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Matthew 6:1. “Be careful that you do not do your alms in front of people so that they will see you; otherwise you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
“About alms. How to submit? Why secretly? So that the reward comes not from people, but from God. God has arranged it in such a way that whoever receives reward here will no longer receive it in heaven.” [1, 64].
Matthew 6:2. “So when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them. Truly I tell you, they are already receiving their reward.”
“To the priest. If the enemy inclines you to sin during public prayer through human fear, tell him: there is no one more terrible, more formidable than my Lord, marvelous in truth, the Punisher of human iniquities.
If you are seduced by human praise for the work of God, say: the glory of man, like the flower of grass, soon disappears, but the glory of God is eternal; to accept glory from people means to lose the glory of God: they will receive, says the Savior, their own reward (Matthew 6:2). There is no one more glorious than my God” [2, 112].
Matthew 6:3. “When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
Matthew 6:4. “so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.”
Matthew 6:5. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners, so that they may appear before people. Truly I tell you, they are already receiving their reward.”
Matthew 6:6. “But you, when you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.”
Matthew 6:7. “And when you pray, do not say too much, like the pagans, for they think that for their many words they will be heard;”
Matthew 6:8. “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
"My God! what have we come to? How are we better than the pagans given our way of life! Where is our faith, trust in God, love for our neighbor? Oh, satanic arrogance! Oh, our shame! - Heavenly Father! You, the leader, demand them, and giver before our petition [Cf.: Matt. 6:8 ], have mercy on us, unfaithful, ungrateful and evil-willed! We hear Your merciful word, Master: the imam will not depart from You, the imam will leave you below [Heb. 13:5], but, being seduced daily by earthly blessings, we disobey him and violate Your will” [5, vol. 1, 208].
“Why is prolonged prayer necessary? In order to warm up our cold hearts, hardened by prolonged bustle, through the duration of fervent prayer. For it is strange to think, much less to demand, that a heart matured in the vanity of life could soon be imbued with the warmth of faith and love for God during prayer. No, this requires work and work, time and time. The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who compare force take it away [Matt. 11:12]. The Kingdom of God does not come to the heart soon when people run so diligently from it. The Lord Himself expresses His will that we should not pray briefly when He presents as an example a widow who regularly went to the judge and bothered him with her requests [Lk. 18:2–6]. The Lord, our Heavenly Father, knows before we ask what we demand [Cf.: Matt. 6:8 ], what we need, but we do not know Him as we should; we are very devoted to the vanity of the world, and not to the Heavenly Father; Here He, in His wisdom and mercy, turns our needs into a pretext for turning us to Him.
Turn, My erring children, even now to Me, your Father, with all your hearts, if before you were far from Me, even now, with faith and love, warm up your hearts towards Me, which were previously cold” [5, vol. 2, 377].
“Not with many words” (cf. Matthew 6:8) prayer and salvation. Read, although only a few prayers, but with consciousness and warmth in your heart. And most importantly, keep the memory of God throughout the whole day, i.e. secret, inner prayer. I myself do not have the time to stand for long monastic services, but everywhere and always - whether I am walking, driving, sitting or lying - the thought of God never leaves me, I pray to Him in spirit, mentally stand before Him and contemplate Him before me. “I have foreseen the Lord before me... let me not move” (Ps. 15:8); the thought of His closeness to me never leaves me. Try to do the same” [7, 11].
“When praying to God, constantly remember that God is the seer in secret (Matthew 6:4,6), that He sees all your thoughts, dispositions and movements of the heart, its coldness or warmth, sincerity or deceit, simplicity and duality or hypocrisy. Constantly echo in your heart: he sees, he sees, and to this all-seeing eye of the Heavenly Father, betray your whole heart with all its good and evil; you notice evil, bad movements in your heart against your will, say: see, Lord, my scabs - I don’t love them, I don’t warm them, but I want to be healed of them; if by will, quickly wake up and say: ah! what is it in me? After all, my Heavenly Father sees me - and quickly repent of the free sins of the heart; Commit to Him all that is good in your heart and say: This is yours, Master, not my good; establish it in me" [8, 453].
“Prayer is seeds; just look carefully at the earth of the heart, let the earth of the mind go deeper and fertilize it with contrition and sighs - and they will sprout and bear fruit: Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you in reality (Matthew 6:6). Ask and it will be given to you. (Matthew 7:7). You sow a seed: you don’t see how it vegetates there, but then you see the fruit; you sow words of prayer: you don’t see what happens to them afterwards, but then you see the fruit” [8: 236].
“When the enemy disturbs your heart with extreme stinging of food and drink, brethren, arm your heart with faith and trust in God and say: I trust in my God that I will not fail, by His mercy: for the Heavenly Father knows what I require (cf. Matt. 6:8). And He says: the imam will not depart from you, the imam will leave you below (Gen. 28:15; Heb. 13:5)” [8, 493].
“We are quickened by Him, we live in His air, we drink His water, we eat His bread - He gave us His only begotten Son: how can He not give everything to those who ask (cf. Rom. 8:32)? And prayer is only needed to reveal your acceptability. God knows everything before (cf. Matthew 6:8). Everything is in God” [10, 195].
“In church or in the company of people, we mostly appear with bright faces, encouraged, having recovered from our spiritual weaknesses and passions. And what do we experience in our souls at home, in the silence or anxiety of home life, how weak we are in our own home, when prying eyes are not directed at us, and in front of those at home we do not find the need to hide our weaknesses, when often only God and the inhabitants of heaven look at us, whom we, however, very often do not remember? – One who knows the heart and sees everything secret (cf.: Matt. 6:4,6; Ps. 43:22) knows what abyss of infirmities often suppresses our soul; How are we forced to shed many tears from a deep feeling of our imminent destruction, our greatest poverty and wretchedness, and the internal temptations of the enemy? - God alone knows how accommodating we are to any sin, but especially to laziness, to despondency, murmuring and blasphemy, to stinginess, malice and envy, to pride and pompousness, to rudeness and cruelty, to satiety and drunkenness and carnal knowledge in all forms.
– In church or in society we appear already pre-prepared, having recovered from sinful relaxation at home. – But we really need to behave at home as in church or in society, because our God is with us and in us. Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you? (1 Cor. 3:16)" [10, 462].
Matthew 6:9. “Pray like this: Our Father who art in heaven! Let Your name shine;"
Matthew 6:10. “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Matthew 6:11. “Give us this day our daily bread;”
Matthew 6:12. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;”
Matthew 6:13. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
Matthew 6:14. “For if you forgive people their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Matthew 6:15. “And if you do not forgive people their trespasses, then your Father will not forgive you your trespasses.”
Matthew 6:16. “Also, when you fast, do not be sad like the hypocrites, for they put on gloomy faces in order to appear to people as fasting. Truly I tell you, they are already receiving their reward.”
Matthew 6:17. “And you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,”
Matthew 6:18. “That you may appear to those who fast, not to men, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.”
“Endure with obedience to the will of God all sorrow, all sickness and weakness, all labor, all insult and trouble, saying: Thy will be done [Matt. 6:10; OK. 11:2 ] and knowing that the goodness of God leads everything to the best for you and that the Lord can conveniently transform any trouble into happiness and joy” [5, vol. 2, 576].
“Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth (Matthew 6:9–10). Do you, a sinner, sincerely desire holiness, are you jealous, possessed from the enemy, the destroyer-devil, of the peaceful Kingdom of God, firstly, in yourself, and then in all people; do you want to sincerely fulfill the will God’s righteous, all-good, and do you wish and pray to God that all people would know and do the will of our Heavenly Father? We say these words of the Lord’s Prayer every day without a deep understanding of their meaning and throw them as if to the wind, and therefore there is no good change in us, but we all remain the same sinners, careless and wicked” [6, 131].
“About anger. – If you are angry with your brother for his sins, even tempting ones, then remember that you yourself are not without sins, also tempting, although perhaps of a different kind. You yourself want your tempting sins to be covered by the condescending, all-covering (sins) love of your neighbors; how grateful you would be to them, with what love you would hug and kiss them for their all-enduring love; How this condescension would ease your already heavy grief over sins, encourage and strengthen your weakness in the fight against them, strengthen your spirit with hope in God’s mercy! But what you would wish for yourself in such cases, wish for that, then do for your brother; he is your member and the member of Christ; love, it is said, your neighbor as yourself [Mk. 12:31]. Always remember, when condemned, because of the malice of your heart against your brother for his sins, that you yourself are not without sins. Why do you see the bitch that is in your brother's eye, but don't you hear the log that is in your eye? O hypocrite, truly a hypocrite, first remove the thorn from your hair, and then you will see to take away the speck from your brother’s hair [Matt. 7:3, 5].
Moreover, your brother stands or falls to his Lord [Rom. 14:4 ], and not to you. And if your brother has sinned against you, then you must certainly forgive him for the offense he caused you, or for his sins against you. You yourself daily strongly need the forgiveness of your sins from the Heavenly Father and pray: forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors [Matt. 6:12]. And if you want your sins to be forgiven, forgive your brother his sins against you. If you forgive men their sins, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive you your sins [Matt. 6:14, 15]" [5, vol. 2, 409].
“You should not be upset or irritated by anything, because through frequent upset and irritation, a very harmful, morally and physically, habit of being irritated is formed, while through indifference to opposites, a good and useful habit is formed to endure everything calmly, patiently. Many cases may present themselves in this life of countless mutual imperfections of ours, and if we are upset in every case, then our life will not exist even for several months. Moreover, grief and irritation do not improve the matter, but on the contrary, it upsets us through our frustration. It is better to always be calm, even, always full of love and respect for morally sick humanity, or, more specifically, for our neighbors, our relatives and those subordinate to us. After all, man is not an angel, and besides, our life has already developed in such a way that we almost sin every day and involuntarily, even if we didn’t want to. I don’t want good, I do this, but I don’t want evil, I do this [Rom. 7:19].
And the Lord taught us to look condescendingly at frequent human failures and failures, saying: forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors [Matt. 6:12]. Whatever men will do to you, so do you to them [Lk. 6:31; Wed: Matt. 7:12]. And who among us does not want to be treated condescendingly and patiently in his needs, stumblings and falls, malfunctions, omissions? That is why the Apostle teaches us long-suffering and forbearance. Love, says the Apostle Paul, is long-suffering, merciful, not irritable, does not think evil, covers all things, endures all things, and never fails [1 Cor. 13:4–8]" [5, vol. 2, 361].
"St. 14. About the forgiveness of sins against us to others... About how to fast. (Secretly, not only physically, but also spiritually, free yourself from passions: do not swear, do not commit adultery, do not repay evil for evil, give to those who demand." [1, 64].
“Love every person, despite his sins. Sins are sins, but the basis in man is one - the image of God. Others with obvious weaknesses are angry, proud, envious, stingy, money-loving, greedy, and you, too, are not without evil, perhaps even more of it in you than in others. At least with regard to sins, people are equal: all, it is said, sinned and deprived of the glory of God [Rom. 3:23 ], we are all guilty before God and still need God’s mercy towards us. Therefore, loving each other, we must tolerate each other and leave each other, forgive others for their sins against us, so that our heavenly Father will forgive us our sins [Cf.: Matt. 6:14]. So, with all your soul, honor and love the image of God in every person, not paying attention to his sins - God alone is holy and sinless. And look how He loves us, what He has created and is creating for us, punishing mercifully and having mercy generously and graciously! Also, honor a person, despite his sins, because he can always improve” [5, vol. 1, 107].
“You are angry with your neighbor, you despise him, you don’t want to talk to him peacefully and lovingly because he has something rude, abrupt, careless, unpleasant to you in his character, in his speech, in his manners - because he is aware of his dignity, perhaps more than proper, or that he is somewhat proud and disrespectful; but you are more guilty than he, doctor and teacher of your neighbor: doctor, heal yourself (Luke 4:23); teacher, learn for yourself. Your malice is the worst evil of all evil; Is it possible to correct evil with malice? Having a log, is it possible to take a knitting needle from someone else? Evil and shortcomings are corrected with goodness, love, affection, meekness, humility, and patience. Recognize yourself as the first of the sinners who seem to you to be sinners, or who are actually sinners; consider yourself worse and lower than everyone else; purge all pride and anger towards your neighbor, impatience and rage, and then heal others. Otherwise, cover the sins of others with condescending love. If you see all the iniquities in your neighbor, what will happen? Eternal enmity and disorder, for who is without sin?
For this reason we are commanded to forgive our debtors, for if the Lord sees our iniquities, which of us will stand (Ps. 129:3) before His righteousness? If you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you (Matthew 6:14). At the meal of love we are with Love Himself embodied, but we have no love for each other. Strange thing! and there is no concern about this. But love itself, without our zeal and suffering and activity, will not come” [5, vol. 1, 275].
"Do not lead us into temptation (Matthew 6:13). Why do we pray: do not lead us into temptation? - Because temptations in general are difficult for a person to endure, not only carnal, but also spiritual. And if the Lord subjected us all to temptation, then few would resist in faith and virtue. Temptations of the Lord (See: Matthew 4:1-10). Job (See: Job). Paul the Apostle. (See: 2 Cor. 11:23–27) – Jude (See: Matt. 27:3–5; John 13:2, 27)” [8, 672].
"Our Father! Who art thou in heaven! (Matt. 6:9) In heaven is our Father - we say so that we always remember that our life is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), that we are heavenly by nature, that where the Father is, there will be children. Hallowed be Thy name (Matt. 6:9). This is our first and most ardent desire in this life, that the name of the Father be hallowed. our Heavenly, dishonored and blasphemed by our sins. May your kingdom come... (Matthew 6:10) sin and the devil reign in us - not God... write off everything here from nature... from our inner life... We cannot sanctify the name of God until sin and the devil reign in us, as in heaven and on earth (Matthew 6:10). The Lord reigns in our hearts, for this we must cast aside our will and with all our hearts always desire that the will of God be in us; if we follow the will of our corrupted heart, the Kingdom of God will not come to us. - Not my will, the Lord prayed, but yours (Luke 22:42); Lord, Lord, do not do what I say... (Lk.
6:46.) He who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:21). Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). He who wants to do the will of God does not worry much about food, drink, clothing: for he knows that the Lord knows that we require them all (cf. Matthew 6:32); for he knows that first of all and most of all it is necessary to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (cf. Matt. 6:33), that with the dignity of his deified nature it is incompatible to be immersed in worries in materiality, but it is necessary to philosophize on high, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (cf. Col. 3:2, 1). And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive (Matthew 6:12)... The true son of the Heavenly Father, heartily desiring that the name of God may be sanctified continually through him and through all people, so that His gracious Kingdom may come and His will be with us in everything, good, acceptable and perfect (cf. Rom. 12:2), requiring that we do not worry much about earthly things - about food, drink and clothing - he prays to God to forgive his sins; he thirsts and hungers not for food and drink, but for grace-filled justification through Jesus Christ, in whom he becomes a son of the Heavenly Father.
The words: Hallowed be Thy name (Matthew 6:9) - suggest in the prayer a sincere desire to glorify the name of God through the holiness of Christian life, Christian charity, especially the desire for each other to enlighten, help and joy in glorifying the Divine name; the desire that God would raise up more workers to glorify the name of God through various good deeds.
Thy Kingdom come... (Matthew 6:10) the desire is expressed that enmity, disorder, envy, love of money, covetousness, untruths, deceptions, lies, perjury should not reign among people, but that love, justice, generosity, hard work, and every virtue should reign among them.
Why do we say: Our Father. Who is in heaven (Matthew 6:9)? Then, after the fall of our ancestors, the Lord, so to speak, withdrew from earth to heaven, because the church and residence of God on earth is the human heart, a pure heart, and it did not exist after the fall: the earth was filled with unrighteousness (cf. Gen. 6:11). The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if they understood, or sought God. All turned aside... obscene things were... until one (Wed: Ps. 13:2-3).
Then we say: hallowed be Thy name - so that it may be hallowed and not dishonored by people, by their untruths and iniquities; may Your Kingdom come - so that the Kingdom of God, which was removed from the earth for the sake of human iniquities, will come again; Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth (Matthew 6:10) - so that the Kingdom of God may be revealed on earth by the fulfillment of God’s good will on earth (cf. Rom. 12:2)” [8, 291].
“Ask... seek... fill... (Cf.: Matt. 7:7) - these words refer primarily to the search for the Kingdom of Heaven and to deliverance from sins, as the Lord’s Prayer demonstrates, in which, first of all, we ask - hallowed be the name of God: may the Kingdom of God come: His will be done on earth (Cf.: Matt. 6:9-10), etc., and as the goal shows the descent of the Son of God onto earth. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33)" [8, 287],
“But what an amazing and most comforting spiritual sight it would be if the whole earth, all peoples, with one mouth and one heart, cried out to heaven: Our Father! Like you are in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name - in us all! May Your Kingdom come as in the beginning, before the Fall; may Thy will be good and perfect, both in heaven - forever, and on earth, and may self-will not reign. Give us our daily bread today (what if everyone had such a way of thinking and desires) and forgive us our debts (Matthew 6:9-12)... and so on... But... someday this will happen, for the time will come when all those living on earth will be one flock under one Shepherd (cf. John 10:16)" [8, 670].
"God! If failure after failure follows me in my affairs, Thy will be done! If You deprive me from time to time of earthly blessings: blessed be Your name (Wed: Job 1:21). For You give, You also take away. If you strike my body or any part of it with illness: blessed be You, O Almighty, for with Your hands You created me and created me (Ps. 119:73). If you add sorrow upon sorrow to my soul, I am worthy of it for my sins! If you take away those close to my heart from me: blessed be Thy Providence, O Almighty! Blessed and glorified may Your name be forever (Wed: Ps. 113:2). Thy will be done (Matthew 6:10)! May we understand that we are Your creatures, the works of Your hands, may we not act arbitrarily, may we learn from our failures that You rule over all, and as You will, so it happens. – Amen” [8, 159].
“We ourselves, by our own will, have fallen from God and from heavenly bliss, but by our own will we are now constantly sinning and moving away from God and His inner Kingdom - but we ourselves must draw closer to God with our hearts, which means we ourselves must ask the Lord: may His Kingdom come to us (cf. Matt. 6:10); We sin by our own corrupted will; by our own will we must repent, or say prayers of repentance from the bottom of our hearts. We ourselves have humiliated and humiliated the most glorified Lord by sin; we ourselves must, of our own free will, glorify Him with a good life and try to have others glorify Him too. As before, through sins, we allowed and continue to allow the name of God to be blasphemed for our sake (Cf.: Rom.
2:24), just as we voluntarily became ungrateful at the beginning and now for the most part we are insensitive and ungrateful before the Giver of all blessings, before the All-Containing One - so we ourselves must now voluntarily strengthen ourselves to thank God for everything and in fact give thanks, weave prayers of thanksgiving for all the blessings given to us, especially spiritual ones, for the forgiveness of sins, for the redemption by the Son of God from future wrath and for all the Sacraments and gracious guidance, submitted to the Church. Thus, in the most natural way, our prayer is either a petition, when we heartily acknowledge before God our sinfulness, weakness, our powerlessness, our dependence on Him in all spiritual and physical needs, our faith that we have received and are receiving everything from God, or a doxology, when we glorify for the greatness of His deeds in the kingdom of nature and grace, or thanksgiving for the great and rich mercies we receive from Him daily” [8, 287].
“Recognize every person as having equal moral rights with you as a person and especially as a Christian, and show your conviction of this equality of all people with you in your entire life, in all your behavior with the people of God. Every person is another me. This is how the commandment of the Lord teaches us to look at our neighbor when it says: Do not listen to your friend with false testimony (Ex. 20:16)! Whoever the person with whom I live or deal with is, there is a friend of mine who is completely equal to me in the sameness of nature: he is another me. Therefore, I must always and everywhere show him full respect and love, as myself, even more than myself. Love your neighbor as you love yourself (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39). Show honor to one another (Rom. 12:10). “From here comes the duty - to be forgiving of the weaknesses of others, as we are forgiving of ourselves, and to leave debts to our debtors (cf. Matthew 6:12)" [8, 248].
"Forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12). A very important request. The Lord knows that in life we very often have to endure grief, insults, injustice, oppression from others, and therefore for our peace of mind and for the sake of receiving forgiveness of our own sins, He commanded us in prayer to forgive others the insults or sins of others (so that we also receive forgiveness of our sins from the Heavenly Father, whom incomparably greater than the sins against us and our neighbors).
What deep peace and harmony this one petition should bring into human societies! What would happen in reality if everyone left their grievances with their family? Then there would be no quarrels, hostility, envy, stinginess, courts, these vain oaths, and so on and so forth. What kind of love, order, peace, harmony would then be established everywhere! – How would all Christian families, villages, cities, kingdoms flourish then! How many legal cases would collapse by themselves! The Kingdom of God would then be on earth. God is, says the Apostle, in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their sins to them (2 Cor. 5:19). What if people did not impute to their other brothers their sins against them, if they were imitators of the Heavenly Father? - Oh, the Heavenly Father would then have forgiven them all their sins. Whenever you pray, let go, says the Lord, if you have anything against anyone. (Wed: Mark 11:25) If you forgive men their sins, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: if you do not forgive... (Matt.
6:14–15) He who leaves sins to others will easily avoid countless devilish intrigues and connections with which the enemy constantly tries to entangle Christians, who are often forced into the need to have hostile clashes with hostile and unrighteous people; he will get rid of many heartbreaks. What a wise petition the Lord placed in the prayer: Our Father, forgive us our debts, as we also forgive... (Matthew 6:12), for this petition is truly necessary for us! Take a closer look at your daily life; Isn’t it true that almost every day someone will sin against you in some way; Do you also remember that sometimes a brother’s insignificant mistake greatly irritates us, especially when we are busy or when we are, as they say, out of sorts?
Remember, brothers, every time you become angry with someone, the words of the Lord’s Prayer; we forgive our debtors, and say to yourself to the Lord: Jesus our Savior, we obey Your will - we forgive our debtors their debts; You forgive us our sins without number, You suffered for the sins of the whole world and shed all Your blood for them - how can we not forgive the sins against us to our neighbors, when these sins are the same as a drop in the ocean in comparison with the sins of the whole world for which You suffered; when we ourselves must resort to You every minute with a request to forgive our debts, when we sin against You constantly, gravely, every minute, every hour and every day we violate all Your commandments. Forgive, forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors (cf. Matthew 6:12).
– We want to turn into a pious, Christian habit - the forgiveness of sins against our neighbors: help our desire; Grant our hearts the strength not to remember insults to us from our neighbors, just as You do not remember our sins and iniquities, which we sincerely repented of before You: neither will I remember their sins and their iniquities (cf. Heb. 10:17). – But those who harbor malice and vengeance towards their brother in their hearts shamelessly lie before God in prayer, they say in prayer: Forgive us... and we forgive our debtor. For vindictiveness, lies, idle talk and inattention to prayer, the Lord will punish such people in due time. What in fact, is the Lord’s Prayer, so short, given to us for idle talk and misunderstanding of its spirit and power? – Is the Lord a simple Man Who can be deceived by words? Isn’t He the God of our hearts (cf. Ps. 73:26), before Whom the depths of human hearts are revealed? Oh, my brothers! Be attentive to every word of the prayer: Our Father!
And pronounce them truly, from the heart, unfeignedly, with feeling - as if you yourself, in dire need, composed this entire prayer. Here every word cries out to God about our essential need; Feel every word with your hearts, recognize in the depths of your hearts the need of every petition. Oh! If only we could all read the prayer with all our hearts and complete understanding: Our Father! How generously and abundantly the Heavenly Father blessed us then! Why is it not powerful to petition the Heavenly Father for such a prayer, which His beloved Son Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, put into our mouths? – So, learn to forgive those who offend you, so that your Heavenly Father will forgive you your sins (cf. Matthew 6:14) and reward you with the gifts of His goodness. Amen" [8, 577].
"We forgive our debtors (their debts) (Matthew 6:12). Because the debts of our neighbors are what other than delusion, lies, daydreaming in their relations towards us? So, if they are aware of their delusions, errors, the falsity of their relations towards us, or even if they are not aware, then we will forgive them their debts against us out of compassion, out of pity for their delusion, dreaminess - we will impute them to nothing, just as they really are nothing. – But if they remain in a lie, in a dream, then they themselves are to blame and will perish if they do not convert, having not accepted the love of the truth, in order to be saved (2 Thess. 2:10)” [10, 457].
“Next, the Lord teaches us unhypocritical fasting and tells us that we should enter the field of fasting not with sad, but with cheerful faces, as true and faithful warriors of Christ, entering the fight against sin and our many-passionate flesh, with the help and assistance of the omnipotent grace of Christ, and before the face of the Heavenly Father, with whom a reward is ready for all who truly struggle against the charms of sin. Anoint your head, says the Savior, and wash your face (Matthew 6:17); anoint your head, that is, anoint your soul with the oil of alms, and wash the face of your soul with the oil of purity, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly (Matthew 6:18)” [9, 58].
“So, what is required of us by the incarnation of the Son of God? Immediate, sincere, unfeigned and firm repentance of all sins, correction of the heart and a righteous, holy life. Be holy, for I am holy, the Lord your God (Lev. 19:2). Depart from the midst of the corrupt and separate yourself, and do not touch uncleanness; and I will accept you, and I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty (2 Cor. 6:17, 18). What exactly this is required of us by the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, holiness and truth, you can be convinced of this every day by the very prayer of the Lord Our Father, in which He, the Lord, teaches us, first of all, to pray that we should live holy and righteously, according to the will of God, and not according to our own: Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth... (See: Matthew 6:9–13). So, this is the indispensable duty that the incarnation of the Son of God imposes on us, brothers and sisters: to live righteously and holy, reverently and honestly, and to shun all sin, all unrighteousness and impurity.
Otherwise, we will be unworthy of the Son of God and His Kingdom and will prepare ourselves for the gravest condemnation both here and in eternity. Amen" [9, 116].
“Let the words of the Master resound in your soul more often: we leave our debtors (Matthew 6:12). Perform them as often and as perfectly as possible. Whom we love, we forgive a lot. The Lord God loves us immeasurably and therefore forgives us without number; then it is said: I was lying in the abyss of sin, I call upon the unsearchable abyss of Thy mercy. – And most importantly, look, remember the words of the Lord: we leave our debtors. “Ask the Lord to strengthen you in this good deed” [11, 338].
“Your Power - that is, You contain everyone and everything in Your power and strength, including evil spirits; Yours is the Kingdom - You are the King over all, and over evil spirits; Your Strength - You support everyone with Your strength; and Glory (cf. Matthew 6:13) - for You created everything for Your glory" [11, 172].
“Christ, the Son of God, the Most Holy God, is not ashamed to call us (cf. Heb. 2:11) sinners to the brethren; and do not be ashamed to call brothers and sisters, at least the poor and ignorant, simple people, relatives according to the flesh or not relatives, and do not be proud before them, do not despise them, do not be ashamed of them, do not blush and do not be indignant when they call you brother: for we are all, indeed, brothers in Christ, we were all born of water and the Spirit in the font of Baptism and became children of God, we are all called Christians, we are all nourished In the Flesh and Blood of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, other Church Sacraments are performed over all of us - we all pray in the Lord’s Prayer: Our Father ... (Matthew 6:9-13) and equally we all call God our Father: we know no other kinship except the kinship of the spiritual and at the same time of the flesh, the highest, the eternal, which was given to us by the Lord of life, the Creator and Renewer of our nature, Jesus Christ, for this one relationship is true, holy, abiding; earthly kinship is deceitful and unclean (for we were born in sins and in iniquities (Ps.
50:7) and all are unclean before God), temporary, corruptible, just as our flesh and blood are corruptible. - So, simply treat your fellow humans as equals with equals, and do not be proud of anyone, but, on the contrary, humble yourself: for everyone who exalts himself will humble himself, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:14). – Don’t say: I am educated, but he or she is not; he or she is a simple, uneducated man or peasant; Do not turn the gift of God to you, unworthy, into a reason for pride, but for humility: for to whom much is given, much will be demanded from him (cf. Luke 12:48), and to whom little is given, little will be asked. Do not say: I am noble, and he is of low birth; earthly nobility without the nobility of faith and virtue is an empty name; What’s in my nobility when I’m noble, but I’m a sinner like others, or even worse?” [11, 98].
Matthew 6:19. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,”
Matthew 6:20. “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
“Here, in a world of vanity, in an adulterous and sinful world, constantly and often unnoticed, our souls and bodies are corrupted by worms and aphids, and mental thieves dig in and steal treasures [Matt. 6:19 ] souls, truth and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit [ Rom. 14:17]. What is the sure remedy for this constant corruption of sin, for these mental thieves? Prayer of repentance and faith. She revives, resurrects our soul, which is decaying in seductive lusts, drives away mental thieves; she is their scourge, but for us she is the source of strength, life and salvation. - Glory to the Lord for this! Prayer protects and delivers us from sin. We live well with the prayer of faith, for in prayer we live with the Lord, Who promised all blessings to those who ask: ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find, search and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives it, and everyone who seeks finds it, and it will be opened to the one who asks [Matt. 7:7, 8]. - Glory, Lord, to Your all-true words. God! Grant to all who ask You, through my unworthiness, various blessings, the petitions of their hearts. Amen – wake up” [5, vol. 1, 59].
“Do not hide... where aphids decay, where things are stolen (Matthew 6:19). The image of this world (1 Cor. 7:31) passes away like corruption with all its beauty, wealth, sweetness, glory and honor. Only eternal blessings, eternal treasures, eternal life, truth, love with the holiness and peace of God remain. - There the eyes of the heart remain ( Eph. 1:18) rush, come there, help is coming from nowhere (cf. Ps. 120:1)” [4, 24].
“Lord, forgive my sins and give me complete dispassion: grant me to have treasure in heaven, and not on earth, where aphids decay and thieves break in and steal (cf. Matthew 6:19–20)” [4, 16].
“Further, the Lord teaches us to renounce our hearts from earthly treasures and from earthly passions and encourages us to desire and seek heavenly treasures, firstly, because our souls are of heavenly origin and immortal, and earthly blessings, being rough, corruptible and transitory, are unworthy of us, created and redeemed by the Blood of the Son of God for the enjoyment of spiritual and eternal blessings, - and secondly, because clinging our hearts to earthly blessings, we thereby make them earthly, rude, low, passionate, and ourselves incapable of loving God and our neighbor, while love is the main goal and duty of our life. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break through and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:19-21).
St. John Chrysostom talks about it this way: it will be a great harm to you if you cling to earthly things, become a slave instead of a free one, fall away from heavenly things, and be unable to think about heavenly things, but only about money, about interest, about debts, about profits and vile greed. What could be worse than this? Such a person falls into slavery, the worst slavery of any slave, and, what is most disastrous of all, arbitrarily rejects the nobility and freedom inherent in man. No matter how much I talk with you, but you, having a mind nailed to wealth, cannot hear anything useful and necessary for you... for where your treasure is, there is your heart (cf. Matthew 6:21)” [9, 59].
Matthew 6:21. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
"My servant Job will pray (Job 42:8). The height of the priestly service and the person of the priest. Why do many people not want to pray? - Where is your treasure... (Wed: Matt. 6:21) - They have not learned to value prayer, they have not experienced its sweetness, or they have known it, but have become careless. An unclean heart loves the worldly. The spiritual is inconceivable for it. What kind of communication is the light of darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14)" [2, 44].
“It is necessary that the heart before prayer, as during prayer, be completely imbued with love for God and for people, so that enmity towards God or people is not hidden in it under any guise, for example, under the guise of discontent, grumbling, love for the world, hatred, malice, stinginess - in a word, so that it is clean from the painful scabs of sin and from the aphids of passions. If, before prayer, you feel that your heart hurts, aches, that there seems to be some kind of weight on it that is preventing it from rising up to God, immediately try to introduce into it sincere love for God - and it will heal. In prayer, the life of the heart is most important. He will not rise to God if some kind of passion oppresses him. The saying is true that where your treasure is, there your heart will also be (cf. Matthew 6:21)" [2, 217].
“You wonder how the saints from heaven listen to us when we pray to them. And how do the rays of the sun from heaven bow down to us and shine everywhere - all over the earth? Saints are the same in the spiritual world as the rays of the sun are in the material world. God is the eternal, life-giving Sun, and the saints are the rays of the intelligent Sun. Just as the eyes of the Lord constantly look at the earth and earth-born, so the eyes of the saints cannot help but turn to where the providential gaze of the Lord is directed to the creatures and where their treasure is (their bodies, their deeds, sacred places, faces devoted to them). Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be [Matt. 6:21]. You know how the heart sees quickly, far and clearly (especially objects of the spiritual world); notice this in all knowledge, especially in spiritual knowledge, where very much is learned only by faith (the vision of the heart). The heart is the eye of the human being; the purer it is, the faster, further and clearer it sees.
But among the saints of God, this spiritual eye, even during their lifetime, was brought to the purity possible for a person, and after their death, when they united with God, by the grace of God it became even brighter and more extensive within the limits of its vision. That is why the saints see very clearly, widely and far; see our spiritual needs; they see and hear everyone who calls on them with all their hearts, i.e. those whose intelligent eyes are directly directed towards them and are not darkened or eclipsed during aspiration by doubt and lack of faith, when the eyes of the hearts of those who pray coincide, so to speak, with the eyes of those who are called upon. Mysterious vision here! An experienced person understands what is being said. Therefore, how easy it is to have communication with the saints! You just need to clear the vision of your heart, direct it firmly towards a well-known saint, ask for what you need - and it will happen. What does the Lord say about vision? He is all sight, all light, all knowledge. He always fills heaven and earth and sees everything in every place. In every place the Eyes of the Lord behold the evil and the good [Prov. 15:3]" [5, vol. 1, 50].
“When Christians come to church to pray to God, it turns out that they have not one, but many gods and many idols (and thus sin against the first and second commandments): one or another idol of self-love: where one’s treasure is, there is his heart [Matt. 6:21; Wed: Luke. 12:34]" [5, vol. 2, 549].
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be [Cf.: Matt. 6:21]. Know what those praying in the church are thinking about. He who is devoted to something with his heart thinks about that” [5, vol. 2, 538].
Matthew 6:22. “The lamp for the body is the eye. So, if your eye is clean, then your whole body will be bright;”
Matthew 6:23. “If your eye is evil, then your whole body will be dark. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?”
"For carnal wisdom is death, but spiritual wisdom is life and peace [Rom. 8:6]. What person would not agree with these words of the Apostle? Philosophy of the flesh really is death. Come here, you money-loving, covetous, envious, proud, ambitious man, and let us look at you, at your actions, at your life! Reveal to us, if you want, your thoughts We will be convinced by you - by a living example, that carnal wisdom is death: you do not live a true life, you are a spiritual dead man, you are bound internally in your mind, because there is darkness in you [Matthew 6:23], you received from God a heart capable of enjoying the feelings of everything that is true, holy, good and beautiful, but with carnal wisdom you suppressed noble, noble feelings in it; impulses, you are dead, you have no life in yourself [John 6:53].
Any Christian person who leads a life of faith, destroys passions in himself and thinks that what is true, what is honest, what is righteous, what is most pure, what is most loving, what is good praise, whatever virtue and whatever praise [Phil. 4:8], - come to us and tell us what you feel in your soul from spiritual wisdom: - I, you tell us, feel in my heart eternal peace and joy about the Holy Spirit [Rom. 14:17 ], I feel the expansion of the heart, the abundance of life, I laugh at everything carnal, I marvel at how it has such great power over the hearts of carnal people, and I engage in constant contemplation of heavenly, spiritual, invisible blessings prepared for those who love God” [5, vol. 1, 76].
“The words of the Lord are a true lamp for us on the path of life: so are the words of the Gospel now read; you just need to think about them more carefully. Let's think about it. The lamp of the body is the eye, says the Lord (Matthew 6:22), that is, the eye or eye is the lamp of the body; Why is it not said: eyes, but an eye? Because here the Lord does not mean the bodily eyes, but the spiritual eye, or our heart, which controls both the bodily eyes and with two eyes sees objects not double, but individually. So, by eye we mean the heart in which conscience is implanted, or the internal law indicating what is good and what is evil; that is why it is said: eye, not eyes; By body we mean our entire inner life, thoughts, desires, intentions, all our deeds that we do during our earthly life. This means that the meaning of the Savior’s words will be this: the heart or conscience is a lamp for a person on the path of his life, in all his thoughts, desires, intentions, words, in all his deeds. Further the Lord says: Therefore, if your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light (Matt.
6:22): if, that is, your heart, your conscience, will be simple, pure, then all your thoughts, your desires, your deeds, intentions, your undertakings will be bright, right, pure; if your eye, your conscience, is evil, then your whole body will be dark (Matthew 6:23), that is, all your thoughts, desires, intentions, undertakings, your whole life, all your deeds will be dark, wrong, evil. So, if the light that is in you is darkness, then what is the darkness? (Matthew 6:23.) If your heart, which was given to you from the Lord instead of a lamp, through your negligence has become darkness itself, then what will be your whole life, all your deeds? Isn't this how it happens in life? Don't we see constant examples of this? Let's take an example from life. Let’s take a person with a simple heart, with a straight conscience, with a direct outlook on life, with an evangelical outlook, and a person with an evil heart or an evil conscience and partial to the world, to the flesh. All the actions of the former are imprinted with justice, diligence, straightforwardness of character, and goodwill towards one’s neighbor. The actions of the second bear the stamp of untruth, deception, hypocrisy, cunning, and deceit” [9, 177].
“Yes, brethren, our relationship with the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, requires from us great nobility and good behavior in life; It won’t be too much if I say that Christians should live on earth like angels in the flesh - and that’s why virginity in the Christian world is of high importance. But purity and chastity are not the only virtue required of us by kinship with the Son of God. Simpleness of heart is required of us: if your eye, that is, your heart, is simple, your whole body will be light (cf. Matthew 6:22), that is, your whole life; kindness of heart, humility, and kindness are required, as the Savior said: Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29); mercy towards others is required, as He said: be merciful, as your Heavenly Father is merciful (cf. Luke 6:36); abstinence is required: Take heed to yourselves, says Jesus Christ, lest your hearts be burdened with gluttony and drunkenness (Lk.
21:34); dispassion for earthly goods is required, for food, drink, clothing, the glory of this world: do not worry about your soul, what you eat, or what you drink, nor about your body, what you put on: for the soul is greater than food, and the body than clothing... Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these will be added to you (cf. Matt. 6:25, 33); patience is required: in your patience gain your souls (Luke 21:19); obedience, submission of Christians to the Church, for the Lord said: tell the Church about the one who has sinned: if the Church also disobeys, make you like a pagan and a tax collector (Matthew 18:17)” [9, 357].
Matthew 6:24. “No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one and neglectful of the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
“Is it a matter of carnal pleasures for a priest, when he must irrevocably enjoy the one and only Lord, may He grant him the petitions of his heart? Is there any time for carnal pleasures when he has so many spiritual children presenting to him their various spiritual or physical infirmities, in which he needs to sympathize with them spiritually, give sincere and sound advice, when every day he faces a feat with all his heart and with tears to pray for them before the Lord, so that the mental wolf does not run upon them and plunder them, may the Lord give them success in life and faith and spiritual reason! Is it possible for a priest to enjoy carnal pleasures when he often has to perform services in church and stand before the throne of the Lord, when he so often has to perform the Divine wonderful Liturgy and be a performer and communicant of the heavenly, immortal and life-giving Mysteries, when he so often has to perform other sacraments and prayers! A heart that loves carnal pleasures is not faithful to the Lord. You cannot work for God and mammon [Matt. 6:24]" [5, vol. 1, 219].
“Who or what are our idols? These are some persons, then temporary life; this is a multi-passionate and mortal body and that which is for the body: food and drink, clothing, jewelry, distinctions, money, housing, its decoration, etc. When the tempter combats you with addiction to visible things, with hope in visible things, bread, money, etc., then firmly lift the eyes of your heart to the invisible and eternal: first, to the invisible and eternal God - the Source of our life; secondly, to the invisible, endless life, to the eternal bliss of the righteous - after temporary life; when it inspires you to seek life in the perishable, you with effort seek life in the incorruptible: when it rivets your eyes to human flesh, in addition to its immortal soul, you especially turn your mental eyes to the human soul, created in the image and likeness of God, redeemed by the sufferings on the cross and the death of the Son of God, made the heiress of eternal blessings; adopted by God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Bride of the Holy Spirit.
Avoid duality of heart, that is, do not allow it to become double between attachment to God and attachment to earthly things; You cannot work for God and mammon [Matt. 6:24 ]; Cling to the one God, place your hope in Him alone: for the devil, inspiring duality, seeks to take possession of our heart, which is one and indivisible. And remember that clinging to God is always good, blessed, but clinging to the world and its blessings is evil, painful, sorrowful, oppressed: for clinging to the world is delusion and the spirit of the devil” [5, vol. 1, 249].
“Addiction to earthly and carnal things to the point of forgetting God, the soul, is from the devil, who makes our heart, through addiction to earthly things, carnal, earthly, a shameful vessel of passions, while it should philosophize on heaven, be spiritual and the temple of the Holy Spirit. You cannot work for God and mammon [Matt. 6:24 ], God and wealth, God and flesh, God and the world, God and sweets; Therefore, to control your flesh and your heart is a science of sciences, an art of arts. I am flesh and spirit. O impermanence! Oh, ingratitude! Oh laziness! Oh, God's patience! But how long will I change like the moon or like a kaleidoscope? Establish me on the rock of Your commandments, O Lord!” [5, vol. 1, 288].
“That is why you do not receive from God what you ask for, because you do not abandon the abomination of idolatry: serving the belly. You ask the true God, but to God you work in your belly. A man cannot work for two masters [Matt. 6:24]. Stop serving the idol - the womb and then hope to receive what you ask from God. You ask for the true God, but you serve a false god. Ask him if he can give it. Or are you working for the demon of covetousness, and therefore the true God, neglected and abandoned by you, does not fulfill your prayers. Or you work for the idol of pride and vanity, and this idol controls your heart, like those idols: and so the Lord does not bow to the prayers of an idolatrous heart. You left the Source of living waters, the Lord, and dug up broken treasures for yourself [Cf.: Jer. 2:13 ]; Well, drink from these treasures - dead water, dark, like the dark water in the clouds of the air [Ps. 17:12]" [5, vol. 2, 507].
“Our heart is simple, singular, and therefore cannot work for two masters: God and mammon [Matt. 6, 24], i.e. wealth; This means that you cannot sincerely serve the Lord and at the same time have an addiction to earthly things, for all this relates to mammon. And it is unworthy for man to work for wealth, for it is earth and dust. All earthly things, if we become attached to them with our hearts, weaken our hearts, earth them, and from God, and from the Mother of God, and all the saints, from everything spiritual, heavenly and eternal, they turn us away and tie us to the earthly, corruptible, temporary, and also turn us away from love for our neighbor.
To complete all that has been said, it must also be said that the spirit of attachment to earthly things, sparing and pitying earthly things is the spirit of the devil, and the devil himself inhabits a person through his attachment to earthly things; it often enters our heart like an insolent conqueror, through an instant attachment to earthly things, not immediately rejected, darkening, suppressing, killing our spirit and making it incapable of any work of God, infecting it with pride, blasphemy, murmuring, contempt of the sacred and the neighbor, resistance, despondency, despair, malice” [5, vol. 2, 327].
“They say: it’s not important to eat fasting while fasting; it’s not about food; It’s not an important thing to wear expensive, beautiful clothes, go to the theater, to parties, to masquerades, to have magnificent expensive dishes, furniture, an expensive carriage, dashing horses, to collect and save money, etc.; but - because of what does our heart turn away from God, the Source of life, because of what do we lose eternal life? Is it not because of gluttony, is it not because of precious clothes, like the evangelical rich man, is it not because of theaters and masquerades? Why do we become hard-hearted towards the poor and even towards our relatives? – Is it not because of our addiction to sweets, to the belly in general, to clothes, to expensive dishes, furniture, carriages, to money, etc.? Is it possible for God and Mammon to work [Matt. 6:24 ], to be a friend of the world and a friend of God, to work for Christ and Belial? Impossible. Why did Adam and Eve lose paradise and fall into sin and death? Is it not because of the food alone?
Take a good look at why we do not care about the salvation of our souls, which cost the Son of God so dearly; Because of this, we add sins to sins, we constantly fall into resistance to God, into a vain life. Is it not because of an addiction to earthly things, and especially to earthly sweets? What makes our heart hard? because of which we become flesh and not spirit, perverting our moral nature, is it not because of addiction to food, drink, etc. earthly goods? How can we then say that eating meat during Lent is not important? This very thing that we say so is pride, vanity, disobedience, disobedience to God and moving away from Him” [5, vol. 2, 317].
“Our soul is a simple being, therefore it cannot at the same time love both God and, for example, money, food, drink, or our neighbor and money, food and drink together; That’s why it is said: no one can work for two masters: either he will love one and hate the other, or he will stick to one and begin to be careless about the other. You cannot work for God and mammon [Matt. 6:24]. Therefore, the psalmist says by the Holy Spirit: if wealth flows, do not apply your heart [Ps. 61:11]. So, every Christian should be afraid to attach his heart to money, food, drink, elegant clothes, an elegant apartment, books, secular music; Yes, you do not love, do not caress your flesh with anything: whether with amusements, elegant views, food and drinks, sleep, idleness and laziness, shameful deeds, games, idle travel, empty books and shows. Love the one God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your thoughts, and your neighbor as yourself, and be indifferent to everything else in the world, partial to anything and greedy. Be zealous for simplicity in everything, so that you will be loved by a simple Being - God.
Take away guile, doubt, lack of faith and double-mindedness from your soul” [5, vol. 2, 409].
“Oh, how dearly did our Lord Jesus Christ value our soul and its salvation, coming down from heaven for us, taking upon ourselves our soul and body, suffering terribly and dying for us! How do I value my soul, its eternal salvation? Oh, I do not know how to appreciate and have not yet learned to correspond to the love of my Savior, completely clinging to the earth, completely surrendering to laziness and various passions. How can the love of God, the Kingdom of God, be in you, when earthly love reigns in your heart - lust, greed and pride? It is impossible until then until you crucify your flesh with its passions and lusts [Cf.: Gal. 5:24]: for no one can work for two masters [Matt. 6:24] and the love of this world is enmity to God [Jas. 4:4]. Do not love, it is said, the world, nor anyone else in the world: for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life... And the world passes away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever [1 Jn. 2:15–17]" [5, vol. 2, 305].
“Every person should know and remember the simplicity of his soul, which is God’s breath: God is simple, and the soul is simple. And since the soul is simple, it cannot possibly love two opposite objects - God and something worldly, man and something material, pleasant for our carnal man. To love God with all your heart, you must certainly consider everything earthly as rubbish and not be deceived by anything; In order to love your neighbor as yourself, you must neglect money, not be seduced by delicacies, outfits, distinctions, ranks, praise, or people’s opinions. The simplicity of the soul must be protected especially during public and domestic prayer, while reading the word of God and the writings of St. fathers and in general on any important matter. No one else can work for two masters [Matt. 6:24]" [5, vol. 2, 334].
“When we pray, then in a strange way the most holy, lofty objects revolve in our thoughts, along with earthly, everyday, insignificant objects: for example, God, and some beloved object, for example, money, some thing, clothes, a hat, or some sweet piece, a sweet drink, or some external distinction, a cross, an order, a ribbon, etc. So we are frivolous, biased, absent-minded! This is typical only of pagans, who do not know the true God and His Son Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, and not of Christians, whose treasure is not on earth, but in heaven. Where is the living water in our hearts, flowing with a life-giving spring in hearts wholly devoted to God? [5, vol. 2, 447].
“Through sin, man became divided into two and fell away from God. You cannot work for God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). Solid psychological truth" [4, 84].
“And you’re doing great! Beware, stay away from them. Remember: You cannot serve two masters (cf. Matthew 6:24). You now have other relatives - your sisters in Christ, you will answer for them before God; If you’ve already left your family, don’t look back. There is no stronger war against a spiritual man than against his relatives: defeat a man of his own household. So it was with Christ, so it is now, and so it always will be” [7, 27].
“But let’s continue explaining the Gospel. And speak your word to them. Everywhere the Lord appeared with a word - and this word was sweeter than honey from the honeycomb; it healed souls and bodies; bowed and transformed hearts, as in Saul; revived the dead, drove away demons, cast down the daring to the ground, commanded all the elements: and they obeyed the voice of the Almighty; transformed the creature into an instant; this word is heard in the church even now. Why are there so few people listening and performing? From our absent-mindedness, from love for the world, for vain goods and pleasures. You cannot, the Lord said once and for all, work for God and mammon, that is, for the world (cf. Matthew 6:24). But remember: this word will judge us on the last day. Let us pay more attention to what we hear, lest we fall away (Heb. 2:1) inwardly from God. This is why the Holy Church demands our attention when the Gospel is read” [9, 81].
“The Lord himself says: You cannot serve God and wealth; It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (cf. Matt. 6:24; Matt. 19:24). The Holy Apostle John the Theologian says: whoever loves the world does not have the love of the Father, that is, for God, our Heavenly Father, for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (cf. 1 John 2:15, 16). How could the apostles, chosen from rich people and lovers of wealth, be able to lead people to God, kindle in the hearts of people a fiery love for Him, without having love for Him in their hearts? That is why these apostles were chosen from poor people, that is, so that for the love of God they could more easily break ties with the world and with sin and cleave to God with all their hearts” [9, 172].
"No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). What two masters are meant here who cannot be served at the same time? One is the Lord and God, the other is wealth or our sinful flesh, in which the devil works, trying to chain it to the world. Obviously, it is impossible to work together to God and the sinful flesh: precisely because God demands from us holiness, the unswerving and exact fulfillment of His will, and the flesh constantly incites us to sin - to gluttony, drunkenness, fornication, envy, enmity, covetousness and love of money, laziness, and so on. How can we reconcile serving God and the flesh? who are Christ's, have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24), and do not at all serve the sinful flesh, do not please it. Do not please the flesh in lust (Rom. 13:14), says the holy Apostle Paul.
And it always happens that whoever pleases his flesh is negligent about pleasing God, about the salvation of his soul, about his correction, about a virtuous life, he does not correct his heart, does not strive in spirit for the heavenly fatherland, but is completely chained to the earth, to earthly pleasures. He who loves his sinful flesh does not love God, His commandments seem burdensome to him, he does not love his neighbor: he does not care about his salvation, because he does not care about his own; will not help him in need, because he loves himself too much and would rather fulfill his own whims than give up his property for the needs of his neighbor” [9, 180].
“A person partial to the blessings of this world or a stingy person’s heart is united in love with the blessings of this world: food, drink, sweets, clothing, money, housing, etc., and not with the souls of their neighbors. For example, guests come, especially if they come often, such as relatives, and the stingy person’s heart hurts. Why? - Because it is painfully attached to sweets, and not to the souls of its neighbors: it feels sorry for them for its neighbor, and does not feel sorry for its neighbor who wants to eat and drink; and he, loving sweets, hates his neighbor who eats his sweets. You cannot work for God and mammon (Matthew 6:24): but God is in your neighbor. Do not love your brother in his own form. How can one love God without seeing Him? (1 John 4:20) – You should never spare anything for your neighbor as for God” [11, 162].
Matthew 6:25. “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will wear. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing?”
Matthew 6:26. “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your Father in heaven feeds them. Aren't you much better than them?
“Oh heart! Heart! Heart! You are causing yourself pain. When the flesh and the devil begin to tempt you with concerns about obtaining more money to purchase food, drink, and clothing, contrast them with the words of the Savior: Do not worry about your soul, what you eat, or what you drink, nor about your body, what you put on. Does not the soul no longer eat food, and the body clothing? Look at the birds of the air, how they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them? Don't you eat them better? (Matthew 6:25–26)” [2, 295–296].
“Do not worry about your soul, what you eat, or what you drink; nor about your body, what you put on. Isn’t the soul more likely to eat food, and the body to be clothed? (Matthew 6:25) Especially don’t worry about this, priest. In the very service of God, you will always find faithful and sufficient food. Please everyone and everything. Be hospitable” [3, 195].
"Doesn't the soul eat more food [Matthew 6:25]. Ah! immeasurably, infinitely more. The image of the invisible God, the Creator of everything, shines in the soul. Not only anything material, but my soul, my life, I should not spare for the benefit of my brother, material or bodily, especially spiritual. Serving with love the benefits of my brother, I serve God Himself. Oh! I feel in my heart the high, great truth: You have made these lesser brothers of mine [Matthew 25:40]. Why is this so? - Because, firstly, every man is the image of God, and secondly, because Jesus Christ is God and at the same time man, and the Head of the body of His Church, so that we are members of Him, of His flesh and of His bones [Eph. 5:30]. 2, 540].
“If God does not leave a grass, a flower or a leaf on a tree with His good providence, will He leave us? Oh, be convinced with all your heart that the Lord is faithful to Himself in His providence for every creature, even the smallest one. Understand that every creature has an invisibly inherent Creator. According to the Savior, God clothes the flowers of the field and feeds the birds of the air [Cf.: Matt. 6:26, 30]. How does God not make us, His creatures, happy? Even flowers. Like a tender mother, according to His eternal power and wisdom, He creates for us these magnificent plants out of nothing every summer. Let us amuse ourselves with them, and let us not forget to glorify the goodness of the Creator, our Heavenly Father; We ourselves will respond to His love for us with our loving hearts” [5, vol. 1, 32].
“We are all one, and for everyone everything is the Lord, as for the Angels, for the saints, for all the material worlds and every smallest part of them. Look at the birds of the air... Look at the trees of the villages... even hay... God clothes you like this, how much more than you, you of little faith... Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (mutual love), and all these things will be added to you (from God) [Matt. 6:26, Matt. 6:28, Matt. 6:33]. Here is the most necessary truth for you! Follow her! Rely on God for everything. Cast all your sorrow upon Nan, for He cares for you [1 Pet. 5:7]. Indeed, how can one live the way we live: for we live as if there is no Guardian God. We think to arrange everything ourselves, we think to provide for ourselves, putting aside the thought of a common Trustee for all” [5, vol. 1, 261].
“Therefore I tell you,” the Lord continues, do not worry about your soul, what you will eat and what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body than clothing? (Matthew 6:25.) Inappropriate, unreasonable, too much concern for food, drink, clothing, is very harmful to Christian life: this is what the Lord previously called serving mammon. This is our wrong concern for food, drinking and clothing turns our whole life upside down, so to speak: instead of caring mainly about the soul, about cleansing, correcting, sanctifying it, in general about salvation, we worry daily about pleasing our greedy belly, and about what to wear, and the soul - this immortal being created in the image and likeness of God - perishing alive in sins, we leave in neglect, without correction, or even - daily we add sins to sins; we fill the body and leave it hungry, we decorate the body, but we deface the soul;
6:25.) If the soul is obviously greater than food, then why do you leave the soul without care, worrying about what is insignificant, like food and drink: for food is for the belly, and the belly is for food; but God will destroy both (1 Cor. 6:13). Or again, isn’t the body bigger than the clothes? If the Lord has given you the greater, that is, the body, will he not take care to give the lesser, will he take care of covering it, and will he not give you the means to cover his nakedness, as he covered the nakedness of Eve and Adam? Are you not worrying about empty things, leaving the most necessary, the only things you need (cf. Luke 10:42)? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your Father in heaven feeds them. Aren't you much better than them? (Matt.
6:26) The Lord points to birds to us, those of little faith, in order to show the never-slumbering, unceasing providence of the Heavenly Father for all creatures of the earth, Who from the beginning of the world until now has not ceased and does not cease to preserve and nourish every creature - and especially - the crown of all creatures - man, created in the image and likeness of God, and so that the example of birds, always well-fed, although not those who sow and do not reap bread, we are convinced to rely with certainty on the providence of God. Of course, these words of the Lord do not teach us to sit idly by and only hope in God, but teach us to exercise ourselves in blessed labors and, while laboring, to hope for God’s blessing for success in business, for the granting of everything we need” [9, 181].
Matthew 6:27. “And which of you, by caring, can add even one cubit to his height?”
“Just as in our physical life we cannot make one hair white or black, but wear the kind of hair that God created, or just as we cannot add one lacto to our age (cf. Matt. 6:27): so in our spiritual life, without God, we cannot have one truly good and holy thought, and one feeling of goodness, and we cannot add to our spiritual age without God’s strength or grace - nothing, even if we strive with all our strength. We are completely powerless without God for any good. Let us learn to resort to God’s help in everything” [8, 185].
“Further, the Lord says: And which of you, by caring, can add even one cubit to his height? (Matthew 6:27.) He could dress us a thousand times better than roses and lilies or peacocks; but it is known that our clothing is a temporary covering, or a temporary bandage on a wound: because clothing appeared as a result of sin, when people recognized their nakedness; Is it worth decorating bandages on a wound? Shouldn’t we be concerned about how to heal the wound as quickly as possible, that is, how to cleanse ourselves of sins as quickly as possible? Is it reasonable to sew expensive bandages on these sinful wounds and still boast of these bandages as something laudable? Isn’t that why there is more of a sinful stench? Let us remember that in Baptism we all received the robe of incorruptibility, the robe of the righteousness of Christ. Let us take care of this garment of truth; We will keep these clothes; Let it be our decoration. If we preserve it, then in the next century the Lord will clothe us with the robe of glory, clothe us with eternal light, as He Himself dresses with light, like a robe” [9, 181].
Matthew 6:28. “And why are you worrying about clothes? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;"
Matthew 6:29. “But I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like any of these;”
"And Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like each of the lilies of the field. If the Heavenly Father dresses a flower like this, which exists today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, how much more so than you, you of little faith? How obvious is the truth of God’s word: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else will be added to you” (Matthew 6:29–30, 33). I experience this on myself: since I began to intensely seek and exclusively care about pleasing the Lord through prayer and deeds of mercy to my neighbors and others, I have almost no need to take care of myself, i.e. about your external needs; By the grace of God, good people dress me, put on shoes, treat me and would consider it an insult if I did not accept their zeal” [7, 40].
“Making adaptations - especially for tailors, shoemakers and blacksmiths. The tailors should say that people did not always wear clothes, that Adam and Eve walked naked and were not ashamed. What made people dress up? Sin. The more sinful people are, the more they care about clothing, sophistication, and decoration. They recklessly place their honor in their clothes. But the Lord has always rebuked those who are vain in their clothes (cries of the Pharisee (cf. Matthew 23:5)) and care too much about them. Why are you worrying about clothes? See krin villages (Wed: Matt. 6:28). Clothes for a person are good deeds; if there are no good deeds, then no clothing will adorn a person, but with good deeds and in torn, coarse and unclean clothes, a person is worth all respect. Sergius of Radonezh. - How one traveler came from afar to look at him and, finding him in torn rags, did not believe that it was Sergius. Only people look at the clothing of the body, but God, Angels and saints look at the clothing of the soul” [8, 613].
Matthew 6:30. “But if the grass of the field, which exists today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, God so clothes it, how much more than you, you of little faith!”
“Looking at the grass, artistically and intricately decorated, and in the morning we sweep it into the cave (Matthew 6:30), I think: what is it worth for the Creator to clothe His loving intelligent creation with glory in the next century, if He dresses insignificant flowers in this way?” [2, 445].
“If people - weak, transitory, mortal creatures - do so many great and wondrous deeds with the powers and abilities given to them by God, if sometimes many millions of people obey the word of one person, then what will not the All-Center of human life do that does not obey His word? Remember the words of the centurion: I, he says, am a subordinate man, but having soldiers under my command, I will say to one: go, and he goes, and to another: come, and he comes, and to a third: do this, and he does [Cf.: Lk. 7:8]. Further, if many animals are gifted with the art of doing various amazing things that man cannot do - animals that we trample underfoot, which are so insignificant and weak - then what will not the Creator of everything do, who generously endowed everyone with all kinds of art, all kinds of abilities and powers! If the plants are soulless, they are swept into the oven today and in the morning [Matt.
6:30 ], according to His word are formed into such tender and beautiful forms, if we see every substance subordinate to His word and modified to immeasurable extent (to infinity) according to His mania (through only the five elements), then who else, seeing all this, will begin to demand the guarantees of His omnipotence! Wonderful are Your works, O Lord! at every step, in every moment of life. Fill heaven and earth with the glory of Your wisdom, the glory of Your goodness, the glory of Your omnipotence! You are not only the wise Creator Yourself and constantly reveal Yourself to be the wise Creator, but You have given Your creatures the creative ability and they do, according to Your word, with the powers given to them, amazing and useful things. Oh, in what splendor you have clothed yourself! How we have humiliated ourselves, our nature with sins; but how dear and high we are in the eyes of God!
God did not spare His Son for us, but clothed Him in our flesh, in our entire nature, for our salvation; He has prepared for us from the foundation of the world an eternal kingdom; our essentially good Angels rejoice at our conversion; - what about us? We don’t even want to know this and we humiliate ourselves more and more, destroying our souls with various vices and worldly addictions. It is pitiful, inexpressibly pitiful to look at man - this creature created in the image of God, especially at a Christian who has been awarded such a high calling, so honored and blessed by God” [5, vol. 1, 63].
“Vegetation provides clear evidence of the omnipresence and providence of God. Where is it not on the globe? It covers the plains, climbs the inaccessible steepness of stone mountains, makes its way in deserts, establishes its roots in the waters and among the waters - on uninhabited islands. And who grows it and decorates it with a wonderful variety of species and colors? – Lord God: God dresses like this. But if God dresses the grass so carefully, will God leave man, even for a minute, or forget him? Even if the hay of the village exists today, and in the morning it is swept into the oven, God clothes it like this: how much more than you, you of little faith [Matt. 6:30; Wed: Luke. 12:28]. If God revives the grass every minute and does not leave it with his life, will he stop reviving me? - No: if He dresses the grass and revives it, then He lives in me constantly, as in a church, if I do not voluntarily remove Him with my sins. Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you [1 Cor. 3:16 ]? By the way, note about the church: the Apostle calls a Christian a church, because the Spirit of God lives in him; This means that God constantly lives in Christian churches. The sanctity of the church.
Reverence for him. The tangible effect of God dwelling in the church on the hearts of people turning to Him in prayer” [5, vol. 2, 537].
“The creativity and providence of God is in flowers, on grass, on bushes and trees, on birds, domestic animals and beasts, on fish, on shells and shells of living creatures - on every creation. A thought in advance (invented) - a drawing of all the creatures, color, shape, smell ad infinitum (various). Even if the hay from the village is swept into the oven today and in the morning, God clothes it like that... (Matthew 6:30)” [4, 17].
“How beautiful and varied in shape, color and smell are the countless flowers and plants in general in nature and in different climates on earth! Can't get enough of the sight and smell of them. If the plants are so beautiful, then how fragrant are the saints, the righteous of God of all ranks, degrees and dignities in paradise! If the grass of the field, which exists today, is thrown into the oven tomorrow. God clothes this way, even more than you, you of little faith (Matthew 6:30). Try, man, to achieve the inner beauty of faith and virtue and do not become lazy. How fragrant - better than any flowers - are the relics of saints! God is marvelous in His saints, and He is marvelous in me, in me, a sinner who repents and continually receives mercy and judgment from the Lord” [6, 125].
Matthew 6:31. “Therefore do not worry and say, “What shall we eat?” or what to drink? or what should I wear?”
“Just as it makes no difference to a child, no matter what clothes he wears, so a Christian - a child in Christ - should be indifferent to the variety, richness and splendor of earthly clothes, considering Christ God his best and incorruptible garment, for an addiction to expensive, beautiful clothes is characteristic of the people of this age, or the pagans, as the Lord says: all these, that is, food, exquisite clothing, pagans looking for [Matt. 6:32 ]: for clothing is an idol of the people of this age. – Oh, how vain we are, we who are called to communion with God, who are promised an inheritance of incorruptible and eternal blessings! How unclear are our concepts about perishable things and incorruptible goods! How unreasonable we are, attaching value to insignificant things and not valuing incorruptible blessings - our eternal soul, peace, joy, boldness before God, holiness, obedience, patience, in general, all the properties of a true Christian. Those who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ [Gal. 3:27]. “So, we must value spiritual blessings and virtues, and despise material ones, as perishable, insignificant” [5, vol. 1, 176].
“God created me and gave me life out of His goodness: He gives me everything to support mental and physical life. There is nothing more natural and truer than such a judgment. Why are we restlessly concerned about what we eat, or what we drink, or what we wear (Matthew 6:31)? Why are we stingy? Isn’t it the news (actively: not as we know and do not do, or we know but cannot help) the Heavenly Father, that we require them all (cf. Matthew 6:32)? The Lord makes it the same duty to support our life, so to speak, as he deigned and recognized as good and created us. Creation and providence for Him are one great work of His goodness: in our thoughts we separate creation and providence, or the preservation of created creatures in their being and activity; but with the Lord there is no such division - to create with Him also means to provide for what is created, for everything created cannot exist without providence” [8, 558].
Matthew 6:32. “Because the pagans seek all these things, and because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things.”
“Saying: Our Father, we must believe and remember that the Heavenly Father never forgets and will not forget us, for what kind of earthly good father forgets and does not care about his children? I will not forget you, says the Lord [Isa. 49:15]. This is the message of your Heavenly Father, that you require these all [Matt. 6:32]. Take these words to your heart. Remember that the Heavenly Father constantly surrounds you with love and care and is not called your Father in vain. Father is not a name without meaning and power, but a name with full meaning and power” [5, vol. 1, 148].
“So, I will end the conversation with the words of the Savior: do not worry and do not say: what shall we eat? or what to drink? or what to wear? because the pagans are looking for all this, and because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all this (Matthew 6:31–32). Hear: according to the word of the Lord - all those pagans, and not Christians, who care about what to eat and drink or what to wear; but they do not think about the works of God and the fulfillment of His commandments. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33)” [9, 184].
Matthew 6:33. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
“Envy in a Christian is madness. In Christ we have all received infinitely great blessings, we have all been deified, we have all become heirs of the ineffable and eternal blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven; Yes, and in earthly blessings we are promised contentment under the condition of seeking the righteousness of God and the Kingdom of God: seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness: and all this will be added to you [Matt. 6:33 ]; we are commanded to be content with what we have, and not to be lovers of money: we are not lovers of money in disposition: be content with what you have, and it is added: For that (Lord) said: the imam will not leave you, the imam will not leave you [Heb. 13:5]. Isn’t it crazy after this to envy your neighbor in anything, for example, his honors, his wealth, a luxurious table, magnificent clothes, a wonderful home, etc.? Isn’t all this dust in comparison with what is given to us in the image and likeness of God, in whom we are created, in the redemption of us by the Son of God from sin, curse and death, in the granting to us again of the blessing of the Heavenly Father and the eternal joys in heaven connected with it?
So, let us acquire mutual love, goodwill and contentment with our condition, friendship, hospitality, love of poverty, love of hobbies and the height of virtues: humility, kindness, meekness, holiness. Let us respect in each other the image of God, the members of Christ God, His Body, the sonship of God, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, cohabitants and fellow angels. Let us all be one [Jn. 17:22 ], as our God, worshiped in the Trinity, is One, and created our hearts on one (on unity), that is, simple, united” [5, vol. 1, 175].
