About church requirements

Contents Conversation No. 1. About the prayer to the wife, before giving birth on the first day of adolescence. Appendix to conversation No. 1. Historical and dogmatic information on the issue of belief in the harmful effects of the “dashing eye” (regarding the second prayer read at the bedside of the mother in labor) Conversation No. 2. About the prayer to the wife when the baby vomits Conversation No. 3. About prayers on the fortieth day after the birth of a baby (church) Conversation No. 4. About admonishing the sick Appendix to Conversation No. 4 A. About the importance of admonishing the dying B. That during illness one should not be afraid to invite a priest to administer confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries C. Resolution of perplexities regarding the rite of communion for the sick Conversation No. 5. About the oath (about the permissibility and importance of the oath) Appendix to conversation No. 5. A. Sayings of the word of God about a false oath B. Stories about God's punishment for a false oath Conversation No. 6. About prayer songs for various occasions Appendix to conversation No. 6. A. Historical information about the antiquity of prayers B. Prayer singing at the beginning of the teaching of the youths C. The rite of consecration (at the founding) of a new house D. The rite of blessing a new home, in which someone wants to move in D. Lithium during public disasters E. About the pious custom of receiving priests with the Cross and St. on special holidays. water for prayer in houses Conversation No. 7. About Akathist Appendix to conversation No. 7. A. Akathist to the Mother of God B. Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus Conversation No. 8. About the rite of blessing of water (small) Conversation No. 9. About following a prayer service for the weak, overwhelmed by unclean spirits and cold Appendix to conversation No. 9. About the so-called exordia (or about prayers to cast out demons) Conversation No. 10. About the rite that occurs at the founding of the church and the erection of the cross Conversation No. 11. About the consecration of the church Appendix to conversation No. 11 A. Historical note about the antiquity of the consecration of churches B. How are icons consecrated? Conversation No. 12. About the rite of tonsure into the small and great schema Appendix to conversation No. 12 A. On the origin of monasticism B. Historical note on the origin of the monastic kukul, or hood Conversation No. 1. About a prayer for a wife who will never give birth on the first day of adolescence I. Our Holy Church always takes care of us all as her children with her special maternal love and care, taking care of us from the cradle to the grave, from the very day of our birth to our very death. As soon as a baby comes into the world, as soon as he is born, the Orthodox Church hastens to take him under its protection and adequately prepare him for Holy Baptism. II. This matter is quite close to you, brothers. Few of you have ever seen this happen in your own family; Only you, perhaps, do not delve into this much. Therefore, now I consider it necessary to explain to you this preparatory action for Holy Baptism. a) You know, brothers, that a child is not baptized immediately as soon as it is born: but if this sometimes happens, then only if it is very weak. As soon as a child is born, on the very first day, one might say, the Holy Church takes him under its protection. You immediately turn to the priest and ask him to read a prayer, or, as you usually say, to give a prayer to a newborn baby. And you do it well. The mother and baby are in need of God's help, and the Church is in a hurry to pray for them. The altar minister comes to your house and prays that the Lord will have mercy on the woman in labor, give her health, cleanse her bodily impurity, forgive her voluntary and involuntary sins, and preserve her from all evil. Yes, brethren, among our sins there are involuntary sins, of which, although we are not directly guilty, we nevertheless become unworthy of God. Involuntary sin is original sin, or ancestral sin, that is, passed on to us from our ancestors Adam and Eve, from which we are delivered in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Involuntary sin is also called that sin which, although we ourselves commit it, we do not commit it with the full consciousness of our mind. These sins, as originating from ignorance or from our imperfect consent, although also involuntary, are still sins. Therefore, the priest prays to the Lord to protect the newborn baby from all poison and evil spirits, to prolong his life and, most importantly, to make him worthy to worship the earthly church, in which the holy name of God is glorified. b) After reading prayers over the mother and newborn, the priest signs the sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead, mouth (that is, mouth) and chest (that is, chest) for the sake of vitality, and reads another prayer. In this prayer he asks the Lord that the Cross of the Only Begotten Son of God be imprinted in the heart of the baby, so that the holy name of the Redeemer will forever remain with the baby, etc. He will give him the name of some saint of God celebrated on this or one of the coming days, saying: “Grant, Lord, that I will not deny Your holy name to remain on him.” Naming, that is, giving a name to a baby, is supposed to be on the eighth day after his birth, although, however, it can be named and is named with us immediately after birth. Naming the name of one of the saints of God marks the preliminary inclusion of this newborn into the Church and at the same time indicates that from that moment the baby is entrusted to the prayers and intercession of the saint whose name he takes upon himself, and at the same time undertakes to imitate this saint throughout his life, to live as he lived in order to earn his love and intercession before God. ABOUT! how good it would be, brethren, if we tried, if possible, to live as that saint of God lived, whose name each of us bears on himself and whose life he should, first of all, know. III. Let us try, brothers, to imitate as much as possible the virtues of the saints and chosen ones of God; Let us live as we should live as a Christian - and then we will avoid that pitiful fate that awaits the unrepentant sinner in the next world. Amen. (Compiled from the “Collection of Teachings for the Common People” by Priest K. Stratilatov). Appendix to conversation No. 1. Historical and dogmatic information on the issue of belief in the harmful effects of the “dashing eye” (regarding the second prayer read at the bedside of a woman in labor) Among the many superstitions found in the life of the Russian people, left over from the time of crude paganism, is the superstition known as “the evil eye,” or belief in the action of a dashing eye 1 . This superstition can often be found among educated Russian people and among the uneducated, among aristocratic families and among commoners. Both believers and people of little faith, sometimes even non-believers, are often afraid of the actions of the dashing eye. Which of the readers has not heard how one’s beloved horse began to wither away from the eye, or how another’s child, who previously breathed health and freshness, began to wither from an envious glance; the third one upset his business, the success of which was ensured, etc.? Such stories are always told as something reliable, excluding the possibility of any objections. For the most part, this superstition is widespread among women, who are generally prone to superstitions. Many are familiar with the picture of how carefully old nannies protect the cradle of their beloved children from the gaze of curious people. Almost everyone who is attentive to life in its various manifestations has seen “spitting” when praising any living creature for fear of losing it through the action of a dashing (alleged) eye... One might think that women are primarily the spreaders of the superstition in question. Little children from them learn this superstition so firmly that even after reaching adulthood they either cannot give it up at all, or only with great struggle: after all, childhood impressions usually live in a person for a long time and are not so easily modified!.. Some try to remain faithful to this covenant of their leaders, sometimes leaders, for the rest of their lives. What is remarkable is the fact that the majority of those who adhere to the “belief in the harmful effects of the evil eye” try to justify this faith in one way or another, to find an explanation for it, and generally to present it as a reasonable faith, and not a blind one. In this case, believers usually try to find an explanation for their faith in the sources of their pure, grace-filled faith, and non-believers - in the laws of human nature. Leaving aside the explanation of the latter for now, let us dwell in some detail on the explanation of the former, the most common. This is how it appears. In the second prayer, read by the priest at the bedside of the mother in labor after the birth of the baby, “After the woman has never given birth to a child,” the Holy Church, turning to the Lord Jesus, so that He would preserve the baby and the mother in labor from all types of destructive influence of the spirit of malice, from the secret malice of people (“jealousy and envy”) and from all influxes of invisible spirits, among other things, she calls out: “Keep (the woman who gave birth to the child and the very adolescence)... and from the eyes of the ghost." Our superstitions usually try to find a basis for their belief in the action of the evil eye in the expression “from the eyes of the gazer.” They see in it an indication of the possibility of charm through the eye, and they say: “The Church itself, in its prayers, assumes the existence of a dashing eye and its harmful effect on others.” The writer of these lines has heard such a soul-harming judgment more than once. But is this true? Does the Holy Orthodox Church really allow and thereby sanctify belief in the action of the evil eye, or the evil eye? Since the superstition in question, for its justification, wants to rely on the words of church prayer, which contains the expression “from the eyes of the gazer”; then, to expose this superstition, it seems natural to turn to the same prayer belonging to St. Basil the Great, as well as in general to the teaching of this father, who is the best exponent of Christian teaching in the 4th century. When reading translated verbal works, in cases where any expression in them seems incomprehensible, justice requires turning to auxiliary sources to understand it: either to translations in other languages, if any, or to the text in which the expression in question originally appeared, if this text has been preserved intact. For our goal, which is to understand the confusing Slavic expression “from the eyes of the ghost,” this general requirement is quite applicable in the present case. Since the original text of the prayer of St. contained by the Russian Church. Basil the Great “When a woman gave birth to a child” is Greek, then we will turn to him to explain the expression falsely interpreted by our superstitions. In the Greek text of the prayer, the Slavic expression “from oches prizora” is matched with the expression: “apo tis vaskanias ton ophthalmon.” From this it is clear that the Slavic “prizor” is a translation of the Greek “vaskania”. What is the meaning of this Greek name? According to experts in the Greek language, it is equivalent in meaning to the Latin “fascinum”. In this case, the Slavic expression will mean the same as the Latin “fascinum oculorum”. Is this identical to our Russian “dashing eye”? To answer this question, let us turn to the evidence of ancient Roman mythology, which preserved fairly accurate information about “fascinum” and its related name “fascinus”. In the natural history of Pliny the Elder (book 28, chapter 4), a famous Roman expert on paganism and its superstitions, the name “fascinus” is assigned to a special Roman deity, who occupied not the least place among the Roman gods. The superstitious Romans attributed to this god the power of protection against the evil eye, or the evil eye. They considered him a protector not only of children, but also of people’s rulers from damage to the eye. “This god,” says Pliny, “is revered by the Vestals in the Roman sanctuary. He is a healer from envy, and protects the chariots of triumphants, suspended under them.” According to Pliny, folk medicine demanded that in this case the triumphant man carefully, with all his eyes, look at what is suspended under the chariot in order to protect his glory from the dashing, envious eye. “Fascinum” was the name of a special thing related to the service of the named god Fascinus. This thing had the same effect as the god himself to whom it was dedicated. And one might think that it was she who was hung on the chariots of the Roman triumphants, as a protection of their glory from a dashing eye. This means that for the Romans it meant a means of protection from an envious eye. It was a sign of God, or his symbol. In appearance, it resembled a flat gold medallion, similar to those that, according to ancient Etruscan custom, were worn in Rome by nobles, and subsequently by all freeborn children, on a braid or chain around the neck (bulla). The superstitious Romans usually inserted vile images of the god Fascinus into such medallions. This was done for the purpose that anyone who looked at them would turn away from them. Roman folk medicine especially prescribed such fascinums (medallions) for postpartum women to have in bed. Usually here they were hung in front of the eyes of the latter on special stands, hung on beds and other things in the rooms of the sick, or put on the neck of a sick woman and her newborn baby to protect them from dashing eyes. And it should be noted that all this was considered a valid remedy against envious eyes, since it pushed these eyes aside. After all, few were able to look at these vile images inserted into the fascinums!.. The “Fascinum” of the Romans subsequently passed to the Greeks. The latter showed special reverence for this thing and gave it the name “vaskaniya” in their language. Over time, the superstitious attitude towards this thing became so ingrained among Christians who converted from paganism that in order to protect the purity of faith and Christian life, an intensified struggle against it was required on the part of representatives of Christianity. Historically, this is known, for example, about Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza, who lived in the 4th century, who demanded that women in labor remove those things (“fascina”) with which superstition tried to protect them from misfortune. Not without sufficient reason, the same can be said about St. Basil the Great: in his prayer “When a woman gives birth to a child,” he obviously prays to the Lord Jesus to deliver the sick mother in childbirth from those means that superstition has invented to protect the wife from any troubles, especially from a dashing eye - means, in essence, only strong to irritate the sight of the sick wife, and not to save her from troubles. Such means were invented by people at the inspiration of the spirit of malice and served to please it, like everything related to idolatry, in which demons are morally present. It is not in vain that the great saint in the prayer under consideration put his expression, corresponding to the Slavic from oches prizora, in connection with other expressions that speak of the deliverance of the woman in labor from various types of the wiles of the devil. It is now clear that the Slavic expression “from oches prizora,” which represents a literal translation of the interpreted Greek, must mean the same thing as the Greek. It does not support the belief in the evil eye. It, like the Greek, contains a prayer for the deliverance of the mother and her baby from useless human means of combating a bad eye - such means that in reality can only irritate the vision of a sick woman. It is not without reason that in the Trebnik of Peter Mohyla the expression “from the eyes of the ghost” is replaced by another, the meaning of which agrees with it “from the eyes of indignation,” that is, from the sight of what leads to indignation. So, the words of the prayer of St. Basil the Great’s “When a woman gave birth to a child” does not contain grounds for belief in the action of the evil eye, or in the evil eye. Therefore, those who consider themselves reasonable believers act ungodly when they say that “the Church itself, in its prayers, assumes the existence of an evil eye and its harmful effect on others.” Belief in the harmful effects of the envious eye should be called vanity, for it contradicts both the spirit of all Christian teaching, and, in particular, the spirit (and letter) of the teaching of St. Basil the Great, on which they are trying to establish it. This is how St. speaks about envy in a conversation. Basil the Great about this faith: “Others think about the envious that they cause harm with one glance, so that from their envious glance, bodies of strong build, blooming with all their beauty in their youth, wither away. All their fullness suddenly disappears, as if some destructive, harmful and destructive stream is pouring from envious eyes. I reject such reasoning, because it is common among the people and is supported by old women in women’s chambers.” It turns out that this belief is a superstition that must be abandoned. Conversation No. 2. About prayer to the wife when the baby vomits I. Hitherto I have told you, my brothers, about how the Holy Church acts with your mother in labor and with her baby if the birth was successful and if the baby remains alive and healthy after birth. But you know, my brothers, that this does not always happen. There are accidents when a mother in labor gives birth to a stillborn baby, expelling him prematurely from her womb. Let us imagine, my brothers, a wife who, feeling pregnant, with a trembling heart and with secret joy, awaits the release of her burden, so that she can see her baby and rejoice in him. But then, some unfortunate carelessness, an unexpected fright, severe grief and mental shock force her to give birth prematurely. During such childbirth, she sometimes suffers more and longer than another woman in labor; He prays to the Lord for mercy, groans and sighs to Him. The Lord allows it; but alas, instead of joy, she is struck by new sorrows and sufferings, not physical, but mental, which are even more painful than physical ones. Her baby is dead. “I am the killer of this innocent creature! I ruined him unwittingly! I am guilty of his death! “These dark thoughts of their own accord take possession of her soul and outrage her. And these sufferings would have been unbearably difficult if the Holy Church had not hastened to alleviate them with her prayers. But it sometimes happens that the birth of a stillborn baby is not due to any carelessness or misfortune, but due to a crime. Another, either out of a frivolous and unforgivable reluctance to take on the labors of her mother, or prompted by the shame of dishonor and fear of the anger of her husband and parents, resorts to violent measures in order not to give birth to a living baby. No matter how terrible such a crime is, the crime of intentional murder - examples of it, alas! although rarely, but to the great sorrow and shame of Christians, they occur between them. II. a) But for whatever reasons the baby was born dead, whether he became the victim of an involuntary or voluntary murder, in any case the Holy Church does not leave an unfortunate or criminal mother in labor without her maternal care. For this case, there is a special prayer in the Trebnik, in which the priest asks the merciful Lord for mercy for the mother in labor. But before the priest begins to read this prayer, he is obliged to fulfill the following instructions of the Trebnik (Peter Mogila): “It is fitting for you to know, O priest, that if a sinful incident happens in your parish, it is not so powerful to have the courage to simply read this prayer: but first command the wife who has confessed her sins to you. do it decently. In this confession, it is known to test in what way this eruption happened to her: whether by will or involuntarily: for if by will, she committed murder: for this reason, having judged from the holy rules, punish her, and having imposed penance according to force, allow it with the usual permission. If it’s against my will, I’ll forbid the little ones and allow them to punish them. With permission, honor this prayer.” (For the intentional killing of a fetus in the womb, the church rules stipulate a ten-year penance, which, however, can be reduced depending on the sincerity and strength of repentance. (Rules of Basil the Great 2, 8; Council of Ancyra 21; Trullo 91). For an involuntary eruption, the wife will not receive communion. (Nomocanon under the Trebnik of Rights. 75). Is it fair, you ask, to impose penance, that is, excommunication from communion of the Holy Mysteries for a more or less long time, on a woman in labor who involuntarily fell into murder? Let us answer this with the words of an ancient interpreter of church rules 2: “Although this case is worthy of mercy, it still requires some penance to calm the conscience of the vomiter, for there is reason to think that the Lord, who protects babies, allows this case to happen for some secret and unconfessed sins of the parents. For it is said: “He will not allow your foot to be moved, nor will He who guards you slumber” (Ps. 121:3). b) Having imposed penance on the mother in labor, the priest performs the prayer prescribed in the Breviary in the following order: “Blessed is our God... Trisagion, Most Holy Trinity, Our Father”; then the troparion is read in honor of the saint whose memory is celebrated on that day by the Church. Then the priest says impressively: “Let us pray to the Lord!” - rousing yourself, and you, and everyone present with you, to prayer. I am sure, my brothers, that first of all and with a special feeling of tenderness before everyone, the mother of the unfortunate baby will utter the usual answer to this suggestion of the priest: “Lord, have mercy.” Her soul primarily needs pardon from the Lord. “Sovereign Lord our God,” continues the priest, “born of the Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, and reclining in a manger, Thy servant Himself this day is in sin, who fell into murder, willingly or unwillingly, and who was conceived in her, have mercy according to Thy great mercy, and forgive her voluntary and involuntary sins.” III. Thus, my brothers, the Holy Church takes care of us in the moments of our most difficult trials. Like a tender and meek mother, she consoles and encourages us in sorrow, and with her prayers disperses our despondency and despair. Let us thank the Lord that we have such a tender and caring mother, and let us reverently honor her statutes. At the same time, let us make it an indispensable rule for ourselves to take care of and protect our wives as much as possible during their pregnancy. And we will instill in our wives that during their pregnancy, as much as possible, they should be more prudent and careful, refrain from fast movements, from jumping, from pulling, from anger, vindictiveness, strong emotional disturbances, from irritation, etc. After all, the Lord God will equally exact punishment from us and from them for the unfortunate birth and for our baby, if we are the arbitrary cause of such birth, because - we have heard - we become the murderers of our baby; let's think about this, my brothers. Amen. (Compiled from “Soulful Reading”, 1863, September). Conversation No. 3. About prayers on the fortieth day after the birth of a baby (churching) I. Our mothers, following the example of the Most Holy Theotokos (what a high honor for a Christian mother!), on the fortieth day after birth, come to the Church to receive cleansing and especially so that, in the words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem 3, “to dedicate as a gift to the Lord, like two turtle doves, the soul and body” of his brainchild. The servants of the altar of the Lord, like the righteous Simeon, who carried the divine Infant Jesus in his arms, takes into his arms every fourty-day-old baby “brought” to the Church - “to appear to the Creator and Lord Almighty of all,” places him before the Lord and blesses God with the prayers of the God-Receiver. And with this action is connected a very important event in our life, namely, the final “association with the holy flock of verbal sheep, called by the name of Christ” 4 - the solemn introduction into the Holy Church, or in one word, “churching.” This event is so important in our life that we, throughout its entire course, should constantly remember it and remember it with deep gratitude to God, as a great and instructive good deed of God for us. Meanwhile, we must admit that quite often we completely forget about it, as if it were some unimportant church rite, so that the very name of “churching” is obscure and little known to many. II. Let us devote, brethren, a few minutes to confirm in ourselves the idea of ​​the importance of churching, to recall in our memory the very actions of this sacred rite and together briefly delve into their meaning, and finally, to notice at least some of the edifying truths that they teach us. The Lord God, having created man, brought him into the paradise of sweetness (Gen. 2:16). So after that, when the baby is reborn in the bath of rebirth in Holy Baptism, by the grace of the same God, he is introduced into the “Church,” which, according to St. fathers, “there is a living paradise planted by God on earth.” What do you think, brethren, was it not important for our forefather to introduce him to the paradise of Eden? Didn’t he remember it all his life? Without any doubt! How can we not consider our entry into ecclesiastical paradise to be very important, and how can we not thank God every time we remember this event? The dedication of the firstborn of Israel to God was, in a sense, a monument to the miraculous manner in which the Lord led the Israelites into the Promised Land (Exodus 13:11). So the placing before God of the church-going infants, as spiritual firstborns - the most beloved children of God in Christ Jesus, is not only a monument, but also “the beginning of being introduced into the Church,” - into this, in the words of St. Demetrius of Rostov 5, “the promised land, boiling with milk and honey (Ex. 3:8), that is, abundant in the teachings of the prophets, apostles and our holy fathers.” From here the importance of the sacred rite of churching is revealed by itself. But this importance will be revealed to us even more clearly when we pay attention to the very actions that make up churching and briefly consider their meaning. a) Even in the vestibule of the church, the mother and baby are met by a priest. Even here, the priest of God takes into the arms of the newly enlightened baby, and thus he passes from the hands of one mother, who gave birth to him according to the flesh, into the arms of another, the “Holy Mother of our Church,” who revived him spiritually in the “baptismal font,” - that mother “whose voice is like the voice of a turtle dove, caring for her children, whose lips pour out the myrrh of the apostolic teachings, - whose eyes are true faith and hope undoubted on God" - the secrets of the invisible world are revealed, - "whose hands dig the myrrh of beneficence and love for mankind, - whose two breasts are the two Testaments - the Old, proclaimed by the prophets, and the New, preached by the apostles,” that mother, who, according to St. Cyprian 6, “encompasses all believers in her arms, as if one unanimous body, just as a clergyman embraces a church-going baby in his arms - that Mother of the Church, which if “whoever does not recognize as a mother cannot have God as a Father!” b) Having received the baby from the mother in his arms, the minister of the Church draws the Holy Cross for him in front of the gates of the church, as a saving weapon that opened the gates of heaven, and proclaims: “The servant of God is churched - in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit...” c) Then he leads him into the church, saying: “He will enter Your house, bow down to Your holy church.” Thus, through the action of churching, first of all, a person is given the entrance to the holy church, the place of the special mysterious presence of the Trinitarian God, where the word of God is primarily proclaimed, the Sacraments and public prayers are performed. But immediately the newly enlightened Christian is introduced into the mysterious “house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), “whose foundation is Christ Himself, the walls are the law of God, the pillars are the apostles, evangelists, teachers, the covering is the Holy Spirit” (Words of St. Demetrius of Rostov 7). For believers there is no other home, says St. Cyprian 8 “except for the one Church. The Holy Spirit foretold about this house, about this abode of like-mindedness in the psalm: “God brings the lonely into the house” (Ps. 67:7), - into the house of God, into the Church of Christ.” Here, when introduced into the visible church, a new member of the Church and into the spiritual church, whose living stones believe (1 Peter 2:5), “being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, having Jesus Christ Himself as the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy church in the Lord, in which you also are being built into a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:20-22). d) And so - then the priest of God enters with the baby being churched into the middle of the church, again exclaims: “The servant of God is being churched”... and adds: “In the middle of the church he will sing Thee!” These words of the psalmist here give special, high significance to the sacred rite performed during them, not only in themselves, but also because they are attached to that First-born, whom God the Father Himself once introduced into the universe, that is, to Jesus Christ Himself: “For He is holy,” says the apostle, “for both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from One; Therefore He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing praises to You” (Heb. 2:11-12)... By this action of churching, the newborn is placed among the host of God’s elect, the sons of the newly blessed Kingdom, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, - placed among them as among the brothers of the faith, so that together with them and with the faces of disembodied singers who take up arms around them (Ps. 33:8), he glorifies and sings praises to the Lord and God, until there is (Ps. 146:2), - until these temporary doxologies, or “glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls” (1 Cor. 6:20), are replaced (in the words of St. Gregory the Theologian) as “the initial hymn of the future,” eternal, heavenly, “hymns of praise!” e) Finally, the servant of God introduces the newly enlightened baby before the door of the altar, and for the third time he proclaims: “The servant of God is being churched”... And he leads him “into the holy altar” - the holy altar itself, if the baby is male, or - to the royal doors, if female (since the performance of church services is actually entrusted only to husbands: 1 Cor. 11:4, 14:34–35). By this action of churching, the newly enlightened one is in some way ranked among the host of the clergy themselves. Here it is especially revealed that all believers are a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5,9), - all, in a spiritual sense (but not hierarchical), kings and priests to God (Rev. 5:10). But the presentation of a newly enlightened baby to the altar also has a special meaning. “The fact that right after baptism you will have to appear before the great altar,” says St. Gregory the Theologian 9, “is a foreshadowing of the future glory,” which will be revealed in heaven, in the life of the next century. So, appearing at the holy altar, as if into heaven itself, the newly enlightened Christian, as it were, initially “approaches Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and the hosts of angels, the triumphant council and church of the firstborn who are written in heaven, and God the Judge of all, and the spirits of the righteous who have reached perfection” (Heb. 12:22)... Here, as it were, it is shown to man, where will the leadership of the Church existing on earth finally lead him! Let us take another mental look at the minister of the Holy Church, safely carrying the churched baby on his ores, and gradually moving with him from one part of the church to another, which has a higher purpose and sign. This is a living image of how the Holy Church, like a caring mother, seems to carry each person in her arms - elevates him from strength to strength, transforms him from glory to glory - until she introduces him as a beloved, obedient child into the heavenly holy of holies, until the Lord grants him to behold with his revealed face the glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:13), in the triumphant Church in heaven! On the other hand, it is instructive for us that the priest, during churching, almost does not stop with the baby in one place, but everything strives forward... Isn’t it clear through this to the churchgoer that he is becoming a member of the militant Church - that we, believers, “do not have a permanent city here, but are looking for the future” (Heb. 13:14), and therefore we must, “forgetting what is behind and reaching forward, strive for the goal, for honor the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13–14)?.. When a newborn and newly reborn child is worthy to bow to the altar of the Lord, churching has already been performed over him: he is already finally “counted among God’s holy flock of verbal sheep, to which belongs the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom.” f) And then the priest, bringing thanksgiving and praise to God, proclaims the song of the God-Receiver. And this song has a special meaning here. “Now you are releasing Your servant, Master, according to Your word, in peace,” says the priest on behalf of the churchgoer and, as it were, puts such words into his mouth: “As you have seen with my eyes, You will save Yours, which You have prepared before the face of all people,” and the path and means to achieve this salvation has been provided to the One, Holy, Orthodox Church, and in it, as in the days Noah's in the ark, which has found the only true refuge - from drowning in the waves of the sea of \u200b\u200blife, raised by misfortunes and storms! With the entry into this sacred enclosure of the Holy Orthodox Church, the true light that shone from heaven in the revelation of You, the true God, is revealed to all tribes and languages. For, “Thy Holy Church,” Lord, is “a luminary spreading its rays throughout the entire earthly circle, a seven-illuminated lamp shining” with Your light, “with the light of Christ; and therefore, those who move away from its teachings are truly like the blind, led by the blind: always seeking and never finding the truth, they will fall into the pit dug by their ignorance! 10. Here, and only here, in the bowels of the Holy Orthodox Church, will I be able to contemplate the glory of Your people, the new Israel - in the bowels of that Church which You, Christ, loved so much that you gave yourself up for it in order to present it to yourself as a glorious Church (Eph. 5:27), - that “Church that is betrothed to You, our Savior, honored by angels, adorned with prophets, apostles glorified, exalted by martyrs and confessors, but You, Lord, have prepared a heavenly palace for her!” 11 Oh, blessed be you, O Lord God, who has made me worthy to see such a wondrous glory of the new Israel, the light of heaven and Your salvation! From now on, there is only one thing left for me to wish: that even at my death, falling asleep in a blissful sleep in the arms of the Mother Church, I could exclaim as joyfully as at the very beginning of my days: “Now do You let Your servant go, Master, according to Your word, in peace!” g) Having blessed God with the prayer of the holy and righteous Simeon, and thus, as if sealing the sacred rite of churching, the priest no longer returns the churched baby into the hands of the mother (or recipient), but “lays him at the door of the altar,” in front of the royal doors. This means that from now on he is already the property of the Church: through the threefold act of churching, at the entrance from the vestibule of the church into the church itself, in the middle of the church, and finally at the altar, all three parts of his being are dedicated to the service of the triune God, under the guidance of the Church, all three parts of his being - spirit, soul and body. The body - primarily - belongs to the worship of God, external worship: I will enter Your house, I will worship Your holy church; the soul - chanting, or glorifying God (Ps. 33:3; 103:1;145:1): He will sing to You; to the spirit - serving God, making spiritual sacrifices: be on fire with the spirit; Serve the Lord (Rom.12:11) 12. We must, brothers, remember this throughout our lives. This, in particular, should not be forgotten by parents when raising their children. III. It remains for us, brethren, to notice at least some edifying truths, instilled in us by the reflection already proposed, both about the importance of churching and about the significance of the actions performed in this sacred rite. a) Through churching we are introduced into the Holy Orthodox Church, as into heaven on earth. At the same time, a commandment is instilled in us, which is very consistent with the commandment that our first parents received as soon as they settled in the paradise of Eden. “The Church, like paradise, is planted in this world,” says St. Irenaeus 13. “Therefore, eat of every tree of paradise,” says the Spirit of God (Gen. 2:16), that is, eat of all Divine Scripture; but do not eat from a proud mind, and do not even touch any of the differences of opinion of heretics. (For they are confident that they themselves have the knowledge of good and evil, and in their proud thoughts they exalt themselves above God who created them). “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2), so that you are not driven out of the paradise of life into which the Lord, who has in Himself headed all that is in heaven and on earth (Eph. 1:10), has introduced His true followers.” Or otherwise, we must remember that upon entering the Church, we dedicated our minds to the all-wise God, who, in matters of faith, is certainly obliged, having been captured into the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), to submit to the leadership of the Church of Christ! b) Through churching we enter into God’s Church, as into the promised land, boiling with milk and honey, that is, abounding in divine scriptures. Let us love, brothers, with all our hearts, “like newborn babies, love the pure milk of the word” - the teaching of the Holy Orthodox Church, “so that from it you may grow in age for salvation” (1 Pet. 2:2). “The judgments of the Lord are true, all are righteous,” revealed to us by the Holy Church, may they be for us “more desirable than gold and even much pure gold, sweeter than honey and drops of honeycomb” (Ps. 19:10-11)! c) During churching, the Holy Church, like a mother, takes us into her arms, and, of course, not a single earthly mother cares for her beloved child with such tender care with which the Mother Church throughout the entire course of our lives, from the cradle to the grave, cares for each of us, arranging for our temporary and eternal well-being!.. Let us love the Holy Mother of our Church with the same or even greater love, than what is the love of kind children for their own mother! Let us remain obedient to her in everything. We will not hide from her either our joys or our sorrows and sorrows. She will turn all our joy into holy joy, sorrow into sorrow for God’s sake (2 Cor. 7:10) and in sorrows she will comfort us, “As his mother comforts someone” (Is. 66:13) or even more! Will any of us fall into some kind of sin? The Mother of the Church has forgiveness from the Lord ready: let us not hesitate to ask Him! Will God inspire us to undertake some good deed? Let us hasten to accept the blessing of the Lord from her motherly hands! In a word, let us always and in everything adhere to the maternal leadership of the Church, just as a child would not want to lag behind his good mother even one step! d) By the action of churching, the entrance to the holy church is open to us - to these beloved villages of the Lord of hosts, our King and our God! It is desirable for every subject to have free access to the palace of the earthly king, but incomparably more desirable is the right to visit the holy church dedicated to the terrible and glorious name of the heavenly King. Let us not cease, brothers, to take advantage of such a high advantage with all possible diligence! Let our heart and our flesh rejoice in the living God, and let us rejoice in the rare: let us go to the house of the Lord (I rejoiced when they said to me: let us go to the house of the Lord) (Ps. 83:3; 12:1)! e) By the action of churching, we, brethren, are placed among the host of God’s chosen ones. Let us not forget that we are “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:9), and we ourselves will be holy in all our actions; following the example of the Holy One who called you (1 Peter 1:15): “Be diligent to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10), “bearing with one another in love, trying to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2–3)! f) We once appeared at church before the great, holy and heavenly altar and “as a foreshadowing of the future, heavenly glory!” Let us continually keep in our minds and hearts that our true, never-ending “dwelling is in heaven, from where we also await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). (See the book “Christian Reasonings and Reflections”, Archpriest V. Grechulevich, Part 1, ed. 1868). Beloved Christian brothers! Let us not use for evil the many different means for our salvation that are open to us in the Church of Christ, to which, by God’s special favor to us, we are numbered; Let us take advantage, as much as we can accommodate, of those invaluable benefits to which Holy Baptism and the subsequent sacred churching opened the door for us to possess! Conversation No. 4. About admonishing the sick I. Now let’s talk briefly, brethren, about the rite that will soon happen to give communion to a sick person 14 . This order was established for the purpose that none of the members of the Holy Mother Church would go into eternity unprepared, bound by sins and without tasting the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Source of immortality and blessed life. This shows the highest love for us of our Holy Mother Church. II. The spare gifts are constantly kept on the throne in the tabernacle for the communion of the sick. Upon invitation to the sick person, “the priest accepts part of the Holy Mysteries, places it in the chalice and pours in a little wine, as if it were convenient for the powerfully sick to receive it,” and performs the rite of communion for the sick person. In this prayer book, the Church, on behalf of the sick person, propitiates the Lord, confesses the right faith and the unworthiness of the one preparing to receive communion, calls on the Holy Spirit, who cleanses us from all filth, and says prayers for the remission of sins to the sick person and for the worthy acceptance of the Holy Mysteries. The last of these prayers especially encourages and touches the sick person with the repeated calling of the Lord. “May the Lord God be merciful to you. May the Lord grant you every petition. May the Lord enlighten you. May the Lord help you. May the Lord save you. May the Lord protect you. May the Lord cleanse you. May the Lord have mercy on you on the day of judgment and bless you all the days of your life,” and so on. After the prayers, the clergyman listens to the dying confession of the patient, and often the last before the terrible judgment of God, and, according to the usual prayer of permission, gives the patient Holy Communion - the Sacrament of grace of unity with God. Then follows the usual vacation, preceded by a touching reading by the priest of the dying prayer of Simeon the God-Receiver: “Now do you let go of your servant, Master.” III. This is how, since ancient times, the shepherds of the Church advised the sick and dying. A. On the importance of admonishing the dying The Orthodox Church, requiring that the healthy carefully prepare for confession and Holy Communion, allows the sick to be administered the Holy Mysteries only with a short preliminary confession, as indicated in the Trebnik. According to the canonical rules, even those who are excommunicated for a certain time from Holy Communion in the event of mortal danger are awarded the reception of the Holy Mysteries, “as the last and most necessary parting word” 15. The Church provides such leniency towards the dying on the basis that confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries, reconciling a person with his conscience, have a calming effect on his soul, alleviate his painful suffering and spiritual sorrows and serve as a guarantee of eternal life for him. The last parting words also have the same reconciling and calming effect on the relatives and friends of the dying person. This general Christian awareness of the necessity and beneficialness of the last parting words is confirmed by the patristic works. So, for example, St. John Chrysostom says that “those who depart from this life, if at the time of their death they partook of the Holy Mysteries with a clear conscience, the angels, surrounding them with glory because of what they received (the Sacrament), take them away from here.” (“On the Priesthood” book 6). This is how beneficial the reception of the Holy Mysteries is for a dying person! If we pay attention to the mental state of the dying, we will also be convinced of the necessity and importance of the last parting words for a Christian. At the edge of earthly life, which for every person is filled with sins, he is given the opportunity to throw off the sinful burden, which can cast him down into the underworld for eternity upon his very entry into eternity. Meanwhile, admonishment with the Holy Mysteries serves to cleanse oneself from sins, justify oneself in the future life, and guarantee eternal life (John 6:50–57). If the last parting word, due to such beneficial actions, should be sweet for a dying Christian, then, on the other hand, the deprivation of this parting word is more inconsolable than all the sorrows of death. That is why the Holy Church, trusting that God’s mercy is invincible by human sins, makes it an indispensable duty for priests to urgently rush to the bedside of the dying with the Holy Sacraments and considers omission of this duty a grave sin. “If only one person departs, the Mystery is not involved,” notes St. John Chrysostom - didn’t the presbyter transform (i.e., lose) all his salvation? For souls alone have only vanity, as nothing can be imagined by a word” 16. How important and sacred, therefore, is the title of priest in this case, how great is his feat and what terrible responsibility threatens him for his inattention to this matter?! Here the priest appears as an angel of God, as a messenger of the truth and mercy of God, as a spiritual doctor who can heal the spirit of the suffering, strengthen him to fight the horrors of death, console him with the hope of resurrection and immortality, when all the consolations of relatives and the benefits of doctors may no longer be needed by the dying person. In the history of the Church there have been many examples of turning to God, repentance and justification before death of unbelievers and great sinners as a result of a priest’s conversation with a dying person and admonishing him with the Holy Mysteries. In the space of centuries of Christian life, there were examples of the special saving power of God’s grace, which reborn a sinner into a righteous man before his death in a very short time, while it seemed that years of prolonged struggle and activity were needed for such a rebirth. Thus, the grace of God, which justified the prudent thief on the cross, abounds where sin abounded. This is the inscrutable mystery of God! That is why, even today, church laws oblige every priest to “be a guard day and night with repentance and communion” (“Priest’s Teaching”). According to the statute of spiritual consistories (Article 97), not even a single third-party priest, at the request of at least other parishioners, has the right to refuse to fulfill this requirement, if for some reason the parish priest could not quickly arrive at the big one. A priest, who, through his negligence, allowed a sick person to die without the guidance he asked for with the Holy Sacraments, is dismissed from his place and appointed as a cleric until repentance and correction, and depending on the circumstances, may even be completely deprived of his rank (“Charter of Spiritual Consistories”, Art. 183). Those who do not inform the priest in a timely manner about the need to admonish the sick are subject to excommunication (“On the positions of parish presbyters” § 116). Our priests should be well aware of the article in the teaching notice in the Service Book, which states that even during the celebration of the Liturgy, if the serving priest has not yet reached the Great Entrance during the Cherubic Song, and he is called to baptize a dying baby or to confess and give communion seriously ill, in mortal danger, then the priest must immediately rush to the sick person, especially if he is not far away, and having done everything necessary, return to the church again and finish the Liturgy according to custom. Moreover, if the patient is very close, or when the weather does not interfere, then the priest can go to the place without unmasking, but go in full vestments and, having completed everything necessary there, return to the church to perform the Liturgy according to the rules (addition to the teaching message). During all this time, the people standing in the church should be busy reading the apostle, or psalms, or canons, or teaching. But if a priest is called to fulfill the above requirements after transferring the Holy Gifts to the throne, at the Great Entrance, then in this case the priest should not stop the Liturgy, but, leaving the patient to the will of God, hasten with the end of the service according to the rules and then, if he has time, go to the place and perform as indicated. This is the only case - namely, the celebration of the most important part of the Liturgy - obliging the priest to postpone for some time the teaching of the last parting words. It goes without saying that the priest must go to give guidance to the sick, if called to do so, during Vespers or Matins, and postponing the farewell until the end of these services may be unsafe. In any case, the death of a parishioner without admonishing him with the Holy Mysteries, especially if this did not happen without the fault of the priest, should arouse in him sincere condolences and self-condemnation. A striking example in this regard is given to us by St. Gregory Dvoeslov in the story about St. Presbyter Sevier. One dying man sent to Sevier with a request to hurry up to give his last parting words. It happened that the priest Sevier was at that time in the vineyard, busy pruning the grapes, and said to the messenger: “Go, and I will catch up with you.” Meanwhile, seeing that there were few grapes left, the priest decided to wait a few to finish the work; and then go to the patient. But on the way he met people who were with the patient, who said to him: “Why did you slow down? Don’t work anymore, the patient is dead!” The priest was in awe and began to cry bitterly, calling himself a murderer. Weeping, he came to the house where the deceased was, threw himself on the ground in front of his bed, sobbed loudly, calling himself the culprit of his death. Among these sobs, the deceased came to life, which brought all the witnesses of the miracle into horror and joy - he said that some gloomy ferocious creatures led him into a dark place, but a bright young man with travelers appeared to meet them and commanded the gloomy creatures to return the deceased, because Presbyter Sevier was crying for him and for the sake of his tears the Lord gave him this man. With unspeakable joy, Sevier rose from the ground, thanked the Lord, absolved the resurrected man from his sins, communed him with the Divine Mysteries, and on the 8th day the resurrected one died in joy 17 . This is how the ancient shepherds grieved and blamed themselves in the event of the sudden death of their flock without a final farewell. This example also shows how important and urgent the duty of the shepherd of the Church is to admonish the dying with the teaching of the Holy Mysteries, so that the priest himself does not suffer eternal condemnation at the Last Judgment and for the death of one sheep, but it is better to say about everyone with joy: “Behold, I and my children!” B. That during illness one should not be afraid to invite a priest to administer confession and receive the Holy Mysteries When relatives advise a sick person to invite a priest to guide him through confession and the Holy Mysteries, some of the patients consider such an invitation from the priest to be a sign of their imminent death and respond with grief to the good advice of their relatives: “I am still able to prepare you for death; So, the hour of my death is near when you send for the priest? And if, after the intense requests of his relatives, the sick person finally agrees to accept the shepherd of the Church with the Holy Mysteries, then as soon as he sees him entering, he becomes faint-hearted and frightened, thinking that his hour of death has already come. Those who think like this are in great blindness! Death entered the world as a result of sin: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), it is said in Scripture, and the priest comes to you in order to cleanse you with repentance through confession from sin and unite you with the Lord through the communion of the Holy Mysteries. Why do you look at the priest as a harbinger of death? Do repentance and communion of the Holy Mysteries really have the destructive power to kill? It’s a sin to even think about it! God often punishes a person for his sins with illness, and repentance often returns a person to health. God promised Manasseh, the king of Israel, through the prophet, health if Manasseh repented of his sins; Manasseh repented of his sins and was healed. The Savior Himself, when healing the sick, first of all absolved them of their sins as the causes of their illness. Thus, He, healing a sick man weakened by the veins, first of all forgave him his sins, then healed him; first he said: “Child! your sins are forgiven you” then “Get up, take up your bed, and go to your house”; He also said to another, 38-year-old sick man, having healed him from the illness of relaxation: “Behold, you have recovered; “Sin no more, lest something worse happen to you.” If repentance for sins is not the cause of illness and death, but of life and health, then even more so the communion of the Holy Mysteries. Don’t you yourself read after the priest: “Let the communion of Thy Holy Mysteries be for me not for judgment or condemnation, O Lord, but for the healing of soul and body?” The apostles of Christ rejoiced when they saw the Lord, but are you sad when the priest brings you His Most Pure Body? The ancient murderer Satan instills in you such a disastrous thought, that you die without confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries, or that you receive the Holy Gifts without living faith and sincere repentance for sins. And what will happen if you, afraid to invite a priest at the right time, go to your grave without repentance or, due to increased illnesses, become incapable of true repentance? Then your eternal destruction is inevitable. No, Orthodox Christians, do not be afraid to invite a priest during your illness for confession and communion of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ; through this, apparently, the miraculous power of God was sometimes revealed, healing the sick. As an example, we will tell you what is written in the life of St. Alipia (“Cheti-Minea”, life of St. Alipius, Aug. 17). “There was someone in Kyiv, a rich man, who suffered from the most serious disease - leprosy. Having been treated by doctors for a long time, he did not receive any benefit. Then one of his friends advised him to go to the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery and ask the Reverend Fathers of the Pechersk Church, Anthony and Theodosius, that through their prayers God would give him health. The sick man, forced by the intense requests of his friend, although he went to the Pechersk monastery, did not fully believe in the power of the prayers of the Venerable. Antonia and Theodosius. As soon as he was presented to the abbot of the Pechersk monastery, the abbot ordered to give him something to drink and wash his face and head with water from the well of St. O. Feodosia. As soon as he drank water and washed himself, he immediately boiled all over with pus for not having full faith in the prayers of the saint. Anthony and Theodosius came to the monastery; his illness became so intense that everyone began to run away from him; for due to the stench emanating from him, it was impossible to be with him. In what a terrible situation, with tears and sadness, he returned to his house and for several days in a row did not leave his house because of the stench that covered his whole body, and he confessed before his friends that God had punished him this way for his lack of faith in the power of the prayers of St. Antonia and Theodosius; but the illness did not go away. Finally, after thinking with himself, he decided to go to the priest and confess all his sins to him. Therefore, having returned to the Pechersk monastery, he appeared to our Reverend Father Alypius, who was then a priest, and confessed his sins. Alypius, having heard his confession, said to him: “You have done well, child, in confessing your sins to God before my unworthiness, for this is how the prophet testifies of himself, speaking before the Lord (Ps. 31:5): he said: I confess my crimes to the Lord, and You have taken away from me the guilt of my sin.” Then he brought him into the church and introduced him to the Holy Mysteries; after this he commanded to wash himself with the water with which priests wash their mouths after communion of the Holy Mysteries, and he received perfect bodily health.” B. Resolution of confusion regarding the rite of communion for the sick a) Is it possible to receive communion several times during the same illness? During one day you can receive communion only once - no more; but during the same illness, lasting several days, you can take communion several times. In the Trebnik of Peter Mogila there is a special charter “On how to give Holy Communion to a sick person soon.” In this charter we read: “The first thing a priest must do is to confess a sick person, and to go to the confessed person with the Divine Mysteries and give him communion, unless there is a mortal need: then let him go with the Divine Mysteries, and having confessed, he will give him communion. If a sick person, having partaken of the Divine Mysteries, lives for a long time and then, having been in mortal misfortune, desires divine communion, the priest should in no way refuse to give him communion again, and even if it happens many times later. In the misfortune of mortal beings and by eating, he is worthy of communion...", "if the ambulance, for the sake of need, runs on horseback to the sick... having come to the sick person, at the meal, with the veil, he spreads the cover, takes off the Divine Mysteries, and, laying it on the cover, bows low, picks up the wine, and, putting it on the table, proceeds to the sick, and dangerously testing and having fully confessed him and having given permission to read his prayers, proceeds to the Divine Mysteries... and gives him communion according to the decree written below.” The charter mentioned below is the order “How to give communion to the sick.” This rite shows that when a priest arrives at a sick person’s house, he must first be confessed. “Having finished the confession,” it is said further, “the priest allows him these words: “May our Lord and God Jesus Christ, by His grace and love for mankind, forgive you... and I am an unworthy priest... I forgive and absolve you from all your sins,” i.e., ordinary words of permission are pronounced. Further in the note it is said: “Having made confession and resolution, even if the sick person is near death and is already ending, having bowed to the Divine Mysteries, let me take off and turn to the sick person, and say: “Approach with the fear of God and faith.” Next comes communion. b) When giving communion to a sick person, should you read the prayer of permission “Our Lord and God, by grace and bounty... forgive you, child”? Some people think that the prayer in the rite: “How to give communion to the sick,” following the sacramental prayers and the note about confession and beginning with the words: “Lord our God, who forgave the sins of Petrov and the harlot with tears,” is precisely a prayer of permissiveness; but to see the injustice of such an understanding of the said prayer, one careful reading of it is enough. In it, the priest only asks God to accept the confession of the repentant and forgive his sins, but does not at all announce this forgiveness to him, as follows on the basis of the quoted words of the Savior (John 20:23). Comparing this prayer with the one that is placed in the rite of confession after oral confession before the words of permission and begins with the words: “Lord God, the salvation of Thy servants,” one cannot help but be convinced that both of these prayers have the same meaning: with them the penitent is not absolved from sins, but only prepares for this resolution, asking for this the grace of God, by which the priest resolves sins. Therefore, just as in the rite of repentance after the prayer “Lord God, the salvation of Thy servants,” the words of permission are read, so in the rite “How to give communion to the sick” after the prayer “Lord our God, to Peter and the harlot,” etc. one should (as indicated in the Breviary of Peter the Mogila) certainly pronounce the words of permission: “May our Lord and God Jesus Christ, by His grace and love for mankind, forgive you,” etc., unless the patient has been confessed and permitted in advance. Otherwise, the priest, listening to confession and obliged to pronounce his judgment on his sins, will remain in a false position, and the conscience of the penitent will be in an uncertain state, since he will not know whether his sins are forgiven or not forgiven. Conversation No. 5. About the oath (about the permissibility and importance of the oath) I. The important circumstances under which the oath is used show, brethren, its necessity and importance. These circumstances certainly require us to testify to the sincerity of our intentions, words and promises. But how can we establish and seal the truth of our words, for example, in relation to a person or deed that we have not yet served, or when we have unsuccessfully used all legal means for incrimination or justification, if not by calling as a witness the omniscient, righteous and omnipotent God, Whom invocation certifies in truth and clears from suspicion? 18 II. According to the ancient institution and custom, the swearer swears before the Gospel and the Cross, which for us serve as the highest and most expressive signs of the gracious presence of the Lord, with the raising of his right hand, as if to indicate the Most High Witness, and with the sign of Christianity - in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, depicted by the three fingers of the raised hand. The oath is sealed with an expression of sincerity and unity - by kissing the Gospel and the Cross. a) The use of an oath is sanctified by the word of God, the history of the common and Russian Church. aa) The necessity and importance of an oath, or oath, was discovered and sanctified by the Lord Himself in the Old Testament from ancient times. Scripture says: “People swear by the supreme, and an oath to confirm ends all their disputes” (the end is supposed to be pronounced by an oath) (Heb. 6:16). Therefore, God, having no one above Himself, swore by Himself (Heb.6:13; Gen.12:16), by His holiness (Ps.89:36), by His great name (Jer.44:26). According to the instructions of the Lord, the oath in the Old Testament was pronounced in private and public affairs, in the name of God (Deut. 6:13; Gen. 26:28; Josh. 9:19), with the right hand raised to the sky (Gen. 14:22; Deut. 32:40), and often with its position under the stegno (stegno - the upper part of the leg) of the one to whom they swear ( Gen.24:2;47:29 ). The raising of the hand was an expression of pointing to God as a witness, and the position under the crest was a sign of a sincere promise. So, during the Old Testament reign, the people swore an oath of allegiance and obedience to the king. King David made a covenant in Hebron before the Lord with all the elders of Israel; High priest Jehoiada, during the accession of Joash, “Joiada made a covenant between the Lord and between the king and the people, that he should be the people of the Lord, and between the king and the people” (2 Kings 11:17). And this covenant, according to Josephus, was nothing more than a mutual oath or oath” 19. bb) The New Testament also allows the use of an oath, or solemn oath. When Jesus Christ at the high priestly trial did not answer the questions put to Him, despite all the accusations brought against Him by people with a corrupt conscience, and despite all the demands to say something in His justification, the High Priest turned to Him with the following words: “I adjure You by the living God, tell us: Are you the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:59–63)? Jesus Christ not only did not tell the high priest that the latter was doing wrong by resorting to such a method of obtaining an answer, but on the contrary answered: “You said” (Matthew 26:64), i.e. Jesus Christ took the oath and under oath showed that He really is the Messiah, the Only Begotten Son of God. And that the Savior in His answer expressed taking an oath, this cannot be disputed in any way: the words of the high priest contained the usual oath formula among the Jews, but the Savior’s answer, expressed in the words “you said,” means that He, the Savior, testifies to the truth of His words precisely by this oath calling on God Himself as a witness. This is exactly how the accused took the oath at the trial. Their response to the incantatory words of the judge, expressed in the words: either amen, or so be it, or you said, meant taking an oath, that is, formally attesting to the truth of their words in the name of God Himself. As for the apostles, the greatest of them, namely St. ap. Paul repeatedly calls on God Himself in his epistles as a witness to the truth of his words. So, for example, in his Epistle to the Romans, being forced to assure them as much as possible of his love for them and his care for them, the apostle says: “God is my witness, whom I serve spiritually in the gospel of His Son, that I make constant mention of you” (Rom. 1:9). In his second Epistle to the Corinthians, this apostle, in order to finally dispel their bewilderment regarding the reasons for his non-arrival in Corinth, writes: “I call God to witness that, sparing you, I have not hitherto come to Corinth” (2 Cor. 1:23). In the Epistle to the Philippians, in order to most encourage and console them, St. ap. Paul says, “God is witness that I love you all with the love of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:8). Moreover, from the epistles of the same apostle one can see that the very first Christians resorted to an oath in cases of necessity. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, this is what St. writes, among other things. ap. Paul: “People swear by the supreme, and an oath to certify ends every dispute” (Heb. 6:16). The Apostle, however, did not find it necessary to stipulate that from these people who use an oath, only Christians are excluded, and he certainly would have done this if non-use of an oath was one of the most distinctive features of Christians. Then, in his First Epistle to Timothy, among various sinners he included perjurers, the apostle. Paul already thereby says that, from his point of view, a pious oath is not criminal and that among Christians it was used in cases of special need. (See Prof. A. Gusev’s brochure “The Legality of Oaths and Oaths”). cc) An oath, or oath, has been used since ancient times in the Church of Christ in matters of importance and necessity. According to Tertullian, a writer of the 3rd century, ancient Christians made an oath according to a well-known pattern 20. St. Chrysostom says that in ancient times they swore in the church before the Holy Table and before the Gospel. Among the Greeks, upon the accession of the emperor, a popular oath to the king was pronounced. According to the legend of Nikephoros Gregoras (1365), the entire Roman people, upon the accession of Andronicus the Young, or III, swore a solemn oath to him. The patriarch and the council of clergy concluded their oath in writing, promising that both they themselves and their successors in church administration would preserve his kingdom. In our fatherland, the kiss of the cross, or oath, according to the exact meaning of Scripture, has since ancient times resolved all doubts. The oath of our ancestors had such binding force that, in cases of necessity, the permission of the oath was performed by the Church. So, in 1607, upon Shuisky’s accession to the throne, the council decided to summon Patriarch Job to Moscow from Staritsa so that he and Patriarch Hermogenes would jointly absolve the people from the oath given to Godunov and his entire house, which had been overthrown by the invasion of the impostor. Such permission was made from an oath given to False Dmitry. To dispense with the oath, a farewell, or permitting, letter was read publicly from the pulpit by the archdeacon for not performing the kiss of the cross. In ancient times, the oath was pronounced in our country according to a special official book, just as today it is pronounced according to established guidelines. b) According to the great importance of the oath, strict discrimination is required in choosing an object worthy of an oath in the name of God. The use of an oath in unimportant, petty, everyday matters would be unworthy of the great and holy name of God. Such use of an oath would inevitably reduce its importance in the memory of the swearer himself, would weaken its power and effect on his will and conscience. Therefore, a Christian is forbidden to make gods and, in general, to use an oath in completely private matters. Therefore, the choice and determination of objects worthy of an oath is left not to the personal discretion of each person, but to the highest state authorities and administrative and judicial bodies. Along with state power, church power also takes an oath in special and undoubtedly important cases in its life. State, public and church life recognizes only four most important cases for the worthy use of an oath, corresponding to the four most important moments of this life: firstly, the oath of allegiance, secondly, the oath upon entry into public service, thirdly, the oath at trial and, finally, the oath before ordination to the rank of priest and bishop. In the first case, the loyal subject forever cements his devotion to the head of state, which is necessary to ensure the strength of the state union in favor of the common; in the second, for the same benefit, it ensures loyalty to state and public service; in the third, the inviolability of the legal rights of society, family and each individual is protected by the truthful testimony of witnesses and the verdict of judges, confirmed by an oath; finally, in the fourth case, he who enters the service of the Church strengthens his spiritual union both with the state and its head, and especially with the Holy Church and its government. Used only in these four cases, which are of undoubted importance in state and church life, the oath retains its holiness, befitting the name of God, and its power, properly acting on the will and conscience of the one who pronounces it. The indication of when it should be used and when it should not be used is not left to the arbitrariness of every person who is in one way or another interested in the matter, but belongs exclusively to state and church authorities. This relationship of some types of oath to state power does not, however, make it a purely state, civil, or only human act. The religious, completely spiritual, one might even say church-liturgical, nature of all types of oaths is preserved in our state and in our Orthodox Church. The Church in all its strength. The true and godly oath that we are talking about is usually called an oath. III. After this, it is clear, brethren, how sacredly and faithfully an oath must be preserved, what a great sin, even a terrible crime, should be considered the violation of an oath. 1) The perjurer deprives himself of eternal salvation, which he pledged to the fidelity of his oath. He lied before God; he called on God to be a witness to untruth, as if to be a participant in his untruth. Can anything be more blasphemous than such an attitude towards God and His holy name? Will there be a punishment on earth according to the court of human justice that fully corresponds to the gravity of such a great crime? 2) In criminal laws, the punishment for a false oath is almost the same as for blasphemy, and even for murder - the punishment is very heavy. But even this punishment is proportioned by human laws more to the degree of harm and temptation caused by the crime than to the moral importance of the crime itself. The crime of false oath and blasphemy is so great that human law considers it above its power to impose a completely worthy punishment or revenge for both. If anywhere, then it is precisely in these two crimes, with all the severity of retribution prescribed for them by law, that the formidable voice of the Old Testament Lawgiver remains in full force: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” (Heb. 10:30; Deut. 32:35). And undoubtedly, the Lord will take revenge and reward for the desecration of His holy name in a false oath. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of human justice, but it is even more terrible to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31). In most cases, actually and directly for violation of the oath, human power and human law do not impose any special punishment. There is no doubt that the oath is violated in case of any crime or abuse of office, and yet this crime or abuse itself is punished; and failure to comply with the oath obliging one to faithfully fulfill one’s official position remains without any punishment. But does he remain completely unpunished? Is it not fairer to say what is left to the judgment and vengeance of God? “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” An oathbreaker is the most impudent blasphemer of the name of God. Who, besides God Himself, will be the avenger for insulting His holy name? It would be good if an Orthodox Christian, kissing the words and the Cross of his Savior, clearly recognized and always vividly felt over himself the power and weight of this threat: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” this terrible sword of God’s wrath hanging over the head of the perjurer. 3) Even the ancient Father of the Church (St. Basil the Great) noted: “We know from experience that perjurers are not successful.” Daily life experience convinces us of the truth that the wrath of God will sooner or later befall the perjurer, as well as those who take false oaths. Let us fear, brethren, the wrath of God and let us treat the oath with all attention and reverence. A. Sayings of the word of God about a false oath The Lord forbids swearing falsely by His name: “Do not swear falsely in My name, and do not dishonor the name of your God. I am the Lord (your God).” (Lev.19:12). God's punishment threatens the one who swears a lie: a person who swears often will be filled with lawlessness, and the scourge will not depart from his house. If he sins, the sin is on him; and if he was careless, then he sinned greatly. And if he swore in vain, he will not be justified, and his house will be filled with misfortunes (Sir.23:11-13). “And again I raised my eyes,” says the prophet Zechariah, “and I saw: behold, a scroll was flying. And he said to me: what do you see? I answered: I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth is ten cubits. He said to me: This is a curse that comes upon the face of the whole earth; For everyone who steals will be destroyed, as it is written on one side, and everyone who swears falsely will be destroyed, as it is written on the other side. I have brought it, says the Lord of hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears by My name falsely, and will abide in his house, and destroy it, and his trees, and his stones” (Zechariah 5:1-4). “You will destroy those who tell lies; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and treacherous” (Ps. 5:7). “But the fearful, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain” (Ex. 20:7). B. Stories about God's punishment for a false oath 1) Three people with an oath confirmed one shameless lie (wanting to destroy St. Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem, whom they could not tolerate for the severity and constancy of his life and fearing his exposure), while expressing their readiness to suffer various executions otherwise, the first - to be burned, the second - to become ill with severe leprosy, and the third - to go blind. So what? All these executions literally came true on them: one was burned, another was punished with disease from head to toe, and the third, in view of the inevitable punishment for himself, began to cry and lost his sight from tears. (“Ecclesiastical History” by Eusebius, book 6, chapter 9). 2) Once upon a time to St. Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople (582), received a blind man. “Have you been blind for a long time?” asked the patriarch. “It’s already been a year,” answered the ill man. To the question: “Why did the illness happen?” The blind man said the following: “I had a lawsuit with one person, and in order to win the case, I sinned - I confirmed the lawsuit with a false oath. I won the case, but soon after that I became blind. Pray for me, servant of God!” The saint took pity on the unfortunate man, made a prayer for him, and the Lord sent the blind man insight. Let the present case with the perjurer be a saving lesson for everyone: human court can be deceived by perjury and false witness, but God cannot be deceived, and the court of God severely punishes those who call the name of God in vain (“Cheti-Minei”, April). 3) To St. Two men came to Miles, Bishop of Susa, accusing each other of theft and each of whom demanded that the other prove his innocence. When one of them agreed to swear, St. Miles previously admonished him not to use the name of God for evil and not to deceive his brother. But the wicked man, despising the admonition of St. Milesa, took an oath. Then St. Miles said to him: “If the oath is true, you will return home healthy, but if you use it for evil, then, like Gehazi, you will immediately be stricken with leprosy, and you will return home in shame.” And he who swore falsely was immediately struck down with leprosy. (“Christian Reading,” part 26). 4) Another amazing case of God’s punishment for a false oath that befell a peasant in the Podolsk province, Mogilev district, village of Nosekovka, Ivan Podorozhnyak. It was like this: this peasant lived as a worker for a Jew, was dishonest and was suspected of theft by the owner many times. Finally, Podorozhnyak stole a “bardu” (axe); all the evidence was against him, but he did not want to admit his obvious guilt. The Jewish owner complained to the constable, who began to investigate the theft of the peasant Podorozhnyak. Here Podorozhnyak offered to confirm his alleged innocence with an oath. The Holy Cross and bread were placed on the table. The plantain knelt down and said: “Lord! if I am guilty of this theft, then let my only child die.” Having uttered this terrible oath, Podorozhnyak stood up and looked around everyone present with a bold gaze, as if triumphant that he had outwitted and deceived everyone. But he, unfortunate one, did not deceive the Lord God! Less than a quarter of an hour later, his wife ran into the hut where Podorozhnyak was being interrogated and with bitter tears announced the sudden death of her only child, who had previously been completely healthy. Everyone was amazed; The plantain was dumbfounded from the fear of God’s punishment and immediately repented of his false oath and confessed to the theft. (“Sunday Reading” 1888 pp. 223–224). Conversation No. 6. About prayer songs for different occasions I. The more diligently we, brethren, begin to delve into the essence of the church’s needs, the more clearly and distinctly the gentle, affectionate and friendly face of our Holy, caring and loving Mother of the Church will be depicted before our sinful eyes, the more widely will her vigilant, tireless care for us be revealed to us. Her love is not limited to zealous concerns for our souls, for our eternal - heavenly good; our earthly existence, our temporary well-being is also an important subject of her care. We see convincing proof of the first (i.e., the Church’s care for our salvation) in the Holy Sacraments; prayer singing serves as sufficient confirmation of the latter (i.e., the Church’s care for our earthly well-being). II. The prayer chants that exist among us are adapted by the Church to various occasions of our earthly existence. Our whole life is an unbroken chain of various changes, which we call cases, or circumstances: random events, both in public and in the private home life of everyone, can be joyful or sad. Joyful: good air, abundance of fruits, happy home adventures, etc.; sad: widespread illness, enemy invasion, lack of rain, lack of water, death of livestock, domestic troubles, misfortunes, etc. In both circumstances, the Holy Church shows the most lively and sincere sympathy for us and, with its touching prayers and rituals, hastens to share our feelings with us. a) In the happy moments of our lives, we hasten to thank our Lord the Benefactor, and the Holy Church puts into our mouths the song: “Give thanks to Thy unworthy servants, O Lord, for Your great good deeds upon us; we glorify Thee, sing, thank and magnify Thy compassion and with slavish love we cry out to Thee: To our Deliverer and Savior, glory to Thee.” (troparion of thanksgiving prayer). But thanks to the Most High Giver of all bounties, the Church, at the same time, “humbly prays for His immeasurable mercy and not to leave her children without His great mercy” (prayer at the thanksgiving service). b) Misfortune and grief have befallen us; we seek consolation from our own kind, but we do not find it. When the word of man refuses consolation, then the word of God is heard: “Comfort, comfort my people” (Is. 40:1). And so the Church, in the person of its representatives, comes to our aid with its usual means of touching prayers. “Thou gracious, long-suffering and all-generous Lord,” she cries, “send down Thy mercy upon Thy people. Most merciful, have mercy, have mercy on us, Lord. As you are generous, O Lord, have mercy on your people, as you are long-suffering, reconcile and have mercy on us” (following the litia). If you listen to church prayers and chants, adapted to certain occasions, it is not difficult to notice that a strong feeling breathes in them everywhere. In prayers of thanksgiving, sung on the occasion of some joyful event, a bright solemnity is seen everywhere, a feeling of a cheerful soul emanates; in prayers for cases of various disasters, the cry of a praying heart is heard - but a Christian heart, the dark sorrow of which is always illuminated by a brilliant ray of hope for the great mercy of God. The troubles that befall us, either as punishment for our ungodly life or for our correction, are countless and varied (James 1:2-4). But in all of them, as noted, we are not helpless. Seeing the actions of the formidable hand of the Almighty, the Holy Church tries to protect us with the power of her fiery prayers. In these latter one can see all the loving heart of an indescribably kind mother, who sincerely shares all the sad plight of her poor children. Rejoicing in happiness and effectively compassionating in our grief, the Holy Church, with its fervent prayers, tries to help us in all endeavors and enterprises and to bless all our good deeds. Do you want, with God’s help, to build a house for yourself? She sends her servants to consecrate its foundation and, in warm prayers, ask for the blessing of the great Architect for the success of the undertaking. “The work of our hands, which we begin towards Thy glory,” she prays through the mouths of our shepherds, “with Thy blessing, hastily correct it, by Thy power quickly bring it to perfection” (troparion). “Establish it (this house) on solid stone and foundation it according to Your divine Gospel voice, which neither wind, nor water, nor anything else can damage” (prayer). You have built your house: the Church commands that it be sprinkled with holy water, the four main walls are marked with a cross in the shape of St. oil, with the pronunciation of all sanctifying words: “This house is blessed with the anointing of St. this oil, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit"; she assures that with the entrance of the servants of Christ, the angels of God enter the new house (troparion); she begs the Lord that He Himself would grant the new dwelling the same salvation that He brought to the house of Zacchaeus, that He would bless it with such abundance as was in the house of Laban with the coming of Jacob, in the house of Pentephry with the installation of Joseph, in the house of Abeddar with the bringing in of the ark (second prayer). If anyone wants to go on a journey with God, the Church hurries to him with her touching prayers, with a holy parting blessing. She begs the Almighty to “accompany her child, as Om once accompanied Luke and Cleopas on their way to Emmaus,” she asks the Creator to “send him, like the once pious young man Tobias, his angel, an angel of peace, a companion and a mentor, preserving, protecting and keeping him safe from every evil situation”; she prays to the Lord, “may He bless the one who wants to travel from all visible and invisible enemies, and crafty people of bitterness, and bless the exits and entrances and make his journey serene and safe.” III. Saying that our life is an unbroken chain of various changes and accidents, we must also add that, on the other hand, it represents a whole, endless series of concerns and concerns about us from our great Mother - the Church. From the cradle to the grave, the Church leads us, illuminating our path, instructing us, blessing, sanctifying and directing all our thoughts, feelings, desires and deeds to one goal - to eternal good. (Compiled from “Sunday Reading.” 1870–71). A. Historical information about the antiquity of prayers Prayer chants in their basic form are contemporary with our Church, used by it since the times of the apostles, for her children have always had the need for sanctification by her prayers, for her help (See “The History of Liturgical Chants of the Orthodox Eastern Church,” Florinsky, p. 22). Basil the Great, father of the 4th century, during a drought, prayed to the Lord for mercy on the perishing. The Venerable Simeon the Stylite (IV century), during the terrible earthquake that destroyed the glorious city of Asia Minor - Antioch, with his deeply touching song consoled and encouraged, relieved and brought into tenderness the confused people who flocked in horror to his pillar. This song of St. husband and is now read in a similar case (“History of liturgical hymns of the Orthodox Eastern Church,” Florinsky, pp. 105–106). From these two examples one can already see confirmation that our prayer songs have been mainly and essentially used in church practice since ancient times. B. Prayer singing at the beginning of the youths’ teaching I. Sanctifying the fruit of marriage - children - with prayer, the Christian name, spiritually reviving them in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, confirming them through Chrismation, nourishing them through Holy Communion, the Orthodox Church of Christ assists parents, according to their innate feeling of love for their children, - helps to grow and make them prosperous on earth and blessed in heaven. The complete success of raising and teaching children, like the fruitfulness of the earth, depends on the Lord God, who “gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" (Prov. 2:6): with all the desire and diligence of the farmer, with all the care of parents and teachers, the intentions and labors of the farmer and educators often remain without the desired success: since "he who plants and he who waters is nothing, but God makes everything grow" (1 Cor. 3:7). Fully understanding the weakness and poverty of our natural efforts in successfully and correctly educating our children, the Holy Church rushes to our aid with prayer and blessing on us and our children, performing prayer singing at the beginning of the teaching of the youths. II. Prayer singing at the beginning of the teaching of the youths, after a blessing from the priest, begins with the singing of a prayer to the Holy Spirit (Heavenly King...) The Holy Spirit is the Comforter and Heavenly Mentor, He is the Spirit of truth, the Treasury of all spiritual blessings, the Giver of life not only earthly and natural, but also spiritual, grace-filled, eternal, He is the Lord who gives life and enlightens with the light of knowledge of God and warms with the warmth of love of every Christian, clearing the field of our hearts and destroying all sinful impurities. “The Holy Spirit gives everything,” sings the Church of Christ, “sharpenes prophecies, perfects priests, teaches unbooked wisdom, shows fishermen theologians...”, for He is “light and life, and a living source of intelligence; Spirit of wisdom, Spirit of understanding; good, right, smart; possess, cleanse sins; God and God-creator; fire comes from fire; speak, act, share your talents" 21. According to the saying of St. ap. Paul, “we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be expressed.” (Rom.8:26); even “no one can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3)... With the words of the psalm “I will bless the Lord,” which is laid down at the prayer service, the Church of Christ shows us and our children the main source of true wisdom and depicts the features of this wisdom. The God-inspired prophet king seems to say this: “The Lord God is the only source of enlightenment and, connected with this enlightenment, heartfelt delight and satiation, spiritual bliss. Come, children, to the Heavenly Father, draw closer to Him with faith, love, hope - and He will enlighten you with the light of divine teaching; taste His teachings, taste them with your heart, and you yourself will experience such indescribable bliss that no one in the world can ever give except Him alone!” The psalmist at the same time points out the initial, simplest rules of wisdom that the Lord teaches us, namely, that our children should keep their tongues from evil and their lips from deceitful words, since at their present age they primarily sin with their tongues, so that they generally turn away from evil and do good, so that they seek peace and follow it... After the psalm, in the face of the Almighty Himself, or as if at His very feet, we express our sincere needs. To our ordinary prayers, the Holy Church also adds the following very useful petitions at this time: “To send upon the youths the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, to open the mind and lips to receive, understand and remember good and soul-saving instructions; about planting divine fear in their hearts and thereby taking away from them the exuberance of youth; to let them drink in wisdom and age for the glory of God; about their being for the sake of wisdom and virtuous life and prosperity in the Orthodox faith, joy and consolation for their parents, and affirmation for the Orthodox-Catholic Church.” In the Apostolic Epistle read at the prayer service at the beginning of the teaching of the youths (Eph. 1:16-19; 3:18-21), we, brethren, hear the assurance that the Apostle of Christ fulfills our prayer with his prayer, constantly makes remembrance of us and those who wish to begin the teaching of our children in prayer to the Lord, that He may give us all the Spirit of wisdom and revelation into the knowledge of His Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, may He grant us all the enlightened eyes of the heart to understand the boundless love of Christ for us. At the same time, St. The apostle assures us that the generously gifted Heavenly Father is always ready to give us, out of His ineffable love, much more than we ask or desire for our children... Even more gratifying, comforting and desirable for us should be the message that we hear in the Gospel, read at the prayer service at the beginning of the teaching of the youths (Mark 10:13-16). In this Gospel reading, the Church of Christ seems to be telling us this: “Do not be troubled in spirit, boldly bring your children to the Lord Jesus Christ; He receives children with special tenderness and indescribable love - Christ the Savior hugs them and blesses them for the work ahead of them in education; Boldly lead your children to Him, you will bring joy to the Lord, bliss to the children and consolation to yourself! Understand at the same time how unfavorably the Lord Jesus Christ looks at those people who in any way prevent children from receiving true Christian enlightenment, forbid them to approach the Heavenly Father with faith and love; The Savior is indignant and angry at such people - He clearly assures that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to children!” After the Gospel reading, imagining in our minds that the Lord Jesus Christ is hugging and blessing our children, we throw ourselves into the dust before Him and, with tenderness of heart, offer the following prayer to Him through the lips of the clergyman: “Lord God and our Savior, You have honored us humans with Your image; You taught Your chosen ones in such a way that those who listened to Your teaching marveled. Thou hast revealed wisdom to infants, Thou hast taught Solomon and all those who seek Thy wisdom: open the hearts, minds and lips of Thy servants, so that they may receive the power of Thy law, successfully learn the useful teaching taught to them for the glory of Thy most holy name, for the benefit and building of Thy Holy Church, and understand Thy good and perfect will. Deliver them from every tax of the enemy, keep them in the Orthodox faith, in all piety and purity all the days of their lives, so that they may succeed in understanding and in fulfilling Your commandments, so that those thus prepared may glorify Your name and be heirs of Your kingdom!” Finishing the prayer singing, the servant of the altar of the Lord, following the example of Christ the Savior, who once laid hands on children and blessed them, lays his hand on the youths praying before the beginning of the teaching, blessing them; overshadows our children with the Honest Cross and gives them to kiss the Holy Cross as a sign that the Lord Himself truly embraces them and kisses them with His holy kiss - sprinkles them with consecrated water in commemoration of the grace of the Holy Spirit, irrigating the souls of children and sanctifying the power of gift. III. Thus, brethren, the Orthodox Church of Christ fully and deeply understands the desires of our hearts at the beginning of the teaching of the youths; and with the word of God and her sacred rites she assures us that the Lord blesses, embraces and sanctifies our children. Let us listen with all our hearts to the maternal broadcasts of the Holy Church, let us sympathize with all our souls with her prayers for us; she will give us true consolation, true joy in our children. The main task of our education and development, the main goal of our training and enlightenment is, first of all, to know and love with all our hearts our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, for our sake, risen, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father. And if we, parents, do not teach our children at home the necessary subjects in Christian life - prayers, the law of God, and do not send our children to school, where they can learn this; if we, educators and teachers, arrange the subjects of our studies in such a way that in the education of the children entrusted to us we forget to develop in children faith in the Lord the Redeemer, love for Him - we thereby arouse against ourselves the indignation and righteous anger of the Almighty, we remove children from the Lord, forbid them to come, to approach Him through faith, love, prayer, while nature itself draws children to Christ the Savior... Children! deeply, deeply imprint in your hearts the words of the Gospel you have heard and do not be frivolous, inattentive, unbecoming, so as not to offend or anger the Savior who loves you. We pray to the Father of lights for you, “but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and to the day of eternity” (2 Peter 3:18)! Amen. (See the book “Words, conversations and speeches for various special cases.” Kyiv). B. The rite of consecration (at the founding) of a new house I. Blessing a Christian on all paths of life, the Orthodox Church of Christ goes with him to bless the house he is building - in the person of the servant of the altar of the Lord, she is the giver of consecration to the Christian home. And this concern for us by our Mother, the Holy Church, is manifold: whether we need to lay the foundation for our house, whether we need to build a stove in a newly created home, whether the time has finally come for us to move to our new home, the Holy Church always rushes to our aid with her touching rites and sacred rites. II. Let us, brethren, focus our attention on these actions of the Church of God, in order to see more clearly all her boundless love for us and care for us. Immutably believing that “unless the Lord builds a house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps. 126:1), fully understanding their own powerlessness, their poverty, their wretchedness without the Lord God, an Orthodox and God-fearing Christian calls upon the place of foundation of the house being built, his servant of the Lord, asking for his prayers and sanctification, and he himself resorts to the Creator of all things with zeal, fiery prayer. God, please help me! Thus, the Holy Church, through the voice of the divinely inspired king-prophet, expresses the feelings that agitate the soul of a Christian at the beginning of the founding of a house. “Hasten, O God, to deliver me, hasten, O Lord, to help me... But I am poor and needy; God, hurry to me! You are my help and my Savior; God! Do not delay” (Ps. 69:2,6)! If, brethren, a poor man who has little means has to build a house, how touching is this prayer of St. psalmist! However, even with wealth, with great acquisitions, isn’t a person without God a beggar and wretched?.. With its prayer order for the foundation of a house, the Church of Christ admonishes the Christian that the construction of a house should remind the earth-born of the creation and order of the world by the all-good, all-wise, all-powerful Creator: she raises the eyes and heart of a Christian to the Lord Almighty, begs the Heavenly Father, so that He, just as during the creation of heaven and earth, showed ineffable power and wisdom, so here He showed Your goodness and strength to help the beginning of the business. “The work of our hands, which we begin for Thy glory,” prays the Holy Church through the mouth of its clergyman, “with Thy blessing hastily correct it, by Thy power bring it to completion soon!” O God Almighty, having created the heavens with reason and founded the earth on its firmament, look upon Thy servant (the builder), who has deigned in the power of Thy fortress to erect a house as a dwelling place for himself!” She wants the building that is about to be erected to be firm and unshakable; like a gospel church (Matthew 7:24–25); “Solid it,” the priest prays to the Lord, “on solid stone, and foundation it according to Your Divine Gospel voice, which neither wind, nor water, nor anything else can damage.” The Church of Christ commands that the first foundation of the house should be laid by its clergyman with the sign of the Cross of the Lord and with the invocation of the all-powerful name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity: “This house is founded in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit”; place, substance, workers - everything related to the newly created house, she commands to sprinkle St. water, so that the Lord would preserve everything from any opposing slander, without harm. The Orthodox Church of Christ takes such careful and loving care of our home even in the first minutes of its construction! But now your house is finally being arranged: the stove has been built in it, the last work has been completed, after which you can move into it to live. The Holy Church follows up on the stove: it consecrates a new stove in your home and again asks the Lord God for blessings on you, the builders, and on the work of your hands. “God Eternal! - the servant of the Lord cries, - You changed the furnace that was kindled seven times and the flames of Babylon into dew and preserved unharmed the three holy youths thrown into it, at the command of King Nebuchadnezzar: Ananias, Azariah and Misail. Bless this cave yourself for the sake of Your great mercy: bless the works of the hands of Your servants in it, prosper them with Your good assistance and correct them according to the multitude of Your bounties!” In this case, the Holy Church calls, in addition to our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, St. Archangels Michael and Gabriel, who repeatedly demonstrated power over fire - St. Hieromartyr Cyprian, who, having turned to Christ, conquered with his prayers the power of our ancient enemy, calls upon Saint Nicholas, who is a much-merciful and compassionate helper and intercessor to all who call on him with faith, an inexhaustible myrrh of mercies and an inexhaustible sea of ​​miracles. III. Yes, brethren, the Holy Church reaches to the smallest details, in her care for us, observing everything with her loving maternal eye, imposing a divine seal on everything; - and the habit of those Christians is commendable, who even for the construction of a new oven require auxiliary church prayers - and precisely so that from the new ovens, then or in the future, no evil will follow to their detriment. (See “Words, teachings and conversations for different occasions”, Kiev). D. The rite of blessing a new house, in which someone wants to move in I. The maternal care of the Holy Church of Christ is tender and zealous when it wants to introduce a Christian into the home he has newly created. In her concern for her children, the Holy Church established a special prayer “rite of blessing the new home in which whoever first wants to move in...” II. Finally, your home is completely ready. The priests bring your Life-Giving Cross and the Holy Gospel to your new home, which serve as undoubted evidence and obvious proof that Christ the Savior Himself deigned to ascend into the shadow of your home; at the same time, consecrated water and oil are brought here, which serve as visible signs of the invisible grace-filled sanctification and mercies of God to you, and placed in your house by St. icons and candles and burning lamps in front of them are evidence that the holy inhabitants of heaven will dwell in your home with you - that your house henceforth becomes like a church of God. Having given through the lips of the priest a solemn word of praise and glorification to God in your new church, the Holy Church then, with the inspired words of King David (Ps. 90), tries not only to encourage, but also to deepen your joy, assuring that you, living in your new home under the roof of the Most High, will calmly and peacefully settle in the shadow of the Almighty. With childlike love and boldness you can say to the Lord: “You are my refuge and my defense, my God, in whom I trust!” You can confidently be sure that the Lord will deliver you from all the deceits and slander of our primordial enemy, who catches you in his nets - “He will overshadow you with His feathers, and under His wings you will be safe” - that with His protection you will not fear the horrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the plague that walks in the darkness, nor the infection that devastates at noon. Evil will not touch you, and the blow will not reach your home, for the Lord will give His angels a commandment concerning you - to guard you in all your ways: they will carry you in their hands, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone; you will step on the asp and the basilisk, you will trample the lion and the dragon, that is, our worst spiritual and invisible enemies. Because he loved Me, so on behalf of God the inspired psalmist speaks to every true Christian living under the roof of the Most High, “I will deliver him and glorify him, I will satisfy him with long days, and I will show him My salvation.” The Church of Christ assures that with the entrance of the servants of Christ, your saints enter your new home. angels of God; she begs the Lord the Redeemer that He Himself grant the newly created dwelling the same salvation that He once brought to the house of Zacchaeus, that He bless it with the same abundance that was in the house of Laban with the coming of the forefather Jacob, in the house of Pentephry - with the installation of Joseph, in the house of Abeddar - with the bringing in of the ark... For the greater honor of the lord of the house, the Holy Church commands its servant to read the Gospel about the visit of Christ the Savior to the house of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10). “Today I need to be in your house,” - this is how the most merciful Lord Jesus Christ speaks to every Christian householder, just as He spoke to the chief tax collector, Zacchaeus. And how joyful these words of the Savior should be for every son of the Church of Christ, who, with the blessing of the Lord, settles in his earthly home! And the further words of the Lord resonate even more joyfully in the Christian soul: “Now salvation has come to this house.” After reading the Gospel, a special touching prayer is attached for you and for your home: “To send down Your blessed blessings on this newly created house and on this servant - the householder - and on everyone in it who wants to live piously, and to send them Your merciful angel, observing and preserving them from all evil, and instructing them in the practice of all virtues, to preserve them from hunger, destruction, cowardice, flood, fire, sword and grant them health, and protect them with long life, and bless them in everything...” At the end of the prayer singing, the priest sprinkles the entire house and all the buildings belonging to it with St. water, and the four main walls will be anointed with a cross by St. oil, pronouncing the following significant, all-sanctifying words: “This house is blessed by the anointing of this holy oil, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” IV. You see, brothers, how carefully the Orthodox Church of Christ cares for your home! Not only have your labors in building the building ended, but you have a new home for yourself and for your children, your house is becoming a shrine, which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself honored with a visit, it is becoming a church of God, where you, together with your children and members of your household, will offer your prayers. A bright, joyful future awaits you in this new home through the prayers of the Church of God! Only you yourself do not leave the protection of the Almighty by deviating from His commandments, by willfully withdrawing to a distant country - into the region of sin and moral darkness; and He, the Almighty, will show you the wonders of His omnipotence, wisdom and goodness! In order to one day forever give you instructions on how to behave in your new home in order to preserve the shrine brought into it, the Church of Christ at the service for the consecration of the house offers one of the most edifying psalms (Ps. 100), presenting in it a model that we should imitate in our home life - a model so simplified that it indicates all the smallest details of your home life and behavior. Among your daily activities, your thought should be directed, mainly, at how in your life you would not lose the main and great path to eternal salvation: think about this first of all and above all! The righteous man, who is spoken of in the psalm and whom you should imitate in your home life, cried out to God: “I will meditate on the blameless bond: when will You come to me, Lord?” If this thought is firmly established in your soul, it will not be fruitless for you: it will immediately manifest itself in activity that saves you and, most likely, in the integrity of your heart; every act of yours, every movement of yours will show that your heart is occupied and filled with love for the Heavenly Father and love for your neighbors; this will be clear to every member of your household. Whether you begin to think or talk about something, or listen to something, do not place indecent things before your eyes; If you take up your household chores, act in such a way that everyone can see and know that you hate lawless deeds and do not cleave to them. Be careful in choosing your friends and acquaintances; the righteous man, whom you should imitate, says of himself: “A corrupt heart will be removed from me; I will not know evil. He who secretly slanderes his neighbor I will drive out; I will not tolerate someone who is proud in his eyes and arrogant in his heart.” In choosing your servants, be careful and selective: let a man serve with you who walks in the path of integrity; Let there not be in your house those who act treacherously; Let no one remain before your eyes who speaks a lie. From early morning, destroy every reason for sin, alienate from you all those who practice lawlessness. III. Live like this, brethren, in this newly created earthly dwelling of yours - and it will forever remain for you the shelter of the Most High - the grace of God, peace and holiness brought by the Holy Church into it will forever rest in it - and, sooner or later, leaving this temporary dwelling, you will be honored in the afterlife to settle in heaven in those blessed abodes that will never be destroyed or destroyed. will decay, but will exist forever in perfect beauty! Amen. (See the book “Words, conversations and speeches for different occasions”, Kiev). D. Lithiums during public disasters I. In the beginning, the land blessed by God, before the fall of people, did not threaten man with any disasters; there were no earthquakes, no fires, no floods or deadly epidemics. It was not the same after the first people sinned: the earth is cursed for your sake, God said to Adam; the earth and everything on it, in it and around it are cursed; Since then, everything on earth has armed itself against man and strikes those living on earth with terrible disasters. Then the Lord brings a coward to the earth - an earthquake, and how terrible then is the wrath of the righteous Judge! The earth shakes like a leaf when the wind blows. Then entire rich cities are destroyed, strongholds of stone crumble like weak clay, or are swallowed up along with all the living; thousands of people are buried under the ruins of their homes or are swallowed up by the earth along with them. Then a terrible fire from heaven and underground, by God’s permission, strikes those living on earth: “The Lord caused thunder and hail, and fire spread across the earth” (Ex. 9:23). The Lord rained brimstone and fire on the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And the Lord overthrew these cities and all their inhabitants. An underground fire breaks through the earth; mountains crack like clay vessels, and terrible underground lava drowns entire cities with inhabitants and their houses in one hour; then a terrible heat strikes the earth and destroys every plant on the earth, or, on the contrary, rain uncontrollably rushes to the earth, the waters overflow their limits, and in a few hours they also flood entire large cities with thousands of inhabitants; then terrible winds arise, bringing with them infection and death to those living on earth; then destruction and famine threaten us: if you do not listen to Me, says the Lord, “your land will not yield its growth, and the trees of the land (yours) will not yield their fruit” (Lev.26:20). II. When the righteous Judge of heaven sends these terrible disasters to earth for the sins of people, the Holy Church, in order to propitiate the Lord, established litias, i.e. the most fervent prayers - prayers. To perform the litia, the clergy and people with St. with icons they go out from the church to the square, to the rivers, to the fields. Why aren’t litias celebrated in the church? Litiyas are performed outside churches “in remembrance of our falling away (from God), that we, who have fallen away, must humble ourselves and think that we are unworthy of St. place, paradise and heaven (the church depicts heaven and paradise), that we must imitate the tax collector,” who considered himself unworthy due to his sins to stand in the church, but stood behind everyone. At crossroads, squares and fields, our most fervent prayers are offered so that everything defiled by our sins will be cleansed. They are taken out of the churches of St. icons, so that together with people everything that people use, and their houses, and paths, and water, and air, and the land desecrated by us, our cities and villages, will be holy; so that all this may be worthy of divine grace and freed from corruption and corruption, so that the Son of God incarnate for us will be merciful to us.” At litias the most zealous, fiery prayers are said for mercy on us sinners. “O gracious, long-suffering and all-generous Lord, send down mercy on Your people. Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy, have mercy on us, Lord! As you are generous, O Lord, have mercy on your people, as you are long-suffering, be reconciled and have mercy on us” (Following to various litias). “Thou hast thundered from heaven, O Lord, and thou hast multiplied the lightning, and thou hast humbled us. But be reconciled,” we pray to the Lord, “Mother of mercy, we resort to You, so that the fury of Your lightning and thunder does not burn us.” Prayer always pleases God; all the more does the most fervent prayer, combined with fasting and repentance, bow to the mercy of the Lord. Here are examples of this. Once (in 446) there was a terrible earthquake in the Greek land; king and people with St. with icons they went out into the open and here they prayed long and earnestly for the aversion of a terrible disaster; at the same time, Christians learned the angelic song “Holy God”; one youth was lifted into the air by an invisible force and, having descended unharmed, announced that he heard angels singing “Holy God...” Christians began to pray even more fervently and sing the angelic song with the addition of the words: have mercy on us. The Lord heard the fervent prayer of His servants and the terrible earthquake stopped. Another also terrible earthquake that happened in Constantinople (740) stopped after a public prayer service, or lithium (Mesyatseslov October 26). (See Sunday Reading). III. So, brothers, the Lord is merciful to us sinners. And thunder, and lightning, and earthquakes, and storms cease through our fervent prayer. E. About the pious custom of receiving priests with the Cross and St. on special holidays. water for prayer in houses I. The Holy Church, protecting her children from the fall of sin, on special holidays, sanctified the custom through her minister of sending her protective blessing into your very homes. This is why on major holidays priests come to the houses of parishioners with the Cross and holy water. Our ancestors understood the value of this pious custom, and they loved to spend the holiday time, after church services, with the priests, often receiving the shadow of the Life-giving Cross, sprinkling with holy water, and thereby saving themselves from inappropriate deeds, receiving grace and receiving many different powers from above. II. 1) This custom was established, perhaps, following the example of our Savior: for He Himself brought the joy of His resurrection to His apostles, gathered together for fear of the Jews in one house, the doors of which were locked. The Lord with His glorified flesh entered this house through the closed doors and assured them of His resurrection from the dead. 2) To further explain the custom of our visiting your homes, both on Easter with the joyful gospel of Christ’s Resurrection, and on some other church or church holidays, we point out to you the commandment of the Savior to the Apostles. What is this commandment? “Whatever city or village you enter, visit who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave; and when you enter a house, greet it, saying: Peace to this house; and if the house is worthy, then the peace of the wag will come upon it; if you are not worthy, then the world of waga will return to you. And if anyone does not accept you and listen to your words; then, when you leave that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet... Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (Matthew 10:11, 12, 13, 14,40). Do you, brethren, need an explanation that we too are servants of Christ, builders of His mysteries, and, although unworthy, successors of the apostolic ministry, and that therefore the commandment of the Savior in the person of the apostles was given to us too? Do Christians actually need proof that, although they have believed in Christ, they still need spiritual reinforcement through the shepherds of the Church, as instruments of grace? Is it necessary to say that this strengthening requires our assistance, not only at other times, but also on days of deliberate holidays? The Word of God says: “Therefore let everyone understand us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1). Do the priests themselves admire this dignity? No, “no one of his own accord accepts this honor, but he who is called to God, like Aaron” (Heb. 5:4). Did we receive initiation only through the word of men and through visible mere laying on of hands? No: but by the election of God, through the power of the prayers of the church, they are consecrated by the Spirit of grace, perfected in weakness. The Holy Spirit descended first on the apostles, through St. He appointed bishops as apostles, and then, through the bishops, he successively appointed elders, or priests, to shepherd the Church of Christ, that is, to instruct Orthodox Christians in faith, piety and good deeds. Do we ourselves establish something in the Church out of need or for vile profit? God forbid! Everything sacred is established in order, decent and beneficial for you and for the whole Church, for the glory of God. So, you see that the ritual of going around your houses is useful and is based on the commandments of the Savior. It is performed on holidays: for when is it more convenient for us to fulfill our duty and when is it more appropriate for you to receive us, if not on holidays, at a time completely free from everyday activities and dedicated to the one Lord, for holy and soul-saving deeds? 3) Moreover, not everyone can be in the church of God: for there are sick, elderly, and infants in your houses; There are those who, for other, more or less plausible reasons, make the excuse that they do not have time to pray. But, without a doubt, everyone needs the grace of the holiday, and it is this grace that the holy fathers wisely established to communicate from St. church into the homes of Christians through the ministers of the Church, who bring consecration and blessing into the houses, along with the Cross and holy water, and, as if in a special way, bring them closer to the holiday, singing sacred songs in the houses in honor of this or that holiday. III. It must be said that some of the citizens do not accept priests as diligently as they should; others do not accept at all, as if they cannot tolerate the power of the cross or think that we come to them for self-interest. Let us say something for such people and in justification. Our Savior Jesus Christ, sending St. apostles into the world to preach, forbade them to have their own property, encouraging with gratitude those who received their word. “Take with you neither gold, nor silver, nor copper for your belts, nor scrip for the road, nor two coats, nor sandals, nor a staff, for the worker is worthy of food” (Matthew 10:9-10). Holy apostle Paul says, “If we have sowed spiritual things to you, is it great if we reap bodily things from you? Do you not know that those who officiate are fed from the sanctuary? that those who serve the altar take a share from the altar? So the Lord commanded those who preach the Gospel to live by the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:11,13,14). We accept your small gift not for the grace that we freely received and must impart freely, but because it is the will of God and your zeal. Remembering how important and sacred the ritual of walking around your homes with the Cross and holy water is, cherish, brothers, this shrine and accept it with reverence. I. Having experienced the great and countless benefits of the Lord and His saints, the Holy Church could not be ungrateful to them: she saw and felt in herself, as in a kingdom of grace, the discovery of the glory of her Creator King and His reverend servants, and the glorification of those worthy of praise became a necessity for her: the expression of these holy feelings became the content of the akathists. But the akathist is not a purely laudatory song. The Church knew that her children living on earth always, at every moment, need divine help - and therefore, with the songs of praise of the akathist, she also combined a prayer for this help. That is why the akathist is a prayerful doxology, or a prayer of praise. II. Akathist - a Greek word - means “non-sitting”, non-sitting reading, i.e. reading during which one cannot sit (Synaxarion on Saturday of the 5th week of the Holy Pentecost). This name was, on the one hand, a consequence of the deep respect that believers had for the reading contained in it, and on the other, the fruit of the consciousness that it is indecent to sing a prayer of praise to God and His saints in a sitting position. Our liturgical books are quite rich in akathists; we have akathists: to the Most Holy Theotokos, to the Sweetest Jesus, to the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, to Her all-honorable Dormition, to St. Nicholas, to Barbara the Great Martyr, to St. Sergius and other saints of God. The oldest and most commonly used of them are akathists to Jesus Christ and the Mother of God. “In the Akathist to the Unbrided Bride and to the Sweetest Jesus, everything is fragrant with the anointing of the Holy Spirit and everything is applicable to everyone” (“Soulful Reading,” 1869, November, p. 68). Akathists to the Intercession of the Holy Virgin and Her Dormition also belong to the best treasures of church prayers. In the akathists dedicated in honor of St. God, their righteous life, deeds, merits and virtues are praised, in which we are shown excellent models to follow. In all the akathists one can notice one common feature: “the voice of the soul suffering on earth and seeking consolation and help in the highest heavenly power.” III. So, the Holy Church offers us precious and generous gifts; she surrounds us with great worries; With the loving heart of a mother, she tries to raise us. Are we grateful to her for all her care for us? Do we use what it sanctifies? And are we edified by what she wants to teach us? Let the conscience of each of us answer these questions!.. (Extracted from “Sunday Reading” for 1870–71, book 2, pp. 624–630). According to church tradition, a hymn of praise in honor of the Mother of God was sung for the first time by the apostles who had gathered for Her burial. In the service of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the following is sung: “From the end, the best apostles flocked together, with a divine gesture, to bury Thee to the Mother of God: - and from the earth I will lift Thee up on high, seeing, the voice of Gabriel joyfully crying out to Thee: Rejoice, Bearing the Deities of all! Rejoice, One earthly One who united with Thy Christmas above... Rejoice, blessed Virgin, brideless Mother, the Lord is with Thee! The basis of the song of the apostles lies, as is obvious, in the voice of Gabriel: “Rejoice, full of grace.” In the songs of the 7th century, as well as the previous one, the Mother of God was especially praised and blessed as the Queen of Heaven and Intercessor for our race. A short but solemn hymn to St. Archangel became the main song in the beautiful, extended songs of St. Ephraim the Syrian (IV century), which he wrote and sang in praise of the Most Holy Lady of the world. This served as a model for compiling an akathist. The word “Rejoice” comes first in almost all akathists (it is not in the akathist to the Sweetest Jesus) and constitutes the dominant tone in them. Many songs of St. Ephraim the Syrian to the Most Holy Theotokos were included in Her akathist. The Akathist to the Mother of God, in its present form, appeared at the beginning of the 7th century. It is believed to have been compiled by the deacon of the great Church of Constantinople - George of Pisidia, who lived during the reign of the Greek Emperor Heraclius (610-641), in gratitude to the heavenly Intercessor for delivering Constantinople from the attack of the Persians and Avars - from land and sea, in 626. The seventh century was a difficult time for the Greek state. Exhausted in strength during the reign of the tormentor Phocas, it was subjected to attacks by the Persians, whose king, Chosroes the 2nd, had as his main intention the extermination of the Church of Christ; together with the Persians, the Scythians also rebelled against Greece; then the Saracens, a strong and warlike people, began to devastate its borders with their raids. It is in these sorrowful, difficult times that the Church presented to the faithful a consoling, hymn of praise to the non-bridal Bride, a hymn that is read with particular solemnity on Saturday in the 5th week of St. Vel. Pentecostals. The pious custom of performing this thanksgiving and praising singing on Saturday of the 5th week of Great Lent has forever established in our Church the miraculous protection of the Mother of God, revealed to the city of St. Constantine during two terrible Saracen invasions (in 674 and 716). We hear the memory of this event on the day mentioned now in a special prayer read at the end of the akathist. “In the akathist to the Mother of God, the incarnation of God the Word and the greatness of the Mother of God are sung, who is blessed by all generations for the birth of the God incarnate by Her (Luke 1:48). As if in a vast picture, the great mystery of the incarnation of God the Word is depicted in the akathist with countless wondrous features. Successful lighting enlivens every picture and the akathist to the Mother of God is illuminated with the extraordinary light of grace. This light acts purely: it enlightens the mind, it fills the heart with joy and knowledge. The incomprehensible (the mystery of the incarnation of God the Word) is accepted as if completely comprehended, by the wonderful effect it produces on the mind and heart” (Ignatius (Brianchaninov), Bishop of the Caucasus. “Ascetic Experiences”, vol. 2, p. 186). Anyone who listened with deep attention and reverence or read the akathist to the Mother of God himself could not help but feel this grace-filled action within himself. The first kontakion of the akathist to the Mother of God is marked by the remembrance of a miracle - the sinking of the Scythian ships that were besieging the city of the Mother of God - Constantinople - a miracle that took place through the prayer of Patriarch Sergius, who carried the robe of the Blessed Virgin stored there from the sanctuary of Blachernae and immersed Her in the waters of the Bosphorus with prayerful tears for the salvation of the city. The last kontakion of this akathist is a short, but deeply touching prayer addressed to the all-sung Mother of a tender soul for salvation, for “its removal from eternal torment.” B. Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus Making the first and constant need of every lover of God the prayerful remembrance of the most holy name of Jesus and the prayerful communion of the heart and all the strength of the soul with the Lord Jesus Christ, St. The ascetic fathers assign as a guide and guidance the well-known, so-called “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Prescribed by them for our constant and - so to speak - every minute use, this sacred prayer, obviously, should in this case serve as a general, abbreviated image of the pious aspirations of the soul towards Christ the Savior, and instead of supporting the prayer book as he ascends to the Lord. But as for the most private thoughts and feelings, how this holy communion with the Lord Jesus can and should be designated in the soul, with its fullest revelation in its depths, the best example for this and the most perfect guidance is presented to us by the Holy Church in the akathist chant to the Sweetest Jesus 22. The Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus generally represents the same main character of feeling and mood as is expressed in the Jesus Prayer: the character of a deep repentant feeling based on faith in Jesus the Son of God as the Savior of sinners. This is clear and represented by each of the individual parts of the akathist, consisting of twelve kontakia, connected with their ikos, with the addition of the 13th, final kontakion: for here, regardless of the particular characteristics of one or another of them, the Christian’s sung appeal to the Son of God almost everywhere directly leans towards the tone of a tender petition for the revival of a soul mortified (kontakion 2) and a body enfeebled by sins (ikos 11), about the covering of our spiritual nakedness (kontakion 3), about the recovery of us who are lost (ikos 7), pardon at judgment (5th), deliverance from eternal torment (4th), etc. This is clearly expressed in the conclusion of the initial song: “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me,” repeated at the end of each of the ikos, as the general main thought. But this is not enough: considering in totality all the features that here designate this repentant direction of the pious soul, we will find here a very complete and expressive representation of the thoughts, feelings and desires of a Christian in that state of his spiritual life, which is usually called by theologians the turning of a person to God, to the life of God - from the dead life of sin, through repentance and faith, about the name of Jesus the Savior. If we want to see how a heart, wounded by sinful sores, outraged by waves of disordered thoughts and desires, exhausted by the vanity of worldly goods and their variability, wants to finally surrender to Christ the Savior, mercifully calling to Himself all those who are toiling and burdened by His almighty power to strengthen their weakened strength and receive salvation by His grace, then hardly anywhere will we find an expression of all this to such a strong degree and the completeness in which these tender appeals of the soul to the Son of God, contained in the akathist, present it to us. Turning here to the Lord Jesus as the Redeemer of sinners, she sees in Him and confesses the only hope of the hopeless, into the bosom of which, in humble hope, she plunges her unworthiness, asking for forgiveness of sins and taking away iniquities and begging the merciful Savior not to reject this petition: “Jesus, the long-suffering Master (ikos 2nd), Jesus, most merciful Savior (2nd ikos), Jesus, hope of the unreliable, consolation of those who mourn, glory of the poor - do not judge me according to my deeds, cleanse me according to Your mercy, drive away despondency from me (ikos 9), take away my iniquities, forgive my iniquities; Jesus, my hope, do not leave me, my Helper, do not reject me, my Creator, do not forget me, my Shepherd, do not destroy me (Ikos 2), Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner, hear me, conceived in iniquities, cleanse me, born in sins, teach me indecent, sanctify me, the dark one, raise up the prodigal me; Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me (ikos 3rd)!” It is impossible not to notice how vividly and strikingly the feeling of our sinful nakedness, poverty, our sinful humiliation, and the consciousness of the need to get out of this disastrous situation are outlined here. But a gracious turn to Christ the Savior is not limited to this: it presupposes a complete change in a person’s thoughts, feelings and actions into a life about Christ. It is necessary that here, with this very repentant turning to the Lord, a person should begin his spiritual growth in the life of God, and for this, first of all, he should discover in himself a strong desire to draw closer and closer in love to Jesus Christ as the beginning of our salvation, to make his spiritual contact with His power more and more effective for himself and to cleave to Him “with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my soul, and with all our strength, this is the first commandment!” (Mark 12:30). And again, the best expression of this for us will be this fiery one-on-one conversation of the soul with Christ the Savior, set out in the akathist. All his laudatory appeals, in which his pious soul is poured out here before his Lord and Savior, indeed, exactly correspond to the name of Jesus the Sweetest, denoting the order of this service among other church orders. Here we see how a Christian plunges with his whole being into the boundless depth of Jesus’ love, intoxicates himself with the flow of its sweetness, and at the same time cannot find the words to fully express his insatiable and at the same time blissful thirst for communication with the highest object of his aspirations. “Jesus, invincible power, endless mercy, radiant beauty, ineffable love (ikos 3rd); Jesus, Creator of the highest, Redeemer of the lower, Consumer of the underworld, Decorator of all creation, Comforter of my soul, Enlightener of my mind, joy of the heart, health of the body (Ikos 4th); My guardian in youth, nourisher in youth, praise in old age, hope in death, consolation in judgment (ikos 5th).” And again: “Jesus, sweetness of heart, strength of body, lightness of soul, quickness of mind, joy of conscience, high praise; Jesus, my exalted glory (8th ikos), unembraceable, unseen Word, incomprehensible power, inconceivable wisdom, invincible kingdom, endless dominion, highest fortress, eternal power (7th ikos); My mighty King, my mighty God, my most glorious Creator, my most kind Mentor, my most merciful Savior (Ikos 11); intercession of widows, protector of the orphans, help of the toiling, strange guide, helmsman of the floating, silence of the overwhelmed; strong food, inexhaustible drink, incorruptible treasure, inexhaustible wealth (Ikos 10th).” “Creator of angels and Lord of hosts, open my bewildered mind and tongue to the praise of Your most pure name, as You opened the ears and tongue of the deaf and humming ancients (Ikos 1).” And throughout the rites, these enthusiastically tender feelings and exclamations are the product of firm and conscious faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the human race, coming from a living and distinct dogmatic thought about Him as the only begotten Son of God, who was deigned to accomplish our salvation by His coming to earth. From the very beginning, the believing soul here turns to Him as the Lord - the Conqueror of hell with a song of praise for delivering her from eternal death, and with a prayer to His ineffable mercy for saving her from all troubles; The beginning of his prayer is that he asks for mercy from Him as the Son of God: “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.” Isn’t it expressed here, as the main idea of ​​the akathist, giving its entire tone and direction, the idea inspired by the teachings of our holy faith that there is one Author and Finisher of our salvation - Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God; that the salvation He bestows consists mainly in delivering us from sin and eternal death associated with it, and that, finally, it is required on our part, first of all, to turn in humility to this ineffable mercy of the Son of God with a request for mercy, after which we can already hope to be free from all the troubles of life? The same thing is clearly presented in all the most important songs. Following the model of other church akathists, in which, in similarity with the first of them in time, the akathist to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary by Patriarch Sergius, the song of praise is usually added to various historical memories of the person in whose honor it is sung - and in the rite we are considering, it is everywhere preceded by indications of certain circumstances from the Gospel story about Christ the Savior. But let us note that all these instructions are not just simple borrowings from the Gospel books, but reflect a firm and conscious view of faith in Jesus Christ, brought up by the word of the Gospel, and are applied everywhere to our spiritual states and needs, which in all cases constituted and constitute the main subject of the loving care of the Son of God for us. Let’s take for example the 2nd kontakion of the akathist: “Seeing the widow weeping green, O Lord, just as you were merciful to her son for the burial of the unborn, you raised her, and have mercy on us, O lover of mankind, and resurrect my soul, mortified by sins, calling: Alleluia!” Or - the beginning of the 4th ikos: “When the blind man heard You passing by, O Lord, he cried out: Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me, and having called, You opened his eyes; Enlighten with Thy mercy the eyes of the mental hearts and mine, crying out to Thee and saying: Jesus, creator of the highest,” and so on. In particular, it should be noted that in a number of these historical memories, which are taken here as the basis of the song, not so much specific indications are introduced of the circumstances of the earthly life of the Savior, but rather general dogmatic statements of the most important works of the economy of Jesus Christ, which constitute for us the primary subject of saving faith in the Redeemer, and mainly His miraculous incarnation, suffering, death and resurrection. We see this, for example, in the 6th kontakion: “Jesus, the preacher of God-bearing messages and fulfilling verbs, appeared on earth, and from man, unbearable, you lived, and you took away our illnesses, - from where by Your wounds we, healed, sing with our ears: Alleluia;” - in the 7th: “Although you have revealed the hidden secret from the ages, like a sheep you were led to the slaughter, O Jesus, and like a lamb straight from its shearer, silent, and like God rose from the dead and ascended with glory into heaven, and you raised us up together...”; - at the beginning of the 8th ikos: “All the indescribable Word, in the lower and the highest, departed in no way, when by His will we suffered for the sake of suffering, and by His death put to death our death, and the resurrection of life, singing: Jesus, the sweetness of the heart,” etc. And all this is imprinted by the character of lofty spiritual contemplation, which is characteristic of pure and holy faith, penetrating the whole soul of a Christian. Striving to contemplate the “wonderful” (ikos 7th) mystery of the incarnation of the Creator from the Virgin with all the other miracles of our redemption accomplished along with this, pious thought, just like in the akathist in honor of the Blessed Virgin, chanting Her supernatural service to the incarnation of the Word, rises above the worldly vanity and the whole world, and is entirely raised to the heavenly - the divine, recognizing this as its goal the very condescension of the Son of God to us. “We have strangely (miraculously, extraordinarily) seen God incarnate, let us withdraw from the vanity of the world and place our minds on the divine: for this reason God has come to earth, that He may lead us to heaven, crying out to Him: Alleluia” (kontakion 8; see also akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos - ikos 7 and kontakion 8; see “Resurrection” reading" for 1856, No. 27). Conversation No. 8. About the rite of water blessing (small) I. At the Baptism of the Lord, the consecration of water took place for the first time after it, along with all creation, was subjected to vanity for the sin of man. However, even after the solemn consecration of the waters by the baptism of the Son of God, they are again and repeatedly sanctified, because fallen people, although washed by the grace of God, always carry within themselves until death the seed of ancient sinful impurity, as a result of which they can always sin, and thereby again introduce impurity and corruption into the surrounding nature. Therefore, the consecration of water performed by the Orthodox Church of Christ is, as it were, a continuation, or extension, of the sanctifying actions that took place at the baptism of the Savior in the Jordan - it is the return of the water element to its primitive purity and holiness, bringing down upon it by the power of prayer, the blessing of the Lord and the grace of the Most Holy and Life-giving Spirit of God, giving it the power to sanctify the souls and bodies of all who use it. If for the sake of the Divine Redeemer the Holy Spirit descends on the water and makes it capable of cleansing the sinful filth innate in the soul, revives a person dead through sins (Eph. 2:5) into a new, holy life (John 3:5), then for the sake of the same Redeemer this Divine Spirit, during the prayers of the Holy Church, can always descend on the water in order to impart to it the grace-filled power beneficial for the regenerated children of the Church. This is where lies the reason why in the water consecrated by the Church of Christ there are wonderful properties that we do not see in ordinary waters: it does not become corrupted, like ordinary water, even if it has been stored for a very long time: in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism it washes away the sinful impurities of a person, renews and revives him into a new life in Christ; it, accepted with faith, serves to heal human infirmities, to extinguish passions, to drive away evil spirits, everything unclean, pernicious, and for all spiritual and physical benefit of believers. II. In order to turn the water element, which has extensive use in human life, into the water of heavenly blessings, the Holy Church of Christ performs over it one of its most majestic, deeply touching and touching rites - the so-called succession of the small consecration of water. The small blessing of water (so called in contrast to the great one, performed on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and on the eve of this day) is not assigned exclusively to any day, but can be performed at any time - according to accepted custom or according to the pious zeal and desire of believers, and, moreover, not in any specific place, but in any decent place - wherever it is considered necessary: ​​in a church, in houses, in the open air. a) Praising and imploring in the chants of the Lesser Blessing of Water the Immaculate and Most Pure Virgin Mary, from ancient times called the Life-Giving Source and the Joy of all who mourn, the ancient Christians had, and we now have, immeasurable superiority over the Jews and pagans, who at a certain time performed their superstitious, vile and ungodly rituals 23 . Not an earthly and sinful virgin, but the Most Pure and Immaculate Ever-Virgin, not a mere mortal, but the Queen of Heaven we sing and implore; not from empty fortune-telling and omens, not for the sake of sorcery, we expect success and blessings in our affairs and undertakings, but from the intercession and intercession of the Mother of God, from our tender prayers to Her and from our heartfelt repentance. To her, the Most Holy Theotokos, we entrust ourselves, our lives, our happiness and prosperity on earth, our eternal salvation; We expect help and intercession from Her in all our troubles and sorrows; for the sake of Her prayers, we ask the Lord God for protection and protection from all enemies, visible and invisible. b) The apostolic reading at the blessing of water indicates the reason why sanctification from the Lord is now being given in unspeakable abundance. This is because our Lord Jesus Christ, the Source and Giver of sanctification, deigned to unite with us as closely and closely as siblings descended from the same father are united with each other; He is not ashamed to call us His brothers. And Christ the Savior became our brother precisely in order to help us, to deliver us from the power of the devil, from slavish service to him, to crush the power of death, to become a merciful and faithful high priest for us before God the Father, to give us all the means for our sanctification and deliverance from our sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself knows all the weaknesses of our nature, He Himself has experienced and endured everything, and therefore is always ready to help us in all our temptations (Heb. 2:11-18). c) The Gospel reading placed at the consecration of water shows us that in the Old Testament, the Heavenly Father demonstrated His omnipotent miraculous power in healing ailments of all kinds through water stirred up in the pool of Siloam by an angel, although this power was manifested in only one place, only once a year, and, moreover, only for one who was the first to take advantage of the minutes of consecration (John 5:2-5). d) Obviously, we can only now offer our prayers to the Almighty for the sanctification of our water - and we can hope that He, the Most Merciful, will send us sanctification, healing, His gracious help and blessing. And so, after reading the Gospel, we earnestly pray to the Lord God that He would sanctify our waters by the power, action and influx of the Holy Spirit, send down the blessing of the Jordan on the water, make it healing for the soul and body, driving away any resistive force - so that He would grant us help and intercession, enlightenment of the mind, and reveal us as sons and heirs of His Kingdom through the partaking and sprinkling of the sanctified water. e) In the next touching prayer, the Holy Church remembers us all before the Merciful Lord, starting with our Most Pious Sovereign, to those in captivity among enemies and in sorrow, to the last slave working somewhere outside the church or at home, and asks everyone for beneficial benefits - healing of mental and physical ailments, granting salvation to the living and the dead for the sake of our Most Blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, through the intercession of the disembodied heavenly powers, the apostles, saints, unmercenaries and miracle workers, the entire divinely luminous and divine host of celestial beings - and the water is blessed three times by the hand of the celebrant. f) Next, the actual act of blessing of water is performed. The life-giving Cross of the Lord is immersed three times (in honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity, all-active and all-sanctifying, and in undoubted assurance of the sanctification of water) - our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the only Doctor and Healer of all our mental and physical ailments, the only Holy One and Sanctifier, disturbs the water and sanctifies it. And if, after the Old Testament disturbance of the water by an angel, the bathhouse became healing for the sick and healed all kinds of illnesses, then how much more so for us a cup of water, consecrated through the threefold immersion of the Cross of the Lord, can be a source of healing from all ailments, a giver of sanctification and blessing for us, for our dwellings and for everything that we have? In the Old Testament, it was necessary that one of the sick, before all the others, enter the pool, plunge into the water, out of indignation: now the time has come to sanctify everyone: in the New Testament, the first and the last, everyone - everyone can be healed of their mental and physical ailments, if only they have a living faith in the Savior and our God and love for Him. A Christian does not need to go to the bathhouse or plunge into the water: he only needs to be sprinkled with consecrated water by the servant of the Lord’s altar, and the grace of sanctification and healing will touch, sanctify, and heal him. Believers sprinkled with St. with water, they are encouraged in spirit, they are refreshed, just as the thirsty earth is refreshed after being irrigated by raindrops, they are renewed in spiritual life and with new strength, with new vigor, they begin their usual activities; at the same time, the very houses and dwellings of men are sanctified and blessed again - and the grace of the Holy Spirit is established in them. (See “Sermons,” supplement to the Rural Pastor's Manual, 1893, July.) III. It must be regrettably admitted that some Christians have little understanding of the holiness and power of consecrated water and do not know how to treat it as a great shrine. So, many, without waiting for the end of the blessing of water, noisily rush to draw the Holy Spirit. water without any reverence and fear of God, pushing each other, breaking each other's vessels in a disorderly crowd and spilling St. water in vain... Let us fear, brothers, the wrath of God for such a desecration of the shrine; Let us not desecrate what the Lord God Himself has sanctified. After the blessing of water, when we draw the consecrated water, we will remember that this is a shrine that must be accepted with complete reverence and fear of God, without struggling or jostling in a noisy disorder - that the grace of the Holy Spirit is invisibly given only to those who draw it faithfully and reverently. water. Otherwise, the grace of God, which is called upon the water by the prayers of the Holy Church, will recede from our hearts, and the holy water itself, obtained by us with violence, noise and offense to our neighbor, like any sacred thing under such conditions, will turn for us, instead of the health of soul and body, only into condemnation from God and good people! Amen. Conversation No. 9. About following the prayer service for the weak, overwhelmed by unclean spirits and cold I. Now let’s talk about one prayer service that our merciful Mother, the Holy Church, established in order to alleviate and heal the grave suffering of her unfortunate children who fell under the influence of the ethereal enemies of our salvation. II. After the blessing of the priest, the prayer service for the weak, overwhelmed by unclean spirits, according to the Trisagion, begins with the reading of the psalms: “Lord, hear my prayer... The Lord shepherds me... The Lord is my enlightenment and my Savior... May God rise again and His enemies be scattered” and a psalm of repentance. Then follows a canon of prayer to the Savior, the Most Holy Theotokos, the disembodied angels and all the saints. In this canon, they all pray for the deliverance of those who are overwhelmed by the misfortunes of the enemy from all circumstances and bitterness, violence and torment of the evil devil and for driving away from the sick (all flattering) satanic dreams, ghosts and insurance, and all the tormenting satanic power that holds him. The entire canon is composed of warm prayers to the Lord Jesus and all His saints for the deliverance and liberation of the sick from the violence of the devil and his all-evil cunning. At the end of the prayer singing, the patient is anointed with oil from kandil and prayers are read for him. The first prayer contains a general request for the recovery of the patient, but the second prayer begins with the spells of St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom. The prayer books themselves call these prayers incantations: “Give to this spell, about the terrible name of Thy performed, the fear of being the leader of wickedness and all his regiment, who have fallen with him from the mountain light, and put him to flight, and forbid him and his demon to retreat, of course, so that nothing harmful will be done to the opposite image” (prayer 2). The third prayer begins with the following words: “I conjure you, the evil-doer of the blasphemous, the leader of the resistance uprising and the creator of wickedness... I conjure you, unclean soul, by the God of Hosts and all the angels of God, Adonai, Eloi, God the Almighty, go out and separate from the servant of God (name of the rivers).” There are many more spells invoking the name of Jesus Christ and showing examples from the Old Testament and New Testament history of the Lord casting out unclean spirits from people. “Fear,” continues Saint Basil, “flee, separate, unclean and nasty demon (even the many vile qualities of Beelzebub are counted, his harmful and evil deeds against people are indicated and all the cases in which the demon attacks people are counted), separate and be used, be ashamed of the image created and imagined by the hand of God. Fear the likeness of God incarnate and do not hide in the servant of God... Fear - be silent, run away, do not return.” This spell is very strong and scary for the spirit of evil, it is all based on irrefutable historical facts and has irresistible power with the grace-filled help of the caster. Prayers of St. John Chrysostom are imbued, like the Vasilievs, with the power of spells. In the first prayer to the eternal God, the deliverance of the servant of God is requested from all the activities of unclean spirits and the command to the evil and unclean spirits and demons to retreat from the soul and body of the servant of God and to flee. In the second, the saint calls on the Almighty to send the sick a strong angel, a guardian of soul and body, who will forbid and wean from him every evil and unclean demon; Finally, Chrysostom’s last prayer, with which the sequence ends, contains prohibitions against the devil. Each of the prohibitions begins with the words: the Lord forbids you... the devil. There are eighteen prohibitions. The last of them says to the devil: “Be afraid, tremble, be afraid, be separated, be consumed, run, fallen from heaven and with you all the evil souls.” Having counted all the evil spirits, nocturnal, daytime, midday, evening and midnight, the prohibition commands them to separate themselves from the servant of God, from the mind, from the heart, from the soul, from the womb, from the feelings and from all his pleasures. This following is remarkable because it is included in all the breviaries of the Orthodox Church. The contents here are presented according to the breviary, printed in 1873 in the printing house of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. (See A Manual for Rural Shepherds, 1881, No. 48.) III. Brothers Christians! After his fall, man is in a hostile position in relation to Satan and is subject to the attacks of the spirit of malice - he even becomes a slave of the devil when he retreats from faith in God as his helper and Savior. Only Divine power can save him from the spirits of evil, which is why we all need to pray to God for deliverance from the devil’s obsession. Appendix to conversation No. 9. About the so-called exordia (or prayers to exorcise demons) One subscriber of the Podolsk diocese contacted the editors of the Podolsk Diocesan Gazette with a letter asking for clarification on the pages of the local diocesan body of “a strange phenomenon observed among the clergy of the Podolsk diocese.” This strange phenomenon is that “many priests read exordias, that is, prayers for the exorcism of demons, according to ancient missals.” “Usually,” says the author of the letter, “the Liturgy is celebrated on such occasions; At the proskomedia, prayers prescribed in ancient missals for the recovery of the possessed are read. After communion with the patient, the antimension is placed on the head and the exordium is read. The question arises,” continues those interested in the observed phenomenon, “are priests acting legally when reading exordias, and not only old widowers, but also young ones? Are exordists really gifted with the grace-filled power to cast out demons and shouldn’t (the writer quipped) the place of residence of exordists be made publicly known so that more people can receive healing; Finally, it would be interesting to know where one can write out the Breviary, which contains the Order for the exorcism of demons?” The following detailed explanation is given to these questions in the Podolsk Diocesan Gazette. From the above questions it is clear, first of all, that their author seems to doubt whether a priest can cast out demons by reading special incantatory prayers for this. Such doubt is completely unbecoming of a Christian. Even the peoples of the pre-Christian world, and especially the peoples of the East, always recognized the existence of evil spirits as an undoubted fact. Along with this belief, from the depths of pre-Christian antiquity, there was also a belief that evil spirits, as beings stronger than humans, can take possession of the latter, can inhabit him and cause him various suffering. At the same time, however, the same pre-Christian peoples recognized as certain that a person who was possessed by demons could get rid of their torment through spells invoking the name of God. Belief in all this, we repeat, was universal in the East, and therefore, even before the advent of Christianity among many peoples of eastern countries, we encounter the existence of spells and exorcists, that is, persons who expelled evil spirits. In support of this, we can refer to the testimony of Josephus, who says that in Judea there were many exorcists who cast out demons through a certain kind of action. With the coming of Jesus Christ, faith in the possibility of a person being overcome by an evil spirit and in the possibility of deliverance from this received even greater reinforcement. Jesus Christ Himself repeatedly healed those possessed by demons and at the same time gave both the apostles and all those who believe in Him the power to drive out demons from people possessed by them. Speaking of promises to believers, He said among other things: “In My name they will cast out demons” (Matthew 16:17). And the apostles, indeed, used the power given to them and not only cast out evil spirits themselves, but even their things healed those possessed by demons (Acts 19:12). With the cessation of the activities of these witnesses to the earthly life of the Savior, their power over unclean spirits passed to their immediate successors, the shepherds of the Church, who used and use it in necessary cases, using spells. However, at first, as can be seen from numerous testimonies of antiquity, spells were performed mainly by those believers who received a special gift from God for this purpose. But in the 3rd century, special persons appeared whose duty it was to conjure demons, which is why they received the name exorcists (exorcist). These persons received initiation to carry out their position (Canon 26 of the Council of Laodicea) and constituted one of the clergy degrees of the Ancient Church. This degree, as a transitional one, however, has been retained in the Western Church to this day (see Pontific Roman. De ordination exorcist), while in the Eastern Church the duties of exorcists are assigned to priests. What did the spells consist of and consist of? In ancient times, we do not find a specific order of exorcism of demons: they generally conjured in the name of God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and laid hands on the possessed. But over time, a special order of spells was compiled in both the Western and Eastern Churches, from which the Russian Church borrowed this order. In the latter we find actually two orders of spells: one North Russian, representing a literal translation of the Greek order, the other South Russian, created under the influence of the order of Catholic rituals and called the order of “exordia,” although in the Southern Russian and Uniate breviaries it bears the following name: “A prayer service for the deliverance of the ailing person from the overwhelm and violence of unclean spirits and exorcism prayers of the same evil ones spirits" (see Trebnik, Lvov, 1768, p. 373; Trebnik, Pochaev, 1771, p. 375). In the Breviaries of the Orthodox Church, approved by St. Synod for general use, it is inscribed as follows: “A prayer service for the weak, overwhelmed by unclean spirits, and cold” (“Bolshoi Trebnik”, Moscow, 1862, p. 173). So, from what has been said, it follows, 1st, that the power to cast out demons belongs to every priest (regardless of whether he is widowed or has a wife, old or young); that, 2, for the exorcism of demons in the Orthodox Church there is a special rite, usually placed in the so-called “Great Breviary,” which can be obtained from the Synodal bookstores, and that, 3, finally, there is absolutely nothing strange or illegal in the reading by a priest of special prayers for the exorcism of demons. But if in itself the performance of the rite of expelling evil spirits does not represent anything strange and illegal, then performing it according to the ancient Uniate missals and with the rituals that the author of the letter speaks of is an illegal phenomenon. In fact, on what basis does a priest read incantatory prayers according to ancient, even if not Uniate, breviaries, if they are not approved for use by church authorities, if we have an approved “breviary”, in which the approved rite for the exorcism of unclean spirits is set out? Allowing yourself to be arbitrary in the choice of books for fulfilling your needs is an unlawful act. It is obviously caused by the fact that many priests do not have the slightest idea about the “Great Book of Breviaries” and do not know that it contains an order for the expulsion of evil spirits. Meanwhile, they apply for the fulfillment of the requirement, and so, not wanting to refuse and not knowing where to find the required rite, they turn to the ancient, sometimes Uniate, “Trebniks” and perform an “exordium” on them, although this should not be done. If it is not necessary to perform the rite for the expulsion of unclean spirits according to the ancient “Trebnik”, then it is even less possible to allow the placing of an antimension on the head of a possessed person. This is downright a crime, and one can only wonder how priests allow themselves to do such things. In all likelihood, in this case they have in mind the following passage from the preface placed at the beginning of the rite of “exordia” according to the South Russian breviaries: “Let them have in their hands, or before their eyes, the crucifixion of Christ, the relics of the saints, if they can, honestly, be bound in an honest manner on their Persians, or on the head of the naked one, let them be.” 1768, p. 376). It was this expression: “Let the relics... be on the head of the demonless one” that gave the priests a reason to use the antimension, since relics other than those sewn into it are rarely found anywhere in churches. But although the origin of the custom in question can be explained, its dignity remains the same, that is, it still cannot be allowed. Conversation No. 10. About the rite that occurs at the founding of the church and the erection of the cross I. Every pious Christian, starting to build his home, considers it a sacred duty to perform the so-called foundation of it - to sanctify the very place of the building by prayer, sprinkling with holy water, in the true hope that only the all-powerful blessing of God lays down solid foundations and imparts strength to the work of human hands, that, on the contrary, “if the Lord does not build a house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps. 127:1 ), then isn’t it all the more prayerful consecration that requires the construction of the church of God on earth by our sinful human hands? And truly, the holy church is not just any building, but there is a place where, by the power of God’s grace, our whole life is sanctified, all the necessary strength is given to us, including life and piety, - it is the best place on all earth for peace of mind, - it is the highest school of piety, - it is a foreshadowing of the Kingdom of Heaven, to which we strive, in which all our hope, all our hope - is the earthly heaven, earthly dwelling of the King of heaven... But if, brethren, the dwelling of our earthly king is venerable and sacred to us, then how much more venerable and sacred should the house of the Heavenly King be for us, in which He, the All-Good, deigns to dwell for the sake of our salvation, for the sake of our sanctification?! It is now clear why in the Orthodox Church of Christ the very beginning of the construction of the church of God has been accompanied since ancient times by a special solemn sacred rite. For those of us who will be present with reverence at the performance of a majestic and touching sacred rite on the site of the newly built church of God, we hope that those of us will long remember the holy feelings aroused at this time in the soul of every believer by the observance of church rites. II. What will this rite consist of? The rite that occurs at the founding of the church and the erection of the cross consists of censing around the foundations of the house of the Lord, - in the consecration of water, with which all sides of the foundation of the church of God are prayerfully sprinkled and sanctified, - in the consecration of oil, which is then poured onto the stone placed in the foundation of the church, - in the erection of the cross in the place where the saint is supposed to be. throne - and in the position in the prepared place of the stone itself (with a libation of oil on it), as the foundation of the church. The cross-shaped incense around the foundation of the church (all the ditches, places, substances designated for the construction of the holy house of the Lord) signifies that the Holy Spirit descends on the place where the Bloodless Sacrifice is to be offered, God with His grace overshadows the builders, strengthens their strength so that they can accomplish the holy work ahead of them. The Cross of Christ in the place of the St. the throne is erected as a sign that the Church of Christ itself is founded on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the power of His merits on the cross - that for material buildings there is no other foundation as solid as the sign of the Founder of the Church crucified on the cross - and that on the holy throne the same sacrifice can be offered as on the cross of Calvary. A stone, with a cross depicted or carved on it, is placed at the foundation of the church as evidence that the solid, unshakable cornerstone of the Church of Christ is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Eph. 2:20), and in remembrance and imitation of the great Old Testament patriarch Jacob, who once poured oil as a sacrifice to God on the stone that served as his head during sleep (on the way to Harran), at the place where the Lord appeared to him. Then the forefather Jacob, awakening from sleep, filled with horror from the vision of the greatness and glory of God, exclaimed: “Truly the Lord is present in this place; but I didn’t know!.. This is nothing other than God’s gift, this is the gate of heaven”; and then, taking a stone and pouring oil on top of it, he set it up as a monument and vowed to build an altar here to God, who heard him in the days of trouble, saying: “This stone, which I have set up as a monument, will be (for me) the house of God” (Gen. 28:16–22; 35:5). The same thing, one might say, will happen at the site of the future church of God. The servant of the altar of the Lord, having sprinkled the stone with sacred water with the following words: “This stone is blessed by sprinkling this sacred water into the unshakable foundation of the church, built in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen,” and will place it in the place prepared for that, saying: “This church is founded to the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (in honor and memory...) in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen." The servant of God will pour oil onto the stone placed at the foundation of the church, with a prayerful invocation: “Blessed and marked is this place for prayer in honor and glory of God, glorified in the Trinity of Saints, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.” Both this last and other sacred actions of the rites at the foundation of the church are preceded and accompanied by edifying, touching readings and chants of the clergy (especially the prayers of the head of the church), mainly that the Lord, with a terrible sign and the power of His cross, would bless and protect the site of the foundation of the church from the all-destroying angel and all the forces of resistance, preserving all those who serve on it unharmed from all evil, so that He led to the completion of the work begun, so that in the created house of the Lord, until the end of the century, the holy name of God would be glorified and the great Bloodless Sacrifice of Christ would be offered without hindrance for the salvation of earth-born... (See “Words for Various Occasions,” Kiev). III. This, brethren, is the rite, full of deep significance, that occurs during the consecration of the church. Conversation No. 11. About the consecration of the church I. Now, beloved brethren, we will explain to you the most important features of the church’s observance during the consecration of the church. II. When everything necessary for the consecration of the church of the Lord has been prepared, before the Divine Liturgy the consecration of water is performed, and then the consecrated water with the Cross, the Gospel and all the utensils is brought into the altar, with the consecration of which the rite that takes place for the consecration of the church begins. The consecration of the church consists of the consecration of the throne and the consecration of the church itself. a) Let's first talk about the consecration of the throne. The clergy, on top of their sacred clothes, put on ordinary white sap (for the purpose of preserving the sacred clothes from uncleanness when washing the throne) and first of all they set up a meal, or throne, as the most important object in the church of God: they place a board, previously washed and sprinkled with holy water, on four pillars placed at the base of the throne (according to the four cardinal points), while singing psalms of praise, in which the greatness of the Heavenly King is glorified, for whom the throne is being built. The board is supported on the throne pillars by means of stones, also sprinkled with holy water, with four nails, in memory of the four nails with which our Savior was nailed to the cross, and the very places where the nails were attached are filled with a special fragrant composition, signifying those fragrant ointments with which the most pure body of our Lord was anointed at His burial. Since on the established holy throne the Divine Body and Blood of Christ are offered to us as food, then, according to St. meal, it is washed. If we keep the ordinary table on which we eat food clean, then even more should the table on which divine food is offered to us be washed. And, first of all, the throne is washed with clean, warm water, blessed with the sign of the cross, with fragrant soap, and then it is sprinkled and cleansed with rose water combined with red wine in order to give the throne the purity and fragrance characteristic of a shrine, and at the same time to depict the blood and water that flowed from the perforated rib of the Savior, since the consecrated throne is intended for the remembrance of the great sacrifice of Calvary. As if in accordance with the anointing performed on Orthodox Christians after baptism, the throne after washing is anointed with myrrh, in commemoration of the overshadowing of it with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and just as in the Sacrament of Confirmation various parts of the body are anointed with myrrh, so during the consecration of the church the saint depicts with myrrh three crosses on the throne (where during the Liturgy the Gospel, the paten and the chalice are delivered) and on each side of the throne, in order to thus protect this shrine from all sides. After washing and anointing with the holy myrrh, sacred clothes sprinkled with holy water are placed on the throne: the lower white one (srachitsa), depicting the shroud in which the most pure body of the Lord was entwined during burial, and the upper, richly decorated clothing (indity), depicting the divine glory of the Heavenly King resting on the throne. Over the lower robe, the throne is girded three times with rope as a sign of the bonds in which the Savior was led to the lawless judgment seat of the high priests; the throne is tied with rope so that a cross is formed on each side of it, as an image of both the suffering and the heavenly glory of the God-man. On the throne dressed in this way is placed in a special cloth (iliton), as if in grave ashes, the holy antimension, then the cross - the image of Him crucified for us, the Gospel, setting forth the life and saving teaching of our Lord, and, finally, the holy one is placed. the ark is like the tomb of Christ, in which the Holy Gifts are preserved for the communion of the sick. After the construction and consecration of the throne, the altar on which the proskomedia is performed is clothed in sacred clothes, and at the same time all the vessels and objects used during the service are consecrated. (See "Sermons," supplement to the Rural Pastor's Manual, 1893, August.) b) The consecration of the church itself is accomplished through incense and sprinkling of St. water and anointing with myrrh (the latter happens only when the church is consecrated by the bishop; when the church is consecrated by the priests, neither the walls nor the throne are anointed with myrrh, because this action is replaced by the bishop’s anointing of the antimension). The origin, as well as the meaning of incense, sprinkling of St. water and anointing the church walls with myrrh is the same as in relation to the throne. The next action in order is the bishop himself lighting an unlit candle and placing it in a high place near the throne, which Simeon of Thessaloniki explains as follows: “The hierarch lights a lamp with oil with his own hands and places it at the consecrated meal in honor of her, because she is the true altar of Christ and forms the entire Church of Christ, shining with the light of grace and giving this light to everything world 24. This is followed by a religious procession with St. relics (when consecrated without a bishop - with an antimension) around the church with the singing of troparions in honor of the martyrs. At the end of the religious procession, the bishop in front of the western doors proclaims: “Lift up your gates, O princes, and lift up the eternal gates, and the King of glory will come in.” The singers inside the church, behind the closed doors, ask three times: “Who is this King of glory?” ( Ps. 24:7-8 ). After reading the prescribed prayers, the bishop answers with the words of the same psalm: “The Lord of hosts is the King of glory.” When these response words are sung, the procession goes to the church, to the throne, and here the relics are placed under the throne in a special reliquary. Both the religious procession itself and the position of St. the relics under the throne are reminiscent of the first times of Christianity with persecution of it, with worship in caves and catacombs on the tombs of martyrs. The custom, formed in unfavorable times, received the force of law: in subsequent times and under changed circumstances, churches were built on the tombs of martyrs, and with the multiplication of believers and the increase in the number of churches, in the absence of martyrdom tombs, Christians began to transfer the remains of saints from other places and place them under the altar, as evidenced by St. Ambrose of Milan and others. Rule 94 of the Council of Carthage states: “Everywhere in the fields and vertograds altars are supposedly erected in memory of the martyrs, at which no body or part of the relics of the martyrs is placed, let them be destroyed, if possible, by local bishops.” The Fathers of the VII Ecumenical Council, Canon 7, decreed: “If any honest churches are consecrated without the holy relics of martyrs, we determine: let the placement of the relics be performed in them with the usual prayer. If from now on a certain bishop appears, consecrating churches without St. relics, may he be cast out for having transgressed church traditions.” Considering the position of St. relics in the church, St. the fathers, however, were afraid to place this shrine in the altar itself, because Christian churches were often attacked and plundered by heretics and pagans. To preserve St. They established the use of relics, in addition to fixed altars, and other movable ones, the so-called antimensions (instead of altars), into which the saints were placed. power. In addition to this motivation for the introduction of antimensions, there was another one. Churches, according to the ancient tradition of the Church, must be consecrated by bishops. But since the bishop often did not have the opportunity to personally consecrate all the churches of his diocese, he gave this right to the priests, and he himself consecrated only the canvases (antimensions) depicting the position of the tomb of Jesus Christ on them and sent them to the newly consecrated churches. Theodore Balsamon, in his explanation of the 31st rule of the Trullo Council, said: “Antimins are prepared from those existing in the area of ​​the bishop, for the time of consecration of churches, so that they are placed at holy meals in churches, so that through this it will be known that the sacred rite in the church is with the permission of the bishop.” Such is the severity of the rules regarding the presence of St. relics in the church: without relics there is no church. Camping churches - even those have relics on the throne in the antimension. As for the words “lift up the gates of your princes” and the following, Justin Philosopher explains them this way: “When Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, then it was commanded to the princes established by God in heaven (i.e., the archangels or other chief angels) to open the gates of heaven, that He who is the King of glory might come in... But since the princes who are in heaven first saw Him having the form ugly, dishonest and inglorious, then they, as if surprised at His terrible appearance, asked: “Who is this King of glory?” And the Holy Spirit, on behalf of... His or God the Father, answers them: “The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory” (“New Tablet”, part III, chapter 8, § 19). Something similar to this is repeated now with the addition of St. relics to the church. The church is the village of the Lord of hosts, the new heaven. The Lord enters it, looking inglorious, like a buried dead man depicted on the antimension. From the rite under consideration it is clear that for the consecration of the church the same is done as for the sanctification of the believer. It is similar to Baptism and Confirmation, with the difference that the consecration performed on people, on believers, is a Sacrament, and the consecration of a church is not called a sacrament, although through the sacred rites of consecration the material church receives spirit and life. Those located in the church under the altar and in the antimension of St. the relics apparently testify to the special presence of God there, they are assured of the intercession of St. martyrs for us before God and, giving courage to the living, instill in their hearts feelings of tenderness and joy. III. This, brethren, is the deeply instructive rite of consecrating the churches of God. A. Historical note on the antiquity of the consecration of temples The first bright celebration of the consecration of the church, recorded in the annals of the Church, took place in Jerusalem - at the site of the suffering and death of the God-Man. The hatred of Jews and pagans wanted to blot out and completely destroy these sacred places from the memory of Christians. Huge piles of earth, demolished, according to Eusebius, from nowhere, covered Golgotha ​​and the tomb of Christ for a long time, and above them, by order of Emperor Hadrian, a church arose in honor of Venus; but, by the will of Providence, all this served only to accurately indicate and completely preserve until better times these holy monuments of Christianity. Constantine the Great cleansed them of all pagan impurities and erected a magnificent Church of the Resurrection over the Holy Sepulcher, for the consecration of which he invited a whole council of eastern bishops, who met in Tyre, just as, later in time, his son Constantius invited all the fathers who were at the council in Antioch to consecrate in it the magnificent temple begun by his father. Eusebius describes in detail the celebration of the consecration of the first of these churches. “The priests of God,” he says, “decorated the celebration partly with teachings, partly with prayers. Some praised the ardent love of the most pious emperor for the Savior; others, from the sacred dogmas of theology, befitting a real celebration, arranged, as it were, a spiritual feast for numerous listeners; others, finally, interpreted passages from Holy Scripture, explained and indicated the mysterious meaning in them.” Similar bright celebrations took place under Constantine and his successors and in many other cities, in which the piety of the emperors created new temples or converted public buildings (basilicas) and pagan temples into Christian churches. “It was,” according to Eusebius, “a truly delightful and most desirable sight!” (“Church History”, 10, 3). However, one should not think that the very rite of consecrating churches became part of the custom of the Church only from the time of its pacification under Constantine the Great; on the contrary, it is almost contemporary with the apostles, in whose Epistles the church dedicated to God is already clearly distinguished from ordinary houses (1 Cor. 11:22). The first Christian Church - the Upper Room of Zion, of course, had no need for special consecration, after the Savior Himself established the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist in it and the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles in it in the form of tongues of fire. But with the rapid increase in the number of believers, sheer necessity forced them to create or set aside special places in their homes for sacred meetings and worship. The custom of the Old Testament Church to consecrate public buildings through prayer and sacred rites (1 Kings 8; Neh. 12:27), the custom of Christians themselves to consecrate everything, even writing their own “words of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:4-5), finally, the most solemn consecrations of churches everywhere in the 4th century, not prescribed, however, and not legitimized by any councils or fathers and, therefore, based only on ancient well-known tradition and usage - lead to the idea that the beginning of this practice must be attributed to the Apostolic Church; only, obviously, these consecrations, due to the cramped circumstances of the Church, in the first three centuries could not have any obvious noticeability of solemnity, and perhaps that is why their details were not preserved for us by the writers of these centuries. However, from the testimony of Dionysius the Areopagite and Gregory of Nyssa it is clear that, as now in the primal Church of St. the meal in the church was the main subject of consecration and significant rites (Dionysius “On the Church Hierarchy”, Chapter 4). “The altar that we stand before,” says Gregory of Nyssa, “in its composition and substance is no different from the marble and slabs from which the walls in our houses are built; but since it is intended for worship, is consecrated and has received a special blessing, it is called a holy meal and a most pure altar, to which no one except the celebrants can approach” (“The Sermon on Baptism”). It is difficult to indicate at what exact time the “Rite of Consecration of the Church” was finally compiled. Goar (Euchol. 666) calls it simply: perantiquus ordo. It is remarkable that, despite the significant deviation of the Latin Church from ancient Orthodox teaching and rituals, the rite of consecration of churches used in it is similar to that used by the Orthodox Church, and moreover, not only in the main features, but also in many details. This leads to the conclusion that it existed in its present composition even before the separation of the Western Church from the Eastern in the 9th century. In the commonly used Breviaries - Small and Large - there are no instructions regarding the consecration of icons, and therefore some priests are sometimes perplexed: how should new icons be consecrated? Perplexity regarding the method of consecrating new icons arises among some priests, apparently due to their unfamiliarity with the so-called “Additional Breviary” and the lack of this “breviary” at hand. Meanwhile, in the “Additional Breviary” published by the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (in 1863, 1866 and 1871) with the blessing of St. The Synod and His Grace Arseny, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia, contain several rites for the consecration of icons. Thus, there is a special “rite of blessing and consecration of the newly constructed cross”; a special “rite of blessing and consecration of the icon of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Trinity” was established; a special “rite of blessing and consecration of the icon of Christ, the feasts of the Lord, one or many” is indicated; there is a special “rite of blessing and consecration of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, one or many”; the “rite of blessing and consecration of the icon of one or many saints” is also outlined. All these ranks are similar in their external order, although they are different in content. The external order of all these rites is as follows: the icons that are to be consecrated are placed on a table, “honestly covered,” and the priest, having put on the epitrachelion and phelonion and cross-shape the new icons, makes the usual beginning - he says: “Blessed is our God”; according to the usual initial exclamation, “To the Heavenly King” is sung, “The Trisagion”, “Our Father”, “Lord have mercy” are read 12 times, “Glory, and now” and “Come, let us worship” three times; then one or more selected psalms are said, two prayers are said by the clergyman (the first aloud, the other secretly), the icon of St. is sprinkled three times. water with the utterance of the words: “This sign of the cross, (or image, or icon), is sanctified by the grace of the Most Holy Spirit, by sprinkling this sacred water, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen”; after sprinkling the icon of St. with water, there is a cross-shaped incense before it, and then, while singing selected stichera or troparia, there is earthly worship before the icon and kissing it, and finally, dismissal. Both psalms and prayers, stichera, troparia and dispensations in their content are applied to those icons that are being consecrated. The limited scope of our note does not allow us to enter into a detailed and accurate presentation of all these psalms, prayers and chants, and in essence there is no need for such a presentation. With this note, we would only like to point out to priests who are perplexed about the method of consecrating icons, the need to stock up on the “Additional Breviary,” which sets out the different rites for the consecration of certain icons. (See "Manual for Rural Shepherds", No. 14, 1884, April, pp. 335-336). Conversation No. 12. About the rite of tonsure into the small and great schema I. Now let us talk, brothers, about the touching vows pronounced upon entering monasticism. You will see from them what virtues are required of a monk and how sacred and edifying his face is to the world when, to the best of human strength, he fulfills the duty of his calling; you will also see - and perhaps not without amazement - that monastic renunciations do not differ much from those vows that every Christian makes at Holy Baptism, because, except for celibacy and virginity, which is assigned to monasticism as the highest virtue, which has flourished in the world only since the time of the Savior, and except for exceptional exercise in fasting and prayer, everything else is humility, chastity, obedience, devotion Christ God is required of a monk on an equal basis with every Christian. The light yoke of Christ rests on everyone equally, and our stay in the world cannot serve as an excuse for serious deviations from the commandments of God. The three-year apprenticeship, or novice degree, serves as an introduction to monastic life, so that those who desire it first test their strength and then pronounce irrevocable vows. There is also another preparatory degree: before the perfect tonsure, sometimes the novice is clothed not in the full attire of a monk, with established prayers, which is called the ryasophore, that is, wearing a cassock, so that, in anticipation of full monasticism, he is even more established on his chosen path. Monasticism itself contains two degrees - a small and a great image (in Greek - schema), because the pure life of a monk gives him an angelic image on earth; but the title of schema-monk is by custom exclusively assigned in our country only to monks of the highest degree, very few in number, who, remembering their perfect renunciation and already living in thought beyond the grave, for the most part indulge in silence and seclusion. II. a) When the day of the desired tonsure into the minor schema comes, the brother preparing to be tonsured before the beginning of the Liturgy, having accepted the blessing of the abbot, puts off his ordinary clothes on the church porch and stands in the vestibule in only a hair shirt, without a belt, shoes and cover, as a sign of his permission from the world; at the entrance with the Gospel and the singing of antiphons, all the brethren with lighted candles follow him, as if to meet the repentant son of the Gospel parable, and sing in a touching melody: “The Father’s arms are drawn to the openings of my life, I have spent fornication, looking at the unexpected riches of Thy mercies, O Savior, my now impoverished heart is not despise. For, Lord, I call to you in tenderness: those who have sinned, Father, go to heaven and before You.” At the royal doors, as if at the gates of his father’s house, the abbot meets his brother, who is falling three times, and gives him a brief exhortation so that he opens the mouth of his heart, heeding the voice of the Lord, calling to accept His easy yoke, and remember, when with fear and joy he makes vows, that the Savior Himself, and His Mother, and all the heavenly powers listen to his words, which will respond him on the last day of resurrection. Then the abbot asks: “Why did you come, brother, falling to the holy altar and this holy squad?” and having heeded the answer: “Desiring a fasting life, honorable father,” he again asks: “Do you want to be worthy of the angelic image and to be ordained as a monastic?” “I will help God, honest father,” the novice humbly answers; The abbot approves of his good intention with these words: “Truly it is a good deed and you have chosen it blessedly: but even if you do it; Good deeds are acquired through labor and corrected through illness.” But not content with the arbitrary coming of a new ascetic and his first consciousness, he also tests in detail: “Does he approach God with free thought, and not out of need and violence? will he remain in the monastery and fasting even until his last breath? will he preserve himself in virginity and chastity and reverence and obedience to the abbot and brethren? and will he endure all the sorrow and hardship of a monastic life for the sake of the kingdom of heaven?” And to all this he hears the same humble answer, emitted by the consciousness of his weakness and the hope of heavenly power: “I will help God, honest father.” After such sincere consciousness, which already removes any shadow of doubt about the good will of the person being tonsured, the abbot gives him good advice, explaining what monastic life consists of. He places his foundation on purity, humility and complete self-sacrifice, warns about the temptations that the human enemy will raise against the warrior of Christ by the memory of his previous life, and offers him as an example the holy martyrs and Himself who made us poor for the Lord’s sake and, finally, once again asks: “Does he promise to abide in these vows, even to the end of his life, by the grace of Christ?” “I work with God,” the ascetic again answers; The abbot, prayerfully remembering the compassion of the generous God, who said to Israel: “Even if the wife forgot her offspring, I will not forget you,” strengthens the spirit of the new brother with the promise of heavenly power in spiritual deeds, the consolation of the Holy Spirit and part of the saints Anthony, Euthymius, Savva and those who are with them in Christ Jesus. He orders us to bow our heads first to him, then to all the brethren, and prays to the Lord, who has called those who have abandoned all worldly things as worthy servants of Himself, and who has shown us various paths to salvation, to protect this servant of His with the power of the Holy Spirit, to accept his pure sacrifice to God and, with the removal of his hair, to take away all wordless lust, making him worthy of His lightness. yoke, and keeping the holy commandments, and counting among the elect. Then, pointing him to the Holy Gospel lying on the lectern, as to the very presence of Christ, he reminds him that, of his own free will, he wants the betrothal of the great and angelic image; this is confirmed by the tonsured person himself and, at the order of the abbot, gives him scissors from the Holy Gospel three times. The abbot says: “Behold, you received from the hand of Christ; see Who you are uniting with, Whom you are approaching and Whom you are denying,” and for the third time, taking the scissors from his hands, with the blessing of the name of God, she cuts his hair in a cross shape, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity. With all the brethren quietly singing: “Lord have mercy,” the new monk begins to be dressed in the clothes of his rank by the hand of the abbot, who gradually explains their spiritual meaning, invoking the name of the Triune God. “Our brother,” he says, “puts on the tunic of free poverty and lack of wealth: he accepts the paramant, as a betrothal to the great image and sign of the Cross of the Lord, on his chest; dresses himself in the clothing of spiritual joy; He girds his loins with the power of truth, in the mortification of the body and the renewal of the spirit; covered with the helmet of the hope of salvation and the veil of obedience; accepts the robe of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness; put on sandals for the preparation of the gospel of peace; accepts the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” and finally: “Our brother accepted the betrothal of the great angelic image, and put on all the weapons, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”; but with each vestment, he turns pleadingly to the brethren: “We say about him: Lord, have mercy!” Then the abbot, with prayer, gives the cross to the monk’s right hand, reminding him of the words of Christ: “The Lord says: if anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” He gives him a lighted candle, with which he must stand throughout the Liturgy, until his communion, at the icon of the Savior, and again says: “The Lord says: so let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Having clothed the completely new monk, he prays that the Lord would bring His servant into His spiritual courtyard and join His verbal flock; cleansed his wisdom from carnal lusts and would allow him to constantly remember the bliss that awaits those who love God and are crucified by monastic life for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. (See “Letters on Divine Services”, A. Muravyova, ed. 1882). b) The same order of questions, exhortations and prayers is observed during tonsure into the great schema; but in terms of the importance of this highest angelic image, there is a difference in some prayers and exhortations, which are more extensive, being adapted to the spiritual needs of the schema-monk, and in the vestments there is a change: instead of a hood, they put on him a doll of kindness and then another lectern, similar to a priestly epitrachelion, with crosses. A special canon is also laid down at Matins for tonsure, and the very antiphons that the one receiving the schema must pronounce when he enters the church are touching: “I wanted with tears to cleanse the handwriting of my sins, O Lord, and the rest of my life to please You, but the enemy flatters me and wrestles with my soul; Lord, before I even die to the end I will not perish, save me.” “Whoever is overwhelmed and comes to this refuge will not be saved? or who, being sick and going to this medicine, is not healed? To the Creator of all and the Physician of the sick, Lord, before I even die completely, save me.” “I am the sheep of Your verbal flock, and I resort to You, Good Shepherd, seek me when I am lost, O God, and have mercy on me.” When monastic tonsure is not performed during the Liturgy, then, after the vesting of the new brother and the short litany of the deacon about his spiritual well-being and the singing of the baptismal verse: “Those who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ, alleluia,” the Apostle and the Gospel are read in his hearing. St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 9:10-17), teaches what our spiritual warfare is and how we must fight: “My brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil, because our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. For this purpose, take on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having done everything, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; and above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery arrows of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” And the Evangelist Matthew, preaching self-sacrifice, in the name of Christ, calls a new ascetic to Him: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 10:37–38; 11:28,30). The brethren, welcoming their new companion with the kiss of peace, sing: “We recognize, brethren, the power of the Sacrament: the prodigal son, who has flown from sin to his father’s house, the most good father, having met, kisses and again gives him the knowledge of his glory, and makes a mysterious feast with those on high, slaying the well-fed calf, so that we may live together worthily and deliver him up to the slaughter, to the philanthropic Father, and to this glorious sacrifice—the slain Savior of our souls.” (See “Letters on Divine Services”, A. Muravyova, ed. 1882). III. This, brethren, is the touching and at the same time highly instructive rite of tonsure into the small and great schema. May it awaken in us, at least, feelings of love for God, detachment from slavish service to the flesh, the world and the devil, and may it encourage us to reflect more often on the vows of baptism and the future life. A. On the origin of monasticism Following the example of the great desert dweller Prophet Elijah, who was honored to see the glory of the transfiguration on Tabor, and following the example of John the Baptist, the greatest of all born of women, according to Christ Himself, the first hermits of Christianity began to retire so that, far from the temptations and misfortunes of the pagan world, they could prayerfully contemplate the Lord, like angels in heaven. They followed the advice of the Apostle Paul, who, foreseeing the sorrows of true Christians, presented himself as an example of renunciation of the world: I tell you, brethren: the time is short, so that those who have wives must be as if they had none; those who weep as if they do not weep; and those who rejoice, as if they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as if they did not acquire; and those who use this world, as if they do not use it; for the image of this world passes away. Λ I want you to be worry-free. An unmarried man cares about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord; But a married man worries about worldly things, how to please his wife. (1 Cor. 7:29–33). Hence, the love of chastity and the elevation of the spirit above all transitory blessings, and release from all worldly bonds, or at least the ardent desire for this spiritual freedom, were always the first elements of monastic life. There are people in whom, by the special grace of God, the attraction to everything divine, sacred and eternal is so alive that they seem to adhere only by a slight thread to the temporal and finite; then the actual spiritual nature of man is so sharply manifested in him that the opposite to it dies almost in this life, and life itself, according to the apostle, is hidden with Christ in God. This kind of people do not make a decisive intention to abandon everything temporal in order to engage in the eternal; celibacy, strict abstinence in food, withdrawal from worldly pleasures do not serve as a means for them to achieve anything higher in spirit; no, they themselves are already in this highest state, which so fills their heart, so satisfies all their desires, that they, on their own, naturally abstain from everything so-called worldly, and the external way of their life is only an expression of their internal disposition. For most Christians, during their lives, there are sometimes moments in which pious activity takes possession of the inner man to such an extent that all bodily needs become silent and seem to have no effect. What happens rarely to many, but more often to a few, is what happens to a select few as usual. Such were Anthony the Great, Pachomius, both Macarii, and other founders of monastic life in the deserts of Egypt; such, in the rocky gorges of Palestine, are Hilarion, Euthymius, Theodosius, Savva, not counting other great hermits. These holy men were distinguished not only by their deep knowledge of divine things and great piety, but also, by the loftiness of their spirit, but subordinate to external impressions, they had a clear view of objects and the mind of good advice, and some also had the gift of miracles and the supernatural power of healing and insight into the future. Peoples flocked to them, as to the chosen friends of God, from distant countries, attracted by the respect inherent in everyone for everything sacred and great, and many followed their example. Among such imitators, some had a true disposition towards monastic life, but this feeling, not entirely clear in them, still required education and development, for their inner spiritual wealth could not achieve perfection on its own; Having once received the direction, they already walked with a firm foot along a new, pompous path. Thus, around the secluded cells of the first hermits, monasteries gradually formed, that is, places of spiritual exploits, and extensive laurels, as if their crown, by name itself, and Egypt and Syria were soon filled with them. In the fourth century, the most flourishing century for monasticism, St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea, who spent many years in solitude, after long studies in Athens, and visited the monasteries of the desert dwellers, wrote, similar to their rules, the rules of monastic life for the hermits of his Cappadocia diocese, from which they spread to the entire Eastern Church, along with the rites of the Liturgy and other canons of this greatest hierarch. The Holy Mount Athos and the Studite monastery in Constantinople preserved, in all severity, the monastic charter of the ecumenical teacher, and in perfect purity they handed over to the Russian Church, when, during the time of the Grand Duke Izyaslav, in the 11th century, our first desert dwellers, Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk, wished to build, in their image, their new monastery in the forests and caves of Kyiv, from Monasticism developed throughout Russia, and has always been the adornment and salvation of the fatherland in the days of its glory and disasters (See “Letters on Divine Services” by A. Muravyov). B. Historical note on the origin of the monastic kukul, or hood Monastic kukul 25 was used by monks in very ancient times. Already a Rev. Ephraim the Syrian in his “Life of Mary” says that a long kamilavka helped a person cover his face (chapter 5). Bl. also mentions him. Jerome, saying that St. Hilarion ordered to be buried in a tunic and a doll. The kukul was worn by Simeon and Daniel the pillars. Sidonius Apollinaris (a Western writer) in one of his letters also mentions the shaggy night cuculus, which was conveniently used to cover the body both during prayer and during sleep. From this it can be seen that kukulem was not only a head cover, but a wider garment. But the kukul itself is nothing more than a cover for a child’s head used in ancient times. As for now the assimilation of it by the monks, to explain this we need to remember the fact that the monks thereby wanted to express their desire to imitate the sincerity and innocence of newborn babies. This is precisely the meaning given to this subject by Rev. Cassian (“On the attire of monks,” ch. 4). Abba Dorotheus carries this idea even further, saying that the kukul is given as a symbol of divine grace: just as it covers and protects the head of a baby, so the grace of God protects our mind, its purity and innocence. In addition, in the use of kukul by monks one can also see a sign of humility, if we take into account the cheap material from which it is made, and also the fact that this clothing, which sometimes reached the knees, was used in ancient times by slaves and the poor (shepherds still use similar covers in some places today for protection from rain and cold). The Roman poet Martial, complaining about the injustice of fate, attributed the black cockle to slave clothes. “Mebius, an excellent man and poet,” he says, “due to his poverty, must be content with only a shepherd’s cuculus, while the mule driver, caretaker of Caligula’s favorite horse, dressed in a shiny scarlet dress.” In the same way, Tacitus mentions that Nero, in order not to be recognized, dressed up during his night wanderings around the city in the clothes of a slave - in a black pallium - and covered himself with a cuculum. Capitolinus and Lampridius also report that Verus and Heliogabalus used a similar remedy. Moreover, these clothes, according to Juvenal, were also worn by barbarians - the Gauls. Probably, the kukul was also adopted by the monks out of a desire to show their lower position and humility before God, and at the same time their independence from the world, since the monk, having become a servant of God, already despises the world. Bl. Jerome, however, also points to the reason for using kukul - the reluctance of the monks to see how anyone eats from them. The material used for hoods was cheap, although quite varied. Thus, images of monks from the monastery of Susa, in Constantinople, have a head covering made of flax. Sozomen reports that the Tovesian monks wore woolen hoods; according to Palladius, these hoods had purple crosses on them. Based on one of the letters of Apollinaris Sidonius, one can think that in the West they used thick, shaggy woolen hoods to protect themselves from the winter cold. Cowl of St. Daniel the Stylite, according to his acts, was made of leather. Nikifor provides information regarding the ancient form of the hood. Evagrius calls it a tiara, from which it is clear that it had a cone shape. And the very word kukul was actually used to refer to the pyramid-shaped papyrus cases in which sellers of paints and fragrances wrapped their goods. The longitude of the kukul was different in different places, as we have already mentioned. Cassian says that it went down only to the neck and shoulders; Benedict of Ansen subsequently found that some monks wore the cuculi to the toes, and therefore found himself forced to determine for all his subordinates the measure of the cuculi of two cubits, so that it did not go below the knees. This length of the cuculus was subsequently confirmed in a 1 m addition to the capitularies of the Frankish kings (Sar. 21). It should be noted that kukul has been used by nuns since ancient times. This is already mentioned by St. Athanasius in his book “On Virginity” and Palladius in his “Lavsaik” (chapter 41). Blazh. Jerome also says that in his time many virgins wore cuculi to show their humility. “There are also those,” he writes to Eustachia, “who are dressed in hair shirts and, having made headpieces in order to return to virginity, are like owls and eagle owls.” It is clear from the quoted words of Jerome that this wearing of the kukul by nuns was not a common custom in the West. A black eye is predominantly considered dashing. A black eye is considered more dangerous than a gray or blue one not only among us Russians, but also among many other peoples who believe in the evil eye. For example, in Spain and Italy they are especially afraid of the gypsy eye. (Zabelin, “Russian People”, p. 260). “Works” part 2, page 166. About rituals after Baptism, corresponding to the current churching. St. Irenaeus, book. 5, ch. 20. St. Demetrius of Rostov “Works”, part 2, page 116. By the way, we note here that according to some ancient Greek Breviaries (see Gohar “Euchologmon”), the priest, entering the altar with the baby, must say: “Serve the only Lord”; and, moreover, enter there with a lamp, which, according to the explanation of St. Gregory the Theologian (“Sermon on Baptism”), “serves as a symbol of those candles with which we will meet the Lord.” The First Ecumenical Council is the 13th rule, the Ancyra Council is the 6th rule. On Acts Apostle, moralizing 3rd. Grigory Dvoeslov. "On the life of the Italian fathers" book. 2, ch. 6; also Chet'i-Minei" and "Prologue" under June 26; see "Sunday Reading" year 23, page 201. “Code of Laws” volume 15, art. 1208, about the oath of purification. "Jewish Antiquities". book 9, ch. 7.4. "On Idolatry", 20. Service on the day of Pentecost, stichera. Who was the writer of this akathist, so sublime in its content and subject and so respected by the zeal of pious Christians, and when exactly he appeared in the Orthodox Church, this, unfortunately, is impossible to determine with accuracy. At least we know that it came to us from the Greeks, among other sacred church rites, and - therefore - both among us and the Greeks, it has long been revered by church use. Due to its similarity with the touching canons to Jesus Christ of John, Metropolitan of the Euchaites (11th century), this akathist can be counted among the creations of this latter, although in its tone and presentation it also corresponds to the canon that is usually set in our country with this akathist, with the name of Theoktistus of Studios. In this last case, one can only note that this canon, earlier than the akathist, appeared as part of the liturgical books of the Greek Church (See “Historical Review of the Liturgical Books of the Greek Church,” under the title “The Great Book of Hours”). To turn away from pagan and Jewish superstitions, St. the fathers of the Trullo Cathedral, by the way, decreed that at the beginning of each month the blessing of water should be performed and the houses should be sprinkled with consecrated water (Interpretation of Balsamon on rule 65 of the Trullo Cathedral). “Until now,” the charter says, “no candles of any kind should be lit at the altars.” Cucullus - from the Greek κοκκός - shield, from here the word cucus was first formed, and then from this the diminutive cucullus.