Each of us has given alms at least once in our lives on the street, in a temple or on public transport. Some people do it automatically, others think about it and serve it, for example, only to children or the elderly. Some people throw change into their hands, others hand them large bills.
On the one hand, alms are a “plus” in karma. On the other hand, there is a belief that improperly given alms can harm the giver. There is an opinion that by giving to a beggar, we “buy” poverty and illness from him.
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It is believed that the most important thing at the moment of giving alms is a bright and sincere intention. In this case, any action will be correct.
You can often hear from people of the older generation that you need to give alms with your right hand, saying: “Let the hand of the giver not fail. Amen." With the right hand, because the right hand does the right thing.
More modern views are much more prosaic. Today, most often, the argument against alms can be simply banal disgust and fear. People who ask rarely look neat. Many of them are dressed in dirty clothes and have obvious signs of various diseases. We can say that beggars in the modern world are a kind of litmus test of society and its worldview as a whole. The way a passer-by treats the person asking also shows what kind of person he is.
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In addition, there is a belief that alms are not only a way to repay “debts” to the Universe, but also an opportunity to make room for something new.
Alms can be different!
After all, almsgiving is a kind human attitude towards someone in need.
When the Bible talks about giving, it does not only mean material things. It talks about good deeds and bright intentions. Giving alms is tantamount to giving material alms. Not everyone has finances or food to share. But everyone has a kind word and time to help. Many simply need human support. After all, it won’t cost you anything at all, and you can save someone’s life.
You see a woman crying on the street - don’t pass by. Suddenly she was robbed, and she needs help. Or maybe she has a problem at home, and she has no one to share it with, and she cries. It is possible that a person simply feels bad, but does not have the strength to ask for help. After all, you or your loved ones may find yourself in such a situation, and it’s good when strangers don’t pass by indifferently.
Or look around, maybe you have an old neighbor whose children don’t go to see her, or she’s completely lonely and needs help. Go to the store, get water, chop firewood, clean the house, or just talk over a cup of tea. For many lonely old people, your half an hour of time will not only lift their spirits, but will also bring them back to life. And you need to do this every day, and not when you yourself feel bad and think about others.
After all, most of us go to church when one of our loved ones begins to get sick or is unwell ourselves. That’s when we light candles in church and distribute them to the poor. Is this correct? Of course not. Every day someone needs help, and not just when we remember it, and then only in order to save ourselves. It is better to do things when you are healthy and share them with others.
It also happens that rich people are so stingy that they don’t even help their children and don’t share their wealth. And when they are already on their deathbed, they remember them. Then they begin to divide who gets what. Can such a person be sure that his children will fulfill his last wishes? After all, during his lifetime he did not honor them, and they can repay him in kind. If the Lord blesses a rich man through his wealth, then he must share it during his lifetime.
Refusal to give alms.
In any case, the decision to give alms is a personal matter for everyone. A person has the right to independently manage his money, no matter what amounts are involved. Everyone has their own financial condition, attitude towards money and signs associated with it. You cannot condemn a person for refusing to give alms.
However, you need to remember to treat other people with respect, no matter who they are. You can even refuse a request in different ways. Agree, you can rudely throw out: “God willing” or “Go to work,” or you can simply shake your head negatively or say: “Sorry, I can’t right now.”
The fact that a person is not standing with his hand outstretched does not mean at all that the money in his pocket is not the last. Not everyone can afford to give them to other people. But rudeness in this situation can hardly be justified.
Priest Andrey Posternak (Church of St. Nicholas in Kuznetskaya Sloboda)
– The Holy Scriptures say quite clearly about whether it is necessary to give alms or not.
The Old Testament, the New, and the Gospel say that a person must necessarily help his neighbor. This is an expression of the commandment of love for one’s neighbor, therefore, when such a question arises, it is obvious that the Lord gives exactly this answer to it.
Another question is that when you give alms, some doubts arise. But we must remember that these doubts have always existed: during the time of Philaret the Merciful, and during the Middle Ages, modern times, when there were many beggars, swindlers, as we would say now.
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How to give alms correctly?
For those who believe in omens, it is important to learn how to give alms correctly.
It's difficult to present without judging. Believers claim that there is a universal key to the questions of what is right and what is wrong - this is love. Whatever is done with love is right. When giving alms, you should pray in your soul for the person asking, and think something good about him.
You don’t need to think about whether you are doing well or badly, don’t make distinctions between men and women, old people and young people, don’t pay attention to nationality.
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There is an opinion among clergy that it is not worth giving money to people who drink. It's better to give them food. After all, by giving them money, we encourage their “slippery” path. The same rule applies to children: it is believed that money spoils them.
Parable of the Wandering Jews
One of the biblical parables is also devoted to this issue. The Jews, wandering in the desert, sacrificed gold twice. In the first case, they collected all the jewelry of their women and cast a calf from them. They presented this gift to the devil. The second time, all the Jewish husbands collected all the gold and silver coins. They presented them as a gift to the Lord God.
What does this mean? That when a person spends what he earns on all his whims, such as parties, clothes, expensive jewelry, then he presents all this to his demon. That is, thereby feeding it. And if he gives acquired property and money to the poor or buys them food and clothing, then the person saves his soul. After all, he makes a presentation to the bright side of his inner being.
Where can you give alms?
You can give alms if the beggars are:
- At the entrance to “God’s” places: churches, chapels, holy springs (at the entrance).
- At the entrance to the market.
- At public transport stops.
- At the entrance to government buildings.
- If they ask for animal feed (in this case, you can add a little to the person asking).
- At government agencies (for example, the registry office). It is believed that in this case, the person asking takes on the sins of the giver along with the money, giving him in return a happy future, wealth and prosperity.
There are situations when a beggar asks for a small amount, and having received it, asks for more. In this case, it is customary to give first, but say the phrase a second time:
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“The first word is more valuable than the second.”
Another example
A neighbor knocks on your door and plaintively asks: “Neighbor, give me some booze.” Everything hurts, don’t let me die.” You don’t have to refuse, but you don’t have to give money or drinks either. The best thing to do is to invite a person into the house. Ask about life and tell him - “You’re a good person, that’s why I won’t give you money. You’ll be fine, just don’t drink anymore.” Feed him and let him go in peace.
This is a 100% guarantee that your neighbor will now bypass your door and make rows about the fact that you didn’t give him money. Be merciful, give alms correctly and be happy. Peace and goodness in your soul.
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You cannot submit:
- For those who sit below ground level (in underground passages). They say that the earth is the border between worlds. By giving alms below her level, you can accidentally give your benefit to the lower world.
- Drunk.
- People sitting at intersections. An intersection, like an underground passage, is considered a place with negative energy.
- People sitting near medical institutions, cemeteries and near sacred trees.
- People holding a sign or a child.
- In addition, you cannot serve on your birthday, christening or on Wednesdays. Wednesday is Mercury day. Mercury is the god of trade. Giving alms these days means failure in business.
- Near bread and dairy stores. You also cannot give change from these products. It is believed that in this way one can share the fate of the person asking.
- It should be given, without touching the person asking, with small and medium coins.
- Coins of even denominations cannot be served.
- You cannot touch the person asking.
- You cannot look the person asking in the eyes.
- Under no circumstances should you expect that your alms will be credited to you somewhere. Even if you do not brag out loud about your action, even the thought of it is a manifestation of pride. You need to serve from the heart. Only in this case will the deed really “count” and have good power for the giver.
In addition to beggars, there are a huge number of living beings on the street who also need help. These are sick people, children deprived of parents, and even animals. Today there are many ways to help those in need.
In any case, in the process of alms, the most important thing is not the signs or the place, but your sincerity and good intentions.
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Priest Dmitry Ageev (Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” on Bolshaya Ordynka)
– Giving to the one asking is not just connected with serving the Lord, it is serving Him itself! Christ said directly: “Truly I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Without helping those in need, all other service becomes meaningless.
I think that God in the next world will not ask us how diligently we fulfilled the liturgical regulations or how many gilded domes we erected and erected monuments to saints. But did we feed the hungry – He will definitely ask.
The Monk Isaac the Syrian said: “Nothing can bring the heart closer to God than alms,” and St. John Chrysostom practically equated alms and baptism, saying that alms cleanses the soul just as the font cleanses sins.
I would not like to write here detailed instructions on who should be served and how much and “how to distinguish a real hungry person from a fake one.” If a person is homeless, hungry and asks, he needs help, if possible.
Unfortunately, we cannot help everyone in need. There are a lot of them. But we can help at least some. This is already a lot. Let us remember the Gospel parable about the rich man and Lazarus. By devoting just a little from our wealth, which is sometimes even imperceptible to us, we can save a beggar from death, and these small crumbs can change our lives in eternity.
In our country today there are such a huge number of poor, hungry and wretched people that there is a possibility of “choice”, if you really want to choose - who deserves your hundred rubles and who doesn’t.
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Examples from the lives of saints
Perhaps the most vivid idea of the importance of charity is given by a story from the life of St. Thomas the Apostle. Distributing the wealth of the Indian king, intended for the construction of an earthly castle, to the poor, he instead built him a palace miraculous in heaven, which was later seen and confirmed by the king’s suddenly deceased brother.
In the life of the Monk Paphnutius of Borovsky there is another story, which also emphasizes the importance of works of mercy. He had a revelation about a deceased man who during his lifetime loved to do good to the poor. This man stood in front of a fiery river, which blocked his path to the heavenly villages. And then the unknown beggars began to lie down in front of him one by one, forming a kind of bridge along which he passed across the river.
Paphnutius Borovsky said that the Lord could have sent angels to this man so that they could carry him, but he did so precisely for the sake of his great “love of poverty.”
