment? Correct veneration of them is completely consistent with this commandment, because we honor the grace of God that dwells and acts in them, and through them we ask for help from God. “Whoever serves Me,” says the Savior, “My Father will honor him” (John 12:26). And the Lord clearly glorifies His saints by the incorruption of their relics and miracles of healing and help to those who call upon them. We glorify this power of God, acting through the saints, crying out in prayer to the saints: “God is the Lord and appear to us; God is wonderful in His saints; honorable before the Lord is the death of His saints.” And we ask ourselves for this help not from them personally, but from God, calling on them: “pray to God for us,” and giving glory for everything in the Trinity to the One God: “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” To the only Most Pure Ever-Virgin, by the special grace given to Her from the Son, we turn with a special prayer: “Save Thy servants from troubles, Mother of God, as we all, by God (by the grace of God), resort to You, as to an unbreakable wall and intercession.” What is an idol that the second commandment forbids to worship? The very second commandment explains that an idol or idol is an image of some creature in heaven or earth, or living in the waters, which is worshiped and served instead of God. What should we notice about the sin of idolatry? In the light of the Gospel, idolatry, as it exists among the pagans, is not contagious for us. Our duty is to help those who are blinded by paganism to come out of it. In particular, the pagans living within our fatherland require the participation of our love. Some personally work in the field of preaching the Orthodox faith to pagans. Everyone is obliged to contribute to their work with prayer and feasible offerings for their holy cause. Isn’t the second commandment forbidden to worship holy icons? It is not prohibited, in the 1st place), because St. icons cannot in any way be likened to idols; 2) because there are solid and undoubted reasons for venerating St. icons How are St. different? icons from idols? 1) By themselves: holy icons are images of God appearing in the flesh and of St. saints who truly exist and are glorified by God, idols are images of false deities. 2) In the way of veneration: worshiping St. icons, we offer honor to those saints. the faces depicted on them, and the pagans worship the very idols. On what basis do we honor St. icons? 1) God Himself commanded Moses to place two golden images of cherubim in the tabernacle. They were placed in the most sacred place - in the Holy of Holies, on the Ark of the Covenant. In front of this part of the tabernacle a seven-branched candlestick was burning and incense was burning. This example is especially noteworthy: here the same prophet Moses, through whom the commandment forbidding idols was given, places sacred images in front of the worshiper. 2) An ancient tradition confirms that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave a miraculous image of His face to the painter, who was among the ambassadors from the Edessa prince Abgar. St. Apostle Luke, according to legend, painted an image of the Mother of God and St. apostles Peter and Paul. 3) The Holy Church at the Seventh Ecumenical Council approved the veneration of St. icons Finally, 4) God himself, glorifying St. icons of the grace of miracles, indicates that their veneration is pleasing to Him. Besides gross idolatry, are there any other sins against the second commandment? 2) Gluttony or delicacy, gluttony and drunkenness. 3) Pride, which also includes vanity. Why is covetousness related to idolatry? The Apostle Paul specifically says that “covetousness... is idolatry” (Col. 3:5), because a covetous person works more for wealth than for God. The Lord said: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). One holy ascetic was asked what love of money is. He answered: disbelief in God that He cares about you, lack of hope in the promise of God and love for destructive pleasures 3 . In what types is covetousness found? Firstly, in stinginess, when a person becomes addicted to money for its own sake and sees its increase as the goal of all his acquisitions. Greed for money here turns into a shameful passion that suppresses all noble movements in the human heart. The miser is not only cold and insensitive to the needs of others: he deprives his own family and himself of the most necessary needs of life. Here the captivity in which our passions hold us is revealed with obvious clarity. Stinginess sometimes apparently deprives a person of reason. He collects the crumbs; but great acquisitions perish without benefit for him and others. The Wise One says: “There is a painful illness that I have seen under the sun: wealth saved by its owner to his detriment. And this wealth perishes from accidents: he gave birth to a son, and he has nothing in his hands. And this is a serious illness... What good is it for him that he worked for nothing? And all his days he ate in the dark, in great irritation, in grief, in vexation” (Eccl. 5:12,13,15,16). The Lord Jesus Christ condemned stinginess in the parable of the covetous rich man. God sent him a harvest. Instead of thanking the Lord and sharing his goodness with the poor, he began to reason with himself: “What should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits? Finally I decided: “I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather there all my bread and all my goods, and I will say to my soul: soul! You have a lot of goods lying around for many years; rest, eat, drink and be merry! But God said to him: crazy! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? Secondly, in extravagance, when a person becomes addicted to money as a means of living a luxurious life. Extravagance, like stinginess, turns into passion. A wasteful person becomes insatiable in inventing various pleasures, and in order to acquire means for a large life, he often decides to commit crimes: deception, failure to fulfill an obligation, perjury, theft of other people's property. The Lord condemned wastefulness in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. “A certain man,” says this parable, “was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered in scabs, and wanted to feed himself on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs.” The fate of the hard-hearted rich man is known. The Gospel does not say that he had any other vices except extravagance. She suppressed in his heart love for his neighbor, without which there could be no love for God, and subjected him to eternal torment in fiery fire (Luke 16:19-31). If the second commandment prohibits covetousness, then what does it teach? Charity and generosity. The Lord Savior said: “Give to those who ask you, and do not turn away from those who want to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). “Sell your possessions and give alms. Prepare for yourselves sheaths that do not wear out, a never-failing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and where moth does not destroy” (Luke 12:33). As an example of charity, one can point to the righteous Job: “I was,” he says, “with eyes to the blind and feet to the lame; I was a father to the poor...” (Job.29:15,16). The virtuous Tobit instills in his son: “Give alms from your wealth, and let your eyes not spare when you give alms. Do not turn your face away from any beggar: then the face of God will not turn away from you” (Tov.4:7). Particularly instructive examples of charity in the New Testament Church are St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, John and Philaret the Merciful. Generosity is charity not only towards the poor who need our help, but towards everyone in general. Generosity is guided by the rule “give everyone his due” (Rom. 13:7). Out of a sense of love and justice, a generous person highly values ​​every service rendered to him and tries to reward it abundantly. Generosity reveals a noble soul, free from the petty calculations of self-interest. All examples of truly Christian charity are together examples of generosity. Why is gluttony classified as idolatry? Because gluttons place sensual pleasures above all else, and therefore, says the apostle, “their god is their belly” (Phil. 3:19), or in other words, their belly is their idol. Gluttony degrades the spiritual nature of a person and brings him to a bestial state. One St. The ascetic (St. Isaac the Syrian) calls the untimely and frequent satiation of the belly the work of pigs (sl. 75:416) and says that whoever pleases the belly is deprived of the wisdom and mind of God (sl. 58:348). If the second commandment prohibits gluttony, then what does it teach? Abstinence and fasting. Temperance consists in the moderate use of those earthly goods that are allowed for consumption. The law of abstinence is expressed in the following words of the apostle: “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial; everything is permissible for me, but nothing should possess me” (1 Cor. 6:12); “...all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify” (1 Cor. 10:23) 4. Why are pride and vanity considered idolatry? Because the proud person values ​​his abilities and advantages above all else, and thus they are an idol for him; and the vain person wants others to honor this idol. As an example of pride and vanity, one can imagine Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He was adorned by God with great gifts, but he humiliated himself with exorbitant pride. Through this passion, the devil took possession of him and instilled in him crazy and daring thoughts, in which the dreams of the most evil spirit are visible: “... I will ascend to heaven above the stars, I will establish my throne and I will be like the Most High.” The punishment for this arrogance and self-confidence was the reduction of the proud king to a bestial state. What can we say about the so-called noble pride, which does not allow a person to engage in base and dishonorable acts? The expression “noble pride” shows a confusion of concepts: pride in no case can be noble. She is a terrible and ungodly sin. But a person must value his name, his honor and the title of Christian. This is, indeed, a noble jealousy about one’s honesty and good name, but it is in no way compatible with pride. On the contrary, it leads a person to humility, because it encourages him to be strict with himself and exacting for every deed and thought that is not in accordance with the duty of a Christian. While prohibiting pride, what virtue does the 2nd Commandment teach? What is the humility of a Christian? In the consciousness that we have nothing of our own except sins, and all our gifts and powers are the gift of the All-Good God. With this consciousness, a Christian does not rely on himself, but resorts to God’s mercy in everything. Touching examples of humility are provided by Abraham, who calls himself dust and ashes; David, who says: “I am a worm and not a man, reproached by men and despised by the people.” The Ever-Virgin Mary, out of deep humility, was embarrassed at the news of the Archangel, and everything that she heard about the greatness of her divine Son, she composed in her heart. The highest example of humility is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sake humbled himself to death, and, moreover, the death of the cross, and inspires all his followers: “... learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). Is there still a vice close to idolatry? Such a vice is hypocrisy, when someone uses external acts of piety, such as fasting and strict observation of rituals, to gain the respect of the people, without thinking about the internal correction of his heart. Such were the Pharisees during the earthly life of the Lord Savior: they trumpeted themselves when they gave alms, prayed for a long time in front of all people, and during fasting darkened their faces so that everyone could see and praise them, and meanwhile they offended widows and orphans and abandoned the most important things in the law: judgment, mercy and faith (Matthew 23:14,23,28). According to the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, good deeds must be done in secret, so that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, that is, so as not to tell others about your good deed and not to think about it yourself. How does it happen that the name of God is taken in vain? It is taken in vain or pronounced in vain when it is pronounced in useless and vain conversations, and even more so when it is pronounced falsely or in violation of reverence. What sins are forbidden by the third commandment? 