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Matthew 5:3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Today (September 24) I received complete, complete joy in the Lord. There was not the slightest heaviness on the heart: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of them is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20). The Lord entered into me precisely for the sake of my humility. - Look upon the humility of Your servant, O Lord! Teach me humility. 25 and 26, 28 and 29 the same” [2, 226]. “Never eat a full meal: an extra piece means extra heaviness, extra smoldering. When praying, do not forget to fall into the depths of your insignificance. Remember constantly the words of the Savior: blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20)” [2, 344]. “All prayers presuppose the great poverty and wretchedness of our fallen nature; they also assume that the Lord is the ever-flowing Source of all perfection, all good, that He is our inexhaustible Treasure. We must have poverty of spirit in our prayers and at all times. Blessed are the poor in spirit [Matt. 5:3]" [5, vol. 1, 206]. “What is your duty, communicant of the Divine Mysteries? You must philosophize on high, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God [Col. 3:1, 2 ], and not to philosophize about earthly things, for for this reason Christ came down to earth, so that he would lead us to heaven [akaf. Iis. Sweet, cond. 8]. In My Father's house there are many abodes. I go to prepare a place for you [Jn. 14:2]. Our life in heaven is [Phil. 3:20]. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for to them is the Kingdom of Heaven. Unless your righteousness comes out, any more than the scribe and the Pharisee, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven [Matt. 5:3, 20]. Leave the children to come to Me, for such is the Kingdom of God [Lk. 18:16]. Do you see what is the final purpose for which Christ came down from heaven to earth, for which He teaches us His Divine Mysteries - Body and Blood? This goal is to give us the Kingdom of Heaven. Strive for it” [5, vol. 2, 300]. “The Lord torments us in prayer with the expectation of His mercy so that we become more firmly attached to Him in our hearts and feel all the need for Him at every moment of life and do not neglect Him, our Life. It happens in life to see that another person is respectful to the person he needs, appreciates him - as long as he satisfies his needs, and once he has satisfied him, he ceases to need him: who was previously tied with respect for the benefactor suddenly ceases to have the proper feeling of respect and gratitude for him and leaves him. People often do this with God. Feeling all the need for God, they highly value Him and revere Him; but lead them out of need, surround them with perfect well-being and happiness: they will soon forget Him, consider themselves the only ones responsible for their well-being and cling with their hearts to what is earthly and perishable. That is why the Lord torments His servants who serve Him with a feeling of constant need for Him, a just feeling of their wretchedness, poverty, destitution and spiritual blindness, and He pleases the poor in spirit first of all - saying that the Kingdom of Heaven already exists for them (cf. Matt. 5:3). – That is why He makes prayer for such His servants a constant companion of their lives; with it they constantly fall to Him, like the poor and hungry; and the more constant, sincere and firm their falling, the more the Lord binds them to Himself with yearning for Him and the stronger desire for Him and the more ardent love warms their hearts, languishing with sorrow for sins and hunger and thirst for grace-filled justification by faith in Him (cf. Rom. 3:28)” [8, 464]. “About spiritual poverty. Spiritual poverty consists in considering oneself, as it were, non-existent and the One God Existing, honoring His words above everything in the world and not sparing anything to fulfill them, not one’s very life; to consider God’s will as everything for oneself and for others, and to reject one’s own completely. The poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3) desires and says with all his heart: Hallowed be thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done (Matt. 6:9–10); he seems to disappear for God, he wants to see Him everywhere and in everything - in himself and in others... Let everything be Yours, not mine. He desires to contemplate His holiness in himself and in everyone; His kingdom is the same; His will is the same; To see Him alone filling human hearts with everything; His Kingdom, His will, as it should, because He is the One Existing, All-Good and All-Perfect, Who created everything, and the enemy is the devil and his detractors and people who resist God are thieves in the Kingdom of God and opponents of God” [8, 486]. “About the beatitudes. Why does the Lord say: blessed... blessed (See: Matthew 5:3–11)? Refuting false thoughts about the bliss of the people of this age and in order to attract free creatures to do good deeds with the promise of true, eternal bliss” [8, 327]. "The poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). The poor in spirit will not condemn another or be embittered towards him, or envy anyone, or offend anyone. He condemns himself and only himself in everything; he is self-righteous, tries to tear out his own log and does not concern himself with his neighbor’s twigs (See: Matthew 7:3); he is embittered towards himself alone for his countless sins, but towards his brother condescends - because he knows the general weakness; he does not envy anyone - because he considers himself unworthy of what he has; he mourns the impurity of his heart, his inner adultery, deceit, hypocrisy, laziness, blasphemous and nasty thoughts" [11, 364]. "God! I give you praise, as I am not like other men: predators, unrighteous people, adulterers, or like this tax collector: I fast twice on the Sabbath, I give tithes from everything as much as I can (Luke 18:11-12). O Master of the hearts of all! Many of us are truly like this Pharisee, and I am the first. We internally, in the secret of our hearts, we boast, we exalt ourselves before our brothers, and especially in the church, before Your face, where great humility is primarily required of us: we secretly list our virtues, we delight in them, and we viciously humiliate our brethren, turning them into nothing, as it were, considering them alien to all virtue and full of all evil, not imagining that, perhaps, my brother at that very time I condemn him, he sincerely, ardently repents before You, and You, Who know our hearts (cf.: Ps. 44:22), have already reconciled with him in Christ Jesus - the Lamb of God, who took upon himself the sins of the world (cf.: John 1:29). In fact, we list our virtues, imaginary or true, and say: I am pious, but he is not; I sincerely pray, but he is a hypocrite; Here I am fasting, but others are not fasting; Here I give alms, and others are stingy and unyielding; how the earth bears them! - Yes, I am a perfect person in comparison with such and such and am worth the great mercies of God! How am I still not higher in service than so-and-so? How can I not take advantage of the advantages and benefits that are greater in comparison with it? Or how does he still occupy such and such a place? How is he still living? Why doesn't he die? - Why am I, so perfect, in the lowest place? Why am I not rich? Not the boss? And so on. This is our pride; what malice! “Oh, truly blessed are the poor in spirit: for of them is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:3)!” [11, 366]. Matthew 5:5. "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" “Have the Christian grace to bless those who curse you from your heart, so that you may please your Christ, who said: Bless those who curse you. – Love your enemies sincerely, not paying attention to their enmity, but to the image of God in which they were created, seeing yourself in them. Do good to those who hate you, as the son of the Heavenly Father, who is good to those without grace and evil, believing that with good you will overcome evil; because good is always stronger than evil. – Pray for those who create misfortune for you, and through prayer you will deliver them, if God is willing, from wickedness, malice and intrigues, and you will deliver yourself from misfortune. – Give to the one who asks you, and do not torture from the one who takes yours [Lk. 6:27, 35, 28, 30 ], for everything is God’s, and the Lord, if He pleases, can take everything away from you. Remember that you yourself came naked from your mother’s womb, and naked you will go back [Job. 1:21], and you won’t take anything with you. If you live like this, you will acquire for yourself the priceless treasure of peace and love and you will live long on earth: for the meek, it is said, will inherit the earth [Matt. 5:5], and they will rejoice in the abundance of peace [Ps. 36:11]" [5, vol. 1, 199]. Matthew 5:6. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” “I read, I read sacred books about God and His works, and I still don’t get enough: I keep looking for more and more knowledge about Him, I want to get closer and closer to Him. So what? Will my thirst be satisfied? ABOUT! I will be satisfied until Your glory is revealed to me (Ps. 16:15). The thirsty will be satisfied (cf. Matthew 5:6)" [8, 242]. “Before His Incarnation, the Lord allowed humanity to experience all the bitterness of sin, all its powerlessness to eradicate it, and when everyone desired the Deliverer, then He appeared, the All-Wise and All-Powerful Physician and Helper. As they began to hunger and thirst for righteousness (cf. Matthew 5:6) when it became scarce - then the eternal Truth came. The fire of Sodom (See: Gen. 19:24); Flood (See: Gen. 7); execution of the Canaanites (See: Numbers 21:3). Wonderful name of the Lord! Again and again I praise You for Your strength. All the manifold machinations of the enemy have one name - the devil: make sure of this, my heart, and do not be faint-hearted, do not lose heart in enemy circumstances, in enemy storms. - Amen. May 15, 1864" [11,171]. Matthew 5:7. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy” "Brethren! May you lament your sins and prepare for the Judgment, the Terrible Judgment, the righteous Judgment, the only Judgment, after which there will be either eternal bliss or endless torment! Do not be surprised that I say so decisively: truth is royal, it has the right to say so. Moreover, the greatest need will come to speak decisively about preparations for the Judgment. When there is obvious destruction of souls from carelessness and negligence, then it is necessary to act decisively, then decisively and directly express the truth. When it is clear that a person is in clear danger of dying in a fire or drowning in water, then don’t they act with all decisiveness in this case? Yes, because if those who want to save a dying person from death are indecisive, he may now perish... So we must admirably save many from the fire with determination and fear of the Judgment of the future. - So get ready for the Judgment... Get ready from today... We have worked in hustle and bustle enough. It's time to look at the poor soul with the eyes of trial... The Church constantly thinks about the Judgment - both in the morning, and in the afternoon, and in the evening: every day, early and late, she reminds her children about this great day, which decides the fate of the entire human race, and her children, it seems, have no thought about this Last Judgment, their thoughts are occupied with what pleasantly spins their heads for a few minutes, gladdens their hearts, passionate about earthly joys, most of them unclean... The Lord, Truth, Life thunders with His voice about who is certain to carry out His judgment, commands us to watch and pray at all times in spirit, to prepare for the outcome of our deeds, so that we may be honored to avoid the terrible fate of the condemned; the apostles cry out silently about the same thing... but it’s as if we don’t even want to hear about it. Others think and even say: “What a Last Judgment! The Lord is merciful: He will have mercy; for we sin more through weakness”... But they will not think that only the merciful will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7), that judgment is without mercy for those who have not shown mercy (James 2:13). “Where are your acts of mercy when it is obvious that you only care about yourself?” [2, 159–160]. “Why did the Lord allow you to be poor? for your good, so that you can cleanse and atone for your sins, for alms cleanses all sin [Tov. 12:9 ], so that you may obtain for you men of prayer for yourself in their presence, so that you may make your Lord merciful to you, for in kindness you will receive mercy [Matt. 5:7]" [5, vol. 1, 168]. “The poor persecute you every day: this means that the mercy of God constantly pursues you. Blessed with mercy, for they will receive mercy [Matt. 5:7]. Who will run away from the mercy of God” [5, vol. 1, 246]. “Two bellies, two lives for man are intended by God; to chosen people: temporary - earthly, and eternal - heavenly. This [earthly] life is given to us independently of us; the future, eternal, without us, without our faith and desire, without good deeds, cannot be given to anyone. You need to firmly and constantly believe in the future resurrection of the dead and in the future endless life, you need to educate yourself for it, stock up on the oil of good deeds (See: Matt. 25:1-13) or alms: for mercy will yield mercy (Matthew 5:7). Therefore, in this Gospel, the Lord pointed out to a rich young man, who wanted to know about the path to the Kingdom of God, to give alms, and generous ones at that, but the word about distributing property to the poor seemed inappropriate to the young man, and he left the Heavenly Teacher with sadness in his heart (See: Matt. 19:16–26). The Lord said on this occasion that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:23), for it is impossible for both God and mammon to work together (cf. Matthew 6:24). – The passion for covetousness makes a person an idolater; covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5), says the Apostle. Remember what greed brought Judas to. This is the enemy of God and man, covetousness. Flee covetousness - it makes a person stony-hearted, an enemy of God and people” [4.57]. “Two bellies, two lives are intended for God’s chosen people - temporary, earthly, and eternal, heavenly. This life was given to us independently of us, the future life without us, without our faith and desire, without good deeds cannot be given to anyone, we must firmly and constantly believe in the future resurrection of the dead and in the future endless life, we need to educate ourselves for it, stock up on the oil of good deeds and alms, for the merciful will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). Therefore, the Lord and the Gospel pointed out to the rich young man, who wanted to know about the path to the Kingdom of God, to give alms, and generous ones at that, and the word about distributing property to the poor and eternal life seemed inconceivable to the young man, and he left the heavenly Teacher with sadness in his heart. The Lord said on this occasion that it is difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:23), for one cannot make hope in soulless wealth and earthly happiness his goal, and not the heavenly fatherland, not poverty of spirit. For me, instead of all the riches, honors, beauties and earthly sweets - Christ God is true, eternal, inalienable wealth, says the faithful Christian. Truly! - the property of a believer and devotee. For to me life is Christ and death is gain (Phil. 1:21)” [6, 108]. Matthew 5:8. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” “Try most of all, man, for correction, for the purity of your heart: the heart is the most important thing, the soul in a person. “Blessed are those who are pure in heart,” says the Savior, “for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8), “with the heart, and not with the mind; These people draw near to Me with their lips and with their lips they honor Me, but their heart is far from Me (Matthew 15:8); those who have heard with a good and good heart receive the word... the devil will take the word from their hearts, so that they who have not believed will be saved... From within, evil thoughts come from the heart... (Matthew 15:19)” [2, 203]. “In education, it is extremely harmful to develop only the reason and mind, leaving the heart unattended - the heart needs to be paid attention most of all; the heart is life, but life spoiled by sin; you need to cleanse this source of life, you need to light a pure flame of life in it, so that it burns and does not go out, and gives direction to all the thoughts, desires and aspirations of a person, his entire life. Society is corrupted precisely because of the lack of Christian education. It's time for Christians to understand the Lord, what He wants from us; namely, He wants a pure heart: blessedness is the pure in heart [Matt. 5:8]. Listen to His sweetest voice in the Gospel. And the true life of our heart is Christ (Christ lives in me [Gal. 2:20]). Learn all the wisdom of the Apostle - this is our common task: to instill Christ in the heart by faith” [5, vol. 1, 229]. "Those who are pure in heart will see God [Matthew 5:8]. God is the all-seeing Eye, like an intelligent Sun, standing above the world, penetrating with its intelligent eyes into the thoughts and hearts of people, illuminating every creature. Our soul is an eye from the Eye, sight from Sight, light from Light. But now, after the Fall, on our eye - the soul - illnesses - sins. Take off the thorn, and you will see the Sun mental, the infinite Eye, in darkness that much more brightly than the material sun” [5, vol. 1, 178]. “Listen: for cleansing your heart from sins, you will receive an endless reward - you will see God, your all-good Creator, your Provider. The feat of purifying the heart is difficult, because it is associated with great hardships and sorrows, but the reward is great. Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will see God [Matt. 5:8]" [5, vol. 2, 335]. “A spiritual man plunges his mind and heart into God and in Him finds a treasure of knowledge and wisdom, truth, peace and joy about the Holy Spirit, and a carnal man plunges into an adulterous and sinful world, or into material nature, not seeing God in it, and in it he seeks food for his earthly myopic mind, his self-love and pride. But - Blessedness is pure in heart [Matt. 5:8]. Purify yourself and hope to unite with God for endless ages” [5, vol. 2, 559]. “On the meaning of the heart in hope. Blessed are the pure in heart... (Matthew 5:8.) Purify - and hope to unite with God for endless ages" [8, 81]. Matthew 5:10. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” "Whoever reproaches the contrary is not reproached, the suffering is not forgiven, but he is delivered over to Him who judges righteously (1 Pet. 2:23). This speaks of Jesus Christ, Who was unrighteously reproached or slandered by the high priests, scribes and the Jewish people, worthy of reproach for their own countless iniquities, and whom, however, the sinless Lord did not reproach, from which he suffered, did not forbid, betraying both their untruth and His truth to the One who judges righteously. Apply this example of meekness to yourself. When someone reproaches you for your real or imaginary shortcomings (righteously or unjustly), for an imaginary or real malfunction, or slanderes you, falsely accusing you of guilt that you did not commit or committed unintentionally, due to a coincidence of circumstances, do not reproach such a person, do not repay him in kind, do not say: you yourself are such and such, you yourself do this and that (for this means we reproach you not against you), and if he makes you suffer from his slander, do not resist him, but hand over your cause and its unrighteousness to the righteous God who judges, who will certainly bring to light your truth and your destiny like the noonday (Wed: Ps. 37:6). Save your soul with your patience (Wed: Luke 21:19). There is a lot of untruth in this world, caused mostly by our common enemy, and there is only one way to defeat untruth - patience in the hope of the future Kingdom. It is blessed to drive away righteousness for the sake of: for these are the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:10). However, here too the Lord very often rewards those who endure unrighteousness, glorifying them with greater glory, the more they were subjected to dishonor” [8, 456]. Matthew 5:11. “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you unjustly because of Me.” Matthew 5:12. “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: even so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” “In good works there is hope of reward: your reward is many in heaven [Matt. 5:12]... Doing good, let us not be discouraged, for in our season we will reap [Gal. 6:9]... there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness [2 Tim. 4:8]. May Thy mercy be upon us, O Lord, as we trust in Thee [Ps. 32:22]" [5, vol. 2, 560]. "Blessed are you when they revile you (Matthew 5:11). The Lord pleases those who are reviled for His holy Name, because He Himself was reviled and slandered by the scribes and Pharisees. And you rejoice, and do not be sad, do not be offended that they revile you and lay down all sorts of fables on you - great is your reward for this in heaven. Rejoice and be merry (Compare: Matthew 5:12) This was lacking in you: you were not reproached, but only praised; therefore, when you are praised, think about how you might not be condemned by God, that everyone speaks only well of you. 103]. “Woe,” says the Savior, when all men speak good things to you (Luke 6:26), of course, unrighteously. This means that we must rejoice when people speak evil against us. Blessed are you, when they revile you, despise you, and say all sorts of evil things against you lying, for my sake (Matthew 5:11)” [8, 390]. “Do not indulge in irritability and anger because of the devil’s attack on you with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, do not be faint-hearted, but be strong, take courage and be complacent, and thank God that for the sake of His truth you endure the attack and malice of the liar and deceiver - the devil. Blessed are you when the bodiless villains of God revile you (Matthew 5:11), and you resist their reproach and courageously repel their slander and blasphemy” [10, 193]. “When your heart greedily desires some kind of reward, imagine that the reward of a Christian, especially a priest, is Christ: My reward is with Me, render to each one according to his deeds (Rev. 22:12). When I appear to the Chief Shepherd, you will receive an unfading crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4). Your reward is abundant in heaven (Matthew 5:12); that those who are rewarded here will receive their reward (Matthew 6:2, 5,16). – When you impatiently wish for a scar on your head, imagine that the greatest Ascetic and Hero of God, Christ, wore on His head a crown of thorns with sharp needles for His unparalleled service to humanity; Note that it was not purple velvet that adorned His head, but His scarlet blood from His head pierced with thorns - and then your desire for skufia or other reward will cool down. Imagine also that your services to humanity are insignificant, that you serve more for yourself than for people, and that you receive sufficient reward for your labors” [8, 310]. “You want a velvet kamilavka: what kind of kamilavka did the Savior have? - Crown of thorns. What orders did the apostles have? – Not golden orders, but steel swords; and these swords beheaded them. Do you want a golden cross? What kind of cross did the Savior have? – Wooden: and on it He was crucified. Do you want to adorn yourself and be vain with a golden cross? What crosses did the apostles have? - Wooden: and they were crucified on them for serving the salvation of people day and night. Oh! We, damned sinners! We are lazy in deeds of piety and self-sacrifice, but we want to be rewarded for our insignificant labors. Wouldn’t you like, brothers, to receive for your service, let’s say very conscientious and successful, a cross in the proper sense, that is, lies, deprivation, insults? – Wouldn’t you like to receive a great reward in heaven (Matthew 5:12) for the fact that you do not receive rewards here for your Godly and useful deeds to society? – Do not look for rewards here and let the Heavenly Righteous Judge, Whom you serve here in various ways, reward you. - Do not be jealous of those who are evil; below, envy those who create lawlessness (Compare: Ps. 36:1) and those who reward themselves diligently: they will receive their reward (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16) here and lose it there. “My reward is with me,” says the Lord, “to reward everyone according to his work (Rev. 22:12). – What crosses did the martyrs have? If you do good and endure suffering, this is acceptable in the sight of God (1 Pet. 2:20). – We do not look at what is visible, but what is invisible: what is visible is temporary, what is invisible is eternal (Wed: 2 Cor. 4:18). According to Christian humility, we should not consider ourselves worthy of reward, but of censure, for do we always conscientiously serve God and society? “We serve the Lord unworthily and deserve His wrath through our sins” [11, 170]. Matthew 5:13. “You are the salt of the earth. If the salt loses its strength, then what will you use to make it salty? It’s no longer good for anything except throwing it out there for people to trample underfoot.” “Perhaps you have already said too much; but indeed, I try, to the best of my ability, with God’s help, to serve the salvation of human souls. I prepared myself for this from the very beginning of my priesthood. Shepherds, successors of the apostles, must live for their flock, and not for themselves. “We are the salt of the earth: if the salt prevails, how will it be salted? (Matthew 5:13)" [7, 11]. "My God! What moral weakness I have at times: there is nothing good in me; the heart is like a stump or a stone, no faith in God, not the slightest love for Him, as if He, the Benefactor, does not exist. It’s as if He, the loving Father, doesn’t exist, as if you’ve completely lost all meaning and feeling in your heart! And prayer runs away from the heart: there is no strength in the heart to sincerely pray! Salt loses its potency completely (cf. Matthew 5:13). Oh, how necessary are temptations here for a Christian man in order to stir, awaken, warm, soften his stony and cold heart and knock out from him at least a spark of the grace of God hidden and suppressed in him by worldly lusts and pleasures! - After this, if you please, someone can boast of something as if it were their own! Every slightest good in you is a gift of God’s grace - every good, bright thought, every feeling and tenderness of the heart, every good impulse of the heart, every advancement of the heart in faith and love! When the Lord takes His goodness away from us, we will remain nothing but soulless idols. Terrible thing! “Then we have a soul, but not at all what it should be: an idol-soul, some kind of earthly soul, without a spirit, a soul that, like the souls of animals, strives only for food, drink, entertainment, jumping (dancing). - ABOUT! How insignificant I am, how damned, poor, poor, blind and naked I am (Rev. 3:17), when the Lord, because of my sins or to test me, takes His Holy Spirit from me! May my soul humble itself before the Lord of blessings and gifts at every minute, moment of my existence, may it resort to Him alone with prayer for help, may it not rely on itself, on other people or on anything earthly, but may it place all its strength, all its breath, all its light in God. November 3 days 1861" [8, 618]. “One of the most powerful deceits of the devil is relaxation through laziness of the heart, and with it all spiritual and physical strength: faith, hope and love dry up in the heart, you become faithless, sad, insensitive to God and to people, you become like salt that has become overcome, having lost its strength (cf. Matthew 5:13; Luke 14:34). (Do not believe your physical relaxation and do not think that it is due to natural causes: it is from the relaxation of the heart and the whole body by the devil, who is trying in every possible way to stop us in piety.)” [10, 184]. Matthew 5:14. “You are the light of the world. A city standing on top of a mountain cannot hide.” Matthew 5:15. “And when they light a candle, they do not put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” Matthew 5:16. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” “Imagery or symbolism is the need of human nature in our present spiritual-sensual state: it clearly explains to us very much from the spiritual world, which we could not know without images and symbols. Hence the Divine Teacher, the Hypostatic Wisdom, who created everything, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, often taught people in images or parables; hence, in our Orthodox church it is customary to present many things figuratively to the gaze of Christians, for example, the Lord Himself in the icon, the Most Pure Mother of God, the Angels and all the saints, so that we imagine our lives, imagine all our thoughts, words and deeds in the image of the thoughts, words and deeds of the Lord and His saints; hence the frequent image of the cross, burning incense, lighting candles and lamps, entering and exiting the altar; for this - bows, prostration, prostration (we fell deeply through sin). All this reminds us of various spiritual objects and states. Imagery has a great influence on the human soul, on its creative or active ability. So, they say, if a mother, during pregnancy, often looks at the face or image of her beloved husband, then the baby is born very similar to the father, or if she looks at the portrait of a beautiful child, then a beautiful baby is born to her; so if a Christian often, with love and reverence, looks at the image of the Lord Jesus Christ or His Most Pure Mother and His saints, then his soul accepts the spiritual traits of the kindly seen face (meekness, humility, mercy, abstinence). Oh, if we would more often look at the faces and especially at the life of the Lord and His saints, how we would change, ascend from strength to strength! Thus, smelling the fragrance of a censer in a church or at home, by analogy, reminds us of the fragrance of virtue, and by contrast - of the stench of sins and teaches those who are attentive to the inner sense to avoid the stench of passions, intemperance, fornication, malice, envy, pride, despair and other passions and to adorn themselves with all sorts of Christian virtues; The censer reminds us of the words of the Apostle: the fragrance of God is in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing, for the stench of death is in death, and the stench of animals is in the belly [2 Cor. 2:15, 16 ], in a similar way, a candle or lamp reminds us of light and spiritual fire, for example, of the words of the Lord: I am the light that has come into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness [Jn. 12:46 ], or: fire has come to burn on the earth, and whatever I want is already on fire [Lk. 12:49], or: let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning, and you be in the likeness of a man who waits for his Lord, when he returns from marriage, so that when he comes and pushes, the door will be opened to him [Lk. 12:35, 36], or; So let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven [Matt. 5:16], - and by the very thing, by their very being, they teach us spiritual things or objects corresponding to light and fire, for example, so that our hearts always burn with love for God and neighbor, so that we do not allow passions or the fire of hell to flare up in ourselves, so that we shine with an example of a virtuous life for others, as a candle shines for us in everyday affairs” [5, vol. 2, 430]. “We must never forget that we are all one body and should encourage each other to love and good deeds; especially we, shepherds, must remember and do this. Yes, we must remember that if we are bright in soul, stand firm in faith and piety, then our flock becomes firmer, brighter and purer in life; if the head is bright, so are the members, and if we have darkened our souls from many different passions, the body of the Church, our flock, will be darker, because there is a close connection between the head and the members, between the shepherd and the flock. That is why the Lord said: let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven [Matt. 5:16]. If there be darkness in you, there is still darkness [Matt. 6:23 ]? So, do you think that your gluttony, your covetousness does not respond to your flock, firstly, because of your carelessness about souls, for what care for souls does one have who cares about rubles? None. Yes, if the light in the shepherd is darkened, then it is necessarily darkened in the flock: due to his close, spiritual connection with it, head with members. You stand strong in your spiritual virtues - and they are firm; you stand in prayer and pray fervently for them - and they feel it, you become spiritually strengthened - they also become stronger, if you relax - they also relax. Lord, have mercy on me” [5, vol. 2, 457]. “And this is how I understand it: “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Let people see your good deeds, and through this glorify the Lord, and have a living example for themselves, a living motivation to do good. This is who you should hide good deeds from! - and at the same time the priest pointed his finger at his heart. Conceal everything from him, “let your fool not know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3). Shuitsa is your personal conceit and vanity” [7, 23]. "Hallowed be your name (Matt. 6:9). The duty to sanctify the name of God lies with everyone, but especially with us, for the Lord has appointed us to be the light of the world (Wed: Matt. 5:14) and we must glorify the Lord more than anyone else with all our lives; our life should be a burning lamp (Wed: John 5:35). The priest should primarily shine with meekness, humility, by faith and trust in God, by love, not by covetousness, by zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of human souls, by diligent service to all. Yet we, who are called spiritual, must show to all the laity a spiritual way of life, and not a carnal, sensual life; our heavenly wisdom must be expressed on our very face; reverent service to the Lord the All-King; here our light should especially shine before men (Matt. 5:16); for here the priest, deacon and cleric stand, as it were, at the candlestick, in the sight of everyone, as living guides to the people of faith and hope in God, as living examples of meekness, humility, reverence for the holiness of the church, for all services, for all sacred readings, chants and sacred actions” [8, 667]. Matthew 5:20. “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:21. “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: do not kill; whoever kills will be subject to judgment.” Matthew 5:22. “But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without cause will be subject to judgment; whoever says to his brother: “raqa” is subject to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, “You fool,” is subject to fiery hell.” “We say to our brother: weirdo, this is equivalent to the word - freak, and those who say: freak, are guilty of fiery hell [Matt. 5:22 ], who equally speaks is a scoundrel, a brute, a scoundrel, a mug or an image. You have to be careful with your words. By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned [Matt. 12:37]" [12, 10]. Matthew 5:23. “So if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,” Matthew 5:24. “Leave your gift there before the altar, and go first and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” “When we pray for our neighbors, the Lord looks at our hearts: do we sincerely desire salvation and all good for our neighbors as for ourselves; secondly, whether we sincerely abhor sin and love repentance and virtue; thirdly, whether we sincerely love the Lord and are heartily devoted to Him; fourthly, are we not angry with our neighbor, are we not at enmity? If you bring your gift to the altar, remember her as if your brother has something for you: leave your gift before the altar, and when you go, first humble yourself with your brother, and then come and bring your gift (Matthew 5:23–24). We should not have a hostile attitude towards anyone, but should have a condescending, patient, forgiving, full of love attitude, so that God would forgive us too” [4, 48]. Matthew 5:27. “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: You shall not commit adultery.” Matthew 5:28. “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:29. “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:30. “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.” “That you do not fulfill the commandments of the Savior: if your eye causes you to stumble, cut it off and take it away from you (cf. Matthew 5:29) - your eye has tempted you with stinginess: why do you not turn it away from the objects with which it tempts you? How long will you not learn to neglect the sensual? “How long will your faith in future blessings remain so weak?” [3, 696]. "If your right eye offends you... if your right hand offends you (Matt. 5:29-30)... Man is created upright and must be so, leaving behind the wickedness of sin; one must cut off the passions, not the arms and legs, pluck out the passions, not the eyes. From the heart come evil thoughts (the evil eye) (Matt. 15:19). All this must be cut off, uprooted with the help of the grace of God" [6, 84]. “Do not forget in necessary cases, when passion incites and the enemy inflames, the commandment of the Savior: if the eye of your right hand (heart) causes you to sin, take it away and turn away from you: if you are, let one of you perish from your bits (Matthew 5:29) (put to death your bits that are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, evil lust and covetousness) (Col. 3:5) - and not your whole body - not your whole carnal, old, sinful man will be cast into fiery hell (Matthew 5:29). People suffer much evil from non-observance of this commandment of the Savior” [8, 471]. “When your only begotten - your mind - is arrogant and goes against the truth of God, agreeing with the father of lies (John 8:44) or forced to rebel against the Father of Truth, crucify and slaughter this only begotten of yours and offer him as a sacrifice to God (cf. Gen. 22:2, 10). This crucifixion and slaughter of one’s child, who is always within us, is painful, but it is necessary: ​​they who are Christ’s are crucified in the flesh with passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24); Under the flesh, understand the carnal mind, or the wisdom of the flesh, which is enmity against God: for it does not obey the law of God, it can do less. The wisdom of the flesh is death, but the wisdom of God is life and peace (cf. Rom. 8:7, 6). (Or here is another urge for you to slay your only begotten, that is, the mind that opposes the truth of God): if the eye of your right hand, meaning your heart and arrogant mind, seduces you, take it away and cast it away from yourself: otherwise, let one perish from your flesh (the fleshly man), and not your whole body be cast into fiery hell, where their worm is not dies, and the fire does not go out (Matthew 5:29; Mark 9:43–44)” [10, 194]. “Know once and for all that the devil seduces and confuses us with the beauty of the flesh and the desire of the flesh, inciting us to fornication, adultery and sodomy, using various sweets of food and drink as weapons to kindle unclean lust; Therefore, consider the sweetness of food and drink as a delight and avoid being heated by them in every possible way. “In your youth the devil, through the flesh, drew you into debauchery and is now inciting you for your own reasons.” “But remember the words of the Savior: everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28) - I sinned against these words today in a dream” [11, 163]. Matthew 5:33. “Again you have heard that it was said to the ancients: Do not break your oath, but fulfill your oaths before the Lord.” Matthew 5:34. “But I say to you: do not swear at all: not by heaven, for it is the throne of God;” Matthew 5:35. “nor the earth, for it is His footstool; nor Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King;" Matthew 5:36. “Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.” “In the teaching about man, develop the idea of ​​his complete dependence on God both in soul and in body and cite the text in support of this: You cannot create one hair, white or black (Matthew 5:36), or: whoever cares about you can add one laclot to his age? (Matthew 6:27)" [2, 430]. “Charmed by the charms of the devil, people curse at the door of life, through which they themselves entered into this world by the grace of God, the Giver of Life, Who gave the laws on marriage, and turn it into an object of shameful pleasure. Where is the mind of those who call themselves intelligent? How can they not reason that persons are not like irrational animals, that they owe free obedience to the will of God - His Creator, that the wives to whom God gave this door do not themselves have rights over it, just as they did not have the right to enter their mother’s womb and be born, just as they could not create themselves with certain organs. The head of their door of life is the Creator Lord, the Life of all, and according to His all-creating will, after the marriage blessing, he must be cast into the door of life that a person has begun (conception). Likewise, men who contain in their loins the seed of man (The left one is in the loins of the father) (Heb. 7:9-10), just as they did not themselves create this seed (who can make a hair of us white or black (cf. Matt. 5:36), or add one lacot to their age: we can create no small thing (Matt. 6:27), especially the seed of man - the foundation of a future man similar to himself). So they cannot scatter this seed spontaneously, but according to the instructions and laws of the One who put this seed in them. - Let all those who look with crafty and unclean hearts at the door of life know who passed through the Maiden's door of life, closed naked at the entrance, and the Flesh-Bearer at the exit. This is the Head of our life, the all-wise Creator of men - with all their organs. Why did He pass through the naked loins and appear in the Exodus as the Flesh-Bearer? To deliver us from sinful corruption, to show us in His flesh an example of victory over the flesh. Woe from Him will be to those who swear senselessly and impudently at the door of life: he will not see life and will suffer death - eternal torment from the face of the Lord. Neither fornicators nor adulterers will inherit the Kingdom of God (Compare: 1 Cor. 6:9–10)” [3, 319]. “In our body, in its natural functions, God acts, supporting, nourishing and growing it. In the grass, or in the tree, or in the animal, He acts: dressing the grass [Lk. 12:28 ], growing trees and decorating them with leaves and fruits, feeding animals and growing bodies. We ourselves cannot create anything in our body, not even half an iota, as they say, nor can we create a single hair, white or black [Matt. 5:36]. In the infinitely great and the infinitely small, there is equally the Lord, not limited by either one, but existing entirely in everything, being indivisible and above all” [5, vol. 1, 98]. Matthew 5:37. “But let your word be: yes, yes; no no; and whatever is beyond this is from the evil one.” Matthew 5:38. “You have heard that it was said: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” Matthew 5:39. “But I say to you: do not resist evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other also to him.” Matthew 5:40. “And whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outer clothing too;” “Also notice what has opened the way into your heart for the enemy to so agitate and confuse you: in the name of the Risen Christ, what kind of kiss did you give to your right hand? It was this shameless kissing that paved the way for the disturber of the truth. Remember firmly that no matter what evil people weave against you, they weave it according to the teachings of the devil and are his tools, which means you need to pray for those who offend, and not be angry with them: Overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). You have to be kind to them. Knowing well the actions of the disembodied enemy in yourself, but not wanting to believe that he acts in others, why do you attribute insults exclusively to people? Remember also the Savior’s commandment: to the one who hit you on the cheek (that is, to the one who wrongfully offends you), turn the other also (cf. Matthew 5:39)” [8, 382]. "God! I have sinned greatly, greatly - now I have sinned with the same sin that I was just talking about: because of earthly sweetness - money - I drove You, my World, out of my heart: I couldn’t stand my wife’s contradictions about money to the doctor - I regretted three rubles and quarreled over them with my friend - my wife. Alas! I have now realized that my heart is still strongly attached to money. ABOUT! How cunning the enemy is! He started a war over the three rubles that I gave to the poor yesterday, and demanded that I sacrifice three rubles to the doctor. It would be necessary for Christ to part with them voluntarily, according to the commandment of the Lord: whoever wants to sue you and take your robe, let him have the swearing (Matthew 5:40), or - do not torture him from the one who takes yours (Luke 6:30). They take extra, give it back. Know that God requires. Don't feed your enemy your addiction. Don’t get excited, don’t worry your blood, don’t ruin your health because of decay. And how much self-love, how much self-love I have! And pride, pride! “The enemy has greatly captivated me today” [8, 505]. “If you have sinned, you have transgressed the commandment of the Lord: you shall not torture him from the one who exacts you (Luke 6:30), to the one who wants to sue you and take your robe, let him have the swearing (Matthew 5:40) - give more than what they demand - and because of this, how many strife and quarrels have you created, how much fighting, anxiety, anger? Have mercy, Lord! Give the last, but keep peace and love, of which there is nothing more valuable in the world. - They take the rest of your silver - give it back. - Oh, I'm unreasonable! Oh, I'm stingy! [10, 428]. “God, who fenced the sea with sand, also fenced the insatiable belly of man with shores beyond which it would not pass, no matter how greedy man was: otherwise he would cause extreme harm to himself. - Therefore, do not have hatred for the one who, without shame, often comes to you for free to eat and drink: he will not take all your bread, salt, tea and sugar into his belly - he will eat and drink a few, and then say: that’s enough, I can’t take it anymore; and the Righteous and Benevolent Heavenly Father, Whom we are all children, although unworthy, will send to you for his share; your job is to keep love and trust in God; for your testing, confirmation in love, for the eradication of hatred and addiction to earthly sweets, God allows others to overeat and drink you, but you rejoice in the Lord if you really hunger and thirst, for the sake of preserving love for the brethren; in general, rejoice when others take external goods from you in one way or another; give up everything willingly - let everything go as a sacrifice to love. “But don’t give the gift to the rich or the dissolute and drunken; But if they take you by force or by unrighteousness, do not resist. Don't resist evil. But if anyone wants to take your robe, let him have it as well (cf. Matthew 5:39–40)” [11, 262]. Matthew 5:41. “And whoever forces you to go one mile with him, go with him two miles.” Matthew 5:42. “Give to the one who asks from you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Matthew 5:43. “You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” “When others take something from you, do not resist, but be wise according to the commandment of the Savior: if anyone wants to sue you and take your robe, let him have the swearing too (Matthew 5:40). Believe that the one who takes from you will lose much more and will give you the opportunity to gain three times what he took from you. – In general, do not lose peace of mind because of what is perishable. – Think also this way: the Lord has given me countless blessings! But He now demands from me a sacrifice for Himself - a sacrifice of an insignificant part of these blessings and a sacrifice of patience for the truth. Sacrifice, be patient. God will not leave you, have no doubt. You will have everything you need” [2, 359]. “Be attentive to yourself when a poor person in need of help asks you for it: the enemy will try at this time to fill your heart with coldness, indifference and even disdain for the person in need; overcome these non-Christian and non-human dispositions in yourself, arouse in your heart compassionate love for a person who is similar to you in every way, for this member of Christ and your own - because we are pleased with each other [Eph. 4:25], - to this temple of the Holy Spirit, so that Christ God may love you; and whatever the needy one asks of you, fulfill his request according to your strength. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away the one who wants to borrow from you [Matt. 5:42]" [5, vol. 1, 114]. Matthew 5:44. “But I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you.” “If you notice in your soul a movement of hatred towards the enemy and you want to slander, then remember the words of the Savior: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you (Matthew 5:44) - and be at peace. These words, like lightning, enlighten the soul in the darkness of passion” [2, 468]. “We should not mutually become embittered, angry, proud of those who are embittered with us or envious of us, proud of us, as is usually the case with our corrupted nature, but feel sorry for them, as those possessed by hellish fire and spiritual death, pray for them in the depths of the heart, that the Lord will kindle the darkness of their souls and enlighten their hearts with the light of His grace. We are darkened by our passions and do not see the absurdity, the ugliness of them and our actions, but when the Lord enlightens us with the light of His grace, then we awaken as if from a dream, we clearly see the ugliness, the madness of our thoughts, feelings, words, actions; our heart, which until that time had been hardened, softens, the anger passes, and in its place is kindness, affection, and condescension. Therefore, according to the word of our Savior, we must love our enemies, bless those who curse and do good to those who hate us [Cf.: Matt. 5:44 ; OK. 6:27, 28], for they too are our brethren who are blind and erring” [5, vol. 1, 187]. “When you are slandered and because of this you are embarrassed and sick at heart, it means that you have pride, and it is this that must be wounded and driven out of your heart by external dishonor. So, do not be irritated by ridicule and do not hate those who hate and slander, but love them as your doctors, whom God sent you to enlighten you and teach you humility, and pray to God for them. - Bless you who swear [Matt. 5:44], - say: they do not slander me, but my passion, they do not beat me, but this snake that nests in my heart and hurts it when slander is applied; I am consoled by the thought that, perhaps, good people will knock it out of there with their barbs, and then it will not hurt. Thank God for external dishonor: he who has suffered dishonor here will not be subjected to it in that age. Accept your own sins [Isa. 40:2]. Give us your peace, for you have given it all to us [Isa. 26:12]" [5, vol. 1, 75]. “The love of our Divine Savior Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit is so great and immeasurable for us that before it all human dislike, enmity, and hatred towards us becomes insignificant or seems to disappear. Because of this immensity of God’s love for us and the insignificance of human enmity, the Savior commanded us all to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who create misfortune [Cf.: Matt. 5:44]. We are in the love of God; Is it a big deal that people are not kind to us? What can they do to us when God loved us so much” [5, vol. 2, 513]. “The Lord says: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who harm you and those who drive you out (Matthew 5:44). So, love our enemies: Poles, Finns, Georgians, Armenians, Jews, Caucasian tribes - they strongly hate and are sick with devilish hatred, they are pitiful, unhappy, subject to passions and a hundred times need our pity, sympathy, hatred has blinded the eyes of their hearts, they are at enmity against God, who commanded love to everyone... Conquer with good evil (Rom. 12:21)" [6, 102]. “Have the Christian goodness of heart to bless those who curse you, so that you may please your Christ, who said: Bless the one who curses you (Matthew 5:44). Love your enemies sincerely, not paying attention to their enmity - but to the image of God in which they were created, seeing