PRAY THE SAME, - says the Lord, and offers us His Divine model of prayer, not so that we pray only this one prayer, but so that from it, as from a source, we draw thoughts for all other prayers, so that we do not introduce that into other prayers. , which is contrary to the spirit of this prayer. This Lord's Prayer is short, but it embraces the entire teaching of the Lord, brings to mind all His lessons and instructions, so that it truly is “an abbreviation of the entire Gospel.” And what prayer could be more valid from the Heavenly Father, if not the one spoken through the lips of the Only Begotten Son of God? “Let us, beloved brothers,” exhorts Saint Cyprian, “pray as our Teacher, God, taught us. May the Father recognize the words of His Son when we pray to Him. When we sinners pray for our sins, we will pronounce the words of our Intercessor. He Himself says that whatever we ask the Father in His name, He will give it to us; therefore, let us ask for everything we need in the name of Christ, if we ask Him through prayer.” But in order for the Lord’s Prayer to be fully assimilated by our hearts and ascend to God with all our hearts, let us delve into every word of this grace-filled prayer and listen to the reverent reflections of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church who explained this prayer. The Lord's Prayer contains a sacred number - seven petitions; at the beginning there is an appeal to God as to the Father, and at the end there is a doxology. OUR FATHER! “Oh, what condescension towards us. - says Saint Cyprian, - what an abundance of favor and goodness of the Lord, when He allowed us to call God Father, and to call ourselves sons of God, just like Christ, the Son of God! None of us would dare to use this name in prayer if He Himself did not allow us to pray this way.” - “What great love of God for mankind! - St. Cyril of Jerusalem reflects. - Those who have fallen away from Him and reached the extreme of evil are given such forgiveness of all evil and such grace that they call Him Father.
Our Father!" - “Oh, what extraordinary philanthropy! Oh, what a wonderful honor! - exclaims St. John Chrysostom, - what word will be able to render gratitude to the One who gives us heavy blessings? Look, beloved, at the insignificance of your and my nature, delve into its affinities - this earth, dust, dirt, clay and ashes, because we were created from earth, and again we finally decompose into earth. Imagine this and marvel at the incomprehensible wealth of God’s great goodness to us, according to which you are commanded to call Him Father, to the earthly - Heavenly, to the mortal - Immortal, perishable - Imperishable, temporary - Eternal. “In every petition,” says Blessed Augustine, “first of all, they try to gain the favor of the one to whom they turn with the petition, and then they present the petition itself. And this favor is usually gained by the praise of the one whom they intend to ask. There are many sayings in Scripture that express praise to God, but you will not find that Israel was commanded to cry out to God: Our Father. This advantage is given to the new Israel - the Christians; they have been given the power to be children of God and to cry: Abba Father!” “The Lord often called God our Father,” notes another ancient teacher, “he even commanded it.
By calling in this way in prayer, we fulfill His commandment. Blessed are those who know God the Father.” The name of God the Father is revealed to us in the Son, as the Son Himself says about it: “I have revealed Your name to men” (John 17:6). “By calling God Father,” says Blessed Augustine, “we also testify to our love, for what is sweeter for children than the name of the Father? and we express confidence in receiving what we ask, for what kind of request will God refuse to His sons, when He first granted them the power to be children of God?” Our Father! What a sweet proclamation! “Whoever has a father feels under a powerful wing, protected from all danger; feels that he does not need to worry about anything: everything will be there - food, clothing, and shelter, and that he only has to turn to his father when he wants something, and he will get everything.” “Let us call upon God as a Father with hope,” exhorts Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “let us stretch out our hands to Him, as children stretch out their hands to their parents in all their needs.” Our Father! You created us, You care for us - just as no earthly father cares for his beloved children, for without Your holy will not even a single hair falls from our head. “The Lord does not say: My Father,” notes Saint Chrysostom, “but Our Father, and thereby commands us to pray for the entire human race, never to have in mind our own benefits, but always to try for the benefit of our neighbor. And in this way he destroys enmity, and overthrows pride, and destroys envy, and introduces love.”
“The Lord inspires,” says Blessed Augustine, “that the rich and noble in this world, having become Christians, should not be proud of the poor and ignorant, because both the poor and the rich equally cry out to God: “Our Father.” “You do not say: My Father, but “Our Father,” teaches Blessed Theophylact, “so, look at everyone as brothers, as children of one Father.” Pray to the Father: Our Father, You are our Father, and we are brothers in Christ - Your Only Begotten Son; You love us all equally, you think about everyone equally, and therefore I, the first of sinners, dare to pray not only for myself, but also for all my brothers, just as they all pray for me, unworthy, I dare to ask for Your mercies not only for myself. , but also to your entire Church, just as she, with one heart and one mouth, asks the same for me, the indecent one... Our Father, WHO IS IN HEAVEN! Our God is in heaven and on earth; He is omnipresent and there is no place where He is not. Therefore, “when the Lord says in prayer, “He who is in heaven,” then with this word,” St. John Chrysostom explains, “he does not imprison God in heaven, but distracts the one praying from the earth and places him in mountain dwellings.” - “Lord,” according to interpretation Blessed Theophylact, - only points you to your fatherland and your father’s house; therefore, if you want to have God as your Father, look to heaven, and not to earth, like the dumb.” He reminds you from what fatherland you have fallen and what nobility you have lost. This is the same as the cry: “Woe is our heart!” There, in heaven, the Lord reveals His glory with a blessed spirit; Our spirit also strives there from this earthly vale, where we are only wanderers and strangers. But this spiritual heaven is not far from each of us: it is in the pure heart of a Christian. “Just as a sinner is called earth,” says Blessed Augustine, “when it is said to him: “You are dust and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:19), so the righteous can be called heaven, for the righteous are separated from the sinners as heaven is from the earth.” . Saint Simeon of Thessalonica explains in a similar way: “God, being holy, rests in the saints. The angels who live in heaven are holier than us, just as heaven is purer than earth. That’s why we think that God is in heaven.” How much boldness is needed, what a soul is needed, what a conscience is needed to have the courage to call God your Father! And the Jews dared to say to the Savior: “We have one Father, God,” but what does the Lord say to them? - “Your father is the devil” (John 8:41, 44), because you fulfill his desires, his will. “He who is like the beasts or even the devil in his disposition cannot call God his Father,” says Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “for those who call God their Father must also have properties similar to the Father, and must work for Him with a pure heart.” .
“Christ - the truth teaches us not to lie,” says St. Gregory of Nyssa, “not to say about ourselves what is not in us, not to call ourselves what we were not, but, calling the Righteous and All-Good One our Father, justifying this kinship to our life."
Hallowed be your name... let him come
THE KINGDOM IS YOURS.
Hallowed be your name. The name of God is always holy. By him our saving Sacraments are performed; it seals the fidelity of our oaths and promises; with it we defeat enemies visible and invisible. The name of God is the same as the incomprehensible being of God, revealing Himself to people. “God is holy and all-holy, and holier than all saints,” says St. John Chrysostom. - And the Seraphim bring Him such a song, constantly crying: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, fill heaven and earth with Your glory” (Is. 6:3). Just as those who call kings kings and autocrats do not themselves give them these titles, but glorify in them what they already have, so we do not communicate holiness to God when we say: “hallowed be thy name,” but glorify that holiness , which He has, for let him be holy, it is said here instead: let him be glorified.” “The name of God is holy,” says Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “holy and glorious without our glorification, but we must try so that it is glorified in us, so that we do not seek anything other than the glory of God. We always revere what is sacred and treat it with due fear and respect. Therefore, the words: hallowed be Thy name, can be understood this way: plant Thy fear in our hearts. Blessed Augustine interprets: “let him be holy, which means: let him be revered as holy, but not despised. Do you see now that you wish for the best for yourself when you wish for it? For it is harmful for you when you despise the name of God, and not for God.” Children honor and glorify their father, but this is not enough for their love; they desire and seek that their father should be honored and glorified by all others. “We cannot help but burn with childish love, which will make us seek in everything not our own benefit, but the glory of our Father,” says Reverend Cassian. “Our joy is the glory of our Father.” Therefore, let it be hallowed, let the name of God be proclaimed to all nations, let the true faith of Christ spread throughout the entire human race, so that from all people there may be one great family of God, calling God their Father, reverently honoring and glorifying Him. But for this, we ourselves must live according to the commandments of God, so that because of our sinful life the name of God is not blasphemed among the nations, so that unbelievers, looking at our sinful life, do not ask each other in surprise: where is their God! but on the contrary, seeing our good deeds, which no one can do without the help of God’s grace, we would glorify our Heavenly Father. Therefore, St. John Chrysostom explains the words “Let him be holy” this way: “Grant us to live so holy and pure, so that through us everyone will glorify You, so that everyone who sees our life will offer praise to the Master.”
Or, as Blessed Theophylact says: “Arrange our lives so that it is for Your glory. Just as God is blasphemed by my evil deeds, so by mine good deeds holy, i.e. glorified as a Saint." All these interpretations can be expressed as follows: Heavenly Father, grant that we call on Your revered name with fear and love, so that we do not call it in vain, so that it is not blasphemed by our vicious life, so that it is glorified in our souls and bodies, in our deeds , words and thoughts of the heart! Let those who are ignorant of Your glorious name recognize it, let it be glorified with reverence throughout the entire human race, by everyone, everywhere, at all times and to all ends of the universe! THY KINGDOM COME.
The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of all ages. “God is always the King,” says Blessed Augustine, “He is always invested with royal power, He is served by every creature. What kind of Kingdom are we praying for?” “We ask,” Saint Cyprian answers this question, “for our Kingdom to come, promised to us by God, acquired by the blood and suffering of Christ; We ask that we, who have served Christ the Lord in this age, may then reign with Him, as He Himself promises, saying, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). The world lies in evil, sin reigns over sinners as over its slaves.” “Death,” says St. Gregory of Nyssa, “has intervened in nature in thousands of ways; every kind of sin is made as if by some means of death towards us. Our passions make us slaves of death, therefore we pray that the Kingdom of God will come to us, so that the passions that reign in us will turn into nothing.” “It is characteristic of a pure soul,” says St. Cyril of Jerusalem, “to say with boldness: “Thy kingdom come.” For whoever listened to Paul, who said: “Let sin not reign in your mortal body” (Rom. 6:12), and purified himself in deed, and thought, and word, he will say to God: “Thy kingdom come.” - “On the contrary, none of the lawless, as Saint Cassian says, will dare to desire this, because he, of course, will not want to see the throne of the Judge, who knows that on the day of His coming he will receive for his deeds not a crown and a reward, but punishment". “We wish,” says Blessed Augustine, “that the Kingdom of God will come. It will come. Even if we didn't want it. This means that we must wish and pray that our Heavenly Father will make us worthy of His Kingdom, so that it does not happen that it will come, but not for us. For for many this kingdom that is to come will not come. For those will come to whom it will be said: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).
But it will not come for those who hear: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41). So, we pray that the Lord will make us good, then His Kingdom will surely come to us.” “Whoever desires the Kingdom of Heaven,” teaches Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “needs to despise glory, honor, pleasures, wealth, despise everything earthly, and only then desire Heavenly things. You must also have a clear conscience, or cleanse it with repentance, and then pray: “Thy Kingdom come!” Otherwise, how will he desire and ask for the Kingdom, when his conscience, defiled by sins, threatens God’s judgment and eternal torment?” No one can enter the Kingdom of glory in heaven who has not entered here on earth into the Kingdom of Christ’s grace, and this Kingdom is the Holy Orthodox Church. She is the threshold of the Kingdom of Heaven; how at the gates of a blooming garden the fragrance of its flowers can already be felt, although these gates are still closed and the flowers themselves are not visible; so in the Holy Mysteries of the Orthodox Church, in its sacred rites, in its marvelous Divine services and wise statutes, we are already given a foretaste and anticipation of the future joys of the heavenly bliss of the righteous, although this very bliss is still incomprehensible to us and is perceived only by faith, and not by vision... But not all those who consider themselves sons of the Kingdom of God, children of the Orthodox Church, will truly inherit the Kingdom of Heaven; There will be, according to the word of the Lord, such sons of the Kingdom who will be cast out into utter darkness. What is needed so that the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven do not close on us? To do this, it is necessary for the Kingdom of God to descend into our hearts in advance, according to the word of Christ: “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). The Apostle Paul explains that this kingdom is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). What kind of blissful state this is - only those who have experienced it in practice know well, for words cannot describe the bliss that a heart filled with the grace of God feels. Where the Lord is with His grace, there is paradise, there is the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord said: “Whoever loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him” (in his heart) “(John 14:23). Be an obedient son of the Church of Christ, work to cleanse your heart from passions, take advantage of the grace of the Church Sacraments, try to acquire childlike humility, childlike simplicity and gentleness, childlike devotion to the will of God, and then by your own experience you will know how close the Kingdom of God is to you, and you will desire this blessed Kingdom with all your heart, and you will cry day and night to the Heavenly Father: “Thy kingdom come,” the King of every creature!
May Your good Spirit guide us into all truth! Let truth, one holy truth, reign on earth - both in us and around us, and let all untruth, lies, slander and deception perish from the face of the earth! May peace and love reign everywhere, and may all discord, hatred, enmity and rancor disappear! Pour gracious joy into the hearts devoted to You, so that we courageously face the sorrows that are so inevitable in this life. May the Kingdom of Your grace, Your Holy Orthodox Church, spread across the face of the earth, and may the eternally blessed Kingdom of Your glory, prepared for all those who love You, come at last from the foundation of the world! But so that we do not lose our participation in this longed-for Kingdom, grant us to hate our evil will and love Your will - good, pleasing and perfect, grant us to cleave to Your holy commandments with all our hearts!
THY WILL BE DONE... OUR BREAD
GIVE US THIS DAY...
We do not know, Our Heavenly Father, what is harmful for us, what is good and saving; You alone know this, therefore we pray to You: LET YOUR holy WILL BE DONE in everything, everywhere and always! Do with us what you want, do not look at our sinful wishes, do not listen to our prayers, if they are not pleasing to You - in everything and entirely we surrender ourselves into Your hands: in your image You know our destinies, lead us to Your Heavenly Kingdom! “We cry,” says one ancient teacher, “Thy will be done,” not because anyone could interfere with the will of God, but we pray that He would show us His will and give us the strength to fulfill it. He Himself said that He does not His own will, but His Father’s. And he invites us to follow His example and remain in the will of God even until death.” “The Lord,” says Saint Cyprian, “showing the human weakness that He carried within Himself, said: “My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from Me,” and then, setting an example for the disciples to do not their own will, but God’s, he added: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39, 42). If the Son obeyed and did the will of the Father, shouldn’t the servant obey and do the will of his Lord even more?” So, “Thy will be done,” Our Father, AND ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN! Just as in heaven everything happens without hindrance, and it does not happen that the Angels obey in one thing and disobey in another, but they obey in everything; So grant us, humans, not to do Your will half, but to do everything as You please! May Your will be done not only in me or in us, but throughout the whole earth! Grant us, Lord, to imitate heavenly life, so that we also desire the same thing that You Yourself desire; Help our will, which desires to do Your works, but is restrained by the weakness of the flesh. “The angels serve You in heaven, so may we also serve You on earth. The angels in heaven do not insult You, and let us not insult You on earth. As they do Thy will, so let us also do” (Blessed Augustine).
May all opposition to You disappear from the face of the earth, so that there will be no difference between heaven and earth, and earth from heaven! “One must desire,” says St. John Chrysostom, “heaven and the heavenly; but before reaching heaven, we must make the earth heaven, so that while living on it, we can act and speak as if we were in heaven, and pray to the Lord for this.” “The will of God happens even without our asking,” teaches St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, “we ask that we ourselves can do what His will wants. From this it is clear that we cannot do the will of God without God. Just as the Angels in heaven fulfill the will of God and live among themselves lovingly, peacefully and in harmony, so we on earth, imitating them, may be able to do His will and live holy, pure, peacefully, lovingly and accordingly. When we pray: “Thy will be done,” we must already renounce our will and leave it. And good is the one who completely surrenders himself to the will of God. A deep peace settles in his heart; nothing bothers him; he knows that he does not belong to himself, but to God, the merciful and almighty Father, who will never leave him without His gracious help and admonition. No matter what misfortune happens, no matter what grief befalls him, he only turns his prayerful gaze to heaven and repeats: “Thy will be done, Our Father!” You see everything, you know everything, you can do everything, You will not leave me...” Just as a child is calm in the bosom of its mother, so is the soul, completely devoted to the will of God, calm. And just as a child is obedient to the will of his parents, and only cares about fulfilling their desires, so a person devoted to the will of God strives with all his heart to know and fulfill only what is pleasing to God. Let us first hate our own evil will, and then we will pray for the good will of God in us!” After asking for heavenly things, i.e. about the glory of God, about the Kingdom of Heaven, about the will of God, Divine wisdom makes room for petitions and for earthly needs: GIVE US OUR DAILY BREAD FOR THIS DAY. The word daily bread can be understood both spiritually and simply. “We call Christ our bread,” explains Saint Cyprian, “because we eat His Body, just as He Himself says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:51) and threatens, saying: “unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you” (John 6:53). At the same time, we also ask for bodily food, daily food.” “The Savior,” says Saint Chrysostom, “commanded to pray not for wealth, not for pleasures, not for valuable clothes, but only for bread, and moreover, for daily bread, so that we do not worry about tomorrow.
This is why I added: daily, i.e. day. He was not even satisfied with this word, but added another after it: give it to us for this day, so that we do not overwhelm ourselves with worry about the coming day. And why worry about tomorrow for someone who, perhaps, will not see tomorrow? The One who gave you a body, breathed in a soul, made you a rational animal and prepared all the blessings for you before He created you - will He forget you, His creation? Trusting in Him, ask for food only for the present day, and leave your concern for tomorrow to Him, just as blessed David says: “Cast your worries on the Lord, and He will support you” (Ps. 54:23).” “Bread is the word,” explains St. Gregory of Nyssa, “as if the Lord were saying to those who listen: stop, people, tormenting yourselves with vain desires. Stop multiplying your own reasons for hard work. Your nature does not need much; You are obliged to provide food to your flesh: it is a small and easy task if you only have in mind the need. Why do you impose on yourself the yoke of carrying so many debts? Ask for yourself only one bread; in this nature has made you a debtor to the body. If Evin’s advisor (the devil) enters into a conversation with you about what is beautiful to the eye and pleasing to the taste, then you will certainly become entangled in the nets of covetousness. From necessary food you will then move on to tasty foods, and from them to luxury and every need. Therefore, limit your prayer to asking only for bread.” “When we pray,” says Blessed Augustine, “for our daily bread, we ask for everything that our flesh needs on earth. But we need food and drink, clothing and shelter. And the word of God, which is proclaimed to you daily, is your daily bread. And his mind hungers like his belly hungers for material bread. This is what we ask for in the Lord’s Prayer. Thus, by daily bread we mean everything that is necessary for soul and body in this life.” “When we say: give us our bread,” notes Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “we show that we ask the same for others. Christian love requires that we strive not only for ourselves, but also for our neighbors.” God, in His goodness, gives everything needed to those who do not know Him; but Christians must with faith ask Him for these blessings, like children do with the Father, in order to show that they consider everything necessary for life to be God’s gift and accept this gift from the hand of God with thanksgiving. So, the meaning of this petition can be expressed in these words: Heavenly Father! You know our needs better than ourselves; “The eyes of all trust in You, and You give them their food in due season; You open Your hand and satisfy every living thing with Your good pleasure" (Ps. 144:15-16).
We do not ask You for luxury, wealth, or golden palaces; We don’t ask for sweet foods to overeat; do not deprive us of the most necessary things: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Bread for food, water for drinking, air for breathing, clothing to cover a sinful body, a home where we can lay our heads - these are the things we cannot do without while we live on earth. Your Holy Word, Your grace distributed in the Sacraments of Your Church, especially the living bread, the heavenly bread - the most pure Body and Blood of Your Son - this is our daily bread, without which our souls perish in hunger! Give us, Our Father, all this, give us the strength, although by the sweat of our brow, to earn our own bread through righteous labor! Give us for this day - not for the barns for many years, but for this day only, for we ourselves do not know whether we will live to see tomorrow and what tomorrow will give birth to, maybe tomorrow we will no longer be on earth; and when tomorrow comes for us, we believe that if You give the day, you will also give us food...
AND LEAVE US OUR DEBT, JUST LIKE WE
WE LEAVE OUR DEBTOR.
Food does not provide everything we need and benefit from. The Lord knew that He alone was always sinless. Therefore, he teaches us to pray for the remission of debts, i.e. our sins: AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBT, JUST AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. “God commands,” says Saint Cyprian, “that only peaceful, concordant, unanimous people should live in His house; and whoever is in enmity, in disagreement, who does not have peace with his brothers, even if he endured death for the name of Christ, will still remain guilty of fraternal enmity, and the Holy Scripture says: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.” (1 John 3:15), a murderer can neither reach the Kingdom of Heaven nor live with God. One who wanted to be more an imitator of Judas than of Christ cannot be with Christ. What is this sin that is not washed away by baptism of blood?.. What is this crime when it cannot be atoned for by martyrdom?..” “By reminding us of sins,” says St. John Chrysostom, “the Lord inspires us with humility; the command to let others go - destroys rancor in us; and with the promise of forgiveness for us for this, it strengthens good hopes in us and teaches us to reflect on the ineffable love of God for mankind. He could have forgiven you all your sins without your doing anything, but He wants to do you good in this too, in everything He gives you an opportunity for meekness and love of mankind, drives out bestiality from you, extinguishes anger in you and in every possible way wants to unite you with His members.” “Whoever does not with all his heart forgive his brother who has sinned against him,” says Saint Cassian, “with this prayer he will ask for himself not pardon, but condemnation.”
“God is pleased to enter into an agreement with us,” says Blessed Augustine, “this is what the Lord your God says to you: “Let me go, and I will let you go.” You didn’t let go, you’re going against yourself, not me.” So, let go, forgive from the heart, and be sure that at the same time all your sins, committed in word, deed and thought, are forgiven. Who can live on this earth and not have an enemy? Try, force yourself, beloved, to love them, I beg you. And don’t think that this is impossible; I know, I knew, I actually saw Christians who love their enemies. Believe that this is possible and pray that God’s will be done in you in this regard. What irritates you so much about your enemy? Of course, not human nature. He is dear to you: both of you were created from the earth and animated by the Lord. He is the same as you; he is your brother. The first two - Adam and Eve - were our parents: he is the father, she is the mother. Therefore, we are brothers. Let us not abandon this our first principle; God is our Father, the Church is our mother. Therefore, we are brothers... God will righteously say to those who have not forgiven: “Why do you ask me to do what I promised, when you yourself do not fulfill what I commanded? What did I promise? Let go of your debts. What did he command? So that you too may repay your debtors. But how can you say that you are doing this if you do not love your enemies? Saint Stephen was stoned, and under the blows of the stones, he knelt down and prayed, saying: “Lord! Do not count this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). They threw those stones at him, and did not ask for forgiveness, but he prayed for them... This is how the Lord taught His disciples, those great first apostles, our leaders, to pray. The sun should never have set in our anger, but how many times has it set in this way! Don't think that anger is nothing. If God wanted to take it from us, where would we go?” This is how Blessed Augustine exhorts us. And our Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk says that with the words: “forgive us our debts,” the Lord teaches us to pray not only for ourselves, but also for each other: to ask each other for forgiveness of sins. “Try to live in such a way,” teaches St. Gregory of Nyssa, “so that you can say to God: “What I did, do you too; imitate Your servant - You, Lord, - the poor and the poor, You who reign over all. I have forgiven my sins, do not exact them either. I respected the petitioner, do not reject the one who asks. I sent my debtor away cheerful, so let your debtor be like that. Don't make yours sadder than mine. Let both equally thank those who have shown mercy... I allowed it, you allow it too. I let go, let you go too. Of course, my sins before You are greater than those committed by my debtor. I admit this too. But look at who You are and who I am?.. I showed little love for mankind, because my nature cannot accommodate more; and as much as You wish, power will not hinder Your generosity.”
We are all unpaid debtors: forgive our sins with which we offend You every day and hour. Forgive, for no one can forgive sins except You; leave, for You also commanded us to leave a brother who has sinned up to seventy times seven; Forgive us, as we, being evil, leave to our debtors, and as Your Only Begotten Son promised it to us sinners, leave not only to us, but also to all our debtors, do not make them sin what they have sinned against us. " And if we do not want to forgive them for their insignificant sins, then let there be judgment without mercy (to the evil servants) for those who have not shown mercy! That is why the holy fathers said: “Whoever wants God to quickly hear his prayer, when he stands before God and stretches out his hands to Him, first of all, even before praying for his soul, he must pray with all his heart for his enemies.” That is why they always tried to instill the same saving truth in others. Thus, in the life of St. John the Merciful we read: there was one nobleman in Alexandria who, despite all the admonitions of the saint of God, did not want to hear about reconciliation with his enemy. One day the saint invited him to his home church for the Divine Liturgy. The nobleman has arrived. There were no pilgrims in the church, the patriarch himself served, and in the choir there was only one singer, whom the nobleman began to help in singing. When they began to sing the Lord’s Prayer, the saint also began to sing it; but at the words “Give us this day our daily bread,” Saint John suddenly fell silent himself and stopped the singer with a sign, so that the nobleman alone sang the words of the prayer: “Forgive us our debts” (sins), “as we forgive our debtors”... Here the saint turns to the irreconcilable nobleman and with a meek reproach says: “Look, my son, at what terrible hour and what you say to God: leave me, as I leave... Are you telling the truth? Are you leaving?..” These words struck the nobleman so much that he, all in tears, threw himself at the feet of the archpastor and exclaimed: “Whatever you command, lord, your servant will do!” And he did: on the same day he made peace with his enemy and forgave him for his offenses with all his heart.
DO NOT LEAD US INTO ADVERSE, BUT DELIVER US
WE ARE FROM Evil, FOR YOUR KINGDOM IS,
AND POWER AND GLORY FOREVER.AMEN.
It is not human enemies who are dangerous to us: they can be defeated by love and humility; We have irreconcilable enemies: the world with its charms and temptations, the devil with his evil temptations, and our own flesh with its passions and lusts. These are the enemies the Lord teaches us to pray against: AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION. “Does the Lord really teach us to pray so as not to be tempted at all? - asks Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. - But as it is said: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations” (James 1:2). And he answers: temptation is like a kind of stream that is difficult to cross.
Therefore, some do not drown in them, they pass by them like skilled swimmers, without being carried away by them in the least. But others are not like that: they enter them and get bogged down. Judas, for example, having entered into the temptation of the love of money, did not swim across the abyss, but drowned and perished spiritually and physically. But Peter entered into the temptation of renunciation, but did not drown, but, courageously swimming across the abyss, got rid of the temptation.” “When we pray to the Lord: “and do not lead us into temptation,” says St. Barsanuphius the Great, “we are not asking that we should not be tempted at all, because this is impossible. No, we pray that under the influence of temptation we will not desire an act that is not pleasing to God. This is what it means - not to fall into temptation. For example, the holy martyrs, who were tested by torment and were not overcome by it, did not fall into temptation, like one who fights with beasts while he is not yet eaten by the beasts. If he is torn to pieces, it means he has fallen in the middle of a trial. So it is with every passion, until a person is overcome by it.” “Temptation to evil comes,” says Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “either from the devil, or from the flesh, or from the world. God, as the All-Good One, does not tempt anyone to evil. “When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone Himself, but everyone is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust” (James 1:13-14). In words: and do not lead us into temptation, we pray to God that He may preserve us from the temptation of the world, the flesh and the devil by His grace. And if we fall into temptations, we ask that he not allow us to be overcome by them, but that he help us overcome and overcome them. From this it is clear that we are powerless and weak on our own, without God's help" “Job was tempted, but was not led into temptation,” says Saint Cassian, “for he did not defile his lips with blasphemy, to which the tempter wanted to lead him. Abraham was tempted, Joseph was tempted, but neither one nor the other of them was led into temptation: for not one of them fulfilled the will of the tempter.” “Satan,” says Blessed Augustine, “has no power to tempt anyone, and if he tempts, it is only by God’s permission. But God’s permission is either to punish people for their sins, or to teach them and give them experience. But whatever the temptation, there is one law for everyone, as the apostle writes: “And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13 ). With this saying the apostle clearly shows that we should pray not so as not to be tempted at all, but so as not to be led into temptation. But since you will undoubtedly be defeated if you do not have God as your helper when He leaves you; For this reason, Christ teaches you to cry out in prayer: “And do not lead us into temptation.”
God allows temptations, according to Saint Cyprian, either for punishment when we sin, or for glory when we are tested, as was the case with Job, according to the testimony of God Himself, who says to the devil: “Behold, everything that he has is in his hand.” yours; only do not stretch out your hand against him” (Job 1:12). “Lead not,” explains one ancient teacher, “meaning do not allow us to be led into temptation by those who tempt.” “The world lies in evil,” writes St. Gregory of Nyssa, “and in worldly affairs there are reasons for temptation: whoever avoids the charms of the world will bypass the bait of the enemy, which covers the bait, and thus will not fall into the power of the one who catches it.” “The Savior,” says St. John Chrysostom, “clearly shows our insignificance and overthrows pride, teaching us not to renounce exploits, but also not to arbitrarily rush to them, for in this way victory will be more brilliant for us, and defeat for the devil.” more sensitive. As soon as we are involved in a struggle, we must stand courageously; and if there is no call to fight, then we must wait for the time of exploits in order to show ourselves both unconceited and courageous.” “We are weak people,” says Blessed Theophylact, “therefore we should not expose ourselves to temptations; but if we have fallen into temptation, we must pray that it does not consume us, and that God will grant us help and patience. He who fell into temptation and overcame it is worthy of crowns and glory.” “And we need to pray,” says Blessed Augustine, “not only so as not to be led into temptation, but also to get rid of the temptation into which we have already been led: BUT DELIVER US FROM THE Evil One.” “With these words,” says Saint Cyprian, “we ask to deliver us from all the troubles that the enemy is plotting against us in this world and against which we have one true and strong defense - God. Therefore, the Savior did not say: deliver us from the evil ones, but from the evil one, and thereby teaches us never to be angry with our neighbors for the insults that we sometimes suffer from them, but to direct all our enmity towards the devil, as the culprit of all evils. He is called evil because, not offended by anything from us, he wages an irreconcilable battle against us.” “He brings,” says Blessed Theophylact, “involuntary and voluntary temptations. Therefore, when you unwittingly suffer temptation from a person, do not consider this person to be the culprit of your temptation, but the evil one. It is he who teaches a person to be angry with you and be spiteful.” “The enemy rises most especially against the faithful in the hour of death,” says our Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “so we pray that the Heavenly Father will then protect us from him and, after his blessed death, take us to Himself, to the Heavenly Fatherland.
When we pray: lead us not, and not me, deliver us, and not me, from the evil one, we learn to pray for each other, we ask for God’s help, intercession and deliverance for each other.” “The Lord is near and His help is ready. Call and He will deliver,” exhorts St. Augustine. We can ask the Heavenly Father, for we know that the whole world belongs to Him: FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM; “And this enemy of ours is subordinate to God, although, apparently, he still resists, by God’s permission. And he is from among the slaves, although condemned and rejected; therefore, he will not dare to attack any of the slaves without first receiving power from above. And what do I say: not one of the slaves? - says Saint John Chrysostom. - He did not even dare to attack pigs until the Savior Himself commanded. So, even though you were very weak, you must nevertheless dare, having such a King who can easily accomplish all glorious deeds through you.” Thine is AND THE POWER - everything is possible for You and who can resist Your power, O Almighty? The GLORY with which heaven and earth are filled belongs to you; may it be, may the very fulfillment of our prayer serve for Thy glory, for the endless glory, unceasing FOREVER. AMEN! The word amen seals this whole devotional prayer; it means: verily, so be it! With this word we express our strong faith that our Heavenly Father hears our prayer and will fulfill it for His glory and for our good. “The Lord taught us this prayer,” says Saint Cyprian, “briefly combining in a saving speech all our petitions, and, gathering learned and unlearned, for every gender and age, in this prayer he deigned to make a precious reduction of all His commandments, so that the memory of students would quickly I learned everything that is necessary for simple faith.” In fact, as Tertullian noted, the Lord’s Prayer concerns all our Christian duties: “that we honor God - in the word: “Our Father”; that by deeds we testify to our faith - in the words: “Hallowed be Thy name”; that we submit obedience to Him - in the words: “Thy will be done”; that we seek life in Him - in the words: “Give us our daily bread”; that we confess our sins - in asking for forgiveness of debts, that we seek protection and protection from above from temptation - in the words of the last two petitions. Only God could teach us how He would like us to pray. Therefore, the reverent prayer established by Him, moved by His Spirit, being in our hearts, and proceeding, as it were, from His mouth, ascends to Heaven and offers to the good pleasure of the Father what the Son taught us "...