1) Blasphemy or impudent words against God. This is a terrible sin. You need to completely forget yourself and lose all fear in order to allow yourself to blaspheme God. The crazy ones say only in their hearts: there is no God. The Jews are guilty of this sin, who dared to blaspheme the Lord, saying that “He casts out demons...by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24), and mocked the suffering Savior, saying: “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29). But they also fell into this terrible sin out of ignorance, “for,” says the apostle, “if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8). 2) Murmuring against God or complaining about His providence. This sin is usually indulged in by people who say: God has abandoned us, God has forgotten us! Some grumble not only in misfortune, but also in the midst of gifts of happiness, and only when the Lord takes away this or that good from them do they understand how little they knew how to appreciate His mercy in their time. An example of grumbling is provided by the Jews, a people whom God especially protected. They grumbled when they needed bread; manna was given - they began to grumble again and say: “... who will feed us meat?.. Our soul is languishing; there is nothing but manna in our sight” (Num. 11:4,6). 3) Blasphemy when sacred objects are turned into a joke or a reproach, and in general when they allow themselves to treat them carelessly, without proper reverence. This sin is close to blasphemy and brings terrible punishment on the perpetrators. When the Ark of the Covenant was returned from captivity in the Philistines, many of the Jews began to regard it as an ordinary thing, touched it, looked inside it - and for this blasphemy they were suddenly punished by death. Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon, during the feast, ordered to bring the sacred vessels captured by Nebuchadnezzar from the temple of Jerusalem, drank from them himself and offered them to his guests. Suddenly the hand of God appeared on the wall and wrote: mani, torch, fares. These mysterious words, according to the interpretation of the prophet Daniel, announced his death and the fall of his kingdom. 4) Inattention to prayer. What causes inattention in prayer? It is difficult to imagine that people consciously allow themselves to neglect prayer. In this case, it would be blasphemy and blasphemy. For the most part, inattention in prayer comes from the habit of treating everything mechanically and carelessly, and from the fact that we approach prayer without preparation. During prayer we must remember: 1) that God sees and hears us, not a single drop of our tear, not a single sigh of our heart can hide from Him; 2) that all our well-being, both temporary and eternal, depends on God. And before we begin this great and important task for us, we must prepare for it. If someone happens to go to a strong and noble person with any request, he thinks carefully about what to say to him and how he will behave in front of him. How attentive should one be in conversation with God, before Whom the cherubim and seraphim stand in fear? What particular action is offensive to God during inattentive prayer? Careless and incorrect use of the sign of the cross. The Savior gave us a promise: if you ask the Father anything in My name, I will do it... (John 14:13). As a sign that we ask God for mercy in the name of His Son, for the sake of His merits on the cross, we depict the sign of the cross on ourselves. How do we sin when we, in the face of God himself, take this sign of God’s favor towards us incorrectly, without reverence, with negligence? Doesn’t this mean trampling on our right to God’s mercy, for the granting of which to us the Son of God shed His most precious Blood on the cross? 5) A false oath, when they claim with an oath something that does not exist. “Do not swear falsely by My name, and do not dishonor the name of your God. I am the Lord your God” (Lev.19:12). The Lord forbids a false oath and points to Himself as the Avenger of lies. The Omniscient One sees the deepest thoughts of our hearts. The righteous will strictly punish for the desecration of His holy name. Ananias and Sapphira showed untruth before the holy apostles and lied to the Holy Spirit: for this they were instantly struck with death (Acts 5:1-10). A false oath can be classified as an incorrect, sinful oath, when one swears to do evil to one’s neighbor. Examples of such an oath are Jezebel, who swore to kill the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:2), Herod Antipas, who, in an intoxication with an oath, promised to give the daughter of Herodias half the kingdom and then, to fulfill this insane oath, killed St. John the Baptist of the Lord, forty Jews who swore not to eat or drink until they killed the Apostle Paul (Acts 23:12–13). Although this wicked oath in itself is a great sin before God, its fulfillment is even more criminal. Why St. The Church says: It would be better for someone who lied to receive life than for the true head of the Forerunner to be cut off (Verse on August 29th) 6) Crime of oath, when a fair and lawful oath is not fulfilled. "God! who can dwell in Your habitation? - asks David and, by the way, says: whoever swears... and does not change it” (Ps. 14: 1,4). For anyone who has even a spark of reverence for God in his heart, breaking an oath is a terrible thing. There were many examples of how the Lord clearly punished perjurers in front of everyone. Saint Basil the Great does not even justify the involuntary and violent violation of an oath: if the oath is confirmed in the name of God, then a Christian must better suffer for the truth than betray the oath (Right. 82). 7) Violation of vows made to God. Vows are a matter pleasing to God: they express the pious impulses of a believer and loving heart. With a vow, a Christian confirms himself in the intention to do some good deed. Vows have great value in the eyes of God, as a sacrifice not forced by the law, but completely voluntary. Since ancient times, pious people made vows to God: Jacob made a vow in Bethel to sacrifice a tenth of his property to God (Gen. 28:20,22), Saint Anna made a promise to dedicate her son to God (1 Samuel 1:11), Most Holy Mary in the Temple of Jerusalem made a vow to God - to always remain a virgin. Imitating these great examples, pious Christians, in gratitude to God and to confirm themselves in some virtue, make vows: fasting, in excess of that prescribed by the Church; strict abstinence; travel to holy places; donate part of the estate to the church or to the benefit of the poor. Those who wish to achieve the highest perfection in spiritual life take a vow of monasticism (chastity, obedience and non-covetousness). Those who want to serve the sick take a vow of sisters of mercy, compassionate widows. These vows are the same as a holy duty voluntarily assumed before God. Not fulfilling a vow means lying before God. If any part of our property is destined to God, then it ceases to be our property - it is already God’s property: to keep it means to steal it from God and commit the sin of sacrilege. Therefore, there is no need to rush into making vows; but having given, one must not delay in fulfilling them. If you make a vow to the Lord your God, fulfill it immediately, for the Lord your God will exact it from you, and sin will be upon you (Deut. 23:21). What vows lie as an indispensable duty on every Christian? The vow to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and to serve Him alone, which each of us gave to him at our baptism; a vow to correct one’s life and behavior, under the condition of which, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, our sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Repentance. 8) Bozhba, or frivolous use of the name of God in ordinary conversations. The Lord Jesus Christ said: “Do not swear at all... But let your word be: yes, yes; no no; and anything beyond this is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:34,37). He demands from his followers, on the one hand, honesty, and on the other, mutual love among themselves, so that they do not need to resort to an oath, but a simple assurance of the truth is enough. Experience proves that wicked people resort to blasphemy, who, realizing their lies, hasten to back them up with blasphemy, but an honest person would not even think of swearing. However, while forbidding deification, the Lord does not prohibit oaths in important and necessary cases, at the request of the church and civil government. Such an oath is necessary to protect the public good and expresses reverence for the Supreme Being on the part of both those who swear in His name and those who take the oath. The Lord Jesus Christ himself, who forbade deity, showed respect for the public oath. When the high priest Caiaphas asked Him at the trial (who remained silent) under oath: “I adjure You by the living God, tell us, Are You the Christ, the Son of God?” , the Lord answered: “You said” (that is, you said the truth: I am the Christ) (Matthew 26:63,64). The Apostle Paul says: “People swear by the highest, and an oath as evidence ends all their disputes. Therefore, God, wanting to show the heirs of the promise the immutability of his will, used an oath as a means” (Heb. 6:16,17). The holy apostle points to the event when God, as a reward for Abraham's faith after the sacrifice of Isaac, wanting to especially certify his descent from the offspring of his Savior of the world, deigned to say to him: “By me (since there is no one higher than God) I swear” (Gen. 22:16). If God himself used an oath, then it is permissible and necessary for us to use an oath, or oath, to assure others of the truth of our testimony and the sincerity of our intentions and promises. When are we required to take a public oath or oath? Upon the accession of a new sovereign to the throne, upon entering public service and at trial when testifying as witnesses. What does it mean to take a public oath before St. The Cross and the Gospel? He who swears as a guarantee of truth represents the most precious eternal salvation for him, perfected on the Cross and proclaimed in the Gospel, exposing himself to deprivation of this highest of all benefits in case of untruthfulness of his words or violation of the oath. Why is the seventh day, and not another day, commanded to be dedicated to God? Because God created the world in six days, and on the seventh he rested from the works of creation. Is Saturday celebrated in the Christian Church? Not celebrated as a perfect holiday; however, in memory of the creation of the world and in continuation of the original celebration, it differs from other days in the relief from fasting. Note: When, for example, Christmas Eve (or rather, nomad) before the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany falls on Saturday, then the celebration of the so-called royal hours falls on Friday, and on Saturday (as well as on Sunday) the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and the fast is less strict than on ordinary Christmas Eve. During Great Lent, on one Saturday (except Sunday), the Liturgy of Chrysostom is celebrated. How is the fourth commandment fulfilled in the Christian Church? The seventh day is also celebrated every six days, only not the last of the seven days, or Saturday, but the first day of each week, or Sunday. Since when is Sunday celebrated? Since the very time of Christ's resurrection. Does Scripture mention celebrating Sunday? The book of the Acts of the Apostles mentions the gathering of disciples, that is, Christians, as one from the Sabbath, that is, on the first day of the week, or Sunday, to break bread, that is, to celebrate the Sacrament of Communion (Acts 20:7). The Apostle Evangelist John in the Apocalypse also mentions the day of the week, or Sunday (Rev. 1:10). By the name of the seventh day, or Saturday, should not something else be implied? Just as in the Old Testament Church, the name Sabbath meant other days established for celebration or fasting, such as, for example, the holiday of Easter, the day of cleansing, so in the Christian Church, in addition to Sunday, we must observe other holidays and fasts established for the glory of God and in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos and other saints (See Orthodox Confession, part 3, question 60; part 1, question 88). What are the most important holidays? Holidays established in memory of the most important events relating to the saving incarnation of the Son of God for us and to the appearances of the Divine; and according to them they were established in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos as having served the mystery of the Incarnation. These are the essence, in order of events, as follows: 1) Day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8). 2) The Day of Her Entry into the Church to dedicate Her to God (November 21). 3) Day of the Annunciation, that is, the angelic announcement to the Blessed Virgin about the incarnation of the Son of God from Her (March 25). 4) Christmas Day (December 25). 5) Day of the Epiphany of the Lord and the Epiphany of the Most Holy Trinity (January 6). 6) Day of the Presentation of the Lord in the church by Simeon and Anna (February 2). 7) Day of the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6). 8) Day of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem (a week before Easter). 9) Easter, the holiday of the Resurrection of Christ, the holiday of holidays, the beginning of the eternal holiday of eternal bliss (On the 1st Sunday after the spring full moon). 10) Day of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven (on the 40th day after Easter). 11) The Feast of Pentecost, in memory of the descent of the Holy Spirit and collectively in honor of the Holy Trinity (on the 50th day after Easter). 12) Day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, found by Queen Helena (September 14). 13) Day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15). What other wonderful holidays are there besides 12? Holidays in honor of the saints: John the Baptist on January 7; His Christmas Day is June 24; Beheading of his head on August 29; St. ap. Peter and Paul on June 29; St. ap. John the Evangelist on May 8 and September 26; St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on May 9 and December 6; three ecumenical saints on January 30, etc. Church and domestic holidays: St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called November 30, St. Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir on July 15; Kazan Icon of the Mother of God on October 22 in memory of the liberation of Russians from the Poles. On the feast of the Nativity of Christ, thanksgiving is celebrated for the deliverance of our fatherland from the invasion of the Gauls and with them twenty languages, that is, peoples. What is the significance of Christian holidays? 1) Rest is given to workers to renew and strengthen their strength. 2) Through participation in church services and teaching in the word of God, our soul is cleansed from the vanity that came upon it during work days. 3) A vast field for charity is given. The Lord Savior did good mainly on the Sabbath day and bequeathed the same to his followers. The poor are waiting for the Lord's holiday: remembering them is the participation of Christian love. 4) Members of the Christian family, separated during workdays by their own work, gather together on holiday and, under the influence of the Church, their family union is strengthened more and more. Finally, 5) holidays are of great importance for assimilating those truths that are necessary for our salvation. Celebrating, for example, the days of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, the Nativity of the Lord, Baptism, Resurrection, Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, a Christian believer reflects on these great events, tells his children about them, the whole Christian family is imperceptibly imbued with the spirit that breathes in the church hymns set for these days. Why is it prohibited to work on holidays? To more easily devote them to the service of God. The Lord could require us to serve him all our days; but, out of his mercy, he gives us six days, and only demands the seventh day for himself. Therefore, it would be extremely ungrateful on our part if we devoted this single day to working for ourselves. We must remember that the success of our affairs does not depend on ourselves, but on the blessing of God. The holy apostles, according to one word of the Lord Jesus Christ, cast a net and caught a great many fish, whereas before that they had worked all night in vain. The day that we give to the Lord, according to His commandment, will not be lost for us: it will attract God’s abundant blessing on our working days. Even in paradise, God forbade our first parents to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Pointing to this origin of fasting, Saint Basil the Great says: “Respect the gray hairs of fasting” (Sk. 1 about fasting). There are many examples of fasting in the Old Testament. Moses kept a forty-day fast on Mount Sinai. The prophet Elijah also fasted for forty days when he went to Mount Horeb to talk with God. The angel ordered Samson's mother to abstain from wine and strong drink during pregnancy. The Prophet Daniel and the three youths fasted at the court of Nebuchadnezzar, and God rewarded them for this not only with health, but also with success in the sciences. The Ninevites, as a sign of repentance, imposed a fast on themselves. Before the battle, the Maccabees dressed in sackcloth and fasted. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ fasted for forty days and, commanding us to fast unfeignedly, said that such fasting was pleasing to the Lord and would be rewarded by Him. “And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:18). Saint John the Baptist prepared himself for his great service through strict fasting. The holy apostles imposed fasting on themselves before going to preach, and all Christians shared this feat of fasting with them. How did the Pharisees reproach the Lord Jesus Christ for the fact that His disciples did not fast? The Lord Jesus Christ said that they do not fast because the bridegroom is with them, “but the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15). The main fasts of the Christian Church were established precisely in memory of the tradition, suffering and death of the Lord. What is the significance of fasting for a Christian? 1) By mortifying the flesh, fasting contributes to the revitalization and elevation of the spiritual nature in us. Fasting, says Saint John Chrysostom, makes the soul cheerful, lightens its wings and lifts it higher than earthly things (Demon on Matthew 57). 2) Fasting strengthens the will and gives strength of character. From the first days of infancy, a person gets used to denying himself what he wants, and what, however, the Church does not allow. 3) Fasting is a godly sacrifice that attracts the favor of the Heavenly Father to us. 4) Fasting, observed according to the commandment of the Church, testifies to our obedience to the Mother of the Church. At the present time, when many have begun to neglect fasting, fasting has acquired special significance - to be a witness of obedience to the Holy Church and a means of confessing the holy Orthodox faith. Firstly), according to the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, unfeignedly, without darkening your face, but with a cheerful look, so that the work of fasting was not before people, but before the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly), according to the commandment of the Church, on the days appointed by it; and 3), with love for the Lord, the Mother of God, John the Baptist and the holy apostles. Remembering their sorrows and sufferings, we must sympathize with them with our souls and try, at least to some extent, to correspond to them with our fasting. The Lord Savior pointed out this property of Christian fasting when he said: “the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Great Lent or Holy Pentecost. Why is it called Pentecost? Because it lasts forty days, except for the week of Christ’s suffering. Why is Lent supposed to last forty days? Following the example of Jesus Christ himself, Who fasted for forty days (Matthew 4:2). Why is it necessary to fast on Wednesday and Friday? On Wednesday - in remembrance of the betrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ by Judas, and on Friday - in memory of His suffering and death. Any other one-day posts? 1) January 5 – Christmas Eve before the feast of the Epiphany; 2) September 14 – the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and 3) August 29 – the day of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. Why were the fasts of the Nativity, the Assumption and the Holy Apostles established? The first two are in order to honor the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos following these fasts with a preliminary feat of abstinence; and the latter is also to imitate the apostles, who fasted, preparing themselves for the work of preaching the Gospel (Acts 13:3). When the fourth commandment speaks of six days' work, does it not condemn those who do nothing? Without a doubt, he condemns those who, on ordinary days, do not engage in activities befitting their rank, but spend their time in idleness and distraction. Life without work is not the life of a rational and moral being. And the dumb animal carries out some kind of work and fulfills the purpose given to it by God in the general order of nature. “Go to the ant, you sluggard,” says the Wise One, “look at its actions and be wise” (Proverbs 6:6). The well-being of our loved ones depends on our labors. Poverty, need, beggary are the consequences of idleness. “How long will you sleep, sloth? - says the same wise son of David. - When will you get up from your sleep? You will sleep a little, doze a little, lie down with folded hands for a little: and your poverty will come like a passerby, and your need like a robber” (Prov. 6:9-11) 5. Labor is the guardian of the inner well-being of the soul. Labor was in heaven; although the first parents did not need anything, they had to cultivate and preserve paradise, because idleness teaches many bad things (Sir.33:28) 6. After the Fall, work acquired a special meaning - punishment for sin, and in the humble bearing of this burden, a means was revealed to people to appease God the Judge. The saints set us an example of hard work. “We work, working with our own hands,” St. says about himself and his companions. Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 4:12). “They ate no one’s bread for nothing,” he writes to the Thessalonians, “but labored and toiled night and day, so as not to burden any of you, not because we had no power, but to give ourselves to you as a model for us to follow. For while we were with you, we commanded you this: if anyone does not want to work, neither should he eat” (2 Thess. 3:8-10). What special duties does the fifth commandment prescribe in relation to parents, under the general name of honoring them? 1) Treat them respectfully. 