Preaching is of great importance in the life of the Church, in the life of every Christian who goes to church, who prays, who longs to hear the word of God. It is necessary to talk about this, but it is very difficult. He who speaks of preaching must himself be a brilliant preacher and teacher. After all, it is necessary to convey to the reader what a sermon should be, who is called to preach, how to preach, what to preach about, in what volume, and many, many other questions. Of course, I cannot say about myself that I am any successful preacher. But at the same time, as a priest, I have this sacred duty - to teach people the word of God. This topic is the subject of my thoughts, my searches, my experiments. And today I would like to share this experience, share my thoughts, observations and what I was able to read from other authors, and in this vein, once again reflect on some aspects of this problem.
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Hunger for Hearing the Word of God
Our modern church life is such that church preaching has become a luxury. Isn't it too expensive? If we turn to the Holy Scriptures, we will see that the Lord speaks in the imperative mood:
Going forward, teach all tongues, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything according to all the commandments given to you (Matthew 28:19).
These are the last words of Christ before his Ascension, spoken to the holy apostles on the Mount of Olives. Many quotes can be cited from the letters of the Holy Apostle Paul on this topic. At one point he exclaims:
But how can we call upon Him in whom we have not believed? How can one believe in One about whom one has not heard? How to hear without a preacher? (Rom. 10:14).
Elsewhere the apostle says of himself:
For if I preach the gospel, then I have nothing to boast about, because this is my necessary duty, and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Cor. 9:16).
In the Gospel, the Lord says: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). And the Old Testament speaks of times when “there will be a famine, not a famine of bread and water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord” (Amos.8:11). This hunger is often experienced by ordinary Christians.
I remember my youth very well, I was a simple parishioner, and I really wanted to hear the living word of a living shepherd. But this word was not always heard from every priest. At the same time, it is obvious that a worldly person, due to being busy at work and burdened with family responsibilities, does not have enough time to delve deeper into divine books and regularly study the basics of Christian doctrine. But coming every Sunday to the temple of God, he could learn a lot from the church sermon. On the other hand, this is important for the priest himself. He was appointed to shepherd the flock of Christ, and that is precisely what he was appointed to do. The priest was told in the Old Testament through the prophet Ezekiel: “Son of man! I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, and you will hear the word from My mouth, and you will admonish them from Me. When I say to the wicked man, “You will surely die!”, and you do not admonish him and speak to warn the wicked man from his wicked way so that he may live, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will require his blood at your hands.” . (Ezek. 3:18). This is God’s formidable warning: the blood of a lost sinner will be exacted from the hand of a shepherd who neglected to preach! Unfortunately, not everyone is horrified by it, not everyone remembers it. They don’t even remember the reward for the preacher. Because in the same scripture God says:
If you admonished a wicked man, and he did not turn from his iniquity and from his wicked way, then he will die in his iniquity, but you have saved your soul (Ezek. 3:19).
But not everyone, it must be said frankly, can preach.
Temptation by vanity
First of all, let's start with the fact that he who dares to preach the word of God takes upon himself the great mission of apostolic ministry. It is not easy, and not everyone should undertake it without being called by God. In the patristic works one can find descriptions of the passion of vanity, a particular manifestation of which is the desire to teach everyone around. This happens when a person who has received some superficial knowledge about Christianity suddenly begins to think that he already knows everything and a passion awakens in him to teach others. And then he, idle and to the point, begins to “climb” into everyone with his instructions. It must be said that the holy fathers carefully tried to avoid such spiritual illness. One can give the example of St. John Climacus . When he taught and instructed the monks (and he was not just a monk, he was the abbot of Sinai), some of the brethren, out of envy, accused the saint of being too talkative, an idle talker, seeking his own glory. The Monk John, in order to avoid this evil rumor and to show that he was not preaching the word of God for the sake of his own glory and benefit, remained silent for a whole year. Then the monks themselves repented to him and begged him to speak up and continue teaching the people. And us, too, because his creations have reached our time. We are saturated with them, like a source of living water. One can cite the example of the Egyptian ascetics. Remember, the Patericon describes a case when the Patriarch of Alexandria Theophilus came to the monastery, the brethren gathered and asked Abba Pambo: “Say something to the Archbishop so that he may receive instruction.” To which the elder replied: “If my silence has not taught him, then he will not benefit from my speech.”
I gave these examples so that a person who is preparing to preach the word of God clearly and clearly understands the high mission that he takes upon himself. He was aware of the responsibility both before God and before people or an individual for every word that he uttered. But at the same time, we must understand the responsibility for refusing to preach, for evading this high task. Counterexamples can be given of how God blessed his preachers, how he abundantly imparted to them the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let us remember the ecumenical teachers John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Blessed Augustine, Saint Ambrose of Milan, Ephraim the Syrian, whose preaching was inspired by God and spread throughout the entire Universe.
The Church still uses their creations to this day.
There is a remarkable incident from the life of Saint Ambrose of Milan , when during the sermon of this bishop, one of the people, filled with an unclean spirit, began to shout that Ambrose was tormenting him.
Saint Ambrose, turning to him, said: “Shut up, devil. It is not Ambrose that torments you, but the faith of the saints and your envy, because you see how people ascend to the place from which you were cast down, for Ambrose knows no exaltation.” After these words, the one shouting fell silent and prostrated himself on the ground and no longer made a sound that could interrupt the saint’s sermon. Pay attention to the words that “Ambrose knows no exaltation,” and to the fact that the devil is jealous of the pious work of preaching the saint and through this people ascend to the dignity from which the fallen angels fell. This means that people inherit salvation through the preached word. This is the meaning of church sermon: to proclaim the truth about Christ, to proclaim the word of God, to call people to salvation, to open the way to eternal bliss, to convince, inspire, and sometimes reproach, to point out sins, but also to point out the ways of fighting sin, to teach people truly Christian dogmas of the Church of Christ, expound to them the lives of the saints, talk about the ways of Christian life.
New communication format
Church speakers have gradually changed the format of communication with the audience, which is very pleasing. Now on the Internet and television, priests speak to people in an accessible language. Everyone can see this, and it’s very good. However, there are a large number of completely different priests who, unfortunately, do not want or do not know how to communicate with parishioners, and this is a very big problem. Yes, not everyone is given the gift of preaching, not everyone has learned this, but it is impossible to avoid communication with the flock - moreover, it is not limited to preaching.
We admit that the range of topics for church sermons is very small: every year the same holidays, the memory of the same saints, the reading of the same chapters of the Gospel. But in addition to all this, some priests use sermons written in the 19th century. Yes, they are sometimes good and instructive, but, unfortunately, they are irrelevant for modern people. We live in completely different realities, and we need to learn to speak differently.
Some priests believe that parishioners should not be told everything, because “they will not understand,” “they are poorly educated,” “they may be confused by certain facts.” But these are all stones for our garden! If they don’t understand, it means we didn’t explain. I think, in principle, it is wrong to believe that people will not understand us or that we will scare them away. We are called to evangelize and speak, not remain silent. Because of this reticence, people develop superstitions, they cease to understand the meaning of what is happening in the Church, they do not understand what determines these or those traditions. They reinterpret the meaning of traditions, which leads to misconceptions. As a result, when the Patriarch confirms the resolution of the Local Council of 1917-1918 that the Gospel reading and the Apostle can, if necessary, be read in Russian, people perceive this as a deviation from the canon and tradition.
In connection with this kind of tendencies, a joke comes to mind: a husband asks his wife why she cuts off the ends when she cooks sausages. “That’s what my mom did!” - the wife answers. After a while they come to visit their mother, the wife asks: “Mom, why did you cut off the ends of the sausages?” - “I don’t know, my mother did that too!” Grandmother, hearing this conversation, shouts: “Girls, I don’t understand, are you still cooking sausages in my small saucepan?!” Something similar happens in the Church, when we observe traditions without understanding them.
Real preaching is an art
Just as not everyone can be an artist, not everyone can be a writer or composer, similarly not everyone can be a real preacher. Real preaching is an art, it is a gift from God, given by the Holy Spirit. But this does not justify those people who are completely unwilling to preach the word of God, citing lack of ability. It does not justify, because a person must work, work on himself. How many examples are there of when a person is given this or that talent, but he does not cultivate it? And in the end, he achieves less than what another with less ability achieved, but with greater perseverance and hard work. What if you still have talent?
It is appropriate to recall once again St. Ambrose of Milan. He was elected to the bishop at a time when he was not even baptized, he was only a catechumen. How much he had to work in mastering Christian knowledge, moving from state affairs to church affairs! God generously rewarded him for this service. At the end of his life, he was awarded the descent of the Holy Spirit on him. One day, when he was dictating an interpretation on the 43rd Psalm, fire suddenly descended on him, like a small shield, which covered his head and gradually entered through his mouth, like a resident into his house. After that, his face became like snow, and then his face returned to its appearance.
So, you need to work on yourself, you need to read and reflect a lot in order to convey the Divine word to your listeners, to Christians. And not only Christians, but also all those people with whom God has placed you.
The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for the benefit
I am absolutely sure that before a person can be ordained into the priesthood, he must learn to speak. He must be prepared for the fact that his most important duty is to proclaim the word of God. There is 58 apostolic canon, which states that “a bishop or presbyter who neglects the clergy and the people, and does not teach them piety, shall be excommunicated. If he remains in this negligence and laziness: let him be cast out.” And why turn to rules when this comes from the very essence of priestly ministry, apostolic ministry and the very words of the Savior: “Go and learn all languages.” And the Apostle Paul says to Timothy: “Tell (the words of the Truth) to faithful people who will be able to teach others (2 Tim. 2:2).
So, the future priest must balance his strength with the service that awaits him. If you cannot speak, how dare you accept the great gift of the priesthood?
Although we know examples of outstanding shepherds who were not distinguished by eloquence, but abounded in other gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for their benefit. To one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to others gifts of healings by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another divers tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. Yet all these things are done by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually as He pleases (1 Cor. 12:7-11).
Do I need to study?
There is an opinion that since Christ chose the apostles from among simple fishermen and sent these “unlearned” people to preach, then there is no need to study, there is no need to acquire any special knowledge. The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. This opinion was brilliantly refuted at the beginning of the 4th century by Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo . He has an excellent book, Christian Science or the Foundations of Sacred Hermeneutics and Ecclesiastical Eloquence. This is a collection that contains both his sermons and his thoughts on what a sermon should be, what a Christian speaker should be, how educated and uneducated people should be announced, how to interpret the Holy Scriptures, etc. In particular, Augustine responds to those who argue that “if the Holy Spirit produces teachers, then people should not prescribe a rule for what and how to teach.” In this sense,” says the saint, “we should not pray, for the Lord says: “For your Father knows what you require before you ask” (Matthew 6:8). However, we pray to God, we turn to Him, and He Himself commanded us to do this, giving us a model of prayer. Next, Augustine cites many quotations from the epistles of the holy Apostle Paul, showing that the supreme apostle prescribed rules for his disciples, what and how they should teach. For example, Paul wrote to Timothy: “Be careful to set yourself skillfully before God, a worker who is not ashamed, ruling the word of truth rightly” (2 Tim. 2:15).
In conclusion, Augustine makes this comparison. “As physical medicines, given to people by people, are used only by those to whom God brings health, who can heal even without medicines, and although medicines are invalid without the help of God, nevertheless people use them, and their diligent delivery in any case is honored a work of mercy and beneficence, so the teachings of science, taught by the hand of man, only benefit the soul when God himself makes them useful, who, not from man or through man, could, if he wanted, give man the Gospel itself.”
So, it is imperative to study and prepare to preach, remembering the word of Scripture, that “neither by planting nor by water, but by God increasing” (1 Cor. 3:7). And the Lord will bless and give us strength “to bring much good news.” Our greatest preachers received a brilliant education—the best education possible in their time.
TOP 10 best YouTube priest bloggers
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly called on the clergy to preach on social networks and using other modern Internet platforms. After all, time does not stand still and today you can address the flock not only from the church pulpit, but also through the global network.
Today, not all priests have sufficient knowledge and training to open their own channel, but of those fathers who still decide to do this, many achieve a real warm response from the flock because they talk to people about the main issues in life. Some clergy blogs are real pearls of the Internet in terms of the internal richness of the content presented to viewers.
In today's TOP we have collected for you the ten best blogs from Orthodox priests. In our TOP, we will not divide blogs into the best or worst and the numbers will only mean the serial number in the review. Subscribe to channels, share subscriptions and received information with friends!
1. “Svyatoslav PRESS”
Priest Svyatoslav Shevchenko from Blagoveshchensk opened his channel “ Svyatoslav PRESS ” on YouTube relatively recently - in 2022, but has already collected more than 5,000 subscribers. He also has an additional channel “ Priest Svyatoslav Shevchenko LIVE ”.
As Father Svyatoslav himself notes, the purpose of the blog is “to show how the thought of an Orthodox person works, and also to try to update Christian ideas that are already more than 2000 years old.” And he does it successfully.
In his videos, the priest mainly reviews clips of modern singers, elections, “LGBT Christianity,” school shootings, computer games and many other news items of our time.
He also talks about the ancient treasures of Christian thought - the Beatitudes, the meaning of the Church, the correct way of fasting, etc.
A person accustomed to considering Christians as some kind of strange community, closed in on themselves, will undoubtedly be surprised by Father Svyatoslav with his education, breadth of outlook and hobbies. If he criticizes something, it is always to the point, based on arguments and with references to sources.
It is worth noting the good quality of Father Svyatoslav’s content. A journalist by profession, he has mastered video editing tools quite well. “Don’t be defeated by evil, conquer evil with good,” is the motto of the Svyatoslav PRESS channel.
2. "PopBlogger"
The next hero of our review will be Priest Vladimir Panarin from Chelyabinsk. The motto of his channel is: “Eternity begins now!”
Father Vladimir has enough for a multi-platform blog. Since 2012, he has been posting some of the content on his YouTube channel “ PopBloger ” in the form of videos, and the other part on the Yandex Zen platform in the form of text articles on a channel with a similar name “ PopBlogger ”.
Father Vladimir’s YouTube channel has already collected more than 21,700 subscribers, and the channel on Yandex Zen has even more - 344,500 people.
The topics of the channels vary somewhat. On YouTube hosting these are streams, sermons, chants, simple answers to questions about the Church and a few videos about personal attitudes to cultural phenomena and modern problems.
On the Yandex Zen platform, the priest publishes many articles in the “interesting facts” format. I can tell you from personal experience that some articles are interesting even to a person with a higher theological education. Here are articles about the practice of modern Christian life.
The material on Yandex Zen is of excellent quality. Videos on YouTube sometimes suffer from small video flaws, but Father Vladimir can be forgiven. On his shoulders is also the care of the Chelyabinsk center for helping mothers in trouble “ Bereg ”.
3. “Archpriest Sergei Voronkin”
The blog of Archpriest Sergius Voronkin was registered on YouTube in 2022 and has already gained almost a thousand subscribers. Father Sergei serves as rector of the Archangel Michael parish in the village of Ust-Tarka in the Kain diocese of the Novosibirsk Metropolis.
On his channel, Father Sergius runs the “Good News” section, where he talks about the events of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples. In the “Word” section, the priest explains church terminology. Also on the blog, he answers questions from subscribers and talks about current events of our time.
In the information about the channel, the priest honestly warns: “Our channel is still very young and is experiencing difficulties in development; for a higher quality video, various accessories are required that cost some money, as well as other associated difficulties,” but despite this, he takes on difficult things the business of online preaching.
4. “Alvian Tkhelidze”
Priest Alvian Tkhelidze is a clergyman of the Akhtubinsk diocese of the Astrakhan Metropolis.
In his blog on the YouTube video hosting site, the priest maintains three main sections: “PopStop” - about his travels, including hitchhiking, “Local Churches” - about Orthodoxy in different countries, and “On the topic of the day” about everything that may seem relevant to us today.
Father Alvian is working on the quality of the content. Since the creation of the channel, his video editing skills have noticeably improved and the latest releases can be noted positively in terms of the visual component, which today viewers pay a lot of attention to.
Alvian Tkhelidze channel on YouTube was created in 2009 and during its existence has collected more than 2,700 subscribers.
It is worth noting that the priest also strives to build a multi-platform blog and publishes his content, partly different from the YouTube channel, and partly the same, in the “ Priest Alvian Blog ” on the Vkontakte social network. Here he has more than 4,900 subscribers.
5. “Priest Pavel Ostrovsky”
Many people know Father Pavel Ostrovsky by sight from his appearances in many programs on the Spas TV channel. He serves in the Sretensky Church in the city of Krasnogorsk, Moscow region.
his YouTube channel “ Priest Pavel Ostrovsky ” in 2022 and already has more than 16,300 subscribers. He also has pages on VKontakte and Instagram .
Father Pavel’s VKontakte account is used mainly as a platform for publishing programs from the Spas TV channel, but the Instagram page is a real text blog that complements the YouTube channel.
Among the videos on the priest’s channel, one can highlight polemical topics - answers to atheists, Muslims, Protestants, other priests, gamers, businessmen, as well as some individuals personally. For example, Alexander Nevzorov.
The second direction that Father Paul develops is revealing to his subscribers the practice of church life: preparation for confession and baptism, the practice of prayer by agreement, the essence and meaning of the Gospel, the meaning of fasting, etc.
The priest also answers popular questions from the audience. For example: how does the Church feel about IVF, do tax identification numbers and biometric passports threaten the salvation of the soul, why does the Church need money, what do the clergy think about the bill on domestic violence.
6. “Priest Konstantin Parkhomenko”
One of the most productive YouTube blogs among the Orthodox clergy in terms of the number of subscribers, today there are already more than 73,000, is run by a cleric of the St. Petersburg Metropolis.
Archpriest Konstantin serves in the Cathedral of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity of the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment in St. Petersburg, teaches at the seminary and university, broadcasts on two radio stations, writes books and articles for various publications, and also raises five children.
Despite being so busy, the priest maintains a multi-platform blog. his YouTube channel “ Priest Konstantin Parkhomenko ” in 2013. His text channel “ Konstantin Parkhomenko ” on Yandex Zen is also successfully developing and has already collected more than 52,700 subscribers.
“Why does a woman cover her head in church?”, “Briefly and clearly about the Liturgy,” “Why can’t a mother be present at baptism?” and other answers to popular questions from believers about the practice of church life form the bulk of the content published by Father Constantine.
The other part of the videos is educational. Father tells the audience about the Church Slavonic language, the Psalter, the features of different types of Liturgy, church holidays, etc.
Father Konstantin makes recordings for the channel not only from his home. The archpriest answers many questions of Orthodox Christians while in the most sacred place of each church - in its altar.
7. “Alexander Mitrofanov”
his blog “ Alexander Mitrofanov” as “Thoughts out loud.” Many videos on his channel, created in 2010, are marked with this category.
Since 2006, the priest has served in the village of Bogorodsk, Kortkeros district of the Komi Republic, as rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and conducts an active online sermon.
In addition to his YoTube channel with more than 8,900 subscribers, Father Alexander acts as an editor in the well-known VKontakte community “Orthodox are joking!”, participates in broadcasts on the “Father Online” channel, writes test articles in “Live Journal” and willingly communicates with the media .
Father not only has a good sense of humor, but is also quite musical. On his channel, he provides subscribers with the opportunity to listen to songs performed by him.
Among the popular topics touched upon by Hieromonk Alexander are: a review of modern films and cartoons, as well as the priest’s attitude towards certain personalities and problems that receive wide coverage in the media.
A separate small section on the channel is devoted to interpretations of the Holy Scriptures.
8. “Priest Nikolai Babkin”
How to prepare for Communion? What if I believe in my soul? Is it worth getting married with registration at the registry office? Is it possible to sit in the temple? A priest from the Belgorod Metropolis answers these and other questions on his channel “ Priest Nikolai Babkin
Father Nikolai not only runs a YouTube channel with an audience of more than 2,000 regular viewers, but also a popular Instagram account with more than 153,000 subscribers.
The channel “Priest Nikolai Babkin” was created in 2022 in addition to the previously existing channel “ Biblical Movement ”, where Father Nikolai separately analyzes the Holy Scriptures.
The priest’s personal channel contains his sermons and interviews, live broadcasts, answers to questions, as well as a small video diary of a father with many children. Some of the videos on the channel were cut from programs on the Orthodox TV channel “Spas,” in whose studio the priest is a frequent guest.
One of the positive aspects of Father Nikolai’s channel is the good quality of the picture and sound. The videos he recorded are pleasant not only to listen to, but also to watch.
9. “Orthodox channel Bogolyub”
In 2010, a channel was created by priest Konstantin Maltsev, who serves in the Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in the village of Umanskaya (Leningradskaya) in the Krasnodar Territory.
“ Orthodox channel Bogolyub Father Konstantin Maltsev ” today already has more than 13,200 subscribers. Father Konstantin’s Instagram account has another 19,900 subscribers.
On his channel, Father Konstantin often changes locations, talking about the holy places he visited: Athos, Diveevo, Bari, Azov, Israel.
In his “home” videos, he, like many priests, reveals to subscribers questions from the practice of church life, analyzes current news stories and cultural phenomena. One of the most popular videos on the channel was “one day in the life of a priest.”
“The issue of faith is very acute for every person. In the modern era, when there is a decline in moral principles, the breakdown of families and constant economic crises, it is the Orthodox faith that can give hope for the future. To convey the commandments of Christ to as many people as possible, it is necessary to use modern technologies. Therefore, the creation of channels for the Orthodox is mandatory,” the Krasnodar priest says about his blog.
10. “Priest Andrei Dolgopolov”
Father Andrei Dolgopolov serves in the Grado-Khabarovsk Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God. In Khabarovsk, the priest heads the youth “Brotherhood of St. Andrew the First-Called”.
In 2022, the priest opened his YouTube channel “ Priest Andrey Dolgopolov ,” where more than 2,500 subscribers have already been registered. In addition to this channel, Father Andrei maintains a personal account on Instagram with an audience of 172,000 people.
The originality of the content of the Khabarovsk priest is given by a series of videos, which he devotes to the topic of family relationships. How to truly love your child? How to find your life partner? How to live happily ever after in marriage? The priest is helped by his significant other, Mother Olga, to answer questions from the audience.
Here Father Andrei Dolgopolov publishes his sermons, reads aloud and analyzes the Holy Scriptures, and also answers questions from believers.
It is also interesting that Andrei’s father can often be found behind the bar in the Khabarovsk cafe “Two Fishes”. This cafe is not only for the Orthodox public. Anyone can come here. The priest is ready not only to brew the ordered coffee, but also to answer the visitor’s questions about God and the Church if he asks them. Many media outlets have already covered this missionary idea of Father Andrei.
Dear readers, our TOP is complete! Outside of it remained the Sober Father channel and many other priestly video blogs, the history of which has just begun. For you, we have selected the most interesting and useful YouTube channels of priests. Subscribe so you don't miss anything!
Andrey Szegeda
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Living word
In 2015, the fourth volume of the works of the Old Believer Bishop Mikhail (Semyonov) was published. There is an article in this book in which he reflects on the question of whether it is difficult to learn to preach. This is not an idle question. I refer anyone interested in this topic to this article. It has some great ideas and points. In addition to the article and the mentioned work of Blessed Augustine, we can also recommend reading “The Pastoral Rule” by St. Gregory the Dvoeslov and the word “On the Priesthood” by St. John Chrysostom.
If we turn to these creations, it becomes obvious that a priest must prepare for preaching with his whole life. He must not only sit down with books and prepare in advance (say, a week before the service). He must know the Holy Scriptures deeply, but draw examples for his words from life. What he sees in Christian life, what he hears in confession, what he observes in the homes of Christians, in their families - all this is considered and thought through through the prism of the word of God, the themes of sermons. But we should talk about this in general terms, i.e. without naming specific names and situations. The sermon certainly needs to be updated. This means that it should not be “theorizing” on the topic of the read apostolic epistle or the Gospel, but contain an answer to the question of how to apply this word of God in modern life, what temptations there may be and how to overcome them. The preacher must structure his words in accordance with the age of the listeners, their intellectual level, etc. In a word, you need to see and feel who you are talking to.
For those who cannot compose sermons themselves, St. Augustine advises using ready-made texts. It won’t be a sin if someone simply memorizes a word and tells it to people by heart. In this case, however, despite the fact that people will hear the preacher’s word, it will still be a dead word, as Bishop Michael puts it. Dead in the sense that it is not addressed to specific people, does not answer their questions, doubts, and does not always correspond to their spiritual needs.
The preacher will need the basics of oratory and reading skills. But success in this matter should be expected more from pious prayers (both for oneself and for the listeners) than from oratory abilities. The personal conviction of the preacher, his faith, is very important. Then the word will go from heart to heart, from soul to soul. When a heartfelt word is spoken, people easily forgive any hesitations or repetitions of certain phrases. If they see that a person is trying to speak for them, they almost always accept this word with gratitude.
Sermon in the ancient Church
Sermon during worship in the 4th-5th centuries.
Sermon during worship - centuries. occupied no less significant place than in previous centuries, thanks to the liveliness of theological debates and the increase in the general level of education in the clergy (many church leaders of the 4th-5th centuries were educated in the best secular schools of that time). Hardly any period has produced a longer line of famous preachers and provided more material for the present statutory readings. In the East they became famous: Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Athanasius the Great, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nyssa, Macarius the Great, Ephraim the Syrian, John Chrysostom, Proclus of Constantinople, Cyril of Alexandria, Epiphanius of Cyprus and Blessed. Theodoret of Cyrrhus; in the West: St. Ambrose of Milan, blessed. Augustine of Hippo, Peter Chrysologus, Leo the Great, Caesar of Arles. Most of the sermons preserved from this period are expositions of Holy Scripture; a significant amount is devoted to dogmatic disputes; less purely edifying in nature and a relatively small circle are holiday sermons. Of the sermons of the first kind, the conversation of St. John Chrysostom, partly Basil the Great; the second type of sermons of this time, as being of a temporary nature, did not enter our worship at all. The third kind included the conversations of St. Ephraim; from the fourth - most of the few works of this kind.
Preachers of this period often remarked on the zeal with which their teachings were attended, and were sometimes forced to struggle even with an exaggerated assessment of the place and importance of the sermon in the worship service. "Sermon
, says St.
John Chrysostom - everything for you. You say: what to do in church if there is no sermon? This is a completely wrong view. What need is there for a preacher? Actually, it became necessary because of you. Why preach? Everything is clear in Holy Scripture.” “Often in that sacred hour (the Eucharist) I looked for such a large gathering as has now formed here, and did not find it anywhere, and I sighed deeply that you listen to your fellow servant speaking to you with such zeal, and when Christ appears on St.
in the evening, the church is empty." But this was not the case everywhere and not always during this period, perhaps only among such heroes as Chrysostom. The Council of Carthage in 399 decrees: “Whoever leaves the assembly (de auditorio) while the priest is holding his word in the church shall be excommunicated.” Caesar of Arles (beginning of the 6th century), after fruitless convictions not to leave the sermon, ordered the church doors to be locked during the sermon. In general, in the East, preaching during divine services occupied much more place than in the West, as can be seen from these latest testimonies, and from the list of preachers here and here, and, finally, from the clearly exaggerated but characteristic testimony of Sozomen that in Rome “no bishop , no one else teaches in the church"
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Sermon time
The main point for the sermon was the Liturgy, and it was its preparatory part, the Liturgy of the Catechumens, as shown by a number of conversations of St. John Chrysostom and others, often reminding listeners of the liturgical exclamations and prayers they had just heard. But sometimes, in some places, the sermon was also held at other services. Thus, conversations on the Sixth Day of St. Basil’s prayers were recited two times a day - during the morning service and the evening service (“when you were at a short morning (εωθεν) conversation, we came across such a hidden depth of thought that we despaired of what to do next”, etc. 3). According to Socrates, “in Caesarea Cappadocia and Cyprus, on the Sabbath and weekdays, always in the evening with the lighting of lamps (μετά της λυχναψίας), the elders and bishops expound the Scriptures.” Conversations of St. John Chrysostom on Genesis were pronounced in the evening (“we expound to you the Scriptures, and you, turning your eyes away from us, paid attention to the lamps, to the one who lit the lamps”). “Pay attention to the continuation of the psalm that we talked about at Matins,” the blessed one invites his listeners. Augustine. Since the sermon was considered an indispensable part of the liturgy, it must have taken place on the days when the liturgy was celebrated and as often as the latter was celebrated anywhere. But on Pentecost and Pentecost, especially on the first, in front of the catechumens, they preached for the most part daily. So, in the conversation of St. John Chrysostom on Genesis and “about statues,” as well as in the words of the blessed one. Augustine on the psalms, there are constant references to “yesterday’s” conversation. In the monastic communities, at least some, as we will see, the abba taught the brethren every day for a whole year.
Persons who preached
Following the example of the apostles and according to the practice of the 3rd century, the bishop was considered a true servant of the word. “It is the proper duty (proprium munus) of the bishop to teach the people.” According to St. John Chrysostom, the ability to teach in a bishop “must be first of all.” Preaching talent then most nominated persons to episcopal sees, as the examples of Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom and Blessed. Augustine. But elders also take part in church teaching much more recently. Back in the 3rd century. such a famous preacher as Origen was a presbyter.
The Apostolic Constitutions prescribe: after the readings, and in particular after the Gospel, “let the elders one by one, and not all at once, exhort the people, and after all of them the bishop, who is like a helmsman.”
According to this, in the Church of Jerusalem, according to the description of the Pilgrimage attributed to Sylvia, on Sunday “of all the elders sitting, whoever he wishes preaches, and after all of them the bishop preaches.” It was in the rank of presbyter that St. John Chrysostom preached in Antioch in the presence of his bishop Flavian, who sometimes added his admonition to his sermon.
Blzh. Augustine, when he was a presbyter, was entrusted with preaching in the church by his aged bishop Valerius, who had poor command of the Latin language of his flock, and when the bishop was reproached for this, he referred to an Eastern custom of this kind. Consequently, in the West, until that time, preaching was the prerogative of one bishop. But already blzh. Jerome of Stridon says about this: “it is a very bad custom that in some churches the elders are silent and do not speak in the presence of bishops, as if they envy them or do not deign to listen to them.”
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In cases of necessity or exceptional cases, deacons were also allowed to preach. Back in the 3rd century, according to St. Cyprian, during persecutions, which sometimes deprived the Church of elders, the right to preach was also granted to deacons. One of the most famous preachers of the 4th century. St. Ephraim the Syrian had only the rank of deacon. St. Pope Gregory the Great (604) during his illness instructed deacons to read his sermons. Even laymen were allowed to preach, but only in the most exceptional cases. This was the case back in the 3rd century. According to Eusebius, when Origen retired from Alexandria to Caesarea in Palestine, “here the local bishops (Alexander of Jerusalem and Theoctistus of Caesarea) asked him to talk and explain the Holy Scripture publicly in the church, despite the fact that at that time he was not yet ordained a presbyter.” , and to the reproach from Demetrius, bishop. of Alexandria, “which has never been heard of and is now not the custom for a layman to preach in the presence of a bishop,” referred to a number of previous examples in different countries. But from and centuries. no such examples are known, except for the speech of Emperor Constantine the Great to the First Ecumenical Council. On the contrary, when some monks in the East began to arrogate to themselves the right of church preaching, Pope Leo I the Great (440-461), for whom the preaching of a presbyter in church may have been strange, wrote against this to Maximus, bishop. Antioch, and Theodoret, bishop. Cyrrhus, saying in the first letter: “except for the priests of the Lord, no one dares to preach, whether a monk or a layman, no matter how much learning (cujus libet scientiae nomine) he may be famous.”
But the Council of Carthage in 399 decreed:
“let a layman (laicus) not dare to teach in the presence of clergy unless they themselves ask him to do so.”
Only women, as always since apostolic times, were certainly prohibited from preaching. The same Council decrees: “let no woman, even a learned and holy woman, arrogate to herself the right (non praesumat) to teach men in the assembly.”
In the Eastern Churches, however, deaconesses were allowed to engage in the catechumen of women preparing for baptism, but not publicly, but privately. In this respect, some heretical communities differed sharply from the Catholic Church, not only allowing the preaching of women, but also having prophetesses, as the Montanists had Prisca and Maximilla, and elevating women to the rank of bishop and presbyterate, as they had Quintilla and Priscilla. The same was true among the Kolliridians of the 4th century, among whom women performed sacred rites in honor of the Holy One. Virgin Mary, like the Catafrigs.
Shouts and rituals accompanying the sermon
Since the sermon, which served as an explanation of the Holy Scripture and was entirely based on it, was also looked upon as the word of God in some way, the sermon was furnished with rituals and exclamations almost similar to the reading of the Holy Scripture. So, before the sermon, the deacon invited those present to silence and attention, perhaps with the exclamation “Let us hear.” Before the sermon, the preacher prayed, probably in secret. Before teaching, it was customary for the preacher to greet the people in the name of God. This greeting was expressed by shouts: “Peace be with you” or: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” with the answer “And with your spirit.” The sermon began with various prayer exclamations, for example, “Blessed be God” (Εύλογητός ό Θεός). The conclusion of the sermon was usually a doxology to the Holy Trinity.
As for the position of the body in which the sermon was delivered and listened to, at least the bishop usually delivered the sermon while sitting on his pulpit, which may have been borrowed from the synagogue and was based on the example of the Savior. But at St. John Chrysostom also indicates the standing of the preacher. The listeners always stood. Blzh. Augustine said: “so as not to hold you for long, since I am speaking while sitting, but it is difficult for you to stand...”.
And Constantine the Great did not want to sit down during the long sermons of Eusebius of Caesarea. Augustine allowed only weak and sick listeners to sit down.
Teach, please and persuade
St. Augustine has interesting words that the preacher must “speak in such a way as to teach, to please, and to persuade.” Therefore, what has been said does not mean that one can neglect the beauty of the syllable. The mentioned errors are permissible when delivering a speech impromptu, on a sudden occasion. In such situations, if you lack thoughts and skills, then it is better to either remain silent completely, or say a few phrases, but not torment your listeners with tedious and incoherent speech. And in the usual order, the word should be well thought out and literate. Read the speeches of famous preachers, and you will enjoy the imagery of the language and the beauty and height of the syllable. But again, the other extreme is to get carried away by the beauty and pomp of the style to the detriment of the content. Bishop Mikhail Semyonov says that it is bad when after a sermon people say: “How well he speaks,” instead of saying: “How important what he said. Let's do it this way." I knew one deacon who preached after the service. One day one grandmother said: “Father Deacon spoke so well today, so well!” I ask: “What was he talking about?” - “I don’t remember, but I spoke very well!” Perhaps this is excusable for the grandmother, in the sense that she cannot convey the content of the speech in her own words. But the preacher must always keep in mind the result he wants to achieve.
In this regard, it is appropriate to once again recall Saint Ambrose. After all, it was thanks to his brilliant sermons that Blessed Augustine abandoned the Manichaean heresy, turned to Orthodoxy and accepted holy baptism. This is how Augustine himself recalls it. “I came to Mediolan to Bishop Ambrose, to one of the best people known throughout the world, Thy pious servant, whose sermons tirelessly gave Thy people the fat of Thy wheat, rejoiced with oil, intoxicated with sober wine” (Ps. 80:17; Ps. 103:15; Psalm 44:8). …. I diligently listened to his conversations with the people, not for the purpose that I should have, but as if looking closely to see whether his eloquence corresponded to his glory, whether it was exaggerated by praise or underestimated; I listened to his words with the greatest attention and carelessly neglected their content. I enjoyed the charm of his speech, more learned, it is true, but less bright and attractive in form than the speech of Faustus. In terms of content, they could not be compared: one got lost in a Manichaean lie; the other taught salvation in a saving way. But “salvation is far from sinners” (Ps. 119:155), as I was then, and, however, gradually and without knowing it, I was approaching it. Although I did not try to study what he was talking about, but only wanted to listen to how he spoke (this empty concern for words remained with me even when I despaired that the road to You could be open to man), but into my soul my words, which I accepted cordially, also included thoughts to which I was indifferent. I couldn't separate one from the other. And when I opened my heart to what was said eloquently, then immediately what was said truly entered into it - it entered, however, gradually” (“Confession, book 5, chapter 13-14).
How should you talk to parishioners?
Talk about important things
First of all, we need to talk about what is important to parishioners. As a rule, these same topics concern the priest himself. We live in the same society, face the same problems and know very well what worries people at a particular moment in time. It is unacceptable to ignore pressing issues. Of course, it is necessary to take into account the needs of your parish. If we talk about the problems of artificial intelligence to 80-year-old grandmothers, they will not understand us. If we don’t talk about the problems of artificial intelligence among young people, they won’t understand us either. We need to look for a middle ground, communicate on topics that concern the majority. Of course, in all these conversations we must be extremely careful.
Pay attention to speech
We must monitor the purity of our speech and manner of speaking - it doesn’t matter whether we are preaching to a full church at a festive service or to three people after the consecration of a car.
Whatever one may say, the Church is an institution that retains a lot of incomprehensible and archaic things, there is no escape from this, but in its language archaism must be reduced to a minimum. A priest must be understood, so there is no point in bombarding people with theological terms. On the contrary: our task is to explain in as much detail as possible what exactly is happening in the church as a whole or at one or another moment of the liturgy. By the way, you can not only talk about this in a personal meeting or at a sermon, but also offer books, articles, and video materials for study. We must conduct educational work, talk about the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, about the urgent need for every Christian to read them.
About literature
It is very useful for the priest to recommend specific books, articles, videos. If we say: “We need to study the Holy Fathers,” it means we need to orient people at least a little in patristic literature, because it is very different. It may happen that a person chooses clothes that do not fit - he takes up a book that he is not spiritually mature enough to read. Beginning Christians can be advised to read the patericon or holy fathers who lived as close as possible to our time, because they will be more understandable.
It seems to me that it would be good for a modern priest to be reminded of the classical literature forgotten by many, which tells about the same truths that Orthodoxy preaches. To do this, you need to know how a person lives, how much time he has for reading. Of course, the emphasis should be on literature that is somehow related to the Holy Scriptures - fortunately, there is a lot of it now. And regarding patristic literature, it is important to remember: 90% of it was written by monks, so it is not always applicable to our everyday life. This cannot be said about books that interpret the Holy Scriptures or explain worship, they can be very useful.
Give direction
You need to communicate with people with respect, but it is better not to give specific answers and advice. Our task is to indicate the direction, and not to serve a ready-made solution on a platter. Show a way to solve a problem that the person did not notice. This principle is useful to avoid the temptation to speak “on behalf of God.” It is clear that this concerns issues of choice, and not some specific things from the series “is it possible to eat prosphora without an empty stomach.”
Smile and love
In order for a person to leave the temple happy and without feelings of guilt, he needs to smile. Archimandrite Andrei (Konanos) wrote: one day a woman came up to him and admitted that he saved her life only by being friendly with her. The priest must understand that people do not come to church to be vilified. They know that they should be loved there, and they may be pitied there. One person came to me, I could not understand why he was coming. And then he realized: he had nowhere else to go. People go to church for kindness, for the burning heart of the priest, for the willingness not even to help, but to listen. Many people don’t even need our advice; they find the answers themselves by talking to us. And when we begin to scold and blaspheme during a sermon, this is wrong. It hurts.
Avoid feelings of guilt and fight stereotypes
It hurts and upsets me to see a person who goes to church longer than me, and at the same time remains under the yoke of stereotypes, hearing which makes me want to hug him and cry. As if spirituality depends on how one's beard is cut or what pants one wears. People do not become saints by changing some external things. It is very difficult to face the fact that such stereotypes are imposed by priests. We are called to teach to believe, to love, to pray - and not to judge a priest by his beard, or a woman by the length of her skirt.
For many reasons, our people already live with a sense of guilt. There is no need to add reasons for them to condemn and torment themselves in the temple. Let them come, ask questions, learn new things from us. Otherwise, the Church will continue to be incomprehensible and alien.
Priest Dimitry Palamarchuk
Feedback
Just as a farmer rejoices over his fruits, over his crops, over his shoots, just as any master rejoices over what he has done with his own hands, just as a preacher rejoices when he sees the fruits of his word in people who have heard and kept this word and fulfilled it. It is a joy for a preacher when, perhaps after some time (and sometimes years), you hear from a person: “You know, you once said such and such in a sermon, it touched me, and I This is how I changed my life.”
It often happens that a preacher feels that people are like a sponge absorbing the word he speaks. Not only in church, but also at home, in confession. I remember one man who suffered from an incurable disease. He lived his life without the Church, God brought him to Himself before his death (and he was still young, he was just over 40 years old). How he listened to the word of God! He could no longer speak and asked me to write down the words that I spoke for him on a piece of paper, so that he would turn to them again and again, to the words of the Gospel. In such cases, you clearly see that “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). It is a balm for the soul.
But it also happens that the people you are addressing are not ready to listen. There is a feeling of some kind of obstacle. This especially happens at a funeral. You begin to speak, addressing your relatives, and you feel that your words are going into emptiness and flying away from the listeners with a ringing sound. Like hitting a wall, as they say. It is clear that the words do not reach either the minds or the hearts of people. I believe that a priest must see and take into account who and how he speaks. Remember Christ's warning: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). And at the same time, we must preach tirelessly. Remember how in the Gospel the Lord commands the apostles to cast their nets again after an unsuccessful night of fishing. The Apostle Peter “said to Him in response:“ Mentor! We toiled all night and caught nothing, but at Your word I will let down the net. Having done this, they caught a great abundance of fish, and even their net was broken” (Matthew 5:1-6). So a Christian preacher must cast the net of his word, relying on the will of God. Our task is to sow, but how it grows is no longer in our power. As the Apostle Paul says:
I planted, Apollos watered, but God increased; Therefore, the one who plants and the one who waters is nothing, but God who increases everything. He who plants and he who waters are one; but each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor (1 Cor. 3:6-8).
So, one should not be afraid to preach, even if one leaves the sermon. Although this is, of course, a signal. This means that you are somehow saying the wrong thing and cannot interest the listener.
Conversations with the priest. The problem of Christian preaching and culture
Audio |
In the St. Petersburg studio of our TV channel, the chairman of the Council for Culture of the St. Petersburg Diocese, priest Ilya Makarov, answers questions from viewers.
(Some features of oral speech are preserved in the transcript) – The topic of today’s program is interesting and complex: “Responsibility for Christian preaching.” We will also talk about the culture of preaching.
Father Elijah, when you think about the power of preaching, the faith that comes from hearing it, many pleasant and dear memories arise. But along with this, another feeling arises: we think that preaching is a boring activity... Nevertheless, I heard your sermons and the sermons of the fathers, which I will never forget: they were burning with their words, conveying very obvious and valuable things.
But we can also say that all of us, Orthodox Christians, are also preachers. Another aspect that arises here: there are people who believe that if they wrote a poem or a song about Orthodoxy, then this is already enough to be considered an Orthodox person. In all these aspects, I ask us to enlighten us, so to speak, to preach in this vein. And yet, is there any responsibility for Christian preaching?
- The topic is very interesting. Thank you for bringing it up. This needs to be discussed and discussed for a long time. It is necessary to organize entire conferences on the issues of Christian Orthodox preaching in the modern world. Of course, we know many people who speak actively, beautifully, correctly and in different formats. Fortunately, today it is not necessary to be able to hear a person by personally coming to church, although this must be done, because the sermon is an integral part of the divine service, it must always be kept in mind in the context of the divine service, the reading of the Holy Scriptures, the celebration being performed, and so on.
A priest who studied well at a theological academy knows how to correctly conceive, create, structure a sermon. He always takes into account the context and even who is standing in front of him. He doesn’t just broadcast what he came up with, but responds to requests, so to speak. The priest sees whether there are many or few people, whether people are young or old... He also takes into account the social context: maybe everyone was struck by some news in the morning. A sermon is about the eternal, but if we want to reach hearts, then, of course, we must take into account the modern context in which it sounds. Therefore, we are not talking about what was in the morning newspapers today, but we understand in what mood people came. Of course, they need to be stirred up, consoled, awakened. The clergyman must take all these nuances into account.
Based on general church experience, general church practice, rules for composing and delivering a sermon, we understand that today the format may be different. A person who speaks on the Soyuz TV channel on a specific topic, trying to convey the Gospel (God’s) message, is also a preacher. But can anyone who talks about God (you noted quite correctly) consider himself a preacher? Is every word about God a sermon? In this context, of course, we remember first of all the words of the Gospel, when everyone was surprised at what Christ said, because He spoke as one who had authority. There is a temptation here for the modern preacher: he must, as Pushkin said, “burn the hearts of people with his words,” but he is not the ruler of thoughts.
I believe that there were preachers who led millions of people with their words in the middle of the 20th century. Today it is difficult to surprise a person with just a word; It seems to me that there are no leaders who truly speak the word that inspires many. We see how thousands, hundreds of thousands of people react to some political and social changes. As we say, this is already technology - not only thought and word, but to a greater extent how and where it is presented, by whom, when. That is, this is everything that accompanies the main idea. This is already technology, and not exactly the same word that has its power when a person pronounces it as someone who has power.
Christ spoke as one who had authority. Why? Because His power is not only God’s power, but also the possession of the truth. Power is an area, something that you own and for which you are responsible. Christ was responsible for His every word. His word had power. If today's preacher realizes that he is responsible for the seeds that he is now sowing into the hearts of people through his word, then his word begins to gain power - and they really respond to it.
– Question from a TV viewer from France: “How do you feel about the elders, in particular about Father Nikolai Guryanov? What is your life experience in communicating with elders? And let me also bow in honor of the anniversary of Father Valerian Krechetov.”
– We are glad that people in France are interested in such questions and problems. I will not specifically talk about Father Nikolai, because I did not know him personally, I only know from the stories of those people who had experience communicating with him, for whom he prayed, who did a lot with his blessing. Of course, they testify to his special feat of prayer.
Eldership is a separate issue that concerns not only our main topic, preaching. This is a question of pastoral counseling. The word of a shepherd, elder, confessor comes from the heart. But he speaks it into every person’s ear. This is not exactly a sermon in the classical sense. Although, of course, the shepherd is responsible for his words and must speak, it seems to me, from his life experience. If he has an experience with God that is different from the experience of most people, if the experience really led him to certain gifts that God gave him, he should share this experience. I have noticed that experienced confessors and people whom we respect and whose opinions we listen to most often do not quote the Gospel. Although references to it are also needed, we must draw experience from God's word.
At the same time, a confessor is not just an interlocutor over a cup of tea. He shares his experience of communicating with God, his experiences. Therefore, elders were most often considered to be people who were already in old age. We don’t know 20-year-olds, but we know, for example, 60-year-olds. If an elder can convey his experience in the right word to someone who comes to him, this consoles and encourages the questioner; and he answers his own question. Most often, people with such spiritual experience do not say: “Do it this way...” Or: “Do it differently.” The most interesting thing is that they come to them with the question: “What should I do?” But they don't tell you what to do. The elder begins to share his experience and gives the person an idea. A person must make a decision himself - with God’s help and with the help of a spiritual interlocutor. Why? Then there will be no one to be offended by. Then the person will be convinced that his choice is correct.
This is also, to some extent, preaching, but preaching with your life and experience. We can say that we preach with our lives. This is exactly the case for modern lay Christians: they do not preach from the pulpit, the TV screen, or conduct conversations. I don’t know any lay people who have been given the blessing to preach. Being a presenter and having conversations – yes. But to be a preacher from the TV screen?.. I can’t even name such a layman off the top of my head. Although today in many churches, experienced laymen, students of theological academy, and readers are blessed to be preachers in the format of worship. There is such a format, and it’s good. In the Ancient Church, preachers were not necessarily clergy. The clergyman is obliged to preach, but he is not necessarily the only one. So, today most of our laity are preachers with their lives.
But attention here: how should we understand this correctly for ourselves? Not only talk on every corner about the fact that we are Christians: “I will not eat meat, because today is Wednesday, for I am Orthodox”; “I will not enter into a debate with you regarding modern church life, because I am a preacher, I should not throw pearls before swine.”
I was horrified to hear that some people believed that they should not be active missionaries in the modern world because they “shouldn’t cast pearls before swine.” This is disrespect for the majority of people, no matter how godless and unchurched they may be today. This is a completely misunderstanding of Christianity as such. It is missionary in nature.
The Church of Christ cannot live for a moment without realizing the need for its own mission. Another thing is that at different times she is looking for ways to achieve this missionary work. Maybe today missionaries are not sent to the inhabitants of distant Chukotka. Today there are no such missionaries. But you need to be able to incite people to talk so that there is no desecration of the sacred. This is a gift and a skill. This is incredible courage. We have only one or two such preachers. It seems to me that this is the task of today's Orthodox Christian. It is important not to grab your hand and say: “Let me tell you about God.” Remember, a few years ago the Jehovah's Witnesses did this. Sometimes it was funny.
There was an incident from my life. There was a knock on the door. I was a seminarian then. My mother answered. They say:
– We will tell you about the Bible.
- How, on your own?
- Well, yes, we study the Bible.
– Actually, I’m used to hearing the interpretation of the Bible from the lips of the holy fathers. Read their Scriptures and focus on them.
– What are you, what holy fathers? We are children of God. We must study the Bible ourselves and interpret it.
- No thanks. My son studies at an Orthodox theological seminary...
They turn around and leave.
We are not talking about this, but about the ability of a modern Christian to persuade a person who knows nothing about God or has a negative attitude towards the Church to talk on this topic. And then it’s your abilities, knowledge, skills and talents to build this conversation. Of course, if you don’t feel strong, it’s better to remain silent, but not with the conviction that we “shouldn’t throw pearls.” In no case. On the contrary, we must bring light with our lives. Our life must be built by ourselves in such a way that it is a real confirmation of this preaching. The task of a modern priest is to serve and pray in such a way that the service and his prayers are a sermon. Not an easy task. This is taught in seminaries to the extent that it is. There must be personal experience. The task of every layman is to live in such a way that his every action and movement is a sermon. It seems impossible, but I believe this is what God is calling us to do today.
– Question from a TV viewer: “I’m wondering how to recognize a preacher who preaches convincingly and beautifully about everything, but in his words and sermon there is a veiled subtle demagoguery that confuses a person. Let's say Satan also preached and presented seemingly correct facts. But it was pure demagoguery.”
“That’s what a demagogue is for—to confuse people and direct them where he wants them to go.”
A true preacher?.. Let's just say that he does not exist at all at the moment of delivering the sermon. For example, church singing can be solo. But the man sings in such a way that you begin to pray in his voice, without thinking that here he sang well, but here he fell short. The voice is beautiful, he sang professionally, but he doesn’t do it to attract attention. He puts all of himself, all his professionalism, all his feelings into prayer. This is reflected in the hearts of people. That's how the preacher is. He may be in the frame. We can look at the recording of the sermon after the fact and break it down into its component parts. To think that he did this well, but not so much. (But this is already an analysis. And the first reaction when we hear a sermon is emotional. It can be specific. But this is not the main thing.) We practically do not notice him as a person. But we notice what he is talking about. This is the main criterion of a true preacher, for whom it is important to convey an idea, a thought and set people up.
It's like a tuning fork. What is a tuning fork? It produces the right sound that tunes an orchestra of a hundred instruments or a choir. We begin to build harmony. And the music suddenly started flowing. Here is the preacher - the same tuning fork that tunes those listening to a certain lifestyle. The tuning fork has only the mode, the tonality, tuned. Then everything depends on the conductor, orchestra and choir. The preacher sets us up for a certain way of life, a certain vitality. Until the next sermon, we must live as we heard, saturated with prayer, taking a blessing from God, receiving His grace in the sacrament of the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. That's what preaching is for. It gives us a charge that should not fade until the next liturgy. Therefore, at every Divine Liturgy there should be a sermon.
Moreover, after each reading of the Holy Scriptures there should be a sermon. And we read the Holy Scriptures at the all-night vigil as well. Of course, we can hear a sermon outside of the service. How can you make sure that your sermon outside of worship is a sermon? We must speak the word of God in such a way that a person here and now begins to feel in the presence of Divine grace.
How did Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh speak? He carried on his experience as a 14-year-old teenager for the rest of his life. He preached as he felt Christ. Remember, he told this: he was provoked by the priest, whom he did not really want to listen to. He nevertheless opened the Gospel, began to read, felt the real presence of the One about whom he was now reading. There are his sermons at worship services, and there are television recordings of his conversations, which were later published in print. He never wrote down sermons, but simply spoke and talked. Each of his conversations is a real sermon. By the way, he quoted the Gospel freely, without reading it out! It is difficult for modern publishers of his conversations to find the correct link and provide it at the end of the page, because he quoted close to the text... When you listen to him, you really feel that there is now a third person between the two of you. And this third one is Christ.
I tell the story, but I get goosebumps because I imagine the face and eyes of Metropolitan Anthony. I studied it a lot and wrote a paper about it at the theological seminary. I tried to survive it all. Wrote at the time he passed away. It was alive and relevant; and still lives: the third volume of his conversations has already been published. I think this is not the end: the next volume is on its way. He made preaching a divine service: a real sense of the presence of the Divine. This cannot be confused with any demagogue or orator. When there is no God, then it is already dangerous.
– Question from a TV viewer: “From the Orthodox point of view, there is no culture where passion dominates in a person. It is said in Scripture: a tree is known by its fruits. How can young people now find out which fruits are poisonous and which are not ? Sometimes it is very difficult for the fragile soul of a young man to understand this.”
– I remember we were once talking about cultural issues, and there was a question from a TV viewer. Let's look at this topic from a new perspective. You will know by the fruits, but you still have to wait for the fruits, of course. But today is the age of technology, the age of open information. Today it is very difficult to hide. There are people who do not promote themselves on any social networks, or do not publish themselves on purpose, or are classified (special services), or simply do not want to “expose” their activities. But today it’s so difficult to hide! Firstly, word of mouth works the same way it worked two thousand years ago. Even if there were no television and the Internet, I’m sure the news would be found out quickly enough, it all works. But even if we take into account social networks, this activity of ours, today it is easy to figure out a person, what he breathes, who he was before, what he did.
If today a newly minted speaker begins to agitate you for something, just find out who he was a year ago, or even better: where he received his education. Or maybe you will find out who his parents were and where he came from. I believe that today it is possible to start life from scratch, when a person wakes up and starts a new life, but then you need to be like the Apostle Paul. And then, let us remember how many nods were addressed to him both from our own and from strangers. They didn’t trust him for a long time, and how much he had to preach for the entire Christian community to finally believe his words, that he really spoke from God...
That's how today's speakers and even preachers are. Firstly, look at the person's past, and secondly, do not rush to draw conclusions about his words. He said something today - you don’t need to run outside... You don’t even need to go to the concert hall, if suddenly he said that you will see a stunning show that you have never seen before. How greedy we are for all these sparkles! How we want, like in the ancient Areopagus, to see and hear something new... How did they tell the Apostle Paul then? The wisest elders gathered to listen to him, but when they realized that there would be nothing bright and good-smelling, they decided: we’ll listen to you another time. There is no need to be provoked into this. Let's wait, let's see how far the man will act as he says; to what extent his words that he spoke yesterday will remain relevant and true for him tomorrow. That's all. Just wait three days. Our youth today are very smart beyond their years. Maybe not yet experienced enough, independent, responsible, but smart. She immediately looks at the root, immediately feels where it is false and where it is not. Wait three days, and it will immediately become clear whether this is a chatterbox or a person who is responsible for his words. And most importantly, he has already endured a lot in his life for these words or, on the contrary, he confirms these words with his creativity.
– You took it right out of my mouth... When you listen to the sermons of Nikolai Guryanov, which are preserved in audio recordings, I really like the simplicity of his sermons. He tells some very simply invented parables, speaks about it so simply that I understand why not only gray-haired people, but also young people came to him to listen to simple and truthful words. Perhaps his language was not oratorical, but he spoke incredibly clearly. Therefore, his sincerity and simplicity attracted so many people to him .
You talked about falsehood. We also talked about how good it is when the choir sings correctly and amazingly prayerfully. But there is another situation. The choir is out of tune, terribly out of tune, and you think: the service should end quickly, because it’s impossible to listen to it; like a razor to the ears. What to do in this case ? This problem exists.
- Yes. Moreover, the choir is out of tune both musically, intonationally, and in the heart. This is simply singing syllables from notes without understanding what is happening. Unfortunately (dear fathers, don’t be offended), this also sometimes happens to us. We find ourselves thinking that we say prayers without our own bloodshed. Sometimes it happens that prayer goes on, but due to skill. But every prayer, the smallest, should be like bloodshed. Before our eyes is the example of Christ, He prayed with sweat and blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then prayer works when it comes with sweat and blood. And we wonder why miracles happen so rarely today through our prayers. Well, they say, we are not saints. But did only saints pray in such a way that the outcome of a war changed or a person became different, turning his life 180 degrees? An ordinary priest prays. The grace of God also works through ordinary clergy. This happens. You have to catch yourself doing this and not allow yourself to fake it.
When an actor in a performance is out of tune, plays according to practice, we get bored, yawn, and even spit in his direction. Previously, they threw tomatoes and rotten eggs if they didn’t like the way the artist played. In the Church, I hope they didn’t do this with boring preachers. Not in the sense that he doesn’t entertain us, but in the sense that he doesn’t speak from the heart. He speaks in templates, memorized clever phrases from the same Bible, although there are church rules for constructing a sermon. There must be a quotation from the Holy Scriptures, a reference to the thought of the Holy Father, it must be specific in form. But it seems to me that when patterns are broken today, it is not a sin. Today you can use any moment to attract attention. But the main thing is what you bring to the listener and what will remain in his heart, in his consciousness.
If you can do this through a fashionable form, is that bad? No. You can speak in simple language, if it is the language of a sincere heart, like Father Nikolai Guryanov, then it works, the sermon is valid. If today, in order to reach young hearts, you need to post your sermon on TikTok, this should be done. You need to fill any space with goodness. Why did one of the primates of the Local Churches (the Church of Greece, the previous primate), being a bishop, go to youth clubs, sit there, watch what the young people were doing, start a conversation at the table and preach Christ like that. Young people then flocked to the temple. But why could he afford it, and we consider it unacceptable for a priest to go to such parties? Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh has come to the hippies! He did not consider that he was going “to throw pearls among pigs.” And he was able to organize his presence among them in such a way that it was not they who told him, but he who told them. And then they came to his temple. This is our task today. Yes, sometimes we are false. But we are false not in form and not in the content that we retell. We are false, perhaps, in our sincerity and in our attitude towards what we say.
Today I very much welcome the young guys and students of the Theological Academy, the clergy who preach however they like, as long as it is a sermon. For example, over a cup of coffee. Remember the famous cafe where the barista pours coffee and starts a conversation? He may be a musician, but let him not drag his songs to Orthodoxy by the ears. Let him express Orthodoxy with his songs, these are different things. To attract your creativity to Orthodoxy is one thing, and it will be false. But having musical talent, expressing Orthodoxy, confessing God with your creativity is different, it will not be false. I believe that what the clergy choir is doing in our diocese today is a real example of modern musical preaching. They even came up with a whole format (it developed on its own), which they patented. This format was tested as part of the educational, spiritual and educational process. They share this format with musicians and teachers. It was a whole project - a concert-sermon. What our fathers, St. Petersburg musicians and singers do on the concert stage is to create the effect of worship and prayer. Moreover, they can do this not only with liturgical chants. Listen to the choir of the clergy of the St. Petersburg Metropolitanate perform military songs.
- I heard.
– We consider Hvorostovsky to be a master of performing military songs, may he rest in heaven. Not a single Victory Day was complete without his concert, he did it very soulfully. But what the choir of the clergy of the St. Petersburg Metropolis does with war songs is amazing... Some of the authors of these songs are, to put it mildly, non-church people, but they manage to rethink the 75-year experience of our people, albeit in Soviet times, from the point of view of musical preaching , when war songs become dirges. This is what I call the moment of enculturation. This is the moment in history when our ancient Russian missionaries, starting with Prince Vladimir (Red Sun), built a temple on the site of a pagan temple. And people noticed visually how demons scattered in all directions from this temple, and angels descended from heaven to the place where the liturgy was celebrated, to the temple on the site of the former pagan temple. They drove evil out of this place. What would we do today? Stay away from this place, keep me away. “It is not fitting to sit in the council of the wicked; how can we cast pearls before swine?” No! They came to where there was darkness. Like Christ. Christ descended into hell. John the Baptist preached among the Pharisees and shouted to them: “Repent!” He wasn’t ashamed of it, and we shouldn’t be ashamed. We must come to where it is black, where there is evil, and displace this evil with the power of our preaching. It can be musical, it can be verbal. And sometimes our mere presence in the workplace is already a sermon.
What does it take to avoid being fake? You need to be a professional. If you do not feel the strength to be a missionary, do not open your mouth in conversation about church matters yet. If you don’t have enough training and education, don’t. Don't meddle in this matter, you might end up in trouble. I'm not saying that this requires a special blessing, that we have preacher's crusts today. By the way, why not? Also strange, right? There are missionary crusts, but there are no preacher crusts. But before there were such preachers, and there were church and diocesan confessors. Take care for now. Preaching is like war. A person who has taken the path of professional church preaching is like being in war.
I know our contemporaries who go to TikTok and the Internet, looking for different forms of presenting their church sermon in the full sense of the word. They listen to a lot of unflattering things from their colleagues, but I see the effect of this sermon at least in terms of audience coverage (although we are not chasing likes). There is also an effect when people actually come. These preachers bring people to be baptized. They encourage people to go to someone other than a doctor, thinking that they will just swallow antidepressants and everything will be fine. First of all, they come to the temple to understand why they don’t feel well. I believe that if a person asks himself the question why he is not feeling well now, this is already 50% of success and his correction, a change in life’s spiritual orientation. A doctor will help, but if you don’t rethink yourself spiritually, then medical help will either not last long, or certainly not for eternity. For eternity you need to change yourself.
– You said that there are full-time confessors, and there are full-time preachers. I thought about this. When you come to confession, the priest may tell you something other than “your sins are forgiven,” especially if you yourself ask the question of how you can overcome some sin. The task is very interesting. The priest has a minute to tell you something. How experienced a preacher do you have to be to say something in thirty seconds that can really help you?
– Who is an experienced confessor? The one that immediately feels a person. What is an experienced preacher? One that immediately senses the audience, the parishioners who are standing in front of it. Who is a TV preacher? One that does not see or know who is watching it, but can create an atmosphere where it will immerse anyone who joins the TV channel. This is professionalism, experience, and, above all, charisma. He must feel that he has God's calling to do this.
In the modern world, what matters is not how prepared the preacher or confessor is, but what kind of heart you come with. Confirm, Gleb, this happened to everyone. Any of our TV viewers, I’m sure, will confirm: when we come to church with some thoughts or problems, we haven’t asked anyone yet, we prayed and heard the sermon. It would seem that the sermon is ordinary, but when we listen to it, we find answers to our questions. What's happening? This is a moment of miracle when everything merges: your questions, Divine grace and the interpretive word of the preacher. And you think: how did he guess? But he didn’t guess, he simply spoke from his heart, and God united these two hearts - the preacher and the one praying in the temple.
The same effect occurs in confession. The priest does not seem to be a perspicacious old man, but your heart is open to hearing - and you receive an answer. This is a miracle, this is what we come to church for. This is the effect of the Divine presence. God touches our heart, and we simply must be open to Him (both the preacher and the listener, the prayer book in the temple). It seems to me that any form is good for this. The main thing is not to criticize immediately. Today we are such critics... We criticize from the authorities to our neighbor. Today we have little kindness, because we ourselves are not ready for sincerity. But when we are open to hearing, then so many interesting things are revealed in our world... That person who seemed to us to be a PR man suddenly turns out to be a real preacher. This could happen.
– You have now touched on a topic that I want to talk about for many more hours: listening and hearing. We say that faith does not come from hearing, but from hearing. When we receive grace during the liturgy and during the sermon, why do we understand that these words were for us ? Because we hear. One can say that the sermon and the responsibility for it lies both with the priest and with us. This is a common matter, what we call liturgy. We will probably have the opportunity to talk more about these topics. Responsibility for Christian preaching and culture - what is the most important thing here ?
– I think confession in every sense of the word. If the preacher is a confessor, that is, lives what he says, then he will practically not make mistakes. The impact of his preaching word will be right. Well, professionalism, after all, I am for professionalism in preaching, in music, in the priesthood. And our laity must be professionals, and to be a professional layman, you need to study, you need to be able to hear, you need to be truly involved in full responsibility for your parish.
May the Lord bless us all every day.
Presenter Gleb Ilinsky
Recorded by Margarita Popova
Who should preach
The bishop must preach and, at the bishop’s will, the priest must preach. “It is not proper for a layman to pronounce a word before the people, or to teach, and thus assume the dignity of a teacher, but to obey the order handed down by the Lord, to open the ear of those who have received the grace of the teacher’s word, and to learn from them the Divine” (Rule 64 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council). And further in the rule the words of the Apostle Paul and their interpretation by Saint Gregory the Theologian are given that everyone has their own rank. Let one teach and the other learn.
How can a layman be? Can he preach? What about teachers and Sunday school teachers? These are most often laypeople.
If you carefully read the rule and its interpretations, it becomes obvious that it is talking about the teaching of Christian dogmas, about church teaching. “By the grace of the All-Holy Spirit this was given only to the bishops and to those to whom they entrust,” says Balsamon. I think the bishop can entrust this matter to a deacon or reader. I knew one reader who gave short sermons. These were the times of Metropolitan Andrian, of blessed memory. There was such a situation at the parish that there was no priest, this reader led the service. He was about 25 years old. The Bishop blessed him to say a few words on the theme of the holiday after the service. It is clear that in this case the word that the reader speaks does not have the same authority that the word of the priest has. But nevertheless, this was important in preserving the parish during the difficult period of absence of a pastor. In such cases, it would be more correct to memorize some word from the patristic works and retell it to people, without adding anything from yourself and having secured the blessing of your bishop.
“And whoever is asked privately should not be prohibited from answering and teaching the questioner,” says Zonara in his interpretation of this rule. The Apostle Peter speaks about this: we must be ready to answer everyone who asks (1 Peter 3:15). In addition, we baptize children, there is an institution of succession. It is the duty of godparents to teach their godchildren. But here I would like to make one caveat. This is where I started. You must watch yourself and open your mouth only when “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34), when you cannot help but speak, when you feel that your word is needed, when you can benefit people and proclaim to them is the word of truth. As for Sunday school teachers, their work is also preaching the word of God. They receive the blessing of a priest, who approves the program the children follow.
Prepare topical sermons
This method of “preparing” home meetings is one of the simplest, if not the simplest. I wouldn't recommend using this alone, but it does work very well if you don't have much time to prepare. What to do? Simply use the e-Bible to search for passages on a topic. For example, if we search for the word “friend” in the book of Proverbs, we will find at least these three passages:
“A friend loves at all times, a true brother supports in adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)
“It’s nice to have many friends, but a close friend can be closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)
“People sharpen iron knives on iron, and they also learn from each other, becoming sharp.” (Proverbs 27:17)
Recall friendships from the Bible, give examples from your past and present, ask the audience to share their examples, add a question or two for reflection - and that's it, the meeting is ready! The number of topics is limitless, as you yourself understand very well.
Do not deviate from what is proper
Rule nineteen of the Sixth Ecumenical Council reads: “The heads of churches must teach the entire clergy and people the words of piety all day long, especially on Sundays, choosing from the Divine Scripture the understandings and reasonings of truth and without transgressing the already established limits and traditions of the God-bearing fathers.” The rule gives an important restriction that the preacher preach the word of God not from himself, in the sense that he does not compose his own interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, but teaches according to church tradition. This does not mean that a modern sermon should be a direct quotation from the Gospel, from the Holy Fathers, and the preacher cannot say a single personal word. No. The point is “not to deviate from what is proper,” but to preach truly church tradition, church teaching, focusing on the holy fathers. They freely expounded their sermons and made speeches. We can do the same. It is only necessary that our preaching be truly consistent with church teaching and supported by the authority of the God-bearing fathers.
Here it would be appropriate to say that in the church environment one can encounter two extremes in relation to the patristic heritage. These extremes at first glance seem too opposite, but if you look deeper, they are very close to each other. One extreme is the opinion that the holy fathers have already written everything for us, compiled everything. Therefore, we cannot even think, speculate. There are people who believe that in recent times the main task of the Church is to preserve the Tradition of the Faith, and apostolic preaching seems impossible. And the second extreme consists in a free attitude towards the patristic heritage. They say that the holy fathers lived centuries ago, but now is a different time, it’s the 21st century, and we ourselves must, without taking into account patristic experience, give answers to emerging challenges and questions. Both of these extremes are false. And the correct, royal path is to deeply absorb the patristic heritage and live by it. The “Holy Fathers” are fathers for us in the most literal sense: if they weren’t there, we wouldn’t be there. But it will be a crime against them if we keep their tradition in our chests, without at all developing our own thoughts on the basis of the wealth that has been given to us. And only based on this foundation can you build your life, answer the questions that arise today, and which, perhaps, were not answered before.
Words words words…
Today the spoken word has become devalued in the sense that we hear a lot of words. Remember Shakespeare's famous lines from Hamlet? “What are you reading, prince?” - "Words words words". When, willy-nilly, we hear endless streams of speeches by politicians, journalists, political scientists or some comedians, then the preacher’s word somehow dissolves in this stream. But you need to understand that the word that is pronounced in church is pronounced for prepared listeners. For those people whose soul has already been “plowed and fertilized” by divine service, singing, and reading prayers. People long to hear the word of truth, and not empty chatter about vanity. In this sense, preaching affects the soul in a special way. It is stronger than poetry.
Sermon duration
When preparing for a sermon, we must take into account not only the spiritual thirst of the people, but also the length of our services. And in this regard, the question arises: how long should a sermon be? If we look at the works of the ancient saints, their teachings take up several pages, sometimes even tens of pages. The amazing fact is that they preached literally every day and did it for quite a long time. Our modern practice is (I see this from my own experience) that the sermon should be about 10-15 minutes. There is no need to strive to reveal the whole meaning of, say, a Gospel passage at one time. You should limit yourself to one or two topics, focus on them and keep track of time. More than fifteen minutes is already hard for people. You see how they begin to shift from foot to foot, look at the clock, at the door, the children begin to squeak... People get tired, and we must take this into account.
But we must also take into account that our preaching is all the more important because our services are performed in Church Slavonic. And let's face it, there's a lot that people don't understand. They need to discover the meaning of the service, the meaning of the Christian sacraments, all rites, and explain the meaning of the read word of God. I remember one day—I think it was Lent—I read a teaching from the book of Chrysostom in Church Slavonic. I tried to read, as they say, with feeling, with sense, with order. And then, when he finished, he turned to the parishioners: “Did you understand anything?” And they sincerely said: “No. We didn’t understand anything.” Some people may have picked up on something, but in reality there was little they understood. For this reason, preaching is very, very important.
But how much can you tell in 10 minutes? If you do this regularly and systematically, then a lot. Although, of course, this is not enough. The solution may be to organize catechetical courses for adults, groups for the study of the Holy Scriptures, etc. This kind of work can transform our church life. And not only church ones. We are part of society. Therefore, our preaching and Christian piety can and should change the situation for the better. This is our responsibility.
Word and deed
Among other things, the difficulty of preaching is that often a priest (I’ll talk about myself) has to talk about things that he himself has not achieved. In the patristic works you can find many sayings that if you haven’t accomplished something in your life, haven’t achieved something, then don’t talk about it. And the priest has to talk about what he has not achieved. For example, about Christian love. Which of us can say about himself that he loved God with all his heart, with all his thoughts and with all his strength? Or your neighbor, including your enemy, as yourself? Or fulfilled to the end the word of the Gospel: “Do not worry and do not say: what shall we eat? or what to drink? or what should I wear?” (Matt. 6:31)? We haven't fully implemented a lot of things. But nevertheless, we need to talk about this. You do this, sometimes, with the awareness of your sinfulness, your insufficiency. But this is the word of God. And if you don’t say it, you will answer before God for not revealing the truth and not announcing it to people.
With this in mind, an arrogant teacher's tone should be avoided in preaching. I am deeply convinced that when a preacher constantly speaks “in a condescending manner”, when he constantly reproaches them (“you owe this, you don’t do this, you sin in this”), then he thereby opposes himself to people. I think that this only contributes to the alienation of the shepherd from his flock, and this only harms the work of preaching. It is much more convenient to say “we”. That is, when you pronounce a word, you speak about God’s will, about God’s commandments. So consider yourself one of the people who should do this and who sometimes break the commandments and find themselves not up to the level of their calling. Include yourself in this circle of humility. And if you are sincere enough in your view of things, you will see that this is actually so. A priest is not always an angel.
Although, of course, at some point it is necessary to reproach, expose, and point out sin, a vice that needs to be eradicated. But we must not only point out to a person his ulcers, we must show him the medicines, the way out, how he can overcome this sin. We need to inspire you to improve your life.
What scenarios of communication with the flock are unacceptable?
Let's look at the most common ones.
The priest reads a sermon, typed by the pope-priest on a typewriter and compiled from book excerpts left over from the grandfather-priest. Is it good or bad? - Don't know. Still, society has changed, and the grandfather-priest addressed completely different people. Perhaps such a sermon is good for those who come to church for the first time and know nothing about the holiday or the icon being glorified. But let's face it: on Sunday, 95% of the people in the church are regular parishioners who already know everything perfectly well about all the holidays.
The second category is priests who, during a sermon, talk not so much about the event, but about what should not be done on the holiday. Yes, before it was impossible to do laundry on a holiday, for example. I saw times when doing laundry took a whole day, or even two: it was necessary to bring water, boil clothes, rub something for a long time, take out water, and so on. Of course, it’s not good to waste a holiday on such fuss. But nowadays, washing is solved in four steps: load the laundry, pour in the powder, press a couple of buttons - that’s it. Life is changing, and we need to realize it. Completely different problems came to the fore. Why waste communication time on incomprehensible prohibitions?
Third type: the priest limits himself to some obvious facts, for example, he retells an episode of the Gospel he has read or tells something about the holiday that is well known and heard many times. There are those who talk about the same thing, but in different ways and in different words: “We honor the icon of the Mother of God such and such, the Mother of God helps us and protects us with her Holy Protection, therefore we must certainly honor the Most Holy Theotokos and pray to Her, our patroness ”, - about nothing, from empty to empty.
Fourth: the priest does not know what to say or how to speak so that people understand him; as a result, he speaks for a long time and is very complex, going into theological depths and filling his speech with many complex terms.
Fifth type. Let me tell you a secret: do you want to be popular so that people from other deaneries and regions come to you? It is necessary to say general things, it is advisable to season them with “facts” from the series “on the day of memory of the Archangel Michael, the holy Archangel Michael lowers his wings into the fiery river of hell and takes out repentant sinners from there.” I guarantee that they will even start quoting you. People will come from far away to listen to the priest, who says what no one else talks about. He has secret knowledge after all. Why else would they know that they can’t eat potatoes, because they contain demons that attack the thyroid gland! This will be in demand, especially since such facts are told by priests who certainly look like elders - alas, this image sells very well... Chips, the coming of the Antichrist, distrust of traditional medicine - all this has an Orthodox entourage, which is in demand by a large number of people. I don’t know why the image of an old man is so attractive and why in the minds of many he is exactly like that. I think if you put portraits of Father Alexander Schmemann and Rasputin side by side, the majority would call the latter an Orthodox priest.
The sixth type is priests who influence parishioners in a sectarian way. Such a rector puts pressure on the fact that the temple does not belong to him, but to the parishioners, and if he is removed, they will send someone else - who will certainly be careless. The parishioner is imposed with a feeling of guilt and responsibility for the church, the obligation to work through force for the sake of the parish - as a rule, to the detriment of the family. Here the words of the Apostle Paul are violated: “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those at home, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel” (1 Tim. 5:8). Every priest has to encourage parishioners to participate in the life of the church and parish, but an adequate priest will not impose anything and will not manipulate. Parishioners are happy to help not when they are given new and new responsibilities, but when they see that the rector needs the same thing as them: for the church to be beautiful, comfortable, clean and warm.
Some priests instill a sense of guilt in people who come to church, constantly talking about their sinfulness. They fight sin so actively that it crowds out Christ and love in their preaching. They probably forget the exclamation: “Holy of Holies,” and do not understand to whom it is addressed. The Holy Gifts - the Body and Blood of Christ - are intended for the saints - those who stand on the other side of the altar barrier. Yes, they are sinners, but He came to them. God wants us to live with Him, so that we remember Him. Therefore, prayer is not only a morning and evening rule, prayers before and after meals. This is any memory of God. But for some reason they don’t teach this in many churches. Instead, one is taught to dwell on sin.
You cannot raise topics with people that can be classified as sub rosa - that is, secret, not permissible for publication. The most painful of them is the sphere of marital relations. This is an area that priests have no right to regulate. It cannot be raised either in sermons or in confession. This is where I would include the question of the post. When a priest from the pulpit insists on eating according to the rules and observing dry eating, this is wrong. Everyone needs to fast, but everyone has their own measure of fasting, and such issues must be discussed individually. By imposing the same demands on everyone, the priest can harm his parishioners.
Light before people
In conclusion, I would like to say once again that our sermon should be heard not only from the pulpit, and should not be limited to the service. There are requirements. Let's say that at the wedding, in addition to the newlyweds, there are many relatives and friends who came to church, perhaps for the first time. They also want to hear something new, said specifically to them. Also, at funerals there are often many people present, close and distant relatives, acquaintances, for whom it is important to hear the word of God. The priest sanctifies houses and dwellings. And there gathers a certain circle of people, often far from the Church. It happens that they invite you to some educational institutions... You never know where? Even on public transport, sometimes people come up with questions. In any place, wherever you are, you must, according to the apostolic word, be ready “to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15).
The task of church pastors and church teachers is to call people to repentance and faith in the Gospel, to teach salvation. Of course, it is also important for the preacher himself to learn how to preach and to increase his personal level of Christian knowledge. This brings you closer to the flock. If you think about the people who are entrusted to you, see their illnesses, spiritual flaws, hear their problems in confession, all this must be processed in your pastoral soul. When you regularly prepare and deliver sermons, then in an unexpected situation, when you need to give an answer right away, the right words or quotes come to mind. In addition, don’t be shy about asking people what flaws there are in your sermon, what they think you’re doing wrong, what they would like to correct, what they would like to hear.
Finally, we must preach not only by word, but also by life and personal example. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). To him be glory now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen!
