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Hope is true courage towards God, given to the human heart by God's inspiration and enlightenment; or in other words: hope is a virtue given from above, through which the blessings of eternal life are expected with firm faith (Matthew 22:2; 1 Cor. 15:22; Rev. 22:12). This virtue is based on the grace that is given to us through Jesus Christ, and on keeping the commandments of God; It is confirmed by the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ and unceasing prayer. Prayer and the nine beatitudes must be explained here. Prayer is a petition to God with warm faith and with the hope of receiving what you ask for according to His will. It comes in threes. The first is the one with which we thank God for blessings, and most of all for the freedom of our souls from the enemy. The second is the one in which we ask God to forgive our sins and pour out His grace on us both in soul and body. The third prayer is the one with which we bless our Lord in singing for His unapproachable splendor and eternal glory. In addition, prayer can be general and special. A common one is one that is sent to God by many in one place or especially in a church in the unanimity and agreement of the hearts of those praying. The special one is the one that ascends to God, each individually, in a solitary and hidden place. Prayer requires chastity and reverence, reconciliation with enemies and forgiveness, rejection of all worldly cares and patience with thanksgiving. What is the Lord's Prayer? “Our Father, Who art in heaven” and so on. It is divided into three parts: preface, petition and conclusion. First part, preface. Our Father, who art in heaven. This preface teaches the following. 1) The one who prays must come to God not only as his creation, but also as His son by grace. 2) He must be a son of the Orthodox Church. 3) Should not doubt that he will receive what he asks from the most merciful Father. 4) Since God is the Father of all, we must live like brothers. 5) The word “in heaven” instructs us to raise our minds from earthly things to heaven. In addition, it must be said that although God is present everywhere, His grace, saturating the righteous, and the wealth of His wondrous deeds especially shine in heaven. The second part is the petitions, of which there are seven: In this petition we beg: firstly, to grant us a pious and virtuous life, so that everyone, looking at it, glorifies the name of God; secondly, that the ignorant should turn to the Orthodox faith and glorify the Heavenly Father with us, and thirdly, that those who bear the name of Christian, but who live their lives in evil and abominations, should abandon their vices, by which faith and our God are slandered. 2. Thy kingdom come. With this we ask that it is not sin, but God Himself, who reigns in all of us with His grace, righteousness and compassion. In addition, the petition also contains the idea that a person, being under the grace of God and feeling heavenly joy, despises the world and desires to receive the Kingdom of God. Finally, here we pray that His Second Coming will be hastened. We beg here that God will not allow us to lead our lives according to our will, but that we may govern it as He pleases, and that we should not resist His will, but that we should obey Him in everything. In addition, what is meant here is the idea that without allowing the will of God, nothing can come to us, from anyone, ever, as long as we live according to His will. 4. Give us this day our daily bread. We ask here, firstly, that God does not deprive us of preaching and knowledge of His holy word, for the word of God is spiritual bread, without which a person perishes; secondly, so that He would grant us the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, and, thirdly, so that He would grant us everything necessary for life and keep all this in this world in abundance, but without excess. The word “today” means the time of our present life, for in the next century we will enjoy the sight of God. 5. And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors. Here we ask that God would grant us forgiveness of sins, for debt here refers to sins. This petition teaches us that we ourselves should forgive debts to our debtors, that is, that we should forgive those who have angered and embittered us all their crimes. He who does not forgive his neighbor says this prayer in vain, for then his sins are not forgiven by God, and even his very prayer is a sin. 6. And do not lead us into temptation. By this we ask: firstly, that we be free from temptations that come from the world, the flesh and the devil and move us to sin, and from heretics who persecute the Church and deceive our souls with false teachings and other means, and secondly, that, in the event of suffering for Christ, God strengthens us with His grace to endure torment even to the end, so that we may accept the end of torment, and may not allow us to suffer beyond our strength ours. 7. But deliver us from evil. Here we beg, firstly, that God preserve us from all sin and from the devil, who incites us to