3) To nourish and rest them during illness and old age. 4) After their death, as well as during their lifetime, pray for the salvation of their souls and faithfully fulfill their wills, not contrary to the law of God and civil law. How can disrespect for parents be expressed? In disobedience to them, in contradictions and rude answers, in the desire to gain independence from their power, in secrecy before them, in forgetting the duty to pray for them, in failure to fulfill their wills, in blaming their memory. How should we judge the severity of the sin of disrespect for parents? Just as it is easy and natural to love and honor our parents, to whom we owe our lives, so grave is the sin of disrespect for them. Therefore, in the Law of Moses, the death penalty was imposed for slander against one’s father or mother. How did the Lord Jesus Christ teach about respect for parents? The Lord Jesus Christ strictly condemned the Pharisees, who allowed parents to be deprived of their next maintenance under the condition of donating the benefits given to them to the church. The Savior told them: “You have made void the word of God by your tradition” (Mark 7:10,13) and confirmed the words of the prophet Moses that he who curses his father or mother shall die by death. Why is the promise of prosperity and long life attached to the commandment to honor parents? In order to be more strongly motivated by an obvious reward to fulfill such a commandment, on which the order is based, firstly, of family, and then of all social life. How does the fulfillment of this commandment establish the order of family life? In love for parents, like in grain, lies love for brothers, sisters, and all members of one’s own family. A son or daughter who loves and honors their parents takes all the interests of their home to heart; everything in it is precious to them. In such families, peace, mutual consent, sincere participation in each other reign, and parental authority, with respect for it by all members of the house, can easily and conveniently act for its well-being. How can the order of social life be established through its execution? Members of society and the state are brought up in the family, and they carry those feelings and dispositions that they internalize in the depths of the family into their social activities. With respect for the parent, reverence for the sovereign develops and grows, love for the mother fosters love for the fatherland, humility and obedience at home lead to self-denial in obedience to the laws. Give examples of respect for parents. As an example of respect for parents, one can imagine the children of Noah: Shem and Japheth, who covered their naked father; Isaac, who unquestioningly obeyed his parents throughout his life and especially showed this obedience in choosing his wife and when his father, at the command of God, decided to sacrifice him to God; Joseph, who was always respectful to his parent and did not change at all in his feelings when he was placed so highly in Egypt; Ruth, who was respectful to the mother of her husband and for this was rewarded with the happiness of her married life with Boaz and was honored to be the foremother of the Lord Jesus Christ. The highest example of obedience is our Lord Jesus Christ. Despite His Divine dignity, He humbly obeyed His Mother and imaginary father Joseph. And on the cross, amid terrible suffering, He gave us an example of touching care for His grieving Mother, entrusting Her to the care of His friend John. Give an example of disrespect for parents. As an example of disrespect for parents, one can point to the daring act of Ham, who dared to tell his brothers about his father’s offense and for this sin was terribly punished in his offspring; and on Absalom, who dared to rebel against his father. It is known what a grave death this criminal son had. Numerous experiments show that the lives of children who insult their parents can be extremely unhappy. Most often, punishment is sent to them in their own children, who repay them with their rudeness much more than how much they insulted their parents at one time. What is the importance of parents' blessing? In order to see how important the blessing of parents is, it is enough to point to the following example: the patriarch Noah said to his son Japheth: “May God spread Japheth,” and to this day the descendants of Japheth - Europeans - are spreading their power, their faith, their sciences, arts, and morals everywhere. Patriarch Jacob, blessing the children in Egypt, as the sovereign ruler disposes of the future inheritance of their offspring, indicates to each tribe where it will live and what to do. Shouldn't the fifth commandment mean someone else by the name of parents? We must understand everyone who in various respects takes the place of parents for us. Who takes the place of parents for us? 2) Shepherds and spiritual teachers. 5) Leaders in different respects. On what basis is the duty to honor the king based? On the fact that all power, and especially royal power, in which all powers are united as if in a concentration, comes from God. From sacred history we see that God Himself established royal rule among the Jews, indicated to them through the prophet His chosen one and established his rights. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when asked by the Pharisees who tempted Him whether it was permissible to give tribute to Caesar, answered: “Render the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar, and the things that are God’s to God” (Matthew 22:21). The holy apostles themselves obeyed the royal authority and the leaders appointed by it, and they taught this to all believers. “Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God; the existing authorities have been established by God. Therefore, he who resists authority resists God’s ordinance” (Rom. 13:1,2). It should be noted that at that time the kings were pagans, and moreover, some of them, like Nero, cruelly persecuted Christians. If the apostles taught us to honor such kings, then all the more should we honor our Orthodox and Christ-loving sovereign. How is royal power sanctified? Holy Chrismation. Through this sacred act, the face of the Orthodox sovereign is elevated in the eyes of his subjects as a sacred and inviolable face. God Himself says: “Touch not my anointed” (Ps. 104:15). An example of respect for God’s anointed is provided by David, who repeatedly had the opportunity to kill Saul while he was persecuting him, but not only did he not dare to do so, but also strictly forbade others. “Who, having raised his hand against the Lord’s anointed, will remain unpunished?” - he said to Abishai when he wanted to stab the sleeping Saul with a spear (1 Samuel 26:9). How should one obey the king? The Apostle Paul teaches that one must obey the king “not only out of fear of punishment, but also out of conscience” (Rom. 13:5). Royal power represents the highest development of parental power. Therefore, he fulfills his duty in relation to the king who, in obedience to him, brings a feeling of filial love and devotion. What is the basis for respect for pastors and spiritual teachers? 1) Christian shepherds are the successors of the apostolic ministry. Meaning all the shepherds of the Christian Church, the Lord said to the apostles: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” But when the Lord sent the apostles to preach, he told them: “Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (Matthew 10:40). He promises not to leave without reward even such a small service rendered to His servant, such as, for example, if someone gave him “only a cup of cold water” to drink (Matthew 10:42). 2) Christian shepherds are teachers of the gifts of grace and the blessing of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who reconciled us with God’s Justice with His Blood, deigned to give the priesthood of the Church His gift of binding and solving sins and blessing the faithful. This right, which the Lord vested in His servants, elevates them in the eyes of believers and should inspire them with filial respect. 3) Respect for pastors and spiritual teachers is necessary for the own benefit of Christians. The words and instructions of spiritual shepherds can only be fruitful in us when we open our hearts to them with love and respect. Our attention also gives them encouragement in their difficult service. St. Apostle Paul says: “Obey your leaders and be submissive, for they are vigilantly watching over your souls, as those who must give an account; so that they do this with joy and not groaning, for this is not profitable for you” (Heb. 13:17). How should respect for pastors and spiritual teachers be expressed? 1) The flock should love and honor their shepherds. “We ask you, brothers,” writes St. Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians: respect those who labor among you, and those who preside over you in the Lord, and those who admonish you” (1 Thess. 5:12). 2) We must be attentive to their teaching, turn to them with our perplexities, ask for their advice, blessings and prayers. 3) Should, as far as possible, facilitate their difficult service with prayer for them and external aids. “I beg you, brothers,” writes St. The apostle Paul to the Romans, “through our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit, strive with me in prayers for me to God” (Rom. 15:30). The Lord Savior, sending the apostles to preach, did not order them to take with them either gold, silver, copper, scrip for the journey, or two clothes, and said: “The worker is worthy of food” (Matthew 10:10), that is, those who listen to the word of the apostle will themselves take care to protect them from deprivation and need, in gratitude for the work of preaching. 4) We must not only refrain ourselves from condemning the shepherds, but also warn others against this and in every possible way defend the honor and good name of our shepherds. No one is more often struck by slander than teachers of piety, because the deeds they do are most unpleasant to the spirit of malice. The shepherds themselves, out of humility and other similar motives, are often unable to repel slander. This duty lies with the flock: the honor and good name of the shepherd should be as dear to them as the honor of their fathers. Why should we honor those older in age? 1) It pleased the Lord that they should enter into life before us and walk in it before us. By neglecting the elders, we violate God's decree. 2) The elders went through the school of life and acquired the most reliable of knowledge - experience. As they know life more than we do and are experienced in it, they have the right to our respect. 3) Old age is sometimes given as a reward for virtue (eg, honoring parents). We must honor her. The Word of God teaches: “Rise up before the gray head and honor the face of the old man” (Lev.19:32). Elders, having the right to our respect, are often weak and cannot protect themselves from insults, in which frivolous youth is so indiscriminate. But for them, God is the defender of rights. “Fear the Lord your God,” the commandment about honoring the elders further says, “I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:32). How can one be sure that benefactors should be honored as parents? St. Apostle Paul says: “...give to everyone their due” (Rom. 13:7). This means that whoever took a kinder part in our fate, who showed us special signs of love and favor, has a special right to our love and gratitude. The Apostle Paul says: “Be grateful” (Col. 3:15), classifies ingratitude as grave sins, and considers the multiplication of the ungrateful among the signs of the last times (2 Tim. 3:2). The benefactors showed us concern and love, similar to parental love. We must also honor them with a feeling of love and devotion similar to that of a filial one. We see the highest example of respect for benefactors in the Lord Jesus Christ, who obeyed Joseph, His nourisher, as well as His Most Blessed Mother (Luke 2:51). Who are the rulers who should be honored after parents in their likeness? Those who, instead of parents, take care of our upbringing, i.e., heads of schools and mentors; those who protect us from disorder in society, i.e. civil leaders; those who protect us from injury by the power of state laws, i.e. judges; those to whom the sovereign entrusts the protection and protection of public safety from enemies, i.e. military chiefs; gentlemen, in relation to those who serve them. What does Holy Scripture prescribe about the duties owed to leaders of various kinds? “Give everyone their due: give to whom, give; to whom quitrent, quitrent; to whom fear, fear; to whom is honor, honor” (Rom. 13:7). What does Holy Scripture say about the subordination of servants to masters? “Slaves, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ, not with only visible obsequiousness, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, serving with zeal, as the Lord, and not as men, knowing that everyone will receive from the Lord according to the measure of the good that he has done, whether slave or free” ( Eph.6:5-8). For a Christian servant, the highest thing is to do the will of Christ, and he fulfills this will by honestly serving his master. The injustice towards him of those whom he serves, the insults inflicted on him, will only increase the reward that he will receive from the Lord. Therefore, the Apostle Peter says: “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is pleasing to God, if anyone, thinking about God, endures tribulations, suffering unjustly” (1 Pet. 2:18,19). If Holy Scripture prescribes duties to parents, then does it not also prescribe duties to children? It also prescribes positions for children, in accordance with the rank of the parents. The most important responsibility of parents towards their children is to take care of their religious and moral education. “Fathers,” says the apostle, “do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). In addition to the apostolic commandment, parents are obligated to do this: 1) The good of their children. Parental love wants to make children happy. Without piety, true happiness is impossible: wealth is of no help to a stupid son; emptiness and corruption cannot be covered by any titles or honors. Education itself, without religious and moral affirmation, brings bitter fruits: arrogance of the mind, hardening of the heart, selfishness and unbelief. 2) Public benefit. Children are a living social force. Several years will pass, and the younger generation, growing in families, will replace the servants of the fatherland, now working people. Who would not wish that among these future leaders there were more true Christians? 3) The good of the Church. Every Christian child is a child of God. Not only earthly blessings await him, but the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. Parents are only guardians to keep these children of God and bring them to their heavenly homeland. 4) The parents' own good. Kind children are the best adornment of parents, a living image of their morals and virtues, the consolation of life and the support of old age. “This is the heritage of the Lord: children; the reward from Him is the fruit of the womb. “Like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are young sons,” the Psalmist sings in sacred delight (Ps. 127:3,4). The highest reward for good parents for raising good children is, by the grace of the Lord, an inextricable union with them in the Kingdom of Heaven. How are parents' responsibilities for raising children distributed? The burden of raising children falls equally on both the father and the mother. But, due to the special position of both sides, the responsibilities of upbringing are distributed between the parents in such a way that during the first years of the child’s growth, this responsibility lies more with the mother; and in subsequent times more fields open up for the influence of the father. But since the first years of life are predominantly important for the moral and religious education of children, this opens up a special calling for a Christian mother: to be the first herald to children of the lofty and life-giving truths of the Christian faith. The father, for his part, is obliged by all possible measures to promote the good influence of the mother on his child. And if anywhere a truly good Christian wife is an assistant to her husband, especially in this most important matter, for which both bear great responsibility before God and people. How to understand the words of the apostle “fathers, do not provoke your children to anger”? Do not irritate, that is, do not be cruel to them and do not insult them by unfair preference for one over the other. The Word of God, however, does not forbid parents to resort to strict measures to correct their children when the meek do not influence them (Sir. 30: 1, 2, 5–12, etc.) The High Priest Eli was subjected to severe punishment from God for excessive weakness towards children. What does Holy Scripture say about the duties of pastors and spiritual teachers? “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, overseeing it, not under compulsion, but willingly and in a godly manner, not for vile gain, but diligently, and not lording it over the inheritance of God, but being an example to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2,3). The image of a true shepherd is represented by St. the Apostle Paul in his own person: “You know,” he says, saying goodbye to the Jewish elders and, in their person, to the entire Ephesian flock, “how from the first day on which I came to Asia, I was with you all the time, working for the Lord with all humility and many tears... how I did not miss anything useful that I did not preach to you and teach you publicly and from house to house... three years every day I constantly taught each of you with tears... I did not desire silver, gold, or clothing from anyone: you yourself know that these hands served my needs and the needs of those who were with me. In everything I have shown you that, while working in this way, you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for He Himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:18-20,31,33-35). What does Holy Scripture say about the office of masters in relation to their servants? “Masters, show to your slaves what is due and just, knowing that you also have a Lord in heaven” (Col. 4:1). Masters must give their servants their due: 1) When demanding services, that is, not demand from them anything that would be harmful to their health and morals; 2) When rewarding for their work, that is, to value their service as it should, not according to personal predilection for this or that, but according to their work. We must render them justice as having equal moral dignity as children of the Heavenly Father and fellow members of the Church. “If you have a slave,” teaches the Wise One, “then treat him as a brother” (Sir.33:32). When St. The Apostle Paul was in Rome and preached the word of God there, and Onesimus was among his listeners. This was a slave who ran away from his master Philemon, who lived in Asia Minor, the city of Colossae. Philemon was a Christian. The Holy Apostle, having converted Onesimus to the faith, sent him to Philemon with a letter in which he writes: “I ask you about... Onesimus, whom I gave birth to in my bonds: he was once unfit for you, but now he is fit for you and me; I return it; But you accept him as my heart... not as a slave, but above a servant, a beloved brother, especially to me, and much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord" (Phil. 1:10-12,16). What should we do if our parents or superiors demanded from us something contrary to faith or the law of God? Then we must say to them, as the apostles said to the Jewish leaders when they forbade them to preach about the Savior: “Judge whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God” (Acts 4:19). And he must endure for faith and the law of God everything that may follow. However, in times of peace such cases may be very rare, and the right to violate the commands of parents and superiors in the name of faith should be used with great caution. Parents and bosses can, of course, give reasons for temptation; but very few will dare to directly order anything contrary to duty. Often, in the reluctance to carry out this or that order of the father, mother, boss, one hides, under the guise of jealousy about duty, one proud conceit and arrogance. What is the general name for the quality or virtue required by the fifth commandment? Obedience. The virtue of obedience consists in the fact that a Christian freely surrenders himself to the guidance of older parents, spiritual shepherds, superiors, etc. Out of deep humility, he does not trust his own strength, especially in the matter of saving the soul. Living faith shows him leaders in those whom God himself has appointed for him as the interpreter of His will. And he lovingly seeks in the council of parents, shepherds, and elders in general - guidance for his activities, firmly believing in the simplicity of his heart that God, the Lord and Provider, will show him his supreme will through earthly instruments. In the virtue of obedience, a Christian humbles himself like a child, completely devoted to his father and mother, in order, according to the promise of the Savior, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a high virtue and a distinctive characteristic of true Christians, who are therefore called children of obedience (1 Pet. 1:14). The highest example of obedience is represented by the Lord Jesus Christ, who, before suffering on the cross, prayed to his Father: “not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). What is prohibited by the sixth commandment? Killing or taking the life of a neighbor in any way. Is every taking of life a criminal murder? It is not a criminal murder when a life is taken by office, such as: 1) When a criminal is punished by death according to justice (Deut. 22:1; Rom. 13:4). 2) When they kill the enemy in a war for the sovereign and the fatherland (Ps. 93:1; Neh. 4:17). The purpose for which it is permitted to execute by justice and to kill the enemy in war is the same as the purpose of the Lord’s commandment: Thou shalt not kill. These actions, as well as the sixth commandment, protect the life, peace, and faith of good people from hostile attacks on them by malicious people. What should one think about involuntary murder, when one kills accidentally and without intent? An involuntary murderer cannot be considered innocent if he has not taken proper precautions against accident and, in any case, has a need for cleansing of conscience according to the establishment of the Church (Subject to penance according to 23 Ancir Ave. Cathedral for 5 years). What cases may be considered criminal homicide? In addition to direct murder, with any weapon, the following and similar cases may relate to this crime: 1) when a judge condemns a defendant whose innocence is known to him; 2) when someone hides or releases a murderer, and thereby gives him an opportunity for new murders; 3) when someone could save his neighbor from death, but does not, as for example, if a rich man allows a poor man to die of hunger; 4) when someone exhausts his subordinates with excessive burdens and cruel punishments and thereby accelerates their death; 5) when someone shortens his own life through intemperance or other vices. How should suicide be judged? Suicide is a terrible sin. 1) It is against nature to kill another person; it is even more disgusting to kill oneself. No animal kills itself under the most severe suffering. 2) A suicide boldly rebels against the Lord: he tramples on the dear gift of life; puts self-will above the will of the Creator, Who alone gives life and alone has the power to take it. 3) The suicide tramples on the consolations of the holy faith and places the merits of the Lord the Redeemer in nothing. 4) A suicide inflicts a grave insult on his neighbors and causes unspeakable grief to his parents and other relatives. Finally, 5) the suicide is guilty of the sin of despair, which, like the sin against the Holy Spirit, will not be forgiven in the future life (Matthew 12:32). For all these grave faults, especially the last one, the Holy Church deprives free suicides of Christian burial and commemoration in her prayers (St. Pat. Tim. 14). How should fights be judged to resolve private disputes? Those who decide to fight are guilty, 1st, of the sin of murder, because they endanger the life of another, 2ndly, of the sin of suicide, because they can themselves be killed by their opponents and, 3rdly, of rebellion against the government, because its job is to sort out private feuds. It should also be noted that it is impossible to prove by combat whether the (raised) accusation that caused the controversy is fair or not. The blood of a neighbor will not wash away the stain if it really is on the conscience, but will only add crime to crime. On the other hand, the impudent word of the offender will not take away the honorable name of the one who has earned it with his life; and Christian forgiveness of offense will reveal true nobility of spirit. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). Besides physical murder, is there spiritual murder? A kind of spiritual murder is temptation, when someone seduces his neighbor into unbelief or lawlessness. This sin is terrible 1) because it destroys the human soul, which is dearer than the whole world; 2) because it is impossible to atone for sin by correction. The harm from temptation is so great that it is impossible to determine its limits. Those who are seduced by someone’s bad word or deed will also seduce others; the temptation will spread further and further, and bring greater and greater punishments upon the head of the guilty person. The Lord Jesus Christ says: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). Are there other subtle types of murder? To some extent, this sin includes all words and actions that are contrary to love and unjustly violate the peace and security of one’s neighbor, even internal hatred, even if it is not revealed. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15) 7. How can secret hatred harm your neighbor? Even if a person who hates his neighbor tried to hide his evil feeling under the guise of affectionate and pleasant treatment, our heart hears who he is dealing with and involuntarily hesitates in the feeling of love and trust for him. Secret hatred disturbs the inner world of a neighbor, causes anxiety and worry to his soul, which the weak in spirit cannot overcome and are subject to despondency. When it is forbidden to harm the life of a neighbor, what is thereby commanded? 4) To alleviate the condition of the unfortunate. 5) Treat everyone meekly, lovingly and edifyingly. 6) Make peace with those who are angry. 7) Forgive offenses and do good to enemies. St. Apostle Paul teaches us: “Be kind to one another with brotherly love; warn one another in respect (Rom. 12:10). We, the strong, must endure the weaknesses of the powerless and not please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for good and edification (Rom. 15:1,2). Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Col. 4:6). When you are angry, do not sin: let not the sun go down on your anger (Eph.4:26). Let all irritation and rage and anger and shouting and slander along with all malice be removed from you; but be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you (Eph. 4:31,32). Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). What incentives do you have to do good to your enemies? 1st) This is the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ. “I tell you,” said the Lord, “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Whoever fulfills this commandment is a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ - and brings him a grateful sacrifice for His endless love for us. 2nd) We must remember that our enemy is a person similar to us, a child of the Heavenly Father, redeemed by the Son of God, that when he does evil to us, he does it out of ignorance, that is, he does not know how sinful it is before God, that under the influence of irritation we ourselves usually increase his guilt against us, that, finally, as a mentally ill person, he needs our condescension and care. 3rd) Love for the enemy, especially prayer for him, is the best way to defeat his anger and sow love in his heart. If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink (Rom. 12:20). Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom.12:21). 4th) He who loves the enemy gains a glorious victory over himself, gains free access to the throne of God's mercy (Matthew 5:44,45,18:35) and the precious treasure of peace and consolation in God. What is forbidden by the seventh commandment? What types of sins are prohibited under the name of fornication? The Apostle Paul advises Christians not to talk about these abominations (Eph.5:3). Only out of necessity, to protect against these sins, should we name some of them - these are the essence: 1) Fornication, or disordered carnal love between people who are not in marriage. 2) Adultery, when those in a marriage unlawfully turn their marital love to strangers. 3) Incest, when close relatives unite in a union similar to a marital union. How does the Savior teach us to judge fornication? He said: “Everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). What should one watch in order not to fall into this subtle, internal adultery? One must avoid everything that can arouse unclean feelings in the heart, such as: voluptuous songs, dances, foul language, immodest games and jokes, immodest shows, reading books that describe unclean love. One must try, according to the Gospel, and not look at what tempts. If your right eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members perish, and not that your whole body is cast into hell (Matthew 5:29). Is it really necessary to tear out the tempting eye? It is necessary to pull it out not with your hand, but with your will. Anyone who has firmly decided not to look at what seduces has already torn out the seducing eye. What incentives does Holy Scripture present for avoiding fornication and living chastely? It commands us to keep our bodies pure, because they are members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit, and that, on the contrary, the fornicator sins against his own body, that is, he corrupts it, infects it with diseases and damages even mental faculties, such as imagination and memory (1 Cor. 6:15,18,19). When the sin of fornication is prohibited, what virtues are thereby prescribed? While prohibiting fornication, the seventh commandment commands marital love and fidelity, and for those who can accommodate it, perfect purity and chastity. When and why was the marital union established, and what is its significance in the Church? The marital union was established by God himself in paradise (Gen. 1:27), is sanctified by the special blessing of God in the Sacrament of Marriage and serves as an image of the mysterious union of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Church (Eph. 5:23–32). Established - for the spread of the human race and the education of members of the Church of God. Such a high importance of the marital union imposes important responsibilities on those entering into it. What responsibilities are imposed by God's law on those entering into marriage? The responsibilities of marriage can be divided into general and private. General duties apply equally to husband and wife: 1) Spouses are obliged to love each other. So husbands should love their wives as their own bodies: he who loves his wife loves himself (Eph. 5:28). Love and mutual agreement elevate the happiness of life and alleviate the sorrow itself. And without love and mutual consent, neither wealth nor honor can bring family happiness. The closeness of marital relations will only cause and increase various troubles and make life very sad. 2) Spouses are obliged to sacredly and inviolably observe the vow of mutual fidelity, which they freely gave in the face of God and the Church and which is consecrated by the Sacrament. One must be extremely careful in choosing the person with whom the marital union is concluded: the Church does not allow any coercion here and stops the celebration of the Sacrament if the bride or groom expresses disagreement with the marriage. But as soon as voluntary consent is announced to everyone, and God has sealed the marriage union with the power of mysterious grace, it must remain inviolable. “What God has joined together, let no man separate,” said the Lord the Savior (Matthew 19:6). “Let everyone have an honest marriage and an undefiled bed,” teaches St. The apostle also adds, “But God judges fornicators and adulterers” (Heb. 13:4). The strictness of mutual fidelity must extend to the innermost movements of the heart. The Lord Jesus Christ calls even a glance cast by a husband at another man's wife with an unclean thought adultery (Matthew 5:28). 3) Spouses are obliged to take care of the improvement of their home together, serve as support for each other and, no matter what happens, should not leave each other until death. The private duties of a husband and wife are only a more detailed development of their general duties. The word of God gives the husband primacy in the marriage union, calling him the head of the wife (Eph. 5:23). This meaning of a husband is as much a right as it is his duty, and even more so: 1) he is obliged to preserve this power, because it was entrusted to him not by man, but by God. Everything that is done in the house must be done according to his will and with his knowledge. He bears strict responsibility before God and people for the order and well-being of the family; and nothing can excuse him if, out of weakness of character, out of false compliance, out of so-called love for the world, he allows something reckless or harmful in his home. 2) The husband must use his power over his wife wisely. “Husbands,” says St. Apostle Peter, treat wives wisely, as with the weakest vessel, showing them honor, as joint heirs of the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7). The husband must remember that his wife was given to him not as a slave, but as an assistant, he must treat her meekly and try, as far as circumstances allow, to give her a position befitting the mother of a family and the mistress of the house. I must consult with her in household matters and especially in raising children. Her mind and loving heart will reveal to him much that may escape his attention, and that may be useful to him, even in his public service. In general, he must use his power not to humiliate, but to elevate the being who has completely entrusted himself to his love. The Holy Apostle concludes his instruction to husbands regarding their wives with the following significant words: so that your prayers may not be hindered (1 Peter 3:7). Hardly anyone on earth will protect a wife from the insults that a stern husband can subject her to; and she herself, if only she understands her dignity, will not go to anyone to complain about her husband. But God, Who by His power and strength strengthens the union of husband and wife, is the almighty Defender of her rights and the Avenger of insults made to her. Finally, 3) the husband must use all his strength to arrange and enhance the well-being of his wife and family. Having confirmed the wife’s dependence on her husband, the Lord told him: “By the sweat of your face you will eat bread” (Gen. 3:19). The husband is given power, but with it heavy care and harsh work are imposed on him. The husband must fulfill this determination of God with obedience to God and with hope in His mercy. The needs of the family and the weight of responsibility should instill in him a feeling of dependence on God and dispose him to prayer. With God's blessing, the burden of labor will be lightened for him and will be turned into a means of preparing and educating him for the Kingdom of God. The wife, 1st), must show submission to her husband. “Wives,” teaches the Apostle Peter, “submit to your own husbands, so that those of them who do not obey the word may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your pure, God-fearing conduct” (1 Pet. 3:1,2). An example for all wives of Christian saints. The apostle points to Sarah, who obeyed her husband Abraham and called him master (1 Pet. 3:6). Of course, the wife’s voice is also important in household matters and in raising children, and the husband is obliged to use her advice; but the wife should not be carried away by the tendency to contradictions and should leave the final decision to the will of her husband. The husband is the support and protector of his wife. By raising its importance in the home and family, the wife establishes her well-being on a solid basis. Not contradictions, but meekness in treatment, tender care for her husband, patient enduring of insults and a pure Christian life - this is what humbled stern men and turned their hearts to piety (Example of St. Nonna, Monica, mother of St. Augustine). 2nd) The wife should help her husband by caring for the house and being thrifty. In every possible way she should avoid frivolity, extravagance, addiction to clothes and social pleasures. “Let your adornment not be the outward appearance of braided hair, or gold jewelry, or finery in clothing, but the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible beauty of a meek and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:3,4). Her job is to make sure that her husband, returning home after a day's work, finds everything in the house he wants and can end his day in the pleasant silence of the family circle. Small children are entrusted to her special care: from the first days she is obliged to imprint on them the image of piety, and for this, true piety is required of her. She, as the manager of the house, is obliged to protect the peace of the family in every possible way, to meekly and with prudence direct the work of the servants in the house and to prevent quarrels between those living in it. Solomon beautifully portrays the qualities of a good and godly wife: “Who can find a virtuous wife? its price is higher than pearls; The heart of her husband is confident in her, and he is not left without profit; she rewards him with good, not evil, all the days of her life. She produces wool and flax and willingly works with her hands... She opens her hand to the poor, and gives her hand to the needy. She is not afraid of cold for her family, because her whole family is dressed in double garments... She opens her lips with wisdom, and gentle instruction is on her tongue. She oversees the management of her house, and does not eat the bread of idleness. The children get up and please her, the husband praises her: “There were many virtuous wives, but you surpassed them all.” Loveliness is deceptive and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears the Lord is worthy of praise. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her deeds glorify her at the gates!” ( Proverbs 31:10–13,20,21,26–31 ). What is the significance of the state of virginity in the Church? The virgin state is superior to the marital state if someone can keep it pure (Matthew 19:11,12). It provides more convenience for serving God than the busy life of spouses (1 Cor. 7:32-35). Virgins and maidens who have maintained their purity will receive a special high reward in heaven (Rev. 14:1,3–5). What exactly is prohibited by the eighth commandment? Stealing or taking in any way what belongs to others. What special sins are prohibited by this commandment? 1) Theft and robbery. They steal when they secretly steal someone else's property; They rob when they openly steal or forcibly take away someone else’s thing. 2) Deception or appropriation of something of someone else’s by cunning, when, for example, they give a false coin instead of a true one; bad goods instead of good ones; by means of a false weight or measure they do not deliver what was sold; hide their property so as not to pay debts; do not fulfill the terms or wills; when they hide the culprit of theft and thereby deprive the offended person of satisfaction. 3) Sacrilege or appropriation of what is dedicated to God and what belongs to the Church. Here the sin of theft is increased by the daring desecration of a shrine. An example of sacrilege is represented by Achan, who dared to appropriate for himself part of the spoils dedicated to the tabernacle. For this sin, the entire Israeli people were punished until the culprit, indicated by lot, was stoned (Joshua 7:1–26). In general, the so-called spiritual sacrilege is distinguished from sacrilege, when some sell and others steal sacred positions not according to their merit, but for selfish reasons. An example of this sin was shown by Simon the Magus. Seeing that St. The apostles Peter and John, through the laying on of hands, taught the baptized Samaritans the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he dared to offer them money for giving them the same power. “The silver is yours,” St. told him. Apostle Peter, “may destruction be with you, because you thought to receive the gift of God with money” (Acts 8:18-20). On behalf of Simon the Magus, the sin of spiritual sacrilege is called simony. 4) Bribery, when they take a bribe (bribe) from subordinates or defendants, and, based on the type of self-interest, elevate the unworthy, justify the guilty, oppress the innocent. An example of bribery from St. history presents in the procurator of Judea Felix, who knew the innocence of St. Apostle Paul, but in vain, waiting for money, he kept him in bonds for two whole years. 5) Parasitism, when they receive a salary for a position or payment for a task, but do not perform the position or task, and thus steal both the salary or payment, and the benefit that their labor could bring to society or to the one for whom they were supposed to work; also, when those who have the power to acquire food through labor live instead by alms. “My son! - teaches the Wise One. “Do not live a beggarly life: it is better to die than to beg” (Sir.40:29). 6) Covetousness, when those greedy for money try to acquire it to the detriment of their neighbor and oppression of him. For example, they lend money to those in need at high interest rates, value the work of poor people too cheaply, burden their workers with unnecessary work, and during times of famine they sell bread at too high a price. Covetous people can, of course, rely on the fact that they are the owners of their property and have the right to dispose of their goods as they wish. Thus, they have some kind of civil law behind them 8 . But they completely violate the Gospel law of philanthropy and justice; for this the word of God proclaims to them severe punishment from the face of the Lord. “Listen, you rich people,” writes St. Apostle James, weep and howl for your misfortunes that are coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are rusty, and their rust will testify against you and will consume your flesh like fire: you have laid up for yourselves treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived luxuriously on earth and enjoyed; nourish your hearts as for the day of slaughter. You condemned and killed the Righteous One; he did not resist you” (James 5:1–6). When these sins are prohibited, then what virtues are prescribed through this? 1) Selflessness. Our Lord Jesus Christ says: “Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask him back from the one who took what you have... And if you do good to those who do good to you, what gratitude is that to you? for sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what gratitude are you for that? for even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing, and you will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked” (Luke 6:30,33–35). “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” says another word of the Lord, preserved for us by St. Apostle Paul (Acts 20:35) 2) Loyalty or honesty in all matters and obligations. “As you want people to do to you, do so to them,” said the Lord (Matthew 7:12). The Holy Apostles at the Council in Jerusalem concluded all the requirements of Christian morality in a short but significant rule: do not do to others what you do not want for yourself (Acts 15:29). The importance of this rule was clear to the heart of even a pagan: the Roman pagan emperor Alexander Severus often repeated these apostolic words: do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself, and ordered them to be inscribed on the walls of his palace and in public places. 3) Justice is a special type of fidelity in court itself. “Look,” the pious Jewish king Jehoshaphat once said to the judges appointed by him, “what you are doing, you are not doing the judgment of man, but the judgment of the Lord; and He is with you in the matter of judgment. Therefore let the fear of the Lord be upon you: act carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no unrighteousness, nor partiality, nor taking of bribes” (2 Chronicles 19:6,7). 4) Charity towards the poor. Poverty is one of the grave consequences of sin. As long as sin is on earth, there will always be poor people. Others are in poverty through their own fault, for example, from insufficient education, from idleness, drunkenness and other vices. Others are in poverty due to someone else's fault: they are born in poverty, are subject to deception, and theft. Others, finally, are subject to poverty as a result of the curse that has burdened the earth for the sins of man: this cause of poverty includes fires, ulcers, illnesses, death of loved ones, etc. All measures that are invented outside the law of Christ to correct this evil will not achieve the goal. If it were possible, for example, to ever equalize people by condition, then after a while the difference between rich and poor would again appear: some would begin to work and save, others would be lazy and wasteful. The law of Christ indicates a sure and powerful means for alleviating poverty: free Christian charity. Let the rich themselves realize that the abundance was given to them from the providence of God, not by virtue of any special rights of theirs, but to help the poor, and with the free participation of love to alleviate their heavy grief. A beggar is left for you to eat; Be a helper to Sir (Ps.9:35). The Law of Moses strictly defined certain types of charity: for example, it did not allow the picking up of ears of corn that had fallen during the harvest, etc. The Lord Jesus Christ did not give these specific rules, so as not to restrict the free actions of Christian love. He pointed out the highest example for Christian mercy in the example of the Heavenly Father: “Be merciful, just as your (Heavenly) Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). What is the significance of the virtue of charity for a Christian? In the parable of the Last Judgment, the Lord Jesus Christ showed that for deeds of mercy the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven will be granted. Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me (Matthew 25:34,36). This great reward is promised to charity, firstly, because it is an essential sign and a necessary accessory of a truly virtuous Christian. A righteous person cannot help but be merciful. Secondly, because the Lord, the King of heaven and earth, attributes to Himself every good service rendered to one’s neighbor. He says: they gave me drink, and clothed me, and visited me, and received me. Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40). How can we understand that the Lord Jesus Christ takes for Himself every service rendered to one’s neighbor? The Lord assimilates the service rendered to his neighbor to Himself: 1) as a Provider. Poverty and other consequences of sin entered the world contrary to His will: He ordained all to bliss. The rich man, going to help the poor, fulfills for him, as it were, the work of God’s providence, and the poor man, who has received mercy from him, gives glory to God for it. He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for his good deed (Prov. 19:17). 2) As a Savior. Our neighbor - the poor and needy - has been redeemed by His Blood and is a member of His body - the Church. In the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the Lord most closely unites with us, so that our bodies become, as the Apostle puts it, members of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15). Therefore, he who provides help to the poor, provides it to the Lord himself, who abides in him. Is there still no higher virtue opposite to sins against the eighth commandment? Such virtue, offered by the Gospel, not as a duty to everyone, but as advice to those zealous for the deeds of piety, is complete non-covetousness, or renunciation of all property. If you want to be perfect, go, sell your property and give it to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven (Matthew 19:21). Has anyone followed this advice of the Lord? Very many, for the sake of the Lord, renounced wealth and shared it with the poor. Thus, Saint Anthony the Great, having heard the words of the Lord spoken to a rich young man in the church, took them to his heart as if they had been spoken to him personally - he distributed his property to the poor, withdrew into the desert and became the founder of monasticism in the East. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, having received an inheritance from his parents, distributed it to the poor. St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nolan, also distributed all his property to the poor, and when everyone was amazed at this great sacrifice, he humbly said: “I am like a wrestler preparing to fight, or a man wanting to cross a river. Both of them have not yet done anything by taking off their clothes” (Memory of him, January 24). What does the ninth commandment forbid? Forbids sins of the tongue. The greatest sin against the ninth commandment is slander, when one speaks untruths about one’s neighbor in order to offend him and bring him harm. Slander occurs: 1) in court, when during a trial a false statement is made about someone, and 2) except in court, when someone is slandered in absentia or blamed to his face unfairly. An example of slander can be seen in the Jews who accused the Lord Jesus Christ of seeking royal power and forbidding the payment of tribute to Caesar, while they had repeatedly heard from the lips of the Savior the completely opposite (Matthew 22:21; Luke 12:14). Slander combines many grave sins: lies, condemnation, hatred, perjury (in court). The slanderer encroaches on the most precious good of his neighbor: his honest name, and brings the most serious offense to his heart. St. Basil the Great, regarding one slander brought against him, writes: “What illness did hearing about this slander cause to my soul?.. I spent almost the whole night without sleep... My heart became tied, my tongue weakened, my hand went numb... I almost reached the point of hating mankind” 9. Those who listen to it and love various rumors spread both verbally and in print at the expense of their neighbors are also guilty of the terrible sin of slander. “Never show respect to someone who speaks slander to you about your neighbor,” says St. John Climacus, “in this way you will provide a double benefit, healing both yourself and your neighbor with one plaster” 10. Is it permissible to condemn one's neighbor for his actual weaknesses and vices? The Word of God strictly forbids judging one's neighbor for actual weaknesses and vices, unless one is called to this by a special position. Firstly, we do not have the right to judge our neighbor, because the Lord, according to the word of the Apostle James, is the only lawgiver and judge, able to save and destroy (James 4:12). “Who are you, judging another man’s slave? - asks St. Apostle Paul. – Before his Lord he stands, or he falls. And he will be raised up, for God is able to raise him up” (Rom. 14:4). Secondly, we ourselves have a lot of sins and, perhaps, more serious ones than those that we condemn in the person of our neighbor. “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye,” says the Lord Savior, “but do not feel the beam in your eye?” (Matthew 7:3). One day the Pharisees brought to the Savior a woman who, they said, should be stoned for her grave sin. The Savior said: “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” The matter ended with the fact that the Pharisees, convicted by their conscience, gradually began to leave one after another from the face of the Knower of the Heart (John 8:7). 3) The neighbor whom we condemn may have already mourned his sins before God, and God has forgiven him. How dare we go against God’s definition and denigrate what God has cleansed and, according to the word of the Psalmist, whitened more than snow? Simon the Pharisee condemned a sinner known throughout the city, who in his house washed the Savior’s feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, but the Lord showed him that this woman stood much higher than him in her virtue. According to this gravity of sin - condemnation, St. The Church teaches us to pray in the words of Ephraim the Syrian: Hey, Lord the King, grant me to see my sins and not to condemn my brother. Is it permissible to lie if there is no intention to condemn your neighbor? Any lie is unacceptable. 1) It is not consistent with human dignity. A deceitful person, writes one ascetic, is not a simple person, but a dual one: for he is one on the inside, another on the outside, and his life is dual and deceitful 11 ​​. Lying is even more disgusting to the character of a Christian. He must imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Truth and in Whom there was no flattery in His mouth. He who lies imitates the devil, the father of lies (John 8:44). 2) Lying is incompatible with respect and love for one's neighbor. A liar counts on the gullibility and weak-mindedness of his neighbor when he dares to tell him a lie. In most cases, he fails to do this: he often contradicts himself, and our heart is gifted with the ability, so to speak, instinct, to hear and recognize who is telling the truth and who is lying. But it may happen that someone will be deceived by a liar. By believing a liar, he may be exposed to danger and harm. St. The Apostle Paul teaches that Christians must put off the old man, which is corrupted by its deceitful lusts, and put on the new man, created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. “Therefore,” continues St. apostle, “having put away falsehood, speak the truth every one to his neighbor, for we are members of one another” (Eph. 4:22,24,25). Is it permissible to lie for a good purpose, for example, to save a neighbor? A Christian, as a son of light, should under no circumstances resort to lies. Lying is a sin, and no holy purpose can sanctify this evil means. Our lives and those of our loved ones are in the hands of God, and we must surrender ourselves and each other to God’s mercy, without resorting to a means of defense not permitted by law. And the strict judge involuntarily condescends to a sincere admission of guilt. The merciful Lord will all the more protect and have mercy on those who, out of love for the truth, abhor lies, no matter how plausible they may be. To most conveniently avoid sins against the ninth commandment, what should one observe? The tongue must be curbed. In idle talk it is impossible to avoid sin, because it is impossible to think over every word. Without noticing an unnecessary and idle word, you can prick and insult your neighbor and bring trouble upon yourself. The Holy Apostle Peter teaches: “If anyone loves life and wants to see good days, keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceitfully” (1 Peter 3:10). The Monk Pimen says: “If you are silent, you will find peace wherever you live” 12. Another holy ascetic Pambo, when asked whether it was good to praise one’s neighbor, answered: “But remaining silent is even better” 13 . In addition, idle talk interferes with serious reasoning. Every immature thought immediately rushes to express itself in a thoughtless and often immodest word. Therefore, idle talk is rightly considered a sign of frivolous and empty people. The Holy Apostle James writes: “If anyone among you thinks that he is pious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, his piety is empty” (James 1:26). What is prohibited by the tenth commandment? Desires and thoughts that are contrary to love for one's neighbor. Why are not only evil deeds prohibited, but also evil desires and thoughts? Firstly, because evil desires and thoughts make the soul unclean before God. The thoughts of evil are an abomination to the Lord (Prov. 15:26). The Lord Jesus Christ said: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). And for our salvation, it is not enough to correct external behavior alone, but it requires cleansing of the heart. Only those who are pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8), and nothing unclean will enter the Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:27). “Therefore,” says the apostle, “having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). Secondly, evil thoughts and desires are prohibited because from them, like from seeds, sinful deeds will be born. From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy (Matthew 15:19). Where do you get hostility and strife? Is it not from here, from your lusts that war in your members? (James 4:1). Everyone is tempted, being carried away and deceived by his own lust; lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin that is committed gives birth to death (James 1:14,15). When it is forbidden to desire anything that your neighbor has, what passion is forbidden through this? Envy. Envy is an anxious and painful feeling with which a person looks at the good and happiness of his neighbor. The envious person is worried by painful melancholy not only when his neighbor is happier than him, but even when his neighbor does not have what he has. He would like to seize everything alone and take away from his neighbor all the gifts of God's goodness. In this grave sin, a person is most like the devil, who, out of envy of the bliss of his ancestors, led them into sin and, out of envy, tries to destroy all good and well-being of people. One should rejoice at the happiness of one's neighbor, but the envious person, like the devil, is tormented by seeing his well-being. Therefore, the same apostle calls envy the wisdom of demons. If you have bitter envy and contentiousness in your heart, do not boast or lie about the truth. This is not wisdom coming from above, but earthly, spiritual, demonic (James 3:14,15). What, in particular, are evil thoughts and desires prohibited by the tenth commandment? The words “thou shalt not covet thy sincere wife” prohibit voluptuous thoughts and desires. The following words of the commandment “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his village, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s” (Ex. 20:17) thoughts and desires of self-interest and power-hungry are prohibited. Accordingly, with these prohibitions, what positions does the tenth commandment impose? 1) You must keep your heart pure. One must constantly be attentive to the thoughts and desires that arise in the soul, and remove everything unclean from it. “My son,” the Wise One teaches, “during your life, test your soul and observe what is harmful for it, and do not give it to it” (Sir.17:30). While removing impure thoughts and desires, one must introduce good thoughts and dispositions into the heart. “My brothers,” writes St. Apostle Paul, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, whatever is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things” (Phil.4:8) “and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil.4:9). 2) Must be happy with your lot. It is a great gain, says the apostle, to be pious and content. Just as bitter envy torments and torments the soul, so contentment with one’s condition fills it with peace and happiness. To acquire this peace of mind, one must think as often as possible that all earthly blessings are temporary, as the apostle says following the above words: “we have brought nothing into the world; It is clear that we cannot take anything out of it” (1 Tim. 6:7) - and that our lot is assigned to us by God for the benefit of our soul and eternal salvation. What is most needed to cleanse the heart? Frequent and diligent invocation of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Called upon with faith, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ brings light, peace, joy into our soul and has omnipotent power to repel temptations. “And if you ask the Father anything in My name,” said the Lord Jesus Christ, “I will do it” (John 14:13). In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, not only the apostles performed miracles, but even those who did not belong to the number of the Lord’s disciples (Luke 9:49). For the relationship between love of God and other duties, see above. According to the interpreters, he said this about himself. 14 years ago was the time of his calling to preach to the pagans. The holy Apostle himself compares this gracious consolation with the many sorrows that he suffered for the sake of the Lord (See Chapter 11 above). The hon. Tales of the asceticism of St. and Blessed. Fathers. SNP. 1871, p. 128. See below for more details about the post. These are the features of idleness indicated by our wise teacher today: a long sleep in the morning, a slow awakening, then breakfast, a walk, idle talk with visitors or those visited, perhaps not the best idle talk, reading, then lunch, rest, a show, a game, dinner and again a long sleep - is this the life of a rational and moral being? (Words and speeches of Philaret Metropolitan of Moscow. Moscow 1861, p. 360). How many should recognize themselves in this apt essay? If he (that is, our ancestor) had been completely freed from all labor, then, taking advantage of the great peace, he would have easily avoided laziness, says St. Chrysostom From this reasoning of the golden-talking teacher, says our same modern saint, we must learn that even if one of us lived in heavenly contentment and prosperity, even if there was nothing compelling us to work, however, even in this case we should not neglect work and shy away from it, and should use it as a guardian of internal and external well-being, so that idleness does not come and teach many evil (Ibid., p. 361). It was shown above how our Lord Jesus Christ interpreted the sixth commandment. However, civil law also strictly pursues extortion; carried away by their shameful passion for money, covetous people for the most part try to circumvent the law and commit deception. Creation part 6, page 136, part. 7, p. 199. Avva Dorotheos, teaching. and last 1866 p. 118. Memorable tales about the asceticism of the holy and blessed fathers, page 292.