On the relationship of Christians to the sacred church and worship

Contents Conversation No. 1. About alms at the entrance to the church Conversation No. 2. About offerings to the church Conversation No. 3. About the importance and high significance of donations made in the church Conversation No. 4. About the importance of sacrifices and collections for the improvement of the churches of God Appendix to conversation No. 4. A lesson for collectors for churches Conversation No. 5. In which the inconsistency of objections denying the benefits of donations to churches is shown Appendix to Conversation No. 5. The zeal of ancient Christians for maintaining the splendor of holy churches and protecting church property Conversation No. 6. About the kind of spiritual disposition with which one should go to the church and with what reverence one should remain in it Conversation No. 7. About how one should use the holy church Conversation No. 8. About the necessity and benefit of frequent attendance of divine services by Christians Appendix to Conversation No. 8. Examples of diligent visits to the churches of God Conversation No. 9. About standing reverently in the church of God Conversation No. 10. About the meaning of the church of God for Christians Conversation No. 11. In which instructions are given to a Christian going to the church Appendix to conversation No. 11. What did the ancient Christian Church demand from its children when visiting St. churches of God? Conversation No. 12. Against untimely going to church Conversation No. 13. About untimely removal from the church Appendix to Conversation No. 13. On measures to preserve decorum and silence during church services Conversation No. 14. On the obligation of parents to bring children to the church of God Conversation No. 15. On observing church rituals Conversation No. 16. On observing church commandments Conversation No. 1. About alms at the entrance to the church I. As in the vestibules of houses of worship, says St. Chrysostom, they usually build lavers so that those who go to pray to God first wash their hands and then stretch them out to pray, and the poor fathers put them in front of the doors like fountains and lavers, so that we, as we wash our hands with water, thus cleansing our souls with love for mankind, then proceed to prayer. II. Truly, water does not by its nature wash away the impurity of the body, just as alms by its power destroys the impurity of the soul. Therefore, just as you do not dare to enter prayer with unwashed hands, although this is a small flaw, so do not enter prayer without alms. Moreover, often having clean hands, we do not stretch them out to pray without washing them first with water, such is our habit! We will do the same with alms. Even though we have not recognized any great sin, we will nevertheless cleanse our conscience with alms. You acquired a lot of bad things for yourself at the market, the enemy irritated you; the judge forced you to do something inappropriate, you uttered a few obscene words, a friend persuaded you to do something sinful, and you transgressed in many other things, which is easy for a person to transgress when he goes to the marketplace, sits in courts, participates in city affairs, in all this you come to ask God for forgiveness and justification. Put silver into the hands of the poor and wash away these impurities, so that you can boldly offer prayer to Him who can forgive your sins. If you make it a habit to never enter this sacred vestibule without alms, then, willingly or unwillingly, you will never miss this good deed; this is a habit, and so, just as you do not allow yourself to pray with unwashed hands, because once and for all you have made it a habit for yourself, so in relation to alms, if you make it a law for yourself, then, willingly or unwillingly, you will do it daily, prompted by habit. Prayer is fire, especially when it is sent by a sober and awake soul; but this fire also needs oil in order to reach the very vaults of heaven; and the oil for this fire is nothing more than alms. Add this oil abundantly, so that, encouraged by a good deed, you can pray with greater boldness and greater zeal. Just as those who do not know anything good about themselves cannot pray with boldness, so those who have done something good and after such a righteous deed begin to pray, encouraged by the memory of the good they have done, offer prayer with great zeal. Therefore, in order for our prayer to become stronger and if our soul during prayer is encouraged by the memory of good deeds, let us come to prayer with alms and carefully remember everything that was said; and above all else, keep in mind my comparison, by which I said that the poor, standing at the doors of houses of prayer, perform the same service in relation to the soul, which the laver does in relation to the body, and the saying of Scripture: “No one should appear before the Lord with empty hands” (Deut. 16:16). If this was commanded to the Jews, how much more so to us? This is why the poor stand at the church doors, so that no one enters empty-handed, but enters with alms. You enter in order to receive mercy for yourself, show yourself mercy in advance; whoever comes after must give more; when we have already made the beginning, then the next one must put more. Make God a debtor, and then ask Him; lend it to Him, and then demand it in order to receive it with a profit. God wants it and does not reject it. If you ask Him for alms, then He will favor you; if you ask Him for alms, then you give Him a loan and you will receive a profit. So I inspire you, it is not by lifting up your hands that you can be heard; stretch out your hands not to heaven, but to the hands of the poor. If you stretch out your hands to the hands of the poor, you will reach the very heights of heaven; for there sits He who accepts alms; and if you begin to raise your hands without fruit, you will not receive any benefit. Tell me: if a king in purple came to you and asked you, would you not willingly give him all your property? Now, through the lips of the poor, the King is not asking you from earth, but from heaven, and you stand, not paying attention to Him, and put off alms... What a punishment you deserve for this! Truly, one can be heard not by lifting up one’s hands or by saying a lot, but by deeds; for listen to what the prophet says: “When you stretch out your hands, I will close My eyes from you; and when you multiply your prayers, I do not hear: your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15). He who needs mercy should remain silent and not raise his hand to heaven; and he still dares to talk a lot! Meanwhile, what the prophet says: “Learn to do good, seek righteousness, save the oppressed, defend the orphan, intercede for the widow” (Is. 1:17). III. Thus, we can be heard, even if we did not raise our hands, even if we did not say anything and did not ask for anything. (From the “Works” of St. John Chrysostom). Conversation No. 2. About offerings to the church I. Due to the duty of pastors to maintain church decorum, I have the need to turn to you, my beloved children in the Lord, with a word of pastoral advice and admonition. II. You love the Holy Orthodox Church, you visit the churches of God at appropriate times, and with zeal you build and decorate them; Seeing this, we rejoice over you and thank the Lord for you, who with His grace kindles reverence and love for Him in your hearts. But even with sincere love for the Lord, St. His Church and the churches of God, when there is no due attention and caution on our part to all our behavior, we can easily allow actions that do not correspond to this very love of ours and reverence for God. Of course, out of ignorance and misunderstanding, you often allow yourself to bring to St. churches are gifts that do not correspond either to your zeal or to the holiness of the church and worship. These are the poor quality candles we often see in churches, which you place in front of the holy icons, and the red wine for the saint. sacraments of communion. a) According to church regulations, candles brought to churches must be made of pure beeswax and emit the fragrance of honey and honeycomb, with the sweetness and aroma of which the words of the law of God are compared in the Holy Scriptures (Ps. 19:11). Since ancient times, our pious ancestors sacredly preserved this sacred custom, but now the spirit of indiscriminate industry and greed has penetrated into this holy business of making wax candles for the churches of God. In industrial establishments, sometimes even by non-Christian hands, candles are made with the admixture of various third-party substances, which rob them of their dignity and suitability for their sacred purpose. Such candles leave grease and a bad smell on your hands; when burned, they float, smoke and smoke the candles. icons, iconostases and sacred utensils, so that from their soot the recently renovated churches darken and lose their splendid appearance, which is why your pious sacrifices for their renovation and decoration go in vain. You buy such candles in the markets and take them to churches, not suspecting that you are making an unclean sacrifice and therefore, without a doubt, not pleasing to the Lord. This is not fitting, beloved. b) Also, you often bring red wine for the liturgy for the repose of the dead (and sometimes the church wardens themselves buy it for the service) which is not at all like the juice of the grapevine, which is what it should be, but represents some kind of pungent, unscented, oxidized mixture, reminiscent of that otset, or vinegar, mixed with bile, which the soldiers gave the Lord to drink during His crucifixion ( Matthew 27:34–38). And such a substance is offered for the great sacrament! Isn't this a sin? You offer a sacrifice to the Lord out of zeal, why do you harm your pious work by performing it unworthy? Candles on the market are cheaper, but good oil and wine are more expensive? But why do you choose for the Lord what is worse and cheaper, and not what is better and more valuable? He gives you the gifts of His mercy for the needs of your life, and bread, and fruits, and wine, and oil, and everything else - without choosing the worst for you from the good, and sometimes you go through extra space to buy a candle not in the church, where there are always candles, but in the market, where it is cheaper; But don’t worry about buying oil and wine where you can find the best. It is better to place a smaller, but clean candle in front of the icons; better bring candles to the church and, from your diligence, olive oil and wine less often, but of proper quality. The Lord needs not a candle, not oil and wine, but a good disposition of your heart. Why do you allow indirectness and unrighteousness in your hearts, which make your sacrifices unworthy of the holy name of God? In the Old Testament, the Lord, through the mouth of the prophet Malachi, reproached the priests for bringing unworthy sacrifices to the holy altar: “You bring unclean bread to My altar, and say: “How do we dishonor You?” - By saying: “The Lord’s table is not worthy of respect.” And when you sacrifice a blind thing, is it not bad? or when you bring the lame and the sick, is this not bad? Offer this to your prince; Will he be pleased with you and will he accept you favorably? says the Lord of hosts. So pray to God to have mercy on us; and when such things come from your hands, can He graciously receive you? says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 1:7-9). Now the New Testament sacrifices are bloodless sacrifices: bread, wine, oil, incense, a candle, etc., but their meaning and meaning are the same, and the concern for their dignity from us, the children of the New Testament, awarded the highest grace of God, should be even greater than from the children of the Old Testament Church. Do not force your priests to accept from you sacrifices unworthy of the Lord and do not expose them and yourself to condemnation. Let us all “pray to God; so that He may have mercy on us, and may no unworthy sacrifices come from our hands.” III. So, I ask and pray you, beloved, pay due attention to the gifts you bring to God. And a candle that is unscented and smoky, and oil for lamps that is unclean, and wine that has turned sour - this is the same as a blind and lame sacrificial animal. Buy candles in the churches themselves and from church elders, who, for their part, will not take sin on their souls by keeping candles in the church box that are unworthy of the church of God; As for red wine and oil, buy it from God-fearing merchants who understand what these things are intended for. Now, by the grace of God, our fatherland has its own vineyards that produce good red wine. True, far from cities, in villages, it is not easy to acquire good wine, but for such an important matter as the preparation of the substance for the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, one can use special care, extra expense, and labor. Everything good and kind is difficult to do, it’s only easy to sin. I pray to the Lord, may He grant us all the spirit of knowledge, piety and fear of God, may our faith in Him be right and living, may our love for Him be sincere and complete, may our perfect reverence be, may our sacrifices be pure and pleasing to Him. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Ambrose, Archbishop of Kharkov). Conversation No. 3. About the importance and high significance of donations made in the church I. Orthodox Christians! It is gratifying to see that you have gathered in the holy Church for prayer, and even more pleasant is that you support your prayer with donations, which, without a doubt, serve as the best expression of your love for God; and your zeal for your church. So, some of you light candles before St. icons, others bring incense and oil, and others donate money to the house of God. This is truly Christian. Every sacrifice brought to the church from pure labor and a pure heart is pleasing to God. But the same sacrifice will take on even greater significance if you find out who ordered the offerings to the church; you will be more willing to donate if you know what purpose everything that you bring as a gift to God receives, and what cause it is used for. Let’s talk about this, brethren, for our common edification. II. a) People began to make donations to the church of God in very ancient times and not out of their own free will, but according to the will of God. Even in the Old Testament, when the first church to the true God was being built at Mount Sinai, even then, I say, God commanded through St. Moses that the Israelites, each according to their own zeal, donate the firstfruits of their property to this holy cause (Exodus 35:21–27; 36:5–7). Then, during the construction of the temple of Solomon, and especially the second temple of Jerusalem, in which the Savior of the world appeared, the people took a very active part and helped - some with property, and some with their labors (2 Ezra 5:53, 68). In addition, from the Holy Gospel we know that in this very church at the door there was a box in which benefactors put their gifts for the needs of the church and its servants, and that the Savior, pointing to the woman who put in two mites, said that she gave more than all the rich people because she put in not out of excess, but out of all her zeal, and, moreover, the last money (Luke 21: 2-4). Finally, in the society of the closest disciples of Jesus Christ - in the society that served as the foundation of the Church of Christ, there was a box for collecting donations from admirers of the divine Teacher, and these donations were used both for the needs of the Savior and His disciples, and for giving alms to the poor (John 12:6, 13:29). When, with the increase in the number of believers in Christ, many people in need appeared among them, the leading Christians tried to support each other. Their zeal for the poor was so great that many of them sold their property and gave the proceeds to the disposal of St. apostles, while others made collections and sent them through proxies to those in need but living in remote places. But since it was often difficult to make collections, the holy Apostle Paul gave the Corinthian Christians the following commandment: to help poor Christians, let each of you set aside for yourself on Sunday and save as much as your fortune allows (1 Cor. 16:1-2). This is how a pious custom was established, according to which Christians, coming to the holy church for prayer on Sundays and holidays, brought their donations there, and authorized persons, together with the clergy, used these offerings for church needs. b) Let us see, brothers, what the donations that you bring to the church are now used for, and what purpose is given to them. aa) Following the example of the ancient Christians, everything brought to the church is used for deeds pleasing to God; but first and most of all, these donations are used for the construction and maintenance of the churches themselves. Please note how much we have on St. There are churches in Rus', and most of them are built with labor money. With this money they are supported, with the same money everything necessary for worship is purchased, such as sacred vessels, vestments, books, prosphora, wine, candles and much more. In a word, the existence and splendor of churches depends on the zeal of believers and is supported by the mites that you bring and sacrifice during worship. And it’s wonderful that the more people do good to the church, the better they live there. This means that God apparently blesses the works and sacrifices of benefactors. bb) But no matter how rich our churches are and no matter how splendidly they are decorated, still without clergy they will not have the proper meaning. If our churches do not have spiritual shepherds, then there will not be in them that sacred service that so attracts the soul to God, with which we glorify our Creator. And you know, brothers, that not every person can be a minister of the altar of the Lord, not everyone has the right to perform divine services. To receive this high right, you must be properly prepared for this, you must be a teacher, according to the word of the holy Apostle (1 Tim. 3:2). Who will train us shepherds and at what cost? Who will take care that our churches are not left without clergy? No one, like the Church itself, that is, the community of believers, and at its own expense. And this is absolutely fair. If Christians consider the construction of churches and their splendor to be their duty and a work pleasing to God, if for this they do not spare their labors and their fortune, then the preparation of people capable of pastoral service should also be the responsibility of believers. A church without a priest is like a body without a soul. That is why the spiritual government found it fair to allocate a portion of church income to those educational institutions in which persons who wish to devote themselves to the service of the Church are educated. And look what invaluable work such use of church mites brings! In these schools, the great saints and teachers of the Russian people were educated, for example, Demetrius of Rostov, Tikhon of Zadonsk and others, from these institutions all the metropolitans, archbishops, bishops and shepherds of the Russian Church came out and are coming out, therefore, in these hotbeds of enlightenment, those who mourn for our people before the kings of the earth and those who pray before the King of Heaven received preparation for life. From here it goes without saying that the authorities should not regret, but rejoice and thank us for giving our donations such a truly useful purpose. cc) But, besides this, offerings made to the Church are also used for the needs of those of our brothers who deserve our special care, our love and our help. Perhaps you have heard that in our fatherland, in remote Siberia, there live many people who do not believe in the true God and are not enlightened by the light of the Gospel of Christ. Perhaps you know that in our Caucasus there are many people whose ancestors were Orthodox Christians, but were converted to Mohammedanism by the violence of the Turks, and that they want to return to the true faith. And besides these pitiful compatriots of ours, there are many people of other faiths and seekers of Orthodoxy, for whom churches and schools are needed. d) You also know that in Rus' we have many warriors who, fighting for the holy faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland, became crippled and are now unable to earn their daily food; that there are entire families who were left without a piece of bread and without shelter because their fathers laid down their heads in battles for Christianity. Think about how not to lend a helping hand to such sufferers? How can we not give them some consolation? dd) And who among us has not heard about the Holy Sepulcher, in which he was once buried and from which Christ our Savior rose? Who would not want to venerate this great shrine? Who would not want to light a candle or lamp in front of him? Our government knows the great zeal of the Russian people for their fellow believers in need and for every holy thing; it also knows that many of us do not know where to go with our donations, and therefore it established deliberate circles in churches with the appropriate inscriptions, ordered them to be carried around at the end of the service, and then everything donated was sent to its destination. III. So, you see, brethren, that making donations to the church is a holy and godly deed, that this was established by God Himself in the Old Testament, confirmed by the example of our Savior and spread by His apostles among believers; you now know that your alms are used for holy and useful deeds. For this reason alone, we should not embarrass ourselves with the thought that our pennies of labor may go somewhere in vain, without benefit. On the contrary, you must be completely confident that everything that you donate to the church will be used either for the splendor of our own church, or for the construction of churches for our poor fellow believers, or for the education of archpastors and pastors of our Orthodox Church, or for the conversion to the Christian faith of those of our compatriots who remain ignorant of the true God, or for the benefit of wounded and sick soldiers, or for the Holy Sepulcher and that church, in where he is located, or to any other charitable institutions. Let us not forget that our Sundays and holidays will only be holy for us and favorable to God when they are sanctified by our prayer and good deeds from our honest labors. Do not forget about charity and fellowship, teaches the holy Apostle Paul: for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Heb. 13:16). Amen. (Compiled from the book “Pastoral Edification”, vol. 1, ed. 1891). Conversation No. 4. On the importance of sacrifices and collections for the improvement of the churches of God I. Among the attacks that the enemies of the Church and Orthodoxy make against the Church of Christ, a prominent place is occupied by the attack on those sacrifices and collections that are made for the improvement and decoration of the churches of God. Currently, voices condemning such sacrifices and fees are heard more and more. Some, such as the Stundists who fell away from Orthodoxy, say that such sacrifices and collections have nothing Christian in them: the Lord Jesus Christ did not approve of