Беседа 8

1 Tim. 2:8–10. So I wish that men would say prayers in every place, raising clean hands without anger or doubt; so that wives, too, in decent attire, with modesty and chastity, adorn themselves not with braided hair, not with gold, not with pearls, not with costly clothing, but with good deeds, as is fitting for wives devoting themselves to piety. Where to pray. - About decent decoration. - About the clothes of virgins. 1. “And when you pray,” says Christ, “do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stop and pray in the synagogues and on street corners in order to appear before people. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:5-6). How does Paul say: “Therefore I desire that men in every place say their prayers, lifting up clean hands without anger or doubting.” But these words do not contradict the above - no, but on the contrary, they completely agree with them. How and in what way? First, it is necessary to say what the words mean: “enter your room,” and why does He command this when you need to pray in every place and is it really impossible to pray either in the church or in any other part of the house, but only in one cell? So what is the meaning of these words? Suggesting here that it is necessary to avoid vanity, Christ says: perform prayers not only in secret, but also in secret. Just as in the saying: “Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3) He is not just talking about hands, but represents with special force the need to avoid vanity, so here He hints at the same thing. So, He did not limit prayer to a place, but He commanded only one thing - that one should not be vain. And Paul says this (to show) the difference from Jewish prayers. Look, in fact, what he says: “in every place men said prayers, raising their clean hands.” But this could not be done among the Jews, because they were not allowed either to resort to God in any other place, or to make sacrifices, or to perform divine services; but it was necessary to gather from everywhere in the universe into one place and perform all the purifications in the church. The Apostle gives the opposite admonition to this and, freeing us from this necessity, says that our (customs) are not the same as those of the Jews. Just as he commands to offer prayers for everyone (because Christ died for everyone, and for everyone, he says, I preach), so in the same way (teaches) that it is good to pray everywhere; therefore, this remark refers not to the place, but to the way in which one should pray. Pray, he says, everywhere; Raise your reverend hands in every place—that’s all that’s required. But what does it mean: “Reverends”! Clean. What does it mean: clean? Of course, not washed with water, but clean from covetousness, murder, theft, and plagues. "Without anger and doubt". What does this mean? Does anyone get angry while praying? So no rancor. Let the soul of the one praying be pure and free from all passion, let no one approach God with enmity, let no one approach with indignation and reflection. What does “without a doubt” mean? Let's listen. This means that there is no need to doubt at all that we will be heard. “And “whatever you ask in prayer with faith,” says (Christ), “you will receive” (Matthew 21:22); and again: “When you stand in prayer, forgive, if you have anything against anyone” (Mark 11:25). This is what it means - without anger and doubt. How, someone asks, can I be sure that I will receive what I ask? If you do not ask for anything that disagrees with what He is ready to give you if (you do not ask) for anything that is unworthy of a king, if for nothing worldly, if (you ask) only spiritual (blessings), if you approach without anger, if you have clean, reverend hands; and reverend hands are those that give alms. If you start this way, then, in any case, you will receive what you ask for. “If you therefore,” he says, “being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father be in heaven” (Matthew 7:11). He calls doubt here reflection. In the same way, he says, I want women to approach God without anger, without doubt, to have clean hands, not to follow their lusts, not to rob and not to be selfish. What, really, will be the benefit if she does not rob herself, but does it through her husband? However, Paul demands something more from women. What exactly? “In decent attire, with modesty and chastity, they adorned themselves, not with braided hair, not with gold, not with pearls,” he says, “not with costly clothing, but with good deeds, as befits women devoting themselves to piety.” What does he call “in decent attire”? That is, a dress that would cover them decently on all sides would be decent, but not elegant; the former is decent, and the latter is indecent. What do you say to this? Do you come to pray to God, and meanwhile surround yourself with gold jewelry and headdresses? Did you come to dance? Or take part in the wedding feast? Did you come to the solemn procession? Gold jewelry is appropriate there, hats there, expensive dresses there. But here none of this is needed. You came to ask, to pray for your sins, to offer prayer for your crimes, to beg the Lord to incline Him to mercy. Why are you decorating yourself? This outfit is indecent for one who prays. How can you sigh? How can you cry? How can you pray hard while wearing such an outfit? Even if you cry, your tears will seem worthy of laughter to the one who sees them, because a crying woman should not wear gold. This is hypocrisy and pretense. And in fact, how can it not be hypocrisy when the same soul from which this splendor and vanity was born is the same (soul) shedding tears? Remove all this pretense from yourself. You can't laugh at God. This is typical of actors and dancers who spend their days on stage; but all this is indecent for an honest woman. “With modesty,” he says, “and chastity.” 2. So, do not imitate harlots. Through this attire they attract many lovers, and through this many often incur a bad opinion and do not receive any benefit from this decoration, because many are harmed through such an opinion. Just as a dissolute woman, even if she enjoys the reputation of being chaste, will not have any benefit from this glory when He who judges secret things will in due time bring everything to light, so a chaste woman, if by her attire she manages to acquire the reputation of (a woman) of bad behavior, will not receive any benefit from her chastity, because many through this glory were led to destruction. But why will I suffer, another will say, if another begins to suspect me? You give a reason for this with your outfit, your gaze, your movements. This is why Paul talks so much about clothing and shame. And if he rejects what serves only as a sign of wealth, namely gold, pearls and valuable vestments, then doesn’t he much more (reject) what (serves as a sign of) excessive vanity - rubbing, tinting the eyes, an affected gait, an effeminate voice, a moist look filled with all sorts of fornication, the sophistication with which one throws a veil over oneself or puts on a dress in the most skillful way arranged belt, frilly shoes? He indicates all this by saying: “in decent attire”, as well as by the words: “with modesty” - because all this is characteristic of shamelessness and indecency. Be, I beg you, lenient towards me, because my word does not contain a very obvious denunciation for the purpose of hurting or saddening you, but to remove from the flock everything that is alien to it. If he forbids this to married women living in luxury and wealth, then even more so to those who have devoted themselves to virginity. But what kind of virgin, they say, puts gold jewelry on herself? What kind of headwear? And an ordinary dress can be so exquisite that even these (decorations) become insignificant in comparison with it. After all, an inexpensive dress can be more elegant than one trimmed with gold. In fact, when the dress is of too bright a color, and when it is attached with special care by a belt near the chest, as is the case with those who dance on stage, so that it neither spreads out in width, as if rising upward, nor is it pulled together until it seems too narrow, but occupies the middle between both, and forms many folds near the chest, then can it really not seduce much more than all kinds of silk dresses? What if (at the same time) the shoes, being black, give off an extraordinary shine and end with a point, and with their graceful appearance they are likened to a painting, so that they do not raise the sole of the foot too much? What if you, although you do not decorate your face with ointments, nevertheless wash it with extraordinary diligence and attention and put a bandage around your forehead, which is much whiter than your face, and then throw a (black) veil on top, so that the black color against the white is more noticeable? What can you say about this incessant turning of the eyes? What about the belt and the bandage on the chest, which, when girded, is sometimes hidden, sometimes shown out, because the (chest) is often left open so that the skillful decoration of the belt is visible, while a veil is placed around the entire head? And their hands, like tragic actors, are covered so carefully that you would think that the dress had grown to them. What can we say about gait and other movements that, more than any gold, can captivate those who look at it? Let us be afraid, beloved, lest we hear the same thing that the prophet said to the Jewish women who cared about external adornment: “And instead of a belt there will be a rope, and instead of curled hair there will be baldness” (Is. 3:23). Thus, this can attract more than gold jewelry, as well as many other things that are skillfully arranged in order to be looked at and so that those who look at them are captivated by them. This is not a small sin, on the contrary, it is very large and can anger God and can ruin the entire feat of virginity. 3. Christ is your Bridegroom: why do you attract human lovers to yourself? He will then condemn you for adultery. Why don’t you adorn yourself with decoration that pleases Him, that pleases Him - modesty, chastity, honesty, decent clothing? And this dress is typical of dissolute women and is shameful. We can no longer distinguish between slutty women and virgins. Look to what shame they have brought themselves! A virgin should be a stranger to sophistication, dress simply and as it happens. And she diligently deals with countless (objects of) external decoration. Put an end to this madness, woman; turn this care towards the soul, towards inner beauty. This external splendor prevents the internal from becoming good. Whoever cares about it neglects the inner; just as the one who despises him transfers all his concern to the internal. Don't tell me: alas! I put on worn-out clothes, cheap shoes, a blanket that costs nothing; what kind of panache is that? Don't flatter yourself. You can, as I said, dress yourself up more in this clothing than in others - more in a worn-out dress than in one adapted to the body and beautifully arranged in an image that befits shamelessness, and brightly shining. You're telling me this; but what will you say to God, Who knows the thought with which you do this? But you are not doing this for the sake of debauchery. So for what? To excite surprise? And aren’t you ashamed and don’t blush when you want to excite surprise in this way? But, you say, I’m wearing this dress so-so, and not for this reason at all. God knows what you are saying to us. Will you give me an account? To the One who is present at everything that happens to us, and who will then evaluate, to the One before whom everything is clear and open. This is why we now say this; so as not to subject you to such liability. Let us be afraid that (the Lord) does not reproach you for the same thing that he reproached the Jewish women through the prophet: they came to appear before Me “and they walk with majestic steps and rattle with the chains on their feet” (Isa. 3:16). You have taken upon yourself a great feat, which requires struggle, not ostentation - where you need to fight, and not lead a life full of bliss. Don't you see the fist fighters and wrestlers? Do they care about their gait and external adornment? Not at all. But, ignoring all this and putting on a dress soaked in oil, they only mean to deliver and repel blows. The devil stands, gnashing his teeth, trying in every possible way to destroy you; and you don’t stop doing these satanic outfits. I don’t want to say anything about the voice, about how many try to give it a certain expression, about incense and other luxury items. That's why secular women laugh at us. The honor of virginity is lost. No one respects a virgin the way they should because they have brought themselves to the point of being neglected. Shouldn't they be revered in the Church of God as if they had come from heaven? Meanwhile, now they are despised - for their own sake, and not for the sake of those who are smarter than them - because when she who has a husband and children and runs the house sees that you, being obliged to be nailed to the cross, are more concerned with these outfits than she is, will she not laugh at you? Will she really not despise you? Don't you see; How much effort is there, how much care? You outweigh the one who dresses up in expensive dresses in the scarcity of clothing, because you care more about outfits than the one who puts on gold jewelry. What is appropriate for you, you do not seek, but you strive for what is not appropriate for you, while you should be doing good deeds. That is why virgins began to enjoy less respect than women living in the world, because they did not show deeds worthy of virginity. We do not say this to everyone, or better yet, to everyone, namely, to the guilty, so that they come to their senses, and to the innocent, so that they admonish the former. But be careful that this censure does not turn into action. We said this not to upset you, but to correct you and so that we can boast about you. Oh, that we would all do what is pleasing to God and live for His glory, and through this we would be worthy to receive the promised benefits, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. These conversations were delivered by the saint, probably in Antioch around 397. You might be interested in: