“Seed of Life”: sacraments in the education of a person

“Seed of life”: sacraments in the parenting of man Abstract. The pedagogical system of St. Theophan is one of the most developed parts of his legacy. The teaching of the saint is based on the patristic heritage. The main principle is synthesis. The beginning of spiritual life lies in the sacrament of Baptism. Salvation is the preservation of grace through the development of freedom in man and his work. The teaching is revealed through an image - the “seed of life”. This study is devoted to this image. In letters, sermons, and books, Saint Theophan set forth the Gospel teaching about man and his salvation, revealed by the holy fathers. Each part of this teaching was obtained through painstaking work: reading, translation, presentation. Who is a person? What's in it? How to develop human properties? What is the fruit of education? Many studies are devoted to these questions in the teachings of the saint. We turn to the beginning of the anthropology of the Recluse. The goal of a person’s life is a blessed life beyond the grave, as the saint repeatedly writes in his letters, and the beginning of such a life is the perception of grace in the sacrament of Baptism. From this moment the upbringing of a person begins: both an infant and an adult. “The fruit of a good upbringing is the preservation of the grace of holy baptism,” - this is the limit of a person’s upbringing, to preserve the grace given in Baptism. However, the saint calls this grace in his writings “the seed of life” and suggests cultivating this seed. The Church has everything necessary, according to the teachings of the Recluse. Preaching the word of God in churches in the form of teaching and singing - light, Divine sacraments - moisture, prayers and liturgical rites - clean air, a cover for protection - the Lord, the Mother of God and all the saints, support for the trunk and, in time, cutting off unnecessary branches - shepherds and church teachers. Thus, the saint understands by the “seed of life” the grace bestowed in the sacraments. On the one hand, it needs to be preserved. On the other hand, in order to preserve this grace, human properties must develop. Not only through external influences, but first and foremost through internal affairs. If the sprout, accepting foreign elements, grows, then the fruit of salvation will be brought by a spiritual tree, which feeds on the elements generated by it: thoughts, feelings, desires, godly deeds. This “develop to preserve” is reminiscent of Alice's run. Let's try to evaluate the doctrine of the “seed of life” in the context of the patristic heritage. As it turns out, “seed of life” is an unstable phraseological unit. In the patristic heritage it occurs no more than 30 times. Saint Theophan uses this term more than 15 times. To study this issue, we used computer analysis of a corpus of Greek texts. The analysis was carried out using a web resource database - Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, and therefore the texts are presented in Greek. The Holy Fathers use the image of the “seed of life” more often in a different context. “The seed of life” is the Word of God, this metaphor comes from the Gospel parable of the sower [Matthew 13:3–23; Mark 4:3-20; Luke 8:5–15]. Sometimes the “seed of life” is Christ Himself, as John Chrysostom writes about this, interpreting the parable of the sower and the seed: “Εἰ δὲ μετ’ ἀκριβείας ἐξετάσαι θελήσωμεν εὕροιμεν ἂν τὴν ? Θεοῦ Πατρὸς εἰς γῆν σπαρέν! "[5, p. 24]. “Oh, the seed of life sown by God the Father on earth!” Cyril of Alexandria speaks of the seed outside of the parable of the sower. The words of Christ about the seed that must perish in order to bear fruit [John 12:24] are interpreted as follows: “Εἰ καὶ πρὸς τὴν παραβολὴν ὁ λόγος ἐσχηματίσθη πιθανῶς, καρπὸς γὰρ τῶν Χριστοῦ παθημάτων, ἡ πάντων ζωή, νεκρῶν τε καὶ ζώντων. "[3, p. 312]. “...The seed of life was the death of Christ.” In the body of patristic thought one encounters the image of a seed in the context of the sacrament of Baptism. Saint Basil the Great writes in his treatise “On Baptism” that a person is given a seed in Baptism. It indicates the development of the seed and fruit. According to the