One of the most serious problems in the spiritual life of a believer is the problem of faith. Most people, considering themselves believers, have absolutely no faith. What motivates them in their spiritual life? Do they know about this?

Sometimes we don’t even suspect how much power superstition has over a person in his sinful state. Many, and even, oddly enough, Christians who have been attending church for more than one year, do not realize that in their spiritual life they are not guided by faith at all, but by pure superstition.
What is superstition and why modern people believe in them - about this in a conversation with the rector of the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Assuage my sorrows” in the city of Saratov, abbot Nektariy (Morozov).

– Father Nektary, what is the difference between faith and superstition?

– I would answer with a counter question: what, strictly speaking, do both have in common? Almost nothing. After all, faith - even if we are talking about a completely earthly faith devoid of a religious dimension - in ideals, in principles, in a person, finally, this is what elevates a person, makes him better, fills his life with the necessary content. Faith in God, true faith, not only elevates, but allows a person, still here on earth, in time, to become involved in eternal life, to actually enter into it. This faith is the guarantee of salvation, unity with God, and achievement of the Kingdom of Heaven.
And superstition... this is perhaps also faith... But in what and what kind? In some signs, signs. This faith is vain, that is, unfounded, empty, sometimes funny and absurd, sometimes terrible. And if true faith is the connection between man and his Creator, then vain faith is the barrier separating him from Him.

– How do superstitions appear, and why do we believe in them?

– The reason for the emergence of superstitions is the impoverishment of true faith. A person forgets about God or outright rejects Him, but it turns out that he cannot live without faith at all - this is how the feeling of his own weakness, limitation, and, in fact, creatureliness manifests itself. And the one who declared his independence from a loving, merciful, but also omnipotent God falls into some kind of humiliating dependence on meaningless things. He changes the road if a black cat runs across it, crosses himself when he sees a priest - that’s also a bad omen, he’s ready to kill a woman with empty buckets, he spits over his left shoulder, he knocks on the table so as not to jinx him... How many other stupid things like this have been invented? Who invented it? I think those who hate people the most and would be happy to destroy everyone and everyone, but acquire power only over those who voluntarily turn away from the truth.

– Did the biblical man have superstitions? Are there such examples in the Old or New Testament?

– Superstitions have been a constant companion of humanity throughout its history. As has already been said, where there was no genuine faith, the resulting void of superstition is immediately filled. If we talk about Old Testament times, the clearest example of superstition is the worship of the golden calf. And in general, paganism as such is all superstition by nature from beginning to end.

– Modern society is distinguished by strict pragmatism and a fairly high level of education. Is it more or less subject to superstition today than before?

- I think more. There is less faith, and life is becoming more tense and complicated, hence the fears, and from fears - the desire to close yourself off, to protect yourself from them. And hence all kinds of superstitions. Hence the fascination with all kinds of magicians, psychics and warlocks. Moreover, experience shows that both people with a minimum educational level and those with academic degrees can be equally susceptible to superstitions. Because the point is not in education, but in whether a person lives an inner life, a spiritual life, whether he has sound and correct concepts about God, about temporary and eternal life, about this world, people and about himself.

– From history we know that superstitions have been fought for a long time. Thus, the Naval Charter of Peter I determined the death penalty for religious superstition, and public church repentance for simple delusion and belief. As we see, our ancestors clearly realized that religious faith and superstition are completely different concepts. Why are these concepts mixed up today?

– I think that the decades of atheistic government, during which the Russian people were cut off from the Church, from the faith as such, are primarily to blame for this. We have fallen into some terrible abyss of spiritual ignorance, and if we are getting out of it today, it is in very small steps, very gradually.

Thoughts "by surprise"

-Where did prejudice come from? And why are they so tenacious among the people?

– What is the mechanism for spreading rumors? Do you know the famous expression “one grandma said”? It’s the same here: one grandmother said one thing, another authoritative grandfather said something else... And it began to be passed on from mouth to mouth, gradually turning into a whole unwritten set of legends of elders and elders. But there is a well-known spiritual law: “what the wicked fears” will befall him. It happened to someone, then someone else - and now the “sign” is ready.

“It’s quite strange to watch a mature person believe in ridiculous things.” Spilled salt and broken mirrors plague the lives of many people. And both old women and completely modern people are afraid to pass it across the threshold. How to deal with this?

– I think fighting superstitions as such is not the most promising activity. We must fight the unbelief that gives rise to them. Faith will take its place, and superstitions themselves will disappear. Although in each individual case it is necessary to explain, with patience and love, that a person’s life and the person himself do not depend on some formal and extremely frivolous external signs and will accept that we are all in the hands of God, and not even a hair from a person’s head will fall to the ground without the will of the Lord.

– Many prejudices are associated with the magic of numbers: days, numbers and months. There are people who get upset to tears if they come across the 13th place, and if the 13th coincides with Friday, you can generally expect catastrophic things...

– And yet, wars do not start according to schedule, not on Fridays without fail, not on the 13th or at 13 o’clock... And crimes are committed on any day of the week and at any time of the day. And people do not die according to the “schedule”. What can I say - if a person does not have the fear of God, then he will be afraid of everything - every number, and every “threatening” set of circumstances, and every rustle, and every shadow...

Unreasonable "piety"

– Many people who have been attending church for several years now have no idea that in their spiritual life they are often guided not by faith at all, but by pure superstition. How do superstitions take root in the church environment?

– Unfortunately, not every person, even those who regularly visit the temple, strives to truly deeply and thoroughly know their faith. Believe me: if a Christian often confesses and receives communion, does not carry the questions that arise within himself, but strives to resolve them with his confessor, if he reads the Holy Fathers - thoughtfully and seriously - then in his heart, in his life, superstitions will not find any soil for themselves . And vice versa…

– Pass a candle in church only with your right hand and over your right shoulder, you cannot rearrange previously placed candles, the sacrament of anointing can only be received before death, etc. What is this? Where do such superstitions come from?

- From the same source - “one grandmother said.” From among those same “grandmothers” that people who come to church for the first time so often complain about. Why did she say it? But simply because it seemed so to her, she thinks so. A person who does not yet know anything about the Church often perceives such “revelations” as some kind of secret knowledge, which he very easily accepts on faith.

– Even the attitude towards church things (icons, holy water, candles) can become superstitious. A person mindlessly relies on some sacred object: a belt, incense, a pendant with the image of a saint, and does not remember God. Where is the logic?

– The logic is simple: there is no faith, there is hope in some magical power of “special things”, “special prayers”, “real priests”, “proper churches”, etc. and so on.

– The Holy Fathers of the Church called prejudice “devilish pride.” Why were they so categorical?

– Because these very prejudices cripple a person’s soul, stand between him and God like a wall. They are also a reason for external critics of the Church to mock and slander. And sometimes it’s a dark, dense forest, through which it is difficult for a reasonable and well-intentioned person taking his first steps in church life to get through.

Dangerous games

– It happens that omens come true, and then it is difficult to explain to people that superstition is a delusion...

– I don’t think that the coincidences that happen from time to time should be understood in this way: “signs come true.” If a person is attentive to himself, if he is not alien to logic and common sense, then he will definitely see the cause-and-effect relationships that determined this or that event or coincidence. And if there is no logic or common sense... Then, of course, it can be difficult to explain to a person that a black cat and a bad day are in no way connected.

– How to dissuade a superstitious person? And is it necessary to do this?

– You definitely need to try to dissuade him. But this is not always possible. Again, this is not so much a question of superstition as of lack of faith. As close as a person is to acquiring true faith, it is possible to convince him not to believe in “signs.”

– How dangerous are superstitions?

– Besides the fact that superstition in itself is a rather serious sin - a sin not only of incorrect faith, but also of essentially distrust of God, it also forces a person to make various mistakes. Refusing something useful, even necessary, taking on something risky, quarreling with loved ones - all because of some worthless, empty reasons. And this is not enough. A superstitious person is always an easy prey for the devil, an obedient toy in his hands. It is very easy for the enemy of our salvation to confuse and confuse such a person, fool his head, and destroy his soul. We can say this: superstitions are the strings that he pulls, leading the captive to the edge of the abyss.

– Father Nektary, thank you for the interesting conversation. We hope that our readers were able to find answers to many of their questions.

One of the most serious problems in the spiritual life of a believer is the problem of faith. Most people, considering themselves believers, have absolutely no faith. What motivates them in their spiritual life? Do they know about this?

Sometimes we don’t even suspect how much power superstition has over a person in his sinful state. Many, and even, oddly enough, Christians who have been attending church for more than one year, do not realize that in their spiritual life they are not guided by faith at all, but by pure superstition.

What is superstition and why modern people believe in them - about this in a conversation with the rector of the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Assuage my sorrows” in the city of Saratov, abbot Nektariy (Morozov).

True faith allows a person, still here on earth, in time, to be involved in eternal life

– Father Nektary, what is the difference between faith and superstition?

– I would answer with a counter question: what, strictly speaking, do both have in common? Almost nothing. After all, faith - even if we are talking about a completely earthly faith devoid of a religious dimension - in ideals, in principles, in a person, finally, this is what elevates a person, makes him better, fills his life with the necessary content. Faith in God, true faith, not only elevates, but allows a person, still here on earth, in time, to become involved in eternal life, to actually enter into it. This faith is the guarantee of salvation, unity with God, and achievement of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And superstition... is perhaps also a belief... But in what and what kind? In some signs, signs. This faith is vain, that is, unfounded, empty, sometimes funny and absurd, sometimes terrible. And if true faith is the connection between man and his Creator, then vain faith is the barrier separating him from Him.

– How do superstitions appear, and why do we believe in them?

– The reason for the emergence of superstitions is the impoverishment of true faith. A person forgets about God or outright rejects Him, but it turns out that he cannot live without faith at all - this is how the feeling of his own weakness, limitation, and, in fact, creatureliness manifests itself. And the one who declared his independence from a loving, merciful, but also omnipotent God falls into some kind of humiliating dependence on meaningless things. He changes the road if a black cat runs across it, crosses himself when he sees a priest - that’s also a bad omen, he’s ready to kill a woman with empty buckets, he spits over his left shoulder, he knocks on the table so as not to jinx him... But how many other stupid things like this have been invented? Who invented it? I think those who hate people the most and would be happy to destroy everyone and everyone, but acquire power only over those who voluntarily turn away from the truth.

Both people with a minimum educational level and those with academic degrees can be equally susceptible to superstitions

– Did the biblical man have superstitions? Are there such examples in the Old or New Testament?

– Superstitions have been a constant companion of humanity throughout its history. As has already been said, where there was no genuine faith, the resulting void of superstition is immediately filled. If we talk about Old Testament times, the clearest example of superstition is the worship of the golden calf. And in general, paganism as such is all superstition by nature from beginning to end.

– Modern society is distinguished by strict pragmatism and a fairly high level of education. Is it more or less subject to superstition today than before?

- I think more. There is less faith, and life is becoming more tense and complicated, hence the fears, and from fears - the desire to close yourself off, to protect yourself from them. And hence all kinds of superstitions. Hence the fascination with all kinds of magicians, psychics and warlocks. Moreover, experience shows that both people with a minimum educational level and those with academic degrees can be equally susceptible to superstitions. Because the point is not in education, but in whether a person lives an inner life, a spiritual life, whether he has sound and correct concepts about God, about temporary and eternal life, about this world, people and about himself.

– From history we know that superstitions have been fought for a long time. Thus, the Maritime Charter of PeterI for religious superstition the death penalty was imposed, for simple delusion and belief - public church repentance. As we see, our ancestors clearly realized that religious faith and superstition are completely different concepts. Why are these concepts mixed up today?

– I think that the decades of atheistic government, during which the Russian people were cut off from the Church, from the faith as such, are primarily to blame for this. We have fallen into some terrible abyss of spiritual ignorance, and if we are getting out of it today, it is in very small steps, very gradually.

Thoughts "by surprise"

-Where did prejudice come from? And why are they so tenacious among the people?

– What is the mechanism for spreading rumors? Do you know the famous expression “one grandma said”? It’s the same here: one grandmother said one thing, another authoritative grandfather said something else... And it began to be passed on from mouth to mouth, gradually turning into a whole unwritten set of legends of elders and old women. But there is a well-known spiritual law: “what the wicked fears” will befall him. It happened to someone, then someone else - and now the “sign” is ready.

“It’s quite strange to watch a mature person believe in ridiculous things.” Spilled salt and broken mirrors plague the lives of many people. And both old women and completely modern people are afraid to pass it across the threshold. How to deal with this?

– I think fighting superstitions as such is not the most promising activity. We must fight the unbelief that gives rise to them. Faith will take its place, and superstitions themselves will disappear. Although in each individual case it is necessary to explain, with patience and love, that a person’s life and the person himself do not depend on some formal and extremely frivolous external signs and will accept that we are all in the hands of God, and not even a hair from a person’s head will fall to the ground without the will of the Lord.

– Many prejudices are associated with the magic of numbers: days, numbers and months. There are people who get upset to tears if they come across the 13th place, and if the 13th coincides with Friday, you can generally expect catastrophic things...

– And yet wars do not begin according to schedule, not on Fridays without fail, not on the 13th and not at 13 o’clock... And crimes are committed on any day of the week and at any time of the day. And people do not die according to the “schedule”. What can I say - if a person does not have the fear of God, then he will be afraid of everything - every number, and every “threatening” set of circumstances, and every rustle, and every shadow...

Unreasonable "piety"

– Many people who have been attending church for several years now have no idea that in their spiritual life they are often guided not by faith at all, but by pure superstition. How do superstitions take root in the church environment?

– Unfortunately, not every person, even those who regularly visit the temple, strives to truly deeply and thoroughly know their faith. Believe me: if a Christian often confesses and receives communion, does not carry the questions that arise within himself, but strives to resolve them with his confessor, if he reads the Holy Fathers - thoughtfully and seriously - then in his heart, in his life, superstitions will not find any soil for themselves . And vice versa...

– Pass a candle in church only with your right hand and over your right shoulder, you cannot rearrange previously placed candles, the sacrament of anointing can only be received before death, etc. What is this? Where do such superstitions come from?

- From the same source - “one grandmother said.” From among those same “grandmothers” that people who come to church for the first time so often complain about. Why did she say it? But simply because it seemed so to her, she thinks so. A person who does not yet know anything about the Church often perceives such “revelations” as some kind of secret knowledge, which he very easily accepts on faith.

– Even the attitude towards church things (icons, holy water, candles) can become superstitious. A person mindlessly relies on some sacred object: a belt, incense, a pendant with the image of a saint, and does not remember God. Where is the logic?

– The logic is simple: there is no faith, there is hope in some magical power of “special things”, “special prayers”, “real priests”, “proper churches”, etc. and so on.

– The Holy Fathers of the Church called prejudice “devilish pride.” Why were they so categorical?

– Because these very prejudices cripple a person’s soul, stand between him and God like a wall. They are also a reason for external critics of the Church to mock and slander. And sometimes it’s a dark, dense forest, through which it is difficult for a reasonable and well-intentioned person taking his first steps in church life to get through.

Dangerous games

– It happens that omens come true, and then it is difficult to explain to people that superstition is a delusion...

– I don’t think that the coincidences that happen from time to time should be understood in this way: “signs come true.” If a person is attentive to himself, if he is not alien to logic and common sense, then he will definitely see the cause-and-effect relationships that determined this or that event or coincidence. And if there is no logic or common sense... Then, of course, it can be difficult to explain to a person that a black cat and a bad day are in no way connected.

– How to dissuade a superstitious person? And is it necessary to do this?

– You definitely need to try to dissuade him. But this is not always possible. Again, this is not so much a question of superstition as of lack of faith. As close as a person is to acquiring true faith, it is possible to convince him not to believe in “signs.”

– How dangerous are superstitions?

– Besides the fact that superstition in itself is a rather serious sin - a sin not only of incorrect faith, but also of essentially distrust of God, it also forces a person to make various mistakes. Refusing something useful, even necessary, taking on something risky, quarreling with loved ones - all because of some worthless, empty reasons. And this is not enough. A superstitious person is always an easy prey for the devil, an obedient toy in his hands. It is very easy for the enemy of our salvation to confuse and confuse such a person, fool his head, and destroy his soul. We can say this: superstitions are the strings that he pulls, leading the captive to the edge of the abyss.

Talking about the love of money in our time is like describing the heat in summer. The heat of July torments everyone, you can’t hide from it. There is, of course, salvation from the heat - air conditioners and fans, shade and cold water. But few people love the sun, and the love for “silver” sometimes completely captures the heart. And this can happen even if this “silver” is not in the pockets of the lover...

Today we are talking with Abbot Nektariy (Morozov) about what the sin of love of money is.

— The sin of love of money lies not in the excessive possession of silver, gold, that is, material values, but in the love of these very values.

To live on earth, a person needs many things: food, clothing, money with which to buy them. Housing is needed because we cannot live on the street. It happens that expensive medical services and medications are needed. And that's not all...

Let's say a person needs surgery. Will there be in the heart of the person being operated on a love for a needle that pricks him into a vein and injects some kind of pain-blocking agent, for a scalpel that cuts the skin and allows the surgeon to remove the inflamed appendix? Most likely no. The patient will treat both the needle and the scalpel as necessary and will endure it. But it’s not at all like that with material goods, with money with which you can buy the necessities of life. The love of material things turns out to be very dangerous for a person. And very scary - especially since it can be experienced by both a person who has nothing, and vice versa, who has many treasures of this world.

What does “to love” mean in this case? This means that in a situation when you are faced with a choice between what you love and duty, honor, mercy, compassion and, most importantly, the desire to be faithful to God, you will choose what you love, this is the “silver” " You will not give it to someone who needs it, you will close your heart from someone who is feeling bad, and in order to increase or hold on to what you have, you will commit this or that betrayal towards God. This is the main harm of the love of money.

Man, of course, is a multifaceted creature, but when he is turned to something, it means that he is turning away from something else. Turning to the material necessarily turns away from the spiritual. How such an attitude could manifest itself in a rich person is probably understandable. He has many worries: how to manage his wealth, how to protect it from those who want to plunder this wealth, how to spend it wisely so as not to completely deplete it, and how to add something new to it. Naturally, when a person is engaged in the process of acquisition or preservation, he gradually understands: success in this is often associated with some immoral acts. When you have a lot of money, you can easily add more to it by taking it away from someone else who has less and is unable to defend it. Of course, you can simply earn money, but it is much more difficult than taking it away. Therefore, when a person loves silver, he will most likely take it away. And even if he earns an honest living, he will still be faced with a choice situation: pay or not pay taxes, pay or not a decent salary to the people who work for you, and so on. Of course, if a person loves God more than wealth, if he cannot imagine his life without, if not God’s laws, then at least the laws of human morality (although today this concept is very vague), he is more likely to be remembered as a kind and fair person. But more often than not this is not the case. More often than not, a person who has achieved wealth is guided in his actions, in his actions, not by the love of God and not by moral laws, but by something else.

If a person has nothing, then his love for silver and gold will be similar to the love of a person who is secretly in love with someone, languishes with passion, but cannot get closer to the object of his desire. He is jealous of everyone who comes close to the object of his adoration, suffers terribly from this, suffers, envies, gets angry - his heart turns black from this. And therefore, a person who loves money, but does not have it, may consider that his whole life has been a failure. He thinks he is unhappy. He just doesn’t know yet that no matter how much money you have, it’s still less than you’d like. The thirst for money increases in direct proportion to its quantity. Therefore, when priests talk about the need to fight the passion of love of money, they are talking about exactly this - about the need to fight love for what should be just a means to achieve certain goals.

— Personally, I don’t know rich people, so I’ll share my impression of those who, as you put it, are unrequitedly in love. This often resembles a disease, pathology. People beaten by life, who have suffered severe hardships, Leningrad siege survivors - some of them you can’t ask for water on a rainy day... But people who collect slippers without a pair are also sick with the love of money?

- Regarding the slippers - yes, this is precisely the love of money, like a love for material things that reaches the point of unreason. But I don’t agree that the painful manifestations of this passion are most often noticeable in those who have experienced some kind of hardship. Quite the contrary, often those who survived famine and learned that one can be content with very little in life are more generous than people who lived in abundance. Sometimes it is these people who share not only what they have in abundance, but also what they themselves lack. St. Petersburg, including besieged Leningrad, has never been a city of greedy people. Although, of course, it also happens that the hardships and suffering experienced lead to a certain breakdown, mental illness, but this is a separate topic...

There is such an amazing story in Fatherland. Once upon a time, the Monk Abba Daniel, while traveling, stopped in one village, where a not at all rich-looking man approached him and invited him to his house for the night. This man's name was Eulogius, he was a stonecutter - he made money by cutting stones. He immediately spent what he earned for the day - he bought something he needed for himself, and distributed everything else to the poor and welcomed strangers. And so the Monk Daniel liked Eulogius, he delighted him so much that the Abba began to pray to God that He would grant the stonecutter great benefits that could allow him to do good to a much larger number of people. The Lord answered: “This is not necessary.” But Abba persisted in his request, and then God answered again: “Okay, I will fulfill your request, but what follows will fall entirely on your shoulders.” And so Eulogius found the treasure, went to another city, settled in expensive chambers, where not a single poor man or beggar was allowed within range of a cannon shot. Abba Daniel, who came to visit his friend, was also expelled. Then the monk prayed again and began to ask for forgiveness for his unreasonable prayer. As a result, the stonecutter lost everything, returned to his village, began to engage in honest work again and take care of those in need, as before...

The estate has amazing power and authority. It would seem that there is nothing - and okay. And something appears, and a person immediately clings to it. You need to be attentive to yourself, be able to catch the moment when the heart begins to merge with the property, and cut this connection. The Lord Himself sends situations when a person can overcome this passion naturally, but it happens that it, this passion, is so great that a person rejects everything that is sent by God...

- But the more you give, the more you get back! However, one cannot count on this selfishly...

- Yes, if a person decides precisely from such motives and with such goals to give someone what he has, he must be prepared for the fact that this goal may remain unattainable.

— And one more law: if you have 20 kopecks in your pocket, it’s much easier to part with them than with twenty rubles.

- Yes, because you already begin to count on them, plan what you will buy with them, and suddenly someone asks you for them... And it is very difficult to part with them. But! It’s not always necessary to break up, in fact. The question is who is asking, why is he asking and why is he asking.