WHEN YOU LET GO A PERSON... WILL LET GO
AND TO YOU THE HEAVENLY FATHER... LET YOU NOT APPEAR
If you forgive people... Your Heavenly Father will also forgive you... Do not appear before men as fasting... Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... (Matthew 6:14-21)
There is nothing more disgusting to God than rancor. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace and humility, a kingdom of unanimity and brotherly love. Can a proud and vindictive person be accepted into this Kingdom? Obviously, there's a better place in hell for something like that. That is why the Savior, having taught a sample prayer, once again insistently points out that the remission of our sins depends on ourselves, that the judgment of God over us lies in our own power: FOR IF YOU WILL FORGIVE PEOPLE FOR THEIR SINS, their offenses against us, THEN WILL YOU FORGIVE AND YOU ARE YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. “Thus,” says Saint John Chrysostom, “the Savior makes you, the guilty one, a judge over yourself, and, as it were, says: what judgment you pronounce about yourself, the same judgment I will pronounce about you. If you forgive your brother, then you will also receive a benefit from Me, although My benefit to you will actually be incomparably more important than yours. You forgive another because you yourself need forgiveness, and God forgives without needing anything; you forgive your brother, and God forgives your slave; you are guilty of countless sins, but God is sinless.” “Our debts are unpaid,” says St. Philaret of Moscow, “but what an easy agreement is offered to us about them! If you forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. AND IF YOU DO NOT FORGIVE PEOPLE THEIR SINS, says the Lord, THEN YOUR FATHER WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU YOUR SINS. “And again the Lord mentioned the Heavenly Father in order to shame the listener,” notes St. Chrysostom. - To be a son of God, you need not only grace, but also works. And nothing makes us more like God than the fact that we forgive evil people who offend us. So, what kind of punishment will be worthy of those who not only do not forgive themselves, but also ask God for revenge on their enemies, while God does and arranges everything so that we do not quarrel with each other? The root of all goodness is love; That is why He destroys everything that can harm love. Truly, absolutely no one - neither father, nor mother, nor friend, nor anyone else - loves us as much as God who created us. Wanting us to be freed from many and great sins, God offered us a short, easy and convenient path. For what is the difficulty of forgiving someone who has offended? It is not forgiveness, but the maintenance of enmity that is difficult. On the contrary, it is easy to free yourself from anger, and this also brings peace.”
So, ask God for forgiveness of your sins, but so that your prayer ascends more easily and freely to God, give it wings; one wing is alms, mercy, love even for enemies; the other wing is the post. Whoever sincerely grieves in soul over his sins, food will not even come to mind. This is why repentance is inseparable from fasting. The grieving, repentant soul itself requires fasting. “The perishable body burdens the soul,” says the Wise One. Adam also fasted in paradise: God forbade him to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; he did not eat meat or fish, he ate only food from the fruits of paradise. This means that in heaven, even for an innocent person, fasting was necessary in order to be closer to God. Moreover, it became necessary for a person who was damaged and removed from God by sin. And we know that the Mother of God also fasted, the great Forerunner of Christ John fasted, the God-seers - the prophets Moses and Elijah - fasted, the apostles and all the saints of God fasted, both in the Old and New Testaments. After this, don't we need a post? When the apostles asked the Lord why they could not cast out the dumb and deaf demon, He answered them: “this generation cannot come out except through prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). “Do you see,” says Saint Philaret, “how great is the power of fasting combined with prayer? If the apostles need it, don’t we? He helps miracle workers, can we neglect his help? He contributes to victory over the tormenting spirit of evil; Wouldn’t it be more conducive to taming the flesh that wars against the spirit?” That is why Christ Himself left us an “image,” an example of fasting, so that we may follow His footsteps” (1 Pet. 2:21). That is why He did not abolish fasting, but, on the contrary, put it along with prayer and alms, and gave a rule on how to fast: ALSO WHEN YOU FAST, He says, DO NOT BE SAD, LIKE THE HYPOCRITES. Every good deed can be distorted and made ungodly. Vanity can also take away the value of fasting in the eyes of God. So it was with the hypocritical Pharisees. They didn’t even think about their sins; all they cared about was that all people saw how holy they were; For this purpose, they tried to make their faces sad and gloomy: FOR THEY TOOK ON GLOOMY FACES TO APPEAR TO PEOPLE AS FASTING. The Jews had, as they do now in the East, the custom, due to the hot climate, of often washing the body and anointing the head with oil: the Pharisees, when they fasted, did not wash, did not comb their hair, did not anoint themselves with oil, walked around in torn and unclean clothes and sprinkled their hair ashes. And all this is only to deceive both God and people. Of course, people were sometimes deceived, they pleased such hypocrites-fasters, but you cannot deceive God: TRULY I TELL YOU, says the Knower of the Heart, THAT THEY ALREADY RECEIVE THEIR REWARD, receive their reward from people, and therefore they have no need to expect rewards from God.
St. John Chrysostom says with deep sorrow that even among Christians there are such fasting hypocrites, and some are even worse than such. “At such words of Christ,” laments the saint of God, “it is fitting for us to groan heavily and weep bitterly. We not only imitate the hypocrites, but we have surpassed them. I know, I know many who, not only when they fast, reveal this to people, but even without fasting at all, take on the faces of those who are fasting and become worse than hypocrites!” AND YOU, WHEN YOU HAVE FASTED, ANOINT YOUR HEAD AND WASH YOUR FACE, try not to show anyone that you are fasting; do not differ in any way in appearance from someone who does not fast, SO THAT YOU APPEAR NOT FASTING BEFORE PEOPLE, so that people do not even suspect that you are fasting, BUT appear fasting only BEFORE YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER, WHO IS IN SECRET, Who sees all that is hidden. “With the words,” says St. John Chrysostom, ““anoint your head,” the Lord did not command that we certainly anoint ourselves, this is not what He commanded. The ancients had the custom of anointing themselves during times of joy and gladness, as can be seen from the example of David and Daniel. And Christ commands with these words only to hide your fast in every possible way. He showed that this is exactly how it should be understood by his very actions, when, after fasting for forty days and fasting in secret, he did not anoint his head or wash his face, and did all this without any vanity. This is what He commands us. What is serious in fasting lies both on us and on the hypocrites, for they also fast. And the easiest thing, i.e. to work in order not to lose the reward is My commandment, says the Savior. “However, if you want to appear to people, then wait: I will deliver this to you in its entirety and with benefit for you.” Know that humble fasting is a deed pleasing to God, which will not go without reward: AND THY FATHER, WHO SEES IN SECRET, WILL REWARD YOU OPENLY. “Think: you offend virtue itself,” says the same universal teacher, “when you perform it not for itself, but for some ropemaker, blacksmith or crowd of traders. And we offend ourselves when we are loved not for ourselves, but for others. Think about virtue in the same way: do not love it for others, do not obey God for people, but obey people for God. If you act otherwise, then although, apparently, you love virtue, you irritate God just like someone who does not follow it at all.” “Strive,” says Saint Philaret of Moscow, “do good, serve God; but beware that your exploits, your virtues, your piety are not revealed to people unnecessarily, arbitrarily, willfully, vainly.”
Virtue is of a heavenly nature: let it be a mystery to the earth. Do it in secret; let only God see her. This is what the holy saints of God did. They strictly observed fasting, but tried in every possible way to hide this virtue from human eyes. Everything that has been said about fasting can be said about all virtues: they should be covered in every possible way with humility. The Monk Silouan used to say: “Woe to the man whose name is more famous than his deeds.” We must always remember with caution, as St. John Climacus says, that “bad vanity teaches us to accept the image of a virtue that is not in us, prompting us to do so with the words of the Gospel: “So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds.” (Matt. 5:16). But the Savior speaks here about truly good deeds, and not hypocritical ones; truly good deeds, no matter how you hide them, will come out on their own, even if you don’t want it at all; and when they become known to people, direct them to the glory of God, so that they “glorify” (people) “our Heavenly Father,” who gives us both the strength and the means to do such good deeds. But the vain one does everything - “so that he may be glorified” before men. Blessed Theophylact says that by oil one can also understand alms, and by our head Christ, Whom should be anointed with alms. And washing your face means cleansing your soul and washing your feelings with tears. Vanity is the mother of covetousness. In order to show themselves to others, people worry about how to collect more wealth; That’s why the Savior, after healing the disease of vanity, speaks about non-covetousness: DO NOT COLLECT, DO NOT HAVE FOR YOURSELF ANY TREASURES ON EARTH: neither gold, nor silver, nor luxurious clothes, nor expensive stones; all these riches are fragile, deceptive: WHERE, i.e. here on earth, MOTH AND RUST DESTROY AND WHERE THIEVES BREAK IN AND STEAL. Today you own your treasures, but tomorrow you may lose them. “Marvel,” says St. John Chrysostom, “at the ineffable wisdom of Christ: he did not say that you will leave them behind to others, which is often pleasing to people, but, to their horror, shows that they are not able to do this either; even if people did not damage their wealth, moth and rust will always harm it. Is gold destroyed by moths? If the moth does not destroy it, then thieves steal. Are they really robbing everyone? If not all, then at least many.” So, do not attach your heart to perishable wealth, even when it flows into your hands. Don't consider him yours; after all, it is in fact not yours, but God’s; just be a faithful steward in the house of God. Do you hear what the Heavenly Householder says?