yourself in them. Do good to those who hate you (Matt. 5:44), as the Son of the Heavenly Father, who is good to the ungrateful and evil (Luke 6:35), believing that with good you will overcome evil (Rom. 12:21), because good is always stronger than evil. Pray for those who create misfortune for you (cf. Matt. 5:44), and through prayer you will deliver them, if God is willing, from their wickedness, malice and intrigues, and you will deliver yourself from misfortune. Give to him who asks you, and do not oppress him from him who takes yours (Luke 6:30): for everything is God and the Lord, when He pleases, can take everything away from you. Remember that you yourself came naked from your mother’s womb, naked you will go (cf. Job 1:21) and you will not take anything with you. If you live like this, you will acquire for yourself the priceless treasure of peace and love and you will live long on earth (Ex. 20:12; Eph. 6:3): for the meek, it is said, will inherit the earth and will enjoy the abundance of peace (Ps. 36:11; Matt. 5:5). – April 27, 1862.” [10, 291]. "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who wrong you and those who drive you out (cf. Matthew 5:44). Does the Lord require much from us? - No, very little: only what we ourselves desire from God and what He, in fact, constantly does for us. - Love your enemies, says the Lord, just as I love you, your constant enemies. Mine, and, lovingly, I do everything good for you: I created you, I renewed and renew your nature, corrupted by sins; I nourish, clothe, illuminate, revive, give joy. Bless you who curse, as I bless you with everything, although you often murmur and blaspheme against Me, do good to those who hate you, just as I do good every moment of my life. those who hate Me; and pray for those who attack you and drive you out, just as I prayed for My very enemies - My crucifiers - the Jews, who persecuted Me until the end of their lives and killed Me with a shameful death. How much do I require of you when I command you to pray for your enemies, who do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34) themselves, just as My enemies did not know. themselves, what they did to Me. If I myself fulfilled this commandment and, commanding you to fulfill it too, will, without a doubt, help you fulfill it, then what work is there in fulfilling it? And you complain that this is an impossible task: to love our enemies, to bless those who curse, to do good to our haters? - How is it impossible? - Was it not through human strength that I fulfilled this commandment? Is it not your soul? Isn't it in your body? - No, only your pride, pride and ill-will claim that this is impossible. This, on the contrary, is possible and easy for someone who believes in Me (cf. Mark 9:23). We only need to believe from the heart that the enmity of our enemies against us is their weakness, their illness, which torments them, torments them, darkens them, causing them themselves thousands of involuntary evils, and that through love for them, charity and prayer for them we can save them from this illness, which so terribly envelops, scorches and devastates their souls” [10, 430]. Matthew 5:45. May you be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. “On the 4th day of creation. Knowing that the Heavenly Father makes His sun shine on the evil and the good, and rains on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45), we ourselves will do good to good and evil people” [2, 431]. "Be merciful, as your Heavenly Father is merciful (Luke 6:36). And how merciful is the Heavenly Father? And look how many righteous and unrighteous people He has (cf. Matt. 5:45), and incomparably more unrighteous than righteous: and He is merciful to everyone. He is good to the ungrateful and evil (Luke 6:35). He pours out on everyone Your innumerable generosity. So, if possible, be merciful to everyone. And do not listen to the demon of stinginess - the murderer. Heavenly Father is generous to everyone. You yourself have experienced many times that when you overcome the murderous feeling of stinginess and voluntarily, willingly treat others with your bread, salt, tea and sugar, then it becomes easy and pleasant for you. with the commandments of the Lord, and the Lord takes pleasure in you, speaking peace to your soul. Where there is fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord, there is peace of mind; where there is action against them, there is no peace, but distress, sorrow, fire, torment. Where there is fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord, there is the Lord; where there is action against them, there is the devil in the heart" [8, 330]. Matthew 5:46. “For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t tax collectors do the same?” Matthew 5:47. “And if you greet only your brothers, what special thing are you doing? Don’t the pagans do the same?” “Very often, the darkness of the spirit of malice surrounds our heart and does not allow us to speak peacefully with our neighbors who have offended us once or several times or expressed their ill will towards us. We must earnestly pray to the Lord that He Himself will disperse this darkness of malice and fill our hearts with goodness and love, even towards our enemies, for in the blindness of passions - pride, envy, covetousness, malice - sometimes they themselves do not know what they are doing, just as the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ did not know, who persecuted Him all their lives and finally killed Him with a blasphemous death. We must remember that the Christian faith consists in loving our enemies: for if we love only those who love us, what are we doing in excess, and don’t the pagans do the same? [Wed: Matt. 5:46, 47]" [5, vol. 2, 311]. “In order for you to test yourself whether you love your neighbor according to the Gospel, pay attention to yourself at a time when people offend you, scold you, laugh at you, or do not give you the proper respect accepted in the community, or when subordinates sin against the service and are faulty. If you are calm at this time, are not filled with the spirit of enmity, hatred, impatience, if you continue to love these people the same way as before, before they were offended, then you love your neighbor according to the Gospel, and if you are irritated, angry, embarrassed, then you do not love. If you love your friends only, what grace is there for you [Cf.: Matt. 5:47 ; OK. 6:32]?” [5, vol. 2, 354]. “If you were truly good and generous to some, then your goodness and generosity to your neighbor would still be infinitely less than the goodness and generosity of God, for God is good to everyone: the Lord is good to everyone (Ps. 144:9), but you are only to a few; God is good invariably, constantly, without any shadow of change: It is unfitting to bear change or change (James 1:17), and you are temporarily good and generous and temporarily not good and stingy; God is good to the good and the evil (cf.: Luke 6:35), to the righteous (those who do the truth - hardworking, etc.) and the unrighteous (cf.: Matthew 5:45) (those who do not do the truth, for example, to the lazy), and you are more good only to the good: you love those who love (cf.: Matthew 5:46), you love to give more to those who can repay you, and you are not kind to those who are evil towards you, you take revenge on the unrighteous for their unrighteousness towards you, although you yourself are unrighteous and, much less, are not generous towards them. - How far is your goodness and generosity from the goodness and generosity of God! Meanwhile, we, the children in Christ of the Heavenly Father, need to become like God Himself in goodness and generosity. Be holy (Lev. 11:44), be merciful, as your Heavenly Father is holy and merciful (cf. Matt. 5:48 ; OK. 6:36). The Lord often speaks to us about this in our hearts, reproaching and punishing us, but we pay little heed to his admonitions: we change for a while, and then soon we turn again to our unkindness and stinginess. We are crafty, self-loving, greedy and greedy for the material gifts of God and rely on them, and not on God, who is able (to abound in us with every goodness) to always enrich us for our truth and for our love for Him and for His image and likeness, what man is. “We are often separated in spirit, we harbor hatred towards our neighbor because he often and undeservedly uses our property, or better yet, the gifts of God” [8, 608]. “Who can you be angry with, against whom can you open your mouth, you sinner of all people? “Aren’t you the most sinful of all against God and people?” Shouldn’t you consider it happiness just to see an honest person and talk to him? Shouldn't you be put together with mad dogs, because you love to jump on people and bite them with the action of your passions, like with teeth; with wolves, because you are fierce and insatiable; with bears because you are bloodthirsty; with foxes, because you are crafty; with cats, because you are cunning and cunning; with roosters because you are proud and prone to offense? With pigs, because you like to wallow in the mud of vices, and so on. And you still live in human society, are you still respected by many? Be, brother or sister, the most sincere lovers of every person. Respond not only to love with love, but also to the disfavor of others with love. Be the most humble of all, as you are the most sinful of all, and love humiliation, as worthy of all contempt. If you love, you who love, what reward you will receive... (Matthew 5:46). Everyone who exalts himself will humble himself... (Luke 14:11)” [10, 313]. “If you love only those who love you - those who look at you affectionately, smiling, and do not love your enemies or those who look at you gloomily, hostilely, proudly; What is your reward from God for this (cf. Matthew 5:46)? - No: you conquer evil with good (Rom. 12:21) and warn everyone with love and affection, not allowing the spirit of hatred to flare up in yourself and in your neighbor. Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44). They turn you away, but you try to cling to them with love and consider all coldness and aversion to your neighbor as a dream, a demonic lie in action, whom, according to the Gospel, we must love fervently, as ourselves” [11, 337]. Matthew 5:48. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” "Alas! many are tempted by the gift of freedom given to man by God, and by man’s ability to be good and evil, and after falling into sin, by man’s inclination towards evil rather than good. They blame the Creator and say: why did God create us this way, why didn’t he create us so that we could not fall and do evil? And others attribute the damage to man by sin to the imperfection of nature, bypassing God in their thoughts and recognizing the whole world, with all its phenomena and objects, as some kind of impersonal, dependent, unfree being, of which they are parts. This is what removal from the Church does! This is the kind of ignorance you are falling into, you fools! Meanwhile, our children know clearly, distinctly, firmly what you do not know. – You blame the Creator; Yes, is He to blame for the fact that you, through inattention to His voice, through your ill-will and ingratitude, used for evil the greatest gift of His goodness, wisdom and omnipotence - I mean freedom, which is an integral feature of the image of God! Shouldn’t He be recognized all the more good because He gave this gift, not being shaken by the ingratitude of those who received the gift, so that His goodness would shine brighter than the sun for everyone? And didn’t He prove by His very act His immeasurable love and His infinite wisdom in giving us freedom, when, after our fall into sin and separation from Him and spiritual destruction, He sent His only begotten Son into the world, in the likeness of the image of corruptible man [Rom. 1:23], and gave Him up to suffer and die for us? After this, who will blame the Creator for giving us freedom! Let God be true, but every man is a lie [Rom. 3:4]. Save yourself, everyone, fight, win, but do not become arrogant and do not accuse the Creator of unkindness and unwisdom; do not blaspheme the Almighty God. Rise in love; ascend higher and higher on the levels of spiritual perfection, which could not be achieved without freedom. Be perfect, as the Heavenly Father is perfect [Matt. 5:48]" [5, vol. 1, 78]. “Do you know why we are all poor and ugly and what we need most of all? We were all conceived and born in iniquity and poor in purity, righteousness and holiness - for unrighteousness and uncleanness were conceived with us in the womb of the mother, in the loins of the father and, with our age, they grew and took root and became like weeds in a field among the wheat or like dry, barren fig trees. It is worthy of crying and tears. We were born in Christianity or joined the Orthodox Church, therefore we must live in purity and all virtue, but we live carelessly, meaninglessly, vainly, at random and do not think of striving for Christ’s perfection, forgetting what the Lord told us: be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)” [6, 74]. "Brethren! He who has hope for future blessings values ​​time and does not use it frivolously, does not dare to think about how to kill him: because he knows that the Lord counts every hour, every minute of his existence, and from every day and hour of his life the Lord expects corresponding fruits; knows that his whole life should be, according to God’s thought, a single harmonious building, in which all parts should be perfect. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). And how much can a person, with the grace of God, do in one hour for his perfection and increase in future bliss, and, on the contrary, how much can he damage his soul in one hour and even destroy his soul? “Do we think about it” [8, 176]. “And when there is such a danger to the immortal soul from covetousness, then it is clear that it is necessary to eradicate it through zealous alms, contempt for luxury, moderation in everything, fasting and prayer - by convincing oneself of the vanity and perishability of everything earthly, of the incomparable superiority of eternal, imperishable goods - over perishable goods, coarse, like smoke, disappearing. Therefore, my brothers, we must fulfill not one, not two or three virtues only, but all, if possible, so that we may be perfect and not lack any virtue. May you be complete and complete, lacking nothing, says the holy Apostle James (James 1:4). Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect, says the Lord in the Gospel (Matthew 5:48). When the rich young leader departed from the Lord with sadness and the Lord said that it is difficult for those who trust in wealth to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the disciples of the Lord asked their Teacher with surprise: who can be saved? He said: what is impossible with men is possible with God (Luke 18:26–27). This means that God can, with His grace, soften and heal the heart of the covetous rich, enlighten the eyes of the heart, blinded by self-interest, convincingly present to his mind and heart the perishability and insignificance of earthly wealth and eternity, the incomparable beauty and sweetness of the blessings of the Heavenly Kingdom, which he can receive in exchange for earthly blessings, and the impossible will become possible for him - he will generously give alms to the poor, of whom previously neglected, will excel in every virtue, ascend from strength to strength, and thus be worthy of eternal life” [9, 350]. “To Saint Father Nicholas, come from the heights of heaven and by your terrible appearance expose this madman, who dares not only in his heart, but clearly and loudly to preach that Christ is not God. Come to us from the heights of heaven and denounce the current apostates - they do not want to listen to us, and even to the Gospel and the Church of Christ - they have put themselves above Christ Himself and His Church. It would seem that it is time for people to stop wandering in faith or unbelief and accept with simple hearts the saving light of the faith of Christ, which has illuminated all the ends of the universe - they will be enlightened, revived, saved, and achieve the perfection to which we are destined. For it is said in the Word of God: be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). What faith is more vital, more effective, holier, wiser than the faith of Christ? If the spontaneously learned sons of this age have blinded their eyes, like the ancient Pharisees, and do not want to see now the truth and life-giving faith of Christ, then let them turn to the glorious history of the Church from its beginning to the present: after all, it was not invented by idle people; after all, it was taken from eyewitnesses and from church diaries or chronicles” [9, 377]. “Everything that is pleasant to the taste and beautiful to look at and flattering for knowledge from worldly things, which can only feed our pride and arrogance, must be despised, because it turns our heart away from God by its very pleasantness and beauty and the charm of worldly knowledge, which does not lead to piety. - (Amen.) If you love very sweet pies, sweet tea, sweet wine, generally delicious dishes and drinks, do not eat or drink them, but choose everything simple - or, at least, eat them in the most moderate quantities and do not spare them for your neighbors, as charms that turn your heart away from God; Also, do not make yourself very elegant clothes that would delight your eyes, touch and heart. – Let this occupy the children, and we are Christians who must be perfect in mind (cf. Matthew 5:48) and care first and most about pleasing the Lord God by fulfilling His holy commandments and about the salvation of our souls. We must be wise on high, not on earth (Col. 3:2)” [11, 265]. You might be interested in: