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Alexander toric churching for beginners in church life. First steps (advice for a beginning Christian)

When a person is looking for the possibility of becoming a church member, when, having been baptized in infancy, he realizes at some period of his conscious life the need for communication with God, the need to know the Truth, then he begins to look for the path to God, the path to the Church.

Very often on this path he encounters quite serious obstacles and temptations. And, sometimes it seems that a person could bypass most of these obstacles and more safely achieve a result if he had in front of him some kind of guide to action, “instructions” describing the steps, steps, after passing each of which, he will achieve the goal with minimal losses. And if such an instruction, such a recipe for churching is possible, maybe it’s worth forming it then?

Okay, let's try to create such an instruction, a universal list that can suit almost everyone. I would like to immediately make a reservation that the order that you and I will now draw up, in real life, unfortunately, is not always observed. All people are different, everyone has their own path to God, and each person begins this path with a different amount of knowledge and experience. Therefore, it is quite difficult to propose some kind of universal scheme for churching.

A person can begin his journey in the Church with that step, which in our list will be the second, and the third, and even the sixth. The fact is that each step is taken in parallel with others, they complement each other and will be incomplete outside the general context. But since you and I have set ourselves the task of finding exactly the “ideal instructions”, a universal model, then, in my opinion, it will look something like this.

The very first thing, the first step for a person who has decided to become a church member, should be to become acquainted with Holy Scripture. The Holy Scriptures contain the Old and New Testaments, and I would recommend starting your acquaintance with reading the New Testament. The Old Testament is quite difficult and not easy to understand. Having started reading the Bible from the Old Testament, a person can, so to speak, “get stuck” in it, get tired, tired of endless facts and changing events, and ultimately leave reading and thereby not reach the main thing - the New Testament. This is evidenced by the numerous negative experiences of those who began to independently read the Bible from the Old Testament. It would be better to read the Old Testament when there is an understanding of who Christ is. After studying the New Testament, the Old Testament will be clearer and more interesting to read.

Another point that a new believer should pay attention to is that it is better at this first stage to read the New Testament not in the Synodal translation, but in a retelling, with explanations, interpretations, maybe even with illustrations, so that the reading is not boring, but entertaining, interesting, in one breath.

A fairly good literary text of the New Testament is contained in the book The Law of God - this is a common book that can be bought in every temple. In addition to this, there are many other authors who interestingly present the events of the Gospel story. This is the “Gospel Story” by Theophan the Recluse, and Archpriest Pavel Matveysky, and many other authors.

Unfortunately, we sometimes have to observe a sad phenomenon when people seem to be already quite churched, regularly attend Sunday services, confess, receive communion, and yet they know very little of the Gospel history or have never read the New Testament in its entirety. Nowadays, many who consider themselves Orthodox at home There is not even a Bible, and sometimes it is confused with a prayer book and they think that the Bible is a collection of prayers. This attitude towards the study of the Holy Scriptures among the “Orthodox” is very sad, especially when you see how well various sectarians know the Bible, while in our country this essential, I would say, fundamental side of spiritual life remains neglected.

Why is it so important to read the Holy Scriptures? If a person decided to draw closer to God, wanted to give God a place in his life, he must clearly understand who Christ is. As the Apostle Paul says: “How can we call on Him in whom we have not believed? How can one believe in One whom one has never even heard of?” (Rom. 10:14). Therefore, how can we believe, go to services, pray, fulfill the commandments of that God about whom we don’t really know anything?

Each person, of course, has certain concepts about Christ, but often this knowledge is either distorted or incomplete. Even reading the New Testament itself can bring a person closer to God. I would like to give you the memories of our contemporary Metropolitan Sourozhsky Anthony about the effect that acquaintance with the New Testament had on him.

When the future metropolitan was 14 years old, he lived with his parents in France. One day he heard a conversation about Christianity by a prominent theologian, and this is how the bishop himself describes his impression of it: “He spoke about Christ, about the Gospel, about Christianity..., bringing to our consciousness everything sweet that can be found in the Gospel, from which we would have shied away, and I shied away: meekness, humility, quietness - all the slavish qualities for which we are reproached, from Nietzsche onwards. He brought me into such a state that I decided... to go home, find out if we have the Gospel somewhere at home, check and be done with it; It didn't even occur to me that I wouldn't end it because it was so obvious that he knew his stuff.

Mom turned out to have the Gospel, I locked myself in my corner, discovered that there were four Gospels, and if so, then one of them, of course, should be shorter than the others. And since I didn’t expect anything good from any of the four, I decided to read the shortest one. And then I was caught; Many times after this I discovered how cunning God is when He sets His nets to catch fish; because if I had read another Gospel, I would have had difficulties; There is some kind of cultural basis behind every Gospel. Mark wrote precisely for young savages like me - for the Roman youth. I didn’t know this - but God knew, and Mark knew, perhaps when he wrote shorter than others. And so I sat down to read; and here you may take my word for it, because you can’t prove it.

I was sitting, reading, and between the beginning of the first and the beginning of the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark, which I read slowly because the language was unusual, I suddenly felt that on the other side of the table, here, stood Christ. And this feeling was so striking that I had to stop, stop reading and look. I looked for a long time; I didn’t see anything, I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t feel anything with my senses. But even as I looked straight ahead at the place where there was no one, I had a vivid consciousness that Christ was undoubtedly standing there.

You see what a revolution in the soul can be generated by reading the Holy Scriptures. One cannot remain indifferent to what the Lord says in the Gospel while reading this amazing book, it is impossible not to love Christ, not to want to be with Him, to have fellowship with Him. This is where the desire to live according to His will is born, and the determination to fulfill His commandments appears. This is where it all begins, because without faith and love for Christ, all further steps will be meaningless. This, in my opinion, is the surest and best step from which one should begin one’s path within the fence of the Church.

The second step is prayer. You need to learn to pray. Here two aspects can be distinguished - home prayer and public prayer, which is performed in church during divine services. And they must go in parallel - you need to go to church for worship, and accustom yourself to pray at home.

You need to buy yourself a prayer book. This is often where the beginner encounters a difficulty. This is the Church Slavonic language of our worship and prayers. The simplest and quick way To make this language more understandable for yourself is to acquire a small dictionary of Church Slavonic words. It is enough to remember the ten most frequently occurring words to make Church Slavonic texts understandable. Moreover, the Church Slavonic language is very similar to Russian. As a rule, the more often we pick up a prayer book, the deeper and clearer the texts of prayers become for us.

If we talk about the scope of the prayer rule, then from the very beginning you can set yourself a small rule. The main thing is to accustom yourself to pray attentively and not to get distracted by your thoughts. It is very important that this even small rule be followed every day without any concessions to one’s busyness and laziness.

And if we take, for example, prayer rule, which was recommended by the Monk Seraphim of Sarov?

This is my attitude towards the rule of Seraphim of Sarov. It seems to me that it is not as simple as it seems at first glance. We often forget that Rev. Seraphim of Sarov said this rule to do three times a day, and not twice. And at the same time, mentally say the Jesus Prayer and “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.” And if we perform it only in the evening and in the morning, and thus shorten it, then this is no longer the rule that St. Seraphim gave.

Therefore, I would advise beginners to accustom themselves to reading morning and evening prayers. Maybe not completely, but read them. These are very ancient prayers, deep in content. Their authors are great saints, such as Macarius of Egypt, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great. And we must, as early as possible, introduce ourselves to the wealth of prayer that the Church possesses; from the very first steps we must not deprive ourselves of this true treasure.

Gradually, over time, maybe even months, you need to increase this rule to the best of your ability, remembering the advice of Theophan the Recluse: do not tie the rule to the number of prayers, it is better to allocate a certain amount of time for prayer and how much time I can manage during this time read with attention without haste, I’ll read as much as possible. And it is better to increase not the number of prayers, but the time devoted to the prayer rule.

You get up in the morning, you need to run to work, but you know for sure that you can devote seven to ten minutes to prayer without any fear of being late, so get up and read as many prayers as you can read in these ten minutes. When you do this constantly, the language of prayers will become more understandable and easier, prayers will begin to be memorized and prayer will become much easier. The main thing is to pray with attention and without distraction. This is the only prayer God hears. And all “reading” without attention, as St. Theophan the Recluse insults God, it’s like giving Christ a stale crust of bread.

With regard to church and conciliar prayer, you need to start at least small. You can remember the words of the Savior: “He who is faithful in a little will be set over much.” According to the commandment of God Himself, we must “work six days, and devote the seventh day to the Lord your God.” Required to attend worship services are: Sundays and also special holidays, of which there are not so many throughout the year.

And so, “starting small”, at first you can stand at the service not completely: half an hour, an hour. But this period of “peeping” into services should not drag on for long. For some, this lasts a lifetime and is generally what is called “going to church.”

If a person just limits himself to entering a church like this: they ordered notes, lit candles and what else to do here, it is unlikely that he will move along the road to churching. Public worship is social because everyone participates in it. There are no “spectators” implied here. And to be a full-fledged participant, you need to understand the meaning of what is happening, know the sequence of the service. Pointless service is unlikely to bring great results.

A Christian must pay significant attention to this aspect of his church life. Now there is appropriate literature that will help make the service understandable, and attending divine services interesting and deeply meaningful.

And here we move on to the third step, which is closely related to the previous one. When starting to attend church and services, you need to partake of the Sacraments of the Church. Anyone following the path of churching must choose a day for Communion. You need to start preparing for Communion gradually, and at the same time clearly understand that there are rules of preparation that must be followed.

Some people, unfortunately, do not know about these rules; they come to receive communion without an empty stomach, having had breakfast, without having fully served the Liturgy (I am generally silent about the fact that even on the eve of the day of communion one must be at the evening service) without knowing at all that how to prepare for this Great Sacrament.

Just recently a man was baptized, and he made me very happy that he prepared for Baptism in advance. He read a book about the Sacrament of Baptism, even had some understanding of the Creed, and knew that he himself must read the Creed at Baptism. And it’s very good when people take such important moments in life seriously.

You also need to prepare for Confession in advance; you need to prepare at home, and not while waiting for your turn in front of the lectern. You need to think: “What sins do I have? What should I repent of?” Difficulties arise when we do not see our sins or forget them, and sometimes it seems that there are no sins and there is nothing to say - in this case, I recommend turning to the relevant literature.

We have a widely distributed brochure, “To Help the Penitent,” and we have a book by Ioann Krestyankin, “The Experience of Constructing Confession.” All these books contain basically a list of sins that are most common among all people. Using this list you need to check your conscience - you will definitely find something in relation to yourself.

If you are afraid that when you approach confession and are confused, you will forget everything you would like to say, then you can write out your sins on a piece of paper in advance, and on this piece of paper, with such a cheat sheet, peeking or reading the written sins from it, confess.

Sometimes you can come across such a judgment that this practice of writing down sins on paper and reading from this sheet is not correct. And churchgoers often recommend that newcomers not do this. How correct is this reasoning?

To be honest, I have not heard such a judgment among people. Well, to each his own, whoever feels better will confess that way. At this point, there is, of course, another extreme, when such a piece of paper, covered with writing, is thrust into the priest’s hand: “Father, read it.” The priest reads it and that’s it - the confession is over. There is no need to tell the person himself anything. This can be observed in some churches, but it seems to me that this is not an entirely healthy phenomenon in our church practice.

Confession itself implies a verbal revelation of sins to the priest. After all, it is not for nothing that in the prayer that is read by the priest before confession, there are such words, “You Himself, as the Good and Benevolent Lord, have been pleased to resolve these servants of Yours.” What does it mean? This means that everything that these people say in words, You, Lord, resolve and forgive these sins. Therefore, the piece of paper is only a help and a hint. It happens that people know their sins so much that they don’t need any cheat sheet, these sins are always before their eyes, and their conscience constantly reminds them.

There is another good practice, which is most often used by people who are already more churchgoers, who go to confession regularly, and in the interval from Confession to Confession the person writes down sins committed and does this not the day before, but throughout this entire period of time. If you remember something, write it down, if you see some flaw in yourself that you hadn’t noticed before, write it down before you forget, and the paper will preserve what you wrote down until Confession.

Are there any sins of a person that he must, without hesitation, tell at his first confession?

Confession is a sacrament at which all confessed sins are forgiven. Therefore, you need to take advantage of this opportunity and talk about everything that is, and not divide into what is paramount and unimportant, what to tell today and what to tell tomorrow. This may even be a profanation of confession - what kind of repentance is this, incomplete, fragmentary?

But there are times when a person is not ready to immediately tell something at the first confession. Such a person may reason: “I won’t tell you yet, but I’ll tell you when I’m ready for it.”

This approach, of course, is not correct. In the Sacrament of Confession, not only are sins forgiven, but the Lord also heals our infirmities with His Grace so that we do not repeat these sins. Sometimes it happens that, going to confession, a person thinks: “I will, of course, confess this sin, but I know for sure that I will commit it anyway.”

And here it is necessary to give place to the action of God, so that the Lord will help man. A person did not approach confession with the firm intention of leaving sin, he thought that he would continue to commit the confessed sin, but after confession the Grace of God touched the heart and a determination appeared after all not to commit the confessed sin, and the soul itself began to speak differently. Then he himself will sometimes be surprised - there seemed to be no readiness, but now it has appeared, it has become easier, the Lord has given through the Sacrament greater strength to fight sin.

Repentance is not only human, it is also a Divine action, an action of Divine grace. Because only God can free us from our sins. Desire and work are required on our part, and liberation of a person from passions is a task only within the power of God. Therefore, we need to give God the opportunity to intervene in our lives and change something in it.

Only in the Sacraments of the Church can we receive this healing Divine grace, therefore we must approach them as often as possible, for outside the Sacraments there can be no Christian life.

Another side of churching is closely connected with the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. Let's call it the fourth stage. Over time, you need to find yourself a spiritual leader, a mentor who, with his wise advice and prayer, will guide you through the church field. Maybe you won’t find such a priest right away, and maybe not even in the first years of your church life. Here you need to search the way a bride is chosen. Take a closer look, chat, don’t rush after the first one you come across. God grant that he be a man of great conscience, spiritually sober and prudent.

In addition, by visiting a temple, a person gains friends and acquaintances, through whom they also join the Church. This important point- to join the church environment in order to find my brothers here too, who can be of help, can advise, help. After all, some questions that especially concern small things, for example, church etiquette, you can decide by asking advice from a more experienced parishioner.

The next, fifth step is attending Sunday school for adults. If there is such a school at the temple or classes are held with a priest, then you should definitely take this opportunity and sign up for these courses, go and listen. Even in small and village churches, priests find time to organize such a school at the church. This is also an important step in churching.

The sixth stage can be noted as pilgrimage trips. IN pilgrimage trip a person communicates in a church environment, with believers, touches live some pages of church history, and through this learns a lot. By prayerfully visiting monasteries and monasteries where the saints labored, he acquires new prayer books and heavenly patrons. Many aspects of church life are revealed in a new way on such trips. Pilgrimages to holy places give new strength and impressions.

Another one of the most important steps is introducing reading. It is very difficult to church life without reading church literature. Even if a child grows up in a believing family, but with age he does not acquire new knowledge, without reading or being interested in anything, then there is a danger that he, having entered into a more adult life, will simply leave the Church because his childhood faith, based on reading the children’s Bible in his distant childhood, will not be able to answer the adult questions that arise in his mind. Therefore you need to read. Read according to age and interests. There is an abundance of literature in our time. For every taste, as they say. If you are interested in learning about the history of the Church, please do so. If you are more interested in theology, there is a huge choice here. If you like stories about ascetics of piety, read the lives of the saints.

I would advise a beginner to read, as I already said, first of all, the Law of God, the interpretation of the Gospel, the lives of saints, so that the examples of holy ascetics inspire them to Christian life, and help them stay in the church environment. And gradually we must introduce ourselves to the works of the patrists, first, perhaps, to the books of modern fathers, then going further and further into the centuries, turning to the works of earlier ascetics. It is more expedient to gradually combine all this with churching - it will be difficult for a person with little church to read the serious patristic works, because the questions that are raised in them will simply be difficult to understand and uninteresting to them. You need to captivate yourself and interest yourself in reading. And then move on to serious literature.

What kind of serious literature is this?

I mean, of course, patristic literature. It’s bad if our home library contains only “The Law of God” and “The First Steps in Orthodox church" We must gradually introduce ourselves to the rich patristic heritage of the Church. The works of such ascetics as Theophan the Recluse, Ignatius Brianchaninov, and Abba Dorotheus should be reference books. Find out from priests and friends what book would be useful and interesting to read. Our church also has a library - you can come and consult.

In addition to books, there is a huge selection of audio material on the Internet. Lots of lectures and conversations. I would advise beginners to listen to some recordings of lectures by Alexey Ilyich Osipov, professor of the Moscow Theological Academy. I would highly recommend listening to his lecture entitled “The Essence of Christianity” in the first edition of his audio CDs. All this is quite accessible on the Internet.

Father, I have another question: when a person becomes a church member, at first it sometimes becomes very difficult for all his relatives. A special period begins - when unbridled agitation begins, born, of course, from the most sincere emotional manifestations. How can one take care of oneself so as not to cause harm to others with such a state, and not push them away from Orthodoxy?

In our country, even the very word “neophyte” is firmly associated with unbridled preaching to everyone and everything, imposing one’s churchliness and religiosity. This, of course, is also a big mistake that needs to be avoided, but at the same time not to go to the other extreme - to be embarrassed to cross yourself, to be afraid of what they will say about you, to take these opinions into account too much. Everyone has to go through this, face the fact that those around them begin to point fingers, reproach, laugh, and try to hurt. This happens to many people, you need to overcome it and endure it.

There is also no need to immediately force all of our households to immediately strive for the churchliness that has appeared among us. It’s impossible to force, but you can slowly introduce, introduce. Often parents are sad that their children do not go to church and know nothing about faith. When you ask at what age they themselves came to the temple, they say that they themselves came at a far advanced age, and there was a time when they also did not believe and lived the way their children live now. This must be understood - everyone has their own time even to come to God. Do not impose your churchliness with such insistence as to arouse in a person disgust or even hatred for every word about God.

You need to act wisely. For example, a mother drags her daughter to church and repeats this to her every day, and her daughter will soon develop an allergy from such a sermon. Why do this? Isn’t it more correct to choose the right moments when a person is ready to perceive? For example, some joy happened - to tell my daughter: “Go to church, light a candle, thank God.” And maybe she will go. Some kind of grief happened - “Go to confession, take communion - the Lord will manage everything.” At certain points in life, you can approach a person with this topic, but you need wise reasoning about when it is best to do this.

Also, you don’t need to think that I converted, started going to church, which means that everyone else is now worse than me, and I am higher than others. You also need to take into account the infirmities of your family. Much depends on what position the believer occupies in the family. If this is a schoolchild, then he cannot, for example, order the whole family to fast. He eats what his mother cooks for him. Of course, if mom meets halfway and agrees to cook him lean food, that will be good. But if mom doesn’t agree to this, fasting is accompanied by scandals and constant troubles, then you have to be patient and eat what mom cooks, and fast to the extent that you can. Refuse, for example, from watching TV, from some products that he himself can refuse without problems. And such a fast will be more useful and pleasing to God than one that is accompanied by quarrels and mutual alienation.

Father, could these seven steps or steps you have outlined have any fundamental differences for people of different age groups? Or is this still a universal “instruction”?

I think this is a fairly universal list of steps that will work for most. It happens, of course - and most often - a person begins his churching not with reading the Holy Scriptures, not with studying the New Testament, but with Communion or meeting believers. The scheme I have proposed is the most convenient from my point of view; it will make a person’s path to church membership more natural. Although churching can also begin with a pilgrimage - if a person finds himself somewhere on a trip with Orthodox Christians, he enters a church, looks at the way of life of the monastery, he becomes interested, and has a desire to read something. Sometimes churching can begin with some other book - not with the New Testament, and the remaining steps will come later. Any of these steps can be the first - reading literature or attending Sunday school.

Concluding our conversation about churching, I would like to talk about one misconception that often reigns in the minds of our compatriots. They say something like this: “What does the Church have to do with it? I have my own personal relationship with God. Where did they get the idea that only in the Church and through the Church can one be saved? No! Churching is not my topic.” I will not polemicize on this topic in the context of our conversation now. I will only quote the words of the saints of the first centuries.

“We should not seek the truth from others,” says Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century), “it is easy to borrow from the Church, for in it, as in a rich treasury, the Apostles put everything that belongs to the truth. Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, there is all grace.”

Hieromartyr Cyprian of Carthage (III century): “Whoever does not listen to the Church is not a son of the Church, and to whom the Church is not a mother, God is not his father.”

Blessed Augustine (IV century) says: “Only he is saved who has Christ as his head, and only he who is in His body, which is the Church, has Christ as his head.”

It is important to understand that Christianity is not just a moral religion that teaches a person exclusively goodness and a virtuous life. Christianity is, first of all, life, which is possible only within the Church, within a single church spiritual organism, through participation in the Sacraments, participation in divine services - only through this can a person join God and become an heir to His Heavenly Kingdom.

Submit a church note (commemoration)

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Question: Where should you start your “churching”? modern man who has believed in God and is aware of his belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church?

Answer: First of all, everyone Orthodox Christian must have faith, know and understand fundamentals of the doctrine of the Christian Church and try with all our might live by faith.

In order to have faith It's not enough to put it on yourself pectoral cross, go into a church and light a candle there, being confident that you are already “Orthodox.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly denounced even His disciples, witnesses of His numerous miracles, of lack of faith, who themselves performed many miraculous deeds with the Power of the Holy Spirit received from Him. “Truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

True Faith is a Gift from God. And this Gift is given to those who sincerely, “from the bottom of their hearts,” long to receive It. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

But in order for a thirst for acquiring Faith to settle in a person’s soul, that person must force to realize that the question of God, of Faith is not just a question of “life and death”, but of Eternal Life and Death.

Obviously, any person, at least once in his life, has thought: who am I, why do I live, is there anything after death?

Unfortunately, most people are not looking for an answer to these questions, but, absorbed in worries about their “daily bread”, and some about a new “Mercedes” or other luxury items or necessities, they try to erase them from their consciousness or put them off for “someday.” Then".

The scary thing is that this “later” may not come. The soul of a person, living only with the worries of “This age”, under the burden of sins accumulated throughout life, suffocates and dies, becomes incapable of perceiving spiritual phenomena, incapable even want know God. As sad as it may be, the number of such “dead souls” is increasing catastrophically in our time.

And if a person sincerely wants to receive answers to them, without being embarrassed by his surroundings, national or any other prejudices, then God, seeing the pure desire of his heart, certainly reveals Himself to him, giving him the opportunity to know the Truth and join Christ, who is: "The Way and the Truth and the Life."

It is also necessary to take into account that by following the path of the mind, through analysis and reflection, especially considering the modern amount of information available to everyone, you can quite quickly come to the understanding that God exists.

But remain with this rational, fruitless knowledge.

The main instrument for knowing God is the human heart, a heart that suffers, seeks, and languishes in the absence of Grace.

And, if it is not filled “over the edge” with base passions, envy, malice, lust, there will always be a tiny “living” piece in it, capable of feeling God, containing His Love, becoming the beginning of the Salvation of the soul.

An example of this is the thief crucified on the cross “on the right side” of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how the Gospel tells about this: “They led two evildoers with Him to death. And when they came to a place called Lobnoye, they crucified Him and the villains there, one on the right and the other on the left. Jesus said: Father! Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided His garments by casting lots.

And the people stood and watched. The leaders also mocked them, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the chosen Christ of God.”

“One of the hanged villains slandered Him and said: if You are the Christ, save Yourself and us. The other, on the contrary, calmed him down and said: Or are you not afraid of God, when you yourself are condemned to the same thing? And we are condemned justly, because we accepted what was worthy of our deeds, but He did nothing bad. And he said to Jesus: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom! And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”»

That's the power God's Love to Your creation!

In the last minutes of his life, the robber’s conscience awoke: he pitied the Crucified One innocently, and the Crucified God forgave him all his sins and was the first to admit him into Paradise!

The Merciful Lord will forgive us all our sins, if we repent. If we want. If we have time. If we do not kill our souls with sins, making them incapable of repentance.

So, in order to have I believe it is necessary want Get it.

And having awakened this desire in yourself, you need ask God has faith, like the man who came to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked for the healing of his son, to whom Christ said: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.

And immediately the boy’s father exclaimed with tears: I believe, Lord! Help my unbelief."

Christ, seeing the sincere desire of this man, helped “his unbelief” and gave him Faith, and with it the healing of his son.

Likewise, we, who want to receive Faith, need to ask It from the Lord, and not rationally, with a “cold heart,” but warmly, “with tears,” as children sometimes ask their parents for what they want.

And, if our desire is sincere and our request is persistent, the Lord will give us both Faith and countless confirmations of its truth.

The second condition necessary for “churching” is knowledge of the basics of religious doctrine, that is: Who is God? What does He want from us? What does He promise us? Who is Jesus Christ? Why did He come? What did He teach?

What is the Church? Why is it needed? How can we live as Christians?

All these questions are answered by “Holy Scripture” and “Holy Tradition” - the two pillars on which the Holy Catholic Apostolic Orthodox Church stands.

Question: What is "Holy Scripture"?

Answer: The Holy Scriptures are a collection of books in which God Himself, by His Spirit, through the Holy Prophets and Apostles, gave us a revelation about Himself, about the history of the relationship between God and man, about the Kingdom of Heaven and about the ways to achieve It.

This collection of sacred books, combined into one Book, is called the “Bible”.

Question: What is "Sacred Tradition"?

Answer: Sacred Tradition is a collection of all knowledge about God, about spiritual life, which is given to us by God, in addition to the Holy Scriptures, through the works of the Holy Fathers, the Decrees of the Holy Ecumenical Councils, the entire centuries-old experience of the life of the Church, Her liturgical texts.

Sacred Tradition complements and reveals the meaning and significance of the texts of Holy Scripture and introduces us directly to the practice of the spiritual life of a Christian.

So, to know the basics Christian doctrine and for further improvement in spiritual life it is necessary to have and study the Bible - the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which: “... are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, so that it may be perfect. man of God, to everyone good deed cooked."

Moreover, first and foremost, you need to read and study the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, because it is according to the New Testament that the Church of Christ has lived for two thousand years.

And, of course, it is impossible for a beginning Christian to correctly develop and improve in Spirit and Truth without resorting to the spiritual treasury Sacred Tradition, the works of the Holy Fathers, the leadership of the shepherds of the Church.

The road leading to Christ inevitably leads to the Temple.

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20 BEGINNING Offering Yourself How does a young pastor begin his ministry? The first thing a pastor should do if he is confident that his convictions are based on the teachings of the Bible, his upbringing and education are adequate to his position, and his character is adequate to lead, is

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1. Beginning as the beginning of formation In the 19th century, the idea historical development peace and humanity was floating in the air. In Germany, the philosopher Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel (1770–1831) developed a large encyclopedic system. He viewed the entire history of the cosmos as the history of God,

From the author's book

Early XIX V. After the death of Catherine II in 1796, religious tolerance continued to exist in Russia. As the Sardinian envoy to the St. Petersburg Court, Count Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821), noted in 1810, Russia “is the only country in the universe where they are not interested in the faith of

This work is dedicated to my first mentor in church ministry.

To Archpriest Vasily Vladyshevsky with love and gratitude.

Currently before big amount people who have understood in their minds or felt in their hearts that God exists, who are aware, albeit unclearly, of their belonging to Orthodox Church and those wishing to join Her, a problem arises churching, that is, entering the Church as a full and full member.

This problem is very serious for many, since upon entering the temple, an unprepared person is faced with a completely new, incomprehensible and even somewhat frightening world.

Priests' robes, icons, lamps, chants and prayers in an obscure language - all this creates in the newcomer a feeling of alienation in the temple, leading to thoughts about whether all this is necessary for communication with God?

Many people say: “The main thing is that God is in the soul, but going to church is not necessary.”

This is fundamentally wrong. Folk wisdom says: “To whom the Church is not a Mother, God is not a Father.” But in order to understand how true this saying is, it is necessary to find out what the Church is? What is the meaning of Her existence? Why is Her mediation necessary in human communication with God?

In order to answer these and many other questions that arise for a person standing before the open gates of the Church, this work was written.

The basis of this work was material collected and processed during lectures given during two year-long Sunday School courses for adults.

Since this material was developed on the basis of questions from “Sunday School” listeners and answers to them, in this publication it became expedient to use the form of presentation in the form of questions and answers.

Due to the fact that this publication is intended for people who already recognize the existence of God and want to know Him, people who are interested in Orthodoxy and feel, albeit unconsciously, their inner connection with Him, in this work we will not consider the evidence of the existence of God and discuss with atheists or adherents of other faiths.

The purpose of this publication is to help modern people understand the meaning inner life Church, consciously become its full-fledged member, citizen Kingdom of Heaven, that is go to church.

I apologize in advance to those reading for the shortcomings of this work that it contains, and if it helps anyone to get even one step closer to God and the Church, I ask you to remember the author in your prayers.

Question: Where should a modern person who has believed in God and is aware of his belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church begin his “churching”?

Answer: First of all, every Orthodox Christian must have faith, know and understand fundamentals of the doctrine of the Christian Church and try with all our might live by faith.

In order to have faith It is not enough to put on a pectoral cross, go into a church and light a candle there, being confident that you are already “Orthodox.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly denounced even His disciples, witnesses of His numerous miracles, of lack of faith, who themselves performed many miraculous deeds with the Power of the Holy Spirit received from Him. “Truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

True Faith is a Gift from God. And this Gift is given to those who sincerely, “from the bottom of their hearts,” long to receive It. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

But in order for a thirst for acquiring Faith to settle in a person’s soul, that person must force to realize that the question of God, of Faith is not just a question of “life and death”, but of Eternal Life and Death.

Obviously, any person, at least once in his life, has thought: who am I, why do I live, is there anything after death?

Unfortunately, most people are not looking for an answer to these questions, but, absorbed in worries about their “daily bread”, and some about a new “Mercedes” or other luxury items or necessities, they try to erase them from their consciousness or put them off for “someday.” Then".

The scary thing is that this “later” may not come. The soul of a person, living only with the worries of “This age”, under the burden of sins accumulated throughout life, suffocates and dies, becomes incapable of perceiving spiritual phenomena, incapable even want know God. As sad as it may be, the number of such “dead souls” is increasing catastrophically in our time.

And if a person sincerely wants to receive answers to them, without being embarrassed by his surroundings, national or any other prejudices, then God, seeing the pure desire of his heart, certainly reveals Himself to him, giving him the opportunity to know the Truth and join Christ, who is: "The Way and the Truth and the Life."

It is also necessary to take into account that by following the path of the mind, through analysis and reflection, especially considering the modern amount of information available to everyone, you can quite quickly come to the understanding that God exists.

But remain with this rational, fruitless knowledge.

The main instrument for knowing God is the human heart, a heart that suffers, seeks, and languishes in the absence of Grace.

And, if it is not filled “over the edge” with base passions, envy, malice, lust, there will always be a tiny “living” piece in it, capable of feeling God, containing His Love, becoming the beginning of the Salvation of the soul.

An example of this is the thief crucified on the cross “on the right side” of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how the Gospel tells about this: “They led two evildoers with Him to death. And when they came to a place called Lobnoye, they crucified Him and the villains there, one on the right and the other on the left. Jesus said: Father! Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided His garments by casting lots.

And the people stood and watched. The leaders also mocked them, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the chosen Christ of God.”

“One of the hanged villains slandered Him and said: if You are the Christ, save Yourself and us. The other, on the contrary, calmed him down and said: Or are you not afraid of God, when you yourself are condemned to the same thing? And we are condemned justly, because we accepted what was worthy of our deeds, but He did nothing bad. And he said to Jesus: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom! And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”»

This is the power of God's Love for His creation!

In the last minutes of his life, the robber’s conscience awoke: he pitied the Crucified One innocently, and the Crucified God forgave him all his sins and was the first to admit him into Paradise!

The Merciful Lord will forgive us all our sins, if we repent. If we want. If we have time. If we do not kill our souls with sins, making them incapable of repentance.

So, in order to have I believe it is necessary want Get it.

And having awakened this desire in yourself, you need ask God has faith, like the man who came to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked for the healing of his son, to whom Christ said: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.

Questions and answers frequently asked by new Christians.

35 short frequently asked questions for new Christians about the temple, candles, notes, etc.

1. How should a person prepare to visit the temple?

You need to prepare for the morning visit as follows:
Getting out of bed, thank the Lord, who gave you the opportunity to spend the night in peace and extended your days for repentance. Wash yourself, stand in front of the icon, light a lamp (from a candle) so that it evokes a prayerful spirit in you, put your thoughts in order, forgive everyone, and only then begin reading the prayer rule ( morning prayers from the Prayer Book). Then subtract one chapter from the Gospel, one from the Apostle and one kathisma from the Psalter, or one psalm if you are short on time. At the same time, we must remember that it is better to read one prayer with sincere contrition of heart than the whole rule with the thought of how to finish it all as quickly as possible. Beginners can use an abbreviated prayer book, gradually adding one prayer at a time.

Before leaving, say:
I deny you, Satan, your pride and your service, and I unite with you, Christ Jesus our God, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Cross yourself and calmly go to the temple, without fear of what the person will do to you.
Walking down the street, cross the road in front of you, saying to yourself:
Lord, bless my ways and keep me from all evil.
On the way to the temple, read a prayer to yourself:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

2. How should a person who decides to go to church be dressed?

Women should not come to church in trousers, short skirts, with bright makeup on their faces, and lipstick is unacceptable. The head should be covered with a headscarf or scarf. Men must remove their hats before entering the church.

3. Is it possible to eat before visiting the temple in the morning?

According to the regulations, this is not possible; this is done on an empty stomach. Departures are possible due to weakness, with self-reproach.

4. Is it possible to enter the temple with bags?

If there is a need, it is possible. Only when the believer approaches Communion should the bag be put aside, since during Communion the hands are folded crosswise on the chest.

5. How many bows should one make before entering the temple and how to behave in the temple?

Before entering the temple, having previously crossed yourself, bow three times, looking at the image of the Savior, and pray for the first bow:
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
To the second bow:
God, cleanse my sins and have mercy on me.
To the third:
Without number of sins, Lord, forgive me.
Then do the same, entering the doors of the temple, bow to both sides, saying to yourself:
Forgive me, brothers and sisters, stand reverently in one place, without pushing anyone, and listen to the words of the prayer.
If a person comes to church for the first time, then he needs to look around, notice what more experienced believers are doing, where their gaze is directed, in what places of worship and how they make the sign of the cross and bow.
During a service, it is unacceptable to behave as if in a theater or museum, that is, with your head raised, looking at icons and clergy.
During prayer, you must stand reverently, with a feeling of repentance, slightly lowering your shoulders and head, as those who have done wrong stand before the king.
If you do not understand the words of the prayer, then say the Jesus Prayer to yourself with contrition of heart:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Sign of the Cross and try to bow to everyone at the same time. Remember that the Church is the earthly Heaven. When praying to your Creator, do not think of anything earthly, but only sigh and pray for your sins.

6. How long do you need to be on duty?

The service must be defended from beginning to end. Service is not a duty, but a sacrifice to God. Would it be pleasant for the owner of the house to whom the guests came if they left before the end of the holiday?

7. Is it possible to sit at the service if you don’t have the strength to stand?

To this question, Saint Philaret of Moscow answered: “It is better to think about God while sitting than about your feet while standing.” However, you must stand while reading the Gospel.

8. What is important in bowing and praying?

Remember that it is not a matter of words and bows, but of raising your mind and heart to God. You can say all the prayers and make all the indicated bows, but not remember God at all. And, therefore, without praying, fulfill the prayer rule. Such prayer is a sin before God.

9. How to kiss icons correctly?

Lobyzaya St. icon of the Savior, you should kiss the feet, Mother of God and the saints - a hand, and the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands and the head of John the Baptist - in hair.

10. What does the candle placed in front of the image symbolize?

A candle, like prosphora, is a bloodless sacrifice. The candle fire symbolizes eternity. In ancient times, in the Old Testament Church, a person coming to God offered him the internal fat and wool of a slaughtered (killed) animal, which were placed on the altar of burnt offering. Now, when we come to the temple, we sacrifice not an animal, but a symbolically replacing it with a candle (preferably a wax one).

11. Does it matter what size candles you place in front of the image?

Everything depends not on the size of the candle, but on the sincerity of your heart and your capabilities. Of course, if a wealthy person puts out cheap candles, then this indicates his stinginess. But if a person is poor, and his heart burns with love for God and compassion for his neighbor, then his reverent standing and fervent prayer are more pleasing to God than the most expensive candle, lit with a cold heart.

12. Who should light candles and how many?

First of all, a candle is lit for a holiday or a revered temple icon, then for the relics of a saint, if there are any in the temple, and only then for health or repose.
For the dead, candles are placed on the eve of the Crucifixion, mentally saying:
Remember, Lord, Your deceased servant (name) and forgive his sins, voluntary and involuntary, and grant him the Kingdom of Heaven.
For health or any need, candles are usually lit for the Savior, the Mother of God, the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon, as well as those saints to whom the Lord has given special grace to heal illnesses and provide help in various needs.
Having placed a candle in front of the saint of God you have chosen, mentally say:
Holy Servant of God (name), pray to God for me, a sinner (oh) (or the name for whom you are asking).
Then you need to come up and venerate the icon.
We must remember: in order for prayers to achieve success, one must pray to the holy saints of God with faith in the power of their intercession before God, with words coming from the heart.
If you light a candle to the image of All Saints, turn your mind to the entire host of saints and the entire Heavenly army and pray:
All saints, pray to God for us.
All the saints always pray to God for us. He alone has mercy on everyone, and is always lenient towards the requests of His saints.

13. What prayers should be said before the images of the Savior, the Mother of God and the Life-Giving Cross?

Before the image of the Savior, pray to yourself:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, or without number of sinners, Lord, have mercy on me.
Before the icon of the Mother of God, say briefly:
Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Before the image of the Life-giving Cross of Christ, say the following prayer:
We worship Your Cross, Master, and we glorify Your Holy Resurrection.
And after that bow down To the Honest Cross. And if you stand before the image of Christ our Savior or the Mother of God, or the saints of God with humility and warm faith, then you will receive what you ask for.
For where the image is, there is the original grace.

14. Why is it customary to light candles for the repose at the Crucifixion?

The cross with the Crucifixion stands on the eve, that is, on the table for remembering the dead. Christ took upon Himself the sins of the whole world, original sin - Adam's sin - and through His death, through the Blood that was shed innocently on the cross (since Christ had no sin), reconciled the world with God the Father. Besides this, Christ is the bridge between being and non-being. On the eve, in addition to burning candles, you can also see food. This is very old Christian tradition. In ancient times there were so-called agapies - meals of love, when Christians who came to the service, after its end, all together consumed what they brought with them.

15. For what purpose and what products can you put on the eve?

Usually on the eve they put bread, cookies, sugar, everything that does not contradict fasting (since it can also be a fast day). You can also donate lamp oil and Cahors on the eve, which will then be used for the communion of believers. All this is brought and left for the same purpose for which a candle is placed on the eve - to remember one’s deceased relatives, acquaintances, friends, and not yet glorified ascetics of piety.
A note of remembrance is also submitted for the same purpose.
It should be firmly remembered that the offering must come from a pure heart and a sincere desire to make a sacrifice to God for the repose of the soul of the person being remembered and must be obtained from one’s labor, and not stolen or acquired by deception or other deceit.

16. What is the most important memorial for the dead?

The most important thing is the commemoration of the dead at the proskomedia, for the particles taken from the prosphora are immersed in the Blood of Christ and cleansed by this great sacrifice.

17. How to submit a note of remembrance at the Proskomedia? Is it possible to remember the sick at the proskomedia?

Before the service begins, you need to go to the candle counter, take a piece of paper and write as follows:

About repose

Andrey
Maria
Nicholas

Custom

The note prepared in this way will be submitted to the Proskomedia.

About health

B. Andrey
ml. Nicholas
Nina

Custom

In the same way, a note about health, including those who are sick, is submitted.

The note can be submitted in the evening, indicating the date on which the commemoration is expected.
Don't forget to draw notes on top eight-pointed cross, and below it is advisable to add: “and all Orthodox Christians.” If you want to remember a clergyman, then his name is put first.

18. What should I do if, while standing at a prayer service or other service, I did not hear the name that was submitted for commemoration?

It happens that clergy are reproached: they say that not all the notes were read or not all the candles were lit. And they don’t know that they can’t do this. Judge not lest ye be judged. You came, you brought it - that’s it, your duty is done. And what the priest does is what will be asked of him!

19. Why is the commemoration of the dead performed?

The whole point is that the dead cannot pray for themselves. Someone else living today must do this for them. Thus, the souls of people who repented before death, but did not have time to bear the fruits of repentance, can receive liberation only through intercession for them before the Lord from living relatives or friends and through the prayers of the Church.
The Holy Fathers and teachers of the Church agree to recognize the possibility for sinners of liberation from torment and the beneficial significance in this regard of prayers and alms, especially church prayers, and mainly bloodless sacrifice, that is, commemoration at the Liturgy (proskomedia).
“When all the people and the Holy Council,” asks St. John Chrysostom - stand with arms outstretched to the sky and when presented terrible victim How can we not appease God by praying for them (the dead)? But this is only about those who died in the faith” (St. John Chrysostom. Conversation on the last to Phil. 3, 4).

20. Is it possible to include the name of a suicide or an unbaptized person in a memorial note?

It is impossible, since persons deprived of a Christian burial are usually deprived of church prayers.

21. How should you behave when censing?

When censing, you need to bow your head, as if you were receiving the Spirit of Life, and say the Jesus Prayer. At the same time, you should not turn your back to the altar - this is the mistake of many parishioners. You just need to turn around a little.

22. What moment is considered the end of the morning service?

The end, or completion, of the morning service is the exit of the priest with the Cross. This moment is called release. During the holiday, believers approach the Cross, kiss it and the priestly hand holding the Cross as its foot. Having walked away, you need to bow to the priest. Let's pray to the cross:
I believe, Lord, and I worship the Honest and Life-giving Cross Yours, for in Him He brought about salvation in the midst of the Earth.

23. What do you need to know about the use of prosphora and holy water?

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, when you come home, prepare a meal of prosphora and holy water on a clean tablecloth.
Before eating your meal, say a prayer:
Lord my God, may Your holy gift and Your holy water be for the remission of my sins, for the enlightenment of my mind, for the strengthening of my mental and physical strength, for the health of my soul and body, for the subjugation of my passions and infirmities, according to Your infinite mercy through the prayers of the Most Pure One Your Mother and all Your saints. Amen.
The prosphora is taken over a plate or blank slate paper so that the holy crumbs do not fall to the floor and are not trampled, for prosphora is the holy bread of Heaven. And we must accept it with the fear of God and humility.

24. How are the feasts of the Lord and His saints celebrated?

The feasts of the Lord and His saints are celebrated spiritually, with a pure soul and an undefiled conscience, mandatory church attendance. If desired, believers order thanksgiving prayers in honor of the Holiday, bring flowers to the icon of the Holiday, distribute alms, confess and receive communion.

25. How to order a memorial and thanksgiving prayer service?

A prayer service is ordered by submitting a note formatted accordingly. The rules for registering a custom prayer service are posted at the candle counter.
There are different churches certain days when prayer services are performed, including water blessings.
At a water blessing service you can bless a cross, an icon, and candles. At the end of the water-blessing prayer service, believers with reverence and prayer take holy water and take it daily on an empty stomach.

26. What is the sacrament of repentance and how to prepare for confession?

The Lord Jesus Christ said, addressing His disciples: Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 18:18). And in another place the Savior, blowing, said to the apostles: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they will remain (John 20:22-23).
The apostles, fulfilling the will of the Lord, transferred this power to their successors - the shepherds of the Church of Christ, and to this day everyone who believes Orthodoxy and confesses sincerely before Orthodox priest through his prayer he can receive permission, forgiveness, and complete remission of his sins.
This is the essence of the sacrament of repentance.
A person who is accustomed to maintaining the purity of his heart and the neatness of his soul cannot live without repentance. He waits and longs for another confession, just as a parched earth awaits life-giving moisture.
Imagine for a moment a person who has been washing off bodily dirt all his life! So the soul requires washing, and what would happen if there were no sacrament of repentance, this healing and cleansing “second baptism”. Accumulated sins and transgressions that have not been removed from the conscience (not only large ones, but also many small ones) weigh on it so much that a person begins to feel some kind of unusual fear, it begins to seem to him that something bad is about to happen to him; then suddenly he falls into some kind of nervous breakdown, irritation, feels general anxiety, has no inner firmness, and ceases to control himself. Often he himself does not understand the reason for everything that happens, but it is that a person has unconfessed sins on his conscience. By the grace of God, these sorrowful sensations remind us of them, so that we, puzzled by such a plight of our souls, come to the consciousness of the need to purge all the poison from it, that is, turn to St. sacrament of repentance and this would get rid of all the torment that awaits after Last Judgment God to every sinner who has not been cleansed here in this life.
It is very useful to read the detailed life of the Venerable Theodora of Constantinople (December 30, Old Art.) before confession. She accepted monasticism and underwent her feat under the guidance of St. Vasily the New (March 26). She died in 940. Disciple of St. Vasily, Gregory, after the death of Theodora, begged the elder to reveal to him the afterlife fate of the old woman. And so, through the holy prayers of the holy father, his disciple had a wonderful vision: he talked with the Monk Theodora, and she told Gregory about what happened to her at the moment of death and after, when her soul went through terrible trials. (For the story of the ordeal of St. Theodora, see section IV of this book.)
Almost the entire sacrament of repentance is performed like this: first, the priest prays with everyone who wants to confess. Then he makes a brief reminder about the most common sins, talks about the meaning of confession, the responsibility of the confessor and the fact that he stands before the Lord Himself, and the priest is only a witness to his mysterious conversation with God, and that the deliberate concealment of any sins aggravates the guilt penitent.
Then those who are already confessing, one by one, approach the analogue on which they are lying. Holy Gospel and the Cross, bow to the Cross and the Gospel, stand in front of the lectern, bowing their heads or kneeling (the latter is not necessary), and begin to confess. It is useful to draw up a rough plan for yourself - what sins to confess, so as not to forget later in confession; but you will have to not just read from a piece of paper about your ulcers, but with a feeling of guilt and repentance, open them before God, take them out of your soul, like some nasty snakes, and get rid of them with a feeling of disgust. (Compare this list of sins with those lists that will keep evil spirits at the ordeals, and note: the more thoroughly you expose yourself, the fewer pages will be found in those demonic writings.) At the same time, of course, every extraction of such abomination and bringing it to light will be accompanied by some feeling of shame, but you know for sure: the Lord Himself and His servant, the priest who confesses you, no matter how disgusting your inner sinful world may be, only rejoice when you decisively renounce it; There is only joy in the priest’s soul for the one who has repented. Any priest, after a sincere confession, becomes even more disposed towards the person confessing, and begins to treat him much closer and more caringly.

27. Does repentance erase the memory of previously committed sins?

The answer to this question is given in the essay on the Gospel theme - “The Prodigal Son”.
“...He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and took pity; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him.
The son said to him: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” And the father said to his servants: “Bring the best robe and dress him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and slaughter it: let us eat and be merry!” (Luke 15:20-23.)
The feast ends in the house of a good, merciful father. The sounds of rejoicing fade away and the invited guests disperse. Yesterday's prodigal son leaves the hall of the banquet, still full of the sweet feeling of his father's love and forgiveness.
Behind the doors he meets his older brother standing outside. In his gaze there is condemnation, almost indignation.
The younger brother's heart sank; the joy disappeared, the sounds of the feast died down, the recent, difficult past arose before our eyes...
What can he say to his brother in justification?
Isn't his indignation justified? Did he deserve this feast, these new clothes, this golden ring, these kisses and his father’s forgiveness? After all, just recently, quite recently...
And the head of the younger brother bows low before the stern, condemning gaze of the elder: the still very fresh wounds of the soul ached and ached...
With eyes begging for mercy, the prodigal son throws himself on his knees in front of his elder brother.
“Brother... Forgive me... I didn’t organize this feast... And I didn’t ask my father for these new clothes, and shoes, and this ring... I didn’t even call myself a son anymore, I only asked to accept me to become a mercenary... Your condemnation of me is fair, and there is no excuse for me. But listen to me and maybe you will understand the mercy of our father...
What does this new clothing cover now?
Look, here are the traces of these terrible (mental) wounds. You see: there was no healthy place on my body; there were continuous ulcers, spots, festering wounds (Is. 1:6).
They are now closed and “softened by the oil” of the father’s mercy, but they still painfully hurt when touched and, it seems to me, will always hurt...
They will constantly remind me of that fateful day when, with a callous soul, full of conceit and proud self-confidence, I broke with my father, demanding my share of the estate, and went to that terrible country of unbelief and sin...
How happy you are, brother, that you have no memories of her, that you do not know the stench and decay, the evil and sin that reign there. You have not experienced spiritual hunger and have not known the taste of those horns that in that country must be stolen from pigs.
Here you have retained your strength and health. But I no longer have them... I only brought the remains of them back to my father’s house. And this is breaking my heart now.
Who did I work for? Who did I serve? But all my strength could be devoted to serving my father...
You see this precious ring on my sinful, already weak hand. But what I wouldn’t give for these hands to have no traces of the dirty work they did in the land of sin, for the knowledge that they always worked only for their father...
Ah, brother! You always live in the light and will never know the bitterness of darkness. You don't know the things that are happening there. You have not met closely with those with whom you have to deal there; you have not touched the dirt that those living there cannot avoid.
You don’t know, brother, the bitterness of regrets: what was the strength of my youth spent on? What are the days of my youth dedicated to? Who will return them to me? Oh, if life could start over again!
Don’t envy, brother, this new garment of your father’s mercy; without it, the torment of memories and fruitless regrets would be unbearable...
And should you envy me? After all, you are rich in wealth, which you may not notice, and happy with happiness, which you may not feel. You don’t know what irretrievable loss is, the consciousness of wasted wealth and ruined talents. Oh, if only it were possible to return all this and bring it back to my father!
But property and talents are given only once in a lifetime, and you can’t get your strength back, and time has gone irrevocably...
Don’t be surprised, brother, at your father’s mercy, his condescension to to the prodigal son, his desire to cover the pitiful rags of a sinful soul with new clothes, his hugs and kisses that revive a soul devastated by sin.
Now the feast is over. Tomorrow I will start work again and will work in my father’s house next to you. You, as the eldest and blameless, will dominate and guide me. Subordinate work befits me. That's what I need. These disgraced hands deserve no other.
These new clothes, these shoes and this ring will also be removed before the time: it will be indecent for me to do menial work in them.
During the day we will work together, then you can relax and have fun with your friends with a calm heart and a clear conscience. And I?..
Where can I go from my memories, from regrets about wasted wealth, ruined youth, lost strength, scattered talents, soiled clothes, about yesterday’s insult and rejection of his father, from thoughts about opportunities that have gone into eternity and forever lost?..”

28. What does Communion of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ mean?

If you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you (John 6:53).
He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him (John 6:56).
With these words, the Lord pointed out the absolute necessity for all Christians to participate in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The sacrament itself was established by the Lord at the Last Supper.
“...Jesus took the bread and blessed it, broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying:
Take, eat, this is My Body. And he took the cup and, giving thanks, gave it to them and said: Drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).
As the Holy Church teaches, a Christian, receiving St. Communion is mysteriously united with Christ, for in every particle of the fragmented Lamb the Whole Christ is contained.
The significance of the sacrament of the Eucharist is immeasurable, the comprehension of which surpasses our minds.
It ignites the love of Christ in us, lifts the heart to God, engenders virtues in it, and restrains the attack on us dark force, gives strength against temptations, revives the soul and body, heals them, gives them strength, returns virtues - restores in us that purity of the soul that the first-born Adam had before the Fall.
In his reflections on the Divine Liturgy, Bishop. Seraphim Zvezdinsky there is a description of the vision of one ascetic elder, which clearly characterizes the meaning for a Christian of the Communion of the Holy Mysteries. The ascetic saw “...a fiery sea, the waves of which rose and seethed, presenting a terrible sight. On the opposite bank there was a beautiful garden. From there the singing of birds could be heard, the fragrance of flowers spread.
The ascetic hears a voice: “Cross this sea.” But there was no way to go. He stood for a long time wondering how to cross, and again he heard a voice: “Take the two wings that the Divine Eucharist has given: one wing is the Divine Flesh of Christ, the second wing is His Life-giving Blood. Without them, no matter how great the feat, it is impossible to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven.”
As Fr. writes. Valentin Sventsitsky: “The Eucharist is the basis of that real unity that is expected in the general Resurrection, for both in the transubstantiation of the Gifts and in our Communion is the guarantee of our salvation and Resurrection, not only spiritual, but also physical.”
Elder Parthenius of Kiev once feeling of awe With fiery love for the Lord, I repeated the prayer within myself for a long time: “Lord Jesus, live in me and let me live in You,” and I heard a quiet, sweet voice: He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in him.
So, if repentance cleanses us from the defilement of our soul, then the Communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord will fill us with grace and block the return into our soul of the evil spirit expelled by repentance.
But we should firmly remember that, no matter how necessary the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is for us, we should not approach it without first purifying ourselves through confession.
The Apostle Paul writes: “Whoever eats this Bread or drinks this Cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord.
Let man test himself and thus let him eat from this Bread and drink from this Cup.
For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying” (1 Cor. 11:27-30).

29. How many times a year should you take communion?

Venerable Seraphim Sarovsky commanded the Diveyevo sisters:
“It is unacceptable to confess and participate in all fasts and, in addition, twelve and major holidays: the more often, the better - without tormenting yourself with the thought that you are unworthy, and you should not miss the opportunity to use the grace bestowed by communion of the Holy Mysteries as often as possible.
The grace bestowed by communion is so great that no matter how unworthy and no matter how sinful a person may be, but only in the humble consciousness of his great sinfulness will he approach the Lord, who redeems us all, even if covered from head to toe with the sores of sins, then he will be cleansed by the grace of Christ, become more and more bright, will be completely enlightened and saved.”
It is very good to take communion on your name days and birthdays, and for spouses on their wedding day.

30. What is unction?

No matter how carefully we try to remember and write down our sins, it may happen that a significant part of them will not be told in confession, some will be forgotten, and some will simply not be realized and not noticed due to our spiritual blindness.
In this case, the Church comes to the aid of the penitent with the sacrament of the Blessing of Unction, or, as it is often called, “unction.” This sacrament is based on the instructions of the Apostle James, the head of the first Jerusalem Church:
“Is any of you sick, let him call the elders of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him” (James 5:14-15).
Thus, in the sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing we are forgiven of sins that were not said in confession due to ignorance or forgetfulness. And since illness is a consequence of our sinful state, liberation from sin often leads to healing of the body.
Currently, during Great Lent, all Christians who are zealous for salvation take part in three sacraments at once: confession, Blessing of Anointing and Communion of the Holy Mysteries.
To those Christians who, for whatever reason, were unable to take part in the Sacrament of Anointing, the Optina elders Barsanuphius and John give the following advice:
“What kind of lender can you find more faithful than God, who knows even what did not happen?
So, lay the account of the sins you have forgotten on Him and tell Him:
“Master, since it is a sin to forget one’s sins, I have sinned in everything against You, the One Knower of the Heart. You forgive me for everything according to Your love for mankind, for it is there that the splendor of Your glory is manifested, when You do not repay sinners for their sins, for You are glorified forever. Amen".

31. How often should you visit the temple?

The duties of a Christian include visiting church on Saturdays and Sundays and always on holidays.
The establishment and observance of holidays is necessary for our salvation; they teach us the true Christian faith, excite and nourish in us, in our hearts, love, reverence and submission to God. But they also go to church to perform religious services, rituals, and simply to pray, when time and opportunity permit.

32. What does visiting a temple mean for a believer?

Every visit to church is a holiday for a Christian, if the person is truly a believer. According to the teachings of the Church, when visiting the temple of God, a special blessing and success occurs in all the good endeavors of a Christian. Therefore, you should make sure that at this moment there is peace in your soul and order in your clothes. After all, we don't just go to church. Having humbled ourselves, our soul and heart, we come to Christ. It is to Christ, who gives us the benefit that we must earn by our behavior and inner disposition.

33. What services are performed daily in the Church?

In the name of Holy Trinity— Father and Son and Holy Spirit — Holy Orthodox Christian church daily performs evening, morning and afternoon services in the temples of God, following the example of the holy Psalmist, who testifies of himself: “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry, and He (the Lord) will hear my voice” (Ps. 54: 17-18 ). Each of these three services is composed, in turn, of three parts: evening service— it consists of the Ninth Hour, Vespers and Compline; morning - from the Midnight Office, Matins and the First Hour; daytime - from the Third Hour, the Sixth Hour and the Divine Liturgy. Thus, from the evening, morning and daytime services of the Church, nine services are formed: Ninth Hour, Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour and Divine Liturgy, just as, according to the teachings of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, nine faces are formed from the three ranks of Angels, praising the Lord day and night.

34. What is fasting?

Fasting is not only some changes in the composition of food, that is, refusal of fast food, but, mainly, repentance, bodily and spiritual abstinence, purification of the heart through intense prayer.
Venerable Barsanuphius the Great says:
“Physical fasting means nothing without spiritual fasting inner man which consists of protecting oneself from passions. This fast is pleasing to God and will compensate for your lack of physical fasting (if you are weak in body).”
St. says the same thing. John Chrysostom:
“Whoever limits fasting to abstaining from food alone greatly dishonors him. It’s not just the mouth that should fast—no, let the eye, and hearing, and hands, and feet, and our whole body fast.”
As Fr. writes. Alexander Elchaninov: “In the dormitories there is a fundamental misunderstanding of fasting. What is important is not fasting in itself as not eating this and that or as depriving oneself of something in the form of punishment - fasting is only a proven way to achieve the desired results - through exhaustion of the body to reach the refinement of spiritual mystical abilities, darkened by the flesh, and thus facilitate your approach to God.
Fasting is not hunger. A diabetic, a fakir, a yogi, a prisoner, and just a beggar are starving. Nowhere in the services of Great Lent is there any talk about fasting in isolation in our usual sense, that is, as not eating meat, etc. Everywhere there is one call: “We fast, brothers, physically, we fast and spiritually.” Consequently, fasting only has a religious meaning when it is combined with spiritual exercises. Fasting is equal to refinement. A normal zoologically prosperous person is inaccessible to the influence of external forces. Fasting undermines a person’s physical well-being, and then he becomes more accessible to the influences of another world, and his spiritual filling begins.”
According to Bishop Herman, “fasting is pure abstinence in order to restore the lost balance between body and spirit, in order to return to our spirit its supremacy over the body and its passions.”

35. What prayers are performed before and after eating food?

Prayers before eating food:
Our Father, Who is in heaven! Hallowed be it your name, Yes kingdom come Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Virgin Mary, Rejoice, O Blessed Mary, the Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, for She gave birth to the Savior of our souls.

Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. Bless.
Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Prayers after eating food:
We thank You, Christ our God, for filling us with Your earthly blessings; do not deprive us of Your Heavenly Kingdom, but as in the midst of Your disciples you came, Savior, give them peace, come to us and save us.
It is worthy to eat as truly to bless Thee, Theotokos, Ever-Blessed and Most Immaculate and Mother of our God. We magnify You, the most honorable Cherub and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim, who gave birth to God the Word without corruption.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

36. Why is the death of the body necessary?

As Metropolitan Anthony Blum writes: “In a world that human sin has made monstrous, death is the only way out.
If our world of sin were fixed as unchanging and eternal, it would be hell. Death is the only thing that allows the earth, along with suffering, to escape from this hell.”
Bishop Arkady Lubyansky says: “For many, death is a means of salvation from spiritual death. For example, children dying in early age, do not know sin.
Death reduces the amount of total evil on earth. What would life be like if there were always murderers - Cains, traitors to the Lord - Judas, human beasts - Nero and others?
Therefore, the death of the body is not “ridiculous,” as people of the world say about it, but is necessary and expedient.

Look where you will find answers to many questions.

Deacon Alexy (Shchurov), Sanin Evgeny. From the gates to the royal doors (advice to those going to church).

The most important thing that a person going to church should remember is that they serve ordinary people, who are always happy to suggest what and. If you have a spiritual impulse and want to go to pray, then be sure to go and do not be afraid of anything.

However, it is good to visit in advance. To do this, you first need to get acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, that is, the Bible. It is better to start reading it from the New Testament, since the Old Testament is quite difficult to understand. According to the statement, many lay people who began their acquaintance with the Bible with Old Testament, so we got stuck on it. This is due to the complexity of the book's language.

The next step is prayer. You need to learn to pray. A prayer book will be a helper in this, which can be purchased at any church store. First, define small prayers for yourself, the main thing is to try to pray with concentration, thoughtfully reading the meaning of what is written. For example, you can start accustoming yourself to prayers in the morning and evening rules, which do not have large volumes. Gradually quantity prayers read should be increased.

To church - without fear

Then you need to go to church service. To begin with, you can defend not the entire service, which lasts about 4 hours, but an hour or an hour and a half. The main thing is to sincerely pray and be attentive to what is happening in the world. Be prepared that at first you may not understand much of what you hear from the priest, because the service is conducted in Church Slavonic. It would be helpful if you read the relevant literature before attending the service so that you know its procedure.

The next stage of getting to know the church will be familiarization with its Sacraments, such as Communion and Unction.

There are also Sunday schools for adults. These classes will be useful, since during them the priests talk about the life of Christ, miracles, features of worship, confession and much more. The main thing is that during the classes, every parishioner can ask a question of interest and receive a comprehensive answer.

It is important to understand that Christianity is not just, it is, first of all, everyday life itself. And such a life is impossible without the church, without knowledge and reverence of its basic canons.
 

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