the actions of those trading and selling in the church and expelled them from the church - which means that the sale of candles in the church and various collections are not pleasing to Him, and therefore there should not be them. Others find it completely useless to spend money on the churches of God and their decoration, preferring to use it for charity to the poor and others in misfortune. II. All these judgments, brethren, do not come from the pure source of zeal for the glory of God and the good of our unfortunate neighbors, but from other, hostile and selfish goals. From the Gospel we know that when Judas Iscariot condemned his wife for wasting precious ointment to anoint Jesus Christ, and said out loud to everyone: “Why not sell this ointment for three hundred denarii and give it to the poor?” (John 12:5) – Jesus Christ directly praised the woman’s sacrifice of love and zeal for Him, saying: “You always have the poor with you, but Me not always” (John 12:8). Having told about this, the evangelist adds that Judas said these words not because he cared about the poor, but because he was infected with the love of money. The opinions of people who condemn collections and sacrifices for the churches of God and their beautification have a similar meaning. a) Christian brothers! Do not be embarrassed by such opinions and judgments. Sacrifices and fees for the beautification and splendor of the churches of God are important, and the basis for them is in the law of God. Thus, the Gospel says that upon leaving the Jerusalem temple there was a treasury into which voluntary offerings were deposited (Mark 12:41). The Lord Jesus Christ not only did not blame those who sacrificed for the needs of the church, but even praised them in the person of one poor widow who gave two mites. These few words contain a profound thought... All true worship must end in sacrifice. Sacrifice is a part of every religion and a necessary need for it. Christianity affirms this need for sacrifice, which never disappears from human consciousness, with the greatest force. What is the cross if not the greatest of sacrifices? What do we see in him if not the greatest gift brought by Christ the Savior for the salvation of people? We owe everything entirely to God and therefore we must thank Him and sacrifice everything to Him. This truth has always been preached by St. apostles. The Holy Apostle Paul says that we do not belong to ourselves, but to Him who suffered for us, and therefore we are obliged to present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1). If this is said about us as living and intelligent beings, then all the more should it be said about the need on our part for our material sacrifices to God. b) Therefore, brothers, do not listen and do not believe if some madman says that it is useless to donate to God from your property for the improvement and decoration of the churches of God. Prejudice against donations for the beauty of the church of God is one of the cunning seductions of the enemy of the human race - the devil, who is ready to confuse even the most well-intentioned and pious person. To convince me of this, I ask for your attention. The Monk Erasmus, upon entering the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, used all his rich property to decorate the great Pechersk Church in the name of the Mother of God. With his donations, many icons were decorated with silver and gold. The monk, looking at the splendor of the house of God, learned to decorate his soul, as the Church of the living God, with Christian virtues and reverence for the Lord, whose gracious presence is especially felt for everyone in the majestic church, like heaven. But soon this pious mood of the monk was confused by the enemy’s temptation. Erasmus suddenly had the thought that he had spent his wealth in vain and uselessly on decorating the church, and that it would have been much better to give it to support the poor and wretched. As a result of this, dissatisfaction with himself and despondency were revived in his soul, which soon turned, due to hostility to action, into despair. Erasmus, to the surprise of the brethren, completely changed, fell into laziness and neglect of his monastic duties and, finally, began to commit disorderly acts. But the Lord did not leave His servant in the destructive snares of the enemy: a sudden illness befell the fallen monk, and all the brethren already despaired of his life. Suddenly, in the midst of mortal anguish, Erasmus stood up as if completely healthy, and told the brethren gathered around him that he had seen Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk praying for him - then the Most Holy Theotokos herself appeared to him and said: “Because you have adorned My church and magnified it with icons, I will adorn you and magnify you with glory in the kingdom of My Son. Rising, repent and take on the great angelic image, and on the third day you will be caught up clean from among the living.” The monk repented before all his brethren and, having been tonsured into the schema, on the third day he died the death of a righteous man. After this, it became clear to everyone that the Lord favorably accepts sacrifices and rewards those who are zealous for the splendor of God’s churches with the highest heavenly reward. (See “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon”; see “Sermons”, appendix to the “Manual for Rural Pastors”, 1888, January). III. So, Christian brothers, never weaken in your zeal to make an offering for the improvement and decoration of the churches of God. Try to do them in every possible way and way: buy candles in the church, place them in front of the images, give alms into the church mug: all this goes to the church of God! If you have the opportunity to make big sacrifices, do it! For all this, never lose mercy and reward from the Lord God, and St. The Church in her prayers. Time will pass, years will fly by in the stream of centuries and millennia, even our memory will disappear from the face of the earth, our names will be forgotten, but St. The Church, this loving mother of ours, will never forget us in her prayers. Every time he performs his prayers, he will always ask the Lord God that He, the Merciful, would remember in His kingdom all the benefactors and benefactors who love the splendor of His house. Amen. Appendix to conversation No. 4. A lesson for church collectors “Voronezh Diocesan Gazette” reports the following striking case of God’s punishment for the sacrilegious concealment of money collected for the church of God. Grayvoron, a peasant from one of the villages neighboring the Borisov Monastery, received permission two years ago to walk with a book, that is, to collect for the Church for a book; The sale of icons and crosses was added to that business. At the end of last summer, the peasant appeared before the spiritual authorities and announced that, with God’s help, he had collected 300 rubles and set out on a journey to hand them over as belongings, when he was suddenly caught in the forest by “dashing people” who beat him and robbed him completely; “There’s no trace of them, and now how can I answer?” – the peasant added with great sadness. We talked about it, but, of course, we submitted with humility, remembering first of all that everything was God’s will. A lot of time has passed; The peasant’s family had previously been in perfect health, did not live richly, but did not suffer a lack of anything, and although the cow died in the fall, and the crippled horse had to be killed, there was still no need to complain until the wife of the former church collector suddenly fell ill. It was around Michaelmas; the wife, getting ready to wash the hut for her husband’s name day, somehow knocked a pot of boiling water over herself, got scalded and fell ill; his father sent his son Prokofy for the doctor; The guy traveled all night and all day, returned on the second day frostbitten and sick; he became so weak and exhausted that he could no longer get up for his mother’s funeral. A peasant walked with his head down after the funeral of Malanya with his two daughters; they began to leave the churchyard - out of nowhere, a horse with an empty sleigh ran loose, and straight onto the youngest, seventeen-year-old daughter, Ksenia, knocked her over, crushing her under the sleigh; Her father brought her home, barely alive. The old man somehow stretched out for two days near the sick: two young lives were fading away before his eyes. On the third day, while the eldest daughter was running around the neighbors asking for help “to put together two coffins and dig two graves,” the father went to the authorities, show Divine mercy, take money from me, the accursed one; I am a sinful man, I have ruined so many souls and... I buried the money near the churchyard, collected seven hundred rubles - and buried it all. At the place indicated by the peasant, 736 rubles were indeed buried. 48 kopecks, one old gold coin and a book. (“The Helmsman”, 1893, No. 13). Conversation No. 5. In which the inconsistency of objections denying the benefits of donations to churches is shown I. One day, tax collectors for the church approached the house where Jesus Christ was, and, meeting the Apostle Peter, asked him: “Will your teacher give you didrachms?” (Matthew 17:24) (i.e., the two drachmas required by the law) Peter confidently said, “He will,” and immediately went into the house to tell the Lord about it. But the Lord warned Peter with the question: “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take duties or taxes? From your own sons, or from strangers? Peter tells him: “From strangers” (Matthew 17:25,26). “So, the sons are free,” said the Lord, “but so that we do not tempt them, go to the sea, throw a hook and take the first fish that comes along. Opening her mouth, you will find the statir and give it to them for Me and for yourself.” The Apostle Peter fulfilled the word of the Lord. (Matthew 17:26,27). II. Following the example of the Lord, we too must devote part of our property to the needs and needs of the saint. churches. Indeed, my brothers, to whom first should we bring a share of our estates, if not the Lord God? For what, first of all, should we use the earthly goods that we possess, if not for the glory of His holy name? The Lord God - He created all these blessings and shares them with us: He also gave us such a blessing that is more valuable than all the blessings of the earth - I mean life; He gave us another benefit that is dearer than life itself for sinful people: their salvation in Jesus Christ. If our heart is capable of understanding and appreciating good deeds and love, if feelings of gratitude and mutual love are available and obligatory for us, then this very heart, these very feelings will tell us that the first sacrifices of everything that we have from God, we must bring to Him and that the main task of all our activity should be the fulfillment of the commandment of the Apostle: do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). And what do those who make donations for the construction and decoration of churches do? The church is the house of God, the permanent dwelling of the Almighty among people; the church is a place where hundreds, thousands of believers flock to solemnly glorify His holy name with one heart and lips: can there remain even the slightest doubt that every mite brought to the church is offered directly as a sacrifice to God and for His glory? All objections to donations to the church have no reasonable basis. a) “God,” they say, “does not need our churches at all and all these treasures that are spent on their construction and decoration!” True, God does not need our churches for Himself: the whole universe serves as a church for Him: His throne, and the earth His footstool (Is. 66:1). But God needs our earthly churches, so to speak, for us: limitless in His essence, condescending, however, out of His infinite love for our limitations, He Himself commanded that certain places be chosen on earth, buildings erected, where believers would flock for corporate prayers and public worship, where the visible sacraments of the Church could be performed for believers, imparting invisible grace to them, and where He Himself promised to dwell for believers in a special, mysterious way, to listen to their prayers and pour out His mercies on them all day long (2 Chronicles 7:16; 1 Kings 9:3). After this, we repeat, there can be no doubt that each of St. churches are in the proper sense the house of the Lord God (Luke 19:46) and that every sacrifice to the churches is a sacrifice directly to Him. Of course, God does not need either the splendor of churches or their rich decorations; but they are natural, they are necessary on our part. If we are convinced that St. the church is the dwelling of our Lord, in which He dwells both invisibly and even visible in the sacrament of His Most Pure Body and Blood, then, out of a feeling of reverence for the Almighty, out of a feeling of gratitude and love for Him, out of a feeling of reverence for the very place where the holiest sacraments of our faith are performed for us, can we see this St. place in poverty and, as it were, in neglect, can we spare any treasures, if we possess them, and not make all kinds of sacrifices to the best of our ability, just to make the church a worthy dwelling for the Almighty and so that this house of God, both in splendor and decoration, far surpasses all human dwellings? And the Lord God, without a doubt, is pleased with all such offerings of ours in favor of St. churches not in themselves, but as expressions and evidence of our spiritual feelings: reverence, love and gratitude to Him - in these material sacrifices He sees our spiritual sacrifice - our heart, living by faith in Him and flaming with love for Him. b) “But isn’t it better,” they say, “to use all these treasures, spent on the splendor of churches, to do good deeds to neighbors, who often need the most necessary things?” How! But isn’t the construction of decent churches dedicated to God also a benefit to others? Isn't this one of their greatest blessings? We consider it a good deed for our neighbors if someone, driven by Christian charity, organizes free shelters and hospices for travelers, or establishes schools to spread education among the people, or opens medical clinics for the poor, sick and suffering. But St. the church is precisely that shelter, that hostel, where wanderers of the earth flock to rest from their labors on the way to the mountainous fatherland, to refresh themselves here and stock up on new grace-filled forces for the further journey and for the fight against the enemies of their salvation. St. the church is a school for Christians, and even the best of the schools, in which they are taught the pure teaching of Christ the Savior Himself and His prophets and apostles, and which has done and is doing more for the moral education of entire nations and the spiritual enlightenment of the masses than all human schools together can do. The Holy Church is such a medical clinic where hundreds, thousands of Christians find healing for themselves from all their spiritual illnesses - and not just once, not ten times, but throughout their entire lives. We consider it a matter of mercy towards our neighbors to clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, and feed the hungry. In St. in churches, all our neighbors are clothed in Christ, or in the priceless robe of Christ’s merits through the sacrament of baptism, everyone is drunk with the water of life - the grace of the Holy Spirit through the sacrament of anointing; everyone is fed with the bread of animals - the Most Pure Flesh and Blood of the Savior through the sacrament of the Eucharist. In a word, one must not at all understand the significance of the church for Christians, so as not to see the greatest benefit to one’s neighbors in the creation and decoration of churches and in all donations to churches. c) To you, however, the rich and magnificent decorations of the churches still seem unnecessary, and you think that it would be much more useful to divide the treasures spent on this among the poor and unfortunate. But if the church is, undoubtedly, the dwelling of the Almighty Himself, then no matter how rich and magnificent its decorations are, can they ever be called superfluous, that is, exceeding the measure of decency befitting the house of God? And why hamper the zeal of church builders or donors? Why limit their desire to offer at the altar of the Lord as much as their means allow? It is impossible to put a measure of a Christian’s love and gratitude to God; one should not put a measure on the manifestations of these saints. feelings in offerings to the churches of God. On the other hand, why do you think that people who do not spare their treasures for the churches of God, at the same time do not use them to help their neighbors? No, he who truly loves God inseparably loves his neighbors and cannot remain deaf and indifferent to their cries and needs: “Whoever says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, is a liar: for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20). III. Brothers! Not only for God and not for your neighbors, but also for yourself, for the benefit of your own soul, you make all the donations that you make for St. churches, for their creation and decoration. Let's say more: all these donations go even primarily for the benefit of your soul - both because they are made for God, that is, as deeds of piety, and because they are made for neighbors, as deeds of charity, and because, finally, because, according to the establishment of St. Church, for the creators and benefactors of St. churches, for those who love the splendor of the house of the Lord, all the believers who flock to them always pray in these churches. And the constant prayers of an entire community of believers, and moreover, combined with the offering of a bloodless sacrifice in churches, can have special power before the Lord God. (Extracted in abbreviation from “Word and Speech”, Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow). Appendix to conversation No. 5. The zeal of ancient Christians for maintaining the splendor of holy churches and protecting church property While splendidly decorating the holy churches during their construction, the ancient Christians at the same time took diligent care to maintain this splendor for the following time. For this purpose, they either made rich contributions from movable property, or provided immovable property, such as lands, estates, for the permanent possession of the churches. The historian Sozomen testifies that Emperor Constantine the Great, having separated a certain part from the taxable land of each city, ordered the collection from it to be given to local churches and legitimized that this gift would be valid at all times 1; In addition, he gave the churches the estates of the martyrs, who did not leave close relatives, allowed the churches to accept in wills all the estates of other persons 2 who died without leaving legal heirs 3 , and he also gave a salary to some churches 4 . Emperor Theodosius the Younger ordered the estates of clergy who died without heirs or wills to be given to the benefit of churches 5 . Emperor Justinian did not allow anyone to build churches except by assigning them permanent maintenance 6 . In the Justinian Code 7 and in one rule 8 of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, lands are mentioned as the permanent property of famous churches. Sometimes they were converted in favor of St. temples are immovable estates that belonged to pagan temples. Emperor Honorius mentions many of his decrees, through which he appropriated such income to the churches, wanting them to forever remain the inviolable heritage of the churches 9. Ancient Christians, being convinced that “everything dedicated to God should not be alienated” 10, took strict measures to ensure that everything belonging to holy churches was protected with complete inviolability, protected from theft or conversion to private, worldly use. “Let no one appropriate a gold or consecrated silver vessel, or a veil,” says the seventy-third apostolic canon, “for his own use; for it is lawless to eat.” This rule was subsequently confirmed by the definitions of councils and decrees of emperors, and was strictly observed in the ancient Church. “There is a good deed,” says the 24th canon of the Council of Antioch, “so that church acquisitions are preserved for the church, with all diligence, and with a good conscience and with faith, according to the all-seeing and judgmental God.” The forty-second canon of the Council of Carthage states: “It is determined that presbyters, without the permission of their bishops, should not sell things to the church to which they are dedicated. Likewise, bishops are not allowed to sell church lands without the knowledge of the council or their presbyters. For this reason, other than need, the bishop is not allowed to waste things that are in the church inventory.” The Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council decreed: “If anyone is a bishop or abbot, any of the lands belonging to a bishopric or monastery have been sold into the hands of the authorities, or given to another person: let this removal not be permanent, according to the canon (38) of the saints, the Apostle, who says: let the bishop have care for all church things, and let them dispose of them, as I watch over God, but it is not permissible to appropriate one of them, or to give to his relatives what belongs to God, but if they do not have, let him give it to them as if they do not have, but under this pretext, do not sell what belongs to the church.” According to the fifteenth rule of the Ancyra Council, a church sold by the presbyters, during the non-existence of the bishop, its property had to be reclaimed from those who sold it. “From what belongs to the church,” says this rule, “if the presbyters have sold it so that they no longer have a bishop, let the church reclaim its property.” Emperor Justinian, by one decree, decreed that the most holy great church of St. Sophia (in Constantinople) and every member of it had all the real estate belonging to this church in firm and unshakable possession, and that if anyone dares to violate any of this decree, he, in addition to being subjected to imperial disfavor, will be in danger of paying a penalty of thirty liters in gold coins, which, according to the proposal of the Most Holy Great Church, must be demanded from him without relaxations through the management of palace affairs" 11. Another law of the same emperor Justinian prohibited even the change of real estate belonging to churches, except for those cases when the use of this property turned out to be necessary for public benefit, or when the mutual benefit of the church places itself required it 12. Only in some extreme cases of Christian love was it allowed in the ancient church to convert what belonged to St. churches, property or things sacred for use and not sacred. So, if, for example, it was necessary to ransom captives or provide assistance to the poor during a famine, and there was nowhere to get money for such a charitable deed, then the heads of the churches (bishops) decided to sell the most sacred vessels and church utensils, for the benefit of the living churches of God, more precious than churches made by hands. About Saint Ambrose of Milan, Blessed Augustine and Acacius, Bishop of Amidia, it is known that they used church vessels to ransom captive Christians 13. These cases were exceptions in the imperial laws against sacrilege. Thus, the laws of Emperor Justinian prohibit the sale or pawning of sacred vessels and church utensils, except in cases requiring the ransom of prisoners and assistance to the poor during famine 14. Emperor Justinian also allowed the sale of church vessels to pay church debts, but only in such a case if there was a surplus in these vessels 15. A similar exception was also the poverty of the clergy. If the annual church income was not enough to support the clergy, and no other means were found to supply the things necessary for him, then some rules of the councils (for example, the fourth rule of the Council of Carthage V allowed the bishop to sell certain church property in order to thereby provide the clergy with the necessary allowance for the needs of life. For appropriation or conversion to worldly use of anything belonging to St. the ancient Church threatened the churches of property with excommunication from communion with believers; the bishop was ordered to be expelled from the bishopric for the sale of church lands, and the abbot was expelled from the monastery. Seventy-third rule of St. The Apostles, having determined that “it is unlawful to convert a gold vessel, or a consecrated silver vessel, or a veil, into one’s own use” - he continues: “If anyone is found guilty of this, let him be punished by excommunication.” The seventy-second apostolic canon reads: “If anyone, a clergyman or a layman, steals wax or oil from the holy church, let him be excommunicated from church communion, and let him add five times to what he took.” The twelfth rule of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, not allowing under any pretext to sell to local civil commanders any of the land or field lands belonging to a bishopric or monastery, determines: “If the pretext is that the land causes a loss and does not provide any benefit, then in this case the fields should not be given to local commanders, but to clergy or farmers. If they use a crafty phrase, and the ruler buys the land from a clergyman or farmer: then in this case, the sale will be invalid, and what was sold will be returned to the bishopric or monastery; and a bishop or abbot who does this will be expelled: the bishop from the bishopric, and the abbot from the monastery, as they evilly waste what they have not collected.” The fathers of the Council of Constantinople, called the double council, defining the punishment for the conversion of sacred things to worldly use and for the theft of church property, decreed: “Those who steal the holy cup, or the paten, or the spoon, or the venerable vestment of the meal, or the spoken air, or any of the sacred and holy vessels or clothes located in the altar for their own gain, or They will turn to non-sacred use and will be completely cast out from their rank. For one of these is desecration of a shrine, the other is sacrilege. And those who take for themselves or for others for non-sacred use vessels or clothes used outside the altar are excommunicated by the rule and we excommunicate them in bulk: but those who steal them we subject to the condemnation of the blasphemers” 16 . According to the rule of St. Gregory of Nyssa, “a blasphemer, that is, whoever steals something sacred from the church from the holy altar, shall not receive communion for fifteen years” 17. Emperor Justinian, having approved with his one “chrisobul” and placed in greater security every document belonging to the most holy churches of God on their real estate, no matter what they consisted of, wherever they were, added: “If anyone, for the love of money, or for any other reason, wants to disdain the definition of the real chrisobul of my imperial majesty, he, firstly, will not see the light The Most Holy Trinity, when it appears before the terrible judgment seat, will then fall away from some of the Christians, like Judas from the twelve, and, moreover, will incur the curse from time to time of the deceased first-born holy righteous and God-bearing fathers" 18. In ancient times, civil laws determined that Christian church thieves should be subjected to various punishments, depending on the difference in the age of the person who commits sacrilege, on the difference in the time at which the theft of church things takes place, etc. Thus, some blasphemers were ordered to be sent into captivity to dig for gold ore, others to be devoured to wild animals, others to be burned or beheaded with a sword. In one of the new codes of Tsar Justinian it is written: “The torment of a church thief from the difference of persons, from the time of sin and age, is either the easiest or the most severe; Some are given over to beasts, some are burned, and some are hanged. For a church thief at night there is torment, such as being betrayed by an animal, but for a daytime thief there is no one easier; in the daytime, the church sends the one who steals into captivity to dig for golden ores. Honest and great churches are cut off with the sword” 19. Conversation No. 6. About the spiritual disposition with which you need to go to the church and with what reverence you need to stay in it I. One day, Jesus Christ, having entered the Temple of Jerusalem and meeting merchants and money changers here, made a scourge of ropes, drove them out of the church, also sheep and oxen, scattered the money from the money changers, overturned their tables and said to those selling doves: “Take this from here, and do not make My Father’s house a house of trading” (John 2:16). Another time, the Lord also drove out all those buying and selling in the church and overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “And he said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). Where there is sale, and purchase, and barter, deception, cunning, cunning and impudence are common; That’s why the Lord calls the place of trade a den of robbers. II. Brethren! Listen to the Lord's zeal for preserving the dignity and holiness of the church of God. By His zeal and indignation against those who violate the sanctity of the church of God, the Lord teaches us how attentive we must be to ourselves when we are going to go to the church of the Lord, when we come to the church and stand in the church, and how sacredly we must always keep our inner church. a) When preparing to go to the church of God, think: why are you going there? In order to, having renounced everyday worries, devote time in church to serving the Lord God, to think there about the greatness of God, the innumerable Divine blessings and, thinking, thank God, glorify His all-holy name and ask for His mercies, which are always necessary for us. And in order to go to church with such a disposition, you need to prepare yourself for this in advance. To do this, before you go to church, stop worrying about vain thoughts and everyday worries and try, as much as possible, to turn your thoughts to God and to spiritual objects. Avoid such conversations and activities that can entertain your soul and prevent it from gathering within itself and thinking about God and its salvation. Think about your sins, reveal them to the Lord with a feeling of repentance and ask the Lord for forgiveness. Remember the words of the Lord: “So if you are bringing your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23,24). If you have neighbors who have been offended by you or have insulted you, hasten to make peace with them before you go to the church of God: the God of love and peace wants us to live in love and peace with our neighbors. Jesus Christ says: “For if you forgive people their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive people their trespasses, then your Father will not forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14,15). It is so necessary to forgive insults to your neighbors and put up with them! If this cannot be achieved for reasons beyond your control, then sincerely pray to God, that by His grace He will favor your neighbor who is at enmity against you, and call him to peace. b) With such goodwill, go to the church of the Lord, and approaching the church and entering it, humbly think in your soul: behold, I am entering the house of the Lord God, the place of the dwelling of His glory. Here the great sacraments are performed, through which the manifold gifts of saving grace are taught. Here, on the holy throne, the true body and true blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is offered, and the Lord Himself calls for this meal: “Jesus took bread and, blessing it, broke it and, giving it to the disciples, said: Take, eat: this is My Body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28). Here the King of glory Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, is invisibly present, heeding the prayers of those who believe in Him and offering His most pure body and His honorable blood as food, in order to remain with us in close unity, as He Himself says: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56). Here, the Holy Spirit overshadows all true believers and gives everyone, according to the measure of each person’s faith, the gifts of His grace through the word of God and the saving sacraments, and gives everyone who humbly prays to Him the boldness to cry out to God: “Abba Father” (Rom. 8:15). Here the faces of holy angels invisibly surround the Lord Jesus and glorify Him with songs of praise, glorifying the wondrous deeds of His goodness and love for mankind, and reverently worship Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Here the holy images that appear to our eyes, as if on a ladder, lift the gaze of our soul to the invisible abodes of heaven - to the kingdom of glory of King Christ, our Savior and our God. Here, before the bloodless sacrifice, prayers are offered for the living and the dead, out of faith in the boundless merits of the Lord, the Savior of the world, the conqueror of death and hell. Here each one say to himself: “And I, a sinner, unworthy to be present in this holy church, will prostrate myself before the Lord with soul and body. I will pour out my prayer before Him; I will declare my sorrow before Him. I will cry to the Lord: You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living. Listen to my prayer (Ps. 142:2,5,6). I will pray for myself and for my neighbors, for the living and the dead, I will beg the Lord Savior for mercy on me and on them.” III. With such a prayerful disposition, having entered the church, stand reverently, not looking around, but fixing your gaze on the mountain, to the images of the saints of God and God Himself, worshiped in Three Persons, bow down, realizing your unworthiness, and, imitating the publican depicted in the Gospel parable, humbly cry out: “God! be merciful to me, a sinner! (Luke 18:13). (Compiled from the book “Sermons on all Sundays and holidays” by Eusebius, Archbishop of Mogilev, part 1. St. Petersburg, 1870). Conversation No. 7. About how the holy church should be used I. Brothers! Today we will deal with the question: how should St. a church? Wise teacher of the Russian Church, Metropolitan Filaret. Moskovsky will give the following answer to this. In order to make saving use of the holy church, one must generally visit it in a proper manner, especially participate in the main property of the church - the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and, finally, try to walk outside the church worthy of the shrine of the church. II. a) Must visit the holy church diligently. True, the church offers prayer not only for those present in it, but also for the Orthodox Christians everywhere; but this, without a doubt, applies to those who, when they can, enter into it with faith, reverence and fear of God. If you forget to visit the church, wouldn’t it be fair that He should forget you and that His grace should not visit you? b) One should visit the church of God with reverence. If, having come to the king’s house, you would be in apprehension and worry, so as not to do something inappropriate with the dignity of the place, then with what reverence should you enter the house of the Heavenly King! If you were in the king’s house with fear, although he does not see you, although perhaps he is not even at home, then with what fear should you stand in the house of God, where the Omnipresent is always present, where the All-Seeing constantly sees you! c) One must visit the church of God with attention. In church you hear prayer, the word of God, psalmody, and teaching. It is well established that all this, without your labor, is ready, you hear; but you also need to be able to hear. “Be careful how you listen” (Luke 8:18), the Lord Himself admonishes. “Let us listen,” the clergyman often proclaims, that is, we will listen with full, deep attention. When you hear prayer in church, try to let not only your ear hear, but also your heart, and so that the prayer of the church becomes your own prayer. When you hear the word of God, bow your head before it not only, according to visible custom, but also your mind invisibly. The Word of God is the seed of spiritual fruit; with deep attention, draw a deep furrow in your heart in order to receive it and grow it, and bear fruit to God. The Word of God is the dew of heaven; lay your soul before it like thirsty land. The word of God is living and active (Heb. 4:12), do not hinder it from acting life-giving in you, eliminate the disordered movement of thoughts, desires, and passions. When you hear church psalmody, sing, if you can, with your lips, but most of all and without fail sing and sing in your heart to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). When you hear a teaching in church, be zealous and understand it, and preserve it, and use it for the benefit of yourself and others. Do not provide yourself with the lazy thought: “We are simple people,” without a doubt, and the apostle simply commands the simple: “Brothers! Do not be children in mind; be children in evil, but mature in mind” (1 Cor. 14:20). d) One must visit the church of God with faith. Only faith is given the great promise of the fulfillment of every prayer: “Whatever you ask in prayer with faith, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22). Only faith life-givingly accepts the action of the living word of God, only through it can the word of teaching be useful and fruitful... Only faith finds and embraces the grace hidden in the sacraments, which is why the inviter calls to the great sacrament of faith: “Approach with the fear of God and in faith.” e) In order to make saving use of the holy church, one must especially not deprive oneself of participation in its most important property—participation in the Lord’s Table. Looking at the church, think about why it was especially designed. For prayer? So He is a house of prayer, according to the word of the Lord. However, prayer can be and is performed both in simple houses and in open places. For teaching in the word of God? And it's true. However, this is also possible outside of the church. To perform the sacraments? Fair. But some sacraments, out of necessity, are performed without the help of the church. What is a church especially for? What is its structure especially intended and adapted to? What is the purpose of an inner sanctuary, accessible only to initiates, besides places for reading, singing, and praying? Why does the center of the sanctuary, to which all the power of consecration of the church is directed, have the image of a meal? Obviously, this is adapted to the celebration of the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. Think how sad it is that the brethren of the church are dissatisfied with trying to use this essential shrine of the church! The Lord said: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56). What could be more desirable than to abide in the Lord and have Him abiding in you? Don't you want this? And if you wish, then how come some people do not come for a long time to taste the Body and Blood of the Lord, and even those invited to do so put it off and avoid it? The Lord said: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life” (John 6:54). Don't you really want an eternal belly? And if you wish, then do not stop using the means that the Lord has given us to acquire eternal life; do not leave, in decent times, with a cleared conscience, to begin the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Do not listen to those who say that a Christian can do without this shrine or replace it with another method of sanctification. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31), says the Lord. Who dares to change the imperishable word of God? Is it possible to replace the institution and work of God with the providence and work of man? Some are dissatisfied with their concern for frequent communion with Christ in the sacrament, reassuring themselves with the hope that this deficiency will be filled at death and united with Him once and forever. But who knows, brethren, whether our dying time will be put at our disposal, and whether we will be able to use it, especially since we did not know how or were careless to use the time of life? “Death does not hesitate,” the wise one threatens, “the covenant of hell is not open to you” (Sir.14:12). You cannot say to death: slow down. Hell will not negotiate with you so as not to open its jaws until the hour you appoint. While you freely enjoy life, eat the food of life and protect yourself in good time from the danger of becoming the food of death and hell. f) Finally, we must carefully guard the treasures of grace stored for us in the church by our walk outside the church. The fate of our life, which is blessed and sanctified by it, depends on the church; but the fate of the church itself also depends on our lives. God generously bestows grace; but does not waste it in vain. The grace of the holy church cleanses and sanctifies believers who repent and correct their lives, while unbelievers, unrepentantly devoted to sin, insult grace, remove it, and by multiplying iniquities desecrate and destroy the church itself. (See “Words” by Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow). III. So, brothers, let us reverently visit the church of God, stand in it with attention, following with our thoughts and hearts everything that we see and hear there - let us stand with love, fear of God and faith in the dwelling of God and with the same saints. with our feelings we begin to partake, and moreover, as often as possible, of the Body and Blood of Christ, and upon leaving the church we will begin to spend our lives piously, living by those holy feelings and moods that we receive in the church from the divine service. Conversation No. 8. On the necessity and benefit of frequent attendance of divine services by Christians I. Church worship, by its very essence, as a public service, requires the participation of all Christians in it as often as possible. The Church is one spiritual body (Eph. 1:22), and therefore Christians must express unity both in faith and life, and in prayer, performed by clergymen of the Church specially appointed for this purpose, according to a certain order, in special places dedicated for this purpose - churches. II. a) The need to attend divinely established church services was shown by their holy example by the Head of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, His holy apostles and all the holy fathers and teachers of the Church. The leading Christians, being persecuted by the enemies of the Church and unable to gather in open places to participate in divine services, gathered outside cities and villages, in caves and cemeteries (catacombs), and performed their prayers there. Subsequently, St. The Church, both in order to maintain the spirit of zeal for piety and in order to distinguish its children from false followers, has more than once declared excommunication both for those who arbitrarily organize prayer meetings and for those who do not come to worship at the times legalized for that time. So, for example, at the Sixth Ecumenical Council it was determined: “If a layman, not having any urgent need or obstacle that would remove him from his church for a long time, but being in the city, does not come to a church meeting on three Sundays, then... let him be removed from communion” (Rule 80, cf. Gangra Council, Rule 6). b) One should especially attend church and divine services on Sundays, holidays and days of fasting, when the divine service itself is especially touchingly joyful or touchingly sad. Finally, it is necessary to attend public worship in general as often as possible, since it can be deeply beneficial for Christians at all times. aa) In St. in the church, through the performance of the sacraments, a person is born into spiritual life, strengthened in it and accepts all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that with His help, he can succeed in faith and piety, feeding on all the God-given blessings of wisdom and power given to us here for salvation. bb) St. John Chrysostom speaks about public worship: “Here many fathers pray to God together, prayer is performed by many brethren, which expresses unanimity, agreement and union of love. In the church, not only people pray, but archangels and angels offer prayers with them. The prayers of believers in the church are facilitated by the time itself, and the holy offering helps” (“Conversation on the Incomprehensible”), “How desirable are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts!” , - St. called out. king and prophet David. “For one day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be at the threshold of the house of God than to live in the tents of wickedness” (Ps. 83:2, 11). c) For us, St. a church where, during divine services, we, having put aside all worldly cares, can enter into the closest saving communion with the Head of our Church - the Lord Jesus Christ, “for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20), He said. And where He is, His Father and the Holy Spirit will come there. III. It is necessary, brethren, to become accustomed to non-slothful attendance at divine services from early childhood and youth, for “what subtle childhood is taught, decrepit old age leaves him inconvenienced: for the custom has been adopted by the increasing frequency of business, and over time the character has been established, and the nature has strength.” (Preface to the Book of Hours). Appendix to conversation No. 8. Examples of diligent visiting of the churches of God I. Rev. Theodore Sikeot from an early age began to discover a love for the Church of God. In particular, he loved to go to the church of the Great Martyr George, which stood picturesquely on a secluded mountain, quite far from the house of Mary, the mother of Theodore. When he was eight years old, Theodore, while studying at school, did not go home for dinner, especially on Lenten days, but usually went to his favorite church to pray to God; in the evening he returned to his mother and then ate food. His mother sternly ordered him several times to come home for dinner, but the young lad preferred a spiritual meal to a physical meal and sanctified physical training with piety, which is useful for everything. It used to be that everyone at home was sleeping in a deep sleep, and Theodore would get up with the first glimmer of dawn and go to his church for morning prayers; he was drawn there by his love for the holy Great Martyr George. At night, on his way to church, he saw terrible ghosts in the form of ferocious animals rushing at him with roars and screeches, but he walked boldly and was not afraid of anything, he believed that the Great Martyr George was accompanying him, with a spear in his hands. It happened that the mother and other women, wanting to reject Theodore so that he would not go to church until dawn, told him that a wolf walked at night and devoured everyone he met; but the women’s stories could not keep him at home - he would certainly go to church, so that, resting soundly in sleep, his family would not even notice his departure. One day, Maria, waking up early in the morning and not finding her son in bed, ran angrily to the church, pulled him out by the hair, kept him with her all day, and tied him to the bed at night. But St. George appeared in a night vision before Mary, drew his sword and threatened to cut off her head if she continued to prevent her son from going to church. At the age of fourteen, Theodore completely left his parental home and began to live in a cave, which he dug near the church of St. George, in order to more conveniently visit his beloved house of prayer. At the age of eighteen he was ordained a priest and began to perform a bloodless sacrifice, standing before the altar of the Lord with dignity. This is how the childhood and adolescence of St. passed away. Theodora. How many lessons are there for today's children who are lazy to go to the church of God, under the pretext of being young, weak in body, being far from church, bad weather and other obstacles! (“Cheti-Minei”). II. In the life of Rev. Marcian relates that on one holiday, when there was a huge crowd of people in the church, one woman, not finding a place for herself in the church itself, climbed onto its roof, from where she carelessly fell and was killed to death. But the Lord, for her zeal, showed her His mercy: through the prayers of St. Marciana’s life was immediately returned to her. (“Cheti-Minei”, January 10). III. From the life of St. Isaac the Syrian knows the following circumstance: once crossing from Syria through the city of Spolomanu, he entered the church and asked that at the end of the service he be allowed to stay in the church. There he prayed unceasingly and without exhaustion for about three days. (“Cheti-Minei”, April 12). And we, to our shame, must admit that sometimes we are burdened to read the morning and evening prayers and listen without fatigue to the entire Matins and Liturgy. This is because we do not have love for God, and if we had it, we would have a desire for prayer. IV. The holy martyr Sira, imprisoned for confessing the name of Christ, sincerely wished and with all her soul prayed to God that He would grant her the means to visit the church of the martyrs who had previously suffered in Persia. The day of remembrance of St. passion-bearers, and Christians hurried to the church. While in chains, St. Sira grieved that she could not pray with them. But the Lord did not abandon her prayer; one rich Christian gave gold to the prison guards so that they would allow the imprisoned martyr to go to the all-night vigil in the church, and guaranteed that she would return to prison by dawn. The guards agreed, and St. The martyr Sira went to the church, healed the demoniac there and returned to prison again, full of great joy that, together with other Christians, she offered her prayers to the Lord. (“Cheti-Minei”, August 24). V. One man, named Varda, fell into a terrible illness: deep wounds and incurable ulcers appeared on his chest; he suffered long and cruelly. On St. Martyr Mokius, the doctors who were with the sick man and other household members went to the martyr’s church for the all-night vigil. The sick man, lying on his bed, grieved with all his heart that his illness did not allow him to go to the church and venerate the miraculous tomb of the Monk Sampson the Stranger, located in that church. To console his grief, a certain old man appeared to the sick man and said: “Get up!” The sufferer answered: “I cannot get up: all my members are weakened from a serious and painful illness.” The elder who appeared repeated his order: “I tell you: get up, go to the church of St. Martyr Mokios, whom St. remembers today. Church, and pray at the tomb of St. Sampson." Having said this, the elder became invisible. The patient felt the strength of his strength, began to gradually rise from his bed and no longer felt the disease in his wounds. Having untied the bandages and removed the plasters, he saw to his joy that his wounds were completely closed and healed. Varda put on his festive clothes, hurried to the church and there thanked God for his miraculous healing. (“Cheti-Minei”, June 27, life of St. Sampson the Receiver). VI. When St. Barsanuphius, bishop Tverskoy, due to decrepitude, could no longer go to church, then, at his request, his disciples took him on a cart to the divine service: he so loved prayer and praise in church! (See “Russian Saints”, Philaret, Archbishop of Chernigov) VII. There was a gardener in Vyshgorod named Miron; he had a servant whose one leg withered and curled up, so that he could only walk with the help of a wooden leg. This unfortunate man was a man of pious rules and had the custom of going to church services on all holidays; He especially often went to the church of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb and there, falling at their tombs, he asked them for healing. One night the holy martyrs appeared to him and said: “What are you asking for?” The pious servant, showing them his withered leg, begged them to heal him. The holy martyrs crossed his leg three times, and he, awakening from sleep, felt healthy and stood up, thanking and glorifying God. (“Cheti-Minei”, May 2; see “Soulful Reading”, 1860). VIII. The Church of God is our earthly heaven; God Himself mysteriously dwells there, and there many have found salvation not only eternal, even temporary. One poor man was driven by hunger to the point that he sold his son into captivity. Parting with his dear child, not without tears, the unfortunate father gave him the last advice: “My son! always go to church and never leave until the end of the service.” The good son sacredly kept his father's instructions. One day his comrade slandered him before his master, and he, without sorting out the matter, decided to put his faithful slave to death. On the same day, having met the judge, the master said to him: “I will send you one of my slaves with a cloak, you will order him to cut off his head and, wrapped in a cloak, you will give it to the one who comes after him.” The good servant, not knowing anything, by order of his master, goes to the judge; but when he saw that they were performing a prayer service in front of one church, he remembered his father’s instructions, stopped and remained here until the end of the service. Following him, his slanderer, an unkind servant, was sent to the judge and, seeing the good young man, he asked him: “Have you been to the judge?” “No,” answered the kind young man, “but do me a favor, let’s exchange orders: you take this cloak to the judge, and I will listen to the end of the prayer and go in your place for the answer.” The slanderous servant took his cloak, went to the judge and at that very moment lost his head. The prayer service ended. The pious servant also went to the judge, there he received something wrapped in a cloak and, without examining it, brought it home. The evil master almost died of fear when he saw the head of his beloved slave in the cloak; but, having learned what was the matter, he recognized the will of the Lord in all this and stopped attacking the good servant. (“Sunday Reading”, 1885, No. 4). Conversation No. 9. About reverent standing in the church of God I. “Standing in the church, standing pretending to be in heaven,” is sung in one church song. “In heaven,” let’s say in the words of St. John Chrysostom, - the armies of angels praise the Lord, on earth people imitate their praise, making up the faces in the church. In heaven, the seraphim sing the trisagion; on earth the same song is chanted by a large gathering of people. One common celebration consists of both heavenly and earthly beings. They have one thanksgiving, one joyful rejoicing. The ineffable mercy of the Lord brought them together, the Holy Spirit united them, the all-good Father agreed their singing into one harmonious song. Nothing sweetens our lives more than the consolation we receive in the church of God. The churches of God are like some kind of deliberate palaces of the Heavenly King, opened by Him on earth for more convenient and close communication with man, where for this purpose He has a throne, and special servants - priests, and a treasury of grace-filled gifts needed for this subject, which man needs so much and every minute, and where He, finally, has established a special order for every human need.” II. If the church of God is so important for us, in which the Lord Himself is invisibly present, then with what reverence and fear of God should we stand in it?! One must enter this sacred place only with reverent joy and fear of God who dwells here, with a humble consciousness of one’s unworthiness before God, with all external signs of reverence for the holiness of the place. Clothes, looks, gait and all bodily movements of those entering the church of God should express modesty. If in the Old Testament Israel was commanded to enter the tabernacle clean, then all the more we, Christians, need to take care of this. We must enter the church of God in clean and, if possible, decent clothing, and beyond its threshold we must leave all thoughts of earthly and worldly things. Let us now put aside all worldly concerns. a) We must stand in the church with reverence and fear, because we stand here in the face of the great God Himself. Which of us dares to behave indecently in front of the boss? If we act this way in the presence of people, is it possible to act differently in the presence of God? Is it possible to remain without fear and reverence where the powers of heaven serve with fear and trembling? God save us. We must stand with all decorum and decency - in an upright position of the body, with a fixed gaze turned towards the altar. “Whoever thinks,” teaches the teacher. John Climacus, - what is before God, in his heartfelt feeling during prayer, will be motionless like a pillar and not one of the demons will abuse him” (Homily 19). “Let all human flesh be silent (in the church), and let it stand with fear and trembling, and let nothing earthly think within itself,” is sung in one church song. b) Next, in the church of God you need to stand with reverent attention. To arouse attention, we often hear the exclamation: “Let’s get loud.” Standing in church during worship, we must carefully look at sacred actions in order to notice the mysterious meaning and grace-filled power in them, delve into the meaning of spiritual songs and songs in order to sing to God intelligently (Ps. 46:8), listen carefully to the divine Scripture in order to learn the commandments of the Lord (Ps. 119:73) and understand the will of God, good and acceptable and perfect (Rom. 12:2). Otherwise, what benefit will there be in our going to the church of God? What will we gain if we just stand indifferently in the church of God? After all, serving God in the church is done for us and for our benefit. And we receive this benefit only when we stand in church with reverence and carefully participate in the worship service being performed. Moreover, keep in mind that the devil - the enemy of our salvation - most likely takes possession of people who are inattentive to worship. St. Matthew the Perspicious one day, standing in his place in the church, looked at the brethren who stood on both sides and sang, and saw a demon who, going around them in the form of a warrior, wore sticky flowers in his vestment and, taking some evil on the flower, threw it at someone; and if a flower clung to one of the brethren, then the brother, after standing for a while, relaxed in his mind and, having thought of some need, left the church and slept in his cell: to whomever the flower did not cleave, he stood strong in singing until the end of the service and then went to his cell (Cheti-Minei, Oct. 5). c) Finally, prayer is necessary for standing reverently in the church of God. We must ascend with our minds and hearts “to the mountain”, to God. Woe are our hearts! proclaims St. The Church, through the mouth of a clergyman, commands us to pray to God with all our souls and with all our thoughts. Standing in church, we should be non-idle spectators of sacred actions, not cold participants in the service of God, but we should burn for God with faith and love, pour out heartfelt sighs and warm prayers before Him, reverently and diligently worship Him, and fall to Him with humility and contrition of heart. Remember the publican, how he prayed in church. He stood in such humility and reverence that he did not dare to raise his eyes to heaven, and only in the consciousness of his sins he cried out: “God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). (See Sunday Afternoon, 1892) III. This is how you should stand in the church of God when divine services are being performed in it! And with us, sinners, how it happens! Nowadays, judging by the behavior of those present in the church of God, it is not always possible to guess: why exactly are all these people gathering in the church of God? Is it really for prayer? But in this case, they would pray as they should, and would not look around every now and then; they wouldn’t watch how candles are lit and alms are collected for the benefit of the church; they would listen to what is sung and read during the service and, accordingly, would make the sign of the cross and bows. But as often happens: when you should cross yourself and bow, everyone stands - no one crosses himself; and when it is not necessary, for example, during the reading of the Apostle or the Gospel, suddenly everyone begins to cross themselves and bow; noise, conversations, pranks of children who usually stand in front - all this disrupts reverence in the church of God, and all this seems to be of no concern to the parents and elders standing behind the children: at least someone would stop the children! Is this not oblivion of God? Is this not an insult to the sacred and a mockery of the work of God? Oh, the terrible wrath of God threatens those who violate reverence in the church of God! “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord carelessly” (Jer. 48:10), teaches the word of God. One day Jesus Christ entered the Jerusalem temple and found that oxen, sheep and doves were being sold in the church and money changers were sitting. What did He do? He, having made a scourge, drove out all the sellers and money changers and said: “Do not make My Father’s house a house of trade” (John 2:16). Be afraid, fellow Christians, lest the terrible wrath of God break out over us, who violate church decorum, and He deprives us of His grace. Conversation No. 10. On the meaning of the church of God for Christians I “I will enter Your house, I will worship Your holy church in Your fear” (Ps. 5:8). This is what God's chosen Israeli king David says. Who does not notice here the pious zeal that the man after God’s heart had for the holy church of the Lord, and the reverent reverence that he paid to the earthly dwelling of God? If the pious people of the Old Testament acted this way, shouldn’t we, Christians, act even more? II. a) For what is a church? There is, firstly, a divinely established universal school of piety. Earthly wisdom is not necessary for everyone; for many it would even constitute an overwhelming burden. But there are subjects about which it is necessary for everyone to have clear and firm knowledge. This is God, our Creator and Provider, and our relationship to Him in our conscience and our deeds; this is the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus with His death on the cross for the sins of the world, and it is our duty to believe in Him and fulfill His commandments; this is the grace of the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us, and the way in which we must acquire it, store it and use it; this is, finally, an expectation of the future age, where it must give an account of deeds and perceive according to deeds. Who will proclaim these important truths in the hearing of those who are completely removed from any type of science? Where is the school for everyone? In the church. The doors are open here for everyone; no preliminary tests required: come, listen and learn! While in this school, you will not learn how far the earth is from the sun and how to deflect thunder strikes, but you will learn how far fallen man is from God, how to escape from the blows of heavenly justice; you will not learn to delve into the hearts of mountains and into the depths of the seas to extract jewelry, but you will learn to delve into your own heart to find there the gold of pure love for God and the pearls of holy prayers; You will not be able to speak in different languages, but you will wean yourself from the language of lies and deceit, you will completely understand the language of conscience, and you will become able to converse with God. And how many have already come out of this school - the Church of God - of the most excellent students of piety, who, not being familiar with any worldly enlightenment, their lives and virtues, and some with miracles, proved that they were given the knowledge of the very secrets of the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:11), that they knew everything (1 John 2:20) necessary for salvation! There is a divinely established spiritual clinic. Everyone knows from his own experience that our soul, like our body, is subject to various ailments - and that these ailments, although they seem unimportant to many, are extremely dangerous, for, unhealed, they cause the eternal death of the soul. Many remedies have been invented for healing from bodily diseases; To heal the soul from the poison of sin, no one could invent a means except God Himself. And it was invented by the goodness of God and, as necessary for everyone, is taught free of charge to everyone. Where and how? In churches. Here the source of spiritual health always flows - the all-vivifying blood of the God-man and the grace of the Holy Spirit: no matter how great your sins are, no matter what ulcers your conscience suffers from, drinking from this source with faith and love, you will become healthy in your soul. There is no shortage in the Church of special cures for special diseases. The intemperate is prescribed fasting, vigil, and prayer; to the one suffering from pride it is announced where we were taken from and what we are turning into, how we are all humiliated by sin and deprived of primitive nobility; the person suffering from envy is reminded that all the differences that flatter the eye between people exist for a while, that with death only one difference will remain - good from evil; those who wallow in voluptuousness are shown eternity, judgment and the wrath of God on those who indulge: “God gave them over to a depraved mind—to do lewd things” (Rom. 1:28). You can neglect the means indicated by the Church for healing mental illnesses, but you cannot say that they are invalid; otherwise, you will be convicted of lies by the hosts of the righteous, who, using them, restored their spiritual health and from people dead by sins became living churches of God. There is a God-established worldwide spiritual judgment seat. A person who has some important matter to deal with, who has fallen under the court and wrath of the Tsarev, really needs to know what awaits him in the future, what sentence will befall him. But we all have the most important thing to do with heaven; we all have a long-standing unfortunate relationship with our Creator. Sooner or later there must be an end to this Edenic enmity. What will it consist of and what sentence will they pronounce on us? What exactly will happen to you, to him, or to me? Where can I find out about this? In the church. Here the judgment has already been written (Ps. 149:9): glory to all the saints, grief and destruction to all who are unlike! Do you want to know more clearly the definition of the Supreme Judge? Listen with attention when the Gospel of the Last Judgment is read. It outlines in detail those virtues for which there will be a reward, and those vices for which they will go to Gehenna. Or rather, you will not hear from the Judge himself. What He says now in His word, He will say then. Do you have the required virtues? You will stand on the right side. Don't you? You will go, whoever you are, to hell. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not a single line of the words of the Gospel will pass away (Matthew 24:35). There is a place of constant meeting with higher beings. The spiritual world is closed from us by an impenetrable curtain; but there is everything precious to us: there is our Lord and Savior; there are the apostles, martyrs, shepherds and teachers of the Church and all the saints, there are our ancestors, most of our known, relatives and friends. Is there really no place on earth where one can truly and constantly communicate with them? There are – in churches! The prayers that are constantly offered here bring two worlds closer together - the visible and the invisible; Through them, our hearts are lifted up, the spirit of the celestials is brought down, we are given the ability to foreknow our future state, and for them it becomes more convenient to remember the past and see our needs. That is why in the biographies of holy people we find that nowhere were there so many revelations, there were not so many visions for them, as in churches, among the services. And if the godly compilers of the liturgy wrote that the King of Glory, sacrificed at the holy meal, is delivered by angelic ranks, that we ourselves secretly form cherubim at this time, then they wrote, without a doubt, not on the basis of imagination, but according to the testimony of spiritual experiences. However, even for the most sensual person, isn’t the veil of the spiritual world apparently lifted every time in the sacrament of the Eucharist? What is this if not a sign and gift from another world, if not a guarantee of immortality, if not a covenant of eternal life, in which the living and the dead are apparently united? d) Finally, the church is a place of seeing God and worshiping the Creator of creation - a place that is therefore sacred and most pleasant for the pious spirit. In fact, brothers, will it really be that needs alone move and govern us in matters of worship? Is there really no other sublime motivation for a person to appear before the face of his Creator as often as possible, for example, to enjoy His presence and contemplation? But the place of constant presence and vision of God is in churches; Therefore, he must appear in churches to testify to the Creator of his love and submission. It is true that true worshipers everywhere worship the Lord in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). But it is also undeniable that in some places the Lord reveals His special presence for them. The church is the first of such places, it is a permanent, visible place of residence of His glory: here is His word and sacraments, here is His throne and the altar on which the Body and Blood of His only begotten Son is offered. That is why even those people who themselves were living churches of God did not stop entering the churches, entering them often, with special reverence and joy, and considered the minutes spent at the throne of God to be the best in life. III. After such a concept about churches and such an effect on the mind and heart of a person, you, brothers, will not be surprised if I say that he is not a Christian who, having the opportunity to often visit the churches of God, does not visit them. Only staying in churches, in order to be beneficial, requires certain good qualities from those entering the church, without which it does not bring the expected benefit, and can even turn into harm. What are these qualities? Listen! a) The church is a school of piety: therefore, be attentive to what you hear, remember the past and see our needs. That is why in the biographies of holy people we find that nowhere were there so many revelations, there were not so many visions for them, as in churches, among worship services. And if the godly compilers of the liturgy wrote that the King of Glory, sacrificed at the holy meal, was covered by angelic ranks, that we ourselves secretly form cherubim at this time, then they wrote, without a doubt, not on the basis of imagination, but according to the testimony of spiritual experiences. However, even for the most sensual person, isn’t the veil of the spiritual world apparently lifted every time in the sacrament of the Eucharist? What is this if not a sign and gift from another world, if not a pledge of immortality, if not a covenant of eternal life, in which the living and the dead are apparently united? In fact, brothers, will needs alone move and govern us in matters of worship? Is there really no other most sublime motivation for a person to appear before the face of his Creator as often as possible, for example, to enjoy His presence and contemplation? But the place of constant presence and vision of God is in churches; Therefore, he must appear in churches to testify to the Creator of his love and submission. It is true that true worshipers everywhere worship the Lord in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). But it is also undeniable that in some places the Lord reveals His special presence for them. The church is the first of such places, it is a permanent, visible place of residence of His glory: here is His word and sacraments, here is His throne and altar, on which the Body and Blood of His only begotten Son is offered. That is why even those people who themselves were living churches of God did not stop entering the churches, entering them often, with special reverence and joy, and considered the minutes spent at the throne of God to be the best in life. Ι II. After such a concept about churches and such an effect on the mind and heart of a person, you, brothers, will not be surprised if I say that he is not a Christian who, having the opportunity to often visit the churches of God, does not visit them. a) The church is a school of piety: so, be attentive to what you hear, it is not man who speaks here, but God Himself, who desires your salvation. Above all, try to implement what you have learned in practice. What is fulfilled, even small things, will bear fruit a hundredfold; what is not fulfilled, even great things, will not only not justify, but will even condemn. Someday they will demand a strict account of the science taught. And here lazy students lose a lot: what a shame there will be there! b) The church is a medical clinic: so, boldly demand healing. Never despair of healing. For our Doctor there are no incurable patients. Just don’t stop using the remedies prescribed to you. Don't listen to your mind when it tells you that this or that remedy is apparently useless. Our Savior knows more than all of us, both our illnesses and ourselves. Do not listen to the flesh when it attracts you to something forbidden, even if it seems innocent. And physical doctors deprive us of much, even much more. Without abstinence, spiritual healings also remain ineffective, just like physical ones. What is the benefit, for example, if here you partake of the Lord’s table, but upon leaving the threshold of the house of God you sit down to the demonic table (1 Cor. 10:21)? c) The church is a spiritual judgment seat: therefore, make peace with your heavenly Rival while you are on the path (Matthew 5:25) of this life. Push at the doors of mercy before the hour of judgment and punishment comes. Do not neglect the power of the Church: it is from God. What is permitted here will be forgiven there too, what is bound here will be bound there also. Accept the mercy given, without being surprised by the excess in giving: much is given to everyone because much has been acquired for all of us, and very much has been paid for us all. Just be careful not to abuse forgiveness. May the Redeemer’s love for you be your guardian angel from new iniquities. Otherwise, you will ruin everything, and you will be exacted for the very favors you abused. d) The church is a meeting place with unearthly beings, so you, who have lost those close to your heart, instead of fruitless lamentations and tears, hurry more often to the foot of the altars of the Lord. Here, in the face of the God of love, Who has no dead, your spirit will find peace; you yourself will come closer in spirit to the limits of the heavenly world, you will foresee the power of the coming age; - and with this foreboding, real life will cease to be so precious for you, and you will not inconsolably complain about the temporary separation from those dear to you, but will make the decision to follow in their footsteps with faith and love to the same place where they are. e) The church is a place of presence and vision of God. So, stand in the church before God at least as you would stand before the king of the earth. Leave all worldly cares outside the threshold of God’s house. The world is overwhelmed by its malice (Matthew 6:34), why bring it here too? There is bickering there day and night (Ps. 54:10-11), let there be at least peace and silence here. Six days are given over to the earth and flesh, let at least the seventh be entirely devoted to the Lord. Stand in the church as if you were standing in heaven; for, standing in the church, you are really standing in heaven, before God! Amen. (Compiled from the “Sermon” of Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride, vol. II, ed. 1873). Conversation No. 11. In which instructions are given to a Christian going to church I. My brother! When you enter a church for prayer, enter with reverence, as if you were entering the house of God, where during the divine service everything that your Christian mentors taught you about the saving suffering of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, will be repeated before your eyes. IL a) So, first of all, try to be worthy of this sacred spectacle and, to the best of your ability, fulfill what the Gospel of Christ instills in us. It says: “So if you are bringing your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift to us before the altar, and go first and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). Therefore, you should always enter the church in peace, both in relation to your neighbors and your own conscience, because you will hear, in the first words of the divine service: “Let us pray to the Lord in peace.” b) The Gospel tells you about a gift before the altar... What kind of gift is this? You know that even pagans, in their homes and shrines, remember their dead forefathers and parents; but they are mistaken in making sacrifices to themselves that follow the Divinity. You, as a Christian, taught the true faith, make a spiritual sacrifice to God for the souls of your departed fathers and brothers and for the health and salvation of the living. And for your sacrifice to be valid, it must be brought by the hands of someone who has the right to it, and no other than in the church. aa) Therefore, bring bread to the altar, called prosphora, before the beginning of the divine service, which is called mass, or liturgy, and ask him to remember with prayer before the altar, as if before the throne of God, your fathers and brothers, living or deceased, so that the Lord will grant them forgiveness of sins both in this life and in the future. This will partly be a spiritual gift to God, for He is so good that He accepts as if for Himself everything that we do for our neighbors. bb) Bring with you to church another gift pleasing to God - alms for the poor, or distribute it on the road if they are not in the church, because they are also your brothers, descended with you equally from the first man Adam, who was created innocent by God and sinned; They are also called brothers by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who descended to earth and suffered on the cross to save us and redeem us from our sins. cc) You can also bring with you a third gift - candles, which you will light in front of the icons of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother and the saints who pleased Him in this life and glorified by Him in the future. By kindling this light, you express your deep reverence for them and that inner flame that should burn in your heart when remembering their holy life, which serves as an example for you. c) When entering the church, sign yourself with the sign of the cross with the following prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner,” in memory of the cross on which your Savior was crucified for you, and with this sign, as the most powerful weapon, protect yourself from every unclean thought and direct your whole mind and heart to prayer, for a person approaching God must forget what is human in order to only think about the divine. (Compiled from “Letters on Worship” by A. Muravyov, 11th edition, 1882). Appendix to conversation No. 11. What did the ancient Christian Church demand from its children when visiting St. churches of God? 1. The church is a place of special presence of God. Therefore, “before we approach the altar,” says one of the most ancient teachers of the Christian Church (Tertullian), “we need to be reconciled with our brothers (Matthew 5:24). With a heart filled with enmity and hatred, can we draw closer to the God of peace? Can we ask Him to forgive us when we do not forgive others? Can he who is angry with his brother appease his Father, who from time immemorial forbade us all hatred and all anger? Therefore, we must cleanse ourselves not only of anger, but also of every bad thought, before we begin to pray.” Clement of Alexandria “enjoins men and women going to church to kindle true and fiery Christian love in their hearts, to be pure in body and heart, so that they can offer up their prayers to the Holy of Holies.” The ancient Christians were also reminded of this duty by the inscriptions on the doors that led to St. churches. These inscriptions greeted with peace only those who entered the church in a peaceful mood and with a pure heart. Thus, according to the testimony of Bishop Pavlin of Nolan, on the doors of one church (from the outside) there was the following inscription: “Peace be with you, whoever you are, if you are in peace, with a pure heart you enter the secret village of Christ God.” Therefore, when preparing to go to the church of God, the ancient Christians, in order to free themselves from anger and every evil, worldly thought, devoted several minutes to examining the thoughts and state of their spirit; on the way to the church they observed deep silence, avoiding any meetings that could break it. Thus, it is known about Abba Pimen that “when he wanted to go to church, he sat down separately, considered his thoughts for about an hour and then left the cell.” It is also said that Abba Apollo had a student named Isaac, who, when he went to church, tried to avoid any meetings. He used to say: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). 2. The custom of ancient Christians, just before entering the church, to wash their hands, face and even feet was also the fruit of their concern to appear to God in His church clean not only in body, but also in soul. In the Old Testament, according to the command of God, “between the tabernacle of the meeting and between the altar,” a laver was placed in which Aaron and his sons, entering the tabernacle to serve the altar, had to wash their hands and feet (Ex. 40:30–32). In the ancient Church of the New Testament, before entering the churches, lavers were also provided or springs (reservoirs) were installed, in which not only the clergy, but also all believers, as “priests of God” (Rev. 5:10), washed their hands, faces and feet. Eusebius, describing the church built by Peacock of Tire, says that “he (Peacock) did not allow the one who entered the gates of the fence to suddenly enter the sanctuary itself with unclean and unwashed feet, but here, opposite the church, he gave place to the symbols of holy cleansing, that is, he dug springs that supply those entering inside the sacred fence with abundant water for ablution. Similar evidence is found in Peacock of Nolan, who, when describing the church he built, notes that “a clean spring irrigates the sacred vestibules (of the church) and washes the hands of those entering the church with water.” But these washings were performed by ancient Christians not only for bodily cleansing, but - and most of all - to encourage them to acquire spiritual purity. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, explaining to the newly baptized the meaning of the ritual of washing the hands of those serving at the holy altar, which he saw, says: “We saw a deacon giving water to wash the hands of the bishop and the presbyters standing around the altar of God. Did he only serve it to wash the body? No - for we do not enter the church with an unclean body; but this washing of your hands is a sign that you must cleanse yourself from all sins and all filthiness... So, washing your hands means not being involved in sin. Therefore, the pastors of the Church, when they noticed that some of their flock, washing their hands and faces before entering the church, did not care about acquiring spiritual purity, turned to them with the following admonitions: “we see that many in the church strictly observe the custom of coming with a clean face and with washed hands, but do not care the least about presenting themselves to God with a pure soul. Saying this, we do not forbid washing our hands or face, but we want them to be washed as they should be - not only with water, but instead of water they should be whitened with virtues.” 3. Reverent for the churches of God, the ancient Christians zealously tried to arouse and nourish in themselves a feeling of deep humility and reverent awe when visiting them. This feeling was expressed in their modest attire and general appearance. The leading Christians, although, according to Blessed Augustine, “flocked to churches with reverent solemnity,” however, in simple clothes, alien to worldly pomp and sophistication; men, according to the commandment of the Apostle Paul, were present in the church with naked or uncovered heads, considering it the greatest indecency to pray with their heads covered, and women, according to the commandment of the same apostle, appeared in the church meeting with their heads covered, as a sign of modesty and chastity. “Men and women, going to the Church of God,” says Clement of Alexandria, “should be dressed simply, modestly and decently, should carry themselves with some importance, but without any sophistication. Women, in addition, must have a veil over their face. This modest custom of covering themselves protects them from sin.” Those who did not fulfill these requirements were subjected to strict reproofs and reproaches from the pastors of the Church. So, when under Tertullian some women and virgins began to go to St. churches in magnificent clothes and without a veil, then Terchullian did not fail to address them with strict denunciations and reproaches. “It’s in vain,” he told them, “you try to be superbly dressed; It’s in vain to resort to the most skilled hairdressers to clean your hair. Why should you reveal, when praying before God, what you are hiding from people? Do you want to be less modest in church than in the market? God wants you covered. For this (i.e., for worship and listening to the word of God) neither extraordinary nor magnificent garments with long hems are needed.” Those Christians who, while performing high civil duties, wore signs of their worldly greatness in their attire, considered it proper to appear in St. churches without these signs. Thus, military leaders usually left their weapons and insignia outside the church doors; The kings, leaving their companions and guards on the threshold of the church, laid down the diadem itself here - as a sign of humility and as evidence of their submission to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. This pious custom is repeatedly mentioned by St. John Chrysostom. In a conversation on St. On Pentecost he says: “Before this the kings were wicked persecutors; and now they lift up piety to the heavens and, ascending to the threshold of the church, put aside their crowns and depict the cross of Christ on their foreheads; outside - weapons, here - secrets; outside there are shields, and here there are sacred rites.” At another time, praising the Emperor Arcadius and his companions, who came to church with zeal, Chrysostom notes that “he himself (the emperor), putting aside his diadem, and all his companions, throwing away their shields and spears, accepted with a humble spirit, as if they had come from earth to heaven, where there is no place for honors, celebrity, or all the many virtues.” The same saint points to this custom as proof of the humility and reverence with which subjects should enter the houses of God, seeing such examples in their kings. Emperor Theodosius also resorted to this same evidence in his law issued against those who entered the St. with weapons. churches of God. “We,” says Theodosius, “although we are always surrounded by the legalized weapons of the empire and it is indecent for us to appear without squires and bodyguards, however, having to enter the church of God, we leave the weapons outside it and lay down the diadem itself - the sign of the royal majesty.” From the pious custom of Christian kings, they put off their diadem (crown) at the red gate leading from the vestibule to the church, and these very gates are called the royal gates by some Greek writers. Leo the Grammar notices this in the life of the Greek Emperor Michael, telling about him as something extraordinary, that when he came to these gates, he did not lay down his crown, as other sovereigns usually did, and in it he walked to the gates of the altar. Some Christians appeared in St. churches even without any shoes - out of reverence for their holiness. Thus, the Egyptian monks, when entering the churches of God, according to Cassian, left their boots, thinking that they should literally fulfill the words spoken by God to Moses: “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground” ... (Ex. 3:5). 4. Entering the church, ancient Christians, as a sign of reverence for the holy place, had the custom of kissing the altar, doors and even the thresholds of the church. "Coming to St. the altar, we kiss it with fear and joy,” says Athanasius the Great. “Don’t you see,” St. once exclaimed. Chrysostom in one of his conversations to the people - don’t you see how many kiss the doors of this church, others bow their heads either grabbing it with their hands, or raising their hand to their lips? Prudentius says that “the enemies of the apostles and martyrs are honored with a kiss.” Theodosius the Great, going to church for the first time after the ban from St. Ambrose and stopping on the threshold of the church, he prayed not standing or on his knees, but throwing himself completely on the ground, uttering the words of David: “My soul is cast into the dust; quicken me according to Your word" ... (Ps. 119:25). 5. Having taken their place in the church, the ancient Christians stood in silence, motionless, with their faces directly turned to St. to the altar. The deacon was obliged to “monitor the places so that each of those who come to the church takes his place (i.e., in accordance with his age, gender, etc.), and also to see that no one speaks in a whisper or in minions, does not laugh or doze: “because in the church,” says the writer of the “Apostolic Constitutions,” “one must stand decorously, modestly, watchfully and with ears turned to receive the word of God.” St. Gregory the Theologian notes about his mother Nonna: “Who stood more reverently than her during the all-night and daytime psalms?.. In sacred meetings and places, except for the necessary and mysterious exclamations, her voice was never heard... She honored the shrine with silence, never turned her back to the venerable meal, did not spit on the floor in the church of God.” According to the same Saint Gregory the Theologian, Emperor Valens, when he entered the church where Basil the Great was officiating, when he looked at the splendor of the church, which he had never seen in the Arian churches, and the reverent, motionless standing of the believers in it, he fell from amazement into great fear and trembling. St. John Chrysostom, reproaching the inhabitants of Constantinople for sometimes making noise in the church, notes with great disapproval that in other cities they did not allow themselves to do this. “You,” the saint says to his flock, “make noise, worry, and come to church without reverence in your soul. But that only happens here. In other places, it is not allowed in church to even say a word to one’s neighbor, even if one has met a friend whom one has not seen for a long time, but this is done outside the church, which is very decent. For the church is the place of angels, the place of archangels, the kingdom of God, heaven itself. Therefore, just as in the case when someone led you into the open heaven, you would not dare to talk with your father or brother, even if you saw them there, so here you should not talk about anything other than spiritual objects, since here is heaven too.” 6. Just as in ancient times it was considered very offensive to the church to engage in conversations in church, so it was considered indecent to sit here not only during prayers and reading the word of God, but even during the delivery of teachings. Exceptions were made due to old age or illness. Terpullian called the custom of some to sit during prayer one of the customs of the wicked, smack of paganism. “Some,” he says, “prepare for prayer, put cloaks under them, while others during prayer consider it their duty not to stand, but to sit; both pagans do both, and we should not imitate them. If it is indecent to sit before the face and gaze of one whom you are obliged to greatly honor and respect, then it is very wicked to do this in the face of the living God and in the presence of the angel of prayer.” Cassian notes that "it was only out of respect for the constant vigils, fasts and labors of some Egyptian monks that they were allowed to sit while the psalms were read or readings from other books of the Holy Scriptures were offered." And from the testimonies of Cyprian and Augustine about the African and Spanish churches, it is revealed that here the people did not have permission to sit during the delivery of teachings; only those who were weak or tired from prolonged worship had some right to sit. St. Augustine says: “For several days I advised those with sick legs and the infirm not to stand during long readings, but, sitting in silence, listen to what is being read. And now some of our sisters think that everyone or many can do this, and therefore, as soon as they begin to read the word of God or the teaching, they lie down. Therefore, I ask that when reading is offered, the word of God is preached, so that no one sits down, unless extreme weakness forces it.” 7. About the reverence and modesty with which the ancient Christians were present in St. churches, can also be judged by the singing, in which in the first centuries the whole people often took part. According to the testimony of St. Augustine, in African churches such simple singing was used that it was more like reading than singing. In the church of Constantinople, the folk singing was so harmonious and pleasant that the head of that church, St. Chrysostom once did not hesitate in his teaching to the people to call it angelic singing. “Oh,” the great saint once exclaimed, “how great is Christ our Savior! In heaven the armies of angels glorify, on earth men imitate their glorification, making up the faces of the church. In heaven, the Seraphim sing the trisagion; on earth the same song is chanted by a large assembly of people. From above comes this euphony of tones from the Most Holy Trinity, just as this sweet and blissful song, angelic singing, silent harmony is heard from some harp.” The Godly shepherds of the Church, caring about the improvement of church singing, did not dare to ever allow singing in church that had a theatrical character. They rebelled with all the force of their denunciations against those who, for the sake of refined, sensual pleasures of the ear, attempted to introduce the effeminacy of theatrical music into church singing. Thus, the same saint of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom, when he noticed the emergence of a passionate theatrical cry in church singing, he immediately armed himself with all the force of an accusatory word against this innovation, exclaiming, among other things, the following: “Unhappy, you are introducing here the customs of comedians, publicly revealing an absent-minded spirit in inarticulate cries... Why a strong cry and a violent tension of the spirit, emitting sounds that do not mean anything true? Isn't this the work of loudmouths at shows? How dare you mix in the fun of demons in songs praising God and angels?” The Fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council commanded that church singing be performed with great attention and tenderness and in every possible way avoid disorderly screams. “We wish,” they say, “that those who come to church to sing do not use disorderly cries, do not force an unnatural cry out of themselves, and do not introduce anything incongruous and unusual for the Church, but with great attention and tenderness bring psalmody to God, who watches over the hidden. For the sacred word taught the children of Israel to be reverent (Lev. 15:31). Both in singing and in pronouncing prayer words and in all prayerful movements, ancient Christians observed modesty, decency and reverence. Their prayer in its expression was alien to impudent, loud exclamations and unchaste movements. “By praying modestly and humbly,” they said, “we make our prayers most pleasant before God, when we raise our very hands not too high, but moderately and piously, when we do not raise our eyes to the point of boldness... The very sounds of the voice should be moderate. What benefit does loud shouting bring to those praying? They only disturb others.” This can be seen from the words of St. Cyprian, who, inspiring Christians to observe modesty in prayer and prayer movements, said: “Let those who pray say their prayers decorously, calmly and modestly. The divine eyes should be pleasing both by the position of the body and the sounds of the voice... When we gather together with the brethren and perform divine services with the priest of God, we must never forget about reverence and decorum - we must not pronounce our prayers in disordered words or replace modest prayer with noisy verbiage.” St. John Chrysostom strictly denounces those who, while attending Roman spectacles and games, introduced the customs of comedians into the church and accompanied their prayerful actions with theatrical gestures. To those he said: “Unfortunate one, you are introducing here the customs of dancers and comedians, raising your arms in an indecent manner, jumping with your legs and turning around with your whole body. How are you not afraid and not in awe of such impudence? Or don’t you think that the Lord Himself is invisibly present here, testing the hearts and thoughts of everyone?.. What is the purpose of constantly raising and indecently raising hands during prayer?” Aware of all the indecency for St. Church of God theatrical exclamations and body movements, the ancient Christians did not agree to resort to them even when some of their unwise shepherds demanded it of them. Eusebius narrates that Paul of Samosata, not as a disciple of Christ, struck himself on the thigh with his hand and stamped his feet in the pulpit, reproaching and scolding everyone who did not praise him, did not wave handkerchiefs, as at spectacles, did not cry out along with the men and women deliberately placed around him - his most indecent listeners, but listened decently and modestly, as is proper in the house of God. For indecent behavior in St. In churches, Christians in ancient times were subjected not only to strict verbal reproof from their pastors, but also to severe corporal punishment and exclusion from churches. Palladius, in his story about the Nitrian ascetics, mentioned three palm trees standing in their church, each carrying a whip; notes “that one of these scourges was appointed for the extermination of those who, having come to church, did something indecent.” According to the civil court, for causing obvious disorder or confusion in a church during a service, not only cruel corporal punishment or imprisonment in exile was determined, but even the death penalty. So, by order of Emperor Honorius, the outrage committed in the church was obliged to immediately investigate the form of the outrage and after this the perpetrator of the crime was subject to the death penalty. Emperor Justinian, confirming this legalization of Honorius, issued the following decree: “If anyone, during the performance of the divine service, entered St. church, inflicts any offense on the bishop, or clergy, or other ministers of the church, we command that such a person be scourged and sent to prison. If anyone causes confusion and disorder in the sacred rite or forces it to stop, he will be subject to the death penalty.” (See “Instructions and Consolations of the Christian Faith,” 1891, No. 13). Everything that has been stated so far about what the ancient Christian Church demanded from Christians when visiting the churches of God provides many lessons for Christians of subsequent times. What intelligible lessons are here for Christians who honor St. churches, and what a bitter reproof for those who are cold and disrespectful towards the churches of God, who, out of ignorance or frivolity, or because for them, according to them, every ordinary house, the whole earth is a church of God, a house of worship, do not consider themselves obliged to honor the holy churches with special reverence. God grant that among us there will be fewer of those who should classify themselves among the latter. Conversation No. 12. Against going to church at the wrong time I. Today, brothers, I want to say something about our going to the church of God. Well, of course, we do it if we go to the church of God for prayer and listen to the church service. But here's what's bad: we don't always go on time. Very few people come to church at the beginning of the service, while others leave the church before the end of the service. What kind of service is this - without beginning and without end? What kind of prayer is it without the preliminary and subsequent blessing of God, spoken by the minister and builder of the mysteries of God? It is especially unexcusable to come to the Church of God at the wrong time for the liturgy, for this divine meal mysteriously offered to us. Oh, how careless and unreasonable we are! Tell me, which of us will decide to come at the wrong time when called to some banquet table, and especially to the house of some significant person - who, I say, will decide either to come during the table, or to leave before the end of dinner? Nobody. And we decide to come and go to the holy church, to the house of our God, to the divine prayer or sacramental meal at the wrong time - and without any shame or twinge of conscience. It is not good, brethren, it is disgusting to God, it is harmful to one’s soul to be so careless in such a holy and soul-saving matter as public prayer and divine service in church. II. a) It’s not good, it’s disgusting, it’s harmful to your soul to come to prayer in church after the service has begun. This time there is a church story that testifies to the attention with which in this case they look at us from heaven, from the triumphant Church. Those who have enlightened hearts (Eph. 1:18) saw how an angel of God signed up those entering the church for prayer (“Prologue,” March 5). This very thing is depicted, as we have also seen, at the entrances to some of our Orthodox churches. Well, brethren, does the angel of the Lord record us or not record us when we come to church before the beginning of the service? If he writes it down, then, of course, it is as it is, that is, he writes it down when he arrives at the wrong time, and this will testify to our negligence in such a holy and soul-saving matter as prayer to God, and, without a doubt, will be blamed on us. You may say: “The Lord is merciful; He accepts at the sixth, and at the ninth, and at the eleventh hour.” Yes, but it accepts those who could not come earlier, who were delayed by any circumstances beyond their control. No, the Lord sees our disposition, knows our hearts, and will judge us by them in the fulfillment of both prayer and every Christian duty. b) It is bad, ungodly, and harmful to the soul to leave the church before the end of the service. The same vision of an angel, as the Church narrates, confirms us of this. Those names who, out of laziness, left the service and left the church earlier, were blotted out by the angel of the Lord from the record of those entering the church. What does it mean to erase the names of those who leave prayer? Isn’t it the same thing that their prayer is not accepted by God, that it’s as if they weren’t at prayer in church at all? You see how disgusting and destructive to us is that which we usually do not consider a sin. Remember also the Jerusalem Upper Room, this prototype of our Christian churches, and that initial divine liturgy, which was performed by the Redeemer of the world Himself at the Last Supper. And there was a sad, painful adventure for the Divine Perpetrator of the sacrament. One of those present, an unworthy disciple, left the supper before the Savior finished His divine service. What were the disastrous consequences of the exodus of this disciple, we all know, brethren. To whom did he, unfortunate man, submit, who lured him away from such a divine meal? This is what the Gospel announces to us. And through the bread, it is said, “Satan entered into him,” that is, into Judas... He took a piece and immediately went out” (John 13:27, 30). So, at whose inspiration the unfortunate traitor left the Lord’s Supper and left the most holy room of Zion! His motivation was the devil, who had previously placed in his heart the terrible thought of betraying his Lord (John 13:2). The devil, without a doubt, is the culprit of the negligence of those who pray, and those Christians who leave prayer prematurely and leave the church before the end of the service always act at his suggestion. This is exactly what those who have eyes to see saw again. One perspicacious elder, standing in the church, saw a demon walking around the praying brethren and throwing flowers at each of them. Whichever of the brethren the flower did not pester stood firmly and motionless until the end of the service, and the one that pestered, he became lazy and relaxed and, under some pretext, left the church (“Prologue”, March 26). And who else will drive us out of the Church of God, who else will drive us away from God, if not the devil? Perhaps it will seem surprising to us how the devil can be in the church of God. There is nothing to be surprised about. If his ministers are in the church, then why shouldn’t he be here too? And who are served by those who stand in the church indecently, without attention, without reverence, without prayer, occupied not only with extraneous thoughts, but also with extraneous conversations and other indecent actions, forgetting the holiness of the place, and the dignity of the sacred rites being performed, and the host of worshipers, entertained by the premature departure of some Christians from the church, making noise by leaving the church and knocking on the church doors. III. It is not good, it is disgusting, it is harmful to the soul, brethren, to come to church for God’s service at the wrong time, as well as to leave church prematurely. Judge for yourself, what dignity can not an entire service have? What kind of prayer will it be, how soon does it matter to us - sooner or later to come to church and also to leave church? Wouldn't this be a sign of our negligence and negligence towards prayer? Is it really enough for us just to go to church, as if this is how we fulfill our Christian duty? No, brethren. Duty must be performed properly. We must have diligence, care, attention to time, we must try to come to prayer in the Church of God, as well as leave the church, at the appropriate time, so that our prayer is complete and complete and thus serves us for salvation, so that we can both begin and complete our Christian duty for the blessing of God on behalf of the servant of Christ. Our timely arrival in the church and departure will greatly contribute to the order and decorum of the church service itself, to which both simple sound reasoning and the instructions of the Apostle oblige us all, namely regarding the decorum and order of the church, which he said: “Only everything should be decent and orderly” (1 Cor. 14:40). Amen. (Compiled from the book “The Sower of Piety” by Archpriest V. Nordov, vol. 2). Conversation No. 13. About untimely removal from the church I. “Ask each other to stand the same way you stood, and if someone moves from his place, try to hold him.” This is what St. said in his time. John Chrysostom is against those who leave the church before the end of the Divine Liturgy. Godly listeners! You, of course, will not be surprised at the beginning of our word if you pay attention to what usually happens in this St. church - in moments like the present. As soon as the preacher ascends to the pulpit, some try to come closer to her, but others rush at the same time to leave the house of God, not at all thinking about the fact that they are the cause of considerable embarrassment in the church, and especially the embarrassment of the heralds of the word of God, who, perhaps, it was for their sake that they undertook the work, and nor about what loss and what harm they cause themselves by such an untimely removal from the sanctuary. II. We invite everyone to think about this, so that they can all the more diligently use their assistance in admonishing their sinning brothers. “The kingdom of heaven is like a king, who held a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast; and didn't want to come. Again he sent other slaves, saying: Tell those who are invited: behold, I have prepared my dinner, my bullocks and what is fattened, slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast. But they despised this and went, some to their field, and some to their trade” (Matthew 22:2-5). What befell or will befall those despisers and evildoers, and what fate those who were among the many called, but were not among the few chosen, suffered or will suffer, you must, brethren, be very aware. Is it necessary to explain to you, brethren, that the king who sends his servants to call those invited to the wedding feast of His Son is none other than the Heavenly King Himself, the all-powerful Lord of heaven and earth, our all-wise Creator and all-good Provider; that in ancient times He sent prophets, then apostles, and successors to the apostolic ministry, shepherds and preachers of the word of God, and these latter He will send until the end of the century - to call those called to the gracious and glorious kingdom of His Only Begotten Son, Who, like the Bridegroom and the bride, united with the Church, offers to all believers - as at a wedding feast - an abundance of grace-filled gifts for earth and eternal glory in heaven? These are truths that are very clear to every Orthodox Christian. But let me ask you this: what kind of called should we classify ourselves as? The question is extremely important, because it concerns our eternal destiny. We do not at all wish, brethren, to preface God’s judgment with our judgment on anyone, but we leave each to the judgment of his own conscience. Let us only say that it is good for the one who, carefully testing himself, his deeds, words and very thoughts, condemns himself and seeks justification from the only Lord, such a one will probably avoid condemnation at the terrible judgment of Christ. But woe to us, brethren, if we justify ourselves before God, while our deeds condemn us. Judge for yourselves what those of us are doing to ourselves who, as soon as they see the servant of Christ sent by the King of Heaven, a servant of Christ, ready to proclaim the will of God to everyone, calling those invited to the wedding feast of the Son of the Tsar, hastily leave the church meeting! Do they not show through this that they do not want to respond to the call of the heavenly Master, that they do not even want to hear about what He is calling them to? With all the variety of preaching, one longed-for voice is heard by everyone: come to the wedding feast in the heavenly chamber. “They despised it and went, some to their field, and some to their trade” (Matthew 22:5). To whom is such obvious neglect and annoyance shown? Oh, if only this applied only to the servants of Christ; but no - in their person they annoy the Lord Himself, Who, sending His disciples to preach, Himself said: “He who listens to you listens to Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10:16)! “Yes, we,” perhaps some will say, “would be glad to listen, but that’s why we are leaving because we either have nothing new or don’t hope to hear anything at all.” a) True, they do not proclaim news from this sacred place, but only remind you and reveal to you ancient truths, or, better to say, eternal ones, but these truths deserve all our attention because they are immutable and unchangeable - that heaven and earth will sooner pass away than one iota or one tittle will pass from the law of God proclaimed to you. If you want real, saving news for yourself, then accept the word of salvation, which perhaps you have heard so many times with such indifference, take it to your heart, with sincere love and reverence, as coming from God Himself - and this will be the kind of news about which your soul will rejoice and the heavenly angels themselves will rejoice. b) Perhaps it is also true that our weak voice cannot sufficiently fill such a vast space as this sanctuary occupies. But don’t you yourself increase the natural difficulty in this case when you begin noisy movement from place to place precisely at a time when deep silence should reign? If this condition is met, even a weak voice could be heard at a great distance. If you had not heard everything that was said to you, then even the little you heard would probably not have remained without fruit. c) If, despite all this, you think that you would receive little benefit from preaching, then know that in any case, the work of your love and patience, your determination to remain in the church of God for a very short time, would not have been left without the greatest reward. Remember who, after the sermon, with the opening of the royal doors, appears to the people, proclaiming: “Will you approach with the fear of God and faith?” – The risen Christ Himself is in His most pure mysteries. Remember what sweetness the soul of a believer feels when immediately after this it is overshadowed by a heavenly blessing, with the cry: “Save, O God, Thy people, and bless Thy inheritance”; when it is again marked by the gracious overshadowing of the mysteries of Christ, in memory of the saving Ascension of the Lord; when he then hears: “We will leave in peace,” and after the farewell prayer for leaving the church, read behind the pulpit, he is once again overshadowed by the blessing of the Lord and is dismissed with goodwill on behalf of the Church, may Christ, our true God, save and have mercy through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother and all the saints!.. Isn’t it better, brethren, to remain in the sacred assembly with prayer and blessing, as is characteristic of children of faith and hope, close to God and fellow saints, than to flee, like spies and loitering strangers? III. So, fellow Christians, having thought about how wrong those who leave the church before the start of the sermon, before the end of the Divine Liturgy are doing, and how much they are losing, follow the instructions of the universal teacher, St. John Chrysostom, which we brought to you from the very beginning of our word and with which allow us to finish the word: “Ask each other to stand together” until the end of the divine service in the same way as they stood at the beginning, attentively and reverently; and if anyone moves from his place, try to restrain him, so that for your own zeal and for your care for the brethren you will receive a special reward, and with great boldness you can send up your prayers, and propitiate God, and earn both present and future benefits, through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory and power forever and ever.” (St. John Chrysostom “Conversations on the Incomprehensible”, III). Amen. (Compiled from “Christian Reasonings and Reflections” by Archpriest V. Grechulevich, part 1). Appendix to conversation No. 13. On measures to preserve decorum and silence during church services We also beg you, brethren, to admonish the disorderly (1 Thess. 5:14). Only everything must be decent and orderly (1 Cor. 14:40). In Orthodox Russian churches, there are very often cases of violation of silence and decorum during services, especially in cities. Conversations between some of those standing in the church are a common occurrence in city churches and are allowed not only by children, but also by adults, and are mainly conducted by such persons who attend divine services not because of their zeal and disposition, but because of their official position. An Orthodox commoner, having come to church, usually prays and then silently bows to those present, while persons from the educated classes, entering the church, first of all consider it an obligation to greet their acquaintances, and, moreover, not with a silent bow, but accompany their greetings with more or less audible conversations, and after such conversations they wave their hand near the buttons of their coat, instead of the sign of the cross, and then again begin to conversations. Cases of violation of silence and decorum in churches occur even at such sacred moments when special attention and reverence are required. Many times, in churches in various localities, we have seen that those approaching the holy mysteries unceremoniously push others aside in order to quickly receive communion or approach the priest to confess their sins, and those who received the push scold or even respond with pushes. The priest, seeing that they are pressing on him, and fearing that trouble might happen, persuades the crowd not to crowd and push, but exhortations do not work well, and so the cleric or one of the parishioners, on the order of the priest, forcefully pushes back those rushing forward, and there is an inevitable crush and screams. It rarely happens that everyone approaches the cross or the Gospel calmly and quietly, and the distribution of fronds is sometimes even accompanied by mutilation. Antidorus is usually taken in great demand, while pushing away the outstretched hands of others. But the behavior of those present in churches during the celebration of the sacrament of marriage is especially outrageous. Instead of participating in the prayers offered by the celebrant of the sacrament, the majority of those present unceremoniously examine the faces and clothes of the bride and groom, express more or less loudly their judgments about their merits and demerits, and generally behave completely incongruously with the holiness of the place and the service. Since cases of violation of silence and order during services in churches occur not in just one locality, but in all places of Orthodox Russia, and since the enemies of the Orthodox Church take advantage of these cases to humiliate the faith itself and the Orthodox Church, then, in our opinion, serious attention should be paid to the prevention and eradication of this important shortcoming. The Orthodox clergy, for their part, have always taken care of maintaining decorum and silence in churches, instilling in parishioners thoughts about the holiness of God’s churches, the need for a reverent and attentive attitude to divine services in their conversations and teachings. Proof of this care is the many printed teachings and instructions on church deanery. The admonitions of the clergy, of course, produced and are producing a beneficial effect, but not for everyone, and therefore it turns out to be necessary, in addition to the moral influence of the clergy, to take other measures. The civil government of Orthodox Russia, due to the close connection of state and church interests in it, has always tried to protect church decorum from violations of it, and the laws currently in force (“Code of Laws,” vol. XIV) contain detailed rules on the prevention and suppression of violations of decorum in Orthodox churches. Nevertheless, cases of violation of silence and order in churches occur, as we said above, very often. Why does it happen that the requirements of the law remain for the most part a dead letter? It seems to us that this occurs, on the one hand, from an insufficient number of persons who are entrusted with monitoring the silence and order in the churches, and on the other, because monitoring the silence and order in the churches is only one of the many responsibilities of these persons. According to current laws, peace and quiet in the church must be protected by the local police and partly by the clergy; but the police at the same time bear many other duties, and its officials do not have the opportunity to be present at divine services in all churches. As a result of this impossibility, city police officers usually limit their presence only to bishop services, religious processions and other crowded church processions, and do not attend churches at all. Thus, the supervision of silence and order during divine services in most churches rests with the clergy alone. But, occupied with a service that requires complete concentration of thoughts and feelings and elevation from the earthly to the heavenly, it does not have the opportunity to monitor silence and order and is forced to make such or other orders on this subject only in cases of flagrant violations of silence and order, heard throughout the entire church; riots that are not very significant remain without any observation, and therefore are repeated fearlessly and with impunity. The inadequacy of local police monitoring of silence and order in churches, in addition to their small number and the impossibility of being present in all churches and during all services, also depends on the fact that they often include persons of non-Orthodox religion and that their ranks do not depend at all on the heads of churches. As a result of this, police officers often, instead of establishing order, themselves, through a sad misunderstanding, cause disturbances, for example, they do not allow the so-called “rabble” into the church, although they are the more enlightened people who are zealous for worship; they push people from the lower classes into the back rows and corners, clearing the place for people of the noble class, etc., and do not at all consider it a violation of peace and order conversations, smiles and laughter of persons of the privileged classes. In order for the requirements of church and civil laws regarding the observance of silence and decorum in churches to be observed with due rigor, in our opinion, it is necessary that the supervision of the fulfillment of these requirements be entrusted to such persons who would have the opportunity to be unacceptably present at divine services, at least on Sundays and holidays, and whose views on church decorum would be fully consistent with the rules of the Orthodox Church. Such persons, in our opinion, can be those of the parishioners of each church who differ from others by honest behavior and zeal for the Church of God and who are always known to both the parish and the clergy. From among such persons, observers of peace and order in the church should be elected for a one-year or three-year term. This election should be made with the participation of the local clergy and approved by the local dean. The number of such observers should be proportionate to the number of parishioners and the size of the churches. Special instructions must be drawn up and approved by law for their management. The closest supervision and guidance over the execution of the chosen ones’ duties should lie with local priests, and the highest – with deans and diocesan authorities. Such observers must be assigned a special sign and given the right to make reminders to violators of silence and order, without distinction of rank or status, as well as to take other legal measures to restore order, without distinction of the official position of those causing chaos. Thus, to maintain silence and order in the church, civilian police would be unnecessary, which would be replaced by special church guardians in each parish. The establishment of such guardians, subordinate to spiritual authority, would undoubtedly contribute to the preservation of silence and order in churches much more successfully than is being done now. When everyone who comes to church knows that if he speaks even quietly during the service, the church guardian will come up to him and remind him of order, then, of course, he will not even think about talking; and persons occupying prominent positions in the administration will be even more reluctant to disturb peace and order than others, for fear of being reprimanded in the presence of others and thereby losing their dignity. The measure we propose is not something new and unprecedented; it is practiced in churches of non-Orthodox faiths that exist in our own country, and is accompanied by quite successful results. There cannot be the slightest humiliation for Orthodoxy if this useful measure is introduced in Orthodox churches. Moreover, she fully agrees with the practice of the ancient Orthodox Church, in which there were special persons who observed silence and order during worship, from among the parishioners, and were considered part of the church clergy. Such, for example, are the “doorkeepers”, who are mentioned in the 4th rule of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (See “Guide for Rural Shepherds”). Conversation No. 14. On the responsibility of parents to bring their children to the church of God Be careful that you do not despise one of these little ones. (Matthew 18:10) I. Being present in church during divine services is necessary and saving for children, and bringing them to church is an indispensable duty of parents, saving for themselves. Being present in a church during a divine service is necessary and saving for children - because a church during a divine service is a place of saving prayerful conversation with the Lord the Savior and with all the inhabitants of heaven, a place of highest spiritual education and teaching. II. a) There is no need to prove to Christians the need for prayer for children: it is enough to recall that prayer is the breath of the soul, necessary for spiritual life, just as material breath is for bodily life. From the moment the baby began to utter his first words, let him, first of all, learn to pronounce the sweetest, great and venerable name of God the Savior; the baby’s gift of speech should be sanctified by the shrine of the Lord. As soon as the baby is able to open his innocent and bright eyes, let him get used to looking at the beautiful sky - the dwelling of the Lord Almighty, at the holy church - the earthly house of the Lord the Savior, at the honorable icons of the Lord, His Most Pure Mother and all the holy saints of God, let his gaze be sanctified by the shrine of the Lord. As soon as your baby’s weak hands begin to move freely, teach him to fold his small fingers to sign himself with the sign of the cross, which will protect him from all evil and enemy obsession. As soon as the baby’s feet become stronger and stronger, immediately take him to church for prayer and participation in worship: the first use of all his strength and abilities should be prayer; the first actions of a Christian baby should also be liturgical; Let the first time of his life be devoted to the Lord, the Giver of life and bliss. In homes, among everyday worries and worldly vanity, prayer is often forgotten and neglected; let children, at least in church, pray to the Heavenly Father; do not deprive them of conversation with God, at least in the house of God. Be careful not to despise one of these little ones just because they are still young; Do not neglect children just because they are children. They have not yet acquired the skill of doing good freely and serving God wisely, but they are innocent and pure in soul and body and can appear before the face of God with complete filial boldness; one might say that God’s justice itself does not find in them objects for anger and punishment, and the Lord accepts their prayers as an immaculate and acceptable sacrifice. Your little children are great before God! “Who is greater in the Kingdom of Heaven?” , the apostles asked the Lord Jesus, “Jesus called a child, set him in the midst of them and said: Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of God; Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-4). Be careful not to despise one of these little ones - for the sake of the Savior Himself, Who throughout His life showed special favor to children. Remember how one day parents brought children to Him, so that He could touch them, lay hands on them and pray for them, but the disciples forbade those who brought them. What about the Lord? “But Jesus said: Let the little children come and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:13–15) and then, embracing them, he laid his hands on them and blessed them (Mark 10:13–14; Luke 18:15–17). Remember also the circumstances of the Lord Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The Jews were angry with the children who exclaimed: “Hosanna to the Son of David,” and they said to the Lord: “Do you hear what they say?” . He answered: “Yes! Have you never read: from the mouths of babes and sucklings You have ordained praise?” (Matthew 21:15–16)? And your children can also please the Lord with their prayer and praise, singing to Him a praise more worthy than the song of the Jewish youths. b) Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones (Matthew 18:10): bring your children to the church of God, which is the place of the highest spiritual education - all Christians, and especially children for temporary and eternal life. In childhood, a person nourishes, grows and strengthens mainly through eating and drinking. But the best earthly food and drink are not sufficient for true life; especially for the tender nature of an infant, food that is better than mother’s milk is needed—higher and divine. Therefore, bring your children to be nourished and strengthened by the Most Pure Body and the Life-Giving Blood of Christ. Has your child been exposed to illness? Immediately take it to the church and partake of the Body and Blood of Christ: this medicine is the best of all medicines, a divine and miraculous remedy for healing. Is your child always healthy? Do not leave it without frequent communion - for greater strength of the body, for maintaining flourishing health, for the sanctification of all forces and feelings, for the multiplication of grace-filled gifts. Remember more often the example of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Who, having remained in the church from the age of three, did not know ordinary human food at all and accepted food brought to Her by an angel. Why don’t Christian parents feed their children as often as possible, for example, once a week or once a month with such food that is infinitely higher than any angelic food? Heed the admonition of St. Churches: “Parents should often bring a baby to the communion of mysteries; so much more will we observe and grow from Christ, and not as those who oppose the Church in this are negligent, and excommunicate infants from fellowship saying: “Infants do not know what they fellowship with.” Oh, what recklessness! And why are you being baptized? or why are you anointing yourself with the world? When, through the faithful recipients, the baby is brought to God, then he is truly reborn into the kingdom of heaven and, when he dies, becomes an heir to the kingdom of God, so through the faithful he is brought into communion, which is eternal life. And just as one who is not reborn by water and the Spirit will not enter the kingdom of heaven, so also one who does not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, as the Lord Himself said, and do not drink His Blood, will not have eternal life” (“New Tablet,” part 4, p. 43). c) Be careful not to despise one of these little ones; bring your children to the church, to this common school of faith and piety, to be taught all truth. Childhood must certainly be devoted to the teaching of the Lord (Eph.6:4). For this it is necessary to bring children to the church. Here, every service they will hear is a wonderful lesson for life, they will find many examples to follow, they will learn to be Orthodox Christians and useful members of our great Fatherland. Teach them from the days of infancy to look at the Divine Infant Jesus, held in the arms of His most blessed Mother, and they will imperceptibly learn humility, meekness, gentleness, obedience, which the Lord showed throughout His life. Teach them to look at the image of the introduction into the church of the three-year-old Virgin Mary, who then spent her entire childhood and youth in the church reading the word of God and unceasingly serving God - and they, at least on Sundays and holidays, will certainly rush to the church - to listen to the word of God and learn the commandments of the Lord. Let your children from infancy love the splendor of the church of the Lord, so that they can speak with David: “I have asked one thing of the Lord, this only I seek, that I may abide in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to contemplate the beauty of the Lord and visit His (holy) church” (Ps. 26:4), this will be the most precious inheritance, the most reliable parting word for life. In infancy, every time from the church they will bring the blessing of God into the house, and holy angels will constantly surround their small home. In adulthood, love for the church will inspire them to every good deed, comfort them in every sorrow, and save them in every disturbance of the sea of ​​life. In moments of sorrow, your child will rush to the church - at the foot of the cross of Christ he will pour out the sorrow of his suffering heart, lay down the burden of unbearable sadness - and the Lord Himself, in the words of St. David, will hide him in His village in the day of evil, will cover him in the secret of His village, and your child, in a feeling of thanksgiving and joy, will bring to the Lord a sacrifice of praise and shouting (Ps. 26: 5). Before the icon of our most merciful Lady, the Mother of God will kneel in tenderness of heart - and the Queen of Heaven Herself will cover your child with Her heavenly cover and pray for him to Her beloved Son and Lord. Orphanhood itself, poverty itself is not terrible for a pious soul, completely devoted to the Lord: he is not an orphan whose father is the Heavenly Father, who for the sake of the sons of men did not spare His Only Begotten Son, and whose mother is the Most Merciful Mother of the Lord, constantly praying for the sinful human race; He is not poor whose church is his favorite refuge, for whom the inexhaustible treasury of God’s grace is open, to whom the blessed kingdom of heaven is promised. d) Be careful, pious parents, that you do not despise one of these little ones; raise your children in the fear of God and bring them to St. church: this is your indispensable, self-saving duty - a virtue that is accompanied by countless and obvious good consequences. If parents forget about the good of their children, let them take care of their own good, which comes from their children going to church. Do you desire and expect love, devotion, respect, obedience, and caring from your children? To do this, bring them to the church as often as possible. Here, when they look at the Divine Child Jesus, they will remember every time the duty of love to their parents. When looking at the Most Holy Mother of the Lord, who protected Her beloved Son infinitely more than Herself, they will remember the love and care of their parents and decide to earn their love through their pious life, love and obedience. When they look at the Lord hanging on the cross, they will remember His words to His Mother, spoken from the cross, and, imitating the Lord, they will try to calm you, parents, in your old age and console you in all sorrow. When looking at the icons of St. The apostles will remember the apostolic commandments: “Children, listen to your parents in the Lord.” When looking at the icon of the prophet Moses, they will remember the curse on disobedient children: “Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death” (Ex. 21:17). Leave the children to come to the Lord in the church and do not scold them - for your own good! Perhaps you sometimes lack sincere zeal and desire to pray? Lead your children with you, convince them to pray with you and for you, compel yourself to pray with them and for them - and the Lord will give you a spirit of prayer and zeal for holy church and saving worship. Standing in the church with their children, parents would have a strong urge to behave more decently and modestly, fearing to seduce their children, because “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me,” says the Savior, “it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he was drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42), - we would pray more fervently, we would be afraid to think about anything bad, because a child is a living conscience, a personified law, a most convincing reminder of reverence; One look from a child is already a reproach for poorly praying parents. Bring your children to the church. Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones... Maybe sometimes you go to church with a restless conscience and with some fear for the sake of your sins: take your children with you, put them between you and the saint. altar, in your prayer of repentance, point them out to the merciful Savior - and He will listen and have mercy on you! Through children you will get closer to God, for the children you will receive a blessing from Him: “Whoever receives one of these children in My name,” says the Lord, “he receives Me; but whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me” (Mark 9:36–37). Perhaps your prayers are fulfilled only because your children pray with you, and are not fulfilled because your children do not pray with you. Perhaps you remain alive for the integrity of your children, and only they reflect the arrows of heavenly justice with a child’s hand. The corrupt city of Nineveh was told of destruction: “yet forty days, and Nineveh will be destroyed” (Jon. 3:4). But listen to what God says to the prophet Jonah about this city: “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, and many livestock?” (John 4:11). The Lord spared Nineveh for the sake of innocent babies. Once the Jews suffered from crop failure and drought, and God Himself indicated among other means one thing - perhaps the strongest: “Gather together the youths and sucklings” (Joel 2:16), and then the Lord spared His people and returned abundance and blessing to the earth (Joel 2:19) for the sake of innocent prayers - babies. And this means of salvation is in your hands! Use it for your temporal and eternal good; gather the children to the church for prayer - and the merciful Lord will spare us all. Even in another life, it is not scary for those parents who will have children who love the church of God and are imbued with the spirit of Christian prayer; after parting with their parents, the children will visit the church more often, more often fall at the altar on which a bloodless sacrifice is offered for the living and the dead, pray more diligently to Christ the Savior for the salvation and repose of their deceased parents - and the prayer of filial faith will save the souls of their parents. III. “Be careful that you do not despise one of these little ones. Leave the children to come to Me,” says the Lord, “and do not scold them.” (Compiled from the magazine “Sunday Reading”, 1845). Conversation No. 15. On observing church rituals I. Christian church rituals are so closely connected with the Church and religion that neither the Church nor religion can be separated from the rituals. Without them it is impossible to imagine either the Church existing on earth or the religion we profess. If there is a confession, then there must be a form of confession. If there is a Church, then there must be sacrifices made in it. II. These sacrifices include prayers, chants, fasting and the performance of sacraments. Who will consider them unnecessary in our belief system? Who will represent the Church without performing rituals in it? Just as it is impossible to live on earth without a body, so it is impossible to call oneself believers and belonging to the Church without expressing thoughts and feelings worthy of faith and the Church. a) The very antiquity of pious rites vouches for their importance and dignity. Sacred rites were preserved in the Old Testament Church. Moreover, they must be preserved in the Christian Church. Both fasting and prayer, going to church and listening to the word of God were observed by the Savior and His Most Pure Mother. The guardians of Church rites were the apostles and all their followers. In this sacred host of zealots of the apostolic traditions we find holy fathers and teachers of the Church, confessors and martyrs, enlightened men and simple hermits. Did all these holy men and women who followed Christ the Savior deceive themselves or deceive others when they considered it an indispensable duty to fulfill all the rules and rituals of the Orthodox Church? It is impossible for the deception to continue for so long and in such high people who are incapable of lies and deceit. In the performance of sacred rites they found peace, consolation and bliss. To preserve them and protect them from others, ancient Christians were ready to shed their blood. Where does such zeal and zeal in preserving rituals come from if rituals meant nothing in the Church and in our faith itself? Why are church rituals attacked if they originate from Jesus Christ and His apostles and cannot be taken away from the Orthodox Church? b) Since the Christian religion is revealed in the fulfillment of the rules and regulations of the Church, those who try to remain without any religion rebel against rituals and consider them unnecessary. In their opinion, all faith must be in the spirit, especially since God Himself is a spiritual Being and objects of faith belong to the spiritual world. Indeed, the profession of faith depends on its inner consciousness and conviction in its rules. But who can guarantee that those who boast of their inner confession retain the faith? Such people are either themselves deceived or deceiving others with their imaginary faith. In fact, is it possible to think that he prays internally if he does not pray either at home or in church? Is it possible to believe that he is a true Christian who does not observe fasts, holidays, or other rituals? Is it possible to hope that someone who does not attend the visible Church and does not follow church rules will believe in the Church as established by Jesus Christ? Can one be expected to have reverence on the inside who does not have it on the outside? And we can find such imaginary Christians not only among the so-called Doukhobors, but also among the current younger generation. Nowadays they reject external church rituals in order to live in freedom and not submit to any religion, so as not to fulfill the sacraments and other church decrees. To achieve this goal, uncalled teachers allow themselves to humiliate not only the rituals, but also those who perform them. c) You can often hear people called pretend Pharisees and even hypocrites. Who is called that in Christian societies? Unfortunately, sometimes those who are distinguished by their piety and the performance of Christian rites are called - those who go to church and pray in it, observe fasts and respect holidays. Those who do not begin any work without the sign of the cross are also named, perform morning and evening prayers, fast every fast, give feasible sacrifices for churches and alms for the poor brethren. Judge for yourself whether you can laugh at such people and whether they deserve the contempt to which they are subjected? It is true that the passions of ambition, greed and love of fame are sometimes mixed into the performance of church rites and good Christian deeds, that it happens to see good done for show, without the participation of the heart, but according to one established custom. What do such examples instill in us in the lives of Christians? They only teach us that people cannot suddenly become true Christians in soul and body, but gradually ascend from external to internal perfection. At first they fulfill their duties out of external motivations, and then they learn to fulfill them out of love for God and the law prescribed by Him. With this in mind, we must look condescendingly at the first beginnings of Christian life, and not condemn our neighbors for their outward behavior. And who made us judges over others in matters of faith and piety? Let everyone turn to himself and experience the fruits of his inner conviction! Do they act better when they talk about their faith, but do not perform works of piety? And can we expect good fruits from those who condemn others for what they themselves do not do? III. I say all this, brethren, as your warning and instruction. Whether they revile you for your faith or for the name of Christ, wanting to remove you from the confession of the Orthodox faith, whether they revile you for fulfilling the vows you have made and the external rites of worship, but all these reproaches do not cause you harm, but also turn for the good and salvation of the soul, at least they cannot harm either the rules of religion or the class that adheres to them. However, rest assured that humiliation from the world cannot be crowned with complete success as long as our Russian land remains Orthodox and remains under the rule of true and pious kings. Hoping for the protection of the earthly king, we will turn in prayer to the Heavenly King and to our Intercessor, the Heavenly Queen. Holy Mother of God! In the church, You, Most Pure One, found refuge from the vanities of the world for Your upbringing and preparation for worldwide glory. Protect us, those praying before You, from enemies visible and invisible, and preserve us until the end of the century under the roof of Your mercy. Amen. (Compiled from the “Words” of Macarius, Archbishop of Donskoy). Conversation No. 16. On observing church commandments I. The Holy Church, which revived us St. baptism for a life in accordance with the will of God, enlightening us with the light of the Gospel teaching and sanctifying us with the sacraments of the New Testament of God, guides us, through its shepherds and builders of the mysteries of God, to our eternal destination - to the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. But the doctor is not able to heal the patient, the mentor cannot teach the student anything, the leader will not lead the blind man to the desired goal if the patient does not obey the doctor, the student will not listen to his teacher, and the blind man will not surrender to the guidance of his driver. Likewise, all the care for us of St. Churches will remain futile for us and will not lead us to the longed-for goal of our existence on earth - to eternal bliss, if we are not attentive and faithful to the teachings of St. Church, we will not obey its regulations that are beneficial to us, we will evade fulfilling its commandments. II. Why St. The Church demands from us - this can generally be learned from the Holy Scriptures, from the rules of St. apostles, holy Ecumenical and Local Councils and holy fathers, also from church statutes. But St. The Church primarily demands from every Christian the fulfillment of its sacred decrees, set out in the so-called nine church commandments. a) The Church, firstly, commands us, its children, to come to the churches of God on all Sundays and holidays - to listen to Matins, Liturgy, Vespers and teachings, to pray to God with contrition and tenderness of heart, and to fulfill church regulations related to open and public worship of God. How salutary this institution is is evident from the fact that by constant participation in the divine services of St. A Christian, confirmed in its teachings, is not in danger of straying into the crossroads of heresies and schisms; through public worship, mutual love between Christians is spread and strengthened, because, gathering for the most exalted purpose on earth in the same places, and, despite the difference in conditions, participating in the same sacraments, Christians are experimentally convinced that they are all children of one Heavenly Father, called to achieve one and the same. the same destination, i.e. eternal bliss. But it is especially useful to participate in the open worship of St. Churches to deepen in our hearts the truths of Christian faith and activity, for family piety and the upbringing of children. Thus, by the very establishment of Christian holidays, the Church reminds us of the main beneficial events of God’s economy about our salvation, and by setting forth in prayers, chants and readings not only the fundamental truths of faith and the foundations of our hope, but also the actions during the earthly life of the Savior and the exploits of the prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors and the many different virtues of people of every condition, glorified by the holiness of life, constantly nourishes in us faith and hope, encourages us to repentance and Christian activity. For such purposes, public worship has been established by the Church; therefore, just as mere participation in it, without correction of the heart, is vile hypocrisy, so deviation from the external worship of the Church is a sign of, if not obvious, then hidden wickedness. b) To mortify the lusts that rise up in the soul, to curb bad inclinations, fasting is the most real, inevitably necessary means for us. The truth of this is proven by the lives of all the holy saints of God. But since the very concept of fasting, due to its uncertainty, provides our sensual nature with excuses to evade the use of this means, necessary in the exploits of salvation, then St. The Church, based on traditions, established specific times for fasting and not only prescribed the most moderate satisfaction of hunger and thirst during them, but even limited this requirement of our nature by prohibiting certain types of food and drink, such as meat, cheese, eggs, milk, wine and other drinks. This kind of fast, observed by the Church since ancient times, is called: the first - Great, the second - Petrovsky, the third - Spasov or Uspensky, the fourth - Rozhdestvensky. In addition, the Church requires fasting on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, on the day of the beheading of St. John the Baptist, on Wednesdays and Fridays of the whole year, but not on Saturdays and Sundays according to the 66th rule of St. Apostle, excluding Holy Saturday. And for important reasons, the consumption of meat food is allowed even on Wednesdays and Fridays from the day of the Nativity of Christ until the eternity of St. Epiphany, the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee, and throughout Bright Week. But St. The Church, having established these fasts to help us mortify our sensuality, thereby inspires that true fasting primarily consists of abstaining from evil deeds. c) Thirdly, St. The Church commands us to pay due respect to its clergy, especially to our spiritual father, to whom we reveal the secrets of our conscience, demanding advice from him and following his leadership in the matter of our salvation. If we must show filial respect to carnal fathers for their care for the organization of temporary well-being, then all the more do our spiritual mentors deserve our love and respect as builders of the mysteries of God, as living instruments of heavenly grace, with whose hands the saving New Testament sacraments are performed and the Body and Blood of Christ are taught to us. Therefore, the apostles commanded that the elders be given extreme honor (1 Tim. 5:7), and the leading Christians had such respect and love for the shepherds of the Church that, according to the testimony of the Apostle Paul, the Galatians were ready, if necessary, to pluck out and give him their eyes (Gal. 4:15). d) The Holy Church commands the fourth commandment to its children - every month, and at least once a year, on St. Pentecost, to confess your sins before a legally ordained priest. And those whose spiritual feelings, through exercise in pious deeds, come hour by hour to a healthier state, vividly feel the need to heal their souls with the sacrament of repentance, even after every involuntary and thought-committed sin. How beneficial is the care of St. The Church, which demands that we, especially in serious bodily illnesses, the cause of which - immediate or distant - is always sin, first of all try to clear our conscience by confession, to partake of the Holy Spirit. the mysteries of Christ and be sanctified by the sacrament of consecration of oil, which, while healing the soul, often, as experiments confirm, restores physical health. e) The most dangerous of mental illnesses is the deviation of our mind and heart from true faith, because with the loss of true faith, there is no means either on earth or in heaven for a person’s spiritual salvation. Wanting to turn us away from such a disastrous state, St. The Church prescribes with the fifth commandment that those inexperienced in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, who have not received a thorough education in theological sciences, should not read books written by heretics and generally ill-intentioned people, should not listen to their talk and should not enter into discussions with them about objects of faith. The Apostle Paul forbids even experienced servants of the faith from useless competitions about its subjects (2 Tim. 2:14), all the more it is dangerous for one who is not firmly established in the teachings of the Church to listen to perverse rumors or read the writings of those who oppose the truth, while the kingdom of God consists not in word, but in power (1 Cor. 4:20), that is, in faith, operating through love, evidenced by the fulfillment of the commandments of God ( Gal.5:5). Therefore, the word of God warns us that there are people who walk in sheep's clothing, while inside they are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15); that Satan himself takes on the appearance of a bright angel (2 Cor. 11:14), and therefore it is not difficult for his servants to take on the appearance of servants of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:15). Such people usually first try to sow suspicion in the minds of their listeners about the enlightenment and holiness of the shepherds of the Orthodox Church, to instill disgust towards them, then, either with ridicule or with intricate reasoning, they distract those who are not firmly established in its teachings from the right faith. From this it can be seen whether the apostasy from the Church of those people who, having been perplexed about the truth of the teaching of the Orthodox Church, are so frivolous that they do not even turn to its shepherds with a demand for resolution of imaginary perplexities, and in the darkening of their minds with insidious slander are thrown into the abyss of apostasy from the Orthodox, the one primitive and true faith, is excusable. f) The prosperous reign of sovereigns, their peaceful relations with each other, the improvement of the governing authorities, the implementation of domestic laws, the obedience of those subordinate to their superiors - greatly contribute to the success of the true faith, the spread of the Holy Spirit. The Church, assisting each of her sons in deeds of piety. Therefore St. Church to the 6th commandment, following the example of St. Apostle, imposes the obligation on every Orthodox Christian to perform prayers, supplications, petitions, thanksgivings for the king and for all those in power (1 Tim. 2:1), such as: for the regional leader, for the entire synclite, for the entire government, for the army, especially for those who benefit the saint. churches and care about the spread of the Orthodox faith. And since, in the person of the shepherds of the Church, Providence sends us the closest leaders to the kingdom of heaven, who, caring for our souls, will have to give an account of us before the judgment of God (Heb. 13:17), then the Church orders us to pray for the most holy patriarchs and the Synod, for metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, for the entire sacred rank and clergy of the church, so that the grace of God will make them blameless workers, faithfully dividing the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). According to the spirit of our Church, it is saving to send up prayers even for heretics, schismatics and infidels, so that God will grant them the grace to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4) and turn from the darkness of error to the light of right faith. But the Lord has no dead, for all are alive in His sight (Luke 20:38); therefore, the Church, with the same commandment, prescribes to offer prayers, perform commemorations and give alms for all who have fallen asleep in the sleep of death, in the hope of resurrection to eternal life, for the forgiveness of all sins, their inclusion among the righteous and repose in the abodes of bliss. g) Sometimes, due to the multiplication of our iniquities and sins, in order to turn us to the path of repentance, God punishes us, striking entire regions with terrible disasters, such as: pestilence, bloody wars and riots, droughts and prolonged rains, fires and floods. In such disasters, following the example of the Ninevites, who averted the punishment of God that threatened them with universal repentance and fasting - from adults to infants, the primates of the Churches - metropolitans, archbishops, bishops - are invested with the power to appoint in their diocese, in order to arouse in their flock a sense of repentance and correction of life, special fasts and prayers, because our bishops in relation to us are the same as for the Ephesians St. Timothy, to whom the apostle, having installed him as a bishop in Ephesus, commanded: “Insist in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). Not to heed the call to repentance of the leaders of the Church, not to participate in prayers for the aversion of heavenly wrath, to remain unrepentant at such a time - isn’t it the same as being indifferent to the general disaster and one’s eternal fate, irritating God’s justice, attracting His wrath upon oneself and being the subject of eternal condemnation? h) The essence of the eighth church commandment is that all church property should be used in accordance with its purpose, such as: for the beautification of the church, for the spread of Christian education, for the support of the ministers of the Church, etc. This commandment, apparently bearing in mind the external welfare of the church, is beneficial for humanity in general, because human societies are not only for guidance to eternal bliss, but also for the organization temporary prosperity, they need nothing more than the planting, establishment and spread of Christian piety. But this is achieved by improving the church, which is impossible without material means and the assistance of believers. For this purpose, even during the life of the apostles in the Jerusalem Church, the owners of estates or houses, selling them, brought their price to the feet of the apostles (Acts 4:34-35). Subsequently, to meet the needs of the Jerusalem Church, voluntary donations were collected from other Churches that descended from it (Acts 11:29–30). Thus, in the Corinthian and Galatian Churches, according to the establishment of St. Paul, such donations were collected on Sundays (1 Cor. 16:1–2). Referring to such alms, the Apostle Paul says that if pagan Christians have become participants in the spiritual benefits of the Jerusalem Christians, then they should mutually serve them in the bodily ones (Rom. 15:27). How saving is the assistance of believers in the efforts of the Church in spreading piety - is obvious from the words of the Savior, Who certifies that he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet, he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive the reward of a righteous man, and whoever gives one of these little ones to drink only a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, will not lose his reward (Matthew 10:41-42). i) Finally, by the ninth commandment, the Church prohibits marriages on certain days, such as during the four fasts, and demands not to attend inappropriate games, and not to follow pagan customs. For if, in the words of Solomon, “there is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Eccl. 3:4), and the Wise One says: “Do not withdraw from those who weep, and lament with those who mourn” (Sir.7:37), then is it not foolish to indulge in joy on such days on which the Church, with special care, calls on her children to repentance and lamentation about their sins? If, in general, rare games can rightly be considered a rest from work, rare ones contribute to the refreshment of strength and the dispersion of thoughts tired by mental stress or grief, but for the most part they are nothing more than a waste of precious, unrewarded time, then all the more reprehensible and criminal are frivolous amusements that lead to the corruption of morals, which we, by our very nature, are always inclined to to evil and, living in a world lying in evil, are surrounded by countless temptations. III. So, having been called into the unshakable kingdom of God (Heb. 12:28), into the Church of Christ, let us unswervingly follow its leadership. If, according to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, it is our duty to unquestioningly, with all zeal, obey all worldly authorities (Rom. 13:1), legally placed over us, taking care of the establishment of our well-being on earth; then, bearing in mind our eternal fate, the more willingly we should obey St. Church, the more obviously we are convinced that everything prescribed by its institutions is closely connected with our good - temporary and eternal. And the more obedient we are to the leadership of St. Church, then in the near future we will be united with Christ our Savior, Who, having promised to abide in His Church until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20), uttered an immutable law: if anyone “if he does not listen to them, tell the Church; and if he does not listen to the Church, then let him be to you as a pagan and a publican” (Matthew 18:17). Amen. (Compiled from “Conversations” by Anatoly, Archbishop of Mogilev). Sozom. “Church History”, volume 1, chapter. 8. "Code of Theodosius", book. 14, ch. 2; .Code of Justinian”, book. 1. Eusebius “The Life of Emperor Constantine”, book. 2, ch. 36. Eusebius “Ecclesiastical History”, book. 10. Ch. 6. See “The Helmsman,” chap. 42, pp. 9–11. "Code of Justinian", book. 1, about the church. book 14. "The Code of Theodosius", book. 16, art. 10. Seventh Ecumenical Council, right. 19. See “Readings in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment”, M.. 1877, pp. 848–849. “New Code of Justin”, 7, ch. 2.120, ch. 7; see “Notes on Church Jurisprudence.” K., 1848, pp. 134–135. But even in these cases, the sacred vessels were for the most part transfused and thus the metal was given over, and not the vessels themselves. (Ambrose “On Positions”, book 2, chapter 28). "The Code of Justinian", book. 1, art., 2. "New Codes of Justinian", 120, ch. 10. Double Council of Constantinople, right. 10. Look at the Great Breviary. See “Readings in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment in Moscow*, M., 1877, pp. 850–852. See “Kaluga Diocesan Gazette”, 1880, No. 2.