You are going the wrong way, comrades! Belief in a bright future brought the residents of Donetsk region to neurosis. The enemy is within us

For the sixteenth year, the sisterhood in honor of the Athonite Icon of the Mother of God "Joy and Consolation" of the Cyril Parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been conducting trusteeship in the neuropsychiatric hospital No. 1 in Kiev. Every year, spiritual and material assistance is provided to patients in 28 departments, including two for children, as well as a department for people who break the law and undergo a forensic psychiatric examination. In total, the sisterhood takes care of more than 11 thousand patients per year.

Kirillovsky parish was organized in 1993 and became the first "hospital" parish in Kiev. He was repeatedly recognized as one of the best in Ukraine by the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Abbot

The rector of the parish is Archpriest Theodore Sheremeta. In 1993, the priest served in the Intercession Monastery, and in the fall, at the request of the spiritual children, he came to the Pavlovsk hospital, as the Kiev residents call psychiatric hospital No. 1. Several future parishioners brought a chair and a vessel for the consecration of water. The hospital is located near the ancient Church of St. Cyril (XII century), known all over the world for its unique frescoes and artwork by Mikhail Vrubel and for many years acting as a museum - the temple was closed in 1926. And for the first time in 67 years, the words of the holy prayer were heard over this corner of Kiev. After a while, hospital patients began to approach and were allowed free exit from the departments. Some approached Father Theodore and touched his robes with their hands with the words: "Is this a real priest?" After the prayer service, Father Theodore began to distribute crosses and icons. The sick gladly accepted the relics, were baptized, whoever knew how, exclaiming: "So God has come to us! .. This priest Christ sent! .. And the Mother of God ...".

In fact, it was on that autumn day that the Cyril parish began its soul-saving activity. The head physician of the hospital, Vitaly Lisovenko, responded to the initiative of the Orthodox. In the building of the old club, where the refectory of the Cyril Monastery was once located, a room was allocated for the performance of divine services. And then the entire one-story building, which at that time was in disrepair, was transferred to the Church for use. With the blessing of the rector, several sisters got a job as nurses in the hospital departments of the clinic; they, and then other sisters and brothers, began to bring groups of patients to services. This is how the sisterhood of mercy began its activities.

Then a charitable canteen was built on the territory of the hospital. Near Kiev, in the village. Tarasovka, Baryshevsky district, a parish skete with the temple of the martyr Alexander of Rome arose. Here, the parish rented 60 hectares of arable land for agricultural work. Grown here, as well as honey from the apiary, meat and dairy products, a charity canteen is provided, where more than 100 people eat daily. The fact is that on the vast territory of the hospital there are many homeless people: discharged former patients of the hospital who have nowhere to return, chronic patients and just vagrants who find out that “near that church they give grub and clothes and can warm them up”. Some of this vagrant cohort again become normal people and join the working Orthodox community. On the very territory of the hospital - it is located on the ancient Kirillovsky hills, covered with oak and mixed forest - there is a so-called "desert", also with a garden, vegetable gardens, vegetable stores and an apiary. Here the "lost sheep" work. All these undertakings, including the re-equipment of the old refectory building into the new Basil the Great Church, the arrangement of the library, local radio broadcasting, publishing activities, are the initiatives of the tireless father Theodore Sheremeta, an experienced confessor and pastor, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy, a candidate of theological sciences and a teacher liturgists in theological schools of Kiev. During these 16 years, Fr. Theodore has brought up a whole galaxy of pastors, many of whom are now experienced archpriests, rectors of churches, including hospital ones.

The hospital staff soon noted an improvement in the condition of the patients attending the temple, participating in the ordinances of confession and the sacrament. Thus, one of the patients of the hospital, Tamara K., who has been undergoing treatment unsuccessfully for several years, was discharged with a significant improvement in her health, and now she is one of the regular sisters of the sisterhood and does not go to doctors about her health anymore. Another example. A young man and a girl, once hospital patients, began to visit the temple, sang in the kliros, and then got married in the St. Cyril Church and now bring their children to communion, still helping Father Theodore in his multifaceted work. And there are many such examples: a certain percentage of parishioners are just former hospital patients (this is the phenomenon of the Kirillov community), who remember their illness as a nightmare. But neither the abbot nor the sisters of mercy, as a rule, proclaim loudly about healings: believers know that everything is possible with God, and unbelievers will explain the fact of recovery in the Church by “the favorable influence of melodic singing and the beauty of the temple and the psychological influence of priests” or “a mistake in diagnosis ".

A bit of history

In the Cyril Monastery, founded by the Grand Duke Vsevolod Olgovich in the XII century, the miracle-worker Saint Demetrius of Rostov, nicknamed the Russian Chrysostom, began his spiritual path.

As history testifies, the Kirillov monastery has always been characterized by the patronage of the “orphaned and the poor”. After the abolition of the monastery by Catherine II in 1786, a shelter for military invalids was organized here. For him, the former monastic cells were used. And the new buildings built then housed a psychiatric hospital, which was previously located in Podil (Konstantinovskaya St., 6/8). In 1823, in the eastern part of the monastery, a complex of three architectural structures was built (architect I. Charlemagne), where almshouses for former military personnel - participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the elderly were located.

Before the revolution, the hospital was a whole medical complex with scientific departments, therapeutic and surgical departments, and even an obstetric-paramedic school was opened here. Nevertheless, the new hospital buildings on its modern territory of 60 hectares were built already in Soviet times.

The ancient Cyril Church before the revolution acted as a hospital. For a long time, monks and pious lay people caring for the sick lived on the territory of the hospital. In total, nine almshouses operated under the auspices of the Church in Kiev before the revolution. It would seem a small figure, but if we consider that in 1913 the population of Kiev was 150 thousand people (the number of one urban district today), a different picture emerges. In addition, under the leadership of the Church, a lot of charity events were held. The Church was the soul and core of trusteeship, mercy, upbringing and education of the people. But for more than 70 years she was deprived of the right to engage in deeds of mercy, and she had to do it in secret. For example, at the Intercession Monastery during the Khrushchev and Brezhnev times, there was an almshouse for elderly nuns, where pious parishioners who found themselves alone in their old age were often assigned.

Alarming statistics

As already mentioned, the Kirillovsky parish was the first in Kiev to resume charity work in caring for the sick. Essentially, the foundation was laid for the interaction of the Church and government medical institutions.

The harsh statistics of the WHO give disappointing figures and forecasts regarding the growth of mental illness in the world. One of the terrible consequences of the sometimes latent mental disorders of modern mankind is suicide. It is not for nothing that most of all suicides (more than 25 cases per 100 thousand population) are in countries with a fairly high material standard of living, such as Austria, the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, Germany, and Japan. Ukraine, which does not shine with economic achievements, also falls into this sad list. Most of all suicides were recorded in our industrial cities and areas affected by the Chernobyl accident - an average of 35 cases per 100 thousand population. However, sociologists believe that the real figure is two to four times higher than official statistics.

The number of people with mental disorders, which has tripled over the past 30 years, will continue to grow. According to WHO forecasts, by 2020, mental disorders will be included in the top five diseases leading in the number of human labor losses. WHO experts believe that in the developed countries of the world, 5-10% of the population needs psychiatric care. By 2020, depressive diseases will overtake the current world "leader" - diseases of the cardiovascular system.

The rise in mental illness in children is of particular concern. In Ukraine, this has become almost catastrophic. According to statistics, the incidence of the nervous system for the period from 1992 to 2000 increased by 43%, and this figure continues to grow. The incidence of the nervous system in children in the next five years - from 2000 to 2005 - increased by almost 30%. Over the years of schooling, the number of neuropsychic disorders in children increases by one and a half times, the proportion of sick children with such disorders, according to some researchers, from the 1st to the 8th grade increases from 15 to 40%. Moreover, 68% of school-age children smoke, more than 6% use drugs.

Therefore, in the agreement concluded between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, there is a clause concerning mental illness in the country, because the beneficial influence of the Church in the treatment of such ailments is known. Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Mikhail Bero, director of the Donetsk Regional Psychoneurological Hospital, is sure that Orthodox psychotherapy based on patristic experience “introduces into the realm of true soul therapy, the origins of which lead to Christ Himself and His holy disciples. It is a moral and religious direction of psychotherapy and is based on Christian enduring values \u200b\u200bthat have cemented for many centuries the very foundation of the state with its distinctive culture, sciences, crafts, defining the entire social life. " The doctor believes that the revival of Orthodox psychotherapy with the participation of the Church in working with patients with mental disorders and nervous diseases reflects the urgent need of our sick and deeply tragic time of changes, which has brought chaos and confusion to human minds.

Sisterhood

Three years ago, the elder sister of the sisterhood, Lyubov Andreevna Shinkarenko, took over from her predecessor, Ekaterina Andreevna Bortkova, who had been obedient to her elder sister for five years. Now Ekaterina Andreevna is a nun of Predislava, a resident of the ancient Florovsky monastery in Podol, where at one time the young Prokhor Moshnin, the future lamp of the Russian land, Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, received a blessing. Actually, the spiritual relationship permeates all the ancient Kiev churches and monasteries, as a rule, which played a special role in the spiritual development of Christ's ascetics. And for these monasteries, leading their history from the time of the Baptism of Russia and the activities of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, deeds of mercy and care for the "suffering, sick, orphaned and poor" are characteristic. It is no coincidence that the great prince-baptist himself, a cruel pagan before his baptism, was called the Red Sun among the people - for his great love and compassion for the poor people - qualities that were bestowed on him by God with the grace of holy baptism. Ancient patericons tell us about cases of miraculous healings of the insane. In the cave of the Monk Anthony of the Caves, an iron ring in the wall was preserved, to which they tied the possessed, suffering from an unclean spirit. Even now, the Kiev caves with the relics of the monks attract thousands of people, among whom there are many sick.

From the first days of the activity of the sisterhood "Joy and Consolation" the patients themselves began to assert that after visiting the church and especially after accepting the holy gifts of the flesh and blood of Christ, they received great relief.

I was a secular person and far from the Church, but even then I heeded the Lord's call to be an Orthodox Christian and serve Him in deeds of mercy, - says Lyubov Andreevna Shinkarenko. - Having moved to Kiev with my husband, a retired officer, I began to visit the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and there I heard about the Kirillovsky parish, which takes care of mentally ill people. I really wanted to help these unfortunates somehow. I came to Kirillovskaya and turned to Fr. Theodore with a request to give me some kind of obedience. He looked that way at my elegant appearance (and then I loved to look spectacular), shook his head and said: “I don’t know what kind of obedience to give you. We have no obedience for you ... ". I was very upset, went to church and began to pray tearfully. Then I again came to Fr. Theodore with the same question, and he sent me home a second time. As I understand it, the wise confessor tested my intention. I already prayed to the Mother of God at home. And I think: well, if he refuses for the third time, then there is no will of God. I come and say: "Father, I can do everything, even wash the floors, wash rags ...". And he was so surprised: "Wash the floors?" - and turned to the sisters of the temple: "Give her a bucket and a rag, let her wash." And left. I was, as they say, in seventh heaven. She was already scrubbing these floors with such diligence, but Father Theodore walks by, looks, smiles and says nothing. In general, I passed the obedience of the cleaning lady perfectly well, so soon the father blessed me to be a sister of mercy. So the Lord led me to this godly work. But the desire to help others is not enough, you still need to be patient, ask the Lord for help and strength, and endure all kinds of temptations. For the enemy of the human race does not tolerate such deeds and begins to intrigue. Only confession and frank conversations with the spiritual father help to overcome difficulties. After all, we are dealing with people who have a sick soul. And to work with such suffering, you need, first of all, to be very attentive to yourself.

The sisterhood has 18 sisters of mercy. These are women of different ages and different occupations. Many with higher education: lawyers, teachers, economists. Most of them combine work with obedience in the sisterhood. As a rule, on Sundays and holidays they gather with the whole staff, and on weekdays they are on duty in turn. But they would never have coped with such a volume of work if not for the helpers from among the parishioners. For example, once a month a group of elderly women-retirees comes to the parish, who allocate funds from their pension to buy food. As a rule, they buy high-quality bacon and prepare pates with garlic and parsley from it, bring bread and other products by car and then make sandwiches, which are distributed to the departments. Lyubov Andreevna keeps a little statistics for accounting, and it turned out that about 80 thousand sandwiches are prepared and distributed to patients a month. There were also benefactors among business representatives who regularly send products.

Looking at the labors of these humble women in white robes with red embroidered crosses, one involuntarily recalls the words from the Sermon on the Mount of the Savior: “Blessed be mercy, for they will be forgiven” (Matthew 5: 7).

Christmastide and Easter

With a Christmas star, icons and singing carols, Sunday school students, led by the clergy and sisters of mercy, are sent to the hospital departments. A parish van, laden with boxes of Christmas gifts, icons, holy water, and candles, follows. Toys, board games, sketchbooks, felt-tip pens and pencils, children's Bibles are also brought to the children's departments. I had a chance to take part in these festive volunteer processions and see with what joy the sick, languishing behind the closed doors of the hospital departments, greeted the parishioners. How their faces revived and glances that were extinguished from illness and medicines shone, how they joyfully crossed themselves and amicably responded to the Christmas greeting "Christ is born!": "We glorify Him!" And on Easter in hospital wards and canteens, they sound - and will sound this year too - the gospel words: "Christ is Risen!" - "Indeed he is risen!"

In July, the oldest monastery in Yekaterinburg celebrates its 200th anniversary

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Visiting the editorial office of Komsomolskaya Pravda-Ural, the priest of the Novo-Tikhvinsky convent, Father Mikhail (Archpriest Mikhail Kudrin). In a black robe up to his feet in hot weather, the priest invariably causes surprise: how is it not hot for him? Yes, it is hot for him, like everyone else. Father Mikhail is a very cordial and cheerful person. People who come across him react differently. Some stay away, some come up for a blessing. Father Mikhail sits down at the table. He does not touch the liver, takes only the offered water. A few minutes remain before the start of the straight line.

- Father Mikhail, you don’t take cookies because it’s in cream, but now there is Peter’s post?

I, of course, cannot break the fast. Although, in general, Peter's fast is not as strict as, for example, the Great. Fish is often allowed. Of course, all Orthodox Christians now abstain from meat and dairy. But if someone in a cafeteria or cafe comes across a small piece of meat in the soup, it will look strange if he begins to catch it and put it aside. It is better to immediately choose lean dishes, but if a person accidentally eats a little non-fast, then he will be forgiven.

Elena: Hello, father. We were with my husband in the Novo-Tikhvin monastery and we liked it very much. We want to get married here.

Nowadays, weddings are not taking place. The Peter post will end on July 12, then it will be possible. Only in the monastery itself, weddings are not performed. There is our chapel nearby, in the dendrological park, you can get married there, it will be very good for you. There are certain days for this - Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And you can agree on a wedding in the monastery, in the Green Grove.

Paul: How many times should you confess?

The best thing is at least once a week. To do this, you need to prepare, fast and, for convenience, write down all your sins on a piece of paper. Sometimes they come and say: we have no sins. But this simply cannot be. Even the saints confessed with tears in their eyes, they saw their sins. Of course, now there is a long queue to the priest for confession, especially during Lent, but you have to wait, pray at this time, get ready. Indeed, there are not enough priests now. The revolution and the Bolsheviks kicked them out. And then the Soviet power also limited the Church ... But still, now there is an opportunity for spiritual life - do not miss this, come to confession!

- There is an opinion that Yekaterinburg is still not forgiven for this crime - the murder of the royal family.

I cannot judge. Although many townspeople understand what their fault is. The point is not that specific modern people were not on that fateful night of July 17 with revolvers or bayonets in the basement of the Ipatiev house. The point is our attitude towards that time. We tolerate next to us the monuments and street names given to them in honor of murderers, terrorists, rapists. Yekaterinburg only recently changed its name, given to it in honor of the regicide and state terrorist. And the monument to Kirov? Should his moral qualities set an example for the students of USTU-UPI (UrFU), who pass him by every day?

Elena: Good afternoon, father Mikhail. I am going to make a pilgrimage to the Golden Ring on vacation. What do you recommend? It's somehow difficult to get to the holy places on foot, but it's somehow ugly by plane ... To fly to the holy relics on the wings.

I would advise you to look into the diocesan pilgrimage department on Repin, 6 "A". They will give detailed information on how, what and where. I once traveled with my family - the children were then 12 and 13 years old on a pilgrimage trip. We were in Diveevo, in Murom, then went to Moscow. I don't have a car, I don't have a driver's license, so we got there by bus. Bogolyubovo - there is a Church of the Intercession on the Nerl nearby. It is very important to go there. Around it is a field - a nature reserve, next to a holy lake. When the Tatars came to plunder, someone threw the Eucharistic cup into this lake. And it became holy. You can't get there by car. Even foreigners are dropped off and they walk 2 kilometers.

- Father Michael, you are talking about the holy places that Orthodox Christians strive for in order to receive healing, help themselves or those close to them. Do we have shrines in Yekaterinburg? Are there holy people, holy elders? In the same Novo-Tikhvin monastery?

Of course, there are shrines. A particularly revered shrine is in the monastery - a particle of relics and an icon of St. Nicholas. Nicholas the Wonderworker is one of the most revered and beloved among the people. You can pray with an akathist to this great saint of God. Every Wednesday and Thursday at 18.00, prayers are performed in front of the relics, which are taken out at this time in the middle of the church. How to determine that a person living next to you and in our time is holy? By his actions, by his non-covetousness, by his meekness and love for God and neighbor. His face is said to just glow. And this is more from spiritual experience. For me, for example, such an indisputable spiritual authority is Schema-Archimandrite Abraham (Reidman), the confessor of the Novo-Tikhvin Monastery and the Svyato-Kosminskaya Male Hermitage (the village of Kostyleva, Verkhotursky District). In general, I would advise looking not for holy elders, but for experienced confessors - again, I can say that in our monastery many priests already have extensive experience, spiritual practice, and in other churches as well.

- In one of the reference books it is indicated that the main icon of the monastery - Tikhvin one - has the glory of miraculous, and that touching it guarantees healing from many infirmities ... But meanwhile, it is known that this icon is “just” a modern copy from an old original ... Well , that is, not very ancient. As if it is believed that the older, the more miraculous ...

This is not necessary at all. There are many examples when new "young" icons provided help, and even photographs from icons of holy ascetics. In our monastery we have a list made by the sisters 3-4 years ago. An absolutely exact copy of the one that was once located in Tikhvin. The ancient "original" was taken out of the USSR during the Soviet years and kept for a long time in the USA, in Chicago. And so, the curator in the USA handed over the "original" of the icon to Tikhvin, and our sisters made a list from it and attached it to it, that is, to this very miraculous icon. Vladyka Vincent performed the necessary ceremony, and the icon was solemnly delivered to Yekaterinburg. From the airport - on a cross procession to the monastery. People here pray, receive help from this icon, but they are not always in a hurry to announce it loudly.

- Natalia: A friend asks to become the godmother of her daughter, and I myself am not baptized ...

The godmother has many responsibilities in relation to her spiritual “child”. She should bring him to church, teach him a virtuous life. If you really want to become a godmother, you need to be baptized yourself, and before that, for three months go to talks, for example, to our Zelena Roscha (for the convenience of the workers, they are held in the evenings). Consciously approach baptism, and it will be the greatest and most joyful discovery of your life.

- Father Michael, how do you become monks, nuns? There is an opinion that it is mainly losers who do not work out in life, unhappy love, a broken business, a family ...

In no case. Losers do not become monks (and nuns). Losers are desperate people, and despair is sin. Rather, there are those who are keenly aware of the need for spiritual improvement and understand that it is difficult to achieve this in the world ... I will say more - if a person simply runs from failure, he most likely will not hold out in the monastery, because we carry all the roots of our conflicts with us ...

- You don't make a special selection? Let's say you don't have enough seamstresses or artists, and first of all you take those who can embroider or stitch on a typewriter ...

This is not a university where they are ready to hire an outstanding athlete, albeit with a small intellect, just for the institute to "sound". Or the army, where they immediately select a good car mechanic so that he does not serve, but repairs cars to his generals. Being a monk, a nun is hard work. Not physical, but spiritual work on oneself. And not everyone can do it. And most likely, a nun who knows how to sew well, will be given obedience, just not connected with her worldly profession. In order for her not to be distracted and proud of the fruits of her labor, she did not ascend in pride over the sisters, but humbly worked in the field where she was put - for the glory of God. That in which the worldly see honor and glory, monks only harm.

- Yulia: I want to remember my grandfather, he has not been with us for two years, but I do not know whether he is baptized or not ...

What year of birth is he?

- In my opinion, since 1923 or 24 ...

When he was in adulthood, at that time the citizens of the USSR no longer had any reason to strongly hide their involvement in Orthodoxy and refuse the rite of baptism. It means that your grandfather was baptized with a high degree of probability. In cases where there is doubt, it is better to decide in favor of the person being baptized. Remember him as he was baptized and give memorial notes to the church.

- Nikolay: My wife began to say more and more often that she was going to go to a monastery.

Do you have children?

- No. I do not know what to do, I would be very sorry if she still went there. She says that one cannot be saved in the world, but that one can only do it in a monastery.

This is not true…. Are you married?

- Well, in general, you can say ...

If you are married, then she cannot just go and go to the monastery. She must ask your permission, Nikolai. If you refuse her, and she has no other serious reasons, she simply cannot be in the monastery. But let's say you agreed to let her go. She still has to consult a lot with her confessor, talk with the older sisters at the monastery. I am sure she will be advised not to destroy her family, but to humbly carry her “home” cross. And if she nevertheless decides to leave, then at least another three years (!) Will pass a "trial period". To work, to pray, to do the assigned work - she will have obedience. During this time, a person begins to understand whether or not he is ready to devote his whole life to serving God. Vladyka Vincent says that this "probationary period" should actually be increased to five years. Although this is individual.

Now, as for where your wife, Nikolai, is better off "to save herself." The spiritual father of our monastery, Schema-Archimandrite Abraham, says that both family and monastic life are very difficult. If you live according to the commandments of God and fulfill all the precepts regarding family life, then it will be a real cross-bearing. As an Orthodox family, as a rule, there are many children. And it takes a long time to properly educate them. Man gives all of himself to his children. This can become your cross and salvation. Well, if you don't have children yet ... To have children, you can ask the righteous Simeon of Verkhotursky. There is a church on Elizabeth, there is an icon, its relics, come together. Simeon will help.

- Several years ago, a resident of Chicago, a former Russian woman, Anna, ordered the sisters an icon of the Mother of God. In general, how often do sisters receive orders for family icons?

Ik aboutwe have been writing to order in the monastery for 10 years. The first dispersed among the parishioners and pilgrims. And when the site of the monastery sestry.ru opened, orders began to come from abroad - from America, the Czech Republic, Greece. But mostly we write, of course, to churches and monasteries. And we not only write, but also embroider. Quite recently, your "Komsomolskaya Pravda" wrote about an embroidered icon of the Monk Gerasim of Boldinsky in full growth, which the sisters made by order of the Holy Trinity Boldinsky Monastery. And the icon painters just recently finished another interesting icon - St. Theodosius of Totem ...

- Something I have never heard of him before. And what does he have to do with the monastery?

Himself aboute straight. Theodosius Totemsky helps the builders. Several monasteries were rebuilt under his leadership. And he is the “heavenly builder” of the Novo-Tikhvin monastery. There was such a case in 1879, when the monastery was not yet officially established, only a small community was formed, headed by Tatyana Kostromina, the future abbess Taisia. When the first cell building was laid, a rider on a white horse suddenly appeared in front of the builders who were performing the prayer service. Said, "Receive this builder." He held the image of the Monk Theodosius and a certain plan, most likely the plan of a monastery. So it turned out that our monastery was built not according to human will, but according to God.

- Love: I go to church, but it's somehow inconvenient to go to the priest for a blessing. I don’t know when this can be done, tell me, Father Mikhail.

At any time, anywhere, you can approach for a blessing if the priest is not currently serving. After all, when I was a layman, I was also very shy: how can you just go to a priest like that? I was even afraid. And there is no need to be afraid. If you are going to fly to Egypt - come for a blessing. Gathered to take the exam - bless. Any business, any undertaking. In the end, you understand that you are not going to the priest personally, but approaching him in order to receive God's blessing. And when he blesses, he folds his fingers so that the initial letters of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ are obtained.

- Victoria: Father Mikhail, my son was born on July 19. We named him Alexander. I would like to know when can I celebrate his name day?

Alexander is a name consisting of two Greek words: alex - protector, andros - man, husband. Alexandra are very rich on name days. You need to go to any church shop, look at the church calendar there and decide in honor of which saint it is named - accordingly, on the day of memory of this saint, his name day will be. If you choose a saint by date, then the closest is the Monk Alexander of Kushtsky, his memory is celebrated on July 22. And it is important to celebrate the name day worthy of the memory of your saint - that is, to go to church, pray to him for your health and salvation. He will definitely help you.

- Which celebrity will come to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Novo-Tikhvin Monastery?

Are you expecting us to invite famous rock musicians or pop stars? (laughs) The celebrations will be big and joyful, on the 8th evening there will be an All-night vigil in the summer church right in the open area, regardless of the weather. His Eminence Archbishop Vincent and many priesthood will serve. And on July 9, the Bishop's Divine Liturgy will also be held in the summer church. Then a concert, there will be our quartet "Ural", everyone loves to listen to them. From the "celebrities" will be the people's singer of Russia Tatyana Petrova with the program "My Quiet Motherland". Tatyana Yurievna is from the Urals (from Bulanash), now she lives and works in Moscow, but her sisters invited her and she will come. Her voice is unmatched, worth hearing. What else? Pupils of our monastery shelter will perform popular Italian songs. It is very beautiful and touching. (Kp.ru publishes the anniversary program on the website).

- Galina: Good afternoon, father! Is it possible for an elderly woman in the service to be not wearing a headscarf, but a hat? What do you think about it? Thank you.

Yes, Galina, in principle you can be wearing a hat. Nowadays you can often see women in berets and hats in the temple. The main thing is to be covered with your head. My attitude? It seems to me that the headscarf gives some special chastity to the appearance of any woman, it symbolizes humility and meekness.

- Katya, 19 years old: Why do we need a religious procession? And can a simple passer-by, who walked by and decided to join, take part in it?

It developed in antiquity. The procession is of great importance. It occurs on great holidays, or when a great calamity awaits a country or city and people want to prevent it. The procession has great power. Everyone goes, praying, singing, sprinkling everything with holy water. A simple layman can also join him. For example, you can come to the Religious Procession on July 9, to the celebration of Tikhvin. We completely bypass the entire territory of the monastery, including the territory of the current military hospital. The military leadership always allows us to do this. Wounded soldiers, nurses, all service personnel leave. They are baptized into the icon. Come and you, Catherine.

- Svetlana: Hello, I have a question. My daughter is 4 months old, we want to baptize her, what needs to be done for this? And what do you need to carry with you during baptism?

It is very good, Svetlana, that you wish to baptize your daughter. First of all, you definitely need to find a godmother for her - a baptized Orthodox woman. Now, before Baptism, it is customary to have catechumens - this is done so that a person is baptized or baptized his children consciously. At our monastery, special courses have been created for full disclosure, which last 3 months. In other temples, the number of conversations may be different, but usually no less than four. The godmother should definitely go through such conversations, but of course, they are very important for you too. During the conversations, they talk in detail about how the Sacrament of Baptism is performed, and there they will tell you what may be needed for Baptism. Baptism is free of charge. If you take catechism courses at our monastery, then you will have the opportunity to baptize your daughter in the village of Merkushino. This is a holy place, once the righteous Simeon of Verkhotursky lived there.

-Nikolay: Father, good evening! Please tell me, when you go to church and see those asking at the gate, is it necessary to give them money? The fact is that it is clear from them that this money will not go to a good cause, but to alcohol. Will it be considered a sin if you do not give money to those who ask the church?

Hello Nikolay! If you suspect that your alms will be used for sin, then it is better not to give it, at least not to give money. You can donate food.

- Maria: Good afternoon! I have serious university entrance exams. I'm getting ready, but I would like to ask the saint for help. What saint should I pray, what prayers should I read?

Dear Maria, I wish you God's help! The patrons of the students are considered the Great Martyr Tatiana and St. John Chrysostom. In our monastery, in the Church of All Saints in the Green Grove, there is a particle of the relics of St. John, you can come, write a request to serve him a prayer for God's help in a good deed, and of course, pray at the prayer service herself. In general, try to visit church more often, to pray from your heart - and there will be God's help.

- Vladimir: Hello, Fr. Michael! Does it make any difference which cross to wear - small or large, made of ordinary metal or gold? Can an unconsecrated cross be worn?

Vladimir, good afternoon! It makes no difference which cross to wear, in any case it keeps a person. Gold or silver cross, large or small - this is left to the discretion of the believer, to his taste. But it is absolutely necessary to consecrate the cross. You can just bring it to the temple, ask any priest, he will consecrate. It will take very little time.

What motivates a person who spends all his time, effort and money on computer games or slot machines? Why does he become a slave to a seemingly completely harmless hobby? We have learned to beware of temptations that can cause physical dependence, but the enemy of the human race has found a more sophisticated way to destroy people. Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Chief Specialist in Medical Psychology and Psychiatry, Director of the Regional Clinical Psycho-Neurological Hospital - Medical and Psychological Center Mikhail Pavlovich Bero talks about non-chemical addiction.

- Mikhail Pavlovich, what is non-chemical dependence? What are the main causes and consequences of its occurrence?

- Non-chemical dependence is a conventional name. In chemical addiction, the human body is artificially stimulated by various drugs for the sake of pleasure, while in non-chemical addiction, this stimulation is produced due to the appearance of a strong passion for something, and this leads to the production of neurochemicals in its own brain.

Human psychology assumes that the personality must be harmonious. The concept of "harmony", in addition to the ability to realize and understand the world around us, includes the concept of spirituality, faith in God. When there is a violation of harmony, an empty cell is formed in the personality structure, and this emptiness must be filled with something. A person finds himself various hobbies, which often cause the appearance of psychological dependence. This leads to an increase in sin, to various impious acts, and, in the end, a person's life turns into a tragedy.

The range of dependencies is very large. This can be a passion for gambling, pathological addiction to slot machines, SMS-ok transmission, computer games, and so on. Artificial stimulation occurs, and a careful production of too large doses of hormones, adrenaline, in particular, begins, which leads to early aging of the body. Such a large release of active biochemical substances causes stomach or duodenal ulcers, hypertension, and thyroid disease. A person destroys himself, his circle of interests narrows, his whole life becomes devoted to this pathological attraction.

Besides, one sin, one addiction causes another. This is a vicious cycle.

- Are non-chemical addictions divided into female and male?

- There is no clear division. Women are more emotional. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that men play more slot machines. Nowadays, you can often see the picture when retired grandmothers gamble and lose their pensions. In Western countries, play zones are moved outside the city, so that there is no strong temptation to play. In our country, legislation does not provide for a ban on the location of play areas in public places.

- Can a person get rid of this addiction on his own?

- Addiction has its own criteria - mental and somatic, that is, it manifests itself from the side of the psyche and from the side of internal organs. When these two components are present, this is a complete dependence, which is extremely difficult for a person to overcome himself. Basically, in the treatment, a combination of drug therapy and psychological influence is used, which implies the mandatory intervention of specialists.

- Many people hide their hobbies. How to understand that a loved one has problems?

- If a person becomes addicted, then this first of all changes his life priorities. He moves away from his old hobbies, begins to form a circle of interests around this dependence. A person avoids friends, he distributes his working and non-working time differently. A team of people immediately arises around one addict, which involves him, supports and “siphons out” money. A person will immediately begin to experience material dependence - and this will also be striking.

- The problem of non-chemical dependence has existed for a long time. What is the danger of non-chemical addiction in our time?

- It has never acquired such a scale as it is now. Who could get involved in, for example, gambling before? Only wealthy middle-aged people who belonged to specialized clubs. Now with the spread of casinos, slot machines, there is a tendency to involve young people in all this.

The peculiarity of the adolescent psyche is such that a person during this period of life is on the verge between childhood and adulthood. The teenager needs parental care and at the same time tries to separate from them, begins to try himself in real life. Such a search boils down to the fact that there may be a threat of a serious mental disorder behind the offer to play computer games. We treated teenagers who were literally kicked out of computer clubs by security guards. The addiction was so strong that the person was afraid to leave the club, he could not imagine himself outside this club. Children dropped out of school, neglected the rules of personal hygiene, they literally lived in these clubs. The teenager is trying to assert himself, and such a spiritless, non-church upbringing, lack of traditions has such disastrous consequences.

- But this problem is also present in Orthodox families. What mistakes did your parents make? Is this not due to the fact that adults, trying to protect, shield the child from the outside world?

- Every human action has external and subconscious reasons. If the churching of a child in the subconscious of his parents is to protect him from the bad external influences of the world, then this can lead to the fact that the child does not want to go to church. The teenager will still look for himself, he will look for the answer to the questions: who am I? Where I am? what am i for? The child should understand why he believes in God, why he was taken to Sunday school, why he is forced to read the Bible, learn psalms and pray.

One of the laws of adolescence is the tendency to imitate. But what will he imitate? The child is also prone to organizing groupings. Whether we like it or not, it will still be like that. Reaction of emancipation, release from parental and teacher influence. And it depends on upbringing whether he finds it interesting to be in a group of Christian believers or in a group of gamblers. He will see that his comrades go for a walk on Sunday morning, it is fun there, and he is taken to the temple, where he needs to pray and repent. Therefore, within the framework of a children's Sunday school, events can also be carried out that would be playful in form, but educate and form a religious worldview in content.

The upbringing and education of children is a global problem. In our country, everything is subject to fashion trends. It is now fashionable to get married - and people do it. But this sacrament is not as common as registration in the registry office. It is necessary that a person can turn to God at any time, so that in every institution there is a place where one can pray, so that a person is surrounded by people who share his faith. After all, we are not protected from the fact that a child brought up in Orthodox traditions in society will not face a struggle with these traditions.

- There are no prospects for improving the situation in our country yet. What can be done under these conditions, how to avoid “surges” of departure from faith?

- The family goes to church, she turns to some priest for advice and spiritual guidance. This priest must be literate and, at a modern level, must be able to understand all family members, and the child, in particular, his age.

- If one of the family members has a non-chemical addiction - where can relatives go?

- Relatives should be attentive, and first aid should come primarily from loved ones. Parents are obliged to understand what the child lacks, why he thus fills the spiritual emptiness. Visiting the temple, faith in the Lord significantly speeds up the process of recovery not only from non-chemical addictions, but also from other psychological disorders. For example, in our clinic there is a certain attitude - the patient is strongly recommended to visit the temple, which is located on the territory of our center, to take part in the sacraments, to discuss his problem with the priest.

Rarely, but it happens that people are born with a predisposition to non-chemical addiction - the slightest provocation is enough, and a person is completely drawn into this. But I want to draw your attention to the fact that it is very difficult to recover from non-chemical addiction, it is better not to acquire it.

Interviewed by Anastasia Patricha

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Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky is one of the countless host of confessors of the faith of Christ in the 20th century. The confessor of the monastery sisters, a shepherd of high spiritual life, who served in the monastery since 1903, he was arrested in 1930 and sent into exile, first to Uglich, and then to Tver, where he died of starvation in 1942. His testament to his sons, filled with deep faith and love for the Lord, has survived to our time, as well as numerous manuscripts of sermons for all holidays and memorable days of the church year, partially included in this publication.

Biography of Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky

“The twentieth century is a special time in the life of the Russian Church. This is an era of unprecedented persecutions for the faith, in its scale, cynicism, treachery and cruelty surpassing everything that ever fell to the lot of the followers of Christ, - said Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy in the preface to the book of Hieromonk Damaskin (Orlovsky) Martyrs, Confessors and ascetics of piety in the Russian Orthodox Church of the 20th century ”(Tver: Bulat, 1995). "In the twentieth century, Russia alone gave the world more martyrs and confessors than the entire previous history of the entire Christian church."

Archpriest Mikhail Nikolaevich Ivanovsky (1874–1942) was one of the innumerable host of confessors of the faith of Christ during the years of persecution.

Archpriest Nikolai Ivanovsky

Father Mikhail Ivanovsky is a hereditary Moscow priest. The Ivanovsky family belonged to the educated circle of the Moscow clergy, its basis was made up of clergymen, most of whom had a higher spiritual education. From this large friendly family, where spiritual unity was above the blood connection, Mikhail Nikolaevich's nephew, the Hieromartyr Archpriest Boris Pavlovich Ivanovsky, rector of the Church of Gregory of Neokesariysky on Polyanka, also emerged. Shot at the Butovo training ground in 1937, he is now canonized among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church (Comm. 27 November / 10 December). Mikhail Ivanovsky's father, Archpriest Nikolai Aleksandrovich Ivanovsky, served almost his entire life in the Moscow Nativity of the Virgin convent (6). One of the oldest monasteries in Moscow, it was founded in 1386 by Princess Maria, the wife of Prince Andrei Serpukhovsky, son of Ivan Kalita. Its first inhabitants were the widows of warriors who died on the Kulikovo field. In the 19th century it was one of the largest monasteries in the capital, with about 800 nuns. Archpriest Nikolay was the senior priest. The Ivanovsky family owned a spacious one-story house opposite the monastery. Strict, at times even severe, Father Nikolai loved the silence and order in the house. An excellent library of spiritual and fictional literature occupied a separate room in which he spent a lot of time. His wife, Anna Pavlovna, a meek, benevolent woman, also came from the clergy. With all the fullness of Christian responsibility, the Ivanovskys related to the upbringing of their children: three sons and a daughter. The eldest son, Mikhail, was born on November 8, 1874. He studied at the Zaikonospassky Theological School, located not far from the Rozhdestvensky Monastery, on Nikolskaya Street, and after graduating from it he continued his education at the seminary. After graduating from the seminary, in 1896 he entered the Moscow Theological Academy. In the recommendation given to him by the priest of the Nativity Monastery Vladimir Sokolov, it is said that “a student of the Moscow Theological Seminary, Mikhail Ivanovsky, not only during his studies at the seminary, but also after leaving it, has up to now behaved in a religious and moral respect very commendable: On holidays, he attended church services unacceptably, being present at the altar, serving at the service; from the moral point of view, nothing reprehensible was never noticed behind him, which I attest with my signature and the attachment of the church seal ”(2, p. 4).

The Moscow Theological Academy in those years experienced a flourishing period. Among the professors and teachers the names of A.P. Lebedev, V.O. Klyuchevsky, E.E. Golubinsky, A.I. Vvedensky, M.D. Muretova, N.F. Kapterev and other prominent historians and theologians of that time. The student Mikhail Ivanovsky, who was accustomed to in-depth studies in his parents' home, could not help but fall in love with the Academy and the Lavra of St. Sergius, which had raised under its roof a galaxy of talented and capable young men, the life path of many of whom would in the future be crowned with a martyr's crown.

Students of the Moscow Theological Academy Belyaev, Ivanovsky and Sobolev before graduation. Sergiev Posad. 1900 g.

Having successfully graduated from the Academy in 1900, Mikhail Ivanovsky was "awarded the title of a real student and approved in this title by His Eminence Vladimir, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomenskoye" (2, pp. 12-13). According to the Charter of theological academies, the graduate was supposed to work in the spiritual and educational department for three years. Initially, Mikhail Ivanovsky was identified as a teacher of the parish school at the Rozhdestvensky Monastery, as well as a psalm-reader to the Nikolaevskaya, “on the Yamakh” church (2, fol. 9). Then, in 1901, he was appointed a teacher of Russian and Church Slavonic languages \u200b\u200bat the Tver Theological School (2, fol. 11-12). Mikhail Ivanovsky did not stay in Tver for long: he submits a petition, and he is appointed as an overseer at the Perervinsky Theological School, where he serves along with his friend Sergius Lebedev (later Mikhail will become his surety at the wedding), the future martyr. Could a young graduate of the Academy then think that in thirty years he would return to this small provincial town, where he would serve an indefinite exile and where the Lord judged him to end his days?

In 1902, Mikhail Ivanovsky was approved in the degree of candidate of theology. At this time, he was a psalm reader and teacher of the parish school at the Spassky Monastery.

Mikhail Nikolaevich and Alexandra Alexandrovna Ivanovskiy. 1903 g.

In 1903, shortly after his marriage to Alexandra Alexandrovna Dobrogorskaya - the daughter of a priest of the Church of St. Nicholas in Kuznechnaya Sloboda - he was ordained a priest for the Conception Convent. Since then, his whole life, like the life of his father, has been associated with female monasticism. Here, in the most ancient monastery of Moscow, founded in 1360 by Saint Alexis for his sisters - the Monks Juliania and Eupraxia, he passed his pastoral ministry. Here are brief extracts from the service record of Priest Mikhail Ivanovsky: “In 1907 he was awarded a legguard. In 1909, for diligent and useful service - to a skufie ”(3, d. 71).

Priest of the Conception Monastery Mikhail Ivanovsky. 1900s

Father Mikhail bought on credit, which he repaid for many years, one of the clergy's houses - a two-story house number 14 on Third Zachatyevsky Lane (house number 12 belonged to Archpriest Nikolai Stogov, confessor of the Conception sisters, the same age as Father Mikhail and his fellow student at the Academy, and house number 16 - to the deacon of the monastery). The Ivanovskys had three sons - Alexander (1905), Alexei (1908) and Georgy (1913). Here, at the Zachatyevskaya "Popovka", the best years of Father Mikhail's life pass, the years filled with creative work in nurturing the monastics, learning studies, composing sermons, and raising beloved sons.

In 1916, the Ivanovsky family suffered an irreparable loss - Alexandra Alexandrovna died of scarlet fever, which she contracted from her eldest son while caring for him during an illness.

Now Father Mikhail, in addition to caring for the flock, has completely taken care of the children. For them, he was a gentle father, a wise educator and spiritual mentor. This is evidenced by the memories of his youngest son, George. The boy, who was left without a mother at the age of three, became very attached to the nanny. And when she left a couple of years later for family reasons, he could not recognize the new nanny. The father did not punish the baby and, feeling sorry for him, early in the morning he dressed him and put him back to bed, and then went to the monastery to serve early Mass. The father followed the spiritual development of his son and tactfully guided him in the right direction. George remembered that when he became interested in reading Dostoevsky, his father drew his attention to the subtle psychologism of the writer. For example, to such episodes as Elder Zosima's bow to the future sufferings of Dmitry Karamazov or the stunning moment of mutual insight from Razumikhin and Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment.

Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky for the performance of the Divine Service

Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky was a highly educated person with deep interests and knowledge in theology, philosophy, Russian history and literature. He tirelessly expanded his library. Not limiting himself to theological works, Father Mikhail was interested in novelties in literature, philosophical and socio-political thought. The breadth of his interests could be judged by the remains of the library, preserved in the Third Zachatyevsky Lane, when its owner was no longer alive (5, pp. 5-6). “Father Michael was an exceptionally educated person. He still has a wonderful philosophical library…. There were Hegel, Nietzsche, Skovoroda, all sorts of other philosophers. There was even a brochure published by Lenin under a pseudonym. ... That is, Father Mikhail was interested in everything and knew a lot. He was very popular and loved by people. He was an exceptionally benevolent person, they loved him very much, ”Mikhail's daughter-in-law recalled. Ivanovskaya (9).

Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky

The year 1917 has come - a time of great upheavals and trials for the Russian people. The new government has declared war on Russian holiness. In 1917, when shots rang out outside the walls of the monastery, Mother Abbess Maria prudently did not let the sisters go outside the monastery, and the monastery continued, perhaps, not entirely calm, but ordinary monastic life (8). During this difficult time, Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky was appointed confessor of the Conception sisters. From that moment on, caring for the sisters of the ancient Moscow monastery became the main business of his life. Back in 1914, the archimandrite of the male Lavrentiev monastery in the city of Kaluga, Father Nil, whose spiritual advice was used by the nun of the Conception monastery Antonina (Anna Yakovlevna Yakovleva; † 1969), spoke of Father Mikhail in this way: “Although he is not a monk, he goes through spiritual life, and spiritual life is one, which is for monks and priests and laity ”(7, p. 11). And later, in conversations with her, he remarks: "You listen to him, he is good, and ask about everything, it will be easier for you to live" (7, p. 35).

At the beginning of 1918, after the decree on the nationalization of monasteries was issued, about a hundred sisters were evicted from the monastery, who had to huddle in the basements of nearby houses. The rest went to work in state enterprises that arose on the territory of the monastery. Thus, the Aksakov children's orphanage, which had existed at the monastery since 1910, turned into a labor colony of the People's Commissariat for Education for street children (8). Many sisters, working there, were able to stay in the monastery for some time. In his house, Father Mikhail gave shelter to four nuns: “he gave two rooms in his apartment to mothers Antonina and Nina, and to mothers Antonia and Juvenalia - a large room with a separate entrance on the ground floor” (4, p. 2).

The clergy, nuns and parishioners of the monastery fought tirelessly with the authorities for the monastery churches, for the opportunity to perform divine services. The authorities agreed not to close the churches, but demanded the expulsion of all monastics from the parish council and wished to appoint clergymen from among the renovationists. After the closure of the monastery and the destruction of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, Father Michael continued to serve in the Gate Church in honor of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

Father Mikhail Ivanovsky with nuns Antonina, Nina and Yuvenalia in the courtyard of house number 14 on the Third Zachatyevsky lane. 1930s

On October 8, 1930, a search was carried out at Father Mikhail Ivanovsky's house in the Third Zachatyevsky Lane. According to the Commissioner of the Operations Department, who carried out the search, “Citizen Ivanovsky should be detained, since his house serves as a home church, he himself lives richly and, judging by the reserves, does not need” (1, fol. 21-21 rev.). So, after repeated drives and short-term detentions, Father Mikhail was arrested and an investigation was opened against him.

Here is a certificate from investigation file No. 104150: “Ivanovsky Mikhail Nikolaevich, a native of Moscow, Russian, non-partisan. Before the revolution and after - the priest of the Savior Church. Deprived of voting rights. Ivanovsky M.N. - priest and dispossessed. Arrested under warrant No. 717, 7 / 10-30 and kept. in the Taganskaya prison ”(1, p. 188).

Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky. Photo from the investigation file. 1930 g.

Fr. Mikhail is in the Taganskaya prison, and on October 23, a special meeting at the OGPU Collegium decided: “Ivanovsky M.N. - release from custody, depriving the right of residence in the Moscow, Leningrad region, Kharkov, Kiev, Odessa districts, SKK, Dagestan and border districts, for a period of three years, counting the period from 7 / 10-30 years "(1, p. 234 ).

Uglich became the place of exile for father Mikhail. He settles there near the Resurrection (Divnaya) Church of the Alekseevsky Monastery in a small room of a wooden house. This monastery was founded in 1371 by the monk Adrian at the request of Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow, and since 1439, after the relics of St. Alexis were found, it began to be called Alexeyevsky. The sons and nuns Antonina and Nina came to Uglich to help Father Mikhail find a new, forced residence. Here, under the protection of St. Alexis, Father Michael spent three long years.

As was usual for any priest in the 1920s and 1930s who did not take off his dignity and did not change clothes for secular, Father Mikhail was often subjected to ridicule and mockery of hooligans on the streets of the city, but he endured them meekly, knowing that “they do not know that they create ”. The coal hooligans turned out to be especially inventive, about which Father Mikhail told his sons with a smile. During his exile, local authorities destroyed the cemetery near the Divnaya Church. And the hooligans, sparing no effort, systematically dragged the grave crosses and skulls from ruined graves to the window of his closet, ”Fr. Michael, T.G. Maklakov, according to her husband Georgy Mikhailovich (5, p. 7).

At the end of the term of exile, Father Mikhail was not allowed to return to Moscow, and he settled in Tver (the city soon received the name of the “All-Union headman” - MI Kalinin). True, at first, Father Mikhail wanted to return to Uglich, to which he had become accustomed for three years, but there was a very bad communication between Moscow and Uglich, and Father Mikhail still chose Tver (9). Taking advantage of the comparative proximity of the capital, he came to Moscow on great holidays and on Mikhailov Day. “The parishioners loved and respected Father Mikhail very much. During none of his numerous visits to Moscow, there were no denunciations of his stay in the city. ... Everyone who learned about his arrival hurried to see him and receive spiritual edification and consolation ”(5, p. 7). He was a loving shepherd in the days of the world, and he was also in times of persecution.

Spiritual connection with the sisters of the Conception Monastery was not interrupted. All these years, Father Michael was a spiritual support for the nuns who were forced to live in the world. A kind of secret monastic community was formed, under the guidance of an exiled priest. Such communities, male and female, existed during the years of persecution throughout Russia. Father Michael continued to spiritually guide his children both in his visits to Moscow and in letters. Unfortunately, this correspondence has not survived. The time was such that received letters were often immediately destroyed, so that in the event of a search, they would not bring on the writer even more serious troubles.

Sons and spiritual children also visited the exiled priest in Tver. “I married Alexander Mikhailovich Ivanovsky in 1933 in May, - recalled M.V. Ivanovskaya, when Mikhail Nikolaevich was still in exile in Uglich. I was then a completely unchurched person and went to Uglich reluctantly: now I will instruct, teach life, but, as it turned out, I was deeply mistaken. Fr Mikhail was very happy to see us, and during our stay there he tried in every possible way to please us: to feed us well, to provide conditions for rest. He was an intelligent, delicate, well-mannered man who never bothered with questions and instructions. We stayed with him for a month, and I was very pleased to meet such a pleasant person.

He was tall, strong, had a beard, as befits a priest, fine teeth, and, in general, looked like a hero.

Then he moved to Tver, and we visited him there. He met my father, and the latter greatly appreciated him. Father Mikhail gave some toys to my son, his grandson, and was very nice to us.

His sons loved him very much, but they were poor, and all the care for Father Mikhail fell on the matushkas Antonina and Nina. Mother Antonina had some kind of gold coins, silver - she was selling all this, and with the money she got she bought provisions and some necessary things ”(9).

“Everything became very complicated with the outbreak of the war, when it was no longer possible to come to Moscow without an official permit. Tragic days came during the German occupation of Tver.

Although the Germans, as a rule, did not persecute the clergy, and sometimes even facilitated the opening of churches, Father Michael's disgust for the occupiers and patriotism did not allow him to surrender to their patronage. He left Tver on foot and in the cold winter months of the city's occupation wandered through the villages free of the Germans. ... After the Germans were expelled, he, starving and completely ill, returned to Tver, to the cage he rented ... It was dilapidated, but fortunately, most of the books and manuscripts of his sermons, on which he worked, survived ”(5, pp. 7-8). Father Mikhail settles in the same place, on the Zatveretskaya embankment, in the neighboring house number 116 in the walk-through kitchen.

Here are some excerpts from his letters to his youngest son in the army.

February 14, 1942 “I’m alive, but my health has broken down badly during a difficult three-month wandering through the villages 35 miles from the city and after leaving it, until the Germans were driven out.”

March 25, 1942 “I hesitated to reply to your letter, because I did not want to upset you. I got sick all the time, very badly at one time. For about a month I ate one bread ration and therefore could hardly walk: my arms, legs and face were swollen. "

April 18, 1942 “I, the old man, have no work, and it turns out that life is empty, aimless. Previously, most of all I filled the time, you know, of course, than (they say)(prayer. - Ed.), and now the home environment does not dispose to do what used to comfort me and make sense of my life. "

Father Mikhail returned to Tver in a serious physical condition, his health was completely undermined: until the last days he was tormented by a constant fever, the temperature rose to 39 degrees, the situation was aggravated by hunger and dystrophy.

“Three months later, he had a stroke, but, obviously, not so severe, since he retained the ability to move with great difficulty with a stick: after all, he had to stand in line for several hours for a dependent ration of 300 grams of black bread” (5, p. 8).

May 19, 1942 “I get 600 grams of bread for 2 days, but I eat almost all of it on the first day, and on the next I live without bread. All the potatoes came out. There is no strength to go to church. ... Still, you have to exist somehow - and you exist. That is when the time has come for patience, humility, obedience to the will of God. The Lord is obviously testing me. Only now the Lord can see if I sincerely spoke earlier and now I say: Thy will be done, not mine. Help me Lord so that these words are not hypocritical and sincere, as well as my words: thank God for everything! "

Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky in the last years of his life

On the day that Father Mikhail wrote this letter, he was paralyzed. Despite the grave physical condition, he retained a clear consciousness and lived in the hope that he would be allowed to return to Moscow and die among his loved ones ... “Father Mikhail’s middle son, who remained in Moscow, was able to obtain a pass (by a certified telegram from the attending physician) to travel to Tver, but there he was not allowed to take out his sick father: the local authorities demanded permission from Moscow, Moscow - local, first city, then regional. All these bureaucratic games and mockery of the dying man continued until his death in October 1942. The last letters of Father Mikhail to his son in the army cannot be read without tears: with such meekness and humility he endured adversity. The last letter to his son is dated September 18, 1942. There was no more news from Father Mikhail ”(5, p. 8).

In November 1942, Georgy Ivanovsky, the youngest son, with great difficulty managed to come to Kalinin. The neighbors could not say for sure when Father Mikhail died and where he was buried. The son managed to transport the archive and the surviving books to Moscow. Among the manuscripts was found the spiritual testament of Father Michael to his sons:

« My dying testament to my children.

Leaving this earthly life for another, afterlife, for another way of being, I would like, my dear sons, to say a few words to you.

My dear, glorious children! I am afraid that the modern spirit of unbelief, of undivided immersion with all your soul in this sensual material world, will not turn out to be infectious and destructive for you, therefore I ask you to listen to me, your parent, who loves you with all his heart and wishes you well. Be careful, careful. Don't succumb to this modern contagion. Be sure, convince yourself of what all people with a good soul and a pure heart (philosophers, scientists and artists) have always been convinced of (and now they are), that there is another, better world. “Everything,” says Maeterlink, for example, “that the human imagination manages to erect and pile up in space and time, the most infinite that he can imagine, is nothing in comparison with what really exists”. All the best people (the beauty of humanity) have always recognized that there is God - the Creator of the world, there is a Savior, Redeemer, Christ the Son of God, who came to the world of sinners to save, Who showed people the right way of life, the way of salvation. It is necessary to follow it in order to inherit the blissful eternal life. This is the path of faith and love for God and neighbors. Follow this path. Maintain communication with the Source of life - God through prayer; make the sign of the cross before and after meals, morning and evening at night; repent of your sins every year and partake of the Most Pure Body and Blood of Christ. Listen to the voice of your conscience so that it does not reproach you for anything. Live in peace with everyone, avoid quarrels, be not proud, friendly to everyone, loving, honest, respectable, be afraid of addiction to wine drinking. Live like this, and you will not be far from the Kingdom of God. Here is my father's request and testament to you. Listen to me: it will be good for you, but give me joy and consolation to me, looking at you from another world.

I pray to the Lord God, may he help you to complete your life path in faith and love. Do not forget to pray for me to the All-Merciful Lord, so that our hope that the Lord will not take us sinners away from Himself at His Last Judgment and will deign us to glorify in His eternal blessed Kingdom the magnificent name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever ... Amen».

Only in 2006, through the efforts of the nuns of the revived Conception Monastery, it was possible to find out the exact date of the death of Father Mikhail. Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky died on October 12, 1942, at the age of 69, leaving behind a blessed memory *. According to the testimony of the employees of the Tver registry office, in the archive of which the death certificate was found, this is the only document that has survived from that time. The burial place of Father Mikhail is unknown.

Archpriest Mikhail Nikolaevich Ivanovsky was rehabilitated on March 29, 1989: “Ivanovsky M.N. falls under Art. I of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 16, 1989 "On additional measures to restore justice in relation to the victims of repressions that took place in the period 30-40s and early 50s" "(1, p. 263-264) ...

At present, the ancient Conception monastery is being revived from the ruins, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos is being erected, destroyed during the years of godless power, and the nuns of the monastery testify that the restoration of the monastery is taking place by the grace of God through the prayers of the saints. The sisters believe that Father Michael, who endured many sorrows and accepted death in poverty and exile, but always thanked the Lord and invariably repeated "Glory to God for everything," and now in the Triumphant Church raises prayers to the Almighty Throne and intercedes for his children, so that all were honored to become partakers of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Father Michael, pray to God for us!

* Tatyana Georgievna Maklakova, father's daughter-in-law, recalls: “Over the years of service in the monastery, he was well recognized and loved by everyone who came across him and received spiritual comfort from him — ordinary people, aristocrats, and intellectuals. When his youngest son got married (almost 18 years after his father's death), his wife was often stopped by strangers (former parishioners of Fr. Mikhail), congratulated on the fact that she entered the family of such a wonderful person, and remembered him with love ”( 5, p. 8).

Used sources

1. Central archive of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. Case No. R-42296.
2. Central Historical Archive of Moscow. Fund 229. Inventory 4. Case No. 1488.
3. Central Historical Archive of Moscow. Fund 203. Inventory 763. Case 71.
4. Ivanovskaya M.V. The latest history and the fate of the people of the Conception Monastery (1925-1995). Manuscript. Archive of the Conception Stavropegic Convent.
5. Maklakova T.G. Archpriest Mikhail Nikolaevich Ivanovsky (1874-1942). Manuscript. 1998. Archives of the Conception Stavropegic Convent.
6. Solntseva K.P. On the history of the Russian priesthood. Part 1–2. Feat of Faith. Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky. Manuscript. 2006. Archives of the Conception Stavropegic Convent.
7. Conversations between Schema-Archimandrite Nile and nun Antonina. Manuscript. Archive of the Conception Stavropegic Convent.
8. Hieromonk Nikodim (Chibisov)... The Conception Stavropegic Convent in Moscow. Dissertation for the degree of candidate of theology. Sergiev Posad, 2001.
9. Bortsova M... The Conception Convent and some of its confessors. Diploma. M., Orthodox St. Tikhon University for the Humanities, 2006.

From the spiritual heritage of Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovsky

Teaching on the day of the celebration of the glorification of the "Merciful" icon of the Mother of GodIs the fullness of life possible outside the Church of Christ? Mother of God as the primary adornment of the Church

Is it possible to live without the Church? Is it possible to live outside the fence of God's temple? Is it possible to comprehend all the beauty of life, all its deepest meaning, can one learn to love God and one's neighbor without loving the Church? Is it possible, finally, to fight the abyss of evil, with the inevitable sorrows in human life, is it possible to boldly look death in the face, is it generally possible to live a high spiritualized life without drawing strength from the Church of Christ, in the church, in divine services, in the Sacraments ? I cannot imagine this. Yes, I think, and it is impossible, of course it is impossible, no matter what people say who do not recognize the Church, people who have departed from it, people who call themselves Christians, but do not know what it means to live like a Christian.

And their own life speaks best of this. They left the Church, they broke away from her like a branch breaks off a tree. And what kind of life has become with them?

A restless mood, despite the seemingly visible gaiety, fear of losing the slightest from the blessings of the earth, because their whole soul is attached to these blessings, very often anger and irritation when dealing with neighbors, fear of death - this is the usual mood that they experience.

As slaves, they perform the labor that has fallen to their lot, they try to eagerly snatch for themselves more pleasures and joys from life, and when illness sneaks up on them or death suddenly overtakes them, then there is one darkness, one confusion in their soul.

And how often can one observe that at the last minute in anguish they are looking for the Cross of Christ's Church with their eyes, pouring tears over this Cross if the hand of a priest brings it to their lips, and taking the blessing of this Cross with them to another world, entering the shadow of death.

And, thank God, if at the last moment a person turns to the Church. But how much, how infinitely much he loses, walking his earthly path not under the shadow of the Church, but carried away by the capricious wind of different views, fashionable teachings, philosophical theories, constantly replacing one another, or even without any views and theories, living just like that , how are you!

What does he lose, what does he lose? One ascetic on Mount Athos was asked how he felt. He answered: oh, I have joy from earth to heaven! Indeed, there is no limit to the joy that a person experiences in moments of communion with the Lord God.

But all Christians are called to this joy, to joy not of this world. “Always rejoice in the Lord, and again I say, rejoice,” wrote the Apostle (Phil. 4, 4). How often are we believers in this mood? How often do we experience this joy, we who have been given everything to drink from the Source of life and joy?

This does not mean that a Christian must constantly be in a state of some kind of spiritual rapture, religious ecstasy; no, but in the soul of a true Christian should be constantly present "grace, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"; his soul must always be illuminated by the quiet rays of the Everlasting Light of Christ.

“Christ is in our midst! And it is and will be. " We, clergymen, exchange such a greeting before singing the Creed during the Liturgy. And this living, constant remembrance of the fact that Christ is invisibly present among us should fill the soul of both us, clergymen, and the soul of every Christian with this holy joy.

But it is impossible to feel this closeness of Christ the Lord to oneself, to feel this joy anywhere except the Church of Christ, nowhere can one be warmed with such warmth of God's grace as in the temple of God; on nothing to ascend to God, as on the wings of prayer, and mainly church prayer.

The Holy Church is the support of the Christian. The Holy Church is the mother of us believers. And blessed is the man who knows how to understand the language of his mother. Blessed is the man who, like a child, rests on her breast. Blessed is the man whose soul has grown under the canopy of the church, perfumed with the scent of her prayers, wrapped in the Holy Spirit living in her; "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they will praise Thee for ever and ever" (Psalm 83: 5), exclaimed the psalmist. And those who are accustomed to being often in the house of God, in the temple of the Lord, know from their own experience what a powerful influence the church service had on all their lives.

Some people think that only the clergy need to be a church person, to know the church charter, to know worship, to know the prayers of the Church and her care for people: bishops, priests, and deacons.

They think so because either they do not understand or they forget that every Christian is a living stone in the Church of Christ, a living member of it; and if so, then he must really live her life, breathe her Spirit, be obedient to her voice, bring his little private life into the light pouring from the church altar, and then this life will become great in small things, then she will become and in gratifying sorrows.

It is never so strongly that the influence of the Church is felt, the grace of God living in her is not felt so vividly, as on days when calamities break out over our heads, a storm of sorrows and temptations sweeps over our heads.

In these moments, the whole power of the Church of Christ is comprehended, the power of the grace of God living in her. In these moments of ineffable sorrow, the Lord mysteriously touches the soul, touches it invisibly, but so tangibly, fills the soul with such joy that makes it forget all earthly sorrows. In the most severe sorrow, the Lord often gives a Christian experience to know Him and for this bless the storms and torments he has experienced.

But all this is possible only in the Church and through the Church.

One woman who went through an excruciating emotional drama said: “Everything that I lived with was undermined; all that was most sacred to me was insulted; my very faith wavered. With horror I felt that I could not resist, I could not stay on the edge of that abyss of despair, over which I suddenly found myself, and in the Church, only in the Church I came to my senses.

With fervent supplication I fell to the icon of the Mother of God. I sobbed so hard that I almost fainted. And only when my lips touched the holy icon, as if it were the living Mother of God Herself, did I feel some kind of power that poured into me. When the sounds of church prayers and chants touched my ears, when in a sheaf of candles burning before the icon my candle lit up, when I, like a child on my mother's lap, poured out my torment before the Lady, the intolerable mental pain subsided, the strength returned to continue my life, to forgive and love.

Only now I know, - she said, - what power lives in the Church, in that Church which has a Merciful Savior - the Son of God - and a Merciful Mother, a strong Intercessor for peace, the Most Holy Virgin Mary.

Indeed, after faith in Christ the Savior - the Divine Founder of the Holy Church - nothing can any longer comfort a person and please him, like faith in the omnipotent cover of the Mother of God - this primary adornment of the Church; faith that She now, as always, tears repentant sinners out of the ditch of destruction, wipes away the tears of those who weep, hears sighs, accepts our prayers, does not cease to intercede for those who turn to Her intercession. Her incomparable greatness, Her love, Her mercy, is it possible to portray? Every language is perplexed to praise the Queen of Heaven for her property.

Beloved brothers and sisters! Having gathered now for a bright solemn holiday in honor of the "Merciful" icon of the Mother of God, let us be aware of the fact: does our heart burn during sacred chants in honor of the Most Pure One? Do we feel whether we are aware of the closeness of our All-Powerful Intercessor? Does our heart yearn for renewal in the midst of a sinful life, is it seeking salvation? If so, our heart should be filled with joy when we look at the “Merciful” icon of the Intercessor and Comforter. If our bustling, hardened, coarse heart does not feel joy, then with unclean lips we join the face of angels and the cathedral of people, praising the Most Pure One with sacred songs. The humble Virgin and the Mother of God will not reject the singing, though unworthy, but their children; She does not reject any sinner; will look down on our misery, on our sorrow, if we only with humility, consciousness of sinfulness fall to Her, in repentance call from the depths of our souls: "Lady, help us merciful." And such repentant babble, the consciousness of squalor, can be the beginning of joy. The Most Pure One will receive one sincere and deep sigh of the sinner, fill it with her boldness and love, make her feel the joy of salvation and her nearness, if only faith in Her intercession does not weaken and inspire the sinner.

Let us, with emotion and spiritual joy, cry out to the Most Pure in the words of the akathist: "Rejoice, Merciful Helper to Christians!"

Let us remain in the Holy Church for the rest of our lives, find here help, consolation, joy and consolation, in that Church, which you are the primary adornment of. Amen.

Teaching on the day of the Conception of the righteous Anna of the Blessed Virgin MaryThe tribulations of earthly life are of great benefit to the Christian

Human life is full of sorrows. There is no person who would not complain about any troubles in due time. Sorrow is the inevitable fate of the poor and the rich, the simple and the noble, the sinners and the righteous. So, the righteous Joachim and Anna received joyful consolation in the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary from them, which we celebrate today, already in the very old age, and until that time they had to endure, in the words of one church chant, "the reproach of the iniquity." After all, the Jews considered dishonesty to be a sign of special anger and God's punishment; innocent people were abhorred, despised, subjected to all kinds of insults and insults. But whatever sorrows happen to us, let us thank God for them. The Lord is blessed in the joys sent to us, but He is no less blessed in the sorrows that we meet in life. We will see this, we will understand it, we will feel it especially when after death we pass into another life. But if we ponder, we will see that in real earthly life, sorrows bring us great benefit. What is it?

Sorrows with the help of God contribute to our spiritual salvation. Sorrows open the gates of paradise for us, sorrows place us with the saints, in a word, sorrows sanctify us. How is it? - Sorrows keep us from sins. Sometimes the outbursts of passions in us are so strong that no edification, no convictions, no reasoning reason us and do not keep us from sinning. Being in such a situation, we cannot cope with ourselves, overcome our bad inclinations and break our sinful habits. Here it happens to us what the Apostle Paul says: “I do not want good, but I don’t want good, evil, I do this” (Rom. 7, 19). What, then, can give us a helping hand? This is where sorrow can do us the greatest benefit. They bite our heart, defeat our pride, suppress our pride, dispose to humility, awaken fear of God and thus, little by little, keep us from our beloved sins. Sorrows drive away sin, curb the will, dry up, incinerate passions and make a person incapable of helping Satan in his corruption. As a hammer breaks a stone, so sorrow crushes rudeness, insensibility, pride and fearlessness of the heart. As the heat of the sun dries up the dampness of a tree and it becomes capable of igniting, so sorrows dry up the passionate moisture of the heart, make it capable of igniting from the fire of the grace of God and burning with the holy flame of love for God. A person stricken with sorrow feels aversion from sin, often comes to repentance for his error and turns to God, to virtue. This is proven by the example of the prodigal son mentioned in the Gospel. Joy corrupted the prodigal son, and turned sorrow on the path of repentance. Joy killed his soul, and sorrow revived it. Happiness brought the prodigal son to hell, disasters brought him to the abode of paradise.

But sorrows are useful not only for wicked people, they are useful for people of virtuous and even righteous life. According to human judgment, virtuous people are worthy of constant joys. Where people live in peace with God, in peace with conscience, there should seem to be an everlasting fun. But does this really happen? Virtuous people, such as the righteous Joachim and Anna, often endure the greatest sorrows. This cannot be without the special will of God. A hair is insignificant, but even that does not fall from a human head, according to the word of God, without the will of the Creator. Moreover, the human heart, and, moreover, a good heart, cannot be thrown without the will of the Almighty into the furnace of temptations, into the furnace of sorrows. Why does God send sorrow to virtuous people?

There is no such virtuous person who would not have his weaknesses, his own, albeit small, sins. St. John the Evangelist. “If we speak,” he writes in his First Epistle, “as if it were not imams' sins, we deceive ourselves and carry the truth in us” (1 John 1: 8). To cleanse these sins, the just God sends sorrows to the virtuous people. These people include the following words of Holy Scripture: “in the least punishment that was in life, they will be great blessings” (Wis. 3: 5), that is, in the future afterlife. This is the first reason why God sends sorrows to virtuous people.

In addition, sometimes the Lord sends sorrows to virtuous people in order to show them the uncertainty of their faith, which they do not notice, as well as an incorrect assessment and illusion of their virtues.

Often in moments of prosperity we feel, apparently, a firm faith in God and consider ourselves heroes of devotion to the Providence of the Most High: but the hour of sorrow strikes, disaster strikes and we lose heart, weaken in faith, feel a lack of hope in God and lose our tranquility in omnipotence and the goodness of the Almighty. Our thought about the power of our faith deceived us, we were delighted. Now the veil of error has fallen from our eyes. We begin to feel that we did not have real living faith, that we need to repent, humble ourselves, and grow to truly firm faith in God.

The same happens with us in deeds of virtue. Often, in happiness, we try to lead a life that is not ashamed, we value honor, willingly, on favorable occasions, we express our readiness for exploits of virtue; but sorrows overtake us, and our zeal for good deeds is lost, we are no longer what we were in moments of happiness, we fall into weaknesses that put a stain on our morality. What happened to us? What does it mean that we have changed in sorrow, have begun to indulge in deeds that are not meritorious? We were not like that in moments of happiness. We then lived virtuously, without shame. This means that our virtues were built on unclean foundations that we ourselves did not notice. We did good out of pride, out of vanity, out of pride, under the assumption that well-being is inseparable from good deeds. Now the opposite happened. Grief has befallen us also with virtues. Our respect, our disposition for virtue wavered, and we lost interest in it. The providence of God, having visited us with sorrows, wanted to show us our deception in a high opinion of our devotion to the rules of virtue, to protect us from error and to build us on clean, solid foundations of moral life, which depend not on human calculations and species, but on love for God. from love to good.

However, the Lord God sends sorrows to such pious, virtuous people, whose faith in sorrows not only does not waver, but for whom, on the contrary, faith is strengthened from sorrows, and virtue from adversity increases. In this case, the sorrows sent to us constitute a cross or a test of our faith, our patience. This test is sent to provide us with an opportunity to earn new crowns of God's mercy and heavenly glory through experience proven firmness in faith and constancy in virtue and amid temptations.

The righteous Joachim and Anna were subjected to such a test, who, as I said, had to endure the reproach of iniquity to a ripe old age. Since they did not murmur at the same time either at God or at their offenders, but patiently endured their grief with strong faith and prayer to God for the resolution of their infertility, the Lord honored them with the highest happiness to receive notification from Him about conception and birth from them Blessed Virgin Mary. They burn gold to make it purer, and the Lord pierces the righteous with sorrows in order to elevate, increase their holiness and make them worthy of the highest degrees of the Kingdom of Heaven.

What lesson and lesson can we take from all of the above?

First, seeing the great benefits that come from sorrow, let us thank the Creator, the Lord God, for these precious means that contribute to our cleansing, sanctification and salvation. Secondly, if we see virtuous people in sorrows, we will not be tempted by this, weaken in faith and in good morality: these sorrows are sent or allowed by God for an important, soul-saving purpose. Third, let us exalt and glorify the righteous Joachim and Anna, who for their virtuous life, for patiently enduring sorrows, were honored to be the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the main culprit after the Lord Jesus Christ of their and our salvation. At the same time, let us pray to them that in the face of life's sorrows they will help us, following their example, to endure these sorrows meekly, with obedience to the good will of God. Amen.

Teaching on the day of the festive celebration of the Image of the Savior Not Made by HandsWhat does the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands Teach and What Feelings Arouse in a Christian

Today we are celebrating a celebration in honor of the Image of the Lord Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands, that is, an Image not drawn by human hands, but by the Savior Himself miraculously printed on a canvas. Why did the Savior leave us in Himself His Image? In order, as the holy fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council teach, so that we constantly remember His incarnation, suffering, life-giving death and the redemption of the human race.

Indeed, looking at the holy image of the Savior's face, one involuntarily recalls the entire path of His earthly life from Bethlehem to Golgotha \u200b\u200band even to the Mount of Olives; one sees on this face all His infinite love for the human race. On this simple canvas, He, our Savior, appears before us with all His perfections, with all His goals and aspirations, with all His Divine-human dignity and, finally, with His gospel appeal: “Come to Me, all who are toiling and burdened, and I I will rest you ”(Matthew 11:28). Therefore, it is timely now for us to stop our attention on this call, as it were, coming to us from His Image.

"Come to Me, all who are toiling and burdened ..." Who is speaking? Has anyone and ever from human teachers called to Himself so simply and so at the same time confidently, with a decisive promise: "I will rest you"? Was there, is there, and can there be such a person who, with all his mental and moral strength, could turn his word to all who toil and burdened - to all without exception, without any restrictions by nationality, time and space? To accept everyone to oneself, to take upon oneself all the sorrows and burdens of those dejected by life and, without embarrassment, give everyone an unconditional promise of peace - is this a human matter?

And more to come. The One who calls everyone to Himself for tranquility, says about Himself and even more: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life ”(John 8:12); even more: “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will come to life” (John 11:25). So who is this saying this? Who among the people, whoever he was, carry a firm conviction in their power to give: rest to all who are toiling and burdened, shine, enlightening every person, and a life departed from earthly life? Who is it for whom to say to the sick, paralytic: "Your sins are forgiven" (Matt. 9: 2) as easily as: "Take up your bed and go to your house" (Matt. 9: 6)? Can there really be any doubt about the answer to these questions? Remember, Orthodox Christians, what the blind-born man healed by Christ said to the Pharisees who stepped on him: “It’s amazing that you don’t know where He (that is, Christ) comes from, but He opened my eyes” (John 9:30). The same can be said to our unbelievers, who are ashamed to say directly what their inner consciousness, the open-minded voice of conscience say by themselves: the one who speaks and acts as I have just said is none other than "Christ the Son of the living God."

And so, if we need peace (and it is necessary for all of us: after all, in our being we are all toiling and burdened), then we must seek it and find it only in the Son of God - Jesus Christ. If we haven’t found this peace until now, it’s only because we didn’t look for it, or we didn’t look much, or didn’t want to look, or doubted the possibility of finding it. Nobody like ourselves is responsible for this both before God and before ourselves. History testifies that those who sought rest in Christ found them. Millions found and lived in this peace and died in this peace.

But peace in Christ is not the peace of indifference and stupid dispassion, which is preached by Buddhism, and not the peace of frivolity, temporary oblivion from sorrow, beyond which our philistine desires often do not lead; no, this is the peace of a conscience freed from sin and a peaceful conscience, the peace of a clear consciousness of confidence in victory over every temptation, over all passion by the power of the One who conquered the world with all its fleshly passions and lusts. Peace in Christ is not some inactive state that is conducive to self-gratification, it is an active, active direction will, distinct understanding meaning of life, sublime, complacent, even joyful mood hearts. And these are not just beautiful words, not one poetry that can satisfy no one and does not oblige anyone to anything. No, this is life itself, revealed in history. I repeat, history speaks about such peace in Christ, the history of the many experiences of life and death of the best people in the world, living by Christ and dying for faith in Him.

“My life is Christ,” said the apostle Paul. For Christ's sake, he, like other apostles, as well as all saints like them, abandoned everything fleshly, like rubbish, threw away from themselves and went on the thorny path of the cross, preferring to be in labor, hunger, nakedness, in contempt and dishonor. “They speak evil of us, we bless; persecute us, we endure; blaspheme us, we pray, ”says the Apostle (1 Cor. 4:12).

Needless to say, this path to Christ, from the point of view of this world, is difficult for people. Under the weight of it, many retreat, usually try not to even talk about it. In our time, many are ready to completely abolish the cross from the path of life and bear the name of a Christian without thinking about the cross. But this clearly contradicts the words of Christ Himself: "if anyone wants to follow Me, deny yourself and take up your cross" (Matthew 16:24). These words are not subject to objections: they are clear, categorical. And if you think about their inner meaning and look for examples from life to explain them, it turns out that it could not be otherwise in life. Any serious business requires selfless labor. Success is never given to anyone for free: neither a laborer, nor a worker of science, nor an ascetic of virtue. All honest people know this and, getting down to work, do not hide from themselves the inevitable trials, and patience, and various hardships. And yet, toilers work and work, delve into their work, imbued with love for it, find spiritual pleasure in it, without which life is already incomprehensible and unacceptable to them. This is exactly how the cross of Christ, the yoke of faith in Him, for those who decisively took this yoke upon themselves seems no longer heavy, oppressive, but good and light, as Christ Himself says. Climbing a high mountain is always difficult for a person. Bearing the weight of the cross is essentially the same as climbing a mountain. But whoever sincerely believes in Christ and consciously walks the path of life to Him, he will never be left alone with his only natural forces. The grace of Christ always helps him. The impossible from man is made possible by God (Matthew 19:26) with the assistance of grace, which "heals the weak and makes up for the impoverished." Even the very first call to the path to Christ is made under the invisible breath of the Spirit of God. You just need to be attentive to this trend. And once a person has taken the path, then this trend will become even more perceptible to him, it will advance him to a truly great height, to the place where Christ Himself is at the right hand of the Father. In Christ, and in Him only one, our hopes must be asserted, calling and drawing us higher and higher.

So, worshiping today the Most Pure Image of the Savior, let us turn our thoughts and feelings to the Lord Himself and give ourselves a clear account of our Christian hope. Do we strive to be sincere, ardent followers of His, His disciples? What is the main goal, the treasure of our life - Christ or earthly, perishable, transitory, vain blessings? Do we remember and imagine for ourselves clearly that nothing earthly can give peace to our godlike soul; it can find this comfort only in Christ. But this is where our sorrow lies: we often fully understand and realize this, and yet we do not give ourselves and our life to Christ, wandering unsatisfied through the crossroads of the world. And how many of us, not satisfied with the life of people, are at a crossroads! Someone was deceived by hopes, who was oppressed by need, who, full of love and sympathy, met in people one indifference and enmity, who lost dearly loved people, who is gnawed by illness, who is tormented by a thirst for unconditional good, all-encompassing knowledge ... And we stand, not knowing that to do with ourselves, than to satisfy the longing of our soul.

But there is no other way out of this situation than to go to Christ. His Image Not Made by Hands, His blessed face, which is before us today, calls everyone to Him. Christ thirsts for us, opening His arms, in which all sorrow will be healed, in which all thirst will be saturated. Let us turn to Him with a trusting soul, to Him we will bear our sorrows and needs, our aspirations and yearnings of spirit, our restless thought, our anxious heart, finally, our ardent prayer: “Lord, forgive us, if we do not always remember You. Forgive me if often, bewildered by the vanity of life or beside ourselves with grief, we rush, seeking relief, along different deceitful paths, bring us back from these paths to ourselves! After all, You suffered for us, and really Your sacrifice of the cross will not touch us! Help us to take Your good yoke upon ourselves, because You Yourself said that only then the rest we desired will be established in our souls! " Amen.

Teaching on the day of the Holy Trinity or the day of the Holy SpiritThe Christian's Spiritual Work to Acquire the Grace of the Holy Spirit

The Lord, who ascended into heaven, did not leave us, in His words, “orphans” (John 14:18). He sent His Spirit, the Comforter, who has enriched us with His gifts, armed us with His grace to fight against sin, temptations and evil.

The sending of the Holy Spirit was God's greatest favor to mankind.

“I will ask the Father,” Jesus Christ said to His disciples in a farewell conversation with them, “and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). The Lord repeated the same promise after His resurrection. “You will receive power,” the Savior said to his disciples, “when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1: 8). The believers expected this promise of their Divine Teacher, staying unanimously in prayer and supplication, in preparing themselves to receive the great gift. And you know that on the tenth day after the Ascension of the Lord, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire, filled them with His grace and completely reincarnated them. From simple Galilean fishermen without books, they became the fishers of the universe speaking different languages. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, they flew like eagles to all ends of the world and illuminated them with the light of the Divine teaching of Christ.

But the apostles were not alone in the promise of the Holy Spirit, and they were not alone in receiving His unspeakable grace. The Holy Spirit, according to the word of the promised Christ the Savior, abides forever (John 14:16), filling the souls of all believers with His grace. Every soul lives by the Holy Spirit.

From the time of the sending of the Holy Spirit, there is always in the holy Sacraments of the Church near us a great treasury of spiritual power, from which we can draw without limit omnipotent support in the paths of true life. Near us is an inexhaustible source of living water, capable of resurrecting a tired soul, making the weakest hero a hero.

We are, perhaps, richer than even the first bearers of the Spirit: with us, together with the Holy Spirit, are the faces of the same apostles, a whole host of saints who are always ready to help us with their prayers and example to take the path of a true, Christian, spiritualized life. Why, however, are we still weak and weak? Why don't we shine on the world with the fire of the Holy Spirit? Why?

Because we do not keep the gifts of the Holy Spirit; we splash the living water of His grace.

The sun cannot grow a plant if it looks out and shines it for a minute. It gives life when it shines for a long time and feeds it with a long current of its life-giving light. So in the spiritual life we \u200b\u200bhave received and receive the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments; but there is little use from them if their life-giving light, shining with lightning speed at our souls, is extinguished not retained by the soul, not saved by it.

The fire of the Holy Spirit burns in us only when we protect it, as a man who is lost in the cold in a snowy wilderness protects the fire in his hearth and has nothing with which he could light the fire again. The blessed flame that has ignited in our soul threatens to fade away at the slightest inattention on our part. The blessed fire of the Holy Spirit that we received, says St. John Chrysostom, we can, if we want, strengthen it; if we do not want to, we will extinguish it. And when it fades away in our souls, there will be nothing left but darkness. Therefore, the Apostle said: “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). But He is extinguished when we have no oil, when He is exposed to some strong pressure of the wind; when suppressed and shy; but He is suppressed by everyday worries and quenches from evil desires. So says Chrysostom.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit cannot live in a filthy and defiled home. If we do not protect our soul and body from filth and filth, the Holy Spirit will leave us. For what fellowship is light to darkness? Look at the temple today. How merrily it turns green, how joyfully it is trimmed with green branches! Is our soul removed, swept away? Does it turn green with young and fresh sprouts of good deeds? True, on this day our soul, perhaps, is brighter than usual, it contains living sprouts of prayer and striving for God.

This is good: it means that there is a place for the Holy Spirit. But are the roots of these bright sprouts of good thoughts, desires and aspirations deep? Maybe they are without roots, like felled birches: then our communion with the Holy Spirit, the Giver of grace and strength, is fragile.

Finally, for the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, the doors of our soul must always be open to Him. For the sun, for example, to enter our hut, to warm it, illuminate it, the doors must be opened; it will not pass through closed doors, despite all its strength. In the same way, in order for the Holy Spirit to enter the soul, the doors of the soul must be open ... The Holy Spirit will not come where He is not met. He does not enslave anyone and does not force us to do anything. He seeks voluntary obedience to Him.

Let us surrender ourselves to Him today, on the day of His glorification, irrevocably and completely, praying Him to come and dwell in us.

Let us remember that the source of the grace of the Holy Spirit - the Holy Church with her Sacraments - is always near us; we will use them more often.

Let the Holy Spirit, which we received in baptism, be extinguished in us; let only ashes remain from His fire. The blessed fire of the Holy Spirit can again be kindled in us if we try to kindle Him again with repentance and a virtuous life. But, having received the warmth of the Holy Spirit, one must, I repeat, keep it, close the fire from the wind, warmth - from the darkness of the outside world, from dark sinful deeds.

One sculptor created a wonderful statue of Christ. He was a poor man, and on the night of the day when he finished his work, frost hit. The statue, not yet dried, could die from frost. To preserve it, the sculptor covered the statue with his own warm clothes. He himself almost froze to death at night, but the statue remained intact.

Oh, if we also guarded our souls from everything that removes the Spirit of God from us, would sincerely strive for His dwelling in us and, having found Him, would keep grace-filled warmth in our souls without fear of any suffering. Christ and the Spirit of God would always live in her. We would then feel truly saved. We would acquire peace, joy, serenity, peace of mind, despite all the sorrows and adversities of life, that is, we would still receive here, on earth, the guarantee of eternal salvation, eternal endless joy (Gal. 5:22). Amen.

Teaching on the Day of the Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit is the Comforter in the tribulations of life

All of us, brethren, more or less complain about the burden of life, which is full of toils and hardships, worries and sorrows. Complains of a poor worker who is overwhelmed by the yoke of cares and concerns about the needs of his home. A complaint is also made by someone who, apparently, is not bound by these ordinary concerns, but who bears an even heavier burden of public works and concerns. Complains of the unfortunate man, who throughout his life is pursued by deprivation and failure, sorrow and illness. The imaginary lucky man also complains, who does not seem to have a special need either to care or to work, but who is burdened and crushed, if the moral sensitivity of his soul, the very emptiness of his life, has not yet extinguished. All this produces in our soul a feeling of discontent, sadness, despondency. All this prompts us to seek some kind of consolation. Some seek this comfort and consolation in the so-called refined, ennobled pleasures, which temporarily drown out the sorrow of the soul, others - in the most gross sensual pleasures: wine drinking, carnal sins, and so on. But all such consolations are deceptive and false. They do not strengthen, but relax both the soul and the body; do not soothe and do not encourage in the hardships of life, make them even more sensitive and heavy; leave in the heart not a feeling of contentment, peace and joy, but a feeling of even greater discontent, longing and boredom.

Where is the source of true consolation, tranquility, to which one could resort to in the various hardships and sorrowful circumstances of our life? This source indicates the current Apostolic reading: "be filled with the Spirit," says the Apostle (Eph. 5:18). Indeed, our spirit can truly live and breathe only with the breeze of the Holy Spirit, and in this only breeze it can find peace, animation and joy for itself. The Spirit of God alone, as a life-giving Spirit, can constantly and continuously revive and strengthen our strength for everything difficult, difficult, sad. The Spirit of God alone, as the Spirit of Comforter, can effectively and completely comfort us in all sorrow. The Spirit of God alone, as the giver of life and the treasure of the good, can fill our hearts with a feeling of all-satisfaction, peace and joy. A Christian inspired by the Spirit of God rises above everything earthly, and therefore he does not feel the acuteness of earthly sorrows and sorrows, their special burden. Here, brethren, where we must look for that inspiration that would make for us everything difficult and difficult in life easy, everything unpleasant and sorrowful - good, every sacrifice of self-denial - pleasant and sacred.

How to seek and what to draw from this ever-flowing source of consolation? First, by living faith. Whoever truly believes in the Lord and His holy providence, care for the world, in all the events of his life that do not depend on our will, sees the will of God, good and perfect, and kisses the hand of the Lord with love and thanksgiving. Does the Lord send him the gifts of earthly happiness - he thanks the Lord and prays, so that it does not serve as a temptation to his faith, his piety, his humility. Will the Lord test him with sorrows and sorrows - the more he humbles himself under the strong hand of God, the more he thanks the Lord that He does not leave him without His paternal punishment, admonition, which through sorrow keeps him from immersion in the fleshly sinful life that removes him from the Lord , the source of true joy. Who truly believes in the Lord - the generous, merciful Redeemer, his Savior, for this reason, can every good deed be difficult and difficult, and can every deed evil and contrary to God's will not be painful, unpleasant and disgusting? Whoever sincerely believes in eternal life, who sees before him the blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him, which are enjoyed in heaven by all who are toiling and burdened here on earth, and who have sought reassurance in God; Can he be overwhelmed by any kind of burden, be hurt to the point of contrition of heart and decay of any loss, be weighed down to relaxation and despondency by any worries and sorrows? Thus, sincere living faith is capable of inspiring and encouraging us in all circumstances of life. “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God and believe in Me ”(John 14: 1; 27), thus the Lord strengthened and confirmed the hearts of His disciples for everything difficult, unpleasant and sorrowful in life.

But our faith itself can be strong and alive only with love, which is therefore a good, faithful means of inspiration for all that is good, which not only lightens, but also delights every burden of life. He who sincerely loves his Lord, willingly, with love, tries to please Him by the fulfillment of His fatherly will; for this, on the contrary, it is unpleasant and difficult not only to do, but also to conceive of anything contrary to the will of God; To this, any feat of self-denial for the glory of God is pleasing. He who truly loves God receives from His hand not only good but also evil, not only joys, but also sorrows with humility, complacency and thanksgiving, being convinced that the Heavenly Father will not give him a stone instead of bread.

In the same way, he who truly loves his neighbors is not burdened by any work for the good of his neighbor, for true love endures all, he will not turn his gaze from his unfortunate brother, no matter what the distance of their titles and states, for love is merciful, is not exalted not proud. He will not be upset in spirit from insult, will not grieve in heart from slander and slander, will not be irritated by ingratitude, for love is long-suffering, does not get irritated, does not think evil. He cannot but rejoice sincerely at every success of his brother, sincerely regret every loss of him, not guard him with advice and help from every mistake and delusion, not pity him with his heart in all his sorrows, for love does not envy, does not seek its own, does not rejoices in unrighteousness, rejoices in truth.

Yes, it is good for the person who has brought up and rooted in his heart such love for God and his neighbors! How calmly calm in his soul! How light and joyful it is in his heart! What bliss his whole soul is filled with!

In order for this inspiration from the Spirit of God, peace of mind, peace of mind gained by faith and love, to be constantly supported and strengthened, never to deplete, not to fade away, it is necessary to warm it up with unceasing prayer, which brings our spirit closer and unites our spirit with the Spirit of God. Therefore, the apostle, teaching the commandment: “be filled with the Spirit,” indicated the means for this, saying: “edifying ourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and singing in the hearts of the Lord” (Eph. 5:18). Prayer contains the mind and heart of the one praying in constant proximity to God, from which his mind shines with the light of truth, and his heart is warmed by the warmth of love. Prayer, lifting the soul of a Christian to grief, to God, the Source of peace, peace and all good, makes him patient and calm when meeting earthly sorrows and sorrows, strengthens and revives his hope for intercession and help from the Lord, for His protection and protection.

Let us remember that, according to the Apostle, we can receive true joy, tranquility, peace, consolation for our souls only when the Holy Spirit acts on us, and in order to be rewarded with the perception of the Holy Spirit, for this we need firm, undoubted faith and sincere, pure , ardent love for God and neighbors; and faith and love must be supported and kindled in oneself with attentive, fervent prayer.

Then only it will be possible to briskly and safely swim across the eternally agitated sea of \u200b\u200beveryday worries and sorrows - to work and not bother, bear the burden of life and not get tired, suffer and not feel temporary sorrow for the joy of eternal life, grieve for the outward man, and rejoice in spirit.

True, such a blessed, bright state of the soul may seem to us too sublime, as if unearthly, and therefore inaccessible to us, as if it can be depicted only in words, as we have done now, in life, in practice, it is unrealizable. But if we had such a thought, it would indicate how deeply we have sunk into sin and human vanity, how we have become earthy, solidified, how far we have deviated from a truly Christian mood to our liking. No, this is why Christ came to earth, suffered, was resurrected and ascended to heaven to send us the Holy Spirit - the Comforter, whose gifts every believer in Christ could freely receive in the holy Sacraments of the Holy Church, founded on earth by Christ the Lord. And if we do not feel the consolation of the Holy Spirit on our difficult life path, it means that we are bad Christians, we do little to cleanse our hearts from sin and passions in order to qualify for the grace-filled consolation of the Holy Spirit. If we strive to be true Christians, we will live as Christ commanded us, we will, as I said, kindle faith and love in ourselves, we will pray fervently, then we will undoubtedly get that bright Christian grace-filled mood that will help us easily bear the burden of life , will comfort us in all the mournful and sad circumstances of life. Amen.

Much of the spiritual heritage of Fr. Michael: Teachings on the Weeks of Pentecost and Sermons on Certain Feast Days. Since 1942, the manuscripts were kept in the Ivanovsky family. Then they were transferred to the temple of the Prophet of God Elijah in Obydensky lane about. Alexander Egorov, and in the 1990s. the manuscripts were returned to Fr. Michael - G.M. Ivanovsky.

03.09.2008

What motivates a person who spends all their time, energy and money on gambling? Why does he become a slave to a seemingly completely harmless hobby? We have learned to beware of temptations that can cause physical dependence, but the enemy of the human race has found a more sophisticated way to destroy people. Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Chief Specialist in Medical Psychology and Psychiatry, Director of the Regional Clinical Psycho-Neurological Hospital - Medical and Psychological Center Mikhail Pavlovich Bero talks about non-chemical addiction.

- Mikhail Pavlovich, what is non-chemical dependence? What are the main causes and consequences of its occurrence?

- Non-chemical dependence is a conventional name. In chemical addiction, the human body is artificially stimulated by various drugs for the sake of pleasure, while in non-chemical addiction, this stimulation is produced due to the appearance of a strong passion for something, and this leads to the production of neurochemicals in its own brain.
Human psychology assumes that the personality must be harmonious. The concept of "harmony", in addition to the ability to realize and understand the world around us, includes the concept of spirituality, faith in God. When there is a violation of harmony, an empty cell is formed in the personality structure, and this emptiness must be filled with something. A person finds himself various hobbies, which often cause the appearance of psychological dependence. This leads to an increase in sin, to various impious acts, and, in the end, a person's life turns into a tragedy.
The range of dependencies is very large. This can be a passion for gambling, pathological addiction to slot machines, SMS-ok transmission, computer games, and so on. Artificial stimulation occurs, and a careful production of too large doses of hormones, adrenaline, in particular, begins, which leads to early aging of the body. Such a large release of active biochemical substances causes stomach or duodenal ulcers, hypertension, and thyroid disease. A person destroys himself, his circle of interests narrows, his whole life becomes devoted to this pathological attraction.
Besides, one sin, one addiction causes another. This is a vicious cycle.

- Are non-chemical addictions divided into female and male?

- There is no clear division. Women are more emotional. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that men play more slot machines. Nowadays, you can often see the picture when retired grandmothers gamble and lose their pensions. In Western countries, play zones are moved outside the city, so that there is no strong temptation to play. In our country, legislation does not provide for a ban on the location of play areas in public places.

- Can a person get rid of this addiction on his own?

- Addiction has its own criteria - mental and somatic, that is, it manifests itself on the part of the psyche and on the part of internal organs. When these two components are present, this is a complete dependence, which is extremely difficult for a person to overcome himself. Basically, in the treatment, a combination of drug therapy and psychological influence is used, which implies the mandatory intervention of specialists.

- Many people hide their hobbies. How to understand that a loved one has problems?

- If a person becomes addicted, then this first of all changes his life priorities. He moves away from his old hobbies, begins to form a circle of interests around this dependence. A person avoids friends, he distributes his working and non-working time differently. A team of people immediately arises around one addict, which involves him, supports and “siphons out” money. A person will immediately begin to experience material dependence - and this will also be striking.

- The problem of non-chemical dependence has existed for a long time. What is the danger of non-chemical addiction in our time?

- It has never acquired such a scale as it is now. Who could get involved in, for example, gambling before? Only wealthy middle-aged people who belonged to specialized clubs. Now with the spread of casinos, slot machines, there is a tendency to involve young people in all this.
The peculiarity of the mind of a teenager is such that a person during this period of life is on the verge between childhood and adulthood. The teenager needs parental care and at the same time tries to separate from them, begins to try himself in real life. Such a search boils down to the fact that there may be a threat of a serious mental disorder behind the offer to play computer games. We treated teenagers who were literally kicked out of computer clubs by security guards. The dependence was so strong that the person was afraid to leave the club, he could not imagine himself outside this club. Children dropped out of school, neglected the rules of personal hygiene, they literally lived in these clubs. The teenager is trying to assert himself, and such a spiritless, non-church upbringing, lack of traditions has such disastrous consequences.

- But this problem is also present in Orthodox families. What mistakes did your parents make? Is this not due to the fact that adults, trying to protect, shield the child from the outside world?

- Every human action has external and subconscious reasons. If the churching of a child in the subconscious of his parents is to protect him from the bad external influences of the world, then this can lead to the fact that the child does not want to go to church. The teenager will still look for himself, he will look for the answer to the questions: who am I? Where I am? what am i for? The child should understand why he believes in God, why he was taken to Sunday school, why he is forced to read the Bible, learn psalms and pray.
One of the laws of adolescence is the tendency to imitate. But what will he imitate? The child is also prone to organizing groupings. Whether we like it or not, it will still be like that. Reaction of emancipation, release from parental and teacher influence. And it depends on upbringing whether he finds it interesting to be in a group of Christian believers or in a group of gamblers. He will see that his comrades are going for a walk on Sunday morning, there is fun, and he is taken to the temple, where you need to pray and repent. Therefore, within the framework of a children's Sunday school, events can also be carried out that would be playful in form, but educate and form a religious worldview in content.
The upbringing and education of children is a global problem. In our country, everything is subject to fashion trends. It is now fashionable to get married - and people do it. But this sacrament is not as common as registration at the registry office. It is necessary that a person can turn to God at any time, so that in every institution there is a place where one can pray, so that a person is surrounded by people who share his faith. After all, we are not protected from the fact that a child brought up in Orthodox traditions in society will not face a struggle with these traditions.

- There are no prospects for improving the situation in our country yet. What can be done under these conditions, how to avoid “surges” of departure from faith?

- The family goes to church, she turns to some priest for advice and spiritual guidance. This priest must be literate and, at a modern level, must be able to understand all family members, and the child, in particular, his age.

- If one of the family members has a non-chemical addiction - where can relatives go?

- Relatives should be attentive, and first aid should come primarily from loved ones. Parents are obliged to understand what the child lacks, why he thus fills the spiritual emptiness. Visiting the temple, faith in the Lord significantly speeds up the process of recovery not only from non-chemical addictions, but also from other psychological disorders. For example, in our clinic there is a certain setting - the patient is strongly recommended to visit the temple, which is located on the territory of our center, to take part in the sacraments, to discuss his problem with the priest.
Rarely, but it happens that people are born with a predisposition to non-chemical addiction - the slightest provocation is enough, and a person is completely drawn into this. But I want to draw your attention to the fact that it is very difficult to recover from non-chemical addiction, it is better not to acquire it.

Interviewed by Anastasia Patricha

Donbass Orthodox