Acquiring the Holy Spirit. The personal art of acquiring and preserving God's grace

Through the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, the Lord revealed to the Orthodox that the goal of the life of any believer is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to “acquire the Holy Spirit”, what is the meaning of the concept of “acquisition” in the works of the Holy Fathers? Read more about everything in this article!

Through the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, the Lord revealed to the Orthodox that the goal of the life of any believer is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. Just as worldly people strive to acquire material goods, a true believer must take care of acquiring the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Each Orthodox person has his own path, which he follows to serve God and acquire Grace. As a rule, his “confessor” helps him in this.

Prayer, Confession, Communion of Saints Christ's Mysteries, good deeds are all the means by which all Christians acquire the Grace of the Holy Spirit.

Living communication with the Lord is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.

Origin of the expression “acquiring the Holy Spirit”

This expression was introduced into circulation by Seraphim of Sarov. Talking with Motovilov on topics that related to the essence of faith and what happens to a person when he prays, the Holy Ascetic said that a person praying acts like a person who dreams of achieving fame and wealth. Only the goal of the believer lies on a different plane. He strives to unite with the Lord through the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.

The monk compared the work of a believer with that which we do in everyday life. To obtain material benefits for himself and his family, a person must work hard. The work of the soul is to acquire or receive the Grace of the Holy Spirit in order to unite with the Lord. This is the highest value for a believer.

The holy preacher explained this phrase in detail. A person has three sources of will, desires:

• Spiritual, pushes to unite with God.
• Own.
• Besovskaya.

Guided by the third, a person works to satisfy his pride, vanity and self-interest. It is present in everyone and poses a great danger. The second allows you to make your own choice. He himself decides what he will be guided by. Some steal, others do good deeds. At the same time, they all pursue worldly results. They do good to their neighbor to satisfy their own pride. Only the first will is from the Lord. Guided by it, a person does good for the sake of the Holy Spirit. Listening to her, he collects not material, but eternal wealth. The monk said that one needs to accumulate this “capital” as much as possible, to strive for acquisition. This should be the meaning of everything a believer does in acquiring the Holy Spirit.

Seraphim of Sarov about prayer

The saint said that during prayer the mind and heart should be one, and thoughts should not be scattered. Only in this case “the heart is warmed with spiritual warmth, in which the light of Christ will shine, filling the entire inner person with peace and joy.”

Often, during prayer, the saint was immersed in prolonged mental contemplation of the Lord: he stood in front of the holy image, did not read any prayers or bow, but only contemplated God with his mind in his heart.

Therefore, believers should try not to let their thoughts be scattered during prayer, since because of this, the soul, through the devil’s action, deviates from the love of God.

What does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit?

It is easy to acquire material wealth, but it is more difficult to acquire virtues. The saints considered the acquisition of the Holy Spirit and God's Grace to be the highest stage of spiritual growth.

Seraphim of Sarov constantly reminded of the need to acquire the Holy Spirit, since he himself experienced this blissful state. In a conversation with Motovilov, he compared a person’s life to a square where they trade. Every merchant tries to sell his goods at a higher price. In the beginning, the seller works hard to accumulate many things useful in the household. Having studied the demand, he brings to the market what will bring more profit. If a merchant returned home without goods and with money, the trade was considered successful.

Reverend Seraphim gave this parable a spiritual meaning, comparing the accumulation of goods for trade with the acquisition of virtues: love, modesty and mercy. This good qualities, but they are of no benefit to a person until he “sells” them to the Lord, receiving “money” for this - the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Seraphim of Sarov called the acquisition of the Holy Spirit the true goal of a Christian’s life, and good deeds are the means by which Divine Power is achieved.

Just as a merchant can buy whatever he wants with the money he earns, so with the help of the Holy Spirit a person will receive the strength to work miracles, easily cope with his own passions, be filled with health and strength, which our forefathers possessed in heaven, and the soul of a believer is always filled peace and joy.

When Motovilov asked how to achieve such bliss, the saint reminds him of a merchant who brings to the market only those goods for which he can get more money. Likewise, an Orthodox Christian, in order to acquire more grace, must do such good deeds as will most comfort his soul. At the same time, it is worth remembering that good deeds are done not for the sake of praise, but for the Glory of God.

So that the explanations would not remain empty words for Nicholas, the monk asked the Lord to show for a moment what a person who is in the power of the Holy Spirit feels. Motovilov felt silence, extraordinary joy and warmth. Later, the student wrote a book in which he described in detail the phenomenon that happened to him.

What is meant by acquiring the Holy Spirit?

This expression means the acquisition of God's grace. The term “acquisition”, in its semantic meaning, means: accumulation, acquisition.

The expression “acquiring Grace” cannot be understood to mean that Divine grace can be stored and stored in one’s heart like a money-grubber who accumulates gold and silver.

The grace of God resting on a person is not his property. A person can use material values ​​at his own discretion, but Grace acts only when all a person’s actions are aimed at good.

As the believer grows in holiness and virtue, the degree of his unity with the Lord increases. A person gradually increases in the moral and religious aspect, so this process is called “acquisition”.

The meaning of the concept of “acquisition” in the works of the Holy Fathers

The bishops of antiquity are called the Holy Fathers of the Church. They compiled interpretations of the Gospel and the basic rules by which modern Christians live. The greatest of them are the bishops of Byzantium Basil the Great and John Chrysostom.

The famous preacher and denouncer of the merciless and unrighteous rich, Saint John Chrysostom, explained in accessible language for ordinary people What is unrighteous acquisition? In the meaning of vice, the accumulation of wealth through lies and violence, he used the words “acquisitiveness” and “covetousness.” Thieves and bribe-takers are called covetous. Basil the Great noted that there is no more terrible covetousness than if a person does not share with the poor what can deteriorate over time.

