Conversation with a priest: How to overcome fear and trust in the Lord

Conversation with a priest: How to overcome fear and trust in the Lord

- Father, good afternoon. Modern society is structured in such a way that people are almost constantly in a state of stress. Stress leads to fear, fear leads to stress again, the circle closes. As a psychologist, I can say that fear affects people more and more. We live our lives, moving from fear to fear, constantly fearing both for our future and for the present. What is this “fear” and can the Church help us?

- “Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the tombs.” This troparion of the main Feast of our Church is the most life-affirming of all that exists and banishes all fear. When fear strikes, sing the troparion “Christ is Risen” out loud, you can get it louder, and there will be no fear.

After all, there is essentially nothing to be afraid of: there is no death at all, and there is no misfortune of any kind, because Christ is Risen, and trampled death, and gave both breath and life to those in the graves. Life already exists forever and for everyone, and is not going anywhere. This means there should be no fear. At least for a believer.

This is where it all begins, our entire Christianity begins with this interpretation of this troparion.

The Lord became incarnate and created the Church precisely so that man would no longer have fear, but would have love and faith.

There is such a prophecy in the Old Testament: “...behold, I will open your graves and bring you, My people, out of your graves...” (Eze 37:12)

There is not a single wasted word in the Bible. And each of them is addressed to each of us, no matter what time we live in. Do you understand? Our apartments - they look like coffins. Therefore, the Lord takes us out of our boxes into His Temples - this is the first thing. And secondly, He brings our souls out of life in the grave - this is when we are fussing all our lives, running around within 4 walls, spinning, but there is no life at all. So the Lord will bring us out of our graves.

And, if we return to the question posed, then, of course, no one and nothing can help a person as much as the Church of Christ. The Lord became incarnate and created the Church precisely so that man would no longer have fear, but would have love and faith.

– A remedy that is amazing in its simplicity is the singing of the Easter troparion. On the one hand, it’s so simple, but on the other hand, what could be more effective than the Easter hymn?

-Yes, exactly – a song. And this is not surprising. In all centuries, our people have sung songs. In the most difficult and hopeless times, people found the strength to sing. Remember T. G. Shevchenko has the lines:

“Cherry fish tank kolo hati

The Khrushchevs are humming over the cherries, The plowmen are walking with the ploughs, The girls are sleeping as they go, And the mothers are waiting for supper.”

In fact, the song itself can lift your spirits. The positive influence of music on a person is recognized even by scientists: a psychotherapeutic method using music has now been developed and is successfully used, it is called music therapy. It’s no wonder that pop culture is developing so rapidly now. All young people wear headphones because the song tends to drown out despondency. But there are songs that do not drown out despondency and fear, but overcome them.

Church songs - troparia, kontakion, akathists, canons, songs of the Psalter of King David - this is what we are talking about. We feel bad, scared - we must definitely sing psalms. Therefore, you need to know the Psalter, it’s good to know at least a few psalms by heart. You need to have such a goal and learn. Singing psalms is an excellent tool for combating fear, one might say, irreplaceable.

- Okay, so it turns out that we have tools that can not just drown out despondency, but heal and restore. As another cure for fear and despondency, I would like to remember the akathist “Thank God for everything.” This is simply an incredible creation. I personally experienced his wonderful help.

-This akathist was written by Metropolitan Tryphon (in the world Boris Petrovich Turkestanov) in the difficult and terrible post-revolutionary time, when priests and the episcopate were arrested, exiled and shot. Life was full of fears. The Lord had mercy on Vladyka; he was not arrested or exiled. The time when the akathist was written was the 30s of the twentieth century. It was a time of persecution, a time of executions, and the destruction of the Church. And in this difficult time, such an akathist is born, such a song of gratitude to God. This is amazing because where there is gratitude to God, there is no fear. One of the ways to combat fear is to thank God for everything. No matter what happens, the words “Thank God for everything!” save, console, strengthen!

Gratitude is not an easy remedy, it is a virtue and it is a part of prayer, and its highest part, gratitude and praise, are the two highest components of prayer.

Where there is gratitude to God, there is no fear. One of the ways to combat fear is to thank God for everything. No matter what happens, the words “Thank God for everything!” save, console, strengthen!

It is very difficult to thank God for everything when every second there is a threat of losing your property, home, nurse-cow, family and friends, and even your own life. And it was precisely at such a time that such an akathist was written - the time of martyrdom and confession of faith, the time of the new martyrs.

This is the closest time for us to the martyrdom of the Saints. These Saints lived very recently - less than 100 years ago. And now we must continue their tradition of life - the tradition of gratitude in difficult times. You need to fight for this, fight with your whole Christian life.

If you want to thank God, you must live as a Christian. You will not be able to give thanks and live in sin, untruth, anger, unrepentance, not wanting to be with the Lord, in despondency. You can’t say, “Lord, thank you for the despondency.” You can give thanks for circumstances where you need to fight, but not for your inner sinful life; you can give thanks for temptations and trials. Gratitude is part of the fight against fear.

– Great, we already have a lot of recipes. Attending meetings within the framework of the project at the capital's church of St. Spiridon Trimifunsky “Father Plus Psychologist”, noticed how people calmed down, came to a kind of peace as they listened to the speech of the priest talking about something sublime. It turns out that words about the spiritual, like good music, have a calming effect on the listener, regardless of whether the listener has decided to perform what he is listening to or not.

-Saint Theophan the Recluse said that if we want to learn to live like a Christian, we need to work hard to assimilate Christianity. He himself worked hard to help you and me in this assimilation.

The saint collected the works of the Holy Fathers and reformatted them for us, so that it would be easier for us to assimilate. We read European classics translated into our language, for example, and everything is clear to us, everything is accessible. In the same way, Saint Theophan translated into a language we understand the soul-helping works of the Fathers of the Church, so that it would be easier for us to understand and assimilate the experience accumulated in our Church over the centuries of its existence.

It is necessary not only to hear the Word of God - it is important to live it, to perceive the grace-filled power that is in it.

