Primate: The clothing of the soul is cleansed by repentance and prayer. What God has prepared for those who love him Prayer to the Holy Trinity

Today's Sunday after the feast of Holy Pascha is called the week of the paralyzed. We have heard with you the Gospel story about how there was such a sheep's font in Jerusalem, it was called Bethesda. Sick, weak people gathered near this font, because once a year the Angel of the Lord descended into this font. And when he went down there, the water was indignant, and whoever was the first to plunge into this font received healing from any disease. And next to this font there was a relaxed (in our opinion, paralyzed), who has been near this font for thirty-eight years and does not have time to go down there first. The Lord, passing by, seeing this relaxed one, asks him, and he explains that "... there is no person who would help me go down there, when I get there, they are already ahead of me." And out of his love for mankind, the Lord heals this paralytic, says to him: "Get up, take your bed and go." Then the relaxed, thirty-eight years old who did not know the feelings in his limbs, suddenly feels them, gets up on his feet, takes the bed on which he lay and walks. The Jews, seeing this, especially the Pharisees, begin to reproach him, because it was on the Sabbath. To which the relaxed one answers the Jews: "He who healed me told me to do it." And the paralytic did not know who healed him, since the Lord immediately departed. And on the other day, the relaxed one accidentally meets Christ, the Lord says to him: "You are healed, go sin no more, so that the worst happens to you."

Here we, brothers and sisters, see that our bodily ailments are often associated with our spiritual ailments. After all, we are people, created by God both spiritually and physically. Our soul and body are equally called to salvation, and in soul and body we either glorify God, or sin against Him, in soul and body we will rejoice in paradise or suffer in hell after the Last Judgment of God, the Second Coming of Christ. Soul and body are linked together. When a person is damaged by his soul, when a person's soul hurts, the body inevitably begins to ache. Many of us have seen examples in our lives in the lives of our loved ones, when a person neglects his health. For example, a drunkard. It can be seen from him and externally. His ailment, primarily mental, inevitably affects health. But there are less obvious connections between sin and sickness.

And it happens that by illness the Lord prevents a person from a great sin, a great atrocity in his life. It happens that a person does not walk, lies relaxed, or the temperature struck for a week and the person cannot get out of bed. Is it God's punishment for any sins or not? It happens that it is not a punishment at all, and maybe even a reward, in some sense. After all, the Lord with this disease protects us from something worse, a greater evil. Either we could have sinned in some way, or we could have found even greater sorrows.

Relaxed, having lain for thirty-eight years, gaining healing, despite the fact that such things cannot be done on Saturday and that the Pharisees reproach him, nevertheless he rejoices and carries his bed. After healing, he does not remember the grief that he endured for 38 years, all his life, he rejoices. Likewise, we, brothers and sisters, in spite of the fact that we are very painful and much sorrowful in our lives, we will remember that the main thing is not to sin, so that more does not happen. The saints say that if you want something good to stay with you, you constantly thank God for it. If you want the sorrowful to leave as soon as possible, thank God for it. And St. John Chrysostom also says: "You will learn to thank God in illness, you will become holy."

Despite the fact that no matter how long our sorrows in our lives may be, we clearly remember the words of the Apostle Paul: “The eye did not see and the ear did not hear; and what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him did not come into the heart of man. " What joy will be as a reward for patience and loyalty to God, we do not know, we can only guess, but we must understand for sure that when we are honored with this joy, those sorrows, sufferings and diseases that we encountered in our earthly life will seem to us completely insignificant and our sorrow will surely leave us. For faithfulness, the Lord will cleanse our souls and bodies from sins and make us a blessed life.

The door to the kingdom of heaven Beloved brothers and sisters! I want to talk with you about repentance and how we should move towards repentance. "Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a covenant with God to correct life. Repentance is a drop of humility" (St. John of the Ladder). You see, beloved, repentance is based on humility and contrition of heart for sins: you need to ask the Lord for mercy. Even if we go through great deeds in our life, if we have not acquired a sick heart about sins, then they are all feigned and vain. Beloved brethren and sisters, on our part there should be a covenant with God about the correction of life, and then humility - a contrition of the heart about sins. If we do not have this, then repentance is false. "Without humility, there can be no true repentance, but there is feigned and false, which is only on the lips, and not on the heart" (St. Tikhon of Zadonsky). You see, beloved brethren and sisters, that repentance is based on humility, and God requires from us the will of the heart to rise up against sinful passions. We must necessarily have the pursuit of prayer, fasting, and good works. But for the most part good deeds are not done out of pure love, but with greed and with reproaches, with laziness and neglect. with vanity and out of man-pleasing, out of hypocrisy. And God accepts sacrifices and good deeds from us only from pure love. Here humility and covers all our flaws ... "If from one passion of pride, without any other passion, Satan fell from heaven, then is it not possible to ascend to heaven alone with humility?" (Saint John Climacus). There are many ways to salvation, but without humility no one will be saved, all good deeds must be established in humility, and without humility all good deeds are nothing. The great ecumenical teacher John Chrysostom says: "If there is no foundation for humility, then even someone who has raised his life to heaven, all this will easily collapse and will have a bad end, even if you are distinguished by fasting and prayer, charity and chastity or some other virtue, all this will be destroyed and perished without humility "(Conversation on the Gospel of Matthew, 25). "Humility even without deeds gains petition for many sins, but deeds without it, on the contrary, are not useful. Like salt for food, so is humility for all virtue, and it can crush the strength of many sins. Therefore, you need to take care of it in your soul unceasingly, with humiliation. our understanding; and if we acquire it, it will make us sons of God and without good deeds will present us to God, and without it all our deeds, all virtues and all deeds are in vain.It alone is enough to present us without outside help before God and talk about us intercessionally. " "I did not fast, I did not keep vigils, I did not sleep on the bare ground, but I humbled myself, most of all seeking imputation for myself, and soon the Lord will save me" (St. John of the Ladder). "The foundation of all virtues is humility. If there is such a person who does not like to endure reproofs, does not like to endure and hear bad things about himself, does not like ridicule, piercing words, lies, slander and all kinds of dishonor, then at least he looks and is pious seemed, and differed in feats, all his feats and labors are in vain. " "Perfect humility consists in accepting with joy a false accusation" (St. Tikhon of Zadonsky). "Many call themselves sinners, perhaps they actually think so of themselves, but their hearts are tempted by humiliation from others" (St. John of the Ladder). "Not the one who shows humility, who worsens himself, but the one who, being reproached by another, does not diminish his love for him." "When you hear that your neighbor or friend reproached you for your absence or your presence, then show love and praise him" (St. John of the Ladder). "St John Kolov was sitting at the church, and the brothers surrounded him and inquired about their thoughts. One of the elders saw this and, overcome by envy, said to him:" John, your cup is overflowing with enchantments. "John answered:" Exactly so, Abba, you said this, seeing one thing outside; what would you say if you saw the inner? "(Fatherland, Ignatius Brianchaninov). We think of ourselves that we are humble as long as we are not touched - this is not humility. When they humiliate, insult, then say to yourself:" I am worth this for my sins. "" The one who rejects reproof reveals passion of pride, and whoever accepts reproof will be released from the bondage "(St. John Climacus). Pride is the loss of wealth and labor. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Once St. Abba John was sitting in a skete, and the brothers surrounded him One of the elders saw him and, overcome by envy, said to him: "John, you are like a harlot who surrounds herself and multiplies the number of her lovers." John hugged him and said: "You speak the truth, my father!" (Father-in-law, Ignatius Brianchaninov.) “There are many spiritual fathers of Christians who make low obeisances, preach beautifully sermons, strictly observe fasts, firmly perform church rituals, but if their hearts are irritated, worried when bad words are spoken about them, then all these spiritual fathers work I am in vain, and if they do not strive to find humility, then they will not reach the Kingdom of Heaven. Humility is the key by which the doors to the Kingdom of Heaven are unlocked. "Many low bows are made, some speak quietly, others cover themselves with a black robe, but they cannot cover their hearts with humility" (St. Tikhon of Zadonsky). Great, said: "The gate to God is humility, and our fathers with many sorrows, rejoicing, entered the city of God" (ancient Patericon). Anthony the Great told about himself: "I saw all the nets of the devil stretched out over the whole earth; saw this, sighed and said: "Woe to the human race, who can free them from these networks?" To this he said to me: "Humility will save!" (Otechnik, Ignatiy Bryanchaninov). “When I came to a perfect age, the rich master called me to him and said:“ Here, I offer you two friends, choose one of your own free will, and he will guide you in your life. ”I see that the name of one friend - humility, and another - pride. ”So I voluntarily took“ pride ”as my advisor and planted it deeply, in the cache of my soul, and locked it with a heavy padlock, and without a friend of“ pride ”I did nothing, but all with

Several times I started compiling a brochure on the Christian life, which in a concise, integral and inspiring form would set out the main things a Christian needs to know and do. Although many parts of this topic were thought out and developed, I could not manage to combine everything into a general plan and explain it satisfactorily. And so, recently I came across a booklet “Indication of the Way to the Kingdom of Heaven,” written by the “Apostle of Alaska” - Saint Innocent [Benjaminov]. After reading it, I realized that I could not write better. Everything is fine in it: the content, the plan, and the form of presentation. Therefore, I am happy to republish his sermon with some reductions and minor stylistic corrections.

Saint Innocent (in the world Ivan Popov-Veniaminov) was born in 1797 in the Anchinsk village of the Irkutsk province (in Siberia). Having lost his father as a child, he grew up under the special care of God. Having independently learned to read and write, at the age of 7 he read the Psalter and the Apostle at the Liturgy perfectly. The parishioners of the church, where he went, persuaded his mother to give her son to study, and Innokenty was admitted to the Irkutsk seminary at the state expense, from which he graduated with honors. Having married in 1821, Innocent was ordained a priest. In 1823 he was sent to Alaska as a missionary, where he arrived with his wife. Here, with great selflessness and success, he preached the teaching of Christ among the wild Aleuts. He compiled the alphabet and the first grammar of the Aleut language, translated into the Aleutian language several books of the Holy Scriptures, a number of sermons and services. Several years later, Innokenty went to St. Petersburg to receive help from the Synod for his missionary work. Learning here about the death of his wife, he accepted monasticism. In 1840 he was ordained a bishop and appointed Bishop of Kamchatka, Kuril and Aleutian, thanks to which his missionary activity expanded even more. Twenty-eight years later, he was transferred to the Moscow See by the Metropolitan. Died in 1879. The canonization of Saint Innocent [Benjaminov] is to take place soon.

Bishop Alexander Mileant

Introduction

People were not created to live only here on earth, like animals that disappear after their death; but with the sole purpose of living with God and living not for a hundred or a thousand years, but forever.

Every person strives for happiness. This striving was put into us by the Creator Himself, and therefore it is not a sin. But one must know that here, in this temporary life, it is impossible to find complete happiness, because it is in God, and outside of God one cannot find it. Only He who is the highest Good and the source of life can completely quench the thirst of our soul and give us the highest joy.

As for material goods, they cannot completely satisfy us. It is known that every thing we want only as long as we like it, until we still own it, when we get it, it will soon bore us. The most striking example of this is King Solomon, who was so rich that all the household utensils in his palaces were of pure gold. He was so wise that kings and famous people from distant countries came to listen to him. He was so glorious that enemies trembled in his name. He could easily satisfy any of his whims, and it seemed that there was no such thing and such pleasure that he did not have or could not receive. And with all this, Solomon could not find complete satisfaction until the end of his life. He described his long-term search for happiness and continuous disappointments in the book of Ecclesiastes, which he concluded with the following famous phrase: "Everything in the world is vanity and vexation of the spirit!"

Many other sages and the lucky ones of life came to a similar conviction. Apparently, in the depths of our subconscious, something reminds us that we are wanderers on earth and that our true bliss is not here, but there, in a different and better world, called paradise or the Kingdom of Heaven. Let a person take possession of the whole world and everything in it; but even then it will take him, one might say, only for a while, and the immortal soul, longing for personal communication with God, will remain unsatisfied.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world to return to us the lost immortal life and true happiness. He revealed to people that all their evil is in sins and that no one by his own efforts can overcome the evil in himself and draw closer to God. Sin, which is like a high wall in our nature, stands between us and God. If the Son of God, by His mercy, did not descend to us, did not take on human flesh and by His death did not conquer sin, then all people would perish irrevocably. Now, thanks to Him, everyone who wants to can cleanse themselves of evil, return to God and find eternal bliss in the Kingdom of Heaven. We want to talk about this in more detail now and consider:

• • What benefits the Lord Jesus Christ has given us.
  • How Jesus Christ lived on earth and suffered for us.
  • Which path leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.
  • How Jesus Christ helps us walk the path of salvation.

What Benefits The Lord Jesus Christ Has Gave Us

To appreciate the blessings given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, let us first recall what blessings the first man Adam had while he was sinless, and how many calamities befell him and all of humanity after his fall.

The first man, being created in the image and likeness of his Creator, had the most lively and intimate communion with Him and therefore enjoyed complete happiness. Being immortal, God also introduced Adam to His immortality; being all-righteous, God also created Adam sinless and pure; being eternally blessed, God also made Adam blessed, and this blessedness was to increase day by day.

As the book of Genesis tells, Adam lived in the most beautiful garden (Eden, or paradise), planted by God, and there he enjoyed all the benefits. He knew neither disease nor suffering, he was not afraid of anything, and all the animals obeyed him as their master. Adam felt neither cold nor hot; and though he labored tending the plants of paradise, he did so with pleasure. His soul was filled with the knowledge of God and love for Him. He was always calm, cheerful and did not know any troubles, any worries. All his desires were pure, righteous and in order; memory, reason, and all other mental faculties were perfect. Being innocent and pure, he always stayed with God and talked with Him as with the Father, and God loved him as His dear son. In short, Adam was in paradise, and paradise was in him.

If Adam had not sinned, he would have remained blissful forever, and all his offspring would enjoy bliss. For this, the Lord created man. But Adam, having listened to the devil-tempter, transgressed the commandment of the Creator and ate the forbidden fruit. When the Lord appeared to Adam, who had sinned, instead of repenting and promising to continue to comply with all His commands, he began to justify himself and accuse his wife. The wife blamed all the blame on the serpent. Not only the violation of the commandment was terrible, but also the fact that the sin they committed deeply damaged the moral nature of man, because of which the previous living communication with the Creator was interrupted, and with this, bliss was also lost. Having lost paradise within himself, Adam proved unworthy of the outer paradise and was expelled from it.

After the Fall, Adam's soul darkened, his thoughts and desires were confused, imagination and memory began to fade. Instead of joy and peace of mind, he began to experience grief, excitement and various troubles. I had to get acquainted with hard work, need, hunger and thirst. After many years of incessant unrest, sickly old age began to depress him and death began to draw near. But what is most terrible, the devil, the culprit of all evil, thanks to sin, was able to influence Adam and further divert him from God.

The elements of nature - air, fire and others, which previously served Adam as a means to enjoyment, have now become hostile to him. Adam and his descendants began to suffer from cold and heat, from changing winds and bad weather. The animals became ferocious towards people and began to look at them as their enemies or prey. The descendants of Adam began to suffer from external and internal diseases, which over time became more varied and more cruel. People forgot that they were brothers and began to quarrel against each other, hate, deceive, attack each other, torture and kill. And, finally, after all the bitter labors and worries, they were doomed to die, and as sinners they had to go to hell and suffer forever there.

No person, even the most brilliant and powerful, not all people in the aggregate could and will never be able to return what Adam lost when he sinned in Eden. And what would have happened to us and to all the human race if Jesus Christ, by His mercy, did not come to save us? The Heavenly Father, who pity us and loves us much more than we are able to love ourselves, sent His Son Jesus Christ to us in order to deliver us from sin and the power of the devil and bring us to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus Christ, by His teaching, dispersed the darkness of ignorance and all kinds of delusions and enlightened the world with the light of the Gospel. Now everyone who only wants can know the will of God and the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Through His life, He showed us an example of how to go to salvation, and constantly helps us on our way.

Jesus Christ washed away our sins with His pure blood, and made us, former servants of the devil and passions, children of God. The torments that we, as transgressors of the will of God, were to endure, He endured for us and by His death delivered us from eternal death.

Jesus Christ by His resurrection destroyed hell, took away the power from the devil, conquered death and opened the entrance to heaven for everyone. Therefore, from the moment of His resurrection, death ceased to be a terrible tragedy, and became for believers a transition from vanity and sorrows to a bright and joyful life. By his ascension to Heaven, He glorified human nature and honored him with immortality.

All these great blessings that the Lord has prepared for us can neither be described nor imagined. Let's just say that all who follow His commandments will be worthy to live in paradise with angels, righteous and saints and will see God face to face there. They will rejoice in pure, unceasing and eternal joy, knowing neither longing, nor sorrow, nor anxiety.

And all these benefits Jesus Christ gives not only to some chosen few, but to everyone who wants to receive them. The path to salvation is shown, arranged and, as much as possible, smoothed and equalized. Moreover, Jesus Christ helps us to walk this path and, so to speak, Himself leads us by the hand. We can only not resist Him, not persist, but surrender to His will. Now, you see, how Jesus Christ loves us and what great benefits He gives us!

Now let's think if Jesus Christ suddenly appeared before us and asked us: “My children! Do you love Me for everything that I have done for you, and do you appreciate the benefits that I give you? " Who among us would not answer Him: “Yes, Lord! I love you and thank you! ” If we really, and not in words only love Jesus Christ and are grateful to Him, then should we not do what He tells you? Because when a person really loves his benefactor, he expresses his gratitude by doing everything that pleases him.

How Jesus Christ lived on earth and suffered for us

Life should be based on love: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy thought and with all thy strength … Loveyour neighbor as yourself. " But due to the sinful corruption of human nature, there has not yet been a person who would be able to love God and neighbors perfectly and at all times. Only the Lord Jesus Christ had such perfect love.

His boundless love was revealed in every word and deed. Being the Son of the Creator and the true God, Jesus Christ, out of pity for us, descended from Heaven and took upon Himself the body and soul of man, becoming in everything similar to us, except for sin. Being the Ruler of the Universe, before Whom the Angels stand in awe, He deigned to assume the form of an ordinary man; Possessing all the treasures of the world, He agreed to be born in extremely poor conditions, to lie in a manger in a dark and damp cave.

As the supreme Lawgiver, Jesus Christ during His earthly life humbly fulfilled all the provisions of the Law of Moses. So, on the eighth day after His birth, He accepted circumcision, and on the fortieth day His Mother brought Him to the temple and there paid the due payment for Him, the Ruler of the Universe. Becoming a boy, and then a youth, He always obeyed His earthly Mother and helped His imaginary father, the aged Joseph. Having matured, He respected the Jewish elders and rulers, as well as the Roman rulers, and paid the established fees. He voluntarily lived in poverty, and when he preached, he often had no place to lay his head. Jesus Christ, to whom all creation obeys, served people Himself and even washed the feet of His disciples, ordinary fishermen.

Jesus Christ constantly prayed to His Heavenly Father, even at night when other people were asleep. On Saturdays, He took part in common prayer and reading the word of God in the local synagogue, and on holidays he went to the Jerusalem temple.

Jesus Christ with all zeal and love fulfilled the work to which His Heavenly Father had sent Him, and directed everything to His glory. He pitied every person, wished everyone well, did not refuse help to anyone and was ready to endure everything in order to help the suffering. With the greatest meekness He bore all kinds of insults and insults from the crowd, did not get angry with His enemies, who reviled Him and plotted against Him. Some ill-wishers called Him a sinner and a breaker of the law, others - a carpenter's son and an empty man, still others - a companion of drunkards and morally degraded people. Several times the mob attempted to stone him or throw him off the mountain. The Jewish scribes called His divine teaching a deception, and when He healed the sick, raised the dead or drove out demons, they explained these miracles by the action of an evil spirit. Some, however, openly called Christ possessed. Being almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ could instantly destroy them all with one word. Instead, he pitied them as spiritually blinded, wished them well and prayed for their salvation.

In short, Jesus Christ from birth to his death, constantly doing good to people, often, instead of gratitude, endured all kinds of grief. He was especially hated by the Jewish rulers - the high priests and scribes - people whose mission was to teach people good and lead them to faith. Instead, they did their best to prevent people from believing in Christ and maliciously distorted the meaning of the prophecies that predicted His coming. Everything that He said or did, they explained to the people in a negative sense. Jesus grieved not so much because they were at enmity against Him, but because they blindly rush to destruction and drag the common people with them.

Shortly before His death, Jesus Christ performed the greatest miracle: He resurrected Lazarus, who had already been lying in his grave for four days and began to decompose. This miracle happened in front of the Lazarus family and with a huge crowd of people. The impression was tremendous, and many Jews, who hitherto treated Christ with distrust, believed in Him as in the Messiah. Then the chief priests and scribes, envious of His glory, urgently gathered and decided to immediately put to death both Christ and Lazarus resurrected by Him.

Knowing that the days of His earthly life were numbered, Jesus Christ gathered His disciples in the upper room of Zion for the Last Supper, where he taught them Holy Communion and said goodbye to Them. After that, going with the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus Christ suffered here His most severe inner sufferings. This suffering was so great that during prayer, sweat dripped from His face like large drops of blood. At this time, the soul of the Savior was covered with incredible darkness and horror from the unbearable burden of human sins that He took upon Himself in order to wash them off with His pure blood - for all the countless crimes of billions of people, starting from Adam and including all future generations. Dejected by the yoke of world evil, Jesus Christ exclaimed: "My soul grieves to death!"

No one can say what exactly the purest soul of the God-man experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane; one can only partially guess that at that time all the abomination of human sins was revealed before His inner gaze. Christ knew that His great suffering and endless love would be appreciated and accepted only by a few, and most people would indifferently turn away, and some would even hate His teaching and would cruelly persecute those who believed in Him; that there will be hypocrites among His followers, who will turn faith into a means to gain; that false teachers will appear who will distort the purity of His teaching and, out of pride and self-interest, will entice believers into their sects; that false shepherds will appear who, because of their ambitions, will mend schisms and church unrest; Christ knew that many of Christians would not only not strive to love God and live righteously, but would indulge in terrible vices, so that they would surpass even the pagans with their sins, because of which the Christian faith would be humiliated.

With these grave experiences, on the one hand, a sense of justice and devotion to God the Father demanded that Christ destroy the human race as an ungrateful and criminal; on the other hand, compassion for perishing people prompted Him to suffer for them and thereby save them from the power of the devil and eternal death.

At this time, a noisy crowd rushes into the garden with torches and sticks, and with it soldiers sent by the Jewish leaders. They bind Jesus Christ and, like a villain, bring him to judgment. But the Apostles, whom He loved so much and brought closer to Himself, faint-heartedly leave Him and scatter. Then the Jewish leaders - the entire Sanhedrin, urgently gathered in the house of the high priest, raise many of the most absurd accusations against Christ. None of them, however, were sufficient to carry out a death sentence. Then the high priest demands from Jesus Christ that he openly declare under oath who He is. After the answer that He is the Son of God and the promised Messiah, the Sanhedrin accuses Christ of blasphemy, pronounces the death sentence and immediately, surrounding Him on all sides, beats and desecrates.

But the Romans deprived the Sanhedrin of the right to execute anyone. Therefore, the next morning, on Friday, on the eve of the Jewish Passover, the Jewish leaders lead Jesus Christ to a new trial before the Roman governor Pilate, so that he would approve their decision. Pilate, realizing that Christ was being accused out of envy, wanted to release Him. But the chief priests threatened him that they would complain about him to the Roman emperor. Not wanting to endanger his career, Pilate decided to address the people gathered here. Reminding people of the custom of releasing a prisoner on Easter Sunday, Pilate asked them which of the two should he release: Barabbas or Christ (Barabbas was a robber who was in prison for some crime). While the people consulted among themselves, the Jewish leaders persuaded most of them to ask to release Barrabas, and for Jesus to demand crucifixion on the cross! The rabble has forgotten the innumerable benefits of Christ: how many of them He freed from demons, how many he healed from leprosy, blindness, relaxation, etc., how many from a depraved life He turned to the path of good, to how many desperate He returned hope. Meanwhile, the Roman soldiers subject Jesus Christ to a cruel scourging and outrage, at the end of which they put a purple robe on him and put a crown of thorns on his head. When they brought Jesus Christ all wounded to the crowd, people began to shout furiously: "Crucify, crucify Him!" Then Pilate faintly washed his hands as a sign of his innocence in the condemnation of an innocent person, released Barabbas, and placed Jesus Christ at the disposal of the Jewish leaders.

Then the soldiers lay a wooden cross on Christ, on which they were to crucify Him, and make Him carry the cross to the place of execution, called Golgotha \u200b\u200b(which means “skull”). There they take off Christ's outer garments and nail them to the cross, crucifying two robbers on either side of Him. So, in a shameful place, like a great villain, they will execute the One who dispersed the darkness of delusion with the light of Divine teaching, who conquered malice with love! My God, to what blindness and cruelty people can reach!

But those who hate Christ cannot satiate their anger: the already dying Sufferer is showered with new curses and derisively demanded a miracle. When He asked for a drink, vinegar was brought to Him on a sponge instead of water. So, abandoned by all, all wounded, bleeding and panting, tormented by unbearable thirst, the One Who once breathed the breath of life into the first man dies the most painful death! Even soulless nature was horrified at such a crime: the sun was darkened and the earth shook.

For whom did the Savior of the world suffer so much? He suffered for all people - for enemies and tormentors, for those who, having received many blessings from Him, forgot to thank Him. He also suffered for each of us, stubborn sinners, who daily insult Him with our indifference, ingratitude, malice, falsehoods and bad deeds, and with this they crucify Him a second time.

In order to feel and realize more deeply how infinite the love of Jesus Christ for us and how great is His sacrifice, we will try to compare and understand how great He is and how insignificant we are. Jesus Christ is true God, equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit. He dwells in an unapproachable light, the almighty Creator of the universe, the immortal King, before Whom countless hosts of angels stand in awe, the inexhaustible source of Life, the Lord over everything visible and invisible, the formidable Judge of the living and the dead - and this Jesus Christ was pleased to suffer for us , wayward and ungrateful creatures. Who can comprehend and worthily appreciate this mystery of Divine Love?

The path to the kingdom of heaven

The path to the Kingdom of Heaven was paved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Only those who follow Him will attain the Kingdom of Heaven. How can you follow Him? - Listen to what the Savior Himself says about this: "Whoever wants to follow Me, deny yourself (deny yourself, take your cross and follow Me."

The words " who wants”Means that Jesus Christ does not force anyone to follow Him. He does not need slaves, He wants every person to freely decide whether he wants to follow His path and be with Him. Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven includes only those who voluntarily chose the path indicated by the Savior.

Christian! Salvation or destruction is entirely in your hands. The Lord, by His grace, gave you the freedom to choose, and He will never take away the precious gift of freedom from you. So, if you decide to follow Jesus Christ, He will show you the way and will help you at every step. If you don't want to go, it's your will. But beware, beware of neglecting the grace of God. Jesus Christ, pitying you, can knock on the door of your heart for a long, long time, waiting for you to finally want to save yourself. But woe to you if, tired of waiting, He turns away from you as from a hopeless son of destruction. Then no one: neither a righteous man nor an angel will be able to help you!

Therefore, it is extremely important to create the necessary desire in yourself and make a firm decision to take the path of salvation. And in order for us to have this desire and to strengthen our resolve, we need to know in more detail where the path indicated by Christ leads, and how to go along this path. This question is so important that it is necessary to talk about it in more detail.

1. First, a Christian needs to study thoroughly the foundations of the Christian faith. To do this, you need to start regularly reading and re-reading the books of Holy Scripture, especially the Gospels and the Apostolic Epistles. It is necessary to find out not only their content, but also to ask where they originated from, who wrote them and when, how they survived and passed to us, and why they are called divine and sacred. It is necessary to study the sacred books in simplicity of heart, without prejudice and excessive inquisitiveness, not trying to penetrate into what is hidden from us by the wisdom of God, but delve into what is related to our correction. Everything that we need to know for salvation, the Scriptures are very clear and detailed.

A Christian needs to study his faith more thoroughly because he who does not know his faith is cold to it and may fall under the influence of some heresy or non-Christian religion. And how many Orthodox Christians die just because they are not interested in the content of their faith! With access to light, they wander in darkness. Such are made easy prey for all false teachers.

At the same time, the study of faith must be in accordance with the knowledge and abilities of a person. So, for example, it is useful for a scientist to get acquainted with the works of the holy fathers of the Church, as well as with historical and theological books written by Orthodox authors. These books will help him to understand his faith more deeply and in more detail, which in turn will give him the opportunity to establish in the Orthodox faith others who cannot access these books.

2. When you are convinced that our Orthodox faith is based on Holy Scripture, and not on the inventions of people, and that Holy Scripture is the true word of God, communicated to us by the Holy Spirit through the prophets and apostles, then accept it with all your trusting heart... Believe without doubt and without philosophizing everything that Scripture teaches, without listening to heretical interpretations. And if you humbly accept Christ's truth, then your faith will be sound and will be credited to you for salvation.

3. Finally, do your best warm your zeal follow what the Scriptures teach. If you do not have this zeal in you, then fall down to our Savior Jesus Christ and in warm prayer ask Him to send you an ardent desire to live according to His commandments. When the grace of God begins to lead you along the path of salvation, follow it, courageously reflecting the wiles of the evil one, who will try to lead you off the path of salvation.

What has been said here about the path to the Kingdom of Heaven will be illustrated by the following example. Imagine that, beyond all expectations, you suddenly find yourself the only heir to your wealthy distant relative. Before his death, this relative bequeathed to you his luxurious dacha on the top of a picturesque mountain. Loving loneliness, this relative did not build roads to his dacha, but he himself got to her along the path. To help you get into the possession of the cottage, he left you a map of the mountain, marking the desired path on it. There are many other paths on the mountain, but they do not reach the dacha, but either end in a dead end, or lead to ravines. Thus, in order to get to the bequeathed dacha, you need to keep to the very path marked by the relative who loved you.

Prudence dictates that before embarking on such a path, it is necessary to study the map of the mountain, to stock up on everything necessary for the ascent and even an overnight stay. It is good to find out from the forester what to look out for on the mountain and what signs to be guided by so as not to stray off the right path. And, undoubtedly, every sane person will make all the necessary preparations before embarking on a new path for himself.

Something similar is to be done for us who want to reach the Heavenly abode prepared for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is necessary to know well which path leads to it, how not to get lost, what to beware of, etc. Our map is the Holy Scriptures and Orthodox books; foresters are the shepherds of the Church, whose duty is to help believers and lead them towards paradise. Provisions are the grace of God that strengthens our spiritual strength. It is possible that in some places the path leading to paradise will be narrow, overgrown with bushes and difficult to travel, while other paths will seem wider and more comfortable. But you better not trust what it seems. The Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles have repeatedly warned that only one path, which is indicated in the Gospel, reaches the Kingdom of Heaven. All the other paths lead nowhere, and the wide and easy path leads to destruction.

Now let's take a closer look at the very path that the Lord Jesus Christ showed us. He said: “Who wants to follow Me,

1. deny yourself,

2. take up your cross and

3. follow me.

Therefore, a follower of Jesus Christ needs to start with "Self-rejection." This means that you need to give up all your bad habits, remove attachment to material goods (money, luxury, worldly fame, power, etc.) from your heart, not harbor bad desires in yourself, suppress bad thoughts in yourself, avoid cases leading to sin, do nothing out of stubbornness or pride, but do everything out of love for God and for the glory of His holy name. In short, to deny oneself means, according to the apostle Paul, to be dead to sin and alive to God.

Then the disciple and follower of Jesus Christ should take up your cross... The cross means various difficulties associated with the Christian life, as well as inevitable sorrows in life. There are external and internal crosses. To take up your cross means to resignedly endure whatever unpleasant happens to us. And therefore, whether someone offends you, whether someone laughs at you, or annoys you, or you helped someone, and instead of gratitude, he is plotting against you, or you want to do something good, but you fail. Whether any misfortune has happened to you, or who has fallen ill in your family, or with all your activities and tireless labors, you fail, or anything else that depresses you - endure all this without anger or grumbling. Do not consider yourself offended, but endure everything with devotion to God and with hope in Him.

Carry your cross - means not only to patiently endure difficulties that happen to us due to circumstances beyond our control, but also to impose on ourselves a feasible feat, consistent with the word of the Lord and necessary for us for spiritual improvement. So, for example, one can and should do something useful for others, such as: work at the church, visit the sick and prisoners, help those in need, raise funds for those in need, and contribute to the spread of spiritual enlightenment. In a word, we must look for cases that contribute to the salvation and well-being of our neighbors, and then with patience and meekness act in the direction we have begun: in deed, in word, in prayer, and in advice.

If at the same time a proud thought arises in you that you are better or smarter than others, then in every possible way drive away from yourself such a thought, because it will destroy all your virtues. Blessed is the one who carries his cross with discretion and humility, because the Lord will not allow such a person to perish, but will give him the Holy Spirit, who will instruct and strengthen him.

In following Jesus Christ, it is not enough to carry one outer cross. After all, such crosses are carried not only by Christians, but by all people, because there is no person who would not suffer from this or that sorrow. But whoever wants to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ must also bear his inner cross.

Inner cross can be found rather outside. One has only in a penitent feeling to direct his mind's gaze inward and examine his soul, and immediately many crosses will appear. Think, for example, how did you come about and why do you exist in this world? Do you live as the Christian faith teaches? Pay due attention to this - and you will quickly understand that you were created by God in order to contribute with all your deeds, life and all your being to the spread of good and thereby glorify the holy name of God. You not only do not glorify Him, but, on the contrary, even insult Him with your sins. Then ponder what awaits you behind the grave and which side will you find yourself on during the Last Judgment: with the righteous or with the sinners? And if you think about it, then you will involuntarily come into confusion and begin to regret much that you have done and said, and this will be the beginning of your inner cross. And if you examine yourself even more attentively, you will find other internal crosses. For example, hell, about which you very rarely and indifferently thought, then it will begin to present itself to you in all its horror. The paradise that the Lord has prepared for you and of which you only thought briefly, then you will vividly present itself to you for what it is, i.e. a place of pure and eternal joys, which you deprive yourself of with your frivolity and sins.

And if, in spite of the inner suffering generated by such reflections, you firmly decide to repent and correct yourself, and not entertain yourself with worldly pleasures, and you diligently pray to the Lord for your salvation and commit yourself entirely to His will, then the Lord will begin to show you the sick state more clearly. of your soul so that you are completely healed. The fact is that our inner illness is hidden from our gaze under the thick crust of our pride and passions; and what we sometimes notice through our conscience are only the biggest and most obvious sinful wounds. The enemy of our salvation, the devil, knowing how salutary it is for us to understand our moral sickness, uses all the tricks to prevent us from doing this and to suggest that everything is in order.

And when the devil sees that a person is seriously concerned about his correction and, with God's help, is already beginning to recover, then he uses another even more insidious means: he exposes to a person his inner illness in such a terrible and hopeless form that he becomes numb in horror and throws him away from all hope of correction. And if the Lord allowed the devil to use this last resort, then few of us would have resisted despair. The Lord, as an experienced doctor, shows us our mental ulcers gradually and encourages us as we recover.

So, when the Lord enlightens your spiritual gaze, you will begin to realize more clearly that your heart is corrupted and that your passions prevent you from approaching God. You will also begin to understand that the little that is good in you is damaged by vanity and pride. Then you will certainly grieve and fear and sorrow will take over you. Fear that you are in danger of perishing forever; the sadness that for so long you turned your ears away from the gentle voice of the Lord calling you into the Kingdom of Heaven, and that you did so little good.

Although the inner cross appears to be heavy, do not despair and do not think that the Lord has left you. No! He is always with you and invisibly reinforces you even when you forget about Him. He will not allow you to be tested above your strength. Do not be afraid of anything, but with complete obedience and devotion, endure and pray. After all, He is our kindest Father that one can desire. If He sometimes allows a person devoted to Him to fall into temptation, then only in order to more clearly show him his own impotence and completely cleanse his heart, in which He intends to dwell with His Son and His Holy Spirit.

In times of trouble, do not seek comfort from people. Unspiritual people are inexperienced in matters of salvation and poor counselors. Make the Lord your helper, comforter and mentor, and ask for help only from Him. A hundredfold blessed is the person to whom the Lord sends sorrows, because they heal his soul. Enduring sorrow, a Christian becomes like Jesus Christ, and, therefore, sorrow is a special mercy of the Lord and a sign of His concern for the salvation of man.

If you carry your cross with devotion to the will of the Lord and you will not seek comfort anywhere except the Lord, then by His mercy He will not leave you without comfort, but will touch your heart and impart the gifts of the Holy Spirit to you. Then you will feel an inexplicable sweetness, wonderful calmness and joy, which you have not experienced before, and at the same time you will feel an influx of spiritual strength and lightness in prayer, and strong faith. Then your heart will light up with love for God and for your neighbor. And all this is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

When the Lord grants you such a gift, then do not at all consider it a reward for your labors and do not think that you have achieved holiness. Such thoughts are generated by pride, which has penetrated so deeply into our souls that it can manifest itself even when a person is able to perform miracles. These consolations and the touch of the Holy Spirit are not a reward, but a mercy. The Lord gives you a foretaste of the blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him, so that you will seek heavenly things with even greater zeal.

Finally, the disciple of Jesus Christ needs follow him... This means that in all our deeds and deeds we must try to imitate the deeds and deeds of Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ lived and acted, so we must live and act. For example, Jesus Christ often thanked His Heavenly Father and constantly prayed to Him. Likewise, in all circumstances of life, whether successful or difficult, we must thank God and pray to Him. Jesus Christ honored His Most Pure Mother and obeyed the rulers. Likewise, we must honor our parents and educators, we must respect the bosses and obey the authorities in matters that do not contradict the Law of the Most High.

Jesus Christ with zeal and love fulfilled the work for which He came into the world. In the same way, we must conscientiously and diligently fulfill our duties, which God and the state impose on us.

Jesus Christ loved every person and did good to everyone. In the same way, we should love our neighbors and, as much as possible, do good to them in deed, in word, and in thought. Jesus Christ gave all His strength to the salvation of people. Likewise, in order to do good to our neighbors, we must spare neither our labors nor health.

Jesus Christ voluntarily suffered and died for us. Therefore, we should not grumble when we encounter any troubles, but we should endure them with humility and devotion to God. Jesus Christ forgave His enemies everything that they did to Him, and wished them well. Likewise, we must forgive our enemies, pay them good for evil, and bless those who abuse us.

Jesus Christ, King of heaven and earth, lived in poverty and by His labors earned for himself what was necessary for life. Likewise, we should be hardworking and be content with what God has sent us, not striving to get rich, because, according to the word of the Savior, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the ears of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

Jesus Christ, being meek and humble in heart, never sought praise, but directed everything to the glory of His Father. Likewise, we should not expose ourselves to others. For example, do you help your neighbors, do you give alms, do you live more piously than the people around you, or are you wiser and more learned than your acquaintances, or generally surpass others in anything? what you have that is good and meritorious is not yours, but a gift from God; your only sins and weaknesses.

Follow Jesus Christ - means to accept with faith and do everything that Jesus Christ said, without philosophizing and in the simplicity of heart. He who hears the word of Jesus Christ is His disciple, and who does what He said with perfect devotion is a true and beloved follower of Him.

So this is what it means to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus Christ. This is the only and direct path to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the way Jesus Christ walked, and this is the way we must go! There has never been and never will be any other way but this. For beginners, this path seems narrow and steep. But this is not because he really is, but because our concepts of goodness and happiness have been perverted. We perceive bitter as sweet, and sweet as bitter. However, as we get closer to God, much that previously seemed difficult to us will turn out to be easy and pleasant, and what previously pleased us will seem boring and painful.

But, of course, there will be difficult periods when the path of ascent to God will seem to you especially difficult. Then let's think that for every step you take, thousands of awards are being prepared for you. Suffering on this path is momentary, and the reward for them is endless. So, do not fear the path of Christ, for the smooth and wide path leads to hell, and the barbed and narrow path leads to Heaven.

But why didn't God make the way to the Kingdom of Heaven easy and pleasant? - It was so pleasing to Him! God, knowing everything and being infinitely wise, sees what is best for us. We, being below, see only a small part of our life, but He sees our life from above in terms of eternity. In addition, we will take into account the following circumstances:

1. The Kingdom of Heaven is the highest bliss and inexhaustible wealth. If obtaining a small earthly wealth requires great work and care, then how is it possible to obtain such a treasure without any personal effort?

2. The Kingdom of Heaven is the most coveted reward. Where are they rewarded for nothing and for nothing? Therefore, if you need to work hard to receive a temporary reward, then even more so to receive an eternal reward.

3. We must carry our cross because we want to be with Christ and share in His glory. If Jesus Christ, our Teacher and Head, acquired heavenly glory by suffering, then would we not be ashamed to share His glory with Him, when we cowardly avoided all deeds and sorrows?

4. The cross of life is not the lot of Christians alone. Everyone has their own cross - both Christian and non-Christian, believer and pagan alike. The difference is that for one person the cross serves as a means to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven, while for another it is not useful. For one, the cross from time to time becomes easier and more joyful, and for another - harder and more sorrowful. But why is it so? Because one carries his cross with faith and devotion to God, and the other with grumbling and bitterness.

So, Christian, not only do not avoid your life's cross, but, on the contrary, thank Jesus Christ for the fact that He deigned you to follow Him and imitate Him. If Jesus Christ had not suffered and died, then none of us, no matter how much we suffer, would never have entered the Kingdom of Heaven. Because then we would have to suffer as transgressors of the will of God and suffer without hope. Now we are suffering for salvation. Oh merciful Lord! How great is Thy love for us! How great are your benefits to us! You turn even the most evil in our favor and salvation.

Christian! Just gratitude to Jesus Christ, your Benefactor, obliges you to follow Him. Jesus Christ came down to earth for you, will you really prefer something worldly to Him? Jesus Christ drank the full cup of suffering for you, will you really refuse to suffer a little for Him?

5. Jesus Christ redeemed us by His death, and therefore we belong to Him by right of ransom. Therefore, we must do whatever He tells us to do. And Jesus Christ wants one thing: that we reach the Kingdom of Heaven.

6. Finally, we cannot escape the narrow path to the Kingdom of Heaven, because in every person there is sin, and sin is such an ulcer that cannot be healed by itself without strong medicines. Suffering is the medicine with which the Lord heals our souls. When a person is sick with something, wherever he is, even in the most magnificent palaces, he will suffer everywhere. So is the sinner: wherever you settle him, even in heaven itself, he will suffer there too, because hell is inside him. Likewise, a righteous person can rejoice in a squalid hut, as in a palace. After all, when the heart is filled with the Holy Spirit, wherever a person is, there will be joy everywhere, because heaven is within him.

So, brethren, if we want to achieve salvation, then we cannot escape the path followed by Jesus Christ, and behind Him are the prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints and other countless righteous people: all went one way and there is no other.

Some may object: where are we, sinful and weak people, to imitate the saints! We live in the world, we have families, we have different responsibilities ... Ah, brothers! This is a crafty excuse and an insult to our Creator. To justify one's negligence with such reasons means to reproach the Creator for not being able to create us. After all, the saints, like us, at first were not sinless, and they were engaged in worldly affairs, toiled, carried various responsibilities, had families. But with all this, they did not forget the most important thing, and, living in the same conditions as us, they directed their way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, if we really want to, we can be useful citizens, faithful spouses, loving fathers, and at the same time good Christians. Our faith will not hinder anything good, but, on the contrary, will still contribute to the success of any good undertaking. The essence of Christianity is pure and selfless love that the Holy Spirit gives.

So, brothers, if you want to reach the Kingdom of Heaven, then follow the path that Jesus Christ walked. There is no other way!

How Jesus Christ Helps Us on the Path to the Kingdom of Heaven

Walking the path of Christ, you cannot rely on your own strength alone. If Jesus Christ, our great Benefactor, did not help us at every step, then no one could achieve salvation. Even the Apostles, when left on their own, could not follow Jesus Christ, but faint-heartedly fled. When, on the day of Pentecost, they received help from above, then they joyfully followed His path, and no longer danger, difficulties, or even death itself frightened them.

What is the help that Jesus Christ gives to those who follow Him? This help - the grace of the Holy Spirit... The grace of God surrounds us from all sides, and with it the Lord draws us to Himself. Anyone who only wants can receive this Divine help and be strengthened by it.

The Holy Spirit, being God on a par with the Father and the Son, gives life and strength to everything. He gives believers wisdom, inner peace and inspiration - not according to their merits, but for the sake of Jesus Christ. In what exactly the Holy Spirit helps us and how to attract the grace of the Holy Spirit to ourselves, we will now explain this, based on the word of God.

1. The Holy Spirit, dwelling in a person, gives him faith and light. Without the Holy Spirit, no one can have true living faith, and without His enlightenment, even the greatest scientist in the affairs of God is a complete blind man. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit can make even the last simpleton wise and reveal to him the great mysteries of God.

2. The Holy Spirit, dwelling in a person, brings with Him true love, which warms his heart. This love inspires a person to do good deeds, so there is nothing difficult or terrible for him; and the commandments of God, which previously seemed difficult to him, now become easy. Faith and love, given by the Holy Spirit, are such powerful means that those who have them can easily and joyfully walk the path that Jesus Christ walked.

3. The Holy Spirit corrects the worldview and mood, so that a person ceases to be seduced by temporary benefits. Taking advantage of the gratitude that God has given, the Christian is not attached to anything with his heart, but feels himself a guest in this world and most of all desires communion with God. A person who does not have the Holy Spirit, with all his learning and great abilities, always remains a worshiper of the world and a slave to his flesh.

4. The Holy Spirit makes a person wise. This is especially clearly seen in the example of the holy Apostles. By origin, they were the most simple and uneducated people, and after the descent of the Holy Spirit on them on the day of Pentecost, they received such wisdom and the power of words that even philosophers and rhetoricians could not resist them. The Holy Spirit always admonishes a person: what, when and how he needs to do. So, for example, a person who has the Holy Spirit in him will always find the means and time for the salvation of his soul. And amid the noise of the world and with all his busyness, he will be able to maintain inner composure, go deep into himself and pray to God; while an unspiritual person, even in the temple of God, cannot concentrate and pray heartily.

5. The Holy Spirit gives true joy and unshakable world. A person who does not have the Holy Spirit in him can never truly rejoice or find peace of mind. When he is having fun, his fun is momentary, always empty and pitiful, sometimes even sinful. After the fun, boredom becomes even more agonizing. Likewise, when a non-spiritual person feels calm, it is not a real spiritual world, but a kind of drowsiness or apathy. And woe to a person if he does not wake up in time and does not begin to care for the salvation of his soul!

6. The Holy Spirit gives true humility. Even the most intelligent person, if he does not have the Holy Spirit, cannot know himself well enough, because this inner illness and spiritual poverty are hidden from him. When he does good or acts honestly, he becomes arrogant and begins to look down on others, and even condemn those who, in his opinion, are worse than him. Due to their blindness, many self-righteous pretended righteous did not ask the Holy Spirit for instruction and help, and therefore perished. But the Holy Spirit always comes to the aid of a person who asks for guidance and help. As a bright ray of the sun, penetrating into a dark room, reveals the smallest details of everything that is in it, so the Holy Spirit, having infiltrated a person, exposes to him all the wretchedness and corruption of his soul. Illuminated with heavenly light, a person can no longer pay attention to his petty virtues, when his soul needs healing from so many ulcers. Recognizing himself as the worst of people, a person humbles himself, begins to truly repent and decides to live more carefully. With regard to good deeds, he ceases to rely on his own strength and asks God to instruct and help him.

7. The Holy Spirit gives true fervent prayer. No one, until he receives the Holy Spirit, can pray a prayer that is completely pleasing to God, because his thoughts and feelings are scattered in different directions. The person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells vividly feels the presence of God, his prayer flows smoothly, and he knows how and what to ask God. In this state, the praying person can ask God for everything, even that which is impossible according to human concepts.

Here is a short list of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Thus, without the assistance of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible not only to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but even to approach it. Therefore, we need to earnestly ask the Holy Spirit to abide in us and help us, as He helped the holy Apostles. In order for the Holy Spirit to have mercy on us, to come down and dwell in us, it is important to know what attracts Him to us and what removes Him. We will talk about this now.

Jesus Christ said that “The Holy Spirit breathes where it wants, and you hear His voice, but you don’t know where it comes from and where it goes.” This means that a person is able to feel the touch of the Holy Spirit to the heart, but cannot predict the time when this will happen. Thus, for example, from the book of Acts we see that the holy Apostles and Christians received the gifts of the Holy Spirit always unexpectedly for themselves. He descends on those who ask him instantly, as soon as anyone wants, but when he pleases as God. Consequently, no one dares to predict when and what gifts of grace he will receive, and in general whether he will receive anything, because who dares to consider himself worthy! The grace of the Holy Spirit is the gift of His infinite mercy! Gifts are distributed exactly when the giver wishes, and only what the benefactor wants. He established in the Church gracious means for distributing His gifts to believers - these are the Sacraments and the Divine Services of the Church. Therefore, non-Orthodox Christians are very mistaken when they claim that they can always, whenever they want to receive the Holy Spirit, by means of well-known methods (used, by the way, also in spiritualistic seances and in pagan mysteries); and those of them who come up with these methods and dare to use them will not only not receive the gifts of grace, but will commit a terrible sin against the Holy Spirit.

Anyone who intends to ask the Holy Spirit for gifts of grace should know that these gifts are intended only for those who believe correctly. Indeed, the Lord first enlightened the Apostles with true teaching, and therefore already taught them the Holy Spirit. In a similar way, the Apostles did not immediately give the newly baptized gifts of grace, but only after a certain period of testing and confirmation in the true faith. For this reason, the Lord called the Holy Spirit Spirit of Truth, and the Church, this gracious society of believers, should be "A pillar and a statement of truth."

So, when a person accepted the faith of Christ in all its purity, humbly and obediently, without any amendments or reservations, then these are the means that the Lord gave him to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit:

1. Purity of heart and chastity.

2. Humility.

3. Listening to the voice of God.

4. Prayer.

5. Selflessness.

6. Reading Scripture.

7. The Sacraments of the Church, and especially Holy Communion.

To receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you must, first of all, clear the heart from sins, pride and pride. The Holy Spirit always surrounds us on all sides; He wants to fill us, but the evil that nests in us like a wall blocks His way. Every sin removes the Holy Spirit, but bodily impurity and pride are especially repugnant to Him. Therefore, if we want the Holy Spirit, which we received at Baptism, not to move away from us, or if we removed Him from ourselves with a sinful life and want Him to return to us, then we must:

1. Cleanse yourself by repentance, and after repentance, avoid sinful thoughts and desires. In view of the terrible licentiousness of modern society, a Christian must in every possible way protect himself from everything that defiles his soul, and his body must not be allowed to fornication. After all, our body is meant to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. When a person is pure internally and externally, then the Holy Spirit dwells in him. With chastity, the only thing that can prevent the Holy Spirit from dwelling in a person is if he prides himself on his righteousness and counts on the gifts of the Holy Spirit as a proper reward. If you unfortunately defiled yourself with carnal sin, then stop sinning and repent. With a broken heart, regret that you have offended God, your loving Father, and begin to live with greater discretion. Then you can receive the Holy Spirit.

2. One of the surest ways to attract the Holy Spirit is humility. Even if you were an honest, kind, just and merciful person - in a word, even if you combined many virtues in yourself, still continue to consider yourself an unworthy servant of God and an insignificant instrument of Him. Indeed, if we take a closer look at our good deeds, we will see that none of them is completely perfect. How often, for example, when giving alms or helping others, we mixed with this vain thoughts, grief, pride, condemnation and other unkind feelings. Of course, a good deed always remains a good deed, and you continue to do and multiply good deeds. After all, gold, even unrefined, has a price. One has only to put it in the hands of an experienced craftsman, and it will receive its full price. So you also entrust your good deeds to the Heavenly Master, and He will make them valuable.

Therefore, if you want your virtues to be pleasing to God, do not boast of them. You are not a master, but only an apprentice. Art gives value to gold, and virtues are valued by pure and unselfish Christian love that comes from the Holy Spirit. Everything that is done without Christian love, i.e. without the Holy Spirit, there is still no full-fledged virtue. And therefore a person who does not have the Holy Spirit in him, with all his virtues, remains poor and miserable.

In addition to the consciousness of one's unworthiness, humility also consists in enduring with patience and meekly the various sorrows and misfortunes of life, considering them deserved and sent to our benefit. Don't say, "How unhappy I am!" But say: "I deserve more and more punishment for my sins!" And not so much ask God to save you from disasters as to give you patience and strength to endure them.

3. The Holy Spirit can be received by listening to the voice of God. The Lord speaks to us both with the inner voice of conscience and with the outer life circumstances. It is very important to develop sensitivity in yourself in order to hear more clearly everything that God inspires us. He, as the most loving Father, takes care of you. Every day He calls you to Himself, warns and admonishes you. So, for example: whether you are sad, whether someone offended you, whether a misfortune happened to you, or are you sick - in this you can hear the voice of God calling you to repent and become better. During times of sorrow, instead of seeking help from people or entertaining yourself with various amusements, turn to God and ask for help from Him alone.

Or, let's say that you are prosperous, you live in prosperity and everything is going well for you. This is also the voice of God. Here the Lord calls you to be merciful to those in need, as He is merciful to you. It is sinful and dangerous to be deaf to the voice of God: not to repent and not correct in times of trouble, or not to thank God and not help others in times of success. It is even more destructive to act contrary to what the Lord leads us to: to grumble and be angry in difficult circumstances, or to forget God and live only for pleasure in favorable conditions. Then it may happen that after repeated admonitions, God will turn away from us as from stubborn children and allow us to do whatever we want. Then the passions will easily take over us, our mind and conscience will darken, and we can reach the point where we will begin to justify our most terrible sins as an inevitable weakness of human nature. To avoid such a fall, it is necessary to learn to listen to the voice of God and follow what he tells us.

4. The Holy Spirit Can Be Received prayer. Prayer is the simplest, most reliable and accessible means to everyone to receive the Holy Spirit. Since a person consists of a soul and a body, then prayer can be internal and external. The main thing in prayer is concentration and sincerity, which is achieved by inner effort. However, the body should not remain indifferent: it can and should help the soul to pray. Prayer is facilitated by favorable external conditions: solitude and silence, icons with a burning lamp, bows, raising hands, reading prayers aloud, and when a person is in church: church painting and architecture, harmonious quiet singing, magnificent worship, etc.

Focusing on prayer and turning your heart to God is a lot of work. To do this, you need to regularly devote a certain time to prayer (for example, in the morning and in the evening), you need constancy and patience. One must constantly fight with haste, absent-mindedness, coldness, insincerity; one must try to warm the heart with love for God. It takes a lot of effort to learn how to pray properly, and as we know, holy people have learned the art of prayer all their lives. However, personal efforts alone are not enough. For prayer to be fervent and come from the depths of the heart, the help of the Holy Spirit is needed. He alone gives perfect prayer.

Sincere prayer always brings comfort and peace to the heart. This was well known to the saints, who stood at prayer all day and night and ceased noticing the time in sweet delight. Here they were rewarded with the closest and most vivid illumination from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you also pray, despite the fact that due to your sinfulness and inability, your prayer at first will be imperfect. Pray diligently and diligently, train yourself to have a sincere conversation with God. So little by little, you will learn to pray and begin to feel sweet consolation. And if you show consistency in prayer work, then the Holy Spirit will pity you and begin to dwell in you.

Scripture teaches: "Pray without ceasing." Is this possible for people living in the world? If you pray all the time, how can you fulfill your other duties? The advice to pray continuously does not apply to external prayer, but to internal prayer. If desired, it is possible to internally turn to God not only in solitude, but also among various activities. Only those who do not want to pray do not find time to pray.

Fasting and works of mercy promote prayer. One of the saints advised: "If you want your prayer to fly to God, then give her two wings: fasting and alms."

5. What is fasting and why is it needed? Fast is a voluntary restriction of oneself in food, drink and pleasure. The purpose of fasting is to pacify and lighten the body, to make it obedient to the soul. Sated flesh requires bliss and peace, disposes to laziness, hinders thoughts of God. She, like an unbridled servant, rebelles against her master - the soul and wants to rule over her. During fasting, it is necessary to limit the quality of food (i.e. not eat dairy and meat food, avoid delighting the larynx), as well as the amount of food, being content with the minimum requirement of the body. At the same time, it is necessary to curb the various sinful desires of the flesh. Then your post will be true.

While fasting outwardly, one must fast and internally: keep your tongue from sinful and idle conversations, moderate your desires and anger, drive away unkind thoughts and dreams from yourself. Experience shows that there is nothing more difficult than stopping the wandering of thoughts and directing your mind to contemplation and prayer. It is like pacifying wild horses, which rampage long and hard under their rider.

An unspiritual person does not even suspect how difficult it is to control his thoughts. Being engaged only in everyday affairs, he believes that his thoughts are always busy with useful business. If he begins to strive for a spiritual way of life and tries to reflect on spiritual topics, then his thoughts will become clouded. There is something like the water of a shallow lake. If you do not disturb its surface, then it will remain clean, but if you pull it, then the silt that has risen from the bottom will make the water in the lake muddy. Similarly, at the bottom of our hearts there are various passions that, like silt, darken the soul when a person begins to identify them and fight them. The Holy Fathers explain that the devil certainly tries to perturb the soul with unkind thoughts and feelings in order to embarrass a person who wants to be saved and to take him away from a good intention. But do not give in to his machinations and do not deviate from the path of salvation. At the same time, it is useful to know that it is impossible for a person to simultaneously reflect on two objects. If you engage your mind with good thoughts (for example, reading spiritual books or studying some useful subject), then bad thoughts cannot linger in the mind. Therefore, read more of the Holy Scriptures and books of soul; inspired by them, reflect on spiritual topics, pray and ask God to illuminate you. Then the Holy Spirit, seeing your diligence, will dwell in you and cleanse your heart.

Love certainly reveals itself in deeds mercy. Deeds of mercy include: feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visiting the sick or prisoner in a dungeon and helping him, sheltering the homeless, taking care of the orphan - and similar activities. All this must be done out of a desire to help others, without boasting or expecting gratitude. The Savior teaches that in a good deed one must try to “The left hand did not know what the right hand was doing. Then the Heavenly Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. "

6. The Holy Spirit can be received by reverent reading of the Holy Scriptures. As the word of God, it contains treasures of spiritual light and wisdom. Holy Scripture is one of the greatest blessings of God, which can be used by anyone who wants to. Saving truths are stated in it in such an accessible form that even the most simple and inexperienced person in science can understand them. From church history and the lives of the saints, there are many cases when the simplest people, studying the Scriptures, contrived, became pious and received abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit. There were, of course, some, even scholars, who, while reading Scripture, got lost and fell into heresy. The difference was that some read the Scripture with simplicity of heart, looking for spiritual guidance in it, while others approached it with worldly inquisitiveness and tried to penetrate into the secret. Thinking that they understood everything, they fell into pride and became false teachers. Know that heavenly wisdom cannot be contained by our small human mind. But God makes wise people with a pure and kind heart. He makes them understand what is for their benefit and the benefit of those who communicate with them. Therefore, when you read the Holy Scripture, put aside all worldly philosophizing, submit to the word and will of the One who speaks to you through the Holy Scriptures, and ask Jesus Christ to make you wise for salvation.

In addition to Holy Scripture, there are many books that are useful for a Christian: the works of the holy fathers, the lives of the saints, soulful stories, sermons, theological works of Orthodox authors. From the books available to you, read those that are based on Holy Scripture and agree with the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Beware of the rest, as those poisoned with spiritual poison.

7. Regarding Communion, Jesus Christ said: “He who eats my body and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. He has eternal life in him, and I will raise him up at the last day. " Thus, a person who partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ mysteriously unites with Him and participates in His divine life. Therefore, one must approach Communion with faith, having purified the soul by repentance, with the consciousness of one's unworthiness and with hope for the mercy of God. Taking Christ into his heart, the believer receives both the Holy Spirit and the Heavenly Father, because God is one and undivided. Thus, the believer is rewarded to be the living temple of one God, worshiped in the Trinity. Who is partaking unworthily, i.e. with an unclean soul, with a heart filled with anger, greed or other passions, he not only does not receive the Holy Spirit, but becomes like a Jew-traitor.

Christians of the first centuries, realizing the importance and usefulness of the Holy Mysteries, received communion every Sunday. Undoubtedly for this reason they had, as the book of Acts of the Holy Apostles narrates, as it were, one heart and one soul. But, my God, what a difference between them and us! How many among us are those who rarely and sometimes for several years do not receive Communion, and how many are those who, without preparation and without the fear of God, approach the cup!

So, for the sake of your salvation, try more often , at least once a year, partake of the Holy Mysteries. The Body and Blood of Christ is a true medicine for all mental and physical ailments. Who among us is perfectly healthy? Who wouldn't want help and relief? The Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is food that strengthens us on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Is it possible to make a long and difficult journey without any reinforcement? The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is a shrine given to us by Jesus Christ Himself for our sanctification. And who would refuse to be a participant in such a Shrine? Therefore, do not be lazy to approach the Chalice of life, but approach it with the fear of God and faith. And whoever neglects this does not love Jesus Christ and will not receive the Holy Spirit, and therefore will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

So, here are the means for receiving the Holy Spirit: purity of heart and blameless life, humility, attention to the voice of God, prayer, accompanied by fasting and alms, reading the word of God and communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Of course, each of these means is indeed to receive the Holy Spirit, but it is best to resort to all of these saving means. To what has been said, it must be added that if one of those who were rewarded to receive the Holy Spirit falls for any reason and sins, and thereby alienates the Holy Spirit from himself, he should not despair and think that he has irrevocably lost grace, but let him quickly fall to God. with deep repentance and prayer, and the all-merciful Holy Spirit will return to him again.

Conclusion

So, no one without faith in Jesus Christ can return to God and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. No one, even if he believed in Jesus Christ, if he does not act as Jesus Christ did, can be called His disciple, therefore, can not share with Him His glory in Heaven. No one without the help of the Holy Spirit can follow Jesus Christ. Those who want to receive the Holy Spirit must use the means given by the Lord.

It is important to remember that the path to the Kingdom of Heaven, opened to us by Jesus Christ, is the only one, and there was not, and there will not be any other way, except the one that Jesus Christ showed us. At times this path is difficult, but it surely leads to the goal. In addition, a Christian will meet on this path such consolations and delights that cannot be found in worldly goods. The Lord Jesus Christ helps us walk this path; He gives us the Holy Spirit, sends His Angel to protect us, gives mentors and leaders, and even takes us by the hand and leads us to salvation.

If the path to the Kingdom of Heaven is difficult, then the eternal torment in fiery hell is incomparably worse. If the path to heavenly bliss is difficult, then the path to earthly happiness is no easier. See how those who work to collect earthly treasures for themselves, how much sorrow, sleepless nights and hardships they bear. Or remember how much work you have undertaken, how many worries and money some empty and fleeting pleasure costs you! And what? Instead of the expected pleasure, you remained disappointed and tired. And therefore, if we take a closer look at the essence of the matter, then it is clear that we are deviating from the Kingdom of Heaven not because this path there was really more difficult than the ways of this world, but because it seems to us so. It is the devil, a skillful seducer, who presents us with the difficult path of salvation, and the easy path of destruction, and therefore many destroy their souls.

Therefore, brethren, in order to avoid eternal destruction, we certainly need take care of your future... We know that there, behind the grave, one of two things awaits people: either the Kingdom of Heaven, or total hell, - there is no middle state, - or eternal bliss, or eternal torment. As there are only two states behind the grave, so there are only two paths in this life. One of them is wide and seems light - most suit them, and the other narrow and thorny - few suit them. And a hundredfold happy is he who follows the narrow path. Brothers, if we go the long way and suddenly die, what will become of us? Who do we go to there? To the Lord? But we didn’t want to listen to Him, so He will not listen to us. Now He is a merciful Father to us, and there He will be a righteous Judge. And who will protect us from His just wrath? Oh brethren! It is terrible to fall into the hands of the living God! So, take care of the salvation of your soul while you have a favorable time.

Work hard to save yours while it is still day, because the night will come when it will be impossible to change anything. Strive to the Kingdom of Heaven while you can go. Walk at least a little, even a crawl, but in the right direction. Then in eternity you will rejoice for every step you take. May the all-merciful Lord help us in this! To Him be glory and thanksgiving forever and ever. Amen.

A great reward is in store for those who love the Lord. The apostle Paul says: "... The eye is not in sight, and the ear is not hearing, and in the heart of man has not ascended, even God is ready for those who love Him" (1 Cor. 2: 9) Yes, infinitely blessed will be those who are qualified to receive Eternal Life. What is paradise, we now cannot understand. To some people, the Lord showed heaven in sensual images, most often it was contemplated in the form of a beautiful garden or temple. When I was still living in the world, the Lord twice comforted me with visions of paradise in my dreams. Once I see a magnificent city on the top of a mountain. All buildings in the city are extraordinarily beautiful, of some kind of special architecture, which I have never seen. I stand and admire in delight. Suddenly I see the holy fool Misha approaching this city. Dressed in only one shirt, reaching to the knees, bare feet. I look at him and see that he does not touch the ground, but rushes through the air. I wanted to ask him something, but I didn't have time: the vision ended, and I woke up. I woke up with a feeling of extraordinary joy in my soul. Going out into the street, I suddenly saw Misha. He, as always, is in a hurry, in a hurry. "Misha," I say, "I saw you in my dream today." He, looking at me, replied: "Not imams near the abiding city, but the one to come we will seek" (Hebrews 13:14). Having said this, he quickly walked forward.

Another time I see myself standing in a magnificent temple. The royal doors are open, the Easter service is being served. On the pulpit is a deacon from a Kazan church. He speaks the song of the Easter Canon, and the choir echoes him. Especially imprinted in my mind are the last words: "Perfected." The choir sang amazingly. I have never heard such singing in my life: it seemed that every atom of air sounded. This singing was touching and led to indescribable delight. Now I, a sinner, do not see such dreams, the Lord does not give such consolation - go this way on the path of life - but I would like to experience those raptures at least once again. I remember for a long time I was under the impression of a dream. I tried to remember every detail. I also wondered why I saw our deacon in the heavenly church. He began to question people who knew him about him. At first, he received unsatisfactory answers: they say his bass is excellent. That bass - for the sake of it you will not go to heaven Then I learned that he was a secret ascetic. Oh, if the Lord would grant us all to find heavenly heaven! However, one must hope for this: despair is a mortal sin. There are different degrees of bliss, depending on the merits of each: some will be with the Cherubim, others - with the Seraphim, and so on, and we only need to be among those who are being saved. Such great ascetics as the Monk Seraphim were Seraphim in spirit and have now inherited their glory. Of course, not everyone can achieve this holiness. The late father, Father Macarius, said: "Such luminaries as the Monks Anthony the Great, Macarius of Egypt and others were generals with the Lord, they took the general's places, we are soldiers, and it will be good for us if we take the last place among those who are being saved." The spirit of malice, inflamed with envy of the human race, seeks to seduce everyone from the path of the right - and indeed it seduces the lazy and careless. One day the devil appeared to a certain ascetic in a sensible way. The ascetic asked him: - Why do you attack the human race with such malice? - And why do you occupy our vacant positions? - answered the evil spirit. For their pride the spirits of malice of heavenly bliss have lost, and now people are taking their places for humility! It places us above the nets of the devil. Once the Monk Anthony had a vision of how the enemy was setting nets everywhere and for everyone. The ascetic was embarrassed and, sighing, said: "Lord, who can escape these nets?" And I heard the answer: "The humble." We must try to acquire humility, without it all our exploits mean nothing. If a person thinks that he is something, then he is gone. For the Lord, the humble sinner is more pleasant than the proud righteous. The Monk Macarius of Egypt was distinguished by his special spiritual gifts. He is called not just a saint, but Great. But then he once had the idea that for the region where he lived, he serves as a spiritual center, the sun, to which everyone strives. In fact, it was so. But when the monk thought something like that about himself, there was a voice to him, saying that in the nearest village there were two women who were more pleasing to God than he. The elder took the staff and went to look for those women. By the Providence of God, he soon found them and entered their dwelling. The women, seeing the Monk Macarius, fell at his feet and could not find words to express their surprise and gratitude to him. The monk raised them up and began to ask him to reveal to him how they please God. “Holy Father,” the women said, “we do nothing pleasing to God, pray for us, for the Lord’s sake. But the monk began to insist that they not hide their virtuous from him. cases. The women, fearing to disobey the elder, began to tell him about their lives: - We were strangers to each other, but, having married our brothers, we began to live together and have not been apart for fifteen years. During this time, we have never quarreled and never said a single offensive word to each other. We try, whenever possible, to visit the temple of God as often as possible, we observe the established fasts. As much as we can, we help the needy ... Well, we live with our husbands as with brothers, and there is absolutely nothing else that is good for us. ”“ And what, ”the elder asked,“ do you consider yourself saints or righteous for the good that you do? ” ? - the women were surprised. - What are we saints or righteous ?! We are the greatest sinners. Pray for us, holy father, may the Lord have mercy on us! The monk gave them his blessing and withdrew into the wilderness, thanking God for the admonition he had received. He did not say a word to the women about his vision, fearing that he might harm them with his praise. Like Macarius the Great, and the holy hermit Pitirim, the Angel announced one day that, despite his exploits, he had not yet attained that holiness as one novice, living in a dormitory in a monastery. At the suggestion of an angel, Saint Pitirim set off for the indicated monastery. Arriving there, he asked the abbess to show him all the sisters of the monastery. When everyone appeared and began to approach the blessing, Saint Pitirim said: “Isn't there a sister yet?” “Yes,” said the abbess, “but she cannot be brought, she is half mad, and we endure her in the monastery only out of compassion. ordered to bring her. She came in miserable rags, with a knocked down kerchief on her head. - Where have you been, mother? - asked the saint. - I was lying by the cesspool. - Why, mother, did you not find a better place? - Yes, I don’t stand in a better place. Saint Pitirim allowed her to leave, and then, turning to the abbess and the sisters, he said: - Your the monastery has an invaluable treasure: this humble sister of yours is a great saint of God. '' Hearing this, all the sisters were agitated. One confessed to the monk that she often beat her sister; the other reviled her in every way; the third treated her with the greatest contempt, not even counting her as a person; the fourth admitted that she often poured slop on her on purpose. The sisters wanted to immediately ask for forgiveness from the offended, but she, having learned of their intention, secretly left the monastery, avoiding the glory that would have ruined her. The Lord said: "... Everyone ascend, humble himself, and humble himself, ascend." (Luke 14:11).

A person who purifies his soul will surely become a participant in the wedding feast prepared by the Lord who loves Him.

Man's life on earth consists in preparing himself a worthy spiritual garment for entering the eternal feast prepared by the Lord. The substance that purifies the soul is repentance and prayer. This was stated by His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Onuphry on September 6 during a sermon in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Reminding the flock of the Gospel parable about the wedding feast, His Beatitude noticed that many might think that the king, who expelled a man who did not have wedding clothes, had dealt with him very cruelly. But this is not so, because during the time of the Savior's earthly life, those invited to the festive feast were given free, at their request, clean, light clothes.

“The one mentioned in the parable knew this custom, and if not, he would say that he forgot or does not know. But the invitee, out of pride, was silent when he was asked why without a wedding dress. Due to spiritual blindness, he did not see his poverty. Then he was expelled from the wedding feast, ”the Primate explained.

His Beatitude emphasized that the purpose of every person's life is to prepare wedding clothes for their own souls in order to be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

“The life of a man on earth consists in preparing himself a worthy spiritual garment for entering the eternal feast that the Lord has prepared for every human soul. But sin, this spiritual filth, makes clothes unclean, and the Church reminds of the need to cleanse it through repentance: “I see Thy palace, my Savior, adorned, and no clothes are imam, but I will enter the stench: enlighten my soul's robe, O Light-Giver, and save me ". The substance that cleanses the spiritual clothing is constant repentance with the prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner." Regardless of how much before death a person lightens his clothes in this way, he will certainly become a participant in the marriage feast that the Lord has prepared for those who love Him, ”the Primate noted.

His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry performed the Sunday divine service in the Dormition Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra with the concelebration of the abbot of the monastery, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, Archbishop Ilarius of Makarov, Bishop Clement of Irpen, and the clergy of the monastery.

During the service, a fervent prayer was raised for peace in Ukraine, a memorial litany was performed for the murdered priest Roman Nikolaev and nun Alevtina (Kravchuk), as well as for all those who died during the hostilities in Donbass.

During the Liturgy, His Beatitude performed deacon ordination over Igor Nesterov.