“The concept of grace. – What is grace? The good power of God, given to a believer and baptized in the name of Jesus Christ or the Holy Trinity, cleansing, sanctifying, enlightening, assisting in doing good and avoiding evil, comforting and encouraging in adversity, sorrow and illness, guaranteeing the receipt of eternal blessings prepared by God in heaven for His chosen ones. Whether someone was proud, proud, angry, envious, he became meek and humble, selfless for the glory of God and the good of his neighbor, friendly to everyone, condescending, compliant without indulgence - he became so through the power of grace. Whether someone was an unbeliever, he became a believer and a zealous follower of the precepts of faith, he became so by the power of grace. Whether someone was money-loving, selfish and unjust, hard-hearted towards the poor, but, having changed in the depths of his soul, became non-covetous, truthful, generous, compassionate - he owes this to the power of Christ’s grace.
Whether someone was a glutton, a polyeater and a heavy drinker, but became an abstinent, fasting person, not out of illness or awareness of the harm to the body of intemperance, but out of consciousness of a moral, higher goal - he became so by the power of grace. Whether someone was a hater, vindictive, vengeful, but suddenly became humane, loving even his enemies, ill-wishers and scolders, not remembering any insults - he became so through the regenerating, transforming and renewing power of grace. Has anyone been cold to God, to church, to Divine services, to prayer, in general to the sacraments of faith that cleanse and strengthen our souls and bodies, and suddenly, having changed in soul, he became warm to God, to Divine services, to prayer, reverent to the sacraments - he became so through the action of the saving grace of God. From this it is clear that many live outside of grace, not realizing its importance and necessity for themselves and not seeking it, according to the word of the Lord: seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness [Matt. 6:33].
Many live in all abundance and contentment, enjoy flourishing health, eat with pleasure, drink, walk, amuse themselves, write, work in various parts or branches of human activity, but do not have the grace of God in their hearts, this priceless Christian treasure, without which a Christian cannot be a true Christian and heir to the Kingdom of Heaven” [5, vol. 2, 448].
“Our life is love, yes, love. And where there is love, there is God, and where God is, there is all goodness. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you [Matt. 6:33]. So, feed and delight everyone with joy, please everyone with joy, and rely in everything on the Heavenly Father, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Sacrifice what is dear to you to love your neighbor. Bring your Isaac, your many-passionate heart, as a sacrifice to God, temper him with your will, crucify the flesh with passions and lusts. You have received everything from God, be ready to give everything to God, so that, having been faithful to your Lord in little things, you will later be placed over many things. O little Mi was faithful, I will put you over many [Matt. 25:23]. Consider all passions as a dream, as you have learned this a thousand times. Amen" [5, vol. 2, 324].
“Seek, first, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you [Matthew 6:33]. How to seek, first, the Kingdom of God? In the following way: suppose you want to walk or ride, sail somewhere for some everyday, temporary need - first pray to the Lord so that He will correct the paths of your heart, and then the upcoming bodily path, or to direct the path of your life according to His commandments, and desire this with all your heart, and often renew your prayer about this. The Lord, seeing your sincere desire and effort to walk according to His commandments, will little by little correct all your ways. Further, for example, if you want to make clean air in your room or go for a walk in the fresh air, remember about a pure and unclean heart. Many of us are eager to freshen the room air (and this is wonderful) or to take a walk in the fresh air. air and do not think about the need for purity of air or heart (spiritual, so to speak, air, the breath of life) and, living in the fresh air, they allow themselves unclean thoughts, unclean movements of the heart, or even foul language and the very filthiness of the flesh.
If you are looking for material light, remember the spiritual light, which is necessary for the soul and without which it remains in the darkness of passions, in the darkness of spiritual death. “I have come into the world, says the Lord, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness [Jn. 12:46]. If you see the ferocity and hear the howling of a storm or read about shipwrecks, remember the storm of human passions that raise a daily howl and confusion in human hearts and wreck the spiritual ship of the soul, or the ship of human society, and pray earnestly to the Lord that He will tame the storm of sins, as He once tamed the storm at sea with a word, and may He eradicate our passions from our hearts and restore silence everlasting.
If you feel a feeling of hunger or thirst and want to eat or drink, remember the hunger or thirst of the soul (it thirsts for righteousness, justification in Jesus Christ, sanctification), which if you do not satisfy, your soul may die of hunger, suppressed by passions, exhausted, exhausted, and while satisfying your bodily hunger, do not forget to quench your spiritual hunger, especially before, by talking with God, sincere repentance of sins, by reading Gospel history and Gospel moral teachings, especially the communion of the Divine Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. If you like to flaunt a dress or when you put on clothes, remember the incorruptible robe of righteousness, in which our soul must be clothed, or about Christ Jesus, who is our spiritual robe, as it is said: if you were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ [Gal. 3:27]. The passion for panache very often completely displaces from the heart the very thought of the incorruptible garment of the soul and turns the whole life into a vain concern for grace in clothing.
If you are a student, a student of any educational institution, or an official of any department, an officer of any military unit, or a technologist, a painter, a sculptor, a manufacturer, a craftsman of any workshop, remember that the first science of each of you is to be a true Christian, to sincerely believe in the Trinitarian God, to talk with God every day in prayer, to participate in Divine services, to observe the statutes and decrees of the Church before, after, and after. deeds to bear the name of Jesus in the heart, for He is light, strength, our shrine, our help” [5, vol. 2, 312].
“Everywhere and in everything the Lord, and the Lord bears and preserves everything, and therefore is called the Almighty. I should be carefree. From insignificance we are all called to the existence of God by omnipotence and, as insignificant in ourselves, we cannot do or support ourselves in life with our own strength, without God, therefore God is everything to us: life, and our strength, and our light, and our air, and spiritual food and drink, and clothing, and everything. He created and provides everything for our material body: light, air, warmth, food, drink, clothing, and housing. Blessed are the poor in spirit, always aware of their insignificance - and the omnipotence and omnipotence of God; blessed are those who are carefree in this life; blessed are the simple-hearted; Blessed are those who surrender themselves to God in everything. Let us give ourselves and each other and our whole life to Christ our God. Just be always with God, and everything will be given to you, will be added to you: seek first the Kingdom of God (in yourself and in others), and all these things will be added to you [Matt. 6:33]. Let only God be in your hearts, always be inseparably united with Him, and everything in life will be added to you.
Just do not attach your heart to anything of this life: for your part is God, the God of your heart. God is inexhaustible wealth, an ever-flowing source; where God is, there is every good thing. For the lover of God, like a shadow following a body, all good things follow” [5, vol. 2, 456].
“The Heavenly Father cares so much about me, about my life, about my salvation, that He did not spare His only begotten Son for me and sent Him into the world to suffer and die, and feeds me with His Flesh and Blood; Could it be that He did not take care of me in less important matters or deprived me and my companions of sufficient food? – This has not happened before, and will not happen. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you [Matt. 6:33]... To you, all the hair of the chief is counted. Do not be afraid [Matt. 10:30, 31]" [5, vol. 2, 555].
"The kingdom of heaven, that is, holiness, purity, righteousness, abstinence, prayer, chastity, love for God and neighbor - requires (Matthew 11:12), in other words, is achieved with the gracious help of God at the cost of tireless own zeal. The flesh resists the spirit, that is, all virtue, so that we do not do what we want, for the sake of God and the salvation of the soul and for the good of our neighbors. Required man's resistance to every evil, every passion, every lust. And learning, the acquisition of every virtue. Real life is a spiritual school, a struggle, a struggle with sin or with the spirits of wickedness in heaven, fighting against us for evil. Everyone must learn to conquer sin within themselves, with the help of God, for without God all the strength for life and piety is given; kingdom of heaven?
Learn from the saints how they labored, how they used every effort on themselves; what selflessness they had; what impartiality to wealth, to worldly honor and glory, to carnal pleasures; what abstinence they had; what zeal for God; what constant prayer; what work, what virtues! And how surely they reached the kingdom of God! None of them were put to shame, all received incorruptible life and eternal glory, eternal bliss, and are beyond any fear of losing the acquired kingdom of heaven. Imitate them too, each according to his own strength, read, listen to the Word of God, listen, understand, strive tirelessly for the goal of your life - and you will receive eternal bliss. After all, you worked one way or another for earthly prosperity; work especially to obtain eternal life: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these (earthly blessings) will be added to you (Matthew 6:33)” [4, 22].
“In seeking and acquiring the Kingdom of God (in our hearts) and His righteousness (cf. Matthew 6:33) is our peace, life and bliss, and not in greed, seeking and acquiring earthly goods. – And the Lord reigns in our hearts through our mutual faith and love. The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but truth and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17)” [8, 137].
“When your heart, at the sight of many guests seeking your meal, has a crafty pity for food and a crafty concern for food and drink, saying internally: what pits, or what are we drinking (Matthew 6:31) in the future - then you contrast it with only one word of the Savior: do not worry (Matthew 6:34) - and the pity will disappear, and your heart will calm down, surrendering to God’s Providence for you” [8, 570].
“What is earthly life after this for a faithful Christian? Constant preparation for the future; the incessant striving of the soul for the Kingdom of God from this vain life, from the sin that constantly attacks us - impartiality to temporary blessings and the use of them so much that they do not tie our heart to themselves and do not own it: everything is permissible for me, says the apostle... but nothing should possess me (1 Cor. 6:12). – Meanwhile, our earthly life is structured in such a way that earthly cares and concerns are almost always in the foreground, and this is not in accordance with the real purpose of our life. Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all this, that is, earthly things, will be added to you (cf. Matthew 6:33), will be given as if in addition” [9, 118].
“Just as light, air, and water will not be scarce for you from the Creator, so, believe me, food and clothing will not be scarce for you from the Creator. – Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Whose words are these” [10, 432].
Matthew 6:34. “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things; each day’s own troubles are sufficient.”
“Why should we look into the future? - “His wickedness is sufficient for the day” (Matthew 6:34). Let us surrender, like children, to our Heavenly Father, “He will not leave us to be tempted more than we are able” (1 Cor. 10:13). You will only torment yourself with suspicion, and you will not help the matter; you will even harm it by imagining evil in advance where, perhaps, it will not exist. As long as we don’t do evil, let them do it to us, if the Lord allows it” [7, 29].
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