So, he says that you don’t just need to hear the Word of God - it’s important to live it, to perceive the grace-filled power that is in it. And this requires a lot of effort on our part. We may not understand what is being said, but if our hearts are open, we, if we take the trouble to read or listen to soul-helping things, will receive the Spirit that is in these words. And this is the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of joy and peace, next to which, returning to our question, there is no place for fear.

– It turns out that only grace brings a person to a balanced state.

– It turns out so. However, it is necessary to understand how to strive correctly in order to receive this grace. So as not to leave empty-handed. There are many recommendations for us even in reading. Those who walked the path to the Holy Spirit before us compiled a whole system of algorithms to help us.

The easiest:

• when you sit down to read the Holy Scriptures, abolish your mind from all vain things, leave all matters;
• reading inspired books must begin with prayer and end with prayer. That is, first, renounce the worldly, second, ask God to open your heart to accept what you read;
• and another important thing - you must open your mind, read not with your eyes, but with your mind, and when you understand something - you must try to love it, feel it;
• further, the most important thing is that when you have felt a little of the sweetness of the Words of God, you must understand where you can apply it in your life, in your internal or external life.

Well, just as you can’t read Scripture, you can’t read Scripture by applying Its truths exclusively to others: “Oh! It’s written like this here, and that’s exactly what the neighbor does, ah-ah-ah.” You need to read and think about yourself, lament your failures, and take away from what you read specific advice for your inner or outer life.

Such careful reading also strengthens faith and eliminates fear, believe me.

– Here’s a question: how often should we read the Word of God?

-As often as possible! Every day is a must! Because the Word of God has the property of a sword - to cut through fear. Remember in the 90s there was such a toy, where you had to press the buttons in time to hit the flying ducks and shoot. So the Word of God just falls into such conditional “canards”. These “ducks” are not real - they are fantasies, fears, again, preventing us from living. And now the Living Word of God cuts through these fantasies. Like a sword.

In addition, there must be a shield.

King David in his psalms says that you need to look at your own experience: “Who,” he says, “has been forsaken who trusted in the Lord?” Show it to me! There's no such thing! How many situations have we overcome? We survived the 90s, our ancestors went through the war, the famine passed, but the Lord never left us. And he won’t leave. Even if we die, there is no reason to fear death, because there is no death.

The Lord is able to turn the worst and worst into good. And this knowledge, if we hold it firmly in our mind and heart, can be our shield always and everywhere.

Let us return to the example of the holy new martyrs, who lived only 70-100 years ago. They didn't have much choice. Give up God, give up the priesthood and become, for example, a school director (often they were immediately offered a position), saving yourself and your family. Or, having renounced betrayal, go to Siberia for a PMF or a camp, your children will go to a boarding school for children of enemies of the people, and your mother will go to another camp.

And now the choice is - to go to school as a principal, staying with the family, or - to a camp or to be shot. And those who chose camp or death became saints. And the Lord never abandoned their children, to the point that a can of milk appeared on the threshold of their house every morning (a real incident).

The Lord will never leave a Christian who fears the Lord, and will fill his house and leave him alive, and everything will be fine. You just need to turn to the experience of people who lived before. It is simply necessary to know history. History is a book where you can see how God controls destinies.

Faith in the Lord and reading the Holy Scriptures are a shield and a sword. The sword cuts through fear, and the shield protects our lives.

“Nowadays people are afraid not only for themselves. These are difficult times from an economic point of view, and fear for children often comes to the fore. In addition, the same economic and political situation forces people to make serious decisions: changing jobs, changing cities, even countries, serious changes in everyday life and family life. All this scares people.

I personally experienced extreme stress from moving to the capital. I remember that the work of St. Seraphim Vyritsky “It Was From Me” helped me a lot then.

–Our children are in our area of ​​responsibility, and there are fears that may accompany this area of ​​​​responsibility. This is a game between two rivals - responsibility and fear. There is responsibility and there is fear, which begins to tell responsibility that you cannot cope. But we should not forget that there is a God who is above us, above fear and above responsibility.

For some reason, we believe that more depends on economics and politics in our lives than on God. The fear that overtakes us must necessarily meet the shield and sword that we talked about earlier - this is the Word of God and our unconditional trust in our Lord, who became man and was crucified for our sake and to deliver us from fear.

Separately, I would also like to draw attention to Psalm 26, this is a psalm against fear - “The Lord is my enlightenment and Savior, whom will I fear”? This is an anthem of victory over fear.

– I remembered the film “Cure Fear” about St. Luke Voino-Yasenetsky. And it was a very touching moment. Such an example for us of sincere faith and trust in God is when a woman nurse undertakes the feat of becoming a mother to orphans. It seems to me that this film is about faith and overcoming fears.

-Yes, the film can indeed quickly clarify the issue of fear and trust in God.

Fear exists. But only the fear of God. But he's talking about something else. The fear of God is selfless love for Him. “Love your God with all your heart, body and all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). That is, with the whole mind, feelings, body.

How to love with your body? It’s going to the Temple, standing in the Services, it’s working until you get blisters, so that you can then help the poor, take care of your neighbors, animals, nature, and so on.

How to love with your mind? This is to study Scripture, think about God, reflect on Him, that He leads you by the hand, and will not leave you, and will not forget. And to love with your heart, that is, with feelings - this is when you do good deeds - thank the Lord, when you do sin - break your heart, cry before God, reproach yourself and consider that you have offended the Father. After all, our Father became a Man, and he can be offended and wounded. But there is no trouble that He would not endure for our sake.

The Black Sea is large, and the ocean is even larger, and they say that God’s mercy is an abyss, as much as there is water, there is as much mercy, and even millions of times more.

– Thank you for the conversation, father. Very useful tips.

-Thank you too. I will briefly say in conclusion that now opportunities for strengthening our faith are hidden for us everywhere. You must definitely be with God. Anytime and anywhere. God bless you!

Interviewed by Ioanna Agoeva

“I’ll go in and light a candle, and everything will be fine”: 30 naive questions for an adequate priest

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We have collected in one place what seems to be the most popular questions regarding faith and religion. And they asked them to the head of the information department of the Kemerovo diocese, Deacon Vyacheslav Lansky. Part-time - an adequate priest. We met with him outside the walls of the temple in a completely secular setting. There is no hint of edification in his speech; he does not impose in the conversation the obligation of faith in God. Therefore, we decided to ask him about priests driving Mercedes and other expensive cars, about the advisability of building churches at every turn, about the permissibility of abortion, about LGBT people and about the existence of God.

Carefully! After reading this, your opinion about priests may change forever.

God exists?

- I asked myself this question. Everyone thinks that since you are Orthodox, you have no doubts. Eat. And there are very serious doubts. I can disagree with God. I can argue. Crises are normal. I prefer to be honest. Why should I be embarrassed that I have a crisis of faith if I have a crisis? Like “Leningrad” in the song: “God, are you deaf?”

Why do people become priests?

— The very moment of becoming a church member, realizing one’s faith, in a positive way happens very rarely. The reason is simple - when a person is doing well, he lives in his comfort zone, he does not need to tear apart and reformat his familiar world. Coming to church is always a crisis. Worldview, material, ideological. A person realizes that he is missing something.

The Church is not only God, it is also people. This is a very important point. In addition to meeting God, people communicate with each other. Church in most cases is about socialization. Here, after all, people mostly try to work on themselves. We are living people, we all have our own problems, weaknesses, our own character. But in general, everyone tries to control their behavior. People are aware of their actions. Therefore, the church is no longer about imaginary holiness, but about the desire to become better, to communicate with the same people who have realized the need to work on themselves.

I became a clergyman because in the church I found tools for creating mental balance. I realized that I could try to teach other people to live with themselves. Therefore, after graduating from school, I did not choose to enter KuzSTU at the mining faculty, but entered the seminary.

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If you light a candle, will life get better?

“We have people who are trying to consciously lead a Christian lifestyle. And there are those who turn to faith only when some kind of misfortune happens. They think: “Now I’ll go in, light a candle, and everything will be fine.” In essence, this is paganism stylized as Christianity.

There is, of course, also the fear factor. I am suffering, just in case I will light a candle, and after death everything will definitely be fine. Often these are those who begin to feel their inevitable demise. Age may vary. Suddenly you realize that you have problems not only with health, but problems with being. Realizing the coming inevitability, people turn to the church. “I’ll light a candle, what if something happens.”

It is difficult to assess how effective this method is. But in any case, behind a person’s desire to come to church, light a candle, order a service for his loved ones, there lies some sincere feeling. Even when coming to church in a pagan way, one-time, for the sake of realizing some of his completely earthly desires, a person makes a certain effort on himself. For any person, especially a young person, crossing the threshold of a temple is very difficult. It's a certain intimacy.

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Why are people embarrassed to believe in God?

— I communicate with one sports organization, and the guys came to a prayer service in the cathedral before an important tournament. Naturally, this is not all forced. Only those who wanted to pray before the tournament and ask for God's blessing came. There were children of different ages: some were 12, some were 14. The 12-year-olds stood absolutely sincerely, crossed themselves, and took part in the service. And 14-year-old boys are entering another stage of mental development. They look not at the process happening around them, but at each other and catch each other’s reaction.

Even here they are trying to assert themselves in their environment, their culture, their community. In private you can talk to one of the guys absolutely sincerely about God, but in public he will stand and be embarrassed. That is, this is a person’s intimate world, which he is not ready to open to others.

This can be compared to the first relationship between a boy and a girl. It all starts with pigtail pulling, with trolling, which in some cases turns into bullying. This is the denial stage. Because it seems to a person that if he is sincere and shows his love, he will be weak. “And I can’t be weak.” If you go to church, you show someone your inner world, which you can hide from others. The very fact of coming to the temple indicates that a person is looking for something. This search is noticeable to others. And it can be interpreted as weakness.

If I don't believe in God, can I do anything?

— Here you can remember Dostoevsky: if there is no God, then everything is possible. You live and believe in the existence of God, but sooner or later this faith will require some action from a person, some work on oneself. What if you are comfortable with the way you live now? The idea of ​​God's existence will be an irritant for you. Therefore, it’s easier to say that there is no God, I live as I want, I won’t work on myself. Working on yourself is admitting that you are imperfect.

An analogy with art: culture also involves not only a pleasant pastime, but also some kind of work on oneself. You go to an art gallery, look at a painting and not only enjoy it, but penetrate into the idea that the author laid down.

How to be Orthodox?

— Orthodoxy is different for everyone. Despite the fact that we are all one. Let's take the Gospel. Four books about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. All four Gospels have completely different emphasis. If he opened up so differently for his closest students, then even more so for us. We are all different, so we also pay attention to different things. Some people are close to the idea of ​​social service, others will be interested in the path of spiritual development, for example, asceticism. Some people focus on the fight against their sin, while others like the aesthetic side of liturgical life. There are many factors.

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Is hatred of non-believers the norm?

— The Apostle Paul had a good indicator of righteousness: if a person said that he loves God, but hates his neighbor, then he is lying. You can't love someone you haven't seen and hate someone you see every day.

Does Communion help?

- It helps me. And sometimes it plunges us into even greater depths of crisis. Again, this is connected with my internal cyclicality, with my internal development. The last crisis lasted for a year. There was another revaluation of the world and values.

Do bathing at Epiphany and celebrating Easter wash away sins?

“I don’t see the tragedy in the fact that traditions associated with Christianity have become popular. I won't put up labels. They can change very easily. You can remember here, since I’m a priest, the story of two thieves who were crucified together with Christ. One began to insult him, saying that since you are God, come down from the cross, and we will believe you. The second told the first that “you and I were hanged for our cause, but he wasn’t.” This is precisely evidence of internal rebirth, change. Therefore, it cannot be said that people who celebrate Easter in tribute to traditions will remain at the same level of spiritual development. I hope we will just live more consciously.

Once on Easter, I came across a post on Instagram from a girl who painted eggs, baked Easter cakes and captioned the photos that she loved this holiday, but without “any mythology.” I actually don't see anything wrong with this. Ideally, of course, it would be to convey to people that they are celebrating at all.