The Apostle Paul said that our abundance should serve to make up for someone else's lack (2 Cor. 8 , 14). We will be asked not for what we do not have, but for what we do have. Yes, there were ascetics who so disdained any property that, looking at them, it seems that they lived beyond the bounds of not only the universal human norm, but even the common Christian norm. For example, the righteous Philaret the Merciful gave away everything, and he had a fairly large family that also needed food. And his family members were in a state where they had to be given something. In the end, the Lord returned everything to Saint Philaret a hundredfold: his daughter became the emperor’s wife. There was also such an amazing ascetic Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly (Sidorenko) from Tbilisi, who constantly gave away everything that came to him. At first he lived in a cell in the mountains, and it is clear that he had nothing there. And then he moved to the city, and they gave him a blanket, then boots, or something else - he gave it all away and cried a lot: “I tell them: give it out, give it out! They are dragging me...” But such feats are out of the ordinary. The Monk Barsanuphius the Great even has this advice: when someone comes to you and asks you for something, and you yourself need it, you have the right to refuse. Because if a person can part with something and not be tormented, part with it and not cause inconvenience to his loved ones, who along with him have rights to this property, then he can give it away. If you give the last, you must definitely think about those who are next to you, and about what you will do later. Because if you give away the last and go to ask someone in turn, then it’s unlikely that there will be any point in this.

But there are, of course, situations in life when it is necessary to give the last. A person with a living conscience, as a rule, sees and knows this himself.

— Many justify the sin of love of money by having a family and obligations to it. How can a family man, burdened with worries, discern where the norm is and where he is already keen on providing material resources for his children and household members?

- If a person has a large family, he really has to work hard, work hard to provide for it. And this will not be love of money, but the fulfillment of duty towards those who depend on this person materially. It’s another matter when a person cannot earn as much as he would like, it doesn’t work out for some reason - and he should not have any sadness from this, he should not become despondent because of this, and stop striving for God. Although if children cry from hunger, then you have to hurt yourself, but earn money...

— What if the children and wife want something beyond what is necessary, beyond what is essential? Let's say roller skates or a new car? Does the head of the family love them and cannot refuse to satisfy these desires?

- In any family, I would advise the husband and wife to decide what “loves” is, how it should be expressed: in the acquisition of material goods or in being together and experiencing happiness from this - even without skates and a car. To experience happiness from the fact that spouses are close, understand each other, rejoice in what they have, and tolerate if they don’t have something.

The standard criterion here is the same. If a person sees that what he would like to have is capturing and enslaving him, then something is wrong here. Let's say a person strives for the joy of owning something. A life devoted to achieving this turns out to be impoverished in positive emotions, peace, and the basic opportunity to relax. And when the goal is achieved, there is no joy. It turns out that a person is deceiving himself. It’s like hanging a carrot in front of a donkey’s face - the faster he chases it, the faster it will run away from him - as Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) once very accurately put it in one of his sermons. The desire to possess is insatiable, it cannot be fully satisfied. First you want to have something you need, then you want something better than what you have, then something better than what others have, and so on.

It is natural and not reprehensible for a person to want to have what he needs, and at the same time, of good quality. But the whole question is what price must be paid for it. It is impossible for this price to become the whole life, the heart of a person, the whole person. Do we acquire in order to live, or do we live in order to acquire. The answer puts everything in its place. If a person lives in order to acquire, a change has occurred in his heart. The means suddenly became the goal, and the goal became the means.

“Today, owning something has become a matter of prestige or decency. If you don't have a cool phone, it's already indecent. And this starts from childhood - if when I was growing up, we decided questions about a person’s “suitability” in children’s competitions, now everything depends on the brand of tablet that your dad bought for you... What are the reasons for this phenomenon?

— There are many reasons, but the main one is one. Today the concept of human personality is being lost. And not only someone else’s, but also your own. A person loses the depth that should be inherent to him, the fullness of life that he should have. In other words, modern man has too little to his heart's content. And therefore, not having anything to value within himself, he tries to form an impression of himself with the help of what he possesses in the material plane. And naturally, those who manage to possess something become vain about it. And the one who has nothing - and also for his soul - suffers from this: he feels offended, oppressed and insulted.

— How to instill in a child the right attitude towards things?

- You need to give the child something that will be more important to him than property. Something that will allow him to feel like an accomplished person, regardless of whether he has the opportunity to buy his wife a car or not.

We know people who live in difficult living conditions and who look with envy at the owner of a limousine who has doused it with dirty water from a puddle. And these people have no idea that this owner of a limousine, who has several million conventional units, suffers and suffers, looking at some oligarch with a football club, an airplane and a yacht. And he suffers, looking the same way at someone else... Probably...

“We know that the mother of all sins is pride. And if we all learned to humbly trust God, then our lives would be different... It seems to me that the love of money is also a relative of many sins. For example, a greedy person cannot be kind. Is this true or not?

—Initially, a money-loving person may be kind, but gradually, with the development of passion, the virtues fade away in him. After all, a person is a creature dependent on skill. If we refuse to help someone twice, three times, four times, then gradually there will be nothing left of our kindness. At first we suffer - we want to give, but we want not to give anymore. Man is designed this way - he tries to minimize his suffering. And so we learn not to give without suffering. To do this, you need to harden your heart, close it so that no one can reach it. “Nobody” is not only people, but also God. After all, why does a person suffer? Because his conscience reproaches him. And this is not only conscience, but also a Guardian Angel, and the Lord Himself, Who knocks on the heart. And in order not to give something to someone, a person must learn not to hear God, not to respond to His call.

The love of money is the sin of distrusting God. Why does a person so feverishly want to acquire something? Because in this he places hope for his well-being. As long as a person does not rely on possessions, but hopes on the Lord, he is guided through life by Him. And when a person puts property and possessions at the forefront, then everything changes radically, then he gradually becomes a stranger to God.

- How to fight the love of money? After all, to one degree or another, it lives in the heart of each of us...

“The Lord takes care of this, and in a variety of ways.” So we lost our wallet with money - this is a means to overcome our love of money. Instead of rushing around and worrying about this, you need to say: “Well, God is teaching me to part with money painlessly.” If we have to give away something that we ourselves would find useful, it means that the Lord is teaching us both love and the suppression of the passion of love of money.

In general, when a person begins to give something, he gradually develops a skill for this, which is very important. St. John Chrysostom said that if it is difficult to give what is needed, then one must begin to give at least what is not needed. And the skill will begin to develop, you will gradually learn to share the latter. But it is important in this case, when giving away what you don’t need, not to talk about yourself: how good I am, I’ll stop there, perhaps! There are people among Russian officials—I won’t say that they are all—who are accustomed to taking. And when they need to give something away, the unimaginable begins to happen to them - withdrawal, like a drug addict. I had to observe the feeling of deepest bewilderment on their faces at such a moment: How so! Give away?! Moreover, giving is not in order to receive, but just like that. And many turn out to be incapable of this. Truth: It's all a matter of skill.

Journal "Orthodoxy and Modernity" No. 26 (42)

Interviewed by Natalya Volkova

Trust is openness to the world and people, spiritual purity. Both are properties of the souls of the righteous. Trustfulness is also characteristic of young children who are pure at heart and have not yet been spoiled by life.

Surprisingly, gullibility, openness, and friendliness have always been the dominant spiritual quality of Russian peasants. “They are pure and trusting, like children,” foreigners often said about Russian men. This Russian purity, trustfulness and gentleness over time received the name " ".

But modern man is more often secretive, distrustful and suspicious, calculating and cynical. His suspicion becomes the reason for his hostility, hostility, ill will towards the people around him, whom he, as a rule, suspects of the same qualities.

A suspicious person is a very proud person who has a high opinion of himself. At the same time, towards others he is often categorical, unfriendly, conflictual, intolerant, suspicious; inclined to accuse, denounce, hate, and fiercely defend one’s rights. His soul is often filled with hostility, anger, and hatred of people. And although such a person, like everyone else, has periods of kindness, and even love, his kindness is situational, his love is sensual and one-sided.

In fact, such a person is incapable of either real faith in God or real faith in people.

Mistrust and suspicion are a very dangerous state of mind. If this quality is not noticed in oneself and is not fought against, then over time a person acquires paranoid character traits, which can result in delirium and schizophrenia. Moreover, filled with enmity, suspicion and suspiciousness, the soul of such a person is certainly far removed from.

The Holy Fathers always warned against suspicion as a destructive passion, destructive both for the soul of the person himself and causing harm to the people around him. “It is better to make a mistake about a person than to offend him with suspicion,” they taught.

That is why it is very sad to see when the hearts of Orthodox believers are sometimes filled with suspicion, hatred and anger. By their behavior, such people often demonstrate their inability to tolerate tolerance and mercy, which are commanded by Christ. They are ready to furiously accuse, denounce, and humiliate people who have beliefs different from theirs - heretics, infidels, atheists, pagans, without forgiving them for their errors or dissent.

They forget the teaching of the Holy Fathers, which says: “Condemn the sin, not the person. Love the person and help him overcome his sin.”

There is nothing worse for an Orthodox believer than suspicion, distrust, and intolerance towards people. These qualities kill faith and love in the heart. There is only one means to combat these passions, the means commanded by Christ - humility and repentance!

E If you ask a person: “What do you think is the worst sin?” - one will call murder, another theft, a third meanness, a fourth betrayal. In fact, the most terrible sin is unbelief, and it gives rise to meanness, betrayal, adultery, theft, murder, and anything else.

Sin is not a transgression; a transgression is a consequence of sin, just as a cough is not a disease, but its consequence. It very often happens that a person has not killed anyone, has not robbed, has not committed any meanness and therefore thinks well of himself, but he does not know that his sin is worse than murder and worse than theft, because he is in his life passes by the most important thing.

Unbelief is a state of mind when a person does not feel God. It is associated with ingratitude to God, and it affects not only people who completely deny the existence of God, but also each of us. Like any mortal sin, unbelief blinds a person. If you ask someone, say, about higher mathematics, he will say: “This is not my topic, I don’t understand anything about it.” If you ask about cooking, he will say: “I don’t even know how to cook soup, it’s not in my competence.” But when it comes to faith, everyone has their own opinion. One states: I think so; another: I think so. One says: there is no need to observe fasts. And another: my grandmother was a believer and she did this, so we must do it this way. And everyone begins to judge and judge, although in most cases they understand nothing about it.

Why, when questions concern faith, does everyone always want to express their stupid opinion? Why do people suddenly become experts in these matters? Why are they sure that everyone here understands, knows everything? Because everyone believes that he believes to the very degree to which it is necessary. In fact, this is not true at all, and it is very easy to verify. The Gospel says: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move.” If this is not observed, then there is no faith even as small as a mustard seed. Since a person is blinded, he believes that he believes enough, but in fact he cannot do even such a trifle as moving a mountain, which can be moved even without faith. And all our troubles occur because of lack of faith.

When the Lord walked on the waters, Peter, who loved no one in the world as much as Christ, wanted to come to Him and said: “Command me, and I will go to You.” The Lord says: “Go.” And Peter also walked on the waters, but for a second he was afraid, doubted and began to drown and exclaimed: “Lord, save me, I am perishing!” First, he gathered all his faith and, as long as it was enough, he went as far as he could, and then, when the “reserve” ran out, he began to drown.

That's how we are too. Who among us does not know that God exists? Everybody knows. Who doesn't know that God hears our prayers? Everybody knows. God is omniscient, and no matter where we are, He hears all the words we speak. We know that the Lord is good. Even in today's Gospel there is confirmation of this, and our whole life shows how merciful He is to us. The Lord Jesus Christ says that if our child asks for bread, will we really give him a stone or, if he asks for fish, will we give him a snake. Which of us can do this? Nobody. But we are evil people. Can the Lord, Who is good, really do this?

Nevertheless, we grumble all the time, we moan all the time, we always disagree with one thing or another. The Lord tells us that the path to the Kingdom of Heaven lies through much suffering, but we do not believe. We all want to be healthy, happy, we all want to get along well on earth. The Lord says that only the one who follows Him and takes up his cross will reach the Kingdom of Heaven, but this again does not suit us, we again insist on our own, although we consider ourselves believers. Purely theoretically, we know that the Gospel contains truth, but our whole life goes against it. And often we don’t have the fear of God, because we forget that the Lord is always there, always looking at us. That is why we sin so easily, easily condemn, we can easily wish evil upon a person, easily neglect him, offend him, offend him.

Theoretically, we know that there is an omnipresent God, but our heart is far from Him, we do not feel Him, it seems to us that God is somewhere out there, in endless space, and He does not see or know us. That’s why we sin, that’s why we don’t agree with His commandments, we claim the freedom of others, we want to redo everything in our own way, we want to change our whole life and make it the way we see fit. But this is completely wrong; we cannot control our lives to such an extent. We can only humble ourselves before what the Lord gives us, and rejoice in the good and the punishments that He sends, because through this He teaches us the Kingdom of Heaven. But we don’t believe Him - we don’t believe that you can’t be rude, and therefore we are rude; We don’t believe that we shouldn’t be irritated, and we get irritated; We do not believe that we cannot be envious, and we often set our eyes on other people's things and envy other people's well-being. And some dare to envy spiritual gifts from God - this is generally a terrible sin, because everyone receives from God what he can bear.

Unbelief is not only the lot of people who deny God; it penetrates deeply into our lives. Therefore, we are often despondent, in panic, and do not know what to do; we are choked by tears, but these are not tears of repentance, they do not cleanse us from sin - these are tears of despair, because we forget that the Lord sees everything; we are angry, we grumble, we are indignant.

Why do we want to force all our loved ones to go to church, pray, and receive communion? From unbelief, because we forget that God wants the same thing. We forget that God wants every person to be saved and cares about everyone. It seems to us that there is no God, that something depends on us, on some of our efforts, and we begin to convince, tell, explain, but we only make things worse, because we can only be drawn to the Kingdom of Heaven by the Holy Spirit, and We are not there. Therefore, we only irritate people, cling to them, bore them, torment them, and under a good pretext we turn their lives into hell.

We violate the precious gift that is given to man - the gift of freedom. By our claims, by the fact that we want to remake everyone in our own image and likeness, and not in the image of God, we claim the freedom of others and try to force everyone to think the way we think ourselves, but this is impossible. The truth can be revealed to a person if he asks about it, if he wants to know it, but we constantly impose it. There is no humility in this act, and since there is no humility, it means there is no grace of the Holy Spirit. And without the grace of the Holy Spirit there will be no result, or rather, there will be, but the opposite.

And that’s how it is in everything. And the reason is unbelief - unbelief in God, unbelief in God, in His good providence, in the fact that God is love, that He wants to save everyone. Because if we believed Him, we would not do this, we would only ask. Why does a person go to some grandmother, to a healer? Because he does not believe in God or the Church, he does not believe in the power of grace. First, he will bypass all the sorcerers, sorcerers, psychics, and if nothing helps, well, then he turns to God: maybe he will help. And the most amazing thing is that it helps.

If some person neglected us all the time, and then began to ask us for something, we would say: you know, this is not good, you treated me so badly all my life, and now you come to ask me? But the Lord is merciful, the Lord is meek, the Lord is humble. Therefore, no matter what paths or roads a person walks, no matter what outrages he does, but if he turns to God from the heart, at the last, as they say, worst end, the Lord helps here too, because He is only waiting for our prayer.

The Lord said: “Whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you,” but we do not believe. We do not believe in our prayer, nor in the fact that God hears us - we do not believe in anything. That’s why everything is empty for us, that’s why our prayer doesn’t seem to be fulfilled, it can’t not only move a mountain, but it can’t manage anything at all. If we really believed in God, then we could guide any person to the true path. And it is possible to direct one to the true path precisely through prayer, because it shows love to a person. Prayer before God is a secret, and there is no violence in it, there is only a request: Lord, guide, help, heal, save.

If we acted this way, we would achieve greater success. And we all hope for conversations, for the fact that we will somehow manage ourselves, that we will save something like this for some rainy day. Those who wait for a rainy day will definitely have one. Without God, you still won’t achieve anything, so the Lord says: “Seek first of all the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you.” But we don’t believe that either. Our life is not aimed at the Kingdom of God, it is more aimed at people, at human relationships, at how to improve everything here. We want to satisfy our own pride, our own vanity, our own ambition. If we were striving for the Kingdom of Heaven, we would rejoice when we are oppressed, when we are offended, because this contributes to our entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. We would rejoice at illness, but we grumble and are horrified. We are afraid of death, we all try to prolong our existence, but again not for the sake of the Lord, not for the sake of repentance, but out of our own lack of faith, out of fear.

The sin of lack of faith has penetrated very deeply into us, and we must fight it very hard. There is such an expression: a feat of faith - because only faith can motivate a person to do something real. And if every time such a situation arises in our life that we can act in a divine way and we can act in a human way, if every time we courageously act in accordance with our faith, then our faith will grow, it will be strengthened.

If we take a weight and lift it ten times every day, and measure the muscle after a month, we will see that it will increase in volume; and in a year it will be even greater. So is faith: if we do something every day, not out of feelings, not out of reason, but out of our faith, then it will increase in us. Some person irritates me by coming at me with all sorts of nonsense; I'm bored to the limit. What to do? I want to run away or say some kind of barb in response to him, something so that he will never bother you again in his life. I want this as a sinful person, but how should I act by faith? By faith, I must reason like this: why does the Lord send this man to me every day, why did He give me this cross? Why does life keep confronting me with him? So that I endure, so that I gain humility by enduring. So, I will endure it for a year, two, three, four, ten years, until I completely reconcile myself, until it stops annoying me.

And if every time we act by faith, do not throw out our irritation, but, on the contrary, keep it inside and ask God: Lord, help me, give me the patience to hold on, not to say rudeness, harshness, let me somehow withstand this a small test - if we do this for a day, two, a week, a month, a year, ten years, then just as a muscle strengthens and becomes stronger, so will our faith. And when some really serious test happens in our lives, then we will be able to stand firm in faith; we will not give up either the Lord, or the faith, or the Kingdom of Heaven.

If an athlete who has been training his body all his life is attacked by robbers, and he runs away from them, and they are all smoked and drunk, they will run 60 meters and fall behind. If a person is saved, he will benefit from the fact that he played sports. Therefore, when we endure, say, our irritation, or constantly overcome our greed, or perform some other act of will, we act not according to our feelings, but according to our faith, as a Christian should act, then we do not do this in vain. We are preparing ourselves for a more serious exam, which will definitely come. And the most serious exam, the most important test is death. But even before death we will have many trials, and as our faith grows, they will grow.

When a person moves from course to course at an institute, the exams become more and more difficult, and then there is the most important one, the state one, and a diploma. Defending a thesis is our death, and before that we need to pass many exams. And the more our faith grows, the more it will be tested by God, because how else can you know a person?

There was such a case with Spiridon of Trimifuntsky: he came to the council, but the guard did not let him in. He says: “Why don’t you let me in? I am a bishop." And he was in simple shepherd’s clothes, because he was herding cattle, earning his own food. The guard hit him, and Spiridon turned the other cheek to him. He says: “Oh, now I see that you are a bishop, come in.” Here it is, the pass. It is immediately obvious that this man is a Christian. You don’t need any documents to say that you are a believer. Here it is written: Christian; photograph - beard, mustache; and printing. This is not necessary, because a Christian is not verified by a document.

The only document is whether a person fulfills God’s commandments or not. How difficult it is! Some simple layman hits the bishop in the face. According to church canons, anyone who hits a bishop is excommunicated from the Church. That is, Saint Spyridon could excommunicate him from the Church for insulting his sacred dignity, and no one would ever say anything against this. But he forgave him meekly right away, and substituted his left one, and went to the council, and everything was resolved successfully, and he healed that man - he repented. This is a Christian act. Both our Christian life and our faith will be strengthened only if we perform Christian actions.

We are all not Christians yet, but disciples and are just trying to live like Christians. But if we want to become Christians, we must constantly perform Christian actions in word, deed, and thought. Some thought came - if a person is not a Christian, he begins to follow this thought until another comes. Usually, someone who does not lead a spiritual life has some kind of “movie” playing in his head all the time: now he thought one thing, then another, now he looked at this, now at that. I saw a man beautifully dressed - he became envious. I saw someone driving a car - he thought that he was polluting the air. I saw a beautiful face - it means that some other thoughts began to arise. And so the mind floats all the time. But a Christian must constantly struggle with thoughts. Every time we cut off a sinful thought, we commit a moral act. No one sees this act except the Heavenly Father. And the Lord, seeing the secret, will always reward us with the obvious - he will strengthen our faith.

It’s not so difficult to cut off a thought, it’s a small feat, but nevertheless, I bent my arm once again, once again exercised the muscle of my soul, the muscle of my faith. Only in this way can faith be strengthened. And any athlete knows: no matter how much you pump a muscle, if you don’t train for a year, then everything disappears. Anyone who starts playing sports is doomed to do it for the rest of his life, otherwise he turns into a huge, clumsy carcass and his liver, lungs, blood vessels, and heart deteriorate. It is the same in the Christian life. God forbid someone should try an experiment and stop praying morning and evening for at least three or four days. On the fifth day, reading the rule will be forty times harder than when you were tired and missed it, because your soul has already weakened.

Therefore, in order to strengthen our faith, we need constant exercise in prayer, in reading the word of God. You have to constantly push yourself. Tirelessly, I want - I don’t want, I can - I can’t, I have to force myself to go to church. I’m tired - I’m not tired, I have things to do - nothing to do, a fair amount of time has passed - I need to force myself to prepare for communion and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Some situation has arisen - no matter how much you want to act sinfully, you must force yourself to act like a Christian, regardless of how you feel and what you think. There is a commandment of God - and fulfill it. And gradually we will see that it becomes easier and easier for us to fulfill the commandments, and then we will feel that it is impossible for us to commit a sin: we will become so accustomed to fulfilling the commandments of God that it will be difficult for us to sin, we will not even be able to force ourselves to do so - with us the skill of Christian life will arise. This is the growth of our faith.

Each of us must be flint. The Lord called Peter a stone: “petros” in Greek means “rock.” “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church.” So are we. If we want to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, the house of God, then we must strengthen our faith and constantly fight unbelief in our souls, not relying on any people, but only on the One God Himself. And you need to constantly turn to Him. Only in this way can we get rid of this destructive sin of unbelief, which exists in each of us, but is present so unnoticed that we do not see it. This is his extreme danger. Amen."