BUT COLLECT, store up FOR YOURSELF TREASURES OF GOOD DEEDS IN HEAVEN, WHERE NEITHER MOTH OR RUST DESTROYS AND WHERE THIEVES DO NOT BREAK IN OR STEAL. Nothing is lost or spoiled there; everything there is solid, eternal; send your perishable earthly treasures there. “Raise,” says Blessed Augustine, “your fruits to the “upper,” Heavenly, granary, where they cannot be threatened by the dangers that are inevitable in the “lower,” earthly granary. Do you believe in God? Do you trust in Him? So why don’t you trust Him and recognize that everything entrusted to Him here will be found by you there?” “Give,” says St. Athanasius the Great, “to the poor and beggar what he needs, and you will find it all whole, undefiled, undamaged in Heaven.” “Why are you afraid,” asks St. Chrysostom, “will your wealth really be exhausted if you give alms? No, give alms, and then it will not be exhausted, but will increase even more, for Heavenly blessings will also be added to it.” “The worm and the aphid,” writes one ancient interpreter of the Holy Scriptures, “denote the vainglorious thought that has arisen in the soul, which secretly eats up all our spiritual goodness, and the thieves who dig in are worldly praises that steal from us the hidden treasures of virtue.” Through human praise, our enemy-tempter finds access to our heart, infected with the poison of sinful self-indulgence, and arouses in us first the passion of vanity, and then pride, because of which he himself fell from Heaven. One of the seers told the Monk John Climacus: “When I was sitting in the meeting of the brethren, the demon of vanity and the demon of pride came and sat down near me, on both sides; and the first pushed me in the side with his vain finger, urging me to tell about some of my visions or deeds that I accomplished in the desert. But as soon as I managed to repel him, saying: “Let all who seek the destruction of my soul be ashamed and confounded” (Ps. 39:15), immediately the one sitting on the left side said in my ear: “It is good, it is good that you have done and I became great, defeating my most shameless mother.” Then, turning to him, I uttered the words following in order after the verse I had spoken: “Let those who say to me be dismayed by their shame: it is good! Fine!" (Ps. 39:16). The Monk John asked this seer: “Why is vanity the mother of pride?” and he answered him: “Praises puff up the soul, but when the soul ascends, then pride embraces it, which elevates it to Heaven and brings it down to the abyss.” Every earthly treasure is fragile and deceptive; but even if it were strong, the mere fact that people cleave to it with all their hearts and forget God for its sake is a great evil and disaster for the soul. Why?
“Because you then become a slave to your earthly treasures,” says Saint Chrysostom. FOR WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE, where is what you desire, what you care about, what you love, THERE WILL BE YOUR HEART, there your gaze and your desires will be constantly directed, for where the heart of a person is, there is the whole person, his whole destiny. “If,” says Saint Philaret of Moscow, “your treasure is on earth, then do not think that your heart will be found in Heaven - with God.” “There will be no small harm for you,” says St. John Chrysostom, “if you are attached to earthly things, you fall away from Heavenly things, you will think only about money, about interest, about debts, about profits... What could be more disastrous than this? No matter how much I talk to you, having a mind nailed to wealth, you will not hear anything useful and necessary for you.” Your heart will not be touched by the pleas of unfortunate widows and orphans; it is as cold as the metal to which it adheres... Gloomy and stern, you avoid everyone, you suspect everyone, you are afraid of everything... But not only wealth can take possession of a person’s heart in this way: any passion can become his idol, his “treasure”, with which he is sorry to leave. Look at the man for whom all the treasure of the heart is carnal sinful pleasures. His heart is poisoned by the poison of debauchery, his imagination is overflowing with the impurities of sin: does he have enough time to think about God, about Heaven, about the salvation of the soul? Or a person whose whole soul is occupied with caring about honors, awards, distinctions, promotions... This ambitious person is ready to humiliate himself to the point of servility before strongmen of the world of this, he is cunning, deceitful, sacrifices his conscience and the law: he will stop at nothing to push his neighbor over, to take his place. What a callous, cold heart this man has! Will it occur to him to take care of the future life, of the Kingdom of Heaven? His kingdom, his treasure is here on earth, in earthly honors and distinctions. And where his treasure is, there is his heart. Let's give another example. Here is a woman who sacrifices her entire life to her passion for clothes and decorations. A beggar does not care about a piece of daily bread as much as she worries about how to dress better than others, lest someone outdo her... And she succeeded - another passion has already raised her head in her heart - vanity... When should she take care of children? What does it matter to her that her husband does not have enough money to buy new things for her? And how many griefs, even family misfortunes, happen because of this empty passion for clothes!... Will there be a place in the heart of such a woman for God, for caring about the salvation of the soul?... But all such earthly “treasures”, all the sinful attachments to which one is inclined our heart, and you can’t count it: as many sins as there are idols to which a person gives his heart.
And for a disciple of Christ there should be only one treasure - God and His holy Law. If you love God with all your heart, with all your thoughts, then all your desires should be directed to the one God. Live on earth only for God, because nowhere can our heart find peace and bliss except with God alone. But He dwells only in a clear conscience, and Himself, by His grace, comes into our heart, but only when there is a clean place for Him there, and not a dirty one...
Understanding the Bible as a whole does not present insurmountable difficulties for people. Simply put, there is nothing in the Holy Book that is completely beyond the understanding of a person of average mental capacity. “The grace of the Holy Spirit,” wrote St. John Chrysostom, “for this purpose used tax collectors, fishermen, tabernacle workers and shepherds, simple and unlearned people, to write these books, so that none of the unlearned would complain about the difficulty of understanding...”
At the same time, we know many sayings of the fathers and teachers of the Church, who say that in the Bible everything is a mystery, every story contains a great, hidden meaning, which can only be understood by the chosen ones, those initiated into the mysteries of the Spirit. How to combine these two extreme points of view, and where is the truth in this case?
The Bible, as a work of a special kind - as the Revelation of God, contains some sublime truths that are difficult for the earthly human mind to understand. In order to see the high heavenly meaning with our earthly eyes, special guidance is needed. Where can one look for such guidance?
There is an ancient saying: “to understand a poet, you need to go to the poet’s country.” To correctly understand the Bible, you need to go to the Church - that is, turn to the interpretations of the Church. The Holy Book appeared in the depths of the ancient Church. The Church preserved and passed on great texts from century to century.
Modern scientists, based on the latest methods Research has proven that the text of the Bible has reached us without distortion, without replacing meanings, etc. Through the works of unknown copyists, the holy words of the Bible have retained their meaning. Of course, when translated into some languages, including Russian, the meaning of individual expressions may change slightly. But today this is not a serious problem. Nowadays, there are many interpretations of ancient and modern authors, adding to this modern technologies searching for information, we find that a modern seeker of truth can easily understand the meaning of the Eternal Book.
Why is it necessary to seek explanations of the Scriptures, first of all, from the Holy Fathers? The king's word is better understood and explained by the king's servant. The Word of God is better understood and explained by a man close to God. The Holy Fathers of the Church are humble and pure in heart, faithful disciples of Christ. Many of them, from early youth, sought divine truth in the Scriptures, in the works of the holy apostles, and God revealed His secrets to them.
The Holy Fathers interpreted Scripture, guided by the tradition that came to them from the apostles. Sometimes the apostolic teachings were transmitted orally from student to student, in other cases they were written down. Thus, Saint John Chrysostom in one of his teachings says: “Do not be embarrassed if what I said is strange to you; I speak here not my own words, but the words of our fathers, wonderful and famous men.”
The Holy Spirit, abiding in accordance with the promise of Christ in the Church, at all times chose holy men, and through them preserved, and to this day preserves, the true interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.
“Come and become partakers of incomparable wisdom: learn from the Word of God and know the eternal King! The Word of God penetrates our souls with its power. Oh, what a messenger of peace this is for you, warrior soul! What a means to tame the most violent impulses of passion! This power does not make us into poets, philosophers, or famous poets; but it leads us to higher concepts, it makes us mortals immortal and accompanies us from this world to the next,” wrote St. Justin the Philosopher (†166) about the meaning of the Holy Scriptures.
St. John Chrysostom († 407) gives a deep and unexpected explanation of the need for Holy Scripture: “Indeed, we should not need the help of Scripture, but should lead a life so pure that instead of books, the grace of the Spirit serves our souls, and so that, just as those were written with ink, so our hearts were written with the Spirit. But since we have rejected such grace, we will at least use the second path. And that the first way was better, God showed this both in word and in deed. In fact, God spoke with Noah, Abraham and his descendants, as well as with Job and Moses, not through writing, but directly, because he found their minds pure. So, God did not give the Apostles anything written, but promised instead of writings bestow the grace of the Spirit. “He,” He said to them, “will remember everything to you” (John 14:26). And so that you know that this way (of God’s communication with the saints) was much better, listen to what he says through the prophet: “I bequeath to you a new covenant, giving my laws in my thoughts and in my hearts, and I will write them all, and they will all be taught by God.” “(Jerem. 31, 31-34; John 4, 45). And Paul, pointing out this superiority, said that he received the law (written) “not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the heart of flesh” (2 Cor. 3:3)
“But since, over time, some deviated from the true teaching, others from purity of life and morality, the need for written instruction arose again. Think about what kind of folly it will be if we, who should live in such purity as to have no need for Scripture, but instead of books present our hearts to the Spirit, if we, having lost such dignity and having a need for Scripture, do not take advantage of how must, even with this second medicine!”
The Word of God is necessary for man in all circumstances of life.
After receiving the sacrament of Baptism, each person enters the Church and becomes a disciple of Christ. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; "(Matthew, 28, 19-20.) - this is the command of the risen Christ to the apostles, and through the apostles - a commandment to all Christians. - learn the truths of faith. And learning is possible only through listening and reading the Holy Scriptures, and first of all, the Gospel.
The experience of the Church says that every Christian eventually accepts the need to read the Holy Scriptures. A convenient, high-quality edition of the Bible can be a good help in this matter.
The Kreshcheniye.ru website will help you choose a good edition of the gift Bible, with a design that you will like, with a convenient, pleasant font, and a suitable format. We have a great edition to choose from. Leather-bound Bibles — it will be literally an eternal book that can become a family heirloom. A good binding will keep the pages in good condition. Most leather Bible editions come with several leather bookmarks, which is very convenient when studying several Scriptures at the same time.
The famous Serbian canon law researcher Bishop Nikodim (Milash) wrote the following in his interpretation of the 19th canon of the VI Ecumenical Council: “St. Scripture is the word of God, revealing to people the will of God...” And Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) said:
“...Read the Gospel with extreme reverence and attention. Do not consider anything in it unimportant or unworthy of consideration. Every iota of it emits a ray of life. Neglect of life is death.”
One author wrote about the Small Entrance at the Liturgy: “The Gospel is here a symbol of Christ. The Lord appeared into the world physically, in person. He comes out to preach, to His earthly ministry and is here among us. A terrible and majestic action is taking place - among us, visibly and palpably - God. The holy angels of heaven freeze in awe at this sight. And you, man, taste this great mystery and bow your head before it.”
Based on the above, you need to understand that Holy Gospel- the main book of humanity, which contains life for people. It contains Divine truths that lead us to salvation. And it itself is the source of life - a word truly filled with the power and wisdom of the Lord.
The Gospel is the voice of Christ himself. In a symbolic and spiritual sense, when reading the Gospel, the Savior speaks to us. It is as if we are transported in time to the flowering plains of Galilee and become eyewitnesses of the incarnate God of the Word. And He speaks not only universally and timelessly, in general, but also specifically to each of us. The Gospel is not just a book. This is life for us, it is a spring of living water and a source of life. It is both the Law of God, given to humanity for salvation, and the Mystery of this salvation being accomplished. When reading the Gospel, the human soul unites with God and is resurrected in Him.
It is no coincidence that the word “evangelos” is translated from Greek language as "good news". This means that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, a new message of truth was revealed in the world: God came to Earth to save humanity, and “God became Man so that man could become God,” as St. Athanasius of Alexandria said in the 4th century. The Lord reconciled with the man, He healed him again and opened the way for him to the Kingdom of Heaven.
And by reading or listening to the Gospel, we stand on this heavenly vertical road and follow it to heaven. That's what the Gospel is.
Therefore it is very important to read New Testament every day. On the advice of the Holy Fathers, we need to include the reading of the Holy Gospel and the “Apostle” (the Acts of the Holy Apostles, the Council Epistles of the Apostles and the fourteen Epistles of the Holy Supreme Apostle Paul) in our cell (home) prayer rule. The following sequence is usually recommended: two chapters of the Apostle (some read one chapter) and one chapter of the Gospel per day.
In my opinion, based on personal experience, I would like to say that it is more convenient to read the Holy Scriptures in order, that is, from the first chapters to the last, and then return. Then a person will form a holistic picture of the Gospel narrative, a feeling and understanding of its continuity and cause-and-effect relationships.
It is also necessary that reading the Gospel should not be like reading fictional literature of the “leg by leg, sitting comfortably in a chair” type. Still, this should be a prayerful home liturgical act.
Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy in his book “The Law of God” recommends reading the Holy Scriptures while standing, crossing oneself once before reading and three times after.
There are special prayers said before and after reading the New Testament.
“Shine in our hearts, O Lord who loves mankind, the imperishable light of Your knowledge of God, and open our mental eyes, our understanding in Your gospel sermons, put fear in us and in Your blessed commandments, so that all carnal lusts may be trampled, we will pass through spiritual life, even to please Yours in both wisdom and action. For You are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and we send up glory to You, with Your Originless Father and Your All-Holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen". It is read secretly by the priest during the Divine Liturgy before the reading of the Holy Gospel. It is also placed after the 11th kathisma of the Psalter.
Prayer of St. John Chrysostom: “Lord Jesus Christ, open the ears of my heart to hear Your word, and to understand and do Your will, as I am a stranger on earth: do not hide Your commandments from me, but open my eyes, that I may understand the wonders of Your law; tell me the unknown and secret wisdom of Yours. I trust in You, my God, may you enlighten my mind and meaning with the light of Your mind, not only to honor what is written, but also to create, so that I may not read the lives and words of the saints as a sin, but for renewal, and enlightenment, and for holiness, and for salvation of the soul, and an inheritance of eternal life. For You are the One who enlightens those who lie in darkness, and from You comes every good gift and every perfect gift. Amen".
The prayer of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), read before and after reading the Holy Scriptures: “Save, O Lord, and have mercy on Thy servants (names) in the words of the Divine Gospel, which are about the salvation of Thy servant. The thorns of all their sins have fallen, Lord, and may Thy grace dwell in them, scorching, cleansing, sanctifying the whole person in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen".
Regarding the latter, I will add from myself that it is also read with the addition of a chapter from the Holy Gospel in some kind of sorrow or trouble. I have learned from my own experience that it helps a lot. And the merciful Lord delivers from all kinds of situations and troubles. Some fathers recommend reading this prayer with the Gospel chapter every day.
This is “Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew” by St. John Chrysostom; interpretation of the Gospel of Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria; “Interpretation of the Gospel” by B. I. Gladkov, highly appreciated by the saint righteous John Kronstadt; works of Archbishop Averky (Taushev), Metropolitan Veniamin (Pushkar), Explanatory Bible of the Old and New Testaments by Alexander Lopukhin, other works.
Let us fall, brothers and sisters, with our hearts “hungering and thirsting for righteousness,” to the pure, life-giving spring of the Holy Scriptures. Without it, the soul is doomed to wither and spiritual death. With him she blossoms, like a flower of paradise, filled with verbal life-giving moisture, worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
INTERPRETATION OF ACTS
HOLY APOSTLES,
SELECTED FROM INTERPRETATIONS
SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
AND SOME OTHER FATHERS
BLESSED THEOPHYLACTUS,
ARCHBISHOP OF BULGARIAN
Our Holy Father
John Chrysostom
advance notice
to the Acts of the Holy Apostles
Many people, and not just anyone, know neither the book itself nor the person who compiled and wrote it. Therefore, I considered it necessary to undertake this interpretation, with the goal of both teaching those who do not know and not allowing such a treasure to be unknown and hidden under a bushel; because no less than the Gospels themselves, the penetration of such wisdom and such right teaching, and especially that accomplished by the Holy Spirit, can bring us benefit. So, let us not ignore this book; on the contrary, we will study it with all possible care; because in it one can see those prophecies of Christ that are contained in the Gospels actually being fulfilled; in it one can also see the truth shining in the very deeds, and a great change for the better in the disciples, brought about by the Holy Spirit; in it one can find dogmas that would not be so clearly understood by anyone if it were not for this book; without it, the essence of our salvation would remain hidden and some of the dogmas of the teaching and the rules of life would remain unknown.
But most of the content of this book consists of the acts of the Apostle Paul, who labored more than anyone else. The reason for this was that the writer of this book, blessed Luke, was a disciple of Paul. His love for his teacher is evident from many other things, but especially from the fact that he was constantly with his teacher and constantly followed him; while Demas and Hermogenes left him, one went to Galatia, the other to Dalmatia. Listen to what Paul himself says about Luke: Luke is one with me(2 Tim. 4:10); and sending a letter to the Corinthians, he says about him: His praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches(2 Cor. 8:18); also when he says: appeared to Cephas, also to the one ten, according to the gospel, and received(1 Cor. 15, 1. 5), means his gospel; so that no one will sin if this work of Luke (the book of Acts) is attributed to Him; saying: to Him, I mean Christ.
If anyone says: why did Luke, being with Paul until the end of his life, not describe everything?, then we will answer that this was enough for the zealous, that he always focused on what was especially needed, and that the primary concern of the apostles was not in writing books, since they conveyed much without writing. But everything contained in this book is worthy of surprise, especially the adaptability of the apostles, which the Holy Spirit instilled in them, preparing them for the work of housebuilding. Therefore, while talking so much about Christ, they spoke little about His divinity, but more about His incarnation, His suffering, resurrection and ascension. For the object to which they aimed was to make the hearers believe that He had risen and ascended into heaven. Just as Christ himself tried most of all to prove that He came from the Father, so Paul tried most of all to prove that Christ was resurrected, ascended, departed to the Father and came from Him. For if before the Jews did not believe that He came from the Father, then the whole teaching of Christ seemed much more incredible to them after the legend of His resurrection and Ascension into heaven was added to it. Therefore, Paul imperceptibly, little by little, brings them to an understanding of more sublime truths; and in Athens Paul even calls Christ simply a man, without adding anything more, and this is not without purpose: because if Christ himself, when He spoke of his equality with the Father, was often attempted to be stoned and was called for this a blasphemer of God, then with difficulty could have accepted this teaching from the fishermen and, moreover, after His crucifixion on the cross.
And what can we say about the Jews, when the disciples of Christ themselves, listening to the teaching about more sublime subjects, were confused and tempted? That's why Christ said: The imam said a lot to you, but you cannot wear it now(John 16:12). If they could not wear it, they who had been with Him for so much time, who were initiated into so many mysteries and saw so many miracles, then how did the pagans, having abandoned altars, idols, sacrifices, cats and crocodiles (because that this was the pagan religion) and from other unholy rituals, could they suddenly accept an exalted word about Christian dogmas? How did the Jews, who read and heard daily the following saying from the law: Hear to Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is one(Deut. 6, 4), and isn't there any other way for me?(Deut. 32:39), and at the same time they saw Christ crucified on the cross, and most importantly, they crucified Him and laid Him in the tomb, and did not see His resurrection - how are these people, hearing that this very man is God and equal to the Father , could not be embarrassed and not fall away completely and, moreover, faster and easier than everyone else? Therefore, the apostles gradually and imperceptibly prepare them and show great skill in adapting; and they themselves receive more abundant grace of the Spirit and in the name of Christ they perform greater miracles than those performed by Christ himself, in order in one and another way to raise them prostrate on the earth, and awaken in them faith in the word of the resurrection. And therefore this book is primarily proof of the resurrection; because by believing in the resurrection everything else was conveniently perceived. And anyone who has thoroughly studied this book will say that this is primarily its content and its whole purpose. Let us first listen to the very beginning of it.
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From the correspondence of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), XIX century.
Are you asking why reading the Holy Fathers is necessary? Wouldn’t it be enough to be guided by Holy Scripture alone—the pure Word of God, in which there is no admixture of human words?
I answer: when reading Scripture, it is absolutely necessary to read the Holy Fathers of the Eastern Church. This is what the holy Apostle Peter says about the Holy Scriptures: Every prophecy is not written according to its own telling (Russian translation: no prophecy in Scripture can be resolved by oneself). It was not by the will of man that prophecy came to pass, but by the Holy Spirit the holy words of God were enlightened to men (2 Pet. 1:20-21). How do you want to arbitrarily understand the spiritual word, which was not pronounced arbitrarily, but according to the inspiration of the Spirit, and itself prohibits arbitrary interpretation of itself. The Spirit spoke the Scriptures, and only the Spirit can interpret them. Inspired men, prophets and apostles wrote it; men inspired by God, the Holy Fathers, interpreted it. Therefore, anyone who wants to acquire true knowledge of the Holy Scriptures needs to read the Holy Fathers. If you limit yourself to reading one Holy Scripture, then, of necessity, you must understand and explain it arbitrarily. Due to the same necessity, it will be impossible for you to avoid errors; because a natural man does not accept the Spirit of God, and cannot understand, he strives for spiritual things (Russian translation: a natural man does not accept what is from the Spirit of God, and cannot understand, because it must be judged spiritually (1 Cor. 2 14).No one knows the message of God, but the Spirit of God.
The heretics of all times especially hate the writings of the Fathers: the writings of the Fathers reveal the direct meaning of the Holy Scriptures, which the enemies of the Truth would like to distort to confirm their false ideas. The heresiarch Eutyches expressed his dislike of the Fathers at the local Council of Constantinople. “The Holy Scriptures,” he said slyly, “should be respected more than the Fathers,” and he said because then the writings of the holy patriarchs of Alexandria Athanasius the Great and the recently deceased Cyril clearly exposed his blasphemous error.
The Universal Church, on the contrary, has always had special respect for the patristic writings: these writings preserved church unity, for which a universally accepted, true, grace-filled explanation of Scripture is necessary. Ecumenical councils always began with the reading of those patristic writings in which dogma or tradition were set out in particular detail, the consideration of which was the subject of the council’s meetings. And relying on the Scriptures of the Fathers, the Council denounced heresy, pronounced Orthodox teaching and confession.
In the same way, in private life, holy ascetics were initially educated by the writings of their fathers; only then did they move on to reading primarily the Holy Scriptures, when they had already achieved special spiritual success. “The sea of Scripture is deep,” said Saint John of the Climacus, “and the mind of a silent person does not rush through it safely: it is dangerous to swim in clothes, and to touch strange theology” (Homily 27. On Silence). This danger, this disaster obviously lies in arbitrary interpretation, in a false concept of Scripture, which is why many monks have fallen into disastrous error.
In vain do the heretics display their imaginary respect for the Holy Scriptures and insidiously hint that Orthodox Church respects him little, having too much respect for the Holy Fathers, whom they reject, whom they shower with shameless and unscrupulous slander and abuse. The respect of heretics for the Holy Scriptures is false, hypocritical; What kind of respect is there for the Word of God when it is left to everyone, no matter how depraved he may be, to understand and interpret it arbitrarily?
The Holy Church, accepting the gracious interpretation of the Holy Scriptures by the Holy Fathers, thereby proves its deep respect for the Holy Scriptures: it honors it as the word of God should be honored. She teaches her children not to be impudent in relation to the word of God, to keep them from proud self-will and lawlessness, commands them to be brought up by reading the Holy Fathers and, with their guidance, to penetrate into the wonderful light of the Word of God, striking with blindness those who dare to look at it without proper preparation, with an unclean mind and a sin-loving heart. One has only to pay attention to the worship of the Eastern Church to be convinced of its deep reverence for the Holy Scriptures. The Gospel - the all-holy book containing the words spoken to people by God Himself incarnate - is always present on the holy throne, vividly depicting Christ Himself. Only sacred persons are allowed to read it publicly; when it is read, everyone listens to it, as if it were Christ speaking; when it is taken out of the altar, lighted candles precede it. It is taken out and placed on a lectern in the middle of the church: then all Orthodox Christians present reverently kneel before it, as before the word of God, kissing it with fear and love.
And at this time the heretic, who had just boasted of his respect for the Holy Scriptures, is seduced by the reverence of the children of the Holy Church for the Gospel, mockingly calling their worship of the word of God idolatry, the worship of paper, ink, binding; poor blind man! he sees in this book only paper, ink, binding - he does not see the Gospel of Christ. The public reading of the Apostolic Epistles is performed by deacons and readers; the reading of other Holy Scriptures is performed by the readers in the middle of the temple. Church hymns, composed by the Holy Fathers, contain a full course of dogmatic and moral theology.
Glory to God, who has preserved His Church in purity and holiness! Glory to the holy Eastern Church, the only holy and true! All traditions, all its customs are holy, fragrant with spiritual anointing! Let all who oppose her, all who separate themselves from union with her, be ashamed.
Have reverence for the Holy Scriptures, the reverence due to a true son of the true Church; have due trust and reverence for the writings of the Fathers. The same Spirit of God that acted in the prophets and apostles acted in the holy teachers and pastors of the church: the witness of this dogma is the holy Apostle: God forbid, he says, in the Church the apostles are first, the prophets second, the teachers third.
In accordance with the words of the Apostle, the words of the Holy Scriptures and the instructions of the Church, the first place in your pious reading should be occupied by the writings of the apostles. Among the writings of the apostles, the Gospel occupies first place. To correctly understand the New Testament, read the holy teachers of the church, read the Psalter and other books of the Old Testament. Purify yourself with the Gospel commandments and pious deeds. According to the purity of the soul, God appears to it, God’s Word is revealed to it, for carnal eyes covered with an impenetrable veil of human words.