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For many people, both Epiphany bathing and Easter are not a religious component. This is a component of national culture. I am Russian, which means I am Orthodox. There is a moment when religion becomes a marker of a person’s national self-identification. It's just a tradition, nothing more. The mentality of a simple person who respects some of the traditions of his ancestors is this: grandfathers painted eggs on Easter, and so will I. This is a good, good tradition. But they do not put any religious meaning into the celebration of Easter.

But, I’ll be honest, I’m not happy with the huge number of people in churches on Easter and the queues at Epiphany bathing: within a day they will forget about Christianity again. But at the same time, I am glad that there is the prospect of a serious conversation with people about life. Not even in the context of fulfilling some religious instructions, but in the context of their call for meaningfulness in life.

It’s easier to live, believing that you sinned all year, then plunged into an ice hole and became zero. In this regard, being a Catholic is easier. You have sinned a number of times, you do the same number of good deeds, and that’s it. Everything is fine. Orthodoxy, with its building of a fragile mental balance at every moment of time, is much less understandable to the average person.

Does confession help?

— A person comes to confession for the first time. He says it seems like he needs to confess. Although “I don’t seem to have killed anyone, I don’t steal much, I don’t really cheat on my wife.” A person may consider himself cool, but somewhere in the depths of his soul he will still have this worm of doubt. And there is a temptation to get rid of these torments. He comes to church, considering himself ideal, but it seems like he needs to do something to suppress his worm. And this is where work on yourself begins. Well, or you just satisfy the worm by going to church, and that’s why you’re cool.

A crocodile is chewing on my leg, but I think everything is fine. Until a person sees this crocodile and begins to fight it, spiritual comfort will not return to him.

Atheism - what is it?

- This is a fashion for the position. I would be interested in talking with a conscious atheist. Not with the one who has learned a set of phrases from the textbooks of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism and walks around shining with them. And with a person who has a system of thinking in atheistic ideology. And not with the goal of winning the discussion, but to really understand his philosophical position.

How many people used to proclaim themselves Orthodox, the same number now proclaim themselves atheists. The reasons may even be political: since the authorities are loyal to the Orthodox, it means that I will definitely not be Orthodox. At the same time, people may not have any philosophical system. But the question of religious affiliation is still a question of philosophy. The question of human self-determination: who I am, what I do in this world and where I am going.

Are faith and church the same thing?

— There is such a Christian thinker Sergei Fudel. He was repeatedly repressed for his religious beliefs, and not for anti-Soviet activities. He was just talking about whether faith could be outside the church. I came to the conclusion that it can. Following him, I believe that these boundaries of the church as an organization and the church as the mystical body of Christ around which we unite do not coincide. Naturally.

The organization is much broader and larger than the church we are aiming for.

For example, in the prayers before confession, the priest reads the following words: “Unite and reconcile him with the saints of your church.” That is, by committing a sin, a person falls outside the boundaries of this mystical body of Christ. Ceases to be a member of the church. Although he retains the name of a Christian, he is not essentially a Christian. But again, there is no general prescription here. Since you are Orthodox, you do this and that. No. You can do both, but, for example, you determine the amount of fasting or some other spiritual exercise yourself, in consultation with your spiritual mentor. If a person really works on himself, then he has every chance of being in the heavenly church.

Is the priest a priori right in his judgments?

— Belonging to the clergy, to the clergy, does not guarantee that a person is currently working on himself. This is not a guarantee that he will know the dogmatic system of the church. We are all living people. Priests too. Therein lies the rub.

In the 90s, society largely united around the church, transforming from militant atheists into a Christian nation in just a few years. Participation in such a mass picture does not mean that you are working on yourself. The sharp formal growth of the church significantly outstripped the growth of the spiritual institution. It’s like with teenagers who are given a passport at the age of 14, and the right to vote appears only at 18. Because his will, mind, and intellect are still being formed.

The same thing happened here. A huge number of absolutely sincere people came to church. But not everyone was ready to work on themselves, to overcome their crises. Some therefore were only formally involved in the church.

Do you experience burnout from working in the church?

— The vast majority come to church absolutely honestly and sincerely. These are believers. But at some point there is a breakdown, burnout. The constant desire to force one’s nature to work differently from the way it is used to, without knowing the algorithms, leads precisely to the fact that a person breaks down. All these stories about how we sin are often precisely due to the fact that a person is broken. But he is afraid to honestly admit it to himself. He cannot say that he can no longer live the way he lived. There are people who are used to being priests, they don’t know how to live otherwise.

If a priest experiences burnout and it is clear that he cannot cope with it himself, then they will try to help him. If a change in society would be useful for him, he could be transferred from one parish to another, the geography of ministry could be changed, and in order to stabilize internal discipline, he could be punished (punishment - editor's note).

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For example, not allowing worship to take place for some time. This often becomes a working motivation to pull yourself together. Sometimes it may look and feel like a soulless system, but the message here is different - to help a person understand himself. The last resort is defrocking. It happens. Life after ordination can be different: a person finds a new specialty, but some strive to remain in “helping” professions. Some retrain as psychologists, others follow the path of coaching. But personally, it would be difficult for me to consult on important life issues from a person who has crossed out his beliefs.

It often happens that a person’s burnout is combined with his moral decline. He thinks that he will definitely be defrocked now, and leaves on his own. At the same time, this happens with a very loud slam of the door and subsequent sharp criticism of the church. In such stories, upon detailed analysis, it turns out that the priest experienced burnout, he was unable to cope with his crises and began to lead an immoral lifestyle. So immoral that it was in no way compatible with ministry.

Is the desire to become ordained an appropriate careerism?

“The desire to be ordained in itself is quite normal. But, like everything in this world, such a desire can have constructive and destructive reasons.

If a person becomes a priest out of a sincere conviction to help people, cultivate goodness and at least somehow reduce the aura of all-consuming evil, then I don’t see anything wrong with it. Of course, even good intentions can change along the way. They built a huge temple, a man came there and immediately became a saint, that is, special, an object of close attention. He must be holy to those people who watch him from behind the fence. But if at the same time a feeling of uniqueness arises inside him: “Oh, I’m a saint!” It’s very scary when a person begins to evaluate himself this way.

It is important to separate self-improvement and selfhood. These are different things. Self-improvement has some kind of vector and is directed somewhere. And selfhood is when you close all vectors on yourself. And the desire for rank as an attempt to compensate for one’s complexes and shortcomings with the authority of the Church is a serious illness. It is better to stay away from such priests yourself and let other people, including those responsible for personnel issues locally, know about it.

Are kilograms of gold on the butts a must?

- As for the decoration of churches, the same worship, solemnity, pomp and at the same time severity - this is the Russian mentality. If it is a temple, it must be huge. If there are domes, then they must be gold. If the iconostasis, then all the way to the dome. Neither the Serbs, nor the Syrians, nor the Greeks have this.

What’s paradoxical is that people have a negative attitude towards this “expensive and rich” thing in churches, but as soon as it comes to building a new one, the parishioners themselves want to see something large-scale and solemn. There is a community, a certain number of people enter it, and churches there are built specifically for them.

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Who decides who will be a saint?

— Church society. Yes, it can be wrong too. If the church is “sick,” then this can be seen in the saints who are canonized.

Why does the church even value this tradition of saints? These are the people who were recognized as the absolute authorities of church life in a particular period. And after all, we don’t only have holy hierarchs. There are those who simply went into the forest and prayed. You look at his fate and understand: this man has truly achieved the kind of relationship with God that we need to strive for.

Religion to control people?

— It’s a difficult question, if you answer honestly. I sometimes get the impression that we really are perceived as people who are easy to manage. Not only outside observers think so, but also some public and political groups, even the government system. Yes, some Christians are more immersed in politics, some less.

But if we talk about the true meaning of the church, then it is not about politics at all. Orthodox does not mean that he resignedly lowered his head and went to do what he was told. The example of Montenegro is fresh in my mind, where the year before last the church became the main opposition to the current government. Because the vector that long-lived political leader Milo Djukanovic tried to build there was unpleasant to the people. He infringed on the church’s ability to lead a full-fledged church life. Hundreds of thousands of local residents associated with the church took to the streets to express their position.

The church is not only a religious institution, but also a major social institution. Of course, we interact with government and other public institutions. And within the framework of the current legal framework and in interaction with authorities, we can expand the scope of our activities. For example, organize a shelter for children or a crisis center for pregnant women in need of support, or a charity refectory. Church is about the improvement of a person on the path of love, about something original.

Why are there so few adequate priests?

— Clergymen often find themselves in the information field because of some kind of negativity. For example, very controversial harsh statements. Here you can remember Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, father of Andrei Tkachev. They expressed some extreme views, which are at least controversial from the point of view of Orthodox doctrine. But their words are scattered with a bang; Sobchak may envy the citation index.

And at the same time, no one will ever write and replicate so much any correct, smart thoughts. A drunk priest driving is more interesting than a priest who organized a drug rehabilitation center and helps people. Hype is more interesting than a good deed. Therefore, most people have the opinion that all priests are the same as the heroes of hype news.

Everything that happens in Transbaikalia and the city of Chita

Are they forced to make some decisions against their will?

“There are things where this could work.” But these are not fundamental things from the point of view of faith. For example, a church needs to be closed during a pandemic. So it's necessary. Although there were many who were against it. At the same time, each objector was explained why this was important. If we had not a conciliar, but a democratic principle, then everyone would have voted against closing the church at the very peak of the coronavirus. Yes, the patriarch recommended closing, but not all dioceses made such a decision. Somewhere locally it was considered that this was too severe a requirement for the current epidemiological situation. And no one was defrocked or banned from serving.

Does prayer help against coronavirus?

— If you read a prayer against coronavirus, it is not necessary that it will work. What is she postulating? First, we pray that things will go smoother than they might have. Secondly, we pray that people will not panic over this. We are living people, parishioners have a need for such prayer.

For example, a parish wants to build a church. They gather and pray to build a temple. They may not even build it, but they gather and pray. They perceive everything that happens as God’s providence, doing everything as much as possible, but accepting all the circumstances.

Is there a real need to build temples at every step?

— If I personally decided, then I would not support every initiative to build a new temple. The bulk of the people in the church gather for Sunday liturgy. We also take into account seasonality. There are fewer people in churches in summer, and more in winter. Many people go to live in the country or on vacation, hence these statistics.

Will building temples help you get to heaven?

“You can donate huge amounts of money for the construction of churches and think that everything will be great for you. Or you can donate them simply because you want. And don’t expect any kind of retribution there. Yes, they pray for every benefactor, builder, and donor of the temple at divine services. Just to make these people feel good: it doesn’t matter whether they are here or in eternity.

It is often said that thieves are especially successful in temple building, and in this way they buy forgiveness for themselves. I can't agree with this. When I communicate with a person who wants to make a donation, I immediately say: “Don’t think that you are buying yourself a ticket to the kingdom of heaven.”

Pop on a Lexus - the norm or a stereotype?

— To be honest, this is such a common stereotype that I would be glad if at least 20 percent of it corresponded to reality. I speak as a person who has been paying off his loan for Rapid for three years. But there are situations with expensive cars as a gift to a priest. And then there’s a dead end. It is not advisable to sell it, because the person will be offended and stop helping the parish.

It’s also worth saying here that having holy orders does not guarantee that a person suddenly immediately became dispassionate. This is the first one. He may think that he is generally cool, and Lexus is confirmation. When a person hit the ceiling of the next crisis, he was satisfied with staying at this level. Further turbulence became difficult and unpleasant for him, and there, with an increase in the level of spiritual development, the turbulence may increase. This is very rude to say. That is, the complexity of these temptations is really growing. Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right? Am I worthy of receiving this Lexus or should I think before accepting such a gift?

Question: what would you do in the place of a priest? I personally don't know. Stories like this have never touched me before. But I know priests who refused gifts such as a car. The reasoning was simple: I can’t.

What about LGBT?

— For me, a fornicator and a gay, for example, are on the same level. It makes no difference how a person satisfies his lustful passion. Who is the object of his passion is the second question. Just as alcohol addiction destroys you, not the type of alcohol, but the addiction, so it is here.

Sex for pleasure or just for conception?

— We are all adequate people, we understand that not every sex ends in conception. For fun, please. Firstly, there are medical contraindications to conception. And, for example, after a caesarean section, only an absolutely irresponsible person who loves only himself will have sex with his wife without contraception. Knowing that she needs several years to recover, and otherwise she may die.

Abortion - for or against?

— In general, I am against abortion. But there are a number of factors that justify it. Ectopic pregnancy, for example. How can you argue about the appropriateness of abortion if you need to save your spouse? Yes, unfortunately, there are situations when you have to make such a choice.

Who is the head of the family: a man or a woman?

— A man is in charge not in terms of permissiveness, but in terms of responsibility. At the wedding we say: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it.” It is ideal for love to be formed in such an unconditional form. Two become one. This is extremely difficult, but possible.

Love is not when everything is good and easy. Love is knowing yourself, your person through getting to know the skeletons in his closet, through the courage to open your closet to another person. Love the other completely, but do not completely dissolve in him. Sometimes a man blames a woman for, say, the breakdown of a marriage. But both are to blame. And a man has more responsibility for this.

Why are there no women among the priests?

“If parishioners come into the church and see a female priest, they won’t accept you.” This is a kind of psychological predisposition and conditioning. It’s clear that I can say: “This is how it happened historically, it came from the Old Testament and flowed into the New,” but for me this is not the answer.

God deliberately decreed that the priest should be a man. Women and men perceive different situations differently.

She can be a sister of mercy in the church, that is, engage in social service. A man is still more rational in his faith. Women are more prone to emotionality and, in extreme cases, to exaltation.

The Church is not against a woman president, a woman owner of a large business empire, a woman abbess of the largest monastery. Like, for example, in the Diveyevo Monastery. 700 nuns live there, dozens of priests who are subordinate to the abbess. But even here, only specially chosen men can perform divine services.

Do miracles happen?

— I’m quite skeptical in life, I don’t believe that with the wave of a magic wand you can change something. I live completely differently, I don’t expect any miracle. But when does this miracle really happen?

If you look at your life philosophically, you can see some vector along which you are leading, I will say: “God.” You will say: “Creation, destiny, Universe.” I may disagree with something. But if I trust God, even when I’m in pain, even when I’m deprived of something, in these moments everything somehow gets better by itself. It cannot be touched, felt, or measured with a ruler. Just feel. People can feel it too, but not realize it.

The task of Christianity is for a person to become holistic, harmonious, and conscious. So that he can build his relationships with other individuals, with God, with the world through this understanding of integrity.

Everything that happens in Transbaikalia and the city of Chita

churchorcpriest

Karina Miller07:05, 07 January 2022

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Conversations with the priest. How spiritual growth stops. Hieromonk Korniliy (Morozov)

– Our guest is Hieromonk Korniliy (Morozov), rector of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the Estonian city of Narva-Joesuu.
The topic of today's program is how to understand what is happening to our Christian life, and what are the signs that it is, as they say, coming to an end? In general, when we think about our Christian life, probably in almost all cases we try to convince ourselves that everything is fine with us. Even if we don’t read the Gospel, we pray every other day, we are ready to appreciate our efforts, justify ourselves, saying: “In general, I live a normal Christian life, everything is fine with me.” But suddenly a moment comes when you begin to doubt whether you are living correctly. How will be correct? There are a lot of questions. But if they arise, then maybe this is a sign that everything is not so scary? How do you even know when your Christian life is failing?

– We are now having a conversation during the Week about the publican and the Pharisee. This parable talks about a certain misunderstanding of his spiritual life that the Pharisee suffers from.

At his core, the Pharisee who appears before us in the parable is a pious man. He does much more than is required by the law, but at the same time he leaves less justified by God than the publican who says: “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” The question arises: why does a person who acts as the law prescribes, as tradition prescribes, walk away less justified?

By answering this question, we can think about our lives. Sometimes a person believes that his very presence in the Church or in some particular religious tradition makes his relationship with God genuine. This is not so, because tradition is only a tool that allows a person to get closer to God. Sometimes some traditions become a relic: this happens when they lose their meaning, lose their significance for people.

The church is also an instrument. But, as many theologians have noted, for some it often obscures Christ. It seems to a person: if he is in the Church, goes to church, confesses, takes communion, and so on, then he is already potentially saved. He is pious and believes that this is a relationship with Christ. But Christ calls for something different. He says that the Church that He gathered is a kind of instrument that must be used for salvation. And the Church can be likened to a ship, which, as St. Tikhon of Zadonsk teaches, “sails on the sea of ​​this world and strives for the quiet haven of eternal peace.” When we board a ship and sail to this or that country, to this or that point in the world, what is important to us is not the ship itself - what is important to us is the place where it will take us. In this regard, the Church is not significant for us in itself. The important place is where it leads us - the Kingdom of Heaven.

For a Christian, the most basic, most important thing is to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, Christ speaks about this. And for this we must think like Christ, feel like Christ, experience like Christ. This is where any Christian religious tradition should lead us.

But people very often replace the goal with a means, because it is much easier. And it’s easier to say: “I am within certain limits, I follow certain instructions given by the holy fathers, therefore I have a relationship with God.” But in fact, a true relationship with God, as this week’s parable speaks about it, begins with repentance, with the understanding: “I am not what I should be.” Understanding this dissatisfaction with oneself, of course, leads a person to think about whether his religious life is correct. This comprehension is available when a person does not revel in the fact that he is pious, or the fact that he has been going to church for 20 years and therefore, of course, already knows everything, has been taught everything and the Church will not reveal anything new to him. A person must always remain, let’s say, spiritually hungry in order to develop. Moreover, the Church provides an unlimited opportunity to go deeper and deeper into the meanings that the Holy Scripture reveals to us.

– It happens that in a person... not to say that the Christian life actually ends, but still this process of extinction occurs. But the person himself may not always notice this. And then the next question arises: can the Lord Himself intervene and show a person that he is simply going to destruction? Or are we unable to see the signs that the Lord sends us? Or are we already simply dead and the Holy Spirit has abandoned all attempts to correct our lives? Can the Lord Himself intervene in this process of a person’s loss of Christian life?