word of the Apostle Paul [Rom.5:6], we are united with Christ in the likeness of His death. But so that a person does not expect only participation in death and corruption through Baptism, and through this does not become despondent, the Apostle Paul states: they must also be united by the likeness of the resurrection. Saint Basil writes: “ἡ δὲ καινότης τῆς ζωῆς σπέρματος καταβολὴν ὑπερβάλῃ, τῆς Εἰ γὰρ σύμφυτοι γεγόναμεν τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐσόμεθα" [2, p. 1548]. “...So that the renewal of life exceeds the sowing of the seed by the confirmed hope of the glorious Resurrection...” Saint Gregory Palamas, interpreting the words “And behold, the heavens were opened to him” from the Gospel of Matthew, proposes to understand the mystery of the Baptism of the Lord in this way. Immersion in water is a descent into hell, and ascent from water is the Resurrection from the dead. Christ allows us to partake of His death and resurrection, to acquire salvation without torment through the sacrament of Baptism, just as we receive salvation through the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Christ left suffering and death for himself, and provided us with communion through the Passion of Christ without torment. “δι’ ἑκατέρου τε μυστηρίου καὶ δι’ ἀμφοτέρων καὶ ψυχῆς καὶ ????? Ἐν γὰρ τοῖς δυσὶ τούτοις πᾶσα ἡμῶν ἤρτηται ἡ σωτηρία πάσης τῆς θεανδρικῆς οἰκονομίας ἐν τοῖς δυσὶ τούτοις συγκεφαλαιουμένης" [4, p. 608]. “... Thanks to both, His Soul and His Body, deified and containing the seeds of true life.” Saint Gregory understands by the “seed of life” – that which Christ possesses, and that which he gives to us, and we accept for salvation. Revered by Saint Theophan, Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk understood faith by the seed bestowed in the sacrament of Baptism. Thus, we see that the teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse about the “seed of life,” i.e., grace bestowed in the sacrament of Baptism, is within the framework of patristic thought. But if the holy fathers wrote only about the development of this seed (seed - fruit, σπέρμα - καρπός), then the Right Reverend Bishop speaks of development for preservation. But this is not the only feature of the Hermit’s teaching. Along with grace, a person in the sacrament of Baptism is given zeal for God, which is also the seed of life and at the same time the fruit of a combination of grace and freedom. The combination of freedom and grace in an adult who is baptized gives the fruit of grace and zeal, but the baby perceives only grace, since his godparents confess the faith for him. Theophan the Recluse believed that Baptism and its grace alone are not enough for a free being to be saved. Grace in a person must act through “the work of conducting the Spirit into all areas of our being... This cannot be accomplished mechanically in a free being” [7, p. 120]. The Holy Fathers called the seed of life the work of building the economy of the salvation of the human race, accomplished by Christ, and what is connected with it. The seed is given in Baptism. The fruit of the seed is salvation. The image is assembled like a picture in a kaleidoscope. In his writings, His Eminence Bishop reveals this image consistently, with all its depth. The “Seed of Life” becomes the theological basis of pedagogy in the system of St. Theophan. To preserve the grace bestowed in the sacrament of Baptism, to develop through the work of a person so that he can freely accept the fruit of salvation - the path of education in God. 1. Bible. Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. M.: Pilgrim, 1990. 2. Basilius Caesariensis. De baptismo libri duo // J.-P. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) (MPG) 31, Paris: Migne, 1857: 1848 r. 3. Cyrillus Alexandrinus. Commentarii in Joannem // P. E. Pusey. Sancti patris nostri Cyrilli archiepiscopi Alexandrini in D. Joannis evangelium. 3 vols. V. 2 Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1872:737 p. 4. Gregorius Palamas. Homiliae XLIII–LXIII // P.K. Chrestou, Γρηγορίου τοῦ Παλαμᾶ ἅπαντα τὰ ἔργα, vol. 11 [79. Ἐκδόσεις Γρηγόριος ὁ Παλαμᾶς, 1986]: 608 ρ. 5. Joannes Chrysostomus. 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