Mercy: theology and life of the Orthodox Church

Meaning in Orthodoxy

Jesus called us to be merciful like Him. Everything is so simple, it turns out, in order to get closer to the Creator, it is not necessary to perform the feat of prayer and fasting through force, if you do not have the strength for this, it is enough to become like Christ in mercy.

The Mercy of Jesus Christ Was Shown in His Works

How is Orthodoxy consistent with charity? Having done a good deed, we definitely expect rewards, praise for our glory, and the Bible teaches us to do good so that the left hand does not know what the right hand is giving.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:7) Jesus said that the merciful will receive mercy, which means all their sins will be forgiven. Doing merciful deeds is a gift from God. Only with a heart filled with true love can one do good without expecting reward or thanks.

The one who gives good thanks the Almighty for the given opportunity to become the hands of the Creator on earth, for by how merciful we are, people can see the manifestation of God in Christians. Orthodox charity is good deeds done according to the sincere desire of the heart, for the glory of the Lord.

According to St. John Chrysostom, it is mercy that makes a person human. Time spent without merciful deeds cannot be considered life.

Jesus said that he would give life in abundance, meaning joy and pleasure from days lived to His glory, and true happiness comes from mercy and goodness.

In John 15:16, Jesus emphasized that He chose people to bear fruit that would distinguish Christians from unbelievers. Many do deeds in the name of the Lord, but Jesus does not recognize all of them as His own, for they do merciful deeds for their own benefit or glory.

Orthodox charity - good deeds done according to the sincere desire of the heart

The fruit of the Holy Spirit includes mercy based on love, when what is human is transformed into God's. This is not an external manifestation, but an internal transformation, the acquisition of new values ​​in life.

№18 (483) / May 8 '08

Spiritual teachings

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Spiritual teachings

Dear... Easter cake for Christ's Day

Mercy is one of the little-used and little-known words in the Russian language today. In Orthodox churches we hear it, and, perhaps, in reports on plans for social development and reports on their successful implementation, this word is heard from time to time.

The word “charity” turned out to be more common, and while charity was encouraged by the state with tax cuts and other benefits. Nowadays it is very difficult to find a selfless benefactor. Let us ask ourselves: is mercy necessary at all? Saint John Chrysostom wrote: “A person must learn mercy most of all, for this is what makes him a man. He who does not have mercy ceases to be a man. Be merciful, says the Lord, just as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36). And let us not count as life the time spent without mercy.” What is mercy? Let's turn to dictionaries. “Explanatory Dictionary” by Ushakov: “Mercy is the willingness, out of compassion, to provide help to those who need it.” “Charity is active compassion and specifically expressed kindness towards the needy and disadvantaged.” “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language” by V.I. Dahl: “The merciful is in whom there is mercy. To have mercy, to have mercy on someone - to sympathize, to sympathize, to feel sorry or to want to help.” In Orthodoxy, mercy is one of the most important Christian virtues, fulfilled through corporal and spiritual works of mercy (mercy). The opposite of mercy is indifference, hard-heartedness, maliciousness, hostility, violence. Unmercifulness is the destruction of the human in a person, especially in the most unmerciful. “The pattern of mercy is varied and this commandment is broad,” says St. John Chrysostom. Mercy is manifested in spiritual and physical deeds. Let us turn to the experience of the Church. The works of bodily mercy are as follows: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked or those who lack decent and necessary clothing, to visit those in prison, to visit the sick, to welcome a stranger into a home and comfort them, to bury the dead in squalor. The spiritual works of mercy are the following: by exhortation to turn a sinner from the error of his ways (James 5:20), to teach the ignorant truth and goodness, to give good and timely advice to a neighbor in difficulty or danger that he does not notice, to pray to God for him, to console the sad, not to repay the evil that others have done to us, to forgive offenses from the heart. It is mercy that the commandment of the New Testament requires from a person: “I want mercy,” says the Lord, “and not sacrifice.” What is the difference - after all, the merciful one gives, and the donor also gives? And the difference is in the givers themselves. To have mercy, you need to be merciful, that is, have a personality (heart) capable of loving and believing - without faith and love there is no mercy, and the sacrifice of the giver is in vain. Mercy is achieved through personal moral completeness. This is indicated by the commandment of love: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). It is in charity that a person must manifest himself in all the inner fullness and integrity of his heart, soul, will and mind (Matthew 22:37). “It is not the poor who need the rich, but the rich who need the poor,” writes St. John Chrysostom. The holy Apostle Paul addresses benefactors without love: “If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, then I am a ringing brass or a sounding cymbal. …And if I give away all my goods and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1,3). Vanity and pride kill mercy, and narcissism, self-praise, and arrogance do not benefit the giver. Often we give in order to get rid of the person asking; This is also not saving our soul. You can only show mercy to “your neighbor.” But both in biblical times and now, many simply do not understand who the “neighbor” is. Probably one of the greatest troubles of modern civilization and our society is human disunity. There are many people now suffering from loneliness. Where does this acute feeling of loneliness and abandonment come from? It occurs when there are no neighbors. Not relatives, close and distant, not acquaintances, not colleagues and comrades, but precisely neighbors, that is, those who show us and to whom we show heartfelt sympathy. There is great unifying power in mercy. If you don’t want to be lonely, do good, do it while you still can; do good when your strength has already left you. There will always be someone who suffers more than you. And you will have one more neighbor. If everyone did this, then there would be no revolutions, wars, social conflicts and terror in the world - everything would be transformed and acquire the real meaning of existence. Metropolitan Hilarion of Kiev wrote about the mercy of Prince Vladimir, who baptized Rus': “And I cannot say about all his mercy. Not only in his house did he give alms, but throughout the whole city, and not in Kiev alone, but throughout the entire Russian land - both in cities and in villages - he did alms everywhere - showing mercy to everyone, and clothing, and feeding, and giving water.” . By 996, Prince Vladimir established almshouses, hotels, and hospice houses. In the era of Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054), the first comprehensive monastic charity center was created within the walls of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, including a free hotel for pilgrims, a hospital with 80 beds and a free refectory. There were no churches or monasteries in Russia that did not have shelters, almshouses, and hospice houses. Church charity in the name of Christ (what we call mercy) received a special flourishing in the 17th century. But already in the 18th century, charity acquired special, new features. Its forms change from monastic to state-public. This began with the reforms of Peter I, which were often accompanied by gross government intervention in the life of the Church, depriving it of the opportunity to provide charitable assistance on the previous large scale. Under Catherine II, the functions of managing charitable institutions were transferred to the Medical College, and complex secular charitable institutions appeared in various provinces of Russia, including hospitals, almshouses, restraining houses for the mentally ill, and public schools. In 1764, the Imperial Orphanage was opened in Moscow, in 1772 - in St. Petersburg. The Catherine Hospital in St. Petersburg (1775) included, in addition to the hospital itself, an almshouse, a workhouse for sloths, an orphanage, a home for the insane, and a home for incurable patients. In 1792, the Sheremetyev Counts Hospice House was founded and in 1810 inaugurated in Moscow. The number of charitable institutions increased especially in the period from 1861 to 1899. During this time, 95% of all charitable societies and 82% of all charitable institutions that existed at the beginning of the 20th century were created. At the end of the 19th century, there was a real explosion of charity, in which many classes were involved: clergy, nobles, merchants, townspeople, artisans, peasants. However, the concentration of the population in large industrial centers, the migration of peasants to cities, the collapse of the clan economy and traditional families have significantly weakened the spiritual component of Russian society. Apart from mutual aid funds and trade unions in the working environment, we find no other signs of mercy or charity. For many years, mercy as a distinctive feature of the Russian Orthodox people was preserved, and even now remains in small towns and villages. Oddly enough, the creation of a large number of charitable institutions paradoxically gave rise to the “alienation of the needy from merciful hearts,” that is, as charity increased, mercy in people decreased. It disappeared to such an extent that the bloodiest and most merciless revolution in all world history became possible. The fratricidal civil war was precisely a consequence of the fact that alms, charity, and “handouts” replaced merciful help in the name of the Lord. A neighbor would never raise his hand against his neighbor. But at the beginning of the 20th century, mercy was still a natural need of many hearts, and as a natural reaction to the alienation from this virtue, dozens of communities of sisters of mercy and several merciful brotherhoods were created in Russia. It was these societies that were primarily dispersed by the Soviet government. Mercy was drowned in brotherly blood. This was followed by the destruction of monasteries, the destruction of the priesthood, nobility, officers, and intelligentsia, the brutal suppression of peasant and Cossack uprisings, that is, the beating of those who were actually involved in charity. The Religious Worship Law of 1929 expressly prohibited religious organizations from any charitable activities. Charity was declared a bourgeois relic, and the word “mercy” disappeared from Russian speech. Can government activities to provide social assistance be called mercy? Activity remains activity, and not service, which is implied in the work of mercy. A person is merciful not from his generosity, but from his heart and from his last possibilities. In the words of Simeon the New Theologian: “Who are the merciful? Are they the ones who give money to the poor and feed them? No - this is not the only thing that makes one merciful; It is necessary that there be mercy of the heart with this.” Has mercy completely disappeared? And if not, then how can it be revived, where can it be educated? The answer is absolutely clear - in families. This is where mercy, love, mutual understanding, and spiritual support should be. Whether we want it or not, the problems of our families are closely related to mercy in our society. Until there is a merciful attitude towards children and the elderly in our families, there will be no true mercy in our society. And one more remark: until we return to the spiritual world, to the world of the fatherly faith, we will not have a merciful society. Only through faith comes an overflow of Divine love, which a person can share with his neighbors. Someone may object to me: in Soviet times, faith was mercilessly persecuted, families were purposefully destroyed, people were in constant fear for their lives and freedom, children were raised by the state, and our fathers and grandfathers, and we ourselves loved him, were ready to give their lives “for the Motherland.” , For Stalin". How so? I’m not a psychologist, but psychologists have this concept: tolerance – one person’s acceptance of another person. The very first thing a mother teaches her child is patience. Nowadays the mother feeds the child “on demand”, no tight swaddling, no regime. And remember, just recently: swaddling and feeding after a strictly defined time - and regime, regime, regime in everything. According to psychologists, it is precisely this type of regime (read “prison”) upbringing that leads to the paradoxical acceptance of young children by their parents, even in cases of extreme cruelty, psychological and physical violence and humiliation. And we are all from that time. “Hit harder so that they love you more!” But there was never any mercy here. In our time, violence has moved into families, and again we do not see mercy in people, but more and more we find neurotics, infantile, immature people. This is the fruit of modern education, so why be surprised?! I remember, both as a child and subsequently with my small children, I made birdhouses. There wasn’t a house without one or two birdhouses hanging. Walk the streets now and try to find at least one. This is where it all begins. What about computer games? They say that they teach goodness because goodness always wins in them. What kind of good is this, for the sake of which you need to kill several “enemies” or monsters with scary faces? They are also “alive”, maybe they also wanted to live there, in their virtual world! Show me a place where they teach goodness! They educate at home, they educate at school, they also educate at college and institute. But there is no mercy in people. What are we raising? What we have or don’t have, we educate. Orthodoxy teaches: break yourself, do a good deed and teach this to others: “force yourself to do a good deed!”, force yourself, submit yourself to the will of God. And gradually a good feeling towards all people will awaken in the soul, Love will awaken, and through it, mercy. Nothing here is hidden from people. Faith opens everyone's eyes, and everyone's heart is filled with Love. But the fatherly faith is not taught anywhere in our “secular” educational institutions. Neither economic, nor demographic, nor legal policy, nor any educational reforms are worth anything if they do not strengthen the institution of the family, if they are unspiritual, if they are merciless. They have lost their foundations, they have lost their roots, they have lost their mercy... Isn’t it time to return all this?

Archpriest Sergiy Vogulkin, professor, doctor of medical sciences, vice-rector for science and development of the Ural Humanitarian Institute

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Corporal and spiritual works of mercy

Holy teachers, including John Chrysostom, paid considerable attention to issues of Christian virtues. Spiritual manifestations of human attention and donations are certainly more pleasing to God, in contrast to physical manifestations of human kindness, which include:

• feed the hungry;
• give drink to the thirsty;
• clothe the homeless;
• visit the sick and prisoners;
• listen; listen
• console.

However, if there is no spiritual empathy in the heart, then it is difficult for a person to realize spiritual mercy, the essence of which is intercessory prayer for others, forgiveness, the ability to teach God’s truth and set an example of Christianity through one’s own deeds.

Important! For a true Christian, merciful deeds are a litmus test for testing his faith and love. Only when the soul thirsts to do good and receives pleasure from helping others can we talk about the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Conditions of almsgiving:

1. An external state, when a person gives alms according to some tradition, according to custom, he is driven by certain external factors. Today many of us do this - when we go to church, we give money to the poor, because “everyone gives.”
2. The internal state is the heart, which is the basis of almsgiving. This is its inner side, and is, in fact, alms itself. Without this, alms are not acceptable. There must be some pity of the heart, mercy, tenderness, a desire to help the person. If this is not the case, you need to set yourself up for it.
3. We can also note mercy towards the dead. All Orthodox Christians know that this is a prayer for them. Also: donating to the temple (on eve or parastas), giving alms for the deceased, caring for the cemetery, helping the remaining relatives of the deceased (family, children). The Lord says: “He who has mercy on the widow and the orphan is dear to Me.” Because the person who does this, firstly, honors the memory of the deceased, and secondly, helps the deceased with that help, which, in addition to prayerful remembrance, is the most important for him. Because he was responsible for his family before God; he would like them to be well-fed, shod, clothed and not sick.

Grace and mercy are virtues against: anger, love of money, love of money, greed, stinginess, hoarding, selfishness, selfishness, self-centeredness, hardness of heart.

Paradoxical mercy

This may sound paradoxical, but helping a homeless person out of pity, seeing him as a degraded person, we ourselves return to paganism. How is our attitude towards a beggar better than our attitude towards a hungry dog?

Saint John of Kronstadt often left the house in luxurious clothes and shoes, and returned undressed and barefoot, for in every beggar he saw the image of God, so he tried to clothe and put shoes on everyone in need. The saint’s heart was filled with sincere love, seeing in a person in need the chosen one of the Creator. Internally feeling the weight of the cross of a fallen man, we, as best we can, must share his grief with him and help to the best of our ability.

The New Testament Calls Man to Mercy and Compassion

Among the Slavs, as a rule, all Christians, albeit of different denominations, are people who were baptized in the image of the Savior. Then, how can we understand the presence of malice and cruelty in the Orthodox world? God in the Bible said 365 times: “Rejoice,” then why is there irritation, discontent, jealousy, envy at every step? Cursing his neighbor, everyone wants and seeks love for his beloved.

Interesting! Mercy is a boomerang, as you throw it, it will return. Dreaming of God's mercy towards every Christian, few believers are ready to give in even a little to their neighbor, to enter into his difficult situation, to forgive, to understand, to help.

Showing mercy in the modern world has been replaced by charity and sponsorship, they are trumpeted about on all corners, and because of this they have benefits when paying taxes.

How to accept alms?

1. A person should accept help with modesty and modesty.
2. With gratitude and long memory of what they did to us. A person quickly forgets that he received help. And this is important - to be grateful, to remember for a very long time, to pray for this person.
3. With prayerful remembrance. When a person helps us, we must pray for him; this is our first duty. In the memorial prayer of the evening rule, we say: “Do good to those who do good, grant remission of sins to those who have mercy on us.” We pray for those who have mercy on us, nourish us, and warm us, because the Lord accepts the prayers of those who have been blessed.

Who should I give alms to?

1. Sacrifice to God (tithe to the Temple). When a person sacrifices for the Temple of God. This is mandatory and is not disputed by anyone. A tithe is 10% of the net money you have. Today, tithing has lost its specific, status-based understanding. Now our tithe is that we pay for candles, for prayers, and donate to the temple. And today Christians usually do this - they put aside a tenth of their wages and help prisoners, the sick, send parcels to someone, i.e. They use this money to do such charity work. Or they save it and then do good to the poor from it, which is somehow wrong, because you also do good from the tithe. Then give this tithe directly to good deeds. But giving it to the poor is somehow not very right. For example, today some churches have this practice - they bring 10th of their money and give it, for example, to the prison department, this is correct. And from this tithe that you set aside, giving to the poor is wrong. Because you must give tithe to the temple, and if the temple has everything, it goes towards specific good deeds.
2. Donate to shelters, almshouses, and other social charitable activities. This is also not disputed by anyone. We should also apply here without asking. He came and gave.
3. Help those truly in need. And here is the very question - who is truly in need?

Our relatives, of course, fit into this category. God Himself commanded to do good to relatives.

The Lord says the following: “Give to everyone who asks you, and do not turn away from anyone who wants to borrow.” This means that whoever asks must receive from you.

What is the difference between mercy and kindness?

Mercy is closely related to many high and bright feelings, one of which is kindness. What is the difference between kindness and mercy, what do they have in common? At first glance, they are very similar: out of ignorance, they can even be confused with each other, calling one another.

Indeed, both phenomena are qualities of the soul, the goal of both is the desire to be useful to others. But there is one caveat.

Charity is the practical realization of innate goodness. Unfortunately, not all good-natured people are ready to help someone - they can simply sympathize and pass by. There are many kind people, but there are much fewer merciful people (ready to act).

Mercy cannot exist without kindness . That is, to be truly merciful, a person must be initially kind. But not just kind, but active, i.e. willing to actively help others and not just “look at them with kindness in their eyes.”

If there is no kindness in a person, then all his “good” deeds are just theatrical actions a la “look how good I am.” This is the same selfishness: good deeds are done for personal gain - to prove to everyone their superiority and “holiness”. Have you ever wondered why philanthropists are always “money bags”?

Therefore, do not be lazy to ask yourself the question once again: “Who do I want to do this for? For yourself or for someone else? The main thing here is to be honest with yourself so as not to get too carried away. There is nothing wrong with admitting self-interest in your actions.

We are all simple people and base feelings are not alien to us. By recognizing this, you have a chance to correct yourself, grow spiritually, and become more perfect. By concealing the “dark spots of the soul,” a person will never be able to whiten them.

How to develop this quality in yourself

Showing mercy requires altruism, a willingness to help those in need, and to do good deeds. These actions are often accompanied by the expenditure of external (material) and internal resources, which is not an easy task.

Few people want to share their money and spend their time with other people. This requires true generosity, based on love and compassion for all those in need.

Therefore, if you want to develop compassion in yourself, pay attention to the following points:

1. Forget about personal gain. If you decide to do a good deed, think about who you are doing it for. If you give, give selflessly and don't expect anything in return. The main reward is smiles and gratitude (sometimes you shouldn’t expect it) from those you helped;
2. Forgive insults and help even those who have offended you. Love does not know hatred, anger, envy, jealousy and other destructive feelings. All people make mistakes, and your abuser may have done the same - forgive him or her and help him or her when needed;
3. Learn to listen and hear others. Sometimes we feel lonely and suffer because of it. Listen to the other person. They may need it;
4. Make a donation. No one is saying that you have to give away your hard-earned money left and right: give what you can. Now there are not many rich people in our country, but if each of us donates at least 50 rubles for an operation for a sick child, we will not become poor, but will save someone’s life;
5. Help people in their daily lives. Have you asked for directions? I asked for directions. If you asked for advice, give it if you can. Take the old man to the other side of the street. Make room for women. Save the kitten. These are little things, but they make up our life;
6. Find a few hours a week to dedicate your time to those who need it. You can go to an orphanage and play with the children. Visit a nursing home and talk to the elderly. Support terminally ill patients living out their final days in hospice by talking to them. Make something at home for a lonely grandma.

In fact, there are many ways to “train” and practice compassion. You just need to want, look around, and you will always find a person or situation that needs your participation.

Why should a person be merciful?

The problem of mercy and lack of love for others leads to suffering in the world around us and in human hearts. The principle of personal gain - creating comfortable conditions for yourself, regardless of the problems of other people - pleases vanity and increases selfishness. To be merciful means to take an active part in solving other people's problems, to increase kindness, to give love, to change the world for the better. Remembering the phrase of the Chinese sage Lao Tzu about mercy, we can say in his words: “Whoever takes, fills the palms, whoever gives, fills the heart.”

How to beg?

If there is a need, then you need to ask. This is precisely the struggle with pride, the first movement towards humility. There are people who will never ask for anything - they will die of hunger, gritting their teeth, but they will not go, they will not ask a neighbor for a glass.

When we have a strong need and we ourselves are powerless to do it, we must ask. We should ask for help because it is very helpful, it humbles us. This helps us recognize help from other people, so that our hearts soften a little, and we understand that much does not depend on us. This often happens when people are sick, etc.

We can only ask for good deeds. No one should ask for sin, for crimes, etc.

You also need to ask without deception. Those. when you come to a person for help, you

I must honestly say that you have.

And, of course, petition should not become our way of life. Professional beggars are a sin. You need to serve them like that, but becoming like that yourself is a sin.

The influence of alms on the human soul:

Almsgiving is food for the soul. The soul is nourished by alms and strengthened. The soul is greatly strengthened, says Abba Evagrius, because it receives firmness and breadth from alms, and gratitude to God immediately arises in the soul. The soul rejoices and, one might say, completely “hardens.”

Almsgiving cleanses a person’s conscience, awakens it, and makes a person more conscientious.

Alms bring the human heart closer to God, because God loves a merciful heart. Generates hope and joy in the heart. When a person shows mercy, the hope will always be born in his heart that he too will be pardoned by God. And from this he will always have joy in his soul. And when he wakes up every morning, he will always thank God for being the Lord, for being Gracious and Humane.

What does it mean to be merciful?

To be merciful means that the benefit directed to another person is given freely - not for general praise, public recognition or subsequent thanksgiving. Mercy calms the conscience - a person did not reject the given chance to lend a helping hand, but, due to his ability, eased the life circumstances of someone in a bad state of affairs. Mercy extinguishes anger, suppresses selfishness, and this is an opportunity to accumulate spiritual wealth:

• wisdom;
• joy;
• ease of communication;
• sincerity;
• philanthropy.

The influence of alms on human nature

The Holy Fathers say the following:

1. Mercy heals passions and vices, displaces them, drives them out (first of all, the passion of love of money dies from mercy).
2. Mercy drives out the passion of the love of money, because these are two antipodes. Two opposite points that can never be together. Either love of money is in our hearts, or mercy. One drives out the other.
3. Almsgiving cleanses sin, says Proverbs. And the prophet Daniel says that alms cleanses human iniquities. Remember the covenants of our Fathers, when a person turns from sin to virtue, the first thing they say to him is “do alms, so that the Lord will forgive you your sins.” Those. bow the Mercy of God to yourself by doing alms and good deeds.