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Irreligion (atheism). The psalmist says: the speech is foolish in his heart: there is no God (Ps. 52:2, 13:1). And indeed, one must be insane in order to doubt the existence of God, contrary to the testimony of conscience and the broadcasts of visible nature. St. Augustine completely rejects the existence of such people who would not consider anything worthy of worship (De vera Religione Tom. 1, col. 772). Question How does Saint Tikhon speak about those who, blinded by atheism, attribute everything to chance? Rep. Those, he says in the book. Chapter 6 5. §154, who attribute to the blind a certain chance both everything and the executions that happen in the world, whose evil feelings and thoughts are described in the Book of Wisdom, and who, darkened by this godless opinion, rush to all sorts of lawlessness and untruths, to which lust and malice attracts them - all such will certainly find out for themselves that the case is insane and wicked will be attributed. Then they recognize that there is a God who rewards both for piety and executes for wickedness, and that everything is not done by chance, but according to the all-wise providence of the Creator and Provider of God - they recognize when they see others who fear and honor God in His eternal mercy; and they will feel His eternal wrath. Then they will repent sincerely, but it is too late, and they will sigh in distress, but it is useless. Then they will actually learn that there is Gehenna, eternal fire, when they taste its sorrows. Then they will admit their error: since we have gone astray from the true path and righteousness, the light has not shone upon us. We are filled with the path of the lawless and walk in the impassable desert, but we do not follow the path of the Lord. What good has pride done to us? and what riches and magnificence have you given us? All of it has passed like a shadow, and like a flowing message: like a ship passing through troubled water, its passage cannot find its feet, lower than the path of its procession in the waves (Wis. 5:6-10). Question What atheistic (godless) false ideas are brought to shame in the Book of Wisdom? Rep. Reckoning to those who think wrongly: our belly is small and sad... and the one who has returned from hell is not known. As if we were born by chance, and therefore we will be as if we had never been: there is still smoke in our nostrils... and other, and other, truly insane verbs. Having thought this, the Wise One added, and was deceived; blind them with malice. - And you did not take away the mysteries of God, you placed your trust in reverence below the reward, you judged honor below the blameless souls. For God created man into incorruption... but through envy the devil brought death into the world (Wis. 2:1, 2, 21–24). Saint Tikhon does not show and has no philosophical proof of the Immortality of the soul; but he reveals theological evidence of the immortality of the soul, which we indicated where we speak of the primordial perfection of human nature; and especially the proof of the Gospel. Question What kind of proof is this from the Gospel of the immortality of the soul? Rep. When - so blessed is the wise man. Tikhon - a man seduced by the serpent, fell; and the immortal soul destroyed the image of God inscribed in it: then it deigned to seek the image of the soul and it itself, not through an intercessor and an Angel, but through God Himself. – God and the Creator Himself, the Son of God and the Father’s Word, entered this great embassy. The Heavenly King Himself, for the sake of the human soul, appeared on earth... Just as the king of the earth, intending to enter some city, sends messengers there so that the citizens prepare to receive Him: so the Lord, the Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth, destined to come into the world as some great city created from Him, sent messengers - Prophets, in order to announce to the human soul that the Lord and Creator Himself is coming into the world for Neya goes to find and save her. Hear, daughter (soul), and see, and incline your ear... And the King will desire your kindness (Ps. 44:11). And then the Lord Himself, according to His promise, came to seek and save the lost... You see, soul, how great is your nobility and dignity! The Lord Himself came into the world for your sake, to seek and save your lost... The Son of God became the son of man for the sake of the soul. Wouldn't this great sacrament be superfluous if the soul were not immortal?.. The Son of God, dressed in flesh similar to ours, lived on earth for thirty-three years as one of men, and as a slave and beggar he worked, suffered, cried, thirsted, endured dishonor - for whose sake? For the sake of the soul. Finally, like one of the villains, the Holy and Righteous One was hanged on the cross - for the sake of the soul. So dear is the human soul! An inestimable price was given for the blood of the Lord for it! - How is she not immortal after this? Our soul is immortal and immortal because it is the bride of the Son of God, betrothed to the King of heaven and earth (2 Cor. 11:2). She is the daughter of the heavenly Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit... Like a pure crystal vessel, when it has fire inside it, it emits a wondrous radiance and radiance: so the soul, which was purified by the blood of the Son of God and betrothed to Him by faith and became the temple of the Holy Spirit - an immaterial and purifying fire - is marvelously illuminated and emits a radiance of light... This is not visible now, when the righteous and the sinners have the same external appearance; but the glory of this soul will appear in the general resurrection. Question What is the supreme good of man. Rep. The supreme good for man is bliss in God and with God. External goods can be desired and sought to the extent that they serve to achieve this supreme good. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these (external blessings) will be added to you (Ps. 6:33). Question What is true honor? Rep. True honor and glory correspond to St. Tikhon, which Christ gives to those who love Himself. It is hidden in this world and can only be comprehended by faith; but it will be revealed in the next century, when the righteous will be enlightened like the sun (Matthew 13:43). People will have this glory and will never lose it. Question What is true and unalienable wealth? Rep. The one that Christ offers us: hide for yourself a treasure in heaven, where neither worms nor aphids corrupt, and where they do not undermine (Matthew 6:20). This treasure, which is hastened by faith and love, is gathered here and revealed in heaven. There treasures of good things will be opened to them, but the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and the heart has not sighed (1 Cor. 2:9). Question What is true sweetness? Rep. The one that holy souls feel from the love of Christ, so they cry out to Christ in joy and sweetness: “Thou art all desire, all sweetness is the Word of God,” (Song 9, Chapter 2). This sweetness begins from sorrow for God, and multiplies in humble tears, cheers in sorrows, consoles in adversity, encourages in despondency, encourages in despair, does not leave at death and accompanies in the next age, where love will receive its perfection. These are not the blessings of this world: the pride of life, the lust of the mind, and the lust of the flesh (1 John 2:16). Question Where is the true good? Rep. Listen also to Saint Tikhon about this, speaking on behalf of the Lord Himself: “Do you want good for yourself? “Every good thing is with Me,” says Christ, calling to Himself the soul moving away from Him. Do you want bliss? All bliss is mine. Do you want beauty? What is redder than Me? Do you want nobility? What is nobler than the Son of God and the Virgin? Do you want heights? what is higher than the King of heaven? Do you want fame? Who is more glorious than Me? Do you want wealth? I have all kinds of wealth. Do you want wisdom? I am the Wisdom of God. Do you want friendship? Who is more kind and loving than Me, who laid down his life for everyone? Are you looking for help? Who will help besides Me? Are you looking for a doctor? Who will heal besides Me? Are you looking for fun? Who will amuse you besides Me? Are you looking for consolation in sadness? Who will comfort you besides Me? Are you looking for peace? With Me you will find peace for your soul. Are you looking for peace? I am the peace of mind. Are you looking for life? With Me is the source of life. Are you looking for light? I am the light of the world. Are you looking for the truth? I am the truth. Are you looking for a way? I am the way. Are you looking for a leader to heaven? I am a faithful leader (Hitherto Tikhon). What do you say, brother?” Father of my Lord! draw me to Him and graft me - a wild olive tree - into His body, which is the Church - the fulfillment and dispenser of His blessings! Holy soul! arrange, form and prepare me for union with Christ. Question Tell me about the Annunciation? Rep. The day of the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Mother of God about the conception of the Savior is celebrated on March 25th. The forefeast of this great day began in paradise, when God spoke to our fallen ancestors Adam and Eve about the deceiving serpent: I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and that seed. He (Christ the blessed seed) will erase your head, and you will keep his heel (Gen. 3:15). God repeated and preached this paternal blessing to the human race and merciful promise many times to the holy patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others; revealed to the Prophets and commanded them to proclaim and preach the Savior coming into the world, as described in the books of the Old Testament. When the time drew near at which God determined that the Savior would come and appear to the world; Before His coming, a Prophet was born from barren and elderly parents - Zechariah and Elizabeth, John (Luke 1:57-63). This Prophet was sent to prepare the way for the Deliverer coming into the world, as Zechariah his father said to the newborn child by the Holy Spirit: and when you were a child you were called the Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways (Luke 1:76). And God Himself had previously predicted about him through the Prophet: Behold, I send My angel before You, who will prepare Your way before You (Mal. 3:1). Therefore, the Holy Church calls him the Forerunner; for he preceded the coming of Christ, like the star before the sun, and announced the approaching Sun of Christ’s righteousness, while still in his mother’s womb... After the conception of John the Baptist, in the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Virgin Mary, who was then staying in the city of Nazareth, and when he came to her, he first greeted Her like this: Rejoice, full of grace; The Lord is with you, blessed are you among women! Then he declared to Her: Behold, conceive in the womb, and bear a Son, and call His name Jesus, and so on. The Most Holy Virgin, hearing about this unheard of thing, said to the Angel: how will this happen when I don’t know my husband? And when the Angel answered Her: The Holy Spirit will come upon You and the Power of the Most High will overshadow You, and added other words of assurance: then the blessed Virgin deigned to do so: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: wake me according to your word, she said. So, the Son of God Jesus Christ, by the favor of the heavenly Father and the influx and overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, was conceived in the virgin’s womb in flesh (Luke 1:24–38). God's favor towards us who have perished calls the Holy Church the Annunciation; because the good news to the Virgin Mother of God and all creation from heaven to earth through the Angel of God was brought and announced... Finally, the Sun of Truth shone from the Virgin womb, the Son of God was born from the Virgin. The word became flesh (John 1:14) (From book 7, chapter 1. About faith in Christ). Question From the dogma of the incarnation of the Son of God, what moral teaching does Blessed Tikhon derive? Rep. The very incarnation of the Son of God greatly encourages sinners to repentance. For whom did Christ come into the world? For the sake of sinners. Which end? To save them. Oh, how dear God has set our salvation! He himself came into the world for our salvation. Hear, O sinners, and understand! He himself came for our salvation, and came in our image. O truly great mystery of piety!.. Lord! What is man that you have known to him? or son of man, because you are sane? (Ps. 143:3). Truly wonderful is the goodness of God to man; wonderful is His work. Having foreseen this, the Prophet exclaimed with trembling and horror: Lord, I heard Your hearing, and I was afraid: Lord, I understood Your works, and I was horrified (Habak. 3: 1, 2). Sinners! let us remember this great deed and repent... We lost salvation and all our bliss in Adam; but Christ the Son of God, by the good pleasure of His heavenly Father, returned it to us. But without repentance there is no salvation for anyone... Arise from your sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ, who is God blessed above all forever and ever, will illuminate you (Eph. 5:14; Rom. 9:5). Amen. (From book 3. Word 9th). Question I would like to know what the grace of God is? Where will it come from? What does it have to do with a person? and how is it necessary? Rep. Grace is a gift of God given to people for the merits of Christ the Savior. “Above all, pray that the doors of light may be opened to you; for no one can see or understand this, unless God and Christ grant it to understand (Words of St. Justin. Conversation with Tryphon the Jew p. 109).” “The good of our salvation is not from us, but from God,” says St. Irenaeus (Lib 3, cap 20 contra haereses). Without grace, neither true knowledge of God nor true reverence for God is possible. “Those who accept God as their mentor soon achieve the knowledge of God, since grace will help them in every kind of knowledge (Words of Clement of Alexandria. Strom. lib. 5. Tom. 2, p. 696).” “The teaching of piety is a gift, and faith is grace” (He, ibid. p. 338). “Abstinence can only be acquired through the grace of God; therefore Christ said: ask and it will be given to you" (He, ibid. dp. 445. Matt. 7:7)." Grace not only does not constrain the natural freedom of man, but also elevates it, giving it the true direction and true character. “We are saved by grace,” says Clement of Alexandria, but not without good deeds. Since we are by nature inclined towards good, we must, on our part, take care of it (Strom. lib. 5. Tom. 2, pag. 647).” “Do not reject grace just because it is given to Tuna, but when you receive it, keep it reverently,” says St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Cat. 1, pag. 18). This is how Saint Tikhon speaks about the need for grace: “God’s grace is the life of our souls: without the grace of God our soul cannot be alive. Just as our body lives by soul, so our soul lives by grace. Pray then and always sigh to the Lord, so that He may give you His grace and keep you in it. We demand God's grace at every moment. Therefore, sigh often from the depths of your heart: God, build in me a pure heart, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from Me. Strengthen me with Your Sovereign Spirit” (Ps. 51:12–14). Question What is our heart like without grace? Rep. The human heart itself, without the grace of God, is evil, says Saint Tikhon, discussing the human heart (part 4), and does not think of anything else but vain and evil, as it is written: Gen. 8:21. A graceless heart is called stony in Scripture, because it neither bows nor softens with admonitions, nor threats, nor mercy, nor severity... But although man will be enlightened by the grace of God, he nevertheless feels the evil that comes from the heart, and has a lot of work throughout his life against natural passionate attraction: unceasing warfare is laid before him... Our corrupted heart is helped by the adversary the devil with his evil angels and temptations peace... A kind and God-fearing heart from God and grace. Man himself cannot change his evil heart to good. Therefore, he who desires to have a good heart, let him pray to God, that by His grace he may give a different heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 36:26). Saint Tikhon partly explains the relationship of grace to the free forces of man with the article: the vessel is full and idle. That there is a vessel; that is, the human heart. The heart is like a vessel. A vessel full of water or anything else cannot contain anything else; an idle vessel is convenient for the perception of everything... Such is the human heart: when it is idle and renounces the whims of the world and the flesh, it is convenient for the perception of God's love and grace; and when it is filled with the love of this world and carnal lusts and sinful addictions, then the love of God and grace cannot be contained in it (2 Cor. 6:14)... Let us therefore empty our heart and the strength of our soul from the love of the world, its whims and sinful customs, so that the grace and love of God may indwell our spiritual vessel... Behold, I stand at the door and understand: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him. God wants to come to us and make Himself known to us. He stands at everyone’s door and wants to get to know everyone; but few people hear Him pushing at the door. For everyone’s ears are deafened by the lusts of sin and the love of the world. And so, having knocked on the door and not having accomplished anything, he leaves the man. That is why grace does not work in all people and does not manifest itself in all our powers and abilities!.. Because of our freedom. Question What effect of grace does Blessed Tikhon explain in his article on spiritual treasures: your father has been waiting for you for a long time: don’t delay? Rep. Read and listen, and you will see many types and actions of God's grace. It happens that Saint Tikhon talks in his solitude in Zadonsk, that a man says to another man who has been separated from his father: your father has been waiting for you for a long time: do not delay. This is what the prophets, apostles, shepherds and teachers of the Church say to every sinner - to a sinner: who, after holy baptism, joined the heavenly Father and was numbered among His household saints, but then separated from Him through a lawless life and, as it were, went to a distant country; to this they say and admonish him: The Heavenly Father has been waiting for you for a long time: why are you delaying, poor sinner, in a disastrous distance in a distant country?.. You have angered Him; but He will not take His mercy from you; withdrew from Him; but He is waiting for you to come to Himself, and wants to receive you. Remember how many blessings there are in your Father’s house—how many of your Father’s hired servants are overthrown; You are perishing with hunger (Luke 15:17)! Arise, return to your Father. You have squandered His wealth: do not be afraid: He will not remember your self-will, will not reprimand you for your disgusting actions: He is generous and rich: He will again enrich you. Having risen, go boldly to your Father, and having fallen before His merciful eyes, acknowledge your weakness, and tell Him with contrition and pity of heart: Father, those who have sinned in heaven and before You, and are no longer worthy to be called Your son, etc. (Luke 15:18-19). He awaits you with great desire and will receive you with joy; As soon as he sees you returning, even from afar, he will look at you mercifully and kindly, and you will be dear to Him; His merciful womb will soften for your sake; and he will have mercy on you... And he will bring you into his house and give you the first robe and put a ring on your hand and put boots on your feet, and he will command all of his holy family to rejoice and be glad over you, saying: for this son of mine was dead, and is alive, was bent, and is found. For there is great joy in heaven before the angels of God for one sinner who repents... (Luke 15:22–24, 15:10). The more diligently you repent and correct yourself and change for the better, the more quickly you will go to the Heavenly Father - not with your feet, but with your heart, not by changing place, but by changing your will and morals... (Part. 11. Art. 11). The ways in which grace calls a person to salvation are very diverse (See the lives of the Saints of God). God, Who wants all people to be saved and to come to the understanding of the truth, is ready to bestow His grace-filled benefits to everyone (1 Tim. 2:4). But not everyone is worthy of the gifts of grace (2 Tim. 2:20). Question Where and how does Saint Tikhon explain the grace that begins our salvation through invocation? Rep. In the spiritual treasure, under the article: Arise. It happens, says the Saint, that a man stirs up a lazy man and says to him: get up, it’s time to go to work. This is how God’s saving grace awakens a Christian who is lazy and careless about his salvation: get up and go to the work to which the Lord has called you. For every sinner, careless and unrepentant, lies and does not work out his salvation with fear and trembling, does not labor in the Lord’s grapes... The grace of God comes to him and strikes him and says to him: Arise, it is time to go to the work of the Lord; it's time to repent, it's time to work in the cause of salvation. Time is running out and will not return; your life is shortened, death comes unexpectedly; Satan, like a cunning thief, steals your salvation: arise from sleep, and rise from the dead (Eph. 5:14). God, like a gracious and merciful Father, like a prodigal son, is waiting for you to come to Himself. When you return and breathe, then you will be saved and understand where you were (Isa. 30:15). Vostani; Christ the Lord suffered and died for you; The blood of Christ was shed for you... Remember that the death of Christ does not benefit a sinner who does not repent, like medicine for a sick person who does not take care of himself. Arise: behold, the Lord threatens execution on the wicked and lawless, so that execution will not befall you (Ps. 7:13, 14). This and other rebuke of God are not vain: arise and repent... Behold, the Lord Christ will come to judgment and will call everyone to His judgment, so that everyone may receive what they have done with their body, either good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10). - Hang yourself at this judgment, and reward the word for every deed, word and thought that is contrary to God. Arise: eternal torment awaits careless and unrepentant sinners. What can you expect if you don’t rise up and with contrition of heart, without repenting... Now is the time for good! Question Where and how does Saint Tikhon explain the universality of invocation? Rep. In the article: slaves sent to invite guests to dinner. We see, he says, that rich and famous people hold a feast in their houses, and send their slaves to invite different guests, and they call. So the King of heaven, God, rich in mercy, created the great, glorious supper of the eternal life, and sends his chosen servants to invite to this supper the rich and the poor, the glorious and the low, male and female, old and young, in a word: everyone and of every rank (Luke 14:17). He sent prophets first and called through them; then he sent the apostles, and called through them; now he sends bishops and presbyters, and tells them to also call everyone... Oh, beloved bishop and presbyter! You are a messenger and a servant of the heavenly King: do and fulfill the commandment of your Lord; work hard; go and call to the supper of your Lord - knock on the doors of their hearts, so that, having heard, they will hasten to it and lie down with Abraham and Isaac. A person’s turning to God is one of the initial actions of saving grace. Question How and where does Saint Tikhon speak about this grace-filled action? Rep. In your spiritual treasure, under the article: conversion. When a servant turns away from his Lord and departs from him, then he turns his backbone to him, not his face, and what his master says, he does not listen and does not heed it: so a poor sinner, when he turns away from God with love and obedience, and turns to evil deeds, as if he were turning his backbone; and what God says in His holy word, He does not heed and is careless. Having turned his ridges to me, and not his face, God complains (Jer. 2:27)... And when the slave turns to the master and stands before him, facing him, he stands, and listens, and listens to what the master says to him: so the sinner, when he feels and turns to God from his sins, already, as it were, faces Him, and gives him respect, as to his God and Creator, and listens to His saints lips, and what the Holy Scripture says, he strives to do all that; and wherever he is, with spiritual eyes and faith he sees God before him, and he is guarded against all sin in deed, word and thought. This is true conversion, true rising from the sleep of sin, true repentance, true spiritual resurrection. Let us strive to turn to the Lord God, and we will certainly be saved by the grace of God. Lord God of strength! Convert us and make Your face shine, and we will be saved (Ps. 79:8). Question What does it consist of and what are the true signs of a true conversion to God? Rep. When a person turns to a person and comes, he turns with his body, although often his heart and spirit are turned away. This is not the way to approach God. We turn to God and come not with our body and feet: how and when will we turn to the One who is present everywhere and in every place, and, wherever we come, there is there before our coming? – For God, as He is omnipresent, one turns to God not by place, body and feet, but by heart and spirit. We turn to God when we recognize Him as our highest good and bliss; We turn to God when, having left creation, the world and its vanity, and all kinds of sins, we desire Him alone, and we love, and we seek, and we honor Him more than all created things, and we always have Him in our memory, and we are careful not to offend Him in any way. This is true turning to God! Question How does Blessed Tikhon speak about the rebirth of man by the grace of God and about justification? Rep. Christians should know that in carnal birth, which occurs from parents - father and mother, nothing else is born but sons of humanity from man and flesh from flesh, according to what is written: John. 3:6. But in spiritual birth we are born again, men from God, instead of the sons of men - sons of God, protected by His grace, as it is said: when the little ones received Him, He gave them the power to become children of God, who believe in His name (John 1:12). In carnal birth we put on the old Adam (1 Cor. 13:49); in the spiritual we put on the new - Christ. Elitsy was baptized into Christ, put on Christ. In carnal birth we are born in sins (Isa. 50:7); in the spiritual, we are washed, cleansed, sanctified and justified from the filth of sin, and made righteous by the grace of Christ; You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:11). And the servant of God says to the newly baptized: you have been justified, you have been sanctified, you have been washed, etc. In the flesh we are born children of darkness, in the realm of Satan; in the spiritual we are born children of light and from darkness we are brought into the wonderful light of God, and from the realm of Satan into the kingdom of Christ the Son of God (1 Pet. 2:9; Acts 26:18). In the flesh we are born children of wrath by nature (Eph. 2:3); in spirituality a child of grace, a child of the blessing of God (1 Pet. 3:6). In the flesh we are born to a temporary belly; in the spiritual to eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12). And so in carnal birth we are born to every spiritual calamity, which is impossible to imagine with the mind and explain with the tongue; in the spiritual, we are freed from all this evil and introduced into all spiritual bliss, which is also inexplicable... This great mercy and grace was earned for us by the unworthy only begotten Son of God Jesus Christ; The heavenly Father gives this to believers in the name of His only begotten Son; performed by the Holy Spirit. To us, my love. Those who have been honored with so much of God’s mercy must: 1) always remember this great grace and thank the Benefactor from a sincere heart; 2) live in this new spiritual birth, that is, live not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit; remember their promises made at holy baptism and 3) those who, through fearlessness and negligence, destroyed the grace and gift of the Holy Spirit. baptism, may they turn to God with all their hearts, repent and pray to Him to accept His high mercy again, so that not forever, remaining in the devil’s power, they will suffer with Him in eternal fire (Part. 9, Chapter 1). Question How does Blessed Tikhon talk about enlightenment and unity with Christ? Rep. (Part 9, §444–452; Part 5, ch. 3, §51). I. What is sensory light, he says about enlightenment, to our eyes, then to our soul is God's grace. When the light shines, a person sees everything well, sees the path, the ditch, the harmful, and is careful about it; separates white from black and one thing from another: thus, when God's grace enlightens the soul, the soul knows and sees everything good; sees the wonderful works of God, His providence and destinies, recognizes good from evil, virtue from vice... (§61). True enlightenment will follow: 1) When the saving ray of grace flashes and begins to shine in the church of the heart, then the enlightened one will see how he was enveloped in great darkness, how blind and insane he was, although he seemed wise; since he was far from the true path, although he thought that he walked in the right way. In this way the word of the Lord will be fulfilled: when you return and breathe, then you will be saved and understand where you were (Is. 30:15), that is, then the enlightened convert will know for himself, too, what a person experiences who, walking in the night on a road that is not the one he should be on, thinks that he is walking the proper path, but when the morning star shines, he will know that he has turned aside from the proper path and is committing fornication, and so, seeing his error, and time and labor wasted in vain, he greatly regrets and repents himself, crying out with the Prophet: my days have vanished like smoke, and my days have strayed away like shade (Ps. 102:4, 12). 2) He diligently thanks God for His mercy, for suffering his reproach, for not delighting him in his error, for giving him enlightenment and reason. 3) Knowing his weakness and proneness to fall, he earnestly prays not to leave him alone without grace, and acts dangerously and takes care not to fall into the former darkness... 4) The more enlightened he is, the more he corrects his actions, perfects his deeds, words, thoughts, sees vices and small ones and is careful... And he is already afraid to say an idle word, then, as before, he was not afraid blaspheme, curse, curse, slander, etc... 5) Not trusting the caresses of the flesh and his thoughts, he surrenders himself to the government and leadership of God and asks: tempt me, O God, and convince my heart; learn me, and understand my paths; and see if the way of iniquity is in me, and lead me in the everlasting way (Ps. 139:23, 24). II. Saint Tikhon speaks about unity with the Lord Jesus Christ: “true Christians are spiritually united with Christ, like the body with the head; about which connection is beautiful and comforting to St. Chrysostom talks like this: look, Christ is the head; we are the body. Can there really be any distance between the body and the head? That foundation, we are the building. That vine, we are the birth. That's the groom, we're the bride. That shepherd, we are sheep. That is the way, we are the ones who are walking. We are the Church, He is the occupant. He is the firstborn, we are brothers. That heir, we are co-heirs. That belly, we are living. That resurrection, we are the risers. That light, we are enlightened. This whole connection is revealed. (Conversations 8 on 1 Corinthians). Question What will follow from this? Rep. §452. 1) Great honor, glory and joy of Christians. 2) We see that the members of the natural body obey their head and do nothing contrary to it: the hands do nothing, the legs do not walk, the tongue does not speak, etc., when the head does not think or want; and when it wants, then each member does its job: the eyes look and where they want, they turn; the tongue says what and as much as the head wants... Christians must show such obedience and obedience to Christ - their Head. 3) Members obey their leader; but they do not obey the head of another body, for example. The members of Peter’s body do not do what Pavlov’s head wants and thinks, because Peter’s members are not connected to Paul’s head. Thus, a Christian who does not obey Christ testifies to himself that he has been cut off from Christ and is not a true and living member of His holy Church, but a dead member, and like a withered rod and cut off from the vine. 4) A Christian should treat his brother as he treats himself, i.e. unflattering, unhypocritical, but simple and sincere; what he doesn’t want for himself, he doesn’t want; and what he wants for himself, he can do; What he says with his tongue, he has in his heart. For this is required by the union of members located in one body... (See the Words of St. Macarius of Egypt). Question How does Blessed Tikhon speak about grace, which finally completes spiritual life? Rep. (Bk. 6, §274). It is not enough for salvation to begin piety, or, what is also, spiritual life; but life must also end in the feat of piety. Many begin, but not all complete this feat: they are like those who began the journey from one place to another, and then return back from the path; They are like someone who begins to build a church, but leaves it unfinished, without finishing it. Such people give themselves over to ridicule and reproach to their enemies, the devil and his servants, who, seeing this, will begin to swear, saying: for this man began to build, and is not able to finish (Luke 14:29, 30, etc.). Therefore, God's holy word ascribes salvation to those only to the faithful, who continue in faith to the end, endure to the end (Matthew 10:22), who even retain the firstfruits of the composition until the end (Heb. 3:14); they do not turn back from keeping the holy commandments (2 Pet. 2:21); They will fight the good fight to the end, they will finish the course, they will keep the faith. By this means the crown of righteousness is observed (2 Tim. 4:7, 8). Therefore, the good that has begun, must also complete the work of its rebirth, renewal and sanctification.” Question Is this possible for us ourselves? Rep. Human diligence cannot do anything by itself; Man cannot begin or accomplish without God. Without me you cannot do anything, says Christ (John 15:5). God begins the work of our salvation; God produces and accomplishes it when we do not resist Him and do what His grace does. – We need God’s grace and help everywhere. God's help is promised to those who by faith ask from Him: ask and it will be given to you, etc... In such a difficult and dangerous feat, we must not weaken, not lose heart, but to Him, as the much-merciful Father, the champion, protector and finisher of our salvation, we must run with faith, ask Him, seek Him, always push with groaning and faith into the doors of His mercy, so that the first good work in us may be completed, even to the day (and measure of age) of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6); that having called us into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, having suffered little, He may perfect us, strengthen us, strengthen us, and ground us (1 Pet. 5:10), and by His Divine power keep us by faith in salvation, ready to appear at the last time (1 Pet. 1:5). Saint Basil the Great says: “It is a custom for those sailing on the sea to look at the sky and from there to take the current of the voyage; in the days from the sun, at night from the northern or other stars that appear, and from these they always notice the right tide of the voyage. And you, sailing on the sea of ​​this world, lift up your eyes to heaven, following the example of the one who said: I lifted up my eyes to You, who dwells in heaven (Ps. 122:1). Look at the sun of truth, i.e. Jesus Christ, and like certain bright stars, give yourself over to the commandments of the Lord to rule, and have a watchful eye. Do not let your eyes heal and slumber everywhere (Ps. 131:4), but complete and end the course of your spiritual life. If you never doze off at the helm while you are in this life, you will receive the help of the helping Spirit, who will always lead you further and further and, with a light and quiet breath, even bring you to that saving, quiet and cheerful haven. To the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one Trinitarian God, our Creator, Savior and Provider, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (Book 6). The means through which grace is communicated are sacraments. The general sign of the presence and action of God's grace in a person is a holy life. Blessed Tikhon explains the signs of the presence and action of grace in a person with particular completeness in his spiritual treasure, frequent. 12, under the article: “treasure”. They have, he talks in his Zadonsk solitude, the sons of this century their treasure. The sons of this age have treasure: perishable wealth, gold, silver, and so on: - for Christians, the treasure is God's grace, and this treasure is heavenly, spiritual, abiding in their hearts (2 Cor. 4:7). People who have perishable treasure fulfill all their needs and shortcomings. They don’t have bread; they will buy bread for themselves. They don’t have clothes: they get clothes for themselves, etc. - So God’s grace, the heavenly treasure, living in Christian hearts, fulfills all their needs and spiritual shortcomings. Man by himself is blind: God's grace enlightens the eyes of his heart, shows him the vanity of this world, the brevity of temporary life and the longness of eternity; shows that everything that exists in this world, like a shadow, passes away, and that from birth to death man is a wanderer and traveler going to the heavenly fatherland... Man is weak and cannot stand and win against the striving of passions: God's grace strengthens him and helps him to stand in this important feat, and shows him the abomination of sin and passions, and at all times admonishes him to beware of this evil... Man himself does not know and does not have true repentance and pity for sins: God's grace acts in him true repentance and pity... Man does not have true and heartfelt love for God from himself: God's grace awakens love in his heart, showing him that God is the uncreated, beginningless, endless, immutable, ever-present, most loving nature (being), the most supreme good... Man does not have true humility: God's grace shows him his misery, squalor, poverty, wretchedness, insignificance; and so, knowing himself, a person will humble himself, and without relying on himself in anything, he surrenders to the sole omnipotence, wisdom and goodness of God. Man does not have truth in himself with which he could appear before the judgment of God and be justified, but he sees himself as a sinner who is in no way possible to withstand God’s judgment: God’s grace consoles him and exhorts him to sigh for the sake of truth to God, and to seek justification in Christ, who died and rose again for sinners. Man does not have true prayer of his own accord: God’s grace teaches him what to pray for and arouses in him true and heartfelt prayer. And like the smoke of incense powder placed on a hot coal, it rises; Thus, prayer, excited by the grace of God, is carried out from the heart and ascends to God. Then the person briefly and earnestly prays and cries out: O Lord, have mercy; Oh, Lord, be generous; Oh, Lord, hear and save! – Man does not have the fear of God from himself: God’s grace teaches him the fear of God, presenting before his eyes God’s omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience, and thus admonishes him to live dangerously and to be dangerous in words and deeds and thoughts... and everywhere and always turn before the omnipresent and all-seeing God, as children turn before their father, and subjects before the king... The same grace of God teaches a person to rejoice in God, his Savior, and produces in his heart true, spiritual, heavenly joy, and a certain exclamation, and play, and rest and peace, in his conscience; this is a foretaste of eternal life, and like grains from a heavenly meal falling on a person’s heart. This grace of God changes a person and makes him loving, merciful, compassionate, meek... Sometimes God’s grace so inflames a person’s heart with love that he would like to embrace everyone, without exception, with his love and see everyone saved. These and others are the actions of God's grace living in the heart of man. This is the treasure of Christians, and it is inside them, and not outside. - And they carry it with them everywhere and always... I owe you a lot. We hear the bl. talking. Tikhon in his cell in Zadonsk, people say to people: I owe you a lot. And this word shows a feeling of heartfelt gratitude. They say this word to those people from whom they have received a lot of goodness, blessings and help. It is correct and is an unfeigned, due outpouring of heartfelt feeling. For people should be grateful to people, their benefactors. Hr-no! It is especially fitting for us to pronounce this word with humility and reverence to our God: I owe you much, Lord God. I was not, and now I am and live. You, Lord, have deigned me to be among the works of Your hands, and to see the works of Your hands - heaven and earth with their fulfillment, and to know You, the great and glorious Creator, from Your great and glorious works, and to enjoy and be comforted by Your blessings. I owe you a lot, and I cannot repay you with anything. You did not create me as a soulless creature, not as a beast, not as a bird, not as some other dumb animal, which are all and live, but do not understand their bliss; but I created a rational being who can know and understand that I have the beginning of being and living from You: I am Your creation, You are my Creator. I owe you a lot for this and cannot repay you. Having been so created by You, I cannot be and live without You and without Your good things. Thy hand, O Lord, sustains me, and Thy goodness gives to me. I cannot live and live without light: Your lights - the sun, the moon and the stars - shine for me. I cannot live without fire: Your fire warms me and cooks food. I cannot be whole and alive without air: Your air revives me and preserves my life. I cannot be without food and drink: Thy generous hand, O Lord, gives me food; Your goodness has brought forth springs and rivers for me, with which I cool and wash myself. I cannot be without cattle: Your cattle serve and work for me. I owe you a lot. And what will I repay to the Lord for all that I have repaid?.. (Ps. 116:3). But, receiving these blessings, I hope for future and better blessings, according to Your unfaithful promise; and from the visible to the invisible, from the temporal to the eternal, my spirit strives. For if in exile and exile you give me so much goodness, what great things have you prepared for your fatherland and your house?.. I am blind, born in sin, without Thy grace and enlightenment. And in this Thy goodness, both for everyone and for me, unworthy, humanely provided. You have sent us Your holy word through Your chosen servants and servants. It, like a candle in darkness and in the night, shines for me, and shows both harm and benefit, and evil and good, and lies and truth... I owe You a lot, O God... You sent Your chosen servants to fallen man; but they only denounced, and did not help: they pointed to the one who was coming to save man, and they proclaimed Him, and thereby brought some joy to the poor man: He who is coming will come and will not become stubborn (Heb. 10:37), the Prophets proclaimed. Finally the time has come; and by Your most holy favor You sent to us Your very Only Begotten Son, co-natural and co-essential with You. What will I repay to the Lord for all that He has repaid us? This one thing is nothing. We must reward and thank God for all blessings, but especially for His word, as His highest gift, and for the saving coming of His Only Begotten Son to us. Let me confess to You, O Lord my God, forever with all my heart... for your great mercy is upon me (Ps. 85:12, 13). Having been justified by faith, the world imams to God by our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). If it is hard for a subject, says the bl. Tikhon, feeling the anger of his Sovereign on himself cannot be expressed in words. Nothing was dear to him then - neither food, nor drink, nor his wife, nor children, nor friends, nor his own life. How incomparably more painful is it to endure God’s wrath (Apoc. 6:15–17)! But as hard and bitter as it is to feel God’s wrath, it is so comforting and beneficial to feel His goodness and mercy in your heart... This is the sweet supper that Christ promises to those who listen to His voice and open the doors of their hearts (Apoc. 3:20). This is the eating and eating of the hidden manna, which the Lord promises to the overcomer (Apoc. 2:17). This is a foretaste of eternal joy and sweetness, and there is the slightest particle of this amusement, which, having tasted, the servants of Christ forget all the joy of this world... This is the peace of God, about which the Apostle speaks: the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, may guard your hearts in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7). Although the Son of God brought this peace to earth for everyone from the heavenly Father and, as the prince and ruler of the world, came to preach peace to everyone, far and near (Eph. 2:17), then through Himself, sending the great embassy of His heavenly Father on earth, then through His apostles, wise by the Holy Spirit; however, those who do not accept the Evangelist of the world are not worthy of this heavenly gift and who, calling themselves Christians, although they believe in this great Messenger, lead a life contrary to faith: they confess God and their deeds, but His deeds are rejected (Tit. 1:16). For this peace has its place in the conscience and heart; but the conscience, defiled by vices and irritated by iniquities, proclaims nothing else to the sinner than God, grieved by transgressions, and the wrath of God, and the oath of God and condemnation. Why does this world not have a place there, but instead there is an evil worm, confusion and all kinds of anxiety. And this precious treasure of peace and complacency is acquired only by those who, having purified their hearts by faith, create the fruits of repentance: they crucify the flesh with passions and lusts and have peace with one another in Christ (Gal. 5:24). And although they are often shaken by the fear and horror of God’s judgment, as happens in a great temptation of the spirit; but with the hope of God’s goodness and faith in the reconciler and intercessor Jesus Christ, the disturbances of the soul are overcome and sweetly calmed down... (from book 9, chapter 12). Question By what means is complacency maintained in sorrow? Rep. 1) Conversation with God: Christians draw great consolation from the fact that they are worthy of conversing with God... No matter how many times they turn to prayer, so many times they talk to God, and stand reverently before Him as the father of a child, offering various things and needs to Him. They show Him sinful wounds and ask Him for healing: Father, forgive us our debts. They complain about their enemy and ask Him for protection: deliver us from the evil one; asking for help in the feat of faith. 2) It is impossible to say what kind of sweetness, spiritual sweetness, Christians receive from St. Scripture... How much a son in a foreign country is comforted when he receives a letter from his father: even more, the sons of God are comforted when in this vale of weeping and in this journey they read their heavenly Father’s kind message, and looking at it and reading, as if they were seeing Him Himself, and hearing His sweetest conversation... In this most holy message they read and see God their Father and His Divine properties indecent to anyone but Him - omnipotence, wisdom, eternity, etc. and they rejoice over and over again that they have given their names and hearts to such a great God. In the Holy Scriptures they see the beginning of the existence of all things and their own; and although it is not without sighing and sorrow that they read that man has fallen into deep misfortune, a pit of envy of the devil; but when they reason that fallen man has been miraculously restored and exalted more than before, they are comforted and pleased, exclaiming: Lord, what is man that you remember him? and so on (Ps. 8:5). 3) Compassion in sorrow and distress is preserved by the memory of the presence of God with Christians in sorrow: behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age, Christ said to his faithful servants (Matthew 28:20). The martyrs felt this, and in the most cruel suffering they rejoiced; All the saints felt it and valiantly endured all kinds of adversity; those who are now working in Him feel it with fear and faith, and clinging to Him with love, and they always rejoice, are always content in the Lord, to Him be glory forever (Abridged from Book 9, Chapters 13, 14, 15). It happens, says Saint Tikhon in his spiritual treasure, that a person receives many benefits from another person, and remembering the benefits, always remembers the benefactor, out of love and gratitude to him, out loud to everyone, boasts about him, proclaims the benefits and says: he did this and that to me; he built this house for me; He gave me these clothes; freed from such and such troubles, etc. - These are signs of a grateful heart towards a benefactor. Also, and even more so, for a Christian to have God and His benefits in constant memory and to confess within himself with his soul: My God created me and brought me from non-existence into being, and gives me this and that, benefiting me countlessly... Where is He who benefits you so much? Where is your great Benefactor, Who encourages and showers you with His benefits?.. He is everywhere, not far from me, and inherent in me, but I do not see Him; and I am sick and wounded by grief because I do not see my lover, my Benefactor. I see His goodness; but I don’t see the Benefactor... I see the heavens and the earth with their fulfillment, which His hand created; but I do not see the One who created them. – His sun, moon, stars shine for me; Its air, clouds, rivers, lakes and springs serve me; His land produces various trees, herbs, potions and fruits for me; but I don’t see Him Himself. He opens His treasure and gives me food, drink and clothing; but I don’t see the Giver. For I walk by faith, and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). His all-powerful right hand protects me from the wiles of the enemy; but I don’t see my keeper. He is my refuge, my protector, my helper, my affirmation in various temptations and troubles. I feel help and intercession; but I don’t see the helper and intercessor himself. He protects me in the days of the vigil and in the night of the sleeping; but I don’t see my keeper. Am I in the house? Are you on your way? Is it in the city? Is it in the desert? I take it out and go with me everywhere; but I don't see Him. I walk by faith and not by sight. - Whether in church or elsewhere, I stand in prayer, I bow my knees before Him, and I stretch out my hands to Him and lift up my eyes; but I don’t see Him. I thank Him as my Benefactor, I sing to Him, I praise Him, I bless and extol Him; but I don’t see Him Himself. I walk by faith and not by sight. I feel His holy right hand touching me, unworthy, but I do not see Him. He strikes my heart with His holy fear, and so I fear and tremble about Him; It also touches my heart with holy love, and my spirit feels such joy, joy, and exclamation; but I don’t see Him Himself. He punishes me and has mercy on me, like a child-loving Father; He saddens and comforts; but I don’t see Him Himself... I also hear His holy word, I hear in it that although the church of my body will be destroyed, it will rise, be rebuilt, and will not be destroyed forever; but I don’t see Himself speaking... Oh, when I will come and appear to the face of God! When I see Him whom my soul desires, Whom to see is eternal life, to look at Whom there is only consolation, joy, gladness, sweetness and exclamation!.. When I come and see my creator, my provider, my benefactor, my helper and intercessor, my deliverer and Savior, glory, honor, joy, consolation, my blessedness (Ps. 41)! People, when they receive what they want, are called prosperous: so a Christian is prosperous and happy when he receives and has what he desires and seeks. Happy are those who are freed from work, or prison, or exile, or captivity. A Christian is happy when he is freed from the sins with which he was bound, as if by bonds, and freed from the work of the devil. People have happiness and well-being when they have a healthy body: Christian well-being is to have a healthy soul. Happy are those warriors who triumph over their enemies: the Christian who conquers himself is truly happy. Many people consider it a blessing when they succeed in taking revenge on their enemies. A true Christian's well-being is when he yields to his enemies and does not repay evil for evil; and there is even greater happiness when he loves them and does good to them: then he truly is the son of the heavenly Father, whose sun shines on evil and good. People have prosperity if they collect and accept a lot from people: truly prosperous is the Christian who gives from everything that he has to his neighbors. It is good for a man to be generous and give: he will arrange his words in judgment, for he will not move forever (Ps. 112:5). It is happiness for people to be rich and famous in this world: Christian happiness is to be rich in good deeds and to despise the glory of this world. Prosperity among people is to dominate and reign over other people: a Christian is prosperous when he dominates, reigns and commands over himself, over his flesh, over his passions and lusts. This is truly the lord, the king and the ruler. People have happiness - to provide a rich meal and be satisfied with it: Christian well-being and happiness exist - to hear God's word inside your heart, and with it to satisfy your soul, to console and amuse. This is a rich meal, a glorious and sweet supper for Christian souls! Happy are people who live in the joy and joy of this world: a Christian is happy if he has sorrow for God, and weeps for the sake of his sins: blessed are those who weep (Matthew 5:4). Well-being for people is to live in a rich and magnificent house: Christian well-being exists if he is truly found within the Church of God, if he is a true son of the Church, a cohabitant with the saints, close to God, a living member of Christ. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house: they will praise You forever and ever (Ps. 83:5). Well-being for people is to have protectors and helpers from strong people: Christian happiness and well-being is to have God as a protector and helper (Ps. 83:6). Happiness for people is to be strong in bodily strength and brave in battle: a Christian is happy if he is strong in soul, immovable and invincible in battle from the devil, and in the temptations and misfortunes inflicted by him, unyielding... You are my strength, Lord; You are my strength... without You I can do nothing: I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13). Question What does the bl. get out of this? Tikhon? Rep. Consolation for those pious souls who are deprived of well-being in this world. 1) Weak! You, dear sufferers, do not faint in your soul; although your body decays, your holy souls are healed and receive their health (2 Cor. 4:16). You and the beggar Lazarus suffer here, but with him you will inherit Abraham’s bosom. Slaves and peasants, subordinate to masters! You humble and meek sheep of Christ! Although you are called slaves of men, you are freemen of Christ; you work with your body for people; but your souls are free from the work of sin; You do not have freedom and nobility, but your souls are adorned with Christian freedom and nobility. 2) Beggars and wretched! You do not have corruptible gold and silver and other substances; but carry an imperishable treasure within yourself: be content with it. Don't live in rich houses; but you are close to God, the household of Christ, and fellow-partners with the saints. Wear rags on your body; but your souls are clothed with the robe of salvation... Remember the poverty of Christ (2 Cor. 8:9). 3) Laughed and scolded! Let the world do to you what it wants. You are Christ's. This is great praise and glory - to be Christ's, Who is the Lord of Glory. The world laughs at you, it humiliates and scolds you; but your souls are honest with God; the world condemns you, but God justifies you; The world curses you, but God blesses you. The world spews you out as obscene; but God accepts... All the pious who suffer in any way in trouble! Raise your eyes to the abode of the Heavenly Father and consider the inhabitants of those saints: you will not see anyone there who would not have come there on a sorrowful path, and you will hear from there a voice testifying about them: these are the ones who came out of great tribulation, and washed their robe, and made their robe white in the blood of the Lamb (Apoc. 7:14). (Part 10 l. 225 secret spirit.) Here, in my strength, I am writing to you about Christian wisdom and prudence, which we must learn through all of life... Christian wisdom is Christ the Son of God, and in Him are all the hidden treasures of wisdom and reason (Col. 2:3). A simple Christian, who is taught the dogmas of the Holy Faith, is far wiser than Plato, Aristotle and other pagan sages. Which of them understood what a simple Christian knew (1 Cor. 2:8)? Question What does Christian wisdom and prudence consist of? Rep. 1) Know the one true God; one in nature, but Trinity in Persons; God and man in the one person of Christ the Savior; The Word, made flesh; The virgin who gave birth and remains a virgin; a body that dies, but still rises, etc. 2) Not only to know God, but to fear Him and love Him above all; thank Him and trust in Him alone. 3) Behold Christian prudence! – because God is present in every place; and there is no place where He is not; and whatever we do, say, and think, we do and think before His holy eyes. Therefore, we must act in all our affairs and in dealing with our neighbors with fear, as subjects act before the king, in his presence... 4) Avoiding every sin in word, deed and thought in every possible way, since every sin offends the great and omnipresent God... Blessed and wise is he who flees sin as a deadly poison! 5) Man is a wanderer in this world, a stranger and a traveler... Life in this world and everything with it - honor, glory, wealth - is like a dream... Just as everyone is born equal, so everyone dies equal, except that one is a sinner, and another is righteous, that one is blessed, and this one goes away damned... He who understands this is wise! He is prudent who lives in this world like a traveler, and always raises his eyes to his heavenly fatherland, and does not cleave to anything earthly. 6) He is wise and prudent who, if wealth has been given to him by God, does not spend on luxury and immoderate buildings, but provides for the poor and needy; - if he receives honor, he strives for the glory of God and the benefit of his neighbors; if you have been awarded fame and dignity; then, considering himself unworthy, he will ascribe everything to one God, saying: not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name (Ps. 113:9). 7) He is wise and prudent who always remembers the last thing - death, the universal judgment of Christ, eternal torment and the kingdom of heaven. 8) Wise and prudent, who will not offend anyone, either in word or deed, but will bless everyone as much as he can: whoever sows good seed will also reap good fruit. 9) He is sensible and wise, who does not spend time, which, having been lost, like a word spoken, does not return in vain, in laziness, in partying, but in useful, godly pursuits. 10) True wisdom is: to overcome natural evil: pride, anger, malice, envy, voluptuousness, unclean lust, etc. and follow the example of the holy life of Christ: His humility, love, patience, meekness and His other beautiful divine virtues... This is Christian wisdom, which is not found in the dogmas of the learned sages of this century; but - in the dogmas of the prophets and apostles, who spoke to us the word of God, enlightened by His Holy Spirit. “This wisdom is not in words, but in power.” This wisdom is unknown and unpleasant to the world, but dear to God. Seek therefore this wisdom and good reason by reading and meditating on God’s holy word and fervent prayer. – May God, the source and giver of wisdom, intelligence and all good, make us wise in the salvation of our neighbors and for the glory of His holy name (Part 14. Letters 8)! To bless God means to glorify Him. I will exalt You, my God, my King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever (Ps. 144:1). “Blessing,” says Chrysostom, is indicated here not as one that is expressed only in words, but in deeds themselves. In this way God is glorified, blessed, in this way we are commanded to say in prayer: hallowed be thy name (Matthew 6:9), that is, let him be glorified (Expos. in Psal. 144, Tom. 5, pag. 167). The blessing of man by God means God's favor towards man (Gen. 9:1 et seq. Ps. 113:20, 21). Blessing a person by another person means the desire for God to show His favor to the person being blessed. The blessing of the Old Testament patriarchs had even higher prophetic significance (Gen. 49). Holy Tikhon speaks this way about the sign of the blessing priestly hand: “When you kiss the blessing hand, kiss the intellect that is formed by it... And the Greeks, our true believers, also interpret: “The straightness of the index finger and the inclination of the middle finger depict the name Jesus,” says one of the Greek teachers (Nicholas, Priest Malakeki). The straight position of the finger depicts the letter I; the inclined letter S. And therefore, by approaching each other, these two fingers, folded in this way, clearly depict this. And the thumb, together with the near-middle finger, or the so-called ring finger, the transverse addition and the inclined application of the little finger near these fingers means the name Christ. For the cross-section of the thumb with the near-middle, or ring finger, shows the mark X; and the slanted little finger is the letter C; by which the name Christ, as it is said, is signified - a name, about Him all the nations are blessed, just as the promise was to the blessed patriarch Abraham: for, he says, through your Seed all the tribes of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:3). The Apostle speaks not of many (seeds), but of the Seed, which is Christ (Gal. 3:16). It is fitting that the formation of a hand that blesses those blessed in Christ Jesus means nothing other than the name of Himself, in whom we are blessed. Therefore, I remember that from the very beginning of God’s providence, from the very Creator of all things, the fingers of the human hand were hung, neither more nor less, so that it was neither excessive nor insufficient, but there were enough of them for such a sign (Until here Nikolai).” It is prudently said, added Blessed Tikhon, that God’s providence appointed the name of the beloved Son of God in the number and arrangement of fingers. All that is good, visible in the creation of things and in their use, ascribe to the predestination of God. Only evil comes from the father of evil, that is, the devil.” Note May Blessed himself, dear philanthropists, serve as a worthy example of charity. Tikhon, the righteous man of Zadonsk. And for this purpose we will write here 1) a few lines from his biography, compiled by Metropolitan Eugene, and 2) from a letter to the famous schema-monk Mitrofan. 1) Bl. Tikhon, during his stay in Zadonsk solitude, often, in the form of a monastery brother, meeting those who came in the courtyard or at the porch, started a simple-minded conversation with them, sat them down near him, questioned everyone... He needed this method of secretly exploring the circumstances and needs of ordinary people, especially for providing help to the unfeignedly poor and helpless, which was his favorite exercise. He spent almost his entire annual pension on this; and left the smallest part for himself; He distributed the excess supplies sent to him from his friends to the poor, and especially to orphans, widows and decrepit old men; I sometimes cooked food for people who came from other places, and even dined with them myself. The poor, hearing about his mercy, flocked to him from all sides, explained their needs to him and asked for help, which they certainly received from him. Whoever lost his home by fire or some other incident, the shepherd lent him money to start a new one; He endowed those brought to beggary with illness or other adventures not only for the present, but also for the future, for some time without needing food; He bought livestock, agricultural tools and bread for sowing to peasants ruined by poor management; he accepted passers-by and artisans who fell ill on the road and those without shelter into his cells, fed them and treated them until they recovered; and to others he sent food and medicine to their apartments... He provided orphans, not only from the common family, but also from the noble family, with girls for education and dowries; to those offended and oppressed in the courts he gave letters of petition to the authorities and judges and interceded with them. The example of his intercession for two siblings before the leading member of the Holy Synod, His Eminence Gabriel, described by Metropolitan Eugene, is worthy of special attention. In a word: he was a father, protector and helper to all the poor and needy around Zadonsk. But, not content with taking care of these, he sometimes sent his cell servant to the nearby city of Yelets for secret alms. For all such philanthropic assistance, his annual pension was not enough: then he borrowed or begged for benefits from his wealthy friends, or sold things that seemed unnecessary to him. Thus, with a lack of money for alms, he sold, from the first years of his retired life, his best dress and his only pocket watch. He considered the day when he did not have the opportunity to give alms as lost and seemed boring. 2) Kohl was charitable to the bl. Tikhon, as can be seen from his letters to Mitrofan. a) “Father Mitrofan! Save yourself! Here, with this letter, the presenter sent you one and a half hundred rubles. Two residents of Voronezh gave them for distribution as alms, and they asked me to distribute them. I am sending them to you so that you can distribute them, namely this way: either go to the city of Livny yourself and distribute them to the poorest who were burned; or entrust it to a good and faithful person to distribute it without hiding anything. Work hard, don’t deny: it will be for the benefit of your soul; and don’t tell anyone who they were sent from. And so that they are distributed to the burned poor of Livensky: this is what is ordered. May the Lord have mercy on you and preserve you in eternal life.” b) “Father Mitrofan, dear brother of Christ! I settled in Tolshevo: you and I were separated. Be like this: don’t mourn. My spirit is always with you. May the Lord grant you to be in the abodes of the Heavenly Father!.. No matter where you are, you cannot escape the wiles of Satan. The grace of Christ alone saves... having taken the money for the feather bed, do as I told you: give it to alms. Take the money that was given to the village of Utkino for firewood and give it to the poor in Yelets. Also, take the other money given for firewood and give it to the poor... I am your well-wisher, as I was and am now. Bishop Tikhon is unworthy. Question What are the main points of Christian Piety, according to the teachings of Blessed. Tikhon? Rep. (Part I. l. 162.) Without living faith and the fear of God, it is impossible to live piously. Living faith is awakened in the human heart by reasoning with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit... The fear of God is born especially from thinking about God's omnipresence and omniscience... And what must you do in order to live piously, listen to this. 1) You should not live in idleness, but exercise yourself in pious labors; for idleness is guilty of all evil; and whoever lives in idleness sins incessantly. 2) Beware of every sin as a deadly poison, because every sin offends the great God and creates an obstacle to eternal salvation... 3) Whatever your conscience forbids, do not do it; for whatever an infallible conscience forbids, that same thing the law of God forbids. 4) Honor God not with substance and appearance, but with a good conscience, fear, love, obedience, prayer and faith: for God is an immaterial spirit. 5) Avoid evil and do good for the sake of God, and not for any other reason: for everything that is not done for the sake of God is not pleasing to God. Let your end be in all your deeds - the will of God! 6) Remember the name of God with all reverence, fear and reverence, both there and then, where and when it is necessary: ​​for the name of God is holy and terrible, and those who remember Him with disrespect gravely sin... 7) God is the highest good, from whom every good and bliss that exists and can be flows. Without God, all bliss is wretchedness and poverty, life is death, joy and sweetness are sorrow. To live with God, and in misfortune there is happiness, in poverty there is wealth, in dishonor there is glory, in sorrow there is consolation. Love God, for your highest good and bliss; love more than every creature, more than your father and mother, more than your wife and children, and more than yourself. 8) Everywhere and in all your deeds remember with love the Lord your God and His holy love for us. Everything you see in heaven and on earth and in your house excites you to the remembrance of the Lord your God and His holy love. Every creature testifies to His love for us. Seeing then the creation of God and using it, say within yourself this: this is the work of the hand of the Lord my God, and for my sake it was created... Beware of forgetting your benefactor while enjoying His benefits. 9) When starting any task, call on the name of the Lord your God, and begin with prayer, so that the Lord will hasten you to begin and complete it. Consequently, a Christian should not begin anything that is contrary to the law of God. 10) When you want to eat and drink, call on the name of the Lord, and ask Him to bless your food and drink, saying: Lord bless... 11) Love the Word of God, that is, the Scripture handed down to us by the prophets and apostles, as God Himself. If you love God, then you certainly love Scripture: for God’s word is Scripture or God’s letter to us and His highest gift, sent down not so that what was written on the charter was only meant to be written, but so that they would be enlightened and guided on the path of truth... 12) What people do, do not imitate it recklessly; for through reckless imitation people become corrupted and corrupted; and hour by hour evil increases. But pay attention to what the word of God teaches. 13) Compare time with eternity, the present with the future, living people with the dead, and so your mind will be enlightened, and you yourself will know and admit that those who collect and are not rich in God do evil (Luke 12:21). All the dead have left the world and everything is in peace: you too will leave it, even if you had the whole world under you. Be therefore pious to the end and have only piety for the true treasure. 14) Remember often death, the judgment of Christ, eternal torment, eternal life, and the world with all its lusts and charms will certainly disgust you. This one name - eternity - brings a person into awe and horror. And that people cling to vanity and sin, this truly happens because they forget about eternity... Remember your last, and you will never sin (Sir. 7:89). 15) Be extremely careful not to offend any person by word or deed: this is a grave sin. When a person is offended, God is also offended. Whoever sins against man will also sin against God: this is grievous. 16) Be in constant repentance, and at all times and always be ready for the outcome. A wise servant always watches and waits for the master to call him: watch and wait for Christ to call you; calls through death... Always live piously and with fear. 17) In order for you to correct yourself and become a true Christian or Christ’s, place the holy life of Christ before your spiritual eyes and look at it often, and imitate His example; and although your corrupted heart does not want to, force and convince yourself to imitate the wonderful virtues of Christ. You look in the mirror to see what your face looks like: let the immaculate life of Christ be a mirror for your soul. 18) God's grace is the life of our souls: just as our body lives by the spirit, so the soul lives by grace alone. Therefore, sigh often from the depths of your soul: create a pure heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from Me (Ps. 50:12). “Both Jesus Christ himself and His disciples predicted much about the state of the future life... Consider these predictions diligently, brethren... and accept them without doubt (Words of Blessed Theodoret. Serm 2. De fine et judicio. Tom. 4, pag. 655).” The Apostle Paul clearly speaks about the different degrees of bliss corresponding to the different degrees of moral perfection of the righteous (1 Cor. 15:41). Rep. (St. Tikhon, book 6, §174). One beginning without end... one hundred thousand years will pass: there is no end to eternity. A hundred thousand centuries will pass: there is no end to eternity. A thousand thousand centuries will pass, and a million millions: there is no end to eternity; but it’s just beginning... No matter how many millions of centuries you collect in your mind, they are all like a drop of water against the whole ocean, or like a poppy seed against the whole world, or like nothing... God’s Holy Word announces to us a double eternity: blessed and unhappy. §176. Blissful eternity is explained by comparing temporary well-being, although any present well-being is nothing in comparison with future bliss. 1) Any temporary well-being cannot be so great that it is not dissolved by some kind of opposition. Many have wealth; but they do not have health, peace, peace, or a good name. Others live in peace and tranquility, but are beggars and are despised. There is no friendship without suspicion; for there is no perfect love. There is no world without danger; for many are surrounded by enemies. There is no health without weakness in this corruptible and mortal body... But the bliss of the future age excludes all opposition: there is a kingdom without fear, without labor and care; there glory always shines; there is health without any illness; there is joy without sorrow; a world without danger; there is unfeigned friendship there; there is wisdom without violence; there, all good is not involved in any evil. For God, the source of all good things, will be in all things (1 Cor. 15:28). 2) The human heart cannot be satisfied with any temporary well-being. The more wealth, glory, honor, the more the desire for wealth, glory, honor increases. Where is the desire and care? there is restlessness and rebellion. But in blissful eternity all desire will end; for in it is perfect bliss. There glory and honor cannot rise higher; wealth does not grow there; there health, peace, tranquility, wisdom do not increase: for the highest good will result, which is God. There everyone is satisfied with his lot (Ps. 16:5). 3) At least someone had temporary well-being, and did not desire any more; but is embarrassed by fear, so as not to lose it. For what he sees in others, he who prospers in prosperity expects for himself. He sees that with wealth comes poverty (Matthew 6:19), with glory comes dishonor, and with honor comes dishonor; and thus all well-being, like darkness - the sunshine, is darkened. But eternal bliss is alien to any darkness. This good, once received, will never be lost; this wealth is not afraid of poverty; this glory does not fear ignominy; This health, peace, tranquility, joy are not afraid of weakness, anxiety, sadness: for everything there is safe, everything is peaceful and calm. 4) Finally, both this life and all temporary well-being ends in death, and everything here happens like the dreams of one who rises, like a couple appearing in the distance and disappearing. When a person dies, so does his well-being. He leaves the rich world: he also leaves his wealth. The glorious one departs from this light: his glory also departs from him. The wise man will end: his wisdom will also end. When a strong man dies, his strength also dies. Where is the fear of the victors of this world now? Where is the glorious glory? Where is the wealth of the rich? Where is the strength of the strong? Where is the wisdom of the wise? Where are the luxurious consolations and sweetness? All of it has passed away, like a shadow, and like a passing message (Wis. 5:9). This is not how God’s elect are consoled when they receive this true Bliss, this true glory, honor, peace, peace, joy, joy from the hand of the Lord, and inherit all the riches of God’s goodness: they will be firmly confident that they will remain in this highest Bliss for ever and ever, the bliss of which I fervently wish for both myself and everyone. Amen. That's how bl. Tikhon admonishes those who abuse wealth. If you gave someone a hundred or any other amount of gold, and ordered him to be content with that and provide for the poor; and he would have kept everything given to him, or spent it on his own whims: tell me, wouldn’t it be offensive and vexing to you and the poor? - Undoubtedly so. God gives property and wealth to people so that they themselves can be content in moderation and provide for the poor. But when the rich either keep their wealth in their chests, or squander it on luxury and whim, then they commit an equal or greater insult to God. God alone is the Lord and Lord of all good and wealth; after all, the rich are God’s servants and servants, not masters. You are torturing the clerk about the money given to him, where and for what you spent it: the Lord will also torture you about the wealth given to you from Him, and you will give an answer for every ruble on the day of His judgment. Saint Chrysostom offers the following thoughts about the rich: “He is not wretched who has nothing, but who desires a lot. He is not rich who has a lot, but who does not demand any things (Demon 2 after Tim.). The rich subject himself to many worries; with countless chains, like a certain dog, he is tied to his money (Ibidem). Wealth makes fools (Demon 10 after Philim.). Wealth and vain glory provide an excuse for the devil, and they often provide it. - The rich man is a kind of steward over the money that he must distribute to the poor. – Sleep is sweeter for the poor than for the rich. Then we abound in wealth even more when we despise it.” Having abandoned the inquisitive investigation of the essence of God, which exceeds our concepts, we must believe, says St. Basil the Great, in the words of the Apostle: It is fitting for everyone who comes to God to believe, just as he is (Heb. 11:6). For research means nothing, and salvation brings us only confession, by which we acknowledge the existence of God (against Eunomius, book 1). “To know God is nothing other than to know that not one of those objects that the human mind can recognize is God (words of St. Gregory of Nyssa in. Hexaem. orat. 2).” “May God himself, who created the heavens, teach me the mysteries of heaven, and not a man who does not know himself. Who will I believe (who speaks) about God more than God?” says St. Ambr. (Epist. 31). “God, although not unknown, is inscrutable (non idnovabilis, tamen inenavvabilis). One must believe in God, must understand Him, worship Him and glorify Him (words of St. Hilary - libev. 2 de Trinitate). Question Like bl. Tikhon teaches about God? Rep. 1) From true knowledge of God will follow true reverence for God and piety; 2) the more someone knows God, the more diligently he honors Him and keeps His commandments; 3) he who knows God is not the one who talks and teaches a lot about God, but lives in disagreement with the teaching; but he who lives piously fears God, loves and keeps His commandments (From Book 7). Question What is required for true worship of God? Rep. Obedience due to God. Without true obedience to God, nothing pleases God. 1) Nor confession of His name, as Christ Himself says: Why do you call Me: Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46) Let everyone therefore depart from unrighteousness, calling the name of the Lord (2 Tim. 2:19). Untruth lies in disobedience, just as truth lies in obedience. 2) Neither prayer; for it is written: For sinners God will not listen; but if anyone is a reader of God and does His will, he will listen to him (John 9:31). The God of the Prophet’s belly says: Whenever you stretch out your hands to Me, I will turn My eyes away from you; and even if you increase your prayer, I will not hear you: for your hands are full of blood (Isa. 1:15). 3) Neither singing, nor praising, nor glorifying, nor other oral worship of God is unpleasant without heartfelt reverence, as God himself says: these people draw near to me with their lips, and with their lips they honor Me; their heart is far from Me (Matthew 15:8). It is necessary to cleanse oneself with true repentance, and then call on, sing, praise and glorify the holy name of God, which the Angels sing with reverence (Isa. 6:3). 4) And preaching the Word of God, without obedience, is not pleasing to God and is not useful to the preacher. To the sinner God said: How will you tell My justifications, and will you accept My covenant with your lips? But you hated punishment, and you rejected My words back (Ps. 49:16, 17). For you must first correct yourself, then correct people, so as not to hear: teach yourself otherwise (Rom. 2:21)? 5) We do not use the gift of miracles or other gifts, and we cannot please God with them without obedience, according to the word of Christ himself: many people will say to Me in this day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name we have cast out demons, and in Your name we have created many mighty powers; and then we will confess to them, as I have known you to no one else: Depart from Me, you who practice iniquity (Matthew 7:22, 23)... For it is not ours to work signs, but His omnipotent power alone. Jesus said to her (the Samaritan woman): “Woman, have faith in Me, for the hour is coming, when you will worship the Father, neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” The hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such as those who worship. The Spirit is God: and whoever worships Him is worthy to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:21, 23, 24). “Since God is invisible, incomprehensible, limitless, the Lord says that the time has come when God will be honored neither in the mountain nor in the church: since the Spirit is God, and the spirit is not limited, does not lie somewhere in one place, but throughout all nature is everywhere, abundant in all, then the Lord calls those who will worship in spirit and truth true worshipers. (Words of St. Hilary de Trinitate, lib. 2, col. 804).” Question What, besides obedience to God, does true reverence for God require? Rep. The Jews sacrificed various animals to God, as is written in the books of Moses and the Prophets, and this sacrifice of theirs marked the death of Christ the Son of God... But when this Most Holy sacrifice was offered on the tree of the cross, then it, like a shadow that represented the truth, ceased. In the new grace, Christians must offer spiritual sacrifice, without which this sacrifice was of no use to the Jews, by faith. The Christian sacrifice in Holy Scripture is indicated by this: 1) The spirit is broken, and the heart is contrite and humble, which, according to the word of St. David, God will not despise (Ps. 50:19). This happens when we repent of our sins with sorrow; we have sorrow in our hearts, which is sorrow for God, and unrepentant repentance brings salvation (2 Cor. 7:10). God himself demands this sacrifice from us: rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God (Joel 2:13). Such a spirit and heart is a sacrifice acceptable to God. God looks upon such a sacrifice from His heights and looks upon the one who offers it with His merciful fatherly eyes. Such a sacrifice was made by Peter the Apostle when he rejected Christ and went out weeping bitterly (Matthew 26:75). Let us Christians offer this sacrifice with our hearts on the altar. 2) The sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, when we thank Him from the heart for the countless benefits shown and demonstrated from Him. He created us with a rational soul and honored us with His image, let us glorify Him. He raised us up who had fallen, and sought out those who were lost, and redeemed those who were lost, not with silver or gold, but with the honest blood of His Son (1 Pet. 1:18). He, as a loving Father, mercifully provides for us, feeds, waters, clothes, preserves us from the snares of the enemy, enlightens and revives us with the Holy Spirit, moves us to desire and seek heavenly blessings, encourages us to true repentance... and He gives us other good things, so that we may offer a sacrifice of praise to God (Heb. 13:15). God requires such sacrifices from us: devour God’s sacrifice of praise (Ps. 49:14). Such a sacrifice is pleasing to Him: I will praise the name of my God with song, I will magnify Him in praise, and He will be more pleased than a young calf (Ps. 68:31, 32). This sacrifice, or, what is also, such reverence for God, should be offered by Christians in the evening, morning and noon, following the example of Saint David (Ps. 54:18). 3) Victim of mercy and mercy. Just as the Lord himself is generous, long-suffering and abundantly merciful: so he credits himself with a pleasant offering when we show mercy to our brethren, show compassion to the suffering, and give a helping hand to the needy. With such sacrifices God is pleased (Heb. 13:16). 4) The sacrifice of righteousness and truth, as Solomon says: to do righteousness and to speak truth, is more pleasing to God than the blood of sacrifices (Prov. 21:3). 5) The sacrifice of the members of our flesh, which rebels against our spirit, and with its bodily members, as weapons, fights us and wants to kill our faith. Question How and when is such a sacrifice made? Rep. Such a sacrifice, which constitutes the basis and root of true reverence for God, is offered by Christians when they put to death their wealth that is on earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5); when they cleanse their heart and mind from vain, evil, proud thoughts, and Godless undertakings; when they turn their will away from evil lust; malice and all obscenity are expelled from memory; when they turn away their eyes, so as not to see vanity (Ps. 119:37), ears from slander, slander and seductive songs; when the tongue is kept from slander and idle talk; hands - from theft, robbery, unclean touch, belly - from gluttony and drunkenness... Whenever, says Chrysostom, we kill the old man, when we put to death the ouds even on the earth, when we crucify the world to ourselves... when we do all this, we offer verbal service (Conversation 20 on the last to Romans). What is the altar for this sacrifice? church? knife? fire? The altar on which Christians offer a noble sacrifice to God is the heart. There is a church - the composition of soul and body; the knife is a spiritual sword, that is, the word of God; there is fire - the love of God; priests are the essence themselves (Apoc. 1:6)... Let us, Christians, also offer this sacrifice. With internal worship of God, external worship is also necessary. Man consists of soul and body; Therefore, one must glorify God spiritually and physically. Glorify God, says St. Apostle Paul, in all your bodies and in your souls, they are the essence of God (1 Cor. 6:20). And in another place: I pray you, brethren, by the mercies of God, present in your body a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your verbal service (Rom. 12:1). Question What does Blessed Tikhon say about external reverence for God - without internal? Rep. He asked: Christians who live fearlessly and do not practice true repentance and its fruits, do they make sacrifices to God, do they perform true reverence for God? – Answer: no way! You have seen what Christian sacrifice and true worship of God consists of. They do not bother to do this; therefore, they do not offer any sacrifices to God. How many of them build churches of God, cover the Gospels with silver, sew vestments for the church, bring candles and incense? - This does not benefit them at all... God is a spirit, and is not pleased with anything except by spiritual sacrifice, that is, by faith, the submission of one’s will to the will of God, etc. And although they do the above-described works, they do not want to offer their will to God and obedience. In addition, many of them build churches of God, stone or wooden; but the animate ones are abandoned, and, what’s worse, they are ruined. The Gospels decorate; but they don’t want to touch what the Gospel teaches. Many vestments are sewn; but they do not clothe the naked, and, what is worse, they expose others. How many people go to church for prayer, praise, and sing to God? - And this does not benefit them: for with their lips they sing and thank God, but in their hearts they are distant from Him, as God himself says about them (Matthew 15:8), and by their lawless lives they dishonor and blaspheme the name of God. The greatness, God's choice, holiness, dignity, boundless humility of the Most Holy Ever-Virgin Mother of God are clearly depicted in the worship of Her like the saints of our Father Demetrius of Rostov. Let us read this devotion reverently. “Come, let us worship our Queen Theotokos. Come, let us worship the Virgin Mary, our Queen Mother of God. Come, let us bow and fall before the Lady herself, the Virgin Mary, our Queen Theotokos. I bow to You, Most Holy Virgin Theotokos, by Your Nativity showing us the true light, Queen of heaven and earth, hope of the unreliable and intercessor to all sinners. Cover me and intercede from all troubles and needs, mental and physical, and be my intercessor, I pray, with Your holy prayers. I adore Your, immaculate, conception and birth from Your holy parents, Joachim and Anna, and I pray to You, my Lady, that I may conceive a sinless life and give birth to repentance. I adore Your introduction into the Church of the Lord, O youth of three years, and I pray to You, my Light: make me a church of the Holy Spirit. I adore Your annunciation, O Most Pure Virgin, when through the action of the Holy Spirit, with the voice of the Archangel, You conceived the Word of the Father, and I pray to You, my Light: to bring salvation to the desperate. I worship Your birth, when You incarnated and gave birth to Christ the Savior of the world, and You were the Mother of God, glorified and exalted from all creation, and I pray to You: show Yourself to me, Mother of mercy, now and in the age to come. I worship and honor Your illnesses, which You endured during the free passion of Your Son, when Simeon’s prophecy came true: But for You, a weapon will pierce Your soul (Luke 2:35), and I pray to You, my Light: deliver me from mental and physical illnesses. I bow to You, Lady, remembering Your joy that I had after the resurrection of Your Son, and I pray to You: do not deprive me of spiritual joy. I bow to Your honest and glorious Dormition and, I pray to You, my Light: rest my carnal passions with Your help. Most Holy Lady Theotokos, accept this little prayer and offer it to Your Son and our God, that He may save and enlighten, for Your sake, our souls. Question What instruction does Blessed Tikhon teach about how to begin the Divine Service and with what kind of reflection should one be when attending it? Rep. When approaching the sacred service or listening to the Divine Service, strive in every possible way to have reverence and tenderness, which especially comes from the saving reflection of Christ the Savior looking at the human race. Consider how the Son of God, the Lord of all, clothed himself in the image of a slave! How was the Beginningless One conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin? How can you have the throne of heaven and sit on Cherubim in the poor manger? How can you give food to all flesh, hunger, thirst?.. How can you, without filth and vice, be baptized by a slave? How did you help those who were tempted, but were you tempted by the devil?.. How did you go out to preach the Kingdom of God and be called a blasphemer: a Samaritan, a flatterer, a blasphemer, a frantic and demon-possessed person? How did he finally endure the terrible and unbearable passions? and so on, and so on. Out of His immeasurable love, our merciful and humane Lord deigned to endure all this suffering: spitting, strangling, blasphemous death. – With this in mind, prepare for the Divine Liturgy. For the holy Liturgy forms His saving vision. Rep. When you enter the Church for the Divine Liturgy, bring to your mind how Christ came into the world for our sake and how God became man. When with the Holy Gospel at the Liturgy there is an exit from the altar, with the offering of a candle, bring to mind how Christ, after baptism, went out to preach a saving sermon, and how His saving teaching enlightens all of us, sitting in the darkness of ignorance? When they come out of the altar at the Cherubic Song with a proposal, bring to mind how He gave Himself up to a free, saving passion!.. When it is proclaimed: take, eat, this is My body, and so on, and: drink from it, this is My blood, and so on. (Matthew 26:26–28), remember that last supper, at which He gave His most holy body and blood to His divine disciples and Apostles, and for them to us, sinners and unworthy, as food, and commanded this to be done in eternal remembrance of His great good deeds... When, through the opening of the doors of the holy altar, the Holy Chalice ascends and proclaims: with the fear of God and faith, approach, think how after the resurrection Christ appeared to the divine Apostles and other brethren... When the second Holy Chalice is lifted up and shown to people, with the proclamation: always, now, and ever, and unto ages of ages, think how Christ again appeared to the disciples and other brethren, and ascended with glory into heaven to those who beheld them, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and will again come to judge the living and the dead! – These and other divine mysteries depict the entire mystery of the vision of our Savior in the Liturgy. To Him, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, let us surrender ourselves, our whole lives, and each other. On this subject, for the first time, let us read the letter of St. Tikhon: 52nd, about the Light that appeared on earth. Light the Father, Light the Son, Light and the Holy Spirit. The light is eternal and unquenchable. Light is the Son of God, light from light, true God from true God. He appeared on earth and enlightened the darkness and the shadow of death that sits. About this Light it is written: people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and to those who sit in the land and shadow of death, light has come to them (Matthew 4:16). This Light flashed its rays on Mount Tavorstei. This Light speaks about Itself, appearing to the world: I am the Light of the world: walk on Me, not to walk in darkness (John 8:12). The Apostles approached this Light and followed It; The Saints, Martyrs, Venerables and all the Saints went, and were enlightened, and now they shine like lights in His kingdom. Let us also go to the Light that has appeared, and we will be enlightened, and our faces will not be ashamed. Question How did God, invisible, intangible, and therefore Spirit, appear on earth? Rep. Every day, the saint answers. Tikhon, this is what the Church preaches about. God wanted to appear on earth and arrange salvation for us; He deigned to be incarnated by the most holy and immaculate Virgin Mary; He accepted animate, servile flesh with the favor of the Father and the assistance of the Holy Spirit; and man became like me and you, except for sin; and there was one Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, not in two persons, but in two natures, inseparably cognizable. Therefore, we Orthodoxy confess Him as perfect God and perfect man. This is what the Holy Church believes and confesses: The King of Heaven appeared on earth for his love for mankind and lived with people, etc. (verse, chapter 8). We see how God appeared on earth: He took on our flesh, and thus appeared. Thus the invisible one appeared; so intangible is tangible; Thus, impregnable to the Cherubim and Seraphim, he became approachable to sinners; Thus the beginningless one accepted; Thus, God, the Heavenly King, walked on the earth, and spoke among people - the Son of God, the Word of the Father. Our Light has come to enlighten us; The Lord himself came in the form of a slave to serve His servants; The Good Shepherd came to find His lost sheep. Let us understand, brethren, the power of this great sacrament. Let us strive to reverently meet Him, and love His appearance and please Him. I know, l. b., that you undoubtedly believe in the existence of God, with your lips and heart you confess Him as the only Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. But it is not almost unnecessary to listen to how blessed Tikhon talks about this truth: we see in the world, he says in the spiritual treasure collected from the world, that many witnesses testify to the events and things happening in the world. – People testify in court about right and wrong; house and building - about the architect and builder; the book is about the author and his mind, etc. Thus, the whole world testifies to God, its creator, and silently tells us, rational creatures, about Him: He created me. The sky is great and vast, but the Creator is incomparably greater: the sky is His throne, and the earth is His footstool. The sun, moon and stars testify: He created us. – We have light given from Him; but our Creator is an incomparably better, redder, most excellent, most wonderful light; We enlighten your bodily eyes; He enlightens the eyes of your soul. We show you the way, good and evil, benefit and harm to the body; With His holy word He shows you the path to eternal life, good and evil and harm to the soul. – The air testifies: He created me. - I give life to your bodies; but He, my creator, gives life to your souls; Animals cannot live without me; without Him your souls cannot live. It bears witness to the change of days and nights, and silently cries out to us about God: He arranged this. The night serves us for rest, and the day for action. Springs, rivers, lakes, and seas, and those living in them, testify: He created us. – We serve your needs; but He, God our Creator, commanded to serve you, so that you may know your Creator and serve Him. We serve you; you, a rational creature, serve your Creator and thank Him. - The earth testifies: He created me, and made your habitation on me, and the heavens are the heavens of the Lord, and gave the earth to the son of man (Ps. 113:24). You have your beginning from me; but return again to my bosom, from where you were taken. Know, then, that you are strangers and strangers in this world. Seek for your fatherland and your home, in which you must live and rest without moving. The heavens are new and the earth is new, according to His promise; in them righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:13). Various trees testify: He created us. We serve you, O people, sometimes with our fruits, sometimes as shade during the heat, sometimes to build your houses, sometimes to warm your dwellings, and so on. Serve our Creator and thank Him. - Beasts, livestock and birds of the air testify: He created us. He commanded us to serve you, now with food, now with work, now with clothing; We work for you and serve your needs. Work for the Lord, you too, and serve Him, for the Lord is good. Lightning and thunder testify: He created us. We, they cry out to us, cause you fear, but you should rather fear Him who created us. We are terrible, but He is extremely terrible. But enough; At the hearing of two or three witnesses, every verb will become. May we know the Lord God, our Creator, and may He also know us and recognize us as His own; and this is what eternal life consists of, which may we not be deprived of by the grace of Christ. The incomprehensibility of God’s being is so sacred. Tikhon says: honey comes from taste, good-smelling color is known from the sense of smell: thus the goodness and kindness of God is known from tasting and sensation. But we cannot truly know God without God. That God is good, is omnipotent, is righteous, is true, is omnipresent, and so on, a person needs to feel, taste, and see this in his heart, for the Lord is good (Ps. 33:9). Then God will be known somewhat. Therefore the Lord says: no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and if the Son wills, it will be revealed to him (Matthew 11:27). And the Prophet St. He prays: open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders of Your law (Ps. 119:18). In order for our eyes to see the Creator of a thing, natural light is needed: so that our mind can know God, it is necessary for a supernatural light to flash. God is hidden and lives unapproachable in the light (1 Tim. 6:16). But He reveals and shows Himself to those who love Him, and are humble and simple in heart; but is hidden from the wise and the interrogators of this age (Matthew 4:25). Question Where and how blessed. Tikhon talks about the need to know about God? Rep. In the Spiritual Treasure, under the article: Known good is sought. We see, he says, that people, when they know good, seek it. Thus they will know and see that wealth is good for them, they desire and seek wealth; They see bread, clothing, a house as good for themselves, they look for them. They recognize art, reason, wisdom and goodness for themselves, and seek them, etc. And the more they recognize goodness, the more diligently they seek it. And the unknown good is never sought. We must first know good, and then seek it. So God, the highest, true, source, eternal good - known and comprehended, according to the measure of faith and light of the heart, is sought; and the more one knows Him, the more diligently and diligently one seeks Him, so that nothing in heaven or on earth except Him desires or seeks: what have we in heaven? And what did the earth desire from You?.. (Ps. 72:25). In the same way, the greenery of the springs of water desires, my soul desires for You, O God, sings David, who has understood God... (Ps. 41:2). Christian! when you want to seek God (and you absolutely must), then you must first seek Him; and the more you know Him, the more diligently you will seek Him. Great and precious goods are sought with great care and zeal. Silver is sought with great zeal from his lovers; gold - with more; precious stone - far from large. God, above all creatures, is incomparably the best and most excellent good, as the Creator of all. All creatures are good and extremely good (Gen. 1:31); but incomparably and excellently best is He Himself, from Whom creatures became good. Question Where does knowledge about God come from? Rep. Two books from which God is known. 1) Book of nature, i.e. the world, heaven and earth with their fulfillment. One who looks at heaven and earth and diligently discusses them cannot help but come to the knowledge of the Creator and God. From there even the pagans themselves came to know God, and since God is great, Who created such a great world, they knew it (Is. 18:2). One must be great, Who created only a great machine out of nothing. One must be the Wise One, Who created all wisdom. You must be good, Who created all good things. He gave light to the sun, moon and stars: He himself is an incomparably better Light (1 John 1:5)... He gave reason to man: He himself has an incomparably better mind. He gave ears and eyes to the animals: He himself has incomparably better vision and hearing (Ps. 39:9). He gave healing and nourishing power to the earth and grass: He himself has incomparably better, who heals everyone with his word. The water cools and revives those who thirst for us: but He himself cools and revives incomparably better (John 4:13, 14). The fire warms us; but He himself warms us far better: He warmed the heart of Cleopas and his companion. Honey delights us: but He himself delights us incomparably better when we feel His sweetness and love in our hearts. As from a book the mind of a writer, from a building - the wisdom of an architect: so from creatures the Creator is learned. But 2) the best and most perfect way of knowing God is the book of St. Scriptures. It represents that the same One who created the whole world, in the created world, performed and continues to perform glorious deeds. But we cannot truly know God without God. May He Himself enlighten our darkness! That's it, love. br. Saint of Zadonsk explains the first of these methods of knowledge of God, i.e. Natural: Nothing, he says, and listen, nothing comes from itself. Every city is created not from itself, but from something else; Every letter is not composed by itself, but is written by someone else. Every book is not composed by itself, but by someone else’s mind: so this world was not created from itself, but from the Creator. That was what he spoke, and he commanded, and he was created (Ps. 149:5). And St. Chrysostom explains this idea more clearly and strikingly: “The fool says in his heart: there is no God (Ps. 13:1). There is no foundation, so how did the building come to be? There is no bottom, and how is the ship built? There is no shipmaster, and how is the ship equipped? No homemaker; and how was the house built? No architect; and who built the city? There is no farmer; and how did the sheaves of grain appear in the fields? No musicia; and how did the song appear in the harp of the world? There is no driver; and who rules the four elements with chariots? There is no image-maker; and how did people, as images, come to be in the world? There is no vaulter; and who circled the sky for you? There is no goldsmith; and who set the sun in the sky like an all-gold dish for you, like on a table? There is no cleric; and who gave the silver moon to shine in the night? There is no single great luminary of the Creator; and who set the stars lit on high for you with light? There is no world creator; and how do the beauties of creatures prove the Creator? From the majesty and beauty of creatures, their Creator is known comparatively (Wis. 13:5).” (Conversations on Ps. 13). Question How does Saint Tikhon the second, i.e. the Revealed, explain the method of knowledge of God? Rep. Diligent reading and reasoning of St. Scriptures and teachings of St. The Father and Church teachers lead us into the knowledge of God. For Holy Scripture reveals the properties of God, and His holy will, and His glorious works. The holy fathers and teachers explain them with their writings and teachings, and Christ teaches: no one knows the Son except the Father; no one knows the Father except the Son, and if the Son wills, the Son will be revealed (Matt. 11:27) (And to Peter the Holy One says: Matt. 16:17). And so the knowledge of God requires revelation. The Word of God preaches God to us; but we cannot know God without God. Our mind is blind and dark; he demands enlightenment from the One who produces light from darkness... Holy Scripture is a lamp for the eye, but the inner eye needs to be opened so that it can see the shining lamp. Open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders of Your law (Ps. 119:18), let us pray with the Psalmist (Letter 32). Question How does Saint Tikhon discuss the properties of the essence of God? Rep. So (in letter 54): Our God is incorporeal and immaterial, and therefore he is the most pure Spirit: the Spirit is God (John 4:24). What about St. Scripture ascribes to God the members of the body, not actually ascribing to Him, but out of condescension towards the weakness and weakness of our concept: for otherwise we cannot understand His actions, performed by His power. Thus, the hands attributed to Him signify His omnipotent power, the eyes – omniscience, the ears – all-hearing, since neither word, nor deed, nor our thoughts can be hidden from Him. Question What follows from the truth that the Spirit is God? Rep. The fact that to God, as to the Spirit, every appearance and substance is unpleasant without the inner spirit, as the Lord himself says (John 4:24). Let us honor God, as the Spirit, with spirit; Let us do His will and His commandments; For our sins, our spirit is crushed, and our hearts are contrite and humbly offered. Our body is an instrument of the soul. Without the will of the soul, the members of the body do not function. Let us correct our soul, so that we may serve God the Spirit in a godly manner. Wanting to keep you busy, l. b. and myself, reflecting on the Omnipresence of God, I will read with you two articles from Tikhonov’s treasure: I can’t leave you anywhere, and this: I am here myself. 1) It happens, as the Zadonsk miracle worker thinks, that a person says to another for some reason: I can’t leave you anywhere. - But this word, as you judge, does not apply to any person, no matter what he may be, due to our inherent limitations. It befits the only God: we cannot escape from Him, no matter where we run; and we cannot hide anywhere, no matter where we decide to hide. Everywhere He precedes us, He is present everywhere. Is it in your own house? God is here. Are you going the right way? God does not leave you. Are you staying in a city or village? God is there. Will you run to the desert or to the end of the earth? God is there before you. Do you think of hiding from Him in darkness and night? But we have day and night, light and darkness; but with God there is no darkness, no night; and the incomparably brighter eyes of God are the sun, looking through all human paths and looking into secret places (Sir. 23:27, 28). The psalmist recognized this and exclaimed: Where will I go from Your Spirit? and do I flee from Your presence? (Ps. 139:7). Oh, poor sinner like me! do you know where to run? - From His righteousness to His goodness, and hide yourself by faith in the most holy wounds of Christ. 2) Listen, l. b., and that reflection of St. Tikhon, which was aroused in his mind by his simple everyday word: He himself is here. It happens that when the master is nearby, and the servants do not see or do not recognize him, then the servant who sees him, to warn others so as not to offend him with noise or disorder, says to them quietly: be silent, or more quietly: He himself is here. So the servants of God, the prophets and apostles, warn us, Christians, and say to us: hear, He Himself is here, the One who is everywhere and fulfills everything. You, who have gathered in the church of the Lord for prayer and praise of God, hear: He himself is here. The Lord Himself is here, before Whom you stand, and He looks at how you stand and how you pray and listen. “You, who sit in the place of judgment, and judge and reason between the right and the wrong, hear: the Lord is near: He Himself is here, the Judge of judges, and judge of all the earth in righteousness.” You who preach the word of God hear: the Lord is near: the Lord Himself is here, and sees with what hands and with what tongue you touch this sacred treasure, are you using this great gift for the glory of God and the benefit of your neighbor, or for your own praise? - Every Christian hear: the Lord is near, He Himself is here. Be ashamed and afraid to sin before Him, as you are ashamed and afraid before the king of the earth, or to break the law by another authority. - Hear also, O my soul, and fear and be ashamed everywhere and always of the Lord your God, who is omnipresent and all-seeing. Question Like St. Tikhon speaks about eternity? Rep. Christians have no doubt that God exists, and is One in essence, but Trinity in persons: God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And He is the supreme ruler, and owns and rules the whole world; and is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And as He created me, so He created you: Thy hands make me and create me (Ps. 119:73). And He, as the Creator and Father, provides for everyone (Letter 34). There is also no doubt that our God is beginningless, infinite, and therefore eternal and ever-present. He alone lives essentially, cannot but exist; His being and nature is life itself. All created things began with Him as the Creator, and could never have existed again if He so pleased. But the Creator, as he always was before the world, is now the same, and will remain the same without end; and just as before it could not help but be, so it cannot help but be. Therefore it is called not only eternal, but also eternity; not only ever-present, but also ever-present; not only abiding, but also Being. The Greeks call Him ὁὥν; we call Him He, that is: and was and is and will be (Apoc. 1:8). The omniscience of God, says St. Tikhon, I present to you, to the best of my ability. May God Himself help me in my work, and you in your reading and reasoning, and may He write in my and your heart both this and His other properties for His glory and our benefit. God knows everything, not only the present, but also the future. There is no creature revealed before Him; all naked and declared before His eyes (Heb. 4:13). You have known my sitting and my rising. You have understood my thoughts from afar, you have searched my path and already mine, and you have foreseen all my paths (Ps. 139:1-3). Question What do we learn from this holy teaching about the omniscience of God? Rep. 1) God knows all created things and penetrates them; 2) looks at all our deeds and thoughts and hears our words. God has no hair and ears, as if he is incorporeal; but all is an eye and all an ear for the sake of all-perfect understanding and knowledge; 3) every person, no matter how many people there are in the world, knows and sees both word, and deed, and thoughts, and intentions, both present and future, as if He were looking at a single person visible to Him. Learn from the omniscience of God to correct and renew your heart, so that your external deeds will be right. Otherwise, you will be like an apple, red on the outside but rotten on the inside, or like a drowned coffin, red on the outside but stinking on the inside. Now let us present the Holiness of God to the eyes of our hearts, says St. Tikhon in letter 51. May the holy and merciful God help us. His holy Apostle presents to us His holiness and teaches us this: God is Light, and in Him there is not a single darkness (1 John 1:5). Just as light is not involved in darkness, so God is not involved in any vice or sin. His holy will wants what is good and does what is good, and does not want any evil and does not do any evil. God is light, light without darkness, truth and holiness without any untruth, innocence without any vice, truth without lies, wisdom and understanding without any ignorance. Question What does thinking about the holiness of God teach? Rep. To live holy and blameless is when we want to have fellowship with Him (1 John 1:6, 3). Those Christians are mistaken and have moved away from God, who do evil things, that is, sin. What communication is there between light and darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14). God promised to live in Christians and have their souls as churches for Himself. I will dwell in them and walk around, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Sitseva having the promise, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness, creating holiness in the passion of God (2 Cor. 6:16, 7:1). Question How does Saint Tikhon reflect on the Omnipotence of God? Rep. In his Zadonsk solitude, he talked about this quality of God’s being in the 36th letter: We know the omnipotence of God from the creation, the reign of the world and His miracles. There was nothing; but God created such great, glorious and intelligent deeds, and created them out of nothing, without labor, with His word: He spoke, and it happened (Ps. 149:5). The same omnipotent power keeps intact and governs the created world: if I set it in the age of the century, the commandment is laid down and does not pass by (Ps. 149:6). Every element remains in its place: the sky, the air and the amphibious circle remain in their places. God commanded them so, and His omnipotent word contains and preserves them so. Just as an owner keeps his house, so God, like the Lord, holds the whole world in His almighty hand. He commands the sea and divides it; river, and stands; fire, and does not burn; stone, and flows out water. By His Word and His will, in one moment the paralytic is made whole, the blind is made whole, the blind is made whole, and the leper is made clean. All these and other miracles demonstrate the Omnipotence of God. Question What moral teaching does Saint Tikhon derive from his reflection on the Omnipotence of God? Rep. This reflection inspires us: 1) fear of God: for who of understanding will not fear Him who, just as He created everything out of nothing, can turn everything into nothing? 2) humility, in which you humble yourself under the strong hand of God; 3) faith, for what our mind does not understand, the almighty power of God can accomplish; 4) hope in struggle against the flesh, the devil and the world: temptation, which we cannot overcome on our own, in God we will overcome. He is our refuge and strength and helper. Let us come to Him in prayer. About the Wisdom of God I now want to offer you: may the very Hypostatic Wisdom of God precede me in this - Jesus Christ, Who has given us wisdom from God. We learn the wisdom of God from the creation and structure of the world and the wondrous Providence about it. We see it in His holy word, presented to us in different ways. The Prophet sings to Him: You have created all things with wisdom (Ps. 103:24). God formed the earth with wisdom, prepared the heavens with understanding (Prov. 3:19). We see the wondrous structure of the Wisdom of God in creation: nothing was created that was not arranged for its proper end, both for our benefit and the glory of the Creator Himself. God arranged for the sun to constantly flow, approaching us and moving away from us. The sun knows its west (Ps. 103:19). The Creator has placed the sun high, and enlightens the whole of heaven; the finest air shed, and the sun emits its rays through it, and birds fly comfortably across it. He created the moon for the discernment and knowledge of times. He created the moon in time. He created the stars for the sake of shining in the night and for other reasons known to astronomers. The earth was created white, hard and thick, so that it would be a habitation for people and animals; fruitful, so that, like a mother, she nourishes those living on her with her fruits. He planted herbs so that they serve to heal infirmities and serve as food for animals. Question What do we learn when we talk about the wisdom of God, which is revealed, in addition to creation and providence, in the redemption of people? Rep. 1) Surrender yourself to His wise will and not worry your mind here and there, but complacently await the end of our misfortunes; 2) endure suffering and bear your cross, imposed by Him; 3) heed the word of the Apostle: take heed how dangerously you walk, not as if you were unwise, but as if you were wise (Eph. 5:15). May the all-wise and good Jesus make us wise for our salvation! Question What did Saint Tikhon write about the Goodness of God? Rep. The goodness of God is preached to us in almost all of Holy Scripture, and there is almost no chapter in which it is not remembered. God, the knower of the heart, knows the weakness of our hearts and the tendency toward despair and the cunning of crafty spirits. Therefore, everywhere He reminds us of His goodness and love for mankind. The goodness of God is shown by His works, and 1) He makes His sun shine on the evil and on the good, and rains on the righteous and the unjust (Matthew 5:45); 2) the sinner is not suddenly executed, but awaits repentance (Rom. 2:4); 3) he comfortably accepts the repentant and forgives his sins (Luke 15:4), mercifully and philanthropically accepting; 4) He, Whom the Angels sing and praise with fear, does not disdain our prayer, and singing and praise; and not only does not reject our prayers, but also commands us to pray and ask Him for everything that pleases His will; 5) He Himself speaks to us amazingly and kindly in His words. Read the Scripture and you will see what kind of king treats his subjects as our God treats us. No, and there has never been such a thing in the world! Taste and see that the Lord is good! (Ps. 33:9). 6) Most of all, the goodness of God was revealed in the incarnation of the only begotten Son of God: God so loved the world, as He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life (John 3:16). 7) And here we taste and see the Goodness of God, but if we taste and see it and enjoy it in abundance, we will be in eternal life. Question What does thinking about the goodness of God produce in us? Rep. 1) Inflames in our hearts love and gratitude to God: for conscience itself inspires to love and thank the lover and benefactor; 2) gives rise to in us both inexpressible joy about God the benefactor, and sadness for God, Whom, despite His countless benefits, we ungratefully forget and insult, and shame about this ingratitude; 3) inspires humility and humiliation of oneself; 4) whoever feels the goodness of God towards himself is good towards his neighbors. Reason and inspire the goodness of God; but at the same time, let His omnipresence and omniscience and truth always appear before your spiritual eyes. Question How does Blessed Tikhon talk about the Truth of God? Rep. Intending to offer you the truth of God, I remember, says the Saint, and the righteous judgment of God, which is to take place on the last day, and as I write I tremble with my hand. Just as the goodness of God comforts and encourages, so His truth brings fear and trembling not only to us sinners, but also to His Saints. His truth is that He will reward everyone according to their deeds. He cast down the angels who sinned from heaven (2 Pet. 2:4). Our ancestors were expelled from paradise for disobedience; for sins, the first world, except for Noah, the preacher of righteousness, was destroyed by a terrible flood; Sodom and Gomorrah with the surrounding cities were burned with fire for vile uncleanness; Dathan and Aviron with their like-minded people, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron, were sacrificed alive by the earth in the desert; The Israelites were struck differently by the wrath of God for various iniquities, some by fire, others by poisonous snakes, others by the sword. It's the same in our times. We still notice the same terrible judgments of God today. We see and hear terrible battles and terrible, crying-worthy bloodshed: so many thousands falling in battle, so many widows, orphans, crying fathers and mothers left behind; so many cities are being devastated by weapons, by plagues; so many wicked people suddenly taken out of this world! All this is a trace of God’s righteous judgment and wrath. Question How does Saint Tikhon speak about the truth of God? Rep. Thus: God’s words and rebuke are not vain and empty, but true and reliable. What He said is always so; and what he foretold will surely come to pass. He predicted to our ancestors death from the forbidden tree, and death followed after eating it. He predicted a worldwide flood to the righteous Noah, and there was a flood. He predicted death for the fierce Pharaoh, and Pharaoh died. He predicted captivity for the Israelites, and they were captured. He predicted the destruction and devastation of Jerusalem, and it came true. He declared in Scripture that there will be eternal torment for the wicked, and it certainly will be. Let us fear, Christians, the judgment of God and His righteous wrath, and let us repent, lest we fall into the hands of the living, just God. About the same subject, that is, about the truth of God, read Tikhon’s 50th letter, which, by the way, he concludes like this: God truly and truly deals with us; and we must act faithfully with our neighbors, without lies and any hypocrisy. Question What does Bl. say? Tikhon about the Greatness of God? Rep. The great name of God contains His divine properties, not communicated to any creature, but His own alone, such as consubstantial, ever-present, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, infinity, truth, goodness, wisdom, holiness, truth, spiritual being, etc. These properties that are proper to God are revealed to us by the Holy Spirit in His word, and depicts them in various ways for our enlightenment and glorification of the name of God. True and real knowledge of God's properties (as much as a person can know in this age) and, so to speak, tasting, according to this prophetic word: taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 33:9), brings about enlightenment and transformation in a person, and thus leads to the glorification of the name of God. Question How does this happen? Rep. From the knowledge of the consubstantial Deity it will follow that we will know and honor one God, and besides Him, we will not recognize or honor any other deities, as He Himself says: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord (Deut. 6:4). For, although we believe and confess the Trinitarian God - Father and Son and Holy Spirit; but we honor one Divinity in three Persons. From the knowledge of the ever-essential existence, immortality and eternity of God it will follow that God essentially lives, and is the source of our life and all living things; and our life and everything is nothing more than the shadow of a moving tree, which then moves when the tree moves... Thus, we are convinced to attribute to God our being, life and movement, with the Apostle (Acts 17:28), casting aside our pride, conceit and self-reliance... Knowledge of the immaterial and spiritual being of God teaches us to honor Him not with bodily rites and ceremonies, not with appearance one, but in spirit and truth, fear and love. For the Spirit is God, and whoever worships Him is worthy to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). God is the Spirit: He demands spiritual reverence and worship... When we feel the omnipotence of God in our hearts, then doubt about His divine mysteries, incomprehensible to our minds, is driven away. For if God is omnipotent, then he can do everything that he has revealed and promised. So our mind itself worries about the resurrection of the dead and does not believe; but by the feeling of the omnipotence of God, she is strengthened in faith and without a doubt hopes, firmly convinced that He who created everything out of nothing, is much more capable of gathering and reviving the scattered dust of bodies, by His power and word; He who spoke and commanded and was created (Ps. 149:5), He speaks and everything will happen, he will command, and everything will be created... When a person imagines in his heart the majesty of God, then he humiliates himself: for if all the nations are before God, they are as nothing (Isa. 40:17); How much more - one person, me, or you. From here humility will follow, it will follow that we will humbly cry out with the Prophet: not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory (Ps. 113:9). Question What the fuck Tikhon speaks about the glory of the great name of God? Rep. The great name of God in itself is both holy, glorious and glorified, and does not require our glorification. And just as the sun, whether it is praised or blasphemed, always remains bright within itself, and sends out its rays of light throughout the whole of heaven: so the great name of God, whether it is glorified or blasphemed by man, is equally always glorious, holy and terrible, and sends out the rays of its glory in creatures: for the heavens tell the glory of God, and: the whole earth is filled with His glory (Ps. 18:2; Is. 6:3); publishes in His wondrous and terrible deeds, in His glorious miracles... The glory of His name is eternal, infinite and immutable, like God Himself, and can neither increase nor decrease. But if a good son cares about the glory of his father, and a faithful servant always and everywhere cares about the glory of his master, how much more should Christians, as sons and servants of God, care about the glory of the Heavenly Father and their Lord (Mal. 1:6). Question When is He glorified? Rep. 1) When St. The Scripture preached by the Prophets and Apostles is acceptable for His true word, and as His great gift, brought and handed over to us through the Prophets and Apostles, we honor it. 2) When about His divine properties and deeds, in St. Open Scriptures, we rightly philosophize, especially - where the honor and glory of His name demands, somehow, before the enemies of God, who either do not recognize God, or philosophize evilly and blasphemously about Him... 3) The name of God is glorified when we tell of His wondrous works and miracles, and sing of Him who did them. For this is why they were written in St. books, and by looking at them, we recognize the power and omnipotence of the One who accomplished them... What wonderful works of God are the books of the Old Testament filled with! In the New Testament, the miracle of miracles is that God appeared in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16), lived on earth with men, from His evil servants, for His sinful servants, suffered by His will, died, rose again and ascended in glory... Glory be to Him forever! 4) The name of God is glorified by the patience of the innocent servants of God when, for the truth and honor of their God, they do not spare only their possessions, but also their lives: for this proves that God, for whom they suffer, is strong, and the hope for which they suffer is not vain, but firm and known. Where do we read in Church history that even their very enemies were amazed at their patience, and they confessed and glorified the power of God that strengthened them... 5) St. Chrysostom says: the greatest honor and glory comes from us to God when we trust in His power, although it seems contrary to what we see with our own eyes. And why are you amazed that God has great honor from there, if we have no doubt? And people like us give ourselves great honor when we do not doubt, but believe their promises (Conversations 39 on Gen.). By trusting in God we show beyond doubt that God is true, Who promised to deliver; omnipotent and can save; He is wise and knows how to save; He is good and wants to save those who trust in Him. 6) The name of God is glorified with sincere thanksgiving for His good deeds shown and being shown: let us confess to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever, for Your great mercy is upon me (Ps. 85:12, 13). And this thanksgiving glorifies God most of all when in sorrow and under the cross we give thanks and confess, remembering that the Lord loves him and punishes him (Heb. 12:6). 7) The name of God is glorified by the pious life of Christians: so let your light shine before men, for they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16), Christ himself speaks. This glorification does not happen by voice, but by the gift of opportunity for the knowledge and glorification of the name of God. Thus the heavens will tell the glory of God (Ps. 18:2). Thus the sun, the moon, the stars, the light, the heavens of the heavens and all creation praise Him (Ps. 149:3, 4). For, looking at God’s wondrous creation, we are convinced to revere and marvel at the omnipotence, wisdom and goodness of God. Thus, people, looking at the pious and holy life of Christians, cannot help but glorify the Lord, who has such slaves that, although they share a common nature with others, they have excellent morals and, like light - from darkness, day - from night, gold - from cronyism, they differ from them. This is how it happens to a father - glory when his children are his, and honor to the master when his slaves behave consistently and decently. 8) Finally, God is glorified when we seek glory and praise from good deeds, not ours, but His name, and when we ascribe to Him everything that is good, as the only author and beginning of all good, and to Him alone be honor and glory forever and ever. L. b. unity and other properties of God are clearly and strikingly represented to us by the sun. Just as the sun is one in the universe, so is there one God. Before the sun shining in heaven, - this is how the holy saint of Zadonsk Tikhon reflects, - all people walk, and the sun looks at everyone and everyone: so before God, who is omnipresent and watches over everything, all people walk, and what anyone does, thinks, intends, the eyes of the Lord see (Ps. 33:13-15). Be careful how dangerously you walk (Eph. 5:15). The sun warms and revives the whole of heaven: so God, the eternal sun, with the warmth of His love, warms and revives all creation, and especially the human race (Acts 17:28). Most importantly, He poured out all the warmth of His love on us in the message of His Son to us: “God so love the world” (John 3:16). Without the sun, no fruit grows or ripens: so without God, no good deed begins or is completed. Our good will, good beginning, middle and end - His work is: do not forsake me, O Lord, do not depart from me, attend to my help (Ps. 37:22, 23). The sun never ceases from its flow, but always moves from east to west (as it seems): so God never ceases from doing good, but always does good to us: for this is His nature. The sun shines and sheds its warmth on the evil and the good: so the eternal sun - God benefits both the good and the evil. May we also imitate the Lord in this! The sun in clean and quiet water is clearly seen and depicted: so God in a quiet, immaculate and pure soul depicts His likeness and image: let us purify ourselves. The more the sun approaches, the smaller the shadow is, and vice versa: so the more God approaches a person, the less a person becomes in himself, the more he humbles himself and humbles himself, and vice versa. Beware of arrogance, yes, do not fall like the devil. And you will learn much and much more in the science of the knowledge of God, if, following this example, Blessed. Tikhon, you will begin to think about the sun and other objects. Question How and what bl. Tikhon sets out the Christian duty to God? Rep. Christian position towards God Blessed. Tikhon in part 7 of Art. 3 believes: 1) in obedience due to God. The obedience that a Christian is obliged to show to his God consists in subordinating his will in everything to the will of God and not looking at what is pleasing to the world or the flesh, but to what is pleasing to God. True obedience does not look at whether it is difficult or convenient, whether what is commanded is difficult or easy, but is ready for every command, giving your heart to God and crying out with the prophets: my heart is ready... (Ps. 107:2). Abraham, the holy forefather, showed such obedience to God when God commanded him: get out from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you (Gen. 12:1, etc.). He did not renounce, left his fatherland, his family, his home and went to a foreign, unknown land. This patriarch performed an even greater surprise when, at the command of God, he brought his son Isaac and offered him up on the altar for a burnt offering. Isaac was the only begotten son, the beloved son of his father, the son of promise; but the faithful and sincere novice did not hesitate to exalt him, and for this he was called for us the father of believers. Question What motivates us to obey God? Rep. 1) The goodness of God, by which we are brought from non-existence into existence and honored with His divine image; 2) His divine love, which He showed in Christ Jesus: for God loved the world, as He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16); 3) the vows we made under St. Baptism. Question What prevents us from being obedient to God? Rep. 1) Satan with his evil angels: this is the evil one who turned our first parents away from obedience in paradise and turns us away; 2) our blind and weak flesh, which, like Eve, is in paradise, offers Adam the fruit of the commanded tree, and offers the world to our spirit with all its joys and beauties; 3) temptations are evil, and people are corrupt, who either by corrupt teaching or by evil poisonous example corrupt the unwary. Question What is the blessing? Does Tikhon place our second position before God? Rep. In glorifying the name of God. About which see the article above: The Glory of God, under the same word: God. Question What does Saint Tikhon define as our third duty to God? Rep. In imitation of God. When the word of God teaches us to imitate God, it teaches us not to create the world, not to raise the dead, not to walk on waters and perform other miracles (for all this is the work of God’s omnipotence), but when it commands us to be imitators of God, it presents us with His goodness, love, mercy, truth, truth, holiness, long-suffering to imitate... So, looking at the truth of the Heavenly Father, which cannot lie and deceive, Christians should not lie, flatter, or be hypocritical, but should be simple-hearted, not flatter with their tongues, and fulfill truly what they promise to their neighbor according to the word of God. Looking at the truth of God, which gives its due to everyone, we are admonished to give everyone their due: a lesson to him, a lesson; and to him a tribute, a tribute; but to him there is fear, fear; and to him is honor, honor (Rom. 13:7). And what we don’t want to do to ourselves, we don’t want to do to others; and what we wish for ourselves, do also for our neighbor; In this lies the truth, and in this the law and the prophets hang, according to the word of Christ (Matthew 7:12). In the mirror of the word of God we see and are amazed at the goodness of God, whose sun shines on evil and good (Matthew 5:45). Let us learn from now on to love not only our friends, but also our enemies, and not repay evil for evil. For Christians who love only those who love them do not love any more than the pagans. We see the holiness of God as light, having no part in any darkness (1 John 1:5). This is also how Christians, as children of the Light, should walk (Eph. 5:8), as the children of God strive for a holy life, to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, creating holiness in the passion of God (2 Cor. 7:1). We see the generosity and mercies of God and actually taste them every day and hour. From here let Christians learn to be merciful and generous; to give to those who demand the blessings they have received from the generous right hand of God and not to turn their ears away from those who ask... We see in the mirror of the word of God the unconditional long-suffering of the heavenly Father, by which He endured and continues to endure so much untruth, iniquity and other grave sins, and we ourselves, sinning all our days, recognize this. Seeing so much the long-suffering of our Father, we must also be patient with our sinning brethren: not to be angry, not to be angry with them, not to take revenge on them for their insults, but with patience and meekness to wait for their correction, so that we may gain them to Christ. So in other respects it befits Christians in St. Scripture, as in a mirror, look at the image of the heavenly Father, so that, as we have put on the image of the ring, we will also put on the image of the heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49). Question What fourth duty to God does St. inspire us with? Tikhon? Rep. Prayer or invocation of the name of God. It, says Saint Tikhon, relates to the Christian office in three ways: 1) it actually relates to our duty to God, so that through prayer and invocation of Him we will show our faith in Him - we will show that, besides Him, we know no other God, and that we hope in Him as the true Father and the only source of all good; 2) to duty - in relation to ourselves: for we are meager both in the physical and in the spiritual state; poor and damned, so they must seek and ask for everything from the heavenly Father, the giver of all blessings; and 3) prayer to God constitutes our duty in relation to our neighbors: because Christian love requires that we pray for our neighbor, and both for ourselves and for him, ask for good from our God, according to the word of St. James: Pray for one another, that you may be healed (James 5:16). Question How should we pray for success in prayer? Rep. We must pray or call on God: 1) in the name of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, as He himself says (John 16:23), that is, pray, not relying on our own truth and deeds, but on the truth of Christ and His highest merits: for in Him all the tribes of the earth will be blessed (Ps. 71:17). 2) With true faith: whatever you ask in prayer, receive it as a believer, says Christ (Matthew 21:22). Faith is confirmed by a true promise, omnipotence, truth, mercy and wisdom of the promiser and the merits of Christ - and this faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit... 3) one must pray not only with the tongue, but also with the heart. From the depths, says St. Chrysostom, call on God, bring your voice out from within... and we should pray for this very thing, so that by His Holy Spirit the Lord will teach us to pray, as the Apostles asked (Luke 11:1). For true prayer cannot exist without the action of the Holy Spirit, just as the burning of incense cannot exist without fire. Question What to ask from the Heavenly Father? Rep. Read: Our Father, Who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth; Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, etc. - read with your mind and heart, and you will clearly understand. That there is a hospital, or hospital, or infirmary for the sick; that same thing is the Church for Christians who are spiritually sick, St. talked in his Zadonsk solitude. Tikhon. The sick enter the hospital in order to be healed of illness and receive health: for this reason, those who are spiritually sick enter the Holy Church (they enter by faith and baptism), in order to be healed of mental illnesses and be saved. In the hospital there is a doctor who visits, monitors and treats the sick: in the Church the doctor is Christ, Who visits Christians who are spiritually sick (in sacred secrecy) and heals. In the hospital, the doctor forbids the sick from everything that interferes with the action of the medicine: in the Church, Saint Christ commands Christians to abstain from everything that serves as an obstacle to their spiritual healing and eternal salvation. In the hospital, the sick reveal their illnesses to the doctor sincerely: Christians must sincerely confess their illnesses (sins) to Christ, the heavenly physician. In a hospital it happens that not all sick people are healed (there are illnesses that cannot be healed): it is not so in the Church; There is no mental illness here that Christ would not and could not heal, if only the sick person himself wanted it, and earnestly desired, and asked, and sought from Christ, for whom all things are possible, and by whose command the lepers are cleansed, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the weakened and lying on their beds rise (Matthew 11:5). He healed mortal and corruptible bodies: how can he not heal immortal souls? Let us trust ourselves only to Him, and entrust ourselves to Him, and strive to refrain from that which hinders His saving healing. Az said: Lord, have mercy on me, heal my soul, for those who have sinned against You (Ps. 40:5). Question What does the sick wife known from the Gospel teach? Rep. She sought healing from many doctors, but did not receive it. The same thing happens with a Christian: feeling his spiritual weakness, he turns in different directions for help, but does not receive, for example. He reads many books, etc., but to no avail. Dear Christian! No matter how hard you try and where you turn yourself; but, except for Christ, you will not receive healing anywhere or from anyone. Let us take this woman as an example, and let us approach Christ with faith and hope, and, although silently, let us fall before His all-seeing eye. Question What words are these: hospital and infirmary? Rep. I think that the infirmary is from Lazarus, who lay homeless at the rich man’s gate in illness; and hospital from the Latin Hospes - guest. There is so much mind and heart in these names! Illness is a harbinger and forerunner of death. Therefore, there is no place here to offer a blessing. Tikhon's instructions on how to exhort and console the sick during confession. During confession, priest, exhort the sick person to forgive everyone, from whom he was offended, and whom he himself offended, to reward as much as possible. After confession, console him, presenting to him God’s mercy, insurmountable by any sins. Child! - this is how you can speak to a being in illness, - child! although you have committed this and that sin; but do not despair of God’s mercy, admit yourself guilty before God, and have pity: God will accept your small repentance and contrition of your heart: the success of repentance depends not on a long time, but on diligence: the publican, a great sinner, who cried out to God in one hour, God forgave; He kindly accepted the prodigal son, who had squandered his property. Also remember to the sick person about the thief, about Peter, about Manasseh, etc., and say: the same merciful God now shows the same mercy to the repentant: for He is our God, and we are His creation; He is our Lord, and we are His servants; He is our Father, and we are His sons... Be confident in your salvation, take courage, strengthen yourself, looking and trusting in Christ the Savior, and do not entertain any thoughts contrary to this. In the present illness and prepared for the path of eternal life, according to the tradition of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, as part of this encouraging word it is appropriate to say: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, admonishing, strengthening, protecting, guiding you into the quiet life of an eternal refuge, and the Angel of God, your faithful guardian! Amen. Question What a consolation the blessed one has for the sick. Tikhon? Rep. Many pious people suffer from various illnesses: some lie in wounds, others are weakened, others are blind, etc. To everyone, no matter what illness they are in, the following, in my opinion, is what the saint says. Tikhon, to my poor mind, I offer consolation: 1) to various diseases - doctors believe different causes; but I, leaving this to them for consideration, repeat what was said above (chapter 11, part 8), that is, that illness does not happen without the providence of God, and there is a fatherly punishment with which the Lord humbles us, beats our body, so that the soul will become healthy and be saved. For you, for your benefit, your illness is, and not against you, although your flesh is sorrowful. 2) The saints were sick and sick. Job was struck from head to foot with plagues. Saint Timothy had frequent illnesses. Lazarus was putrefied and after death was carried by Angels to Abraham’s bosom. We read in Church history that many pious people suffered from various illnesses, and you must suffer with them. 3) Since many, living in good health, have become corrupted and perished! Through illness, God, who is merciful, wants to save you from vices. 4) Listen to what St. Chrysostom speaks about grateful patience in illness: “there is nothing holier than the tongue that thanks God in the wicked. Truly, he is in no way different from the martyrs: this one, like them, is married (Conversations 8, after the last to Colossians). 5) Although our outer man decays, the inner man is renewed all the time (2 Cor. 4:16). How is it updated? He learns humility, patience, memory of death, repentance, prayer, contempt for the world and worldly vanity. Who in illness would want to be proud? and so on. Illness is a bitter but healthy medicine. She is salt. Question What is marriage? asks Saint Tikhon. Rep. Marriage, he says, is a secret through which two persons: one male and one female, by mutual consent, with the blessing of the priest, enter into cohabitation. Rep. One face is male and the same gender is female. Question What are the conditions of marriage on the part of the persons involved? Rep. Both agree to accept marriage, and maintain love between each other, so as not to leave each other until the end of their lives. Question What serves as the most essential consummation of a marriage, without which it cannot legally take place, even with the mutual consent of the parties getting married and subject to all other conditions being met? Performed in the Church, during prayers, the laying of crowns on the heads of those married, blessing, their union in the image of the spiritual and mysterious union of Christ with the Church, with the utterance of the words: Lord our God, crown me with glory and honor (three times), and sending them from God grace for the blessed birth and upbringing of children. Question What needs to be kept this secret? Rep. Three main conditions. 1) Those who want to enter into marriage, let them prepare themselves with good deeds, let them confess their sins, and let them partake of the Divine mysteries, three or four days before the wedding. 2) Let them have the right intention - to marry, not bestially and not for the sake of carnal pleasure, but so that the human race may multiply to the glory of God through a blessed birth and through a blessed upbringing of children. 3) Let there not be any obstacle, for example: carnal or spiritual affinity between each other; also – forbidden time, such as: fasting; or violence against children who do not want to marry from their parents, etc. Question Like St. Tikhon speaks about the position of persons united by marriage? Rep. Satan, the ever-present enemy of Christians, strives to take away love and peace and sow enmity both among other Christians and between wives and husbands. This is something worthy of surprise, or even more so, regret. Where can we hope for greater love if not between husband and wife? A man loves his father and mother with natural love, but the Holy Scripture says: a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and both will become one flesh (Gen. 2:24). According to Scripture, there are one flesh - husband and wife. A strong union in one flesh! And who is hostile to his own flesh (Eph. 5:29)? But how much enmity we see between these persons, who are closely connected!.. This is how the devil’s cunning works! Where he notices great love, there he takes greater care to break it and introduce his own enmity. It is impossible to explain how harmful this plague is to other Christians, and especially to married couples. We must arm ourselves against this enemy and heed what God in His Word commands each other to do, husbands and wives. Positions of husbands to wives: 1) Husbands must love their wives, according to the Apostolic exhortation: husbands! love your wife (Eph. 5:25). The reason is that husband and wife are one flesh (Gen. 2:24). Men must therefore love their wives as they love their own bodies (Eph. 5:28). And as an image he presents to them Christ himself, the Son of God, Who loves His Church: just as, he says, Christ loved His Church and gave Himself up for it. 2) We must not treat them cruelly (Col. 3:9; 1 Pet. 3:7), giving them honor as heirs of a grace-filled life. 3) They must remain faithful to their wives, keep their marital bed immaculately, and not touch someone else’s bed: for God judges the fornicator and the adulterer (Heb. 13:4). 4) Although husbands should love their wives, they should not be captivated by their love and please them without reason. We see how harmful it is to please wives without reason: Adam was captivated by his wife’s immeasurable love and fell into grave sin, destroying himself and the human race (Gen. 3:17). Solomon the wise, captivated by excessive love of wives, fell into the sin of apostasy and idolatry (1 Kings 11:4 et al.). The wicked Jezebel taught her husband Ahab, the King of Israel, to commit lawlessness. The lawless Herod was not afraid to innocently behead the great Forerunner for the sake of a woman’s love. We also read in Church history. Similar misfortunes and misfortunes still happen today when men do things to please them inappropriately. A foolish and fearless wife does not change her customs, she caresses and seduces her husband... Question What is the duty of wives to their husbands? Rep. 1) And wives should love their husbands and please them for their good and according to the will of God; 2) remain faithful to the marital bed and not know anyone except their husbands; 3) they must be reverent towards their husbands, according to the Apostolic command: let the wife fear her husband (Eph. 5:33); 4) wives must submit to their husbands (Col. 3:18). And again: I do not command a wife to teach, nor to rule over her husband, but to be in obedience. The Apostle believes that the reason for this is that Adam was created first, and then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the wife was deceived and became transgressed (1 Tim. 2:12–14); finally, 5) let the wives have an example in subordination to their husbands - Saint Sarah, who listened to Abraham and called him master (1 Pet. 3:6); Let not the wife now be ashamed to call her husband master, when she wants to be the daughter of Saint Sarah. Question How holy. Tikhon speaks about the indissolubility of marriage? Rep. The union of marriage must be firm and inviolable, without blessed reasons. This is what God’s word commands: everyone who sets off his wife, except in the words of an adulterer, commits adultery, and whoever understands the prostitute commits adultery (Matthew 5:32). Anyone who puts away his wife and brings another commits adultery, and whoever marries a prostitute from her husband commits adultery (Luke 16:18). Are you attached to your wife? don't look for permission. And the wife is bound by the law, while her husband lives (1 Cor. 7:27, 39). Question Like bl. Tikhon talks about spiritual warfare? Rep. We see in this world that when kingdom rises up against kingdom, there is warfare between them: so Christians also have their enemies who rise up against them, and there is spiritual warfare with them. In the battle of this world, people rise up against people; in Christian warfare, Satan and his evil angels rebel against Christians. People who rebel against people are visible, but Satan and his evil angels, our enemies, are invisible. In the battle of this world, the visible enemies are grievous and fierce; but more fierce and evil are the invisible enemies, that is, demons, in spiritual warfare. The warfare that happens between people, although it continues, nevertheless ceases, and peace is concluded: but among Christians there is constant warfare, and it will end in death. Demons have their weapons and Christians have their weapons. Demons fight us with the weapons of our passions and desires, and they have as many weapons as there are passions in our flesh; Christian weapons are God's word and prayer. That a warrior has a sword and other weapons; then a Christian has prayer and the word of God. Warriors in battle stay awake and act very carefully for the sake of the surrounding enemies: so Christians should always be awake in their battles; because they are always surrounded by enemies (1 Pet. 5:8, 9). The enemy, when he sees his exhaustion, calls on his allies to help him; so the devil, when he does not have time on his own, then looks for evil people and fights a Christian through them. Therefore, whoever deceives his neighbor, persecutes him and leads him to sin in any way, works in concert with the devil. In battle there are chiefs and generals who teach and encourage soldiers; So in the Christian battle, the leaders are shepherds and teachers who arm Christians with the word of God against the enemy the devil, teach and instruct how to stand and struggle against him. In battle, the enemy strives most of all to defeat and destroy the commanders and generals of the opposing side, in order to bring the entire army into disorder and confusion: so in the Christian battle, the enemy devil strives most of all to depose the shepherds and teachers, so that later he can more conveniently take other Christians captive... And when the enemy cannot depose the shepherd; then he incites people against him who do his (the devil’s) will, so that they spread rumors of evil about him. This is the reason why pastors and teachers in all centuries endure much slander, reproach, and backbiting. A warrior, the more he experiences war and battle, the more skillful and courageous he becomes: so a Christian, the more often he falls into temptation, misfortune and adversity, the more skillful he becomes in the Christian cause. Therefore, the Apostle James says: have all joy, my brethren, whenever you fall into various temptations, etc. (James 1:2-4)... The Apostle presents spiritual warfare and all spiritual armor: Eph. 6:10–17. Question How do the word of God and prayer constitute Christian weapons? Rep. Hear and heed: the devil encourages you to sin; but answer him in your heart: I don’t want to, for it is disgusting to God: God has forbidden it. The devil arouses in you a lustful thought; you answer: my God forbade me this. The devil arouses anger and malice in you: you suppress this thought with the sword of the word of God, saying in your heart: God has forbidden vengeance and malice. The devil points you to someone else's property and incites your heart to theft: say in your heart: God has forbidden theft: you shall not steal, you shall not covet... (Ex. 20:15, 17). In this, Christ our Savior gave Himself to us as an image, Who responded to every devilish temptation: it is written, it is written (Matthew 4:4-16)... But everywhere we need another weapon: prayer, without which all our resistance to the enemy is powerless. In every temptation, we must lift up our eyes to Christ and pray to Him: Lord, help me. Therefore, O Christian, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength (Eph. 6:10). And like a gardener cuts off branches and branches that are harmful to the tree; So you, too, immediately suppress the evil thoughts that arise with the sword of the word of God and prayer, so that, having become stronger, they do not damage or kill the inner man. Quench the spark before it grows into a flame, and kill the enemy while he is small... Blessed is he who has him and will dash these babies against a stone (Ps. 136:9). Question Like bl. Does Tikhon console those in poverty? Rep. True Christians, for the most part, live in poverty. The reason for this is either that true Christians care more about spiritual and eternal wealth than about physical and temporary wealth; or - the one who is deprived of what God sends them from the evil rich: do not the rich rape you (James 2:6)? Or they themselves squander their wealth, according to the Scripture: squander it, give to the poor (Ps. 112:9). There are other reasons for this, known only to God. Christians who suffer poverty should console themselves with the following considerations: 1) Like other disasters (as discussed in Part 8, Chapter 11), so poverty is allowed to befall you from the Lord: good and evil, life and death, poverty and wealth are from the Lord (Sir. 11:14). We'll see below which end. 2) Through poverty, a person can conveniently free himself from all those evils that surround wealth: pride, stinginess, luxury, etc. have almost no place in poverty. With the rich, these Christian plagues are found, and their hearts are struck... The poor man is not afraid of thieves and predators; Aphids do not corrupt poverty, nor do they corrupt prayers; poverty is removed from envy, which looks at wealth unpleasantly; the poor do not prepare an answer for the waste of wealth; Poverty does not allow one to live in idleness and laziness. Poverty, says St. Chrysostom, it is not idleness, but hard work that gives birth. Guidance of a certain path leading to heaven, poverty; a suffering anointing, some great and wonderful teaching; a prosperous refuge... May your poverty be your consolation! 3) The poor and the rich spend their days equally: neither does wealth give to the rich, nor does poverty give or take away days and life from the poor. Both are equally nourished with rich and poor food; covered with equally rich clothes and rags; He rests equally in the hut and in the palace; Equally, both of them end their lives with death and the grave. But when would they be judged equally at the world court! But no! Much has been given to him, and much will be required (Luke 12:48). 4) In your poverty, remember the free poverty of Christ, the Son of God, who for the sake of our poverty is rich (2 Cor. 8:9). And he had poor disciples and apostles, and commanded them to love poverty: do not acquire gold or silver, he said to them (Matthew 10:9). 5) Remember that you are a stranger and a wayfarer - you are on the path of this world, and you are going to the heavenly fatherland: who is burdened while walking along the path? Isn’t it better to throw off the burden so that the path is easier? The burden for man who is coming to the heavenly fatherland is wealth. And how many have this burden torn away from heaven and plunged into the depths of hell! Bring into the belly a narrow gate and a strait path (Matthew 7:14): through this gate and path those sitting on high chariots of pride, arrogance and pomp do not pass. 6) Soon there will be a change: instead of temporary poverty, the eternal treasures of God’s goodness will be opened. Soon the rich will be compared with the poor. Death makes everyone equal. Let us consider this, and having food and clothing, let us be content with these, not grieving in poverty (1 Tim. 6:8)! Question How does Saint Tikhon explain the purpose of sending Calamities to man? Rep. May you, Christian, be able to receive consolation for your sad heart in the grief that has happened; listen to the following reasoning: 1) it is certain that it is impossible for true Christians to be in this world without grief. This is what the word of God testifies: 2 Tim. 3:12: for the way that leads them into the belly is narrow (Matthew 7:14). What the hell? Are you the only one who wants to stay without sorrow and step from the narrow path onto the long one that leads to destruction, and thus exclude yourself from the ranks of true Christians? Read the story, sacred from the beginning of the world, and you will see that all the saints drank the cup of sorrow on the cross, and are drinking now, and will drink until the end of the world. Is it small for you that you are their companion in sorrow, that you are a son of the holy, militant Church, a living member of Christ, here like him in suffering, and there in glory? 2) Every sorrow does not happen by chance, but sorrow is sent to us from God, and is His fatherly punishment, with which he punishes us not out of anger, but out of love: for the Lord loves him and punishes him: he beats every son, but he accepts him. If you are without punishment, then all are partakers of him, for you are naturally adulterous, and not sons (Heb. 12:6, 8). When a father leaves his son without punishment and allows him to live according to his will, it is clear that he has rejected him from himself: so, when God leaves a person without punishment, this is a sign of his turning away from God’s mercy; and nothing else should be done than to endure God’s eternal wrath. One should therefore desire, and not avert, God’s fatherly punishment; give thanks for it, not complain. 3) When God sends sorrows to his slaves; then he does not leave them, but is with them in sorrows: I am with him in sorrows (Ps. 90:15); and God was with Joseph, was with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, with their descendants in their bitterness and adversity. He is and is now persistently with His servants and will be until the end of the age. I am with you until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). And when you hear that God is with His faithful in sorrows, do not simply understand the presence of God; but He is with them, preserving them, helping them, comforting them, dissolving the sorrow of the cross with the sweetness of His love. 4) Think about how useful and necessary God’s fatherly punishment is for us! In our hearts lie many spiritual infirmities that were born with us in carnal birth: pride, anger, malice, envy, love of money, impurity, etc. The all-seeing eye of God sees all these infirmities and, by inducing sorrows and misfortunes, like bitter medicine, wants to heal them, if we surrender ourselves to His will... Trouble is like the bridle with which horses are tamed and restrained. Our nature becomes ferocious and seems to go berserk; and with misfortune, like a bridle, it humbles itself. Great good is sorrow, says St. Chrysostom, as he humbles us, as he stops the path to carnality, as he corrects us, leads us to repentance and turns us to God... The Heavenly Father shows us great mercy when he sends us sorrows and misfortunes. Oh, sorrow, the rod of God’s punishment, our bitter, but most effective medicine; school of humility, patience and meekness; the banner of Christ's warriors, the path to eternal life! Punish us, Lord, both in judgment and not in rage (Jer. 10:24). Question You said that all sorrow comes from God, but I suffer this or another misfortune from people - right? Rep. It’s true, says Bl. Tikhon: people taught by the devil bring us troubles and sorrows; but not otherwise than by God's permission. For people and the devil cannot do anything to us unless God allows them. He allows them to be our punishment, for our benefit, and as much as God allows them, they annoy and embitter us. This is clear from the history of Job, David and other Saints. Remember, Christian, in your misfortune this comforting word: He loves Him, He punishes Him (Heb. 12:6), and remembering Him, thank Him, for He does not take away your fatherly love from you. Question With Him (Christ) we suffer, says the Apostle, with Him we will be glorified (Rom. 8:17). From this source the holy martyrs drew consolation and rushed to every torment as to a sweet feast. But the martyrs suffered for Christ, and therefore were consoled both by their suffering and by the hope of future glory? Rep. Is it true; but you, when you are a Christian, no matter what sorrow you endure, and you endure it not like a murderer, or like a thief, or like a villain, but like a Christian, you partake of Christ’s passion; and therefore, take comfort in the hope of future glory. For not only the martyrs, but also all the Saints entered heaven in a sorrowful way. Do not grieve, but even more rejoice that you are numbered among the most blessed of God’s chosen council. Question Is it hard and fierce to endure sorrow and disaster? Rep. Is it true; but it is far more difficult to endure eternal sorrow if you leave from here unpunished and incorrigible. At this time, the sorrow of our flesh is bitter and disgusting; but its fruit is sweet and pleasing (Heb. 13:11). And you yourself, when you are reasonable and truly love your children, do not allow them to live according to your will, but you teach, punish and beat them so that they are good, although you know that your punishment is unpleasant for them. Or maybe you, too, were punished by your father and endured them, but gratefully remember the punishment. Why don’t you gratefully endure God’s fatherly punishment? You know that benefits come from punishment, and you punish your children: why don’t you want to accept useful and soul-saving punishment from the hand of the Lord with thanksgiving, at least with silence and without indignation? The Lord punishes us for our benefit, so that we may partake of His holy things and live (Heb. 12:9, 10). And His punishment is short and light: short, because it is temporary; easy, for He punishes and has mercy; saddens and comforts; insults and amuses; wounds and heals, beats and does not kill... What the hell? Do you want to be punished for a while, and after death be comforted forever? or remain without punishment for a short time, and be taken away from this age as a defective person, and there forever endure and suffer? Choose what you want. But I, says Saint Tikhon, choose and desire to follow those infirm who surrender themselves to the will of a skilled physician. As a sick person, I surrender myself to the will of the all-wise physician of our souls, the Lord, so that he may deal with me as he pleases. Note See chapters on this subject. about patience, thanksgiving and the narrow way (book 1) Note Disasters are: a) personal; b) family: widowhood, orphanhood; c) public: fires, pestilence; d) state: deprivation of the head of state, anarchy, war, civil strife; e) all mankind: the curse of him and the earth is in Adam; the wrath of God, death, removal and alienation from God. Whatever calamity befalls us, let us cry out with the prophet: it is good for me, for you have humbled me, so that I may learn through your justification (Ps. 119:71).