- I think yes! Certainly! The Lord himself often intervenes when he tests us for loyalty and sends us certain temptations. Such tests are like a litmus test, and they allow a person to understand how he lives and thinks - like a Christian or not. I always give an example of an anecdote that clearly shows how far away even those people who regularly visit the temple can be from God. It takes place in the 60s in America. One black man sits on the steps of the temple and cries. Christ approaches him and asks: “Why are you crying?” - “They won’t let me into the temple!” - “Don’t worry, they won’t let me in there either.”

What are we talking about here? About the fact that sometimes people cannot see their lives in the light of the Gospel commandments and are only in a certain, even religious, tradition. But then their spiritual life does not develop. Or another example: a Christian community (or an individual Christian) cannot accept another person who has his own views or his own attitude to life; cannot accept any alcoholic or “asocial element” into his circle. After all, many parishioners really cannot accept such people.

I always say that such people (with different views or asocial) are indicators of whether we are Christians, whether we are a real Christian community or not.

I like this image, and in such situations I bring it for clarity: let's remember how the human hand is structured - all fingers are directed in one direction, and only one is directed in a completely different direction. But it is this finger that allows the hand to be a hand, and not a paw!

This example allows us not only to check how “otherness” is perceived in a particular Christian community. It allows us to make sure whether this is truly a Christian community; whether the Christian in it is really a Christian; Is he capable of perceiving something different and even alien - a different point of view, a different view of certain things or people.

- Amazing!

I would like to ask you the questions that Orthodox psychologists usually ask in order to identify some dangers. I will now repeat these questions and the answers to them, and you will tell me that this is absolute nonsense or not. Are you ready to read not only Orthodox books, but also fiction? If “no”, then ring the bells, because this is one of the dangers.

Are you ready to watch not only Orthodox documentaries, but also feature films? If “no”, then ring the bells.

Does social life cause you sharp denial? If “yes,” then this indicates that your Christian life is not in order.

To what extent is this opinion correct, in your opinion?

– Firstly, I would not divide the life of a Christian into secular and religious, church, because we have the problem of “weekend Christians.” When a person is in church on Sunday, he thinks like a believer, and then throughout the work week he lives according to the principles of this world: he can deceive somewhere, leave something unsaid, steal somewhere, and so on.

- “I’ll steal on Saturday, and confess on Sunday.”

- Yes. And a person, in principle, does not think that he is a Christian. But there is another problem. When a person becomes a church member, he radically rejects everything that, as it seems to him, is unchurched. I think Father Alexander Men said this well and colorfully: that in any action you need to find the action of the Holy Spirit.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are varied: whether you watch this or that feature film, the grace of the Holy Spirit is expressed through this creativity. Do you read classical literature – these gifts also manifest themselves there. Often a person finds answers to his life questions by reading certain classical works or listening to classical music. Moreover, we must remember that all this came out of the church fence (from science to music) - everything that is now secular.

– Painting, literature and so on.

Question from TV viewer Dmitry from Gatchina: “How can despondency hinder spiritual growth, slow it down? And I ask everyone to pray for peace between Russia and Ukraine.”

– If a Christian experiences despondency, this is a reason to think about his spiritual life. A Christian cannot be discouraged. He knows that everything is in the hands of God and God will not do anything bad. As Father John (Krestyankin) said: “So that’s how it should be!”

If I am visited by certain sorrows, it means that the Lord is sending them to me and I will endure them. There is always a happy ending. The whole Bible ends like this: the Lord comes and transforms this world. No matter what evil exists in the world, no matter what difficulties a person experiences, life for a believer ends with the Kingdom of Heaven, the joy of being with God. And the life of the whole world ends with this joy of being with God.

Christianity is a joyful faith. We believe that everything will be fine in life, that sooner or later good will defeat evil.

- This is wonderful. And say a few words about prayer for peace between our fraternal countries.

– Our believers are not divided between Russia and Ukraine – we have one cultural identity. We are two Christian countries with the same Christian heritage of St. Prince Vladimir.

– Christ says: when I come, will I find faith on earth? Perhaps the test of our faith divides us inside into homo liturgus, that is, a liturgical person, and into a person who lives one life from Monday to Sunday, and another on Sunday morning. And perhaps this division within us is the reason for the loss of faith?

– Of course, religious life should be everyday... As the Holy Scripture says: faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Reading and studying the Holy Scriptures, attending divine services, uniting with Christ in His Body and Blood, pilgrimage - all this kindles faith.

Faith can strengthen, it is not static - it either rises from strength to strength or decreases. The latter happens when a person does not warm up his religious life in any way.

– You serve in Estonia, in Ust-Narva; it is very close to Russia. In the photo we see your temple is still in good condition. But recently it was set on fire twice and is now in a deplorable state. And this is not an accident - not a short circuit or a lamp that fell. This means that there are people who are enemies of the Church.

How many parishioners do you have in your church?

- About fifty people.

- That's quite a lot. Do most of them take communion?

- Yes, everyone takes communion.

– Are these Russian people?

- Russians.

– You are a priest who not only cares for parishioners, but also a person by whom people of other cultures evaluate the Russian Orthodox Church.

- Yes.

– Do non-believers ask you questions?

- Yes, sure. Last year, the first arson was committed on February 14, and the second on June 17, which aggravated what happened in February. I have information on my page in the VKontakte group that says how you can donate to the renovation of the temple, since the temple is currently being restored.

This temple is historically significant. Ust-Narva is a resort where the entire St. Petersburg intelligentsia, including the grand dukes, once came. Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov visited our region and wrote about Ust-Narva. Ilya Repin was here, and Ivan Shishkin came to our temple. Nikolai Leskov’s story “The Corral” is dedicated to this particular temple.

Do non-believers ask questions? Certainly. Although there are no unbelievers in the world, there are those who trust God, entrust their lives to Him, and there are those who do not. This is the difference between a believer and a doubter: a believer completely surrenders his life to God and knows that nothing in his life will happen without God’s permission. And if he allows it, it means that I need it and I will overcome it. The unbeliever has less such support in life.

– Question from a TV viewer: “Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov) wrote that according to faith, people are divided into three categories. The first category includes non-believers, the second true believers; to the third - those who pray, go to church, but live without God. How many truly believing Orthodox people do we have?”

- How many people do not live according to the law of this world - no one can give such statistics. People come to church in different ways, each for their own reasons: to solve their mental and psychological problems, to overcome some difficulties in life. This is one way, and it can lead a person to an authentic relationship with Christ. There are people who come to repent, who reflect on their lives and bring repentant feelings to God; This is what their religious principles are based on.

Of course, there are few people who come to the temple to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven. This can be seen from the queues that line up to the holy relics. What do people ask from the relics of saints, what do they pray for? Not many people who ask God for spiritual gifts in their lives are asking to correct their sins (for example, a person asks God to help him get rid of anger). Mostly people ask for solutions to life issues. This is not bad, but it does not apply to spiritual life.

– It happens that in church we see people who have recently come to God, they do not know how to behave in church. For some, this causes a negative reaction; they say, he’s stuck, he doesn’t know how to bow, how to cross himself; others, on the contrary, help a person and are happy for him. But often a person who has recently come to church experiences very great inconvenience. Where is our Christianity? Where is our love? Is it possible to cultivate Christian love in oneself through communication with unbelievers or beginners?

– Through this there is some testing of our Christian faith. One of the seminary teachers very correctly said that we need to at least bring our family and friends to the Church. You don’t need to grab people’s hands on the street, as sectarians do, but you should at least bring your children and grandchildren to the Church of God. Why doesn’t this sometimes happen in the family of a believer? Because a person cannot answer certain questions that unbelieving relatives ask him; His knowledge of his faith is not enough.

But if a person begins to study, immerses himself in the study of his faith, then he understands what words he can use to address his family and friends. This is the most important thing a Christian can do towards his family. This is stated in the Holy Scriptures: let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven. In this respect the Christian life is truly expressed. If loved ones see genuine Christian life, then they are ready to come to church.

Now the world is very changeable, changing rapidly. Previously, old age was valued for some kind of knowledge, for example, a blacksmith passed on his craft to his son. And he was significant because he had knowledge. Now in the modern world there is so much information that no knowledge in old age is needed for the younger generation. The only thing we can convey is spiritual experience, spiritual baggage. A respectful attitude towards old age and old age’s wisdom is important, because sooner or later a person faces questions: why am I living? why am I dying? what will happen after my death? Old age can answer these questions for young people. This is where the old generation can realize itself.

Yesterday I spoke with a seminarian. He said the right thing: a young believer differs from his peer who does not go to church in that he constantly communicates with older people, with older priests and parishioners. Therefore, young believers have an older person's perspective on life, and this distinguishes them from their peers in a positive sense.

This is truly so, because the spiritual core is what the life of an elderly person is built on. He no longer has the beauty, attractiveness, or health that he had in his youth. He has already lost the feeling of what happens for the first time: first study, job, salary, first kiss, first car, apartment. But an elderly person has a sense of spiritual experience that he has accumulated and which he can realize in his later life. This is also very important.

There are two types of old age: old age, which constantly looks into the past and is concerned only with preserving itself biologically; and old age that looks to the future. In one interview, an elderly director, when asked by a journalist about his creative plans for the future, began to list a whole list. She thought there would be a general little answer; and you should have seen her reaction when the director (he was already 86 years old) began to list his plans: write memoirs, stage a new play, go somewhere, visit an exhibition, and so on. A person who lives for the future in old age can attract both young people and the people who surround him.

It's bad when a person looks into the past. Compares with how things were, demands to appreciate him for past merits. This always causes negativity from the outside. Grumpy old age does not bring positive moments either to the person himself or to those around him. Older priests generally look to the future in their old age. For example, we can judge this by Father Vladimir Sorokin, he is the rector of the Prince Vladimir Cathedral; Alexey Ilyich Osipov, professor of the Moscow Theological Academy; and many other people who are already of advanced age. They have a huge number of plans for the future.

– Next to the seminary and academy we have the hospital of St. Blessed Xenia, which houses elderly people. I like that students don’t just attend it, but that it is part of their compulsory education. There is spiritual communication with older people, and not just patronage care.

When we encounter the death of loved ones and understand that we ourselves will soon find ourselves there, fear appears , which probably exists in every person. What fear indicates that your Christian life is in danger?

– A believer as such has no fear of death. It is clear that everyone is afraid, because there is a moment of what you don’t know. Nobody knows what it is to die, so we are afraid. But in essence, preparation for death is very important. This has always been in our culture. Remember the grandmothers and grandfathers who hung their dresses and suits in the closet and told their children and grandchildren: if I die, wear this particular dress, this underwear, these shoes; here is the pillow I sewed for the coffin.

Some in the villages made their own coffin, and it stood in the attic. That is, the person was preparing for this moment. It's strange that in modern culture this is disappearing from us. You know you're going to die; Every person on earth has this knowledge; this is our only knowledge about our future. And if I know this, then it’s easier for me to prepare for it. When I prepare for this, I'm not so scared anymore.

Think about how you take exams. If you know that there will be an exam that day and you are preparing for it, then you are not so afraid to go to it. It’s the same with the moment of death. I always tell cancer patients this: be glad that your disease allows you to prepare for the most important moment in your life. Because a stroke or heart attack is worse than cancer. A person may be in an unconscious state, he does not react to this world in any way, only care is possible for him. A cancer patient can prepare for the most important moment of his life. Each of us must prepare for this moment.

– We have such cases when it makes sense for us to think about the question: how ready am I for the main moment in my life? If I die tomorrow, what should I do? How can I be sure that my Christian life is not over and that I can stand before God and answer His questions?

– The most important thing is that everyone must give in advance all the recommendations on what to do and to whom after his death; for example, give this vase to Aunt Shura, this to so-and-so, and so on; that is, write down everything that should be given to whom. Because there is nothing worse than a quarrel at a funeral among relatives. People who, after the death of a person, carry out his orders, continue the work of their beloved deceased. This certainty in life principles is very important. It is no coincidence that we constantly ask God for a Christian, shameless and peaceful death. It is very important.

Presenter Gleb Ilinsky