sin; secondly, that He would deliver us in this life from all disasters; thirdly, so that at the time of death He drives away from us the enemy who has the power to devour our souls, and sends us an angel of peace to protect us. Third part, or conclusion: For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. This conclusion is in agreement with the preface, for just as the preface teaches that we will receive what we ask from the most merciful Father, so this conclusion shows that we will receive what is required from Him. After all, His is the whole world, His is the strength and His is the glory, for which we must ask. The word “amen” means: “so be it,” or “hey.” This conclusion can be spoken by a commoner in private without a priest. Since, as stated above, the beatitudes, that is, the first words of Christ’s first sermon, tend toward hope, the following must be said about them. These are nine beatitudes, namely: 1. Blessed be the poor in spirit and so on. A poor spirit is one who humbles himself before God, confessing that he is a sinner, poor in good deeds, and of himself, without the help of God’s grace, very weak and not strong in doing good deeds. Those who mourn are those who, like the poor in spirit, confess their sins and infirmities before God. They complain and cry about their wretchedness, fearing the future judgment of God, or they are angry with themselves for angering God. This contrition of the heart is sorrow for God and a matter of saving repentance. The meek are the same as the poor in spirit. They, confessing their poverty, meekly stand before God and people; They attribute their well-being not to themselves, but to God; if a misfortune happens, they do not murmur against God, but live in moderation in misfortune and thank God. They treat people condescendingly, submit to authorities, do not despise equals, do not disdain lesser people, never become arrogant and do not envy. 4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The truth here of course is the one that Christ came to create - the eternal truth, perfected through His intercession for us to God the Father, when He satisfied with His death for the sins of the world and transformed the wrath of God into mercy. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who, being poor in spirit, weeping and meek, with faith in Christ seek mercy from God, forgiveness of sins and adoption. They also ask for the fruits of this truth, that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit for doing good deeds. The merciful, loving God, loves his neighbor and wishes him every good, helps him in his needs, stands up for him in troubles, instructs him in bewilderment and forgives him for the sins committed against him. The works of mercy are twofold: physical and spiritual. The bodily ones include the following: giving the hungry person food from the righteous estate, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting in prison and comforting him so that he does not fall into despair, visiting the weak, receiving a stranger into a home and burying the dead. The spiritual ones are the following: to admonish someone to live lawfully and hate sin, to teach the ignorant the knowledge of God, to advise the truth, to pray to God for our neighbor, to endure reproach patiently and to forgive the sins of those who have sinned against us. 6. Blessed with purity of heart. The pure in heart are those who are straightforward and simple-hearted Christians and who carefully preserve within themselves the love of God and neighbor. This includes physical and spiritual virginity, observed according to the power given by God, to better please God. Here there is no place for that virginity, which, although it does not have bodily confusion, but within is fornication by will. A peacemaker is one who leads his brethren, irritated by disagreement and enmity among themselves, to peace, harmony and love. At the same time, it must be said that the one who advises peace that is contrary to God’s law, such a peacemaker is cursed, and not blessed. 8. Blessedly expel the truth for the sake of - and 9. Blessed are you when people revile you and destroy you, and say all sorts of evil things about you lying to Me for my sake. The exiled and reviled are those who, for the sake of truth, that is, for the word of the Gospel of Christ, suffer from people all kinds of evil, exile, reproach, bonds, prisons, torments, and even death itself. Such suffering for the sake of truth is a great testimony of love for God, for how can one who is even ready to suffer for His truth not love God? About those virtues for which blessedness is promised, one must think in this way: firstly, good deeds are so closely related to each other that one cannot exist without the other, and whoever wants to have one virtue will have all the others, and whoever becomes deficient in one will lose all the others; then we must also believe that those who do good deeds will not only receive eternal bliss in heaven, but will also have prosperity here, having received temporary blessings in this life by God’s favor. You might be interested in: