What are virtues? Virtue and vice. Orthodox faith as a Christian virtue

As the famous cartoon character said: “If you are kind, it’s good, but when it’s the other way around, it’s bad!” From birth, every person lives in society, performs certain actions and receives appropriate assessments for them. The topic of this article will be mainly the good and righteous deeds of a person who does good or strives for it. What are virtues, what are they, and how can you help yourself acquire such qualities? Let's figure it out.

Basic Concepts

Virtue and vice - for many, these definitions are not entirely clear, because in everyday everyday use such words are rarely found. Of course, every child knows, however, in contrast to the values ​​​​accepted in society, the norms of ethics and morality, virtue is the internal need to do good, not because “it is necessary,” but simply because you cannot do otherwise. Also, certain personal qualities of a person that help him find his place in society can be recognized as a virtue. These, for example, could be:

• politeness;
• friendliness;
• the ability to compassion and empathy;
• responsibility;
• honesty;
• performance and so on.

Vice - back side virtue, or rather, its opposite. Any act that leads to harm to oneself or the world around us can be considered vicious. Based on this, reprehensible character traits can also be considered a vice:

• laziness;
• greed;
• arrogance;
• deceit;
• envy and others.

Analysis and study of human vices and virtues have always interested the minds of enlightened people, both ancient and more modern. Various philosophical and religious teachings made up their own classification of virtues.

During antiquity

Even the ancient Greeks noticed that the path to righteousness is quite difficult. Virtue is not given by birth; the road to it is thorny and requires considerable effort. Based on ancient Greek philosophy, the following types are distinguished:

• moderation;
• wisdom;
• courage;
• justice.

The great Socrates gave the leading role to wisdom, and considered reason to be the source of each. But his student, the no less great philosopher Plato, believed that each of the virtues is based on a personal property of the soul: wisdom comes from the mind, and courage relies on the will. At the same time, he also noted that each class is more characterized by a certain virtue - for example, one should not expect courage or wisdom from a craftsman, and moderation from warriors or rulers.

When discussing what virtues are, one cannot help but recall Aristotle, who divided human essence into the virtue of the will (ethical) and the virtue of the mind (dianoetic). He believed that the sensual, unreasonable part of any person is obedient to his mental (reasonable) part. Virtue was defined as the ability to find a “golden mean” in everything, while deviation in one direction or another was recognized as a vice. That is, this is a kind of measure between the lack or excess of something.

Oh great renaissance

In the Middle Ages, during the Renaissance humanism, virtue - virtus - was considered the main category defining the ideal personality. Uomo virtuoso was the name of the person who possessed it. This concept covered the whole complex moral standards, acquiring more diverse shades over time.

On the one hand, the concept of what virtues are was based on the provisions of ancient ethics and was interpreted as reasonable self-restraint in spiritual and physical needs. On the other hand, the image of the ideal person - uomo virtuoso - was slightly softened by new ideas about the inseparability of body and soul, earthly and spiritual needs. Therefore, a person who was not only intelligent, but also active was considered ideal, because a person’s first duty is constant self-development, the desire for knowledge and useful activity.

"New" times

Over time, the concept of what virtues are acquired new forms. One of the leading representatives of the philosophy of the “new” time, Spinoza, considered virtue to be the benefit that a person is able to bring to the world around him. But according to Kant, virtue is firm moral stability in following one’s duty, which, however, never becomes a habit, but always requires a conscious choice.

Notorious political figure, writer and diplomat Benjamin Franklin, in his own autobiography, outlined the principle of “thirteen virtues” that should be inherent in a successful person:

• calm;
• modesty;
• justice;
• moderation;
• thrift;
• hard work;
• order;
• silence;
• determination;
• sincerity;
• abstinence;
• purity;
• chastity.

By and large, this list can be extended many more times; for example, the pedantic Germans define it with a much larger number of points.

Prussian virtues

• patience;
• humility;
• meekness;
• chastity;
• zeal;
• moderation;
• Love.

Internal confrontation

Of course, every person knows which action will be good and which will be evil, nevertheless, virtue and vice represent an internal conflict for most of us. Difficulty has always been inherent in man. “I know what is right, but I choose what is pleasant” - this principle of life is still relevant today. After all, you will agree that understanding the word virtue, its meaning, does not yet mean appropriate behavior.

For a long time, this state of affairs was perceived as a kind of paradox. And indeed, it is quite difficult to logically understand how one can lead an unrighteous life, knowing that it is vicious. That is why in the era of antiquity, knowledge that was not applied in practice was not considered such. According to Aristotle and Socrates, if a person knows what is right, but acts contrary, this means that his actions are based not on true knowledge, but on personal opinion. In this case, a person is supposed to achieve real knowledge, confirmed in practice.

Based on Christian teaching, a person’s bad thoughts and actions indicate the sinfulness of his body, which means that one must completely renounce earthly practicality and rationality, reject the sinful flesh that prevents one from achieving true spiritual harmony.

Be that as it may, regardless of whether virtue is understood as rationality or righteousness, it is acquired by a person in the process of realizing the duality of his nature and the ability to resolve internal conflict.

What will make you virtuous

From birth to death, a person lives in a society of his own kind. Observing the behavior of other people, comprehending the laws adopted in society, he develops a certain model of behavior. Receiving approval or censure of his actions from other people, a person builds for himself a certain scale of values, following which he considers the most acceptable.

The main step towards the knowledge of virtue can be considered the recognition of the importance and value of other people. Living in society, it is impossible to focus solely on personal interests and beliefs. Only recognition of those living nearby, a sober assessment of one’s own moral qualities, and constant self-improvement can make a person worthy of emulation.

What do the seven virtues traditionally look like?

Since ancient times, sculptors and artists embodied their vision of vices and virtues in the most various images. Most often these were images of young beautiful women in long robes, carrying various attributes.
Christian virtues, for example, could look like this:

• Vera is a girl in a white robe holding in her hands a cross, signifying the death of Christ, or a crystal bowl. Can also be depicted with a shield or lamp in his hands.
• Another virtue - Love - originally looked like a sacrificial lamb or pelican, in canonical painting it looks like a woman with many caressing children or with a flaming heart in her hand. Another image that is also quite popular is that of a girl sowing seeds with one hand and pressing the other to her heart.
• Nadezhda is a girl in green robes, bowed in prayer, sometimes with wings or an anchor. In another version, she stretches out her hands to the sun in a gesture of prayer, and a burning Phoenix sits next to her.
• Courage, prudence, moderation and justice were also depicted in female guises.

Which is better, where to strive?

Surprisingly, while explaining the very concept of virtue and suggesting ways to comprehend it, none of greatest philosophers of antiquity and modernity was never able to reliably determine what the highest virtue is. Socrates and Plato, for example, believed that this was wisdom (knowledge), Aristotle - moderation, Confucius - devotion and reverence for elders. Christian teaching calls love (mainly towards God) the highest virtue. Probably, everyone can determine for themselves which of them to honor more than others, because it is impossible to achieve perfection in all directions.

Section II. Virtues

Cultivating Virtues

“In whom there is spiritual beauty, born of virtue,

he glows with Divine Grace.

Since, acquiring virtues,

a person becomes adored,

and therefore emits light:

Divine Grace gives him away"

Geronda, when does a person achieve deification?

When Divine Grace enters into him.

Then there is joy in him?

Not only joy lives in him, but also great love, humility, consolation, confidence. It contains the qualities that God has, therefore the Grace of God enters into it.

What does “God of gods” mean (Ps. 49:1)?

Doesn’t David say, “You are Gods, and all are sons of the highest” (Ps. 81:6)? Man was created “in the image” of God, therefore, God is the God of gods, that is, people. Man must achieve deification. All people are created in the image of God, but which of us stands on the path to being “in the likeness”? The further we move away from God, the less we become like Him, that is, the further we move away from the essence “in likeness.”

In order for a person to become like God, he must live in accordance with the commandments of God and work on himself. In this way, he is cleansed of passions and acquires virtues, and then he is no longer just a man created “in the image” of God, but passes into the state “in likeness,” since Divine Grace acts in him.

Doing virtue is keeping the commandments of the Lord (Isaac the Syrian)

Geronda, I would really like to see my saint.

And I would like you to try to become a friend of God

How can I achieve this?

- “How will the youngest one correct his path? Keep Thy words always” (Ps. 119:9). If you live in accordance with the commandments of God, you will become a friend of God

If we are children of God, we must keep His commandments. When the Jews said: “We have Abraham as our father,” Christ answered them: “Your father is not Abraham, but Satan, because if you were children of Abraham, you would have done the works of Abraham” (Compare John 8:39; John .8:44)

Geronda, what does Abba Isaac mean when he says that Christ demands not the fulfillment of the commandments, but the correction of the soul (Isaac the Syrian, ascetic words)?

Why did God give the commandments? Isn't it for our correction? By keeping God's commandments, we cultivate virtue and acquire health of soul. “The practice of virtue,” says Abba Isaac, “is keeping the commandments of the Lord.”

Geronda, Abba Isaiah says: “A person needs a courageous and great heart to care about keeping the commandments of God.”

This is true. To exactly fulfill God's commandments requires courage, courage and sobriety. Therefore, look for what you lack and what God requires of you: think about what you did and what you should have done, but didn’t. Tell yourself: “Yes, I like what I do, but is it pleasing to the Lord?” - and try to do the will of God. “Because of the words of Your lips I have kept the paths of cruelty,” says the Holy Scripture.

The value is that virtue that is acquired freely, without coercion from the outside. A person must feel virtue as a need and then work to acquire it. It is not God who needs us to do His will—we need it. We need to do God's will in order to be freed from our old self. All the strength of a believer should be aimed at accurately observing the commandments of God. When a person strives to fulfill the will of God, then he approaches God and, even if he does not ask, he still receives Divine Grace. In other words, it draws water directly from the source.

All virtues must be cultivated

Can a person be naturally virtuous?

A person can by nature be, for example, simple, calm, meek. All these are natural gifts that God gives him, and a person must cultivate them in order to increase them. Through feat he will receive spiritual gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Geronda, is reasoning a gift from God or a virtue that is gradually acquired by a person through spiritual activity?

I'll tell you this: reasoning is a gift. But let’s say you don’t have this gift, but have some other one. By developing your gift, you will simultaneously develop reasoning and other virtues, and through this you will make up for those virtues that you lack. When a person strives, for example, in abstinence, then at the same time he cultivates silence, attention, prayer, reasoning, etc.

After all, virtues and passions develop depending on the direction in which a person will work. If he cultivates virtues, then virtues will grow and passions will be drowned out. If one cultivates passions, passions will grow and drown out virtues. If he cultivates both, then both will grow, and the result will be confusion. To understand this, imagine a garden in which there are both flowers and weeds. If the owner takes care of the weeds, the weeds will grow and choke out the flowers. If you take care of the flowers, the flowers will grow and drown out the weeds. If he takes care of both, over time he will not be able to separate the flowers from the weeds.

For a person to succeed, he must know what passions are in him and try to cut them off. Also to know the gifts that God gave him and develop them. If he begins to cultivate them in humility, he will soon become enriched spiritually. If he works spiritually, he will become good; if he neglects, he will become bad.

I've met people who, althoughthe soil of their souls was fertile, they left it uncultivated, and it became overgrown with thorns and thistles. And others, although thorns and thistles grew on their land, they weeded everything out, plowed it, and the land began to bear fruit. What good is it if God gave us good land, and we abandoned it, and it became overgrown with weeds? If our land is suitable for growing sugar cane, but reeds grow on it, if we do not take care to weed out the reeds, plant and grow sugar cane, then how can God help us? You can only weave baskets from reeds; you can’t get sugar...

God will demand from each of us an answer whether we have doubled the gift He gave us. If He gave someone five gifts, then the person must turn them into ten. Nine is no longer the best result for him. Therefore, let everyone work with humility and reasoning to achieve best result After all, God will demand an answer whether a person turned one talent into two, two into four, and five into ten. Therefore, if a person doubles the talents given to him, then in the eyes of God he deserves the highest reward. And if someone, out of zeal, not out of pride, turns one talent into ten, then he will touch not only God but also a person even with a heart of stone.

The virtue of others fills us with fragrance

Geronda, what helps to acquire virtue?

Communication with a person who has this virtue. If you associate with someone who has reverence, you can gradually acquire reverence too. This happens with all virtues, because the virtue of others fills us with fragrance.

When we look at the virtues of other people and try to imitate them, we are edified. But looking at their shortcomings, we also benefit, because the shortcomings of others help us see our own. The virtue of another encourages me to strive to imitate it, and the lack makes me wonder if I also have the same shortcoming, and if so, to what extent, in order to try to get rid of it. For example, I see hard work in someone and I am happy, I try to imitate such a person. In others I see curiosity and I don’t blame my brother, but I look carefully to see if I have curiosity too. And if I see that I have it, I’ll try to get rid of it. But if I see in myself only virtues, and in others only shortcomings, and at the same time I do not pay attention to my shortcomings or justify them, saying: “I am better than this person, and this, and the other!” - that's it - I'm lost

Other people are a mirror for us. By looking at others, we see ourselves, and others see our shortcomings, and their comments wash away the dirty stains from us.

The example of the saints in the practice of virtue

Tell me, Geronda, what are the distinctive properties of saints?

Love with humility, simplicity and reasoning are the distinguishing characteristics of the saints. If a person with reasoning forces himself to imitate the life of the saints, then he himself will acquire holiness.

The example of the saints will greatly help us in working to acquire virtues. Comparing ourselves with the saints, we see our passions, condemn ourselves, humble ourselves and try to imitate them with zeal and divine zeal. We have no excuse if we mark time, because we have before our eyes the example of the saints, their lives. All saints are children of God, and they help us, the unfortunate children of God, by showing us how to avoid the tricks of the evil one.

Careful reading of the lives of the saints warms the soul, encourages us to follow their example and courageously continue the struggle to acquire virtues. In the life of every saint one and the same holy madness is visible, only in each it manifests itself differently. The fiery love they had for God is visible. So the fire of divine jealousy and an ardent desire to imitate them ignite in a person.

All life. Although very little is written in the synaxarium, the life does not contain the entire life of the saint, but only drops from a full cup that fell over the edge. The saints would be crazy if they revealed everything that they experienced in secret. But these small words are enough for us, if only they can sting our hearts, if only we can embody them in our lives.

It seems to me difficult to do something of what the saints did. Let’s say, Saint Syncletikia, what a difficult feat she endured until the end of her life, although she suffered from a serious illness! Or the Monk Barsanuphius, how many years he remained completely silent!

Okay, if you want to imitate St. Barsanuphius, at least try not to respond when someone reprimands you. As for the feat of Saint Synclitia, it seems to me that you do not have enough physical strength to repeat it - you will not stand it, but internally, in my opinion, you can imitate her, and here you have a lot of work ahead of you. I wish that the saint would give you at least a little of what she herself had.

Let us purify virtue from impurities

Geronda You sometimes say “toxic virtue.” When is virtue toxic?

- “Toxic” virtue is, for example, kindness when it contains humanity, or love when it contains self-interest. When there is no selflessness and simplicity in our actions, and selfishness is mixed with virtue, then this is a perverted virtue. Then it is like an unripe fruit, which, of course, also contains some vitamins, but when you bite into it, you feel bitterness in your mouth.

Could it be that I have no virtue, but someone considers me pious?

It's bad if you consider yourself pious.

Can I not see my actual spiritual state and think that I have virtue?

You can, but if you look closely, you will feel that there is no sweetness inside, and from this you will understand what your real spiritual state is. Sometimes a person may think that he has acquired virtue only because he has acquired some external signs of this virtue and follows them in order to appear pious to others. But this is not really a virtue, not a real virtue. He won't last that long. The test will come and the truth will be revealed. It is one thing if, say, a person strives in silence in order not to offend others with words, and thus gradually acquires the virtue of silence. And it’s another thing if he doesn’t speak, so that others consider him a silent person. He can be silent with his tongue, but at the same time constantly converse with his thoughts, and passions can possess this person. Outwardly, he may seem like a real saint, but when his inner man is revealed, it turns out that this is...

Geronda, I am despairing of my condition. The good that I saw in myself turned out to be worthless.

What exactly?

What I thought was zeal ended up being selfishness

No, honey, it's not like that! There is a lot in the ore different metals. There may be a lot of sand, but there is also copper, iron, and some gold... If the ore falls into the furnace, then the gold will be smelted. Doesn’t it say: “Like gold in a furnace” (Wis. 3:6)?

Pride is the thief of virtues

Geronda, I am captive of passions. Sometimes I am robbed by selfishness, sometimes by desire for externals.

If a person allows thieves to steal his property, how can he get rich? And if you allow passions to rob you, how can you succeed? So you will remain in poverty forever, because no matter what you accumulate, you will lose. I don’t understand how this tangalashka can rob you, when you yourself can steal paradise!

I would really like to work on acquiring virtue, but am I marking time? Because of which?

It may also be that a person is not yet ripe for virtue. And you, I see, are beginning to approach spiritual maturity. So look, now, when summer comes and the grapes slowly begin to fill with sweetness, take good care of them from the crows - tangalashkas - live humbly and unnoticed.

But everything I do good, I lose because I instantly fall into pride.

Do you know what you're doing? You produce honey, and then you throw it away, and the evil tangalashka steals it from you, and you are left with your nose. Just as a beekeeper clouds the bees with smoke, and then takes away their honey, so the tangalashka clouds your head with the smoke of pride, steals all your spiritual honey, and then rubs your hands with joy. He steals the valuable gifts of God from you, and he himself rejoices. You're smart, don't you understand this? Why don’t you grab the hand of the thief, the evil one, who is robbing you?

But if a person feels that the gift he possesses is from God, then how can temptation steal this gift?

Through inattention. God endows each person with many gifts, and a person, although he should thank God for them, often does not pay attention, appropriates the gifts given to him by God, and is exalted in his soul. Then the evil devil goes and steals these gifts from a person, because he is a thief, poisons them with his poison and renders them unusable.

Spiritual beauty

Geronda, how can I acquire spiritual beauty?

If you strive with divine zeal to acquire virtues, you will also acquire spiritual beauty. The Mother of God possessed both external and internal beauty. Whoever saw her became a different person. The spiritual softness that She exuded healed souls.

With her inner beauty and power of grace, She accomplished a missionary feat! And any person, if he works spiritually, hones his character, will become a blessed, beautiful soul.

Does a person who has Divine Grace feel it himself?

Feels some effects of grace.

And another person, looking at him, can recognize grace in him?

Yes, maybe, because grace gives him away. You know, virtue cannot be hidden, no matter how hard a person tries. You can’t hide the sun behind a sieve because its rays will still pass through the holes.

The one in whom there is spiritual beauty, born of virtue, glows with grace. Because by acquiring virtues, a person acquires deification, which means he exudes light from himself, and Divine Grace gives him out. Thus, without wanting it and without knowing it, a person reveals himself to others, and God is glorified.

Liberation from passions and cleansing of the soul also affects the flesh, which is also cleansed, because cleansing begins with the heart. The heart transmits its spirituality to the body through the blood, and thus the whole person is sanctified.

Virtue is every word, deed and thought that is in accordance with the law of God.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Human life is a time of preparation for the future eternal life. To become like one’s Creator is the highest goal of human life on earth. And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself blessed us for this, saying to His disciples: “Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

The image of God in man is manifested in the properties of his immortal soul. Free will, creative intelligence, the ability to love others and sacrifice oneself - all this is given to us so that in our lives we realize the Creator's plan - the likeness of God.

The Christian faith teaches us that human life should be a time of achievement, a constant striving for good and perfection, and according to the law of spiritual life, there can be no stop on this path. If a person stops striving for good, he will certainly take the opposite path - the path of vice and passions.

A person must test, examine his conscience: whether he strives for truth and goodness and follows the path of virtue or follows the path of sin, which removes him from God. The path to transforming the soul and developing virtues is not an easy path. On it, a person encounters many dangers and difficulties, passions for worldly interests, a tendency to sin, lack of faith and ignorance in spiritual matters prevent a person from walking the narrow and cramped path to the kingdom of heaven.

The desire for virtue is in every person - as a remnant of that natural goodness that was invested in the nature of man by his Creator. But if this seed of goodness is not cultivated by constant labor and attention to one’s state of mind, a person’s ability to do good is diminished. Both faith and every Christian virtue must be protected, cultivated like a flower, perfected like any talent, ensure that it is in best conditions for development. Such conditions should be the study Holy Scripture, participation in the Sacraments of the Church - in the Sacrament of Confession and Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, attention to one’s inner spiritual life.

In the Orthodox consciousness there are seven basic virtues - faith, hope, love, wisdom, courage, justice and abstinence.

The Holy Apostle Paul writes that of all the virtues, the main ones are faith, hope and love, but it is love that is the perfect fulfillment of all virtues.

“God is love,” the Gospel tells us. This means that whoever has acquired love becomes like God! The more our love for Christ grows, the more our trust in God and the submission of our will to His will increases. Love and works of love nourish faith, and hope comes from faith, like a plant from a seed and a stream from a spring.

True hope seeks the one Kingdom of God and is confident that everything earthly, necessary for temporary life, will be given, according to the words of Christ: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you.” If the soul strives for perfection in God, all virtues exist in it inextricably as links of one chain, and each depends on one another.

Desiring to acquire at least one virtue, a person gradually acquires all the others. But a person cannot acquire any of them without the participation of God’s grace. A person is unable to fight passions on his own due to weakness of will and mind damaged by sin. Only with the assistance of God's grace and the voluntary striving of the human soul for truth and goodness is it possible to achieve virtue.

“Whoever does not gather with Me scatters,” says the Lord. Nothing can be called durable and valuable that is not acquired with the help of God, for truth and goodness come only from the Lord. God and Man are co-workers in the salvation of the soul and the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. Divine grace is such that it can purify a person in an instant and make him perfect. But it visits the soul gradually, testing how much it retains love for God, whether it lives in accordance with His holy will...

At first, it may be difficult for the soul to follow the will of God and demonstrate virtue. And the saints teach us to imitate its external signs: if you want to have love, then do deeds of love. The Lord will see your desire and effort and put love into your heart.

“Take My yoke upon you,” Christ tells us, “and you will find rest for your souls...” These words of the Lord indicate that acquiring virtues, although not easy, is joyful and grateful work. He gives already here, in earthly life, the fruits of grace for a Christian, according to the words of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov): virtue requires short-term labor, but brings eternal joy.

One virtue, performed sincerely, attracts all the virtues into the soul.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk

About Christian virtue

Virtue in general is the disposition of the soul to avoid evil and do good according to the laws of common sense. Christian virtue is a gift of God, or supernatural, that is, from God, together with sanctifying grace, a received inclination that makes us always ready to live in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ, and solely out of love for God, for the acquisition of eternal life. We call Christian virtue supernatural to distinguish it from natural virtues, or natural ones, stemming from a person’s character, which do not cost him the slightest effort. Thus, some, having naturally acquired a meek, compassionate disposition, willingly help the suffering, love their friends sincerely, and treat everyone fairly and kindly. Others have a phlegmatic character and do not tolerate long-winded speech; Therefore, they are patient, calm in unpleasant circumstances, and do their best to avoid gossip, discord and debate. But if all these people, despite all the wonderful qualities of character, do not think about God at all, if they attribute all this not to God, but to themselves; if they, not understanding the rites of faith and finding its mysteries beyond their understanding, ridicule the former and do not believe the latter, or, frankly speaking, have no faith; if they, being proud of some of their deeds, in other respects do not at all keep the commandments of God and the Church, then such people do not have true Christian virtue, and the righteous God will reward them for their good deeds, generated by their good character, a hundredfold in this life; but in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ their natural virtues cannot expect reward. And don’t the pagans do the same? - said the Savior (Matt. V, 47).

Christian virtue does not know self-love, it requires decisive self-sacrifice, a constant desire of the will to do good and avoid evil, solely out of love for God and neighbor, it requires doing good and avoiding evil not only when it is useful or pleasant for us, when it is easy for us and convenient, but even when it is associated with many obstacles, when we must fight our bad habits and passions, when, finally, we must sacrifice not only our temporary goods, but even life itself. Consequently, all good deeds that were done without the intention of pleasing the Lord, the source of which was vanity or greed, or coercion, do not make a person virtuous and cannot earn him eternal life. This is why true virtue is so rare; it is almost unknown to the pagan world and appeared, in all its beauty, only in the radiant light of the Divine Gospel.

We said that Christian virtue is a gift of God, because man, being naturally subject to countless weaknesses, without God’s help is not able to be virtuous solely out of love for God. And without any admixture of pride. This is a dogma of faith, for Jesus Christ said quite clearly: just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it is in the vine, so neither can you unless you are in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing (John XV, 4 - 5). And St. James says: Every good deed and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights (Epistle James I, 17).

Consequently, if we have a happy inclination towards virtue, if we overcome all difficulties on the path to goodness, then we owe all this to the grace of Jesus Christ, who not only taught us true virtue by his own example, but also suffered for us and helped our weakness, forsaken in the sacrament of the Eucharist, spiritually strengthening food for us to achieve eternal bliss in heavenly Jerusalem.

So, we receive the strength necessary for a virtuous life not from ourselves, but from God; which should convince us to be even more virtuous if possible: for God leaves no one without grace. In case of exhaustion or fatigue in the field of good deeds, we must only lift up our hearts to Him with faith and hope, and He who said: ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you (Matt. VII, 7), will in no way leave our fervent prayer in such a good and important matter, and we will again walk cheerfully along the paths of Divine virtues.

Here the question arises: if Christian virtue requires efforts so difficult for human weakness, then is it possible for a person to be truly virtuous? To this the St. Apostle Paul answers us: I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me (Phil. IV, 13), and the Savior, having said: be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5, 48), showed us that man, with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit, despite all his weakness, can imitate the perfections of the Divine, in whose likeness he was created. True, Holy Scripture says: seven times (that is, often) the righteous fall and rise again (Proverbs XXIV, 16); but by these falls we mean small and often involuntary human weaknesses, and not serious crimes or mortal sins: for in this case, Holy Scripture would not call such a person righteous, because mortal sin causes spiritual death to the soul and deprives it of all righteousness. Forgivable weaknesses, while not depriving a person of sanctifying grace, do not deprive him of God’s mercy, especially if he constantly and with all his might tries to correct the slightest shortcomings in himself in order to unite himself with God more firmly in soul and heart. An example here is the lives of the Saints, many of whom, having by nature an ardent disposition and violent passions, however, with the help of grace, overcame all difficulties, achieved Christian perfection and found a crown from the Heavenly King, the more praiseworthy, the stronger and more dangerous the struggle was. , which they led in their lives with themselves, with a world full of temptation, and with the temptations of Satan.

Although, strictly speaking, there is only one Christian virtue, that is, one constant desire of the soul to fulfill exactly all its duties solely out of love for God; but just as some of these duties relate directly to God, others - to ourselves or to our neighbor, then the virtues - some have God as their subject, while others - ourselves and our neighbor, that is, they relate to Christian moral teaching. Consequently, some of them are called theological, and others moral.

On theological virtues

Among all the virtues, the first place is occupied by theological ones, which primarily speak about God and are aroused in our soul by contemplation and reflection on God’s perfections, when we understand them in accordance with the teaching of Divine Revelation. There are three of them: Faith, Hope and Love. The entire spiritual Christian life is based on these virtues and they are not acquired by human forces, but come directly from God and are poured into our soul through Grace.

By faith we subordinate our minds to God, recognizing as true those lofty mysteries of Revelation that exceed all our concepts. A person, carried away by pride and curiosity, would sometimes like to penetrate into the depths of divine, incomprehensible and impenetrable mysteries, but, taught by the word of Revelation, that God's perfections are limitless, and the human mind is not only limited, but is very often clouded by passions; that true religion, speaking to a limited man about an infinite being, must naturally, in some respects, seem mysterious to him, due to his weakness; finally, knowing that God, as infinite truth, does not desire our delusion, he abandons his daring intention, humbles his proud mind before eternal Wisdom, and, thanking the Almighty for the saving truths revealed to him, he reveres those that are closed from him, but closed to test him in obedience, to increase his merits before God, therefore, for his greater good and eternal salvation.

Hope is based on faith; for believing that God is Almighty, that His grace and mercy have no limits, that He exactly fulfills the promises He makes, we hope, with the help of His grace, to gain eternal life and enjoy the sight of Him. Knowing our weakness, we trust in the endless merits of Jesus Christ, Who by His death opened the closed gates of heaven and in the Holy Sacraments left us the means that heal our soul from its infirmities and merit us heavenly bliss. Consequently, the main subject of Christian hope is God, that is, the desire to see and find God in His heavenly kingdom. From this high concept of God and His perfections, communicated to us by faith, from this holy desire to see Him face to face as He is, excited by hope, the third theological virtue is born - love of God. She is third in order, but first in superiority. Now all three abide, says the Apostle Paul, faith, hope and love; but love is the greatest of them (I Corinth. XIII, 13), for love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. XIII, 10). She is the soul of all virtues and gives them all their merit before God. He who truly loves God will not find His commandments burdensome, he will fulfill everything that the law and the prophets desire, he will not retreat one step from the path of virtue. Therefore, Jesus Christ said: He who loves Me keeps My word... He who does not love Me does not keep My words (John XIV, 23 - 24). Consequently, as St. John writes: He who says I know Him (i.e., I love God), but does not keep His commandments, is a liar and there is no truth in him (I John II, 4).

Finally, love also has such an advantage over other theological virtues that it will exist in heaven forever. For faith and hope are characteristic only of real life; in heaven we will clearly see and recognize the truths that we now believe, and we will find the good for which we hope; but there we will love our God incomparably more perfectly, because there we will see Him and live with Him forever: Love never fails, says the Apostle Paul, although prophecies will cease, and tongues will become wet, and knowledge will disappear (I Corinth. XIII, 8).

From the above it is clear that these Divine virtues are necessary for a person and without them it is impossible for him to please God. Therefore, every Christian, upon reaching the age of reason, under grave sin, is obliged to practice these virtues often, and best of all, daily, that is, to arouse in his heart feelings of faith, hope and love and fulfill them in word and deed. He is especially obliged to do this when he approaches any of the Holy Sacraments, when he suffers temptation against these virtues, and, finally, in all circumstances that threaten his life with danger. For this reason, almost all prayer books contain prayers to arouse feelings of faith, hope and love, which, if possible, should be read daily and sympathized with them more with the heart than expressed with the lips.

About moral virtues

Moral virtues are those that do not relate exclusively to God, but are more concerned with the organization of morals and dispose us to good deeds. Through the power of these Christian virtues, we recognize our responsibilities towards ourselves and our neighbors, and fulfill them exactly, with the pure intention of pleasing God alone. Consequently, moral virtues, although they do not have God as their immediate subject, like theological virtues, they must often relate to God, otherwise they cannot be called Christian virtues. For example, we help a suffering neighbor; here our good deed does not have God as its direct subject, but it relates indirectly to God if we do it out of love for Him, obeying His holy will.

The pagans, having no idea about the theological virtues communicated only to us through Revelation, nevertheless highly valued moral virtues; but their virtues differed from Christian ones in that their source was not God, but for the most part either vanity, as for example in Diogenes, or greed; and it rarely happened that they, rising above the ordinary, were carried away by the beauty of virtue. They not only did not place Christian humility, forgiveness of insults, love for enemies among the virtues, but even attributed it to weakness of character or cowardice. Speaking generally about pagan or natural virtues, it should be noted that they, receiving all their strength from circumstances and the person himself, and not from God, weaken and are destroyed in misfortune or in the struggle with pride; then the mask usually falls off, the hero disappears and hypocrisy remains.

All moral virtues consist of four main ones, which can be called fundamental, because they constitute, so to speak, the basis of moral life. This is prudence, temperance, justice, strength. On Latin they are called cardinal (from the word cardo - door hinge), that is, just as doors rotate on these hinges, so all other moral virtues rest on these main ones. It should be noted here that these virtues are considered in the catechism not in a secular, but only in a spiritual sense.

So, 1) Christian prudence is a virtue that illuminates our mind and shows us the most convenient means to achieve salvation. A prudent person gets down to business thoughtfully and does not act at random; he tries to acquire the information and knowledge necessary for his title, takes wise and effective measures, and thereby achieves the desired goal. These qualities are also suitable for secular prudence, but Christian prudence is guided here by much higher principles: it means eternity and the salvation of the soul. And therefore, a prudent Christian, in doubts and difficulties, seeks, first of all, enlightenment and help from God; then asks for the advice of the wise; avoids dubious persons and cases; does not decide, out of frivolity or arrogance, to do things beyond his strength; does not get carried away by his passions and, among the countless abysses of this life, chooses a safe path to salvation; in a word, he avoids everything that can remove him from God. This virtue is especially necessary for young people who, due to their inexperience, very often attribute to themselves high knowledge, place themselves above others, despise the advice of parents, bosses, prudent and wise people, are carried away by their false imagination and often die, like frisky, careless moths that are scorched. and burned in the flame of the lamp that blinds them. Trust in God, says Solomon, and do not rely on your own prudence (Prov. III, 5).

2) Temperance is a virtue that curbs a person’s disordered desires and tendency towards sensual pleasures and forces him to observe moderation in the use of earthly goods and permitted amusements. Consequently, this virtue not only keeps us from satiety and low and shameful vices, but even prohibits excess in innocent and permitted amusements, because excessive attachment to permitted pleasures usually leads to criminal and forbidden pleasures. At the same time, abstinence makes us moderate in all other inclinations, which God has endowed in us not for abuse, but so that we follow them in accordance with His laws and within the limits prescribed by faith and decency; transgressing these limits, we fall into sin and do not achieve the desired goal, that is, pleasant, pure, high pleasure. Finally, even in some good deeds one must follow the golden rules of holy moderation. So, for example, those devout people sin against this virtue who by careless fasting harm their health and through this make themselves incapable of their activities or, spending whole days in church, do not look after the household and raising children, for soul-saving deeds also have their time , decency and limits. Love for God alone is not limited by limits and does not go into excess.

The pagan philosophers themselves recognized abstinence or moderation as necessary for everyone who wants to lead a healthy and pleasant life. But if someone lives moderately solely for this purpose, then his virtue will be human: from a Christian person it is required that he live and act in this way with the intention of pleasing God, according to the words of the Apostle: so that we, having rejected ungodliness and worldly lusts, should be chaste, righteous and They lived piously in the present age, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearance of the glory of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Titus II, 12 - 13).

3) Justice is a virtue that disposes our will to render to God and neighbor what we owe them. Everyone knows the proverb: suum cuique - to each his own: God's to God, man's to men, or, as the Savior said: give Caesar's things to Caesar and God's things to God (Matt. XXII, 21). This is the holy rule, which must be indelibly imprinted on our hearts! Giving what is God to God means constantly fulfilling His law, which consists of righteousness and truth; to give to people what is owed to them means not to harm our neighbor, neither his property, nor his personality, to desire and do to him everything that we desire for ourselves. This virtue gives rise to many others in a person, such as: respect due to everyone, obedience to parents and superiors, gratitude, love of truth, justice in punishing and rewarding subordinates, generosity, forbearance. But for this virtue to be truly Christian, it must, like a tree strewn with beautiful flowers, rise with all its rich branches to the sky, from which its precious seed is thrown onto our poor earth.

4) Strength, or courage, as a Christian virtue, is the strength of the soul, forcing us to endure and suffer better than to become unfaithful to God and our duty. Christian courage is not afraid of exploits of virtue; for us, it willingly exposes itself to all difficulties, overcomes all temptations, and knows no dangers in fulfilling the will of God. This virtue is usually accompanied by patience, constancy and generosity, and it especially shone in the martyrs, these heroes of Christianity, who in the name of God endured severe torment and decided to die rather than apostatize from the faith in Jesus Christ. This should include those Christian warriors who, faithfully serving and obeying the King, not for temporary rewards and distinctions only, but out of love for God, who commands us to obey the supreme authority and honor the Kings as representatives of God on earth, fight bravely for them and die on the field battles, defending their rights, and at the same time the common good.

Finally, let's say a few words here about another kind of courage, which is completely unworthy of it. beautiful name, - we understand here that daring and reckless courage, that wild pagan courage, which, out of a false concept of honor, exposes one’s own and others’ lives to danger, arbitrarily satisfying one’s anger and revenge and thereby stealing the rights that belong to the supreme justice. This courage stems from the muddy source of pride and pride, and their admirers will have a bitter fate in eternity with the children of rejection and pride. Those who encroach on their own lives cannot be called brave at all, but, on the contrary, cowardly, because they do not want to endure and endure the obstacles and disasters of this world in a Christian manner.

Of the duties imposed by Jesus Christ on his imitators

These responsibilities were stated in different places catechism, now let us repeat them together, so that thereby they are more strongly etched in our memory. So, following the teaching of the Gospel, we must:

1) Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew VI, 33), that is, try every day to delve more and more into the power of the law of Jesus Christ, exercise in His teaching, fulfill His commandments and thereby earn mercy from God and eternal salvation .

2) Deny oneself, that is, eradicate all sinful inclinations in oneself, avoid vice, which promises the greatest pleasures, benefits, benefits, and follow virtue, even if it is associated with difficulties, obstacles and temporary misfortunes.

3) Bear your cross, that is, patiently endure all the sorrows associated with the title and dignity in which God has placed us, do not grumble in misfortunes, illnesses and various other disasters and do not weaken in spirit when obstacles are encountered in fulfilling the teachings of Jesus Christ , posited by the malice of Satan, the temptations of the world and our passions. Therefore, one must get used to enduring small sorrows from youth in order to thereby prepare oneself to face great ones.

4) Follow Jesus Christ, that is, imitate Him, live according to His example, following His own saying: if anyone wants to come after Me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me (Matt. XVI, 24) .

5) Maintain meekness and humility. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matt. XI: 29). From this teaching of the Savior it follows that we should try to help the happiness of our neighbors, and not upset them; live with everyone in peace and harmony; avoid quarrels and anger; to be forgiving of human weaknesses, remembering that we also have our own.

6) Love our enemies, that is, do good to those who hate us, pray for those who offend us and unfairly persecute us. These are purely Christian commandments; The pagans not only did not know them, but, on the contrary, considered it cowardice: You have heard that it was said: love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you: that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; because He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unjust (Matt. V, 43 - 45).

About the eight beatitudes

Close to west bank On the Sea of ​​Galilee, between Capernaum and Tiberias, there is a large eminence, which, in the form of an oblong quadrangular hill, rises from a beautiful plain and stands in solitude. This elevation was later called the Mountain of Jesus Christ, the Mountain of the Apostles, because, according to legend, our Savior often retired here for solitary prayer and here He chose twelve of His disciples, whom He called Apostles, that is, His messengers to the human race to preach to them His Divine Gospel. But, primarily, this elevation is known under the name of the mountain of beatitudes, because here Jesus Christ delivered his speech on the Mount, beginning with the beatitudes, in which the Savior briefly depicted the whole spirit of His Divine teaching and the whole essence of Christian righteousness. Therefore, it is not enough to know them by heart; one must also understand their high significance. Therefore, a brief summary of them is included here.

1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, that is, happy are those people, both the poor who, in accordance with the will of God, do not complain about their poverty, are content with little and do not strive to enrich themselves by unauthorized means, and the rich, who do not attach their hearts to their treasures, whose spirit is free from the love of money, who are rich to help others, but themselves, like the poor, do not indulge in luxury and limit their desires.

2) Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted, that is, happy are those who mourn their sins and repent of them, for such their sins will be forgiven and this will bring spiritual joy to their souls. By those who weep are also meant those who endure all calamities, surrendering themselves to the will of God.

3) Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth, that is, happy are those whom the insults and annoyances inflicted on them do not lead to rancor, for they will live on earth in love and peace, and, moreover, will find the land of the living, i.e. eternal bliss (Psalm XXVI, 13).

4) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied, that is, happy are those people who with such zeal desire to become pious and righteous, just as those who are hungry desire food, and those who are thirsty for drink, for their virtuous desires will be fulfilled, and God will help them in achieving Christian perfection.

5) Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Happy are those who willingly forgive the weaknesses of their neighbors and give alms, for they will receive mercy from God and forgiveness of sins.

6) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Happy are those who have a chaste and innocent heart, who do nothing bad, but do not even think or desire, for those who are higher in spirit and on earth know and love God better than others, and in the kingdom of heaven they will enjoy His sight.

7) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Happy are those who, having clear conscience, not only themselves are calm in their souls, but they also try to establish this peace and this silence between their neighbors, who, in order to preserve holy harmony, decide to endure the offense themselves rather than inflict it on others, for such as the beloved children of the heavenly Father will begin to taste that bliss that will continue forever and ever.

8) Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Savior himself explains this blessedness, continuing: blessed are you, when they revile you, persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for My sake (i.e., for faith, piety and virtue), rejoice and be glad; for your reward is great in heaven. So they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt. V, 3 - 12).

About the spiritual fruits of virtue or about good deeds in general

The name of good deeds refers to such actions and deeds that, according to the teaching of Holy Revelation, are pleasing to God and the Christian who creates them, strengthening the gifts of God’s grace and mercy. All virtues, both theological and moral, must certainly be expressed by good deeds; they live and act by them. Therefore, St. James says: For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead (II, 26). But we must not think that we can acquire the kingdom of heaven by our good deeds alone; it was bought for us at the infinite price of the blood of Jesus Christ, whose merits we, as belonging to Him, must contribute to, imitating His divine life. Moreover, without God’s help we are not even able to do good deeds worthy of eternal reward, as St. Paul teaches us this, saying: not that we ourselves are able to think of anything but on our own; but our ability is from God (II Corinth. III, 5). Consequently, we owe everything to the grace of the Almighty, Who, in His infinite mercy, rewards us with His own gift, if we only cooperate with it, for which we are promised the crown of immortality. The righteous will live forever; their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the Most High. For this reason, they will receive the kingdom of splendor and the crown of kindness from the hand of the Lord (Wisdom Solom. V, 16 - 17).

In order for our good deeds to be pleasing to God and to receive an eternal reward, we must do them: 1) voluntarily and willingly; 2) without any human species, and solely, out of love for the Lord, and, finally, 3) we must be in a state of grace, that is, not have mortal sin on our conscience, for mortal sin makes a person hateful to God: he is then dead before the eyes of the Lord, therefore, and all his good deeds, both past and present, are dead. From this, however, it does not follow that a sinner should despair and abandon all Christian deeds, because they can serve him to receive grace and to convert him to the path of truth. Moreover, they are often rewarded by God with temporary happiness on earth. Here we can see that if sometimes the execution of God does not befall great criminals in this life and they live in abundance and prosperity, while the righteous often suffer misfortunes, disasters and poverty, then this happens because the All-Good and at the same time the just God rewards some good deeds of unrepentant sinners a hundredfold in this life, but eternal life will be lost for them. On the contrary, He purifies with the fire of sorrows, like gold, the small weaknesses of the righteous, for whom, for this, greater glory and reward await in the future life. “For,” says Blessed Augustine, “there is no one so lawless in the world who does not have some good deeds; There is also no one so righteous who does not have the slightest errors.” It follows from this that the good deeds of both sinners and righteous people will not remain unrewarded, with the only difference being that the former will be rewarded with temporary and the latter with eternal benefits. The most important of good deeds are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

About good deeds in particular

Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are called the main good deeds, because everything we can do good and how we can please God will always relate to one of these good deeds. Therefore, Archangel Raphael said to Tobit: Prayer with fasting and almsgiving is better than accumulated treasures of gold (Tob. XII, 8), and according to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, fasting and almsgiving are two wings on which our prayer ascends to heaven.

The name prayer here means not only internal or verbal prayer, but also spiritual reflections on the perfections and properties of God, about His wonders in the world, about His most holy will, as well as all soul-saving pious exercises related either directly to the glorification of God or to the glorification of God. saints; finally, all labors and activities undertaken with the frequent intention of fulfilling the will of the Lord and glorifying Him Holy Name. And in this sense the Apostle Paul said: Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians V, 17).

Christian fasting consists not only in reducing food and drink, in abstaining from certain foods, observing the time, quantity and quality of food determined by the Church, but it also requires that we at all times, taming our passions, drowning out even the slightest sinful inclinations, avoiding all reasons for sin, on fasting days they especially abstained from innocent and inappropriate amusements, they loved solitude and reflection more, they practiced humility, patience, strengthening themselves and succeeding in good things. Therefore the Lord says: turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning (Joel II, 12).

The name alms means all alms, all help given out of love to the poor and needy. This godly deed is commanded in many places by St. Scripture, and the Lord in the Law of Moses especially ordered the Jews to help the poor, widows, orphans and strangers. There will always be poor people in the land in which you will live; Therefore I command you that you open the hand of your brother, the poor and needy, who lives with you on earth (Deut. XV, 11). My son, do not deprive the beggar of his alms, and do not turn your eyes away from the poor. Do not offend the hungry soul and do not irritate the poor in his poverty (Sir. IV, 1 - 2).

Jesus Christ, whose law is primarily based on God's love for one's neighbor, further strengthened the obligation to give alms, and from the XXV chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, verse 34, it is clear that our fate at the Last Judgment will most of all depend on charity to one's neighbor. At the beginning of Christianity, the degree of deacon, that is, minister, was established by the Apostles not only for serving at the divine meal, but also in order to have care for the poor (Acts Apost. VI). This lofty and noble cause so occupied the essence of the primitive church that the faithful sold their estates to help the poor. St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians (chapter XVI), prescribes the collection of voluntary alms on Sundays for the poor and persecuted Christians in Jerusalem. St. Justin, who lived in the second century, writes about the holy custom of Christians of his time, who, gathering on Sundays to attend the perfection of the Holy Sacraments, each brought his own alms, depending on the opportunity, and handed it to the bishop or priest, so that they would then help from these alms to widows and the poor (Apology 2). This Christian charity was not excluded by the pagans. The apostate Julian himself gives justice to Christians in this regard. In one of his letters to a certain pagan priest, he writes: “We are ashamed that the Galileans (as he called Christians out of contempt) feed both their beggars and ours” (Epistola 62). In fact, there is not and never was a religion that would be so distinguished by its love of humanity and charity as Christianity. Following the concepts of this divine religion, we are obliged to help, if we are able, everyone who asks, without asking who he is or what his faith is; for us it is enough that he is a man and needs help. True, many poor people use alms for evil, but the rich even more often use their wealth for evil. It is better to help twenty dubious and even unworthy beggars than to allow one of them to die of hunger. If, when we meet a beggar, we always wonder whether he is worthy of alms, then we will never have an opportunity to give to charity.

Finally, St. Augustine, in his book on faith, hope and love (chapter 72, n. 19), notes that we not only do alms when we help the body of our neighbor, but also when we help his soul, correcting his vices, instructing him in the truth and praying to the Lord for him. Therefore, works of mercy are divided into corporal and spiritual, all of them are considered fourteen, of which seven belong to corporal and the same number to spiritual works of mercy.

On corporal and spiritual works of mercy

The corporal works of mercy are the following: 1) to feed the hungry; 2) thirsty to give something to drink; 3) clothe the naked; 4) treat the wanderer; 5) ransom a captive or prisoner, or at least help him; 6) visit the sick (Matt. XXV, 35 - 36); 7) bury the dead, and especially take care of the orphans left behind (Comrade XII, 12). These charitable deeds should be pleasing to us because they gain us from God the forgiveness of sins and the gifts of grace necessary for the acquisition of eternal salvation. A burning fire is extinguished by water, and alms resists sins (Sir. III, 33), and Daniel says: atone for your sins with alms and your iniquities with mercy towards the poor (IV, 24).

Spiritual works of mercy are also based on Holy Scripture and are presented in the following order:

1) Correct the wrongdoer. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: ​​if he listens to you, then you have gained your brother (Matthew XVIII: 15). But this correction must be appropriate and as much as possible, without shame or offense to the neighbor, otherwise it will be unreasonable and, instead of correction, will only irritate the sinner.

2) To instruct those who do not know, especially in subjects related to faith and spiritual life: whoever has mercy teaches and instructs, like a shepherd his flock (Sir. XVIII, 13).

3) Give advice to the doubter, that is, warn him about what is harmful to him and indicate the path and means to what is useful. But no one should forget here the wise rule prescribed by the Holy Spirit: if you have understanding, answer your neighbor; if not, then let your hand be on your mouth (Sir. V, 14).

4) To console the sad person, that is, with compassionate and meek words, instructions and exhortations, try to alleviate the grief of his neighbor, arouse in his heart hope in God and incline him to the devoted will of the Almighty. Do not withdraw from the one who weeps and lament with the one who mourns (Sir. VII, 38).

5) To patiently endure insults, that is, if someone caused any annoyance or trouble, you should not immediately indulge in anger and be carried away by revenge, but endure it all generously, with meekness; By doing this we will give spiritual alms to our neighbor, setting him an edifying example and turning him away from greater sin. The Apostle Paul encourages us to do this, asking us to act: with all humility and meekness and generosity, bearing with one another out of love, trying to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. IV, 2).

6) We are willing to forgive those who have offended us. We must think that many insult each other not so much out of malice as out of carelessness, rashness, frivolity or ignorance, and therefore we should rather regret and forgive them than harbor anger or contempt for them. Moreover, a Christian is obliged, even in conscience, as Jesus Christ teaches, to disarm the violent temper of his neighbor not with anger and vengeance, but with meekness and charity. So, if your enemy is hungry, says St. Paul, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not let evil overcome you, but overcome evil with good (Rom. XII, 20 - 21). With this truly Christian generosity we will shame our enemy and force him to admit his error, if not openly, then at least in his soul.

7) Pray to God for the living and the dead, as St. James teaches this, saying: pray for one another in order to receive salvation (Post. James V, 16).

The name of the Gospel councils refers to those Christian virtues that Jesus Christ in his Gospel does not ascribe to everyone, but advises primarily to those who, wanting to achieve Christian perfection, condemn themselves to constant service to the Lord or devote themselves to a spiritual calling. There are three of them, namely:

1) Voluntary squalor. This advice is based on the saying of the Savior: If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor: and you will receive treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me (Matt. XIX, 21). This rule was followed by all Christians of the nascent Jerusalem Church: The large community of believers had one heart and one soul; and no one called anything of his property his own, but they had everything in common. There was no one poor among them; for all the owners of estates or houses sold them, brought the price of what was sold, and laid them at the feet of the Apostles; and everyone was given whatever they needed (Acts of the Apostle IV, 32, 34, 35).

2) Eternal chastity, that is, when a Christian makes a vow to God to live abstinently, or dedicating his previously sacredly preserved virginity to him, or if he has not preserved it, at least condemning himself forward to constant chastity until the very end of his life. This virtue is offered by Jesus Christ to his disciples under an allegory, which means: that there are people who voluntarily dedicated themselves to eternal chastity for the kingdom of heaven. But, wanting to show that this is not a commandment common to all, but only advice, he added: whoever can bear it, bear it (Matt. XIX, 12). The Savior's saying is explained by St. Paul, who, calling marriage honorable and the marital bed immaculate (Heb. XIII, 4), gives preference to virginal womanlessness, saying: there is a difference between a married woman and a virgin. An unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord in order to be holy in both body and spirit, while a married woman cares about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your benefit, not to bind you, but so that you can serve the Lord decently and unceasingly without distraction. And then he concludes: whoever marries a girl does well; and he who does not betray, does better (I Corinthians VII, 33, 34, 35, 38).

3) Perfect obedience. This virtue is common to everyone; everyone must obey his superiors and obey not out of fear, but solely out of love for God; but here we are talking about such obedience when someone, devoting himself forever to monastic life, vows to God to obey his spiritual superiors without complaint in everything that is not contrary to the law of God and the church. In this regard, this virtue is called advice, for here a Christian, in addition to the general authority, to which he must always obey without vow, voluntarily subordinates himself to another, in order to achieve spiritual perfection, following the words of the Savior: if anyone wants to follow Me, deny yourself (i.e., abandon your own will) and take up your cross every day and follow Me (Luke IX, 23)

Although many at the beginning christian church followed the advice of the Gospel, leading a miserable, chaste, solitary life, but these advice became the special rule of entire Christian societies from the time when, at the end of the third century, St. Anthony founded the first hermitages or monasteries in the deserts of Upper Egypt or Thebaid, united there the hermits who followed his example, and thus laid the foundation for monasticism. These hermits were later called monks, which Greek denotes people living alone, monks. They were governed by special charters of St. Pachomius and St. Macarius the Younger. Finally, St. Basil the Great wrote, on the basis of these statutes, the rules of monastic life, which spread throughout Eastern Church. In the West, monastic societies were mainly organized by St. Benedict, who lived at the beginning of the 6th century, who gave them his own special charter.

But not only in monasteries or in the clergy, but even among the world one can observe evangelical advice; especially if someone, either due to poverty or for some other circumstances, must remain in a celibate state. Then, out of necessity, he must make himself a virtue and, in accordance with the will of God, not desire wealth and not cling to it with his heart, maintain holy spiritual and physical purity and follow the advice of his spiritual leader. In this way he achieves Christian righteousness and, by his edifying example, will greatly help to increase the kingdom of God on earth.

About the last four things or about the last fate of a person

The best means that can always keep us from evil and encourage us to good is the constant memory of what inevitably awaits every person, that is, death, then the judgment of God, and then either eternal torment or eternal bliss. Here are the last four things that Holy Scripture speaks of: in all your deeds, remember your last, and you will never sin (Sir. VII, 40)

Death, against which neither good health nor blooming years youth, teaches us in the most convincing way that all earthly amusements, riches, dignity and honors are vain, disappear and pass away like a shadow; that we must use the time of life given to us by God, time that passes quickly and irrevocably, for our spiritual benefit, for our eternal salvation, and that, finally, we must be daily ready to leave everything earthly and, at the call of the Almighty, appear before Him in eternity . Be ready, says the Savior, for at an hour when you do not think, the Son of Man will come (Luke XII: 40).

Closely connected with thinking about death is the thought of the judgment of the Lord, a thought before which even the righteous tremble, for, according to the Savior, for every idle word that people say, they will give an answer on the day of judgment (Matt. XII, 36). All the more severe is the answer for great sins. Therefore, whoever often brings to mind the judgment of the Lord, at which he will have to give an account to God not only of sins, but also of good deeds, either forgiven, or poorly performed, or arising from the muddy source of pride; whoever thinks about the Last Judgment on the last day of the world, in which all the secrets of the sinner who died without repentance will be revealed in the face of people of all times and centuries, in the face of heaven and earth, he, of course, will not dare to indulge in passions and vices. But, thinking about the justice of God, we must not despair, but bear the fruits of repentance and trust in the endless mercy of the Almighty, Who cold water given to the thirsty out of love for God, will not leave without reward (Matt. XI 42).

After judgment comes eternal punishment or eternal reward. Those who deserve God's curse will go to hell, to this place of terrible torment and execution, which will be all the more unbearable because it will have no end and no ray of hope will illuminate them. The Savior calls hell eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew XXV, 41), where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke XIII, 28); where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched (Mark IX, 48). Therefore, if we only believe the Word of God, the thought of hell will always restrain our desire to sin.

On the contrary, the righteous will go to the kingdom of heaven, prepared for them from the creation of the world (Matt. XXV. 34), to this dwelling of the blessed, with which all the happiness, all the greatness and splendor of the world cannot be compared: for what the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and what did not enter into the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love Him (I Corinth. II, 9). Jesus Christ, considering our weakness, likens the kingdom of heaven to a royal wedding feast (Matt. XXI, 2); calls it paradise (Luke XXIII, 43), the house of the heavenly Father (John XIV, 2), where our real sorrow will turn into joy, where our joy will be perfect, and no one will take our joy away from us again (John XVI, 20, 22. 25). The thought of heaven supported the martyrs in their suffering, strengthened the righteous in difficult deeds of virtue, and to this day makes the yoke of His teaching good and the burden of His cross light for all imitators of Jesus Christ.

About the daily occupation of a Christian

Whoever wants to be truly happy must live holy, that is, keep holy everything that we have learned in the Law of God. But to achieve Christian righteousness, it is not enough to fulfill all the duties of a Christian man with zeal and sincerity; We must also follow a constant and, if possible, unchangeable order in all our affairs, to which St. Paul calls us, saying: let everything be done decently and in order (Corinth. XIV, 40). Consequently, in our affairs we must either follow the rule already prescribed for us, or, if we live according to our own will, prescribe this to ourselves and not violate it without a good reason. Each of our good deeds should have its time, its place, its decency, and only in this way can we do a lot of good with spiritual benefit for ourselves and for our neighbors. Without this, so to speak, Christian aesthetics of life, we will always live in some kind of confusion and disorder, and will not achieve the desired perfection. So, we must acquire the skill of dedicating the beginning of each day to God. These minutes are precious and holy for us, for good and good things usually depend on them. beneficial use all day long. Consequently, here the first thing for us will be to make the sign of the cross, and with sincere love for God, with the love of children, to ascend in spirit to the throne of the all-good heavenly Father.

When getting up from sleep, you should try with all your might to overcome those morning weaknesses that, especially young people, often indulge in, i.e. drowsiness and laziness, remembering that it is difficult to spend and end the day well and usefully, having started it poorly and lazily. Therefore, you should get up early and never wake up at the allotted time. This is what the birds teach us, says St. Francis Salesius, who leave sleep early in the morning and sing praises to the Almighty. Moreover, getting up early improves health and promotes longevity; excessive sleep, on the contrary, pampers and relaxes a person and shortens his days. Do not love sleep, lest poverty overcome you (Proverbs XX: 13). Let us also note that when getting up, you should not seem to be bargaining with the pillow, but get up quickly, at once; this will already give us a decisive victory over drowsiness. Otherwise we will be like the lazy man of whom Solomon speaks: as a door turns on its hinge, so is the lazy man on his bed (Prov. XXVI, 14). When dressing, we should never forget Christian decency and decency, remembering that we are always before the eyes of the Almighty. When you get dressed, the first thing that is most important for a Christian is morning prayer. God, my God, to you in the morning, sang the crowned Psalmist (Psalm DLXII 1); May these words encourage us to imitate his saint.

The root of a virtuous life is zeal for pleasing God, according to which a person turns everything to the glory of God and does not submit to anything except His law.

Virtue- there is constantly zealous care for the exact fulfillment of God’s law, based on faith and animated by love and reverence for God.

Definition of “virtue”

Virtue is a philosophical and religious term that means a positive moral character trait of a certain person, determined by his will and actions; constant active direction of the will to fulfill the moral law (commandments). It is an antonym of the word "sin". /Philosophical Dictionary/

Virtue there is an image of a person’s inner disposition determined by God, which attracts him to do good. Virtues comprise both a person’s good deeds and the good disposition of his soul, from which the deeds themselves arise. Briefly, we can say that virtue is goodness that has become a habit.

Virtues- these are the god-like properties of a person that actively manifest themselves in his life.

Virtue nothing else is the fulfillment of the will of God. /teacher Simeon the New Theologian/

Virtue there is every word, deed and thought that is in accordance with the Law of God. /St. Tikhon Zadonsky/

Virtue in three meanings:

1) the desire of the spirit for good, a Christian virtuous mood of the spirit;

2) different good dispositions of will and heart;

3) every single good deed. /Saint Theophan/

Do the evil manifestations of human nature have such similarities?
Yes, I have:
1) the desire and inclination of the human spirit to evil
2) evil dispositions of the human will and heart
3) each individual evil action, deed and skill

Explanation:

1) The desire for good is the same as the desire to abide in God, or the thirst for communion with God.
A Christian virtuous mood of spirit will be: thirst and strength to remain in communion with God by constant, complete and always fulfilling His will with the help of grace and with faith in the Lord, according to the power and promise of Baptism.

2) A good disposition is a feeling or love for good (god-pleasing) deeds, which lies at their basis.

3) Every fulfillment of a commandment in the proper manner, that is, with the true purpose, for the glory of God, through faith in the Lord and with legal circumstances, is a good deed. Every good deed is only good if it is done for God and for the glory of God.

Virtue in two meanings

1) In the external aspect– virtue as a good deed (give alms, forgive an offender, endure temptation)

2) In the internal aspect– virtue as a spiritual and moral state of the individual (“he is meek”, “she is merciful”...)

“We should call actions according to the commandment good deeds, and good dispositions of the soul rooted in experience as virtues” / Rev. Gregory Sinait/

True Virtue is to
✦ submit your will to the will of God and
✦ to win with good is evil,
✦ overcome pride with humility,
✦ meekness and patience - anger,
✦ love – hate.

This is a Christian victory, more glorious than the victory over the nations.
This is what God requires of us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”(Rom. 12:21) /St. Tikhon Zadonsky/

Virtue – Divine-human action

“Every gospel virtue is woven from the action of God’s grace and human free will; each of the virtues is a Divine-human action, a Divine-human fact” /Reverend Justin (Popovich)/

The source of any virtue is God /Mark the Ascetic/.

Virtues are not our property and merit: they are given by God. No matter how much you work, no matter how hard you try, do not consider your good deed to be yours, because if you did not receive help from above, all your labors would be in vain. /Saint John Chrysostom/

True virtue is its own reward

“Where there is true virtue, there is love;
where there is love, there is a good and calm conscience,
where there is a calm conscience, there is peace and quiet,
where there is peace and tranquility, there is consolation and joy." /St. Tikhon of Zadonsk/

Virtue is the path to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Purpose of Virtue- getting closer to God.

“If the soul does good deeds, the Holy Spirit dwells in it.” /Reverend Abba Isaiah/

"Virtue brings true freedom." /Saint John Chrysostom/

“The soul of each of us is like a lamp, doing good is oil, love is the wick on which the grace of the Divine Spirit rests like light. When there is a lack of oil, that is, good deeds, then love dries up and the light of Divine grace... goes out, because virtue and love, disappearing, take with them the gifts of grace. When God turns away His face, complete darkness sets in." /St. Gregory Palama/

"Three virtues serve as a sign of achieving salvation:

A) reasoning that distinguishes good from evil in all cases;
b) timely provision of both good and evil (with the exclusion of evil);
c) freedom from external influence (that can hinder salvation)" /Abba Isaiah/

“Whoever has the hardworking Martha - all-round good deeds, and Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus - an attentive and warm appeal to the Lord with all her heart, the Lord Himself will come to him and resurrect Lazarus - his spirit, and release him from all bonds of soul and body. Then it will truly begin for him new life– incorporeal in the body and unearthly on earth. And this will be a true resurrection in the spirit before the future resurrection with the body!" /St. Theophan the Recluse/

Types of virtues

There are many Christian virtues, and many classifications of them.

Sometimes virtues are divided into higher and elementary.

Initial: faith, repentance, patience, meekness, hope, obedience, abstinence, mercy, prayer, chastity, etc.

Higher: unceasing prayer, humility, love, dispassion, the gift of spiritual reasoning, etc.

Venerable Gregory of Sinaite divides virtues into: active, natural and divine

Active the essence is a matter of good will
Natural come from addition
Divine- from grace

Three cardinal virtues : abstinence, non-covetousness and humility; five following them: purity, meekness, joy, courage and self-abasement - and then the whole series of other virtues.

Venerable Ephraim the Syrian divides virtues into bodily, mental and spiritual

Corporeal virtues- This:
a) abstinence (fasting),
b) prayer vigil ( prayer rule and worship),
c) physical labor for self-sufficiency and obedience; and other ascetic feats for the benefit of others, requiring physical (bodily) effort on oneself.

Soulful: kindness, simplicity, respect, justice, generosity, mercy, generosity, nobility, courage.

Spiritual: prudence, chastity, from which are born faith, hope, love, humility, meekness, patience, love of truth, freedom, compassion, fear of God, gratitude, tenderness, reverence.

Corporal virtues should serve the spiritual, the spiritual - the spiritual, and the spiritual - the knowledge of God. / Rev. Neil of Sinai /

Often isolated natural and supernatural virtues.

Natural(inherent in human nature (by nature), due to God-likeness), such as: human prudence, mercy, justice; human gratitude, generosity, condescension.

Supernatural– Gospel virtues. “What dispositions a Christian should have in his heart are indicated by the sayings of Christ the Savior about the beatitudes, namely: humility, contrition, meekness, love of truth and love of truth, mercy, sincerity, peace and patience” / St. Feofan the Recluse /

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. There is no law against them.", i.e. they come from above, from God, by the gift of grace, and not from following the law alone (Gal. 5:22-23).

All Christian (evangelical) virtues are contained in the fulfillment of the two most important commandments - love for God with all your heart, mind and strength of soul, and for your neighbor as yourself. (Hierarchical trimerism of love).

After the Fall, Christian virtues are not characteristic of man. They have become supernatural.

Christian virtues are infinitely superior known to mankind moral principles.

In the Gospel, Christ teaches meekness, prohibiting vengeance to the point of complete gentleness and love for enemies. Gospel meekness- this is a call to endure insults and persecution with prayer for enemies, similar to that which God Himself revealed on the Cross: “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”.

non-acquisitiveness not just as contentment with what is necessary, but also as mercy towards the poor, readiness to give everything to the needy.

In the Gospel Christ commands chastity not only in the form of renunciation of corruptive actions, but also of the thoughts themselves.

Depth of Christian humility should extend to non-judgment of one's neighbor and forgiveness of his sins.

Christ says about the love of God, expressed in the putting aside of all vain affairs for the sake of knowing God, unceasing prayer and even a martyr’s confession of faith.

To acquire Christian virtues, a person must strive, make efforts to combat his passions and fallen nature. The Kingdom of God is in need, and the needy delights it (Matthew 11:12)

But the result of the feat depends on the grace of the Holy Spirit, indwelling a person, transforming and renewing human nature, giving him the strength to fulfill the commandment and do good.

Relationship of virtues

“All virtues are interconnected, like links in a spiritual chain, and depend on one another.” /Venerable Macarius of Egypt/

“All virtues are good, but they must have a head and legs, like a body. The feet of virtue are humility, and the head is love. Under love are: compassion, mercy, generosity, kindness, generosity, charity and philanthropy, which together with it make a person a god by grace” / St. Ambrose of Milan/

Advice to those who want to acquire virtues: you should not undertake to acquire all or several virtues at once, but you must first choose one to work on acquiring, and then another.

To acquire virtue you need:
✦ right faith
✦ goodwill
✦ consciousness
✦ prudence
✦ love
✦ abstinence and self-control
✦ moderation in everything
✦ spiritual jealousy
✦ repentance
✦ godlike humility
✦ obedience to the will of God (and His Commandments)

About the ages of virtuous Christian life

Infancy

This is the period from the beginning of Christian life to the formation of the order of this life and the rules of Christian action in general.
At St. John Climacus ascribes primarily physical feats to the novices: fasting, sackcloth, ashes, silence, labor, vigil, tears, etc.

Adolescence

This is a time of struggle and feat to eradicate passions and plant good dispositions.
At St. John of the Climacus primarily attributes spiritual deeds to this age: lack of vanity, lack of anger, trustworthiness, gentle admonition, immaculate prayer, love of money.

Male age

This is the time when the internal struggle subsides, and a person begins to taste the peace and sweetness of spiritual blessings.
St. John Climacus assimilates to them primarily life in the spirit and remaining motionless in God: an unenslaved heart, perfect love, the mind moving out of the world and into Christ, heavenly light in the soul and thoughts during prayer, non-depredation, the abundance of God’s enlightenment, the desire for death, hatred life, containment of heavenly secrets, power over demons, storage of God’s inscrutable destinies, etc.

There are no limits to growth in a virtuous life, for it is commanded to be “perfect, as the Heavenly Father is perfect”(Matt. 5:48).

The main passions and their opposite virtues

Eight main passions: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity, pride.

Eight cardinal virtues: abstinence, chastity, non-covetousness, meekness, repentance, sobriety, humility, love.

Abstinence is opposed to gluttony

Abstinence- retention of desires that do not agree with the will of God.
Terms of acquisition: The object of abstinence can be: 1) vicious passions and sinful inclinations of human nature and 2) its natural needs and necessary needs. The 1st requires a merciless fight, and the 2nd must be subdued to the spirit and kept within reasonable limits.
Examples after Jesus Christ: Righteous John of Kronstadt, Venerable Gerasim of Jordan.
Fruit: The body must submit to the soul, and the soul to the spirit.
Temperance is ancestral, fundamental in relation to other virtues.

CHASTITY opposes prodigal passion

Chastity– perfect subordination of the body to the soul, purity of soul and body.
Terms of acquisition: The beginning of chastity is a mind that does not waver from lustful thoughts and dreams. Avoiding voluptuous conversations, bad words, preserving the senses, especially sight, hearing and touch. Bodily labor. Fasting, prayer. Avoid everything that could put even the slightest stain on the purity of the soul.
Chastity is abstinence and overcoming (all) lusts through struggle.
Examples after Jesus Christ: Mother of God, Equal to the Apostles Thekla, martyr Pelageya the virgin, blessed princess Juliania of Vyazemskaya.
Fruit: Bodily and spiritual purity.

The love of money is opposed by LEGALITY

Non-covetousness– self-satisfaction with (one) only what is necessary.
Terms of acquisition: Loving gospel poverty.
Examples after Jesus Christ: Venerable Nil of Sorsky, Blessed Xenia of Petersburg.
Fruit: Mercy for the poor, contempt for luxury, willingness to give the last.

MEEKNESS opposes anger

Virtue meekness consists in a complete absence of anger and a motionless disposition of the soul, remaining the same under dishonor and praise.
Terms of acquisition: Obedience. Asking God for help. Self-reproach.
Examples after Jesus Christ: St. Paul the Simple, St. Spyridon of Trimifunt
Fruit: Patience, lack of anger, the ability, when insulted by a neighbor, to pray for him without embarrassment and sincerely.

REPENTANCE is opposed to sadness

Repentance- a fundamental change in life: from arbitrarily sinful, self-loving and self-sufficient to living according to the commandments of God, in love and striving for God.
Terms of acquisition: Commitment throughout human life, (never redundant)
Examples after Jesus Christ: Abba Sisoes the Great, Apostle Peter
Fruit: A vision of one’s sinfulness, the emergence of a desire to serve one’s neighbors, one’s disposition becomes unfeigned and unhypocritical. Transition to a qualitatively different way of thinking.

Sobriety is opposed to despondency

On the one side, sobriety there is attention to the salvation of the soul among the sorrows and temptations of the transitory world, opposed to absent-mindedness and laziness.
On the other side, sobriety- this is a correct (sound) assessment of one’s strengths and one’s spiritual state, based on the knowledge of one’s weakness and trust in Divine grace.
Terms of acquisition: Keeping the mind from thoughts and heart silence. A daily test of the mind and heart.
Examples after Jesus Christ: St. Ignatiy Brianchaninov; Rev. Pachomius the Great.
Fruit: By correcting the heart, we correct the inner vision of our soul. Freedom from temptations, freedom from self-deception, vision of one's sins and trust in God, restraint in joy and preservation of prudence in sorrows are acquired.

Vanity is opposed by HUMILITY

Humility- considering oneself a sinner who has not done anything good before God, humiliation of the spirit, a sober vision of one’s sins.
Terms of acquisition:
1. A fair assessment of oneself and the understanding that all human merits are gifts of God.
2. Silence.
3. Humility.
4. Modest attire.
5. Self-deprecation.
6. Contrition for sins.
7. Last.
8. Physical labor.
9. Fulfillment of the commandments.
Examples after Jesus Christ: Venerable Sergius Radonezhsky, Andrey, Fool for Christ's sake
Fruit: The closer the ascetics come to God, the more sinners they see themselves.
There are two humility: considering yourself lower than everyone else and attributing your deeds to God (this is the perfect humility of the saints).

Pride is opposed to LOVE

Love- the crown of virtues - a set of perfections, in origin it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, in its essence - the deification of man, in form - sacrificial service to the object of love - God and His creation.
Terms of acquisition: “If you find that there is no love in you, but you want to have it, then do deeds of love, although at first without love. The Lord will see your desire and effort and put love in your heart.” /Reverend Ambrose of Optina/
Examples after Jesus Christ: Apostle John the Theologian, Venerable Silouan of Athos.
Fruit: Sacrificial service to God and people. Seeing the image of God in others.

Today there is a fairly widespread view that in fact non-believers do not exist. There is only religious faith or non-religious faith. For example: faith in success, faith in happiness, faith in love, faith in money... But as soon as we try to put religious faith, faith in God in this row, we feel that this concept somehow falls out of this list.

It is also known that no matter what stage of development a person is at, no matter what views he holds, all the same, issues of religious faith will have a place in his life specific value, and one or another resolution of them will determine his entire life. Questions: “What is death? Is eternity possible? What is a sense of life? Where's the justice? In crisis situations, a person will return to these questions, check the solution drawn up earlier, and if it is unsatisfactory, he will look for a new, more satisfactory answer to the eternal demands of his spirit, his faith.

So what is faith? Modern definition, taken from the dictionary sounds like this:

"Faith- recognition of something as true without preliminary factual or logical verification, solely by virtue of an internal, subjective, immutable conviction that does not need evidence for its justification, although sometimes it seeks it.”

Quite correct definition faith, such as faith in success or faith in happiness.

But will this definition be correct for religious consciousness? Not really! To clarify the Orthodox understanding of faith, it is necessary to cite the definitions given in the Holy Scriptures: “ ...without faith it is impossible to please God; for it is necessary that he who comes to God believed that He exists, and those seeking He rewards"(Heb. 11:6). “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” ( Hebrews 11:1).

In this understanding faith is revealed to a person in the mystical experience of Communion with God, which requires both logical verification and proof of the truth of what is said. Those. Orthodox faith cannot be blind.

Let's take, for example, a person who is not a believer, but is interested in religious issues, and set the task - to give him the basis of spiritual life, which, as we know, is in virtues of faith.“Show your faith to virtue” (2 Pet. 1 :5).

The Holy Fathers call faith basic Christian virtue i.e. that skill of our soul that leads a person to the Kingdom of God . St. Justin Popovich notes: “At the head of the holy virtues is faith - the root and essence of all holy virtues. From it flow all the holy virtues: prayer, love, repentance, humility, fasting, meekness, mercy, etc.”

So, the majority probably think that in order for a person to believe in God, he must be introduced to the known revealed truths through rational activity or proof.

This idea is wrong. True, before believing in Christ, you need to hear about Him - to learn about Him with your reason, your mind. But even if a person has received knowledge about Christ and the mystery of human salvation, talking about any kind of faith, much less a saving one, is still far away. We can bring a person into such a state (according to the teachings of the Holy Fathers) only to the first type of faith − faith as rational certainty.

For humans, God is like one of the objects of our Universe: there is the planet Mars, and there is God. So what? Everyone lives on his own, “I am on my own, and God is on my own.” That is, it is simply recognition with your mind of the fact of the existence of God. This (p) adversarial) faith does not influence a person’s life and is not capable of leading to God, according to the words of the Apostle James “ You believe that God is one: you do well; and the demons believe and tremble"(James 2:19). But, as you know, such faith does not benefit them!

IN rational confidence the most important thing is missing: man learned about God; One way or another, he is convinced of its existence, but still does not know anything about himself.

St. Simeon the New Theologian instructs us in this matter: Not external wisdom, but repentance“dispels our ignorance and leads us first to the knowledge of human things, themselves and their condition, and then to the knowledge of what is above us - the things of God, the mysteries of our faith, invisible and unknown to the unrepentant... As they acquire purification, they receive revelation, and even the depths of the Spirit become clear to them.”

Why do we read the “Creed” in our morning rule every day? After all, it is not a prayer or petition to God. Moreover, the central part of the liturgy—the Sacrament of the Eucharist—begins with the singing of the “Creed.” The Creed is the experience of knowledge of God and the experience of self-knowledge of man in his meeting with God. By reading it, we seem to examine ourselves: to what extent these dogmas resonate and are reflected in our own soul.

That is, the first one step of faith - rational confidence will be saving for a person only when a person acquires knowledge of Divine truths and realizes his place in the light of these truths.

Second, next step, to which we will call our man - faith as trust. At this level of faith, a person not only rationally agrees with the existence of God, but feels the presence of God and is convinced of it.

How is this achieved? The spiritual law in matters of faith is quite well known: like can only have communication with like. A person only enters into communication with another person when, in addition to similarity or resemblance, he also feels sympathy and affection for him. Deep sympathy gives birth to love and the human soul opens up - opens up to the soul of another. It is revealed not only with words, but through internal, spiritual communication.
It is obvious that similar conditions are necessary in the matter of human communication with God. After all, God is a personal, spiritual Being, like man, only infinitely high in his perfections. Consequently, human communication with God is possible only with the moral improvement of man and love for God with all his heart and all his soul.

But, in order to love God, it is necessary to hate sin and engage in the difficult feat of fighting one’s passions, which not everyone is capable of.

“In the heart of a sinner,” says St. Theophan the Recluse, “there is always one object, which includes everything , in which he dwells day and night, which colors in many different ways in day dreams and night dreams: i.e. there is something that replaces God and, like an idol, stands in the depths of the heart, in its most intimate and hidden folds. Therefore, a sinner does not want to participate in sacred ceremonies, be in church, hear singing, look at holy images, listen to the word of God, read spiritual books or prayers. All this - objects are unpleasant for him; they are not to his heart, they are not accepted by him, they do not nourish him, but torment him.”

“When a person, strengthened by grace, hates sin and with a tight heart seeks God and the holy life commanded by Him, then God Himself approaches such a person and, as the monastery is prepared in the heart, enters into living communication with him, giving the person opportunity to experience “, through the perception of living impressions, to know your Creator and Master - in the heart, like a living mirror, to feel His heavenly light and divine grace.”

The purer a person’s heart is, the deeper the communication with God will be, the more tangible it will be for a person. This is the experiential knowledge of God. From this communication, the heart is filled with corresponding feelings - a feeling of endless joy and strength, or a feeling of awareness of sin and the gift of blissful crying about it.

In this state of faith a person in sorrow or in joy thanks God for everything, because he trusts Him , knowing that everything that happens to a person in this case is out of the love of God with one goal - the perfection of man for the Kingdom of God.

True faith is not only knowledge about God, but knowledge that influences a person’s life. This is not only recognizing God with your mind, and not only trusting Him with your heart, but also following God with your will. Such faith presupposes genuine, pure love, because true love is unthinkable without fidelity. This is expressed in sacrifice, when we try to create our lives according to the will of God, and for this we cut off the sinful desires of our nature. Such faith becomes the basis for all human thoughts and actions. And only she is savior. But this also presupposes internal work on oneself, victory over one’s passions and the acquisition of gospel virtues.

So, the Orthodox faith as a virtue manifests itself in the 3 forces of our soul: mind, feelings and will: as confidence, as trust and higher as loyalty to God.

But this definition will not be entirely complete if we do not add here consideration of one more question: the question of Abraham’s faith. The Holy Scripture says: “And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (Rom.4:3)

What, in fact, was so exceptional about this feat? Abraham believed in the Lord, not in the sense that he began to recognize the Divine existence. For a person of that time not to believe in deity, not to believe in some spiritual forces, was about the same as for a person today not to believe in the power of science.

In order to understand what is specific about this concept of Abraham’s faith from the point of view of Holy Scripture, one must pay attention to how the word “faith” sounds in the Hebrew language – “emuna”.
Emunah is derived from the same root as “oman” - master, artist. The meaning of this root is “to create and shape.” Just as a master gives shape to his material, in the same way the educator, the “omen,” shapes the heart of the unformed person entrusted to him.

Those. it is not a belief in “that...”, but a willingness to surrender into the hands of the Lord in order to give him the opportunity to make a highly artistic work out of his life - the author of which is the Lord God Himself. What is mistakenly translated as “to believe in God” in Hebrew means “to recognize oneself as material in the hands of an artist or - to transfer oneself into the hands of a mentor and to realize an attitude towards life as a process of creating oneself.” Until what time or state? The Apostle Paul teaches us: “until Christ is formed in you!” (Gal.4:19).

Further continues the thought of the Apostle Paul - Simeon the New Theologian“But in what place do you think, he believes, that Christ will be depicted? In the face or chest? No, He is depicted in our hearts, and not bodily, but incorporeally and as befits God. However, as a woman who is pregnant knows this clearly, since the baby in the womb makes some movements (“jumping”); so the one who has Christ depicted in himself knows His movements and leaping, that is, His illumination and covering, and sees the image of Christ within himself. Just as the light of a lamp is seen in a mirror, so Christ is seen in it, however, not ghostly, as in a mirror, but essentially, invisibly visible and inconceivably comprehended ».

This is the path of the Orthodox faith that leads a person to the Kingdom of God.

It is also necessary to give here the opposite picture of faith - this is the path of disbelief in God.

Unbelief is understood as such a state of a person in which God is not realized, not felt, and therefore is denied. And here our three forces of the soul also play a role: the mind, feelings and will.

First: Ignorance (mental disposition) it can be called unbelief as a synonym for ignorance or deception. In this sense, the majority of our compatriots during a certain period were unbelievers due to ignorance or unreason. “The ignorant,” writes Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), “is close to faith, because he cannot prove to himself or others that there is no God.”

In this situation, the object of the “ultimate interest of the individual” - which is the essence of faith, regardless of whether it is religious or not - becomes the imposition from the outside of a cult figure, its concepts, ideas, as happened in the case of communism or Nazism, and today with ideology cult of success and consumerism.

In such a state, a person sets certain goals in his life, makes every effort to achieve them, and then, having achieved them, for some reason he does not receive any joy or pleasure... and so on all his life. Here we see an endless pursuit of mirages, which disappear when a person seems to have reached them. It is especially difficult for such a person at the end of his life, when he asks himself a simple question: what did I live for?

The next aspect of unbelief is (sensual disposition) Reluctance : unwillingness to believe. This is a completely different situation - evidence of the internal self-determination of the individual. Here man does not want God to be. It bothers him. It interferes with life, interferes with receiving sinful pleasures. And if in the spiritual component a person, when meeting God, gains joy and love from contact with Him, then here, a person puts himself at the center of his universe with all the ensuing consequences: irritation, anger, sadness and despondency, these are the constant companions of such a state. This is perfectly expressed in the saying of a German philosopher: “Even if it were possible to prove mathematically that God exists, I would not want him to exist, since this limits me in my greatness.” Such unbelief is usually evidence of a life rooted in sin and associated with constant violation of conscience.

Unbelief is like infidelity. A person, having come to know God and believed in him, falls into conscious non-observance of the commandments and demands of conscience. He enters into market relations with God, so to speak, and bargains. Here, unbelief can also appear as a result of frequent compromises with conscience, relaxation in small things, and voluntary minor sins, which is why a person ends up committing major sins and serious tragedies.

Most often from the lips of such people you can hear the phrase: “the main thing is to believe in God in the soul.” In this state, a person decides to determine for himself what is main in faith, saving, and dictates his conditions to God. This is similar to the phrase that an unbeliever says in a dispute with a believer: “I don’t believe in your God, but he still has to save me.” It sounds kind of naive. An example can be given: There is a fire in the house, a person knows necessary instructions in case of fire: call 01 to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, call rescuers, take valuables if possible and try to get out as soon as possible. But this person does nothing and declares to others: “the main thing here is to believe the firefighters.” It’s good to believe in firefighters, but it seems that the outcome of such a statement will be disastrous and it will not be the firefighters who are to blame, but the person himself.

St. John Chrysostom calls this disposition of the soul a serious illness: “For those suffering and dying,” he says, “it can be unpleasant and healthy food, unpleasant friends and relatives whom often they don’t even know and even feel burdened by their presence. This usually happens with those who suffer mentally: they do not know what is needed for salvation, and they are burdened by those who care about them. This does not come from the nature of the matter itself (salvation), but from their illness; just as those who are insane do not tolerate those who care for them, and even blame them, so do unbelievers. We will cry for them..."

Unbelief as resistance to God. The inevitable consequence of the will to believe in God is the transformation of the whole person « I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me."(Phil.4:13)., turned in the other direction is blasphemy. Here we can cite one episode from the life of the famous French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre: “Only once did I have the feeling that God exists. While playing with matches, I burned a small rug. And so, when I was trying to hide the traces of my crime, the Lord God suddenly saw me. I felt his gaze inside my skull and on my hands and darted around the bathroom, horribly visible, just a living target. Indignation saved me. I was furious at his impudent impudence and began to blaspheme. Since then, God has never looked at me again.”

It is God who is the source of life in all its senses, therefore this path of human faith deliberately leads to eternal death.

I would like to end my speech with the famous words written under the icon of the “Savior Not Made by Hands” in one of the churches:

I am the LIGHT, and you do not see Me;

I am the TRUTH, and you do not believe Me;

I am a TEACHER, and you do not listen to Me;

I am the LORD, and you do not obey Me;

I AM THE WAY, and you do not follow Me;

I AM LIFE, and you do not seek Me;

I am your GOD, and you do not pray to Me;

I am your best friend and you don't love Me.

IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY THEN DON'T BLAME ME.

Thank you for your attention.

prt. Nikolai Yaroshevich