If we talk modern language, then as a result of our service and prayers, the Lord manifests itself more and more in us and through us, we feel this as filling with the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must pray, fast, be merciful, and do good deeds.

Many words that are actively used in Orthodox terminology are not always understandable to the average person. Moreover, understanding such terms is essential for strengthening the mind and developing faith. Next, let's look at acquisition and what meaning this concept has in the Orthodox tradition.

In the literal sense, the meaning of the word “acquire” indicates the acquisition of various material goods, that is, we are talking about accumulating property, working for the sake of obtaining benefits. Typically, the term has a neutral meaning and simply implies the action of accumulation.

However, it can be modified to indicate sinful passions, for example, covetousness is a desire for hoarding and self-interest, that is, it has a clearly negative interpretation.

There is a teaching that Seraphim of Sarov gave about acquiring the Holy Spirit, finding Orthodox person a number of positive merits and, ultimately, spiritual benefits. It cannot be said that this concept was absent earlier, but Elder Seraphim more fully updated the concept and formalized it, so to speak, into a complete technique of spiritual practice.

Pay attention! St. Seraphim took the terminology and used analogies that were most familiar and close to him.

The Sarov ascetic himself was from a merchant family; for such people, the most important thing is to acquire various material benefits and receive benefits.

Seraphim himself later compared his participation in trade in my youth, when I was looking for profit, with spiritual work, where I also need to perform certain actions and receive spiritual benefits as profit.

Thus, in Orthodoxy they most often talk about the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, which has a purely positive value. Essentially, this term refers to the movement of each soul towards the Lord and the cultivation of faith within the individual spiritual path. The question is actually quite deep, so it's worth understanding this topic in a little more detail.

Main goal

On the path of his spiritual existence, the Orthodox strives to find himself in the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, to achieve the Salvation of the soul. This opportunity is provided upon achieving the required degree of sinlessness (relatively speaking, in reality this is also an ambiguous question and, as they say, each situation must be considered separately), which ensures the acquisition of grace.

Simply put, the diagram looks something like this:

• a person struggles with sins and gets rid of passions;
• the soul becomes purer;
• virtues replace passions and sins;
• a person acquires the Gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Various virtues are often used to combat passions and sins. Thus, in this process they quite naturally displace negative aspects personality and fill the Orthodox person entirely.

If we consider in more detail, this process is much more multidimensional. After all, sins are not eliminated at once, and the process of the ascent of the soul can be replaced by periods of fall. In general, this topic deserves to be examined in detail by every Orthodox Christian for himself.

An essential detail within the framework of the topic being considered now is one thing: the acquisition of the Spirit is a person’s movement towards the Lord. The better and more productively this process is carried out, the more holiness and virtue a person acquires, and vice versa.

Methods and results of acquisition

After it became clear what acquisition is in the context Orthodox faith, next we will consider this aspect. The wise thoughts that he left to his spiritual children will be used as a basis. reverend elder Seraphim.

Many writers and other representatives of the intelligentsia came to the monastery near Sarov, and in general the ascetic was quite well known; he devoted part of his earthly journey to regularly receiving Orthodox Christians, to whom he gave advice about the faith and instructed in every possible way.

Therefore, not only the icons that were copied from a lifetime portrait, and some objects that the saint used, but also his wisdom, captured in words, have survived to this day.

For simplicity, the acquisition of the Spirit is compared with ordinary accumulation, for example, there are such common phrases: “spiritual wealth”, “a person possessing spiritual treasures.” Indeed, various spiritual achievements are often compared with various material assets, it’s more convenient, but you need to understand that we are talking about phenomena of a completely different order.

Pay attention! The peculiar ephemerality of wealth in the information age can indicate the authenticity of only one wealth - spiritual.

The modern era is very interesting in terms of the meaning of acquiring material and spiritual values. Rich people often just own a set of numbers that are stored in the form of a bank account; simply some sets of data, images, and the like begin to be valuable. Therefore, the meaning of possessing something and accumulating something has a slightly different meaning than before. This state of affairs may even be interesting for analysis by Orthodox believers.

A person can accumulate or distribute material property at his own discretion, or he can use it for himself.

When it comes to attracting the Holy Spirit to oneself, it is difficult to talk about accumulating any amount of some kind of “substance” or “property”. It is best to use metaphors of approaching something or the metaphor of cleansing the mirror of the soul, known from the Eastern tradition.

Its surface is initially contaminated by the sinful human nature, but in the process of spiritual evolution the mirror can be cleansed by personal efforts and reflect Divine light.

Thus, the one who has advanced better in faith, as it were, lets in and absorbs the Heavenly light in a larger volume. It can reflect the original truth more accurately. If it is possible to put it this way, such a person is indeed, in a certain sense, closer to the Almighty, although we are, of course, not talking about spatial quantities, but about the purity of the soul, which is more consistent with the perception of the divine.

Fruits of the Holy Spirit

The Orthodox tradition describes in detail and in various ways how to move along the path of acquisition and achieve a positive result in this:

• prayer,
• fast,
• vigil,
• absence of sins,
• development of virtues.

All these methods of acquiring the holy spirit have long been known and are quite accessible for use by every Christian. Why then doesn’t everyone become saints or at least possessors of various gifts of the Holy Spirit? The question is quite logical, and the answer is elementary. It is difficult to move this way; as a rule, people are busy acquiring material things and prefer spiritual non-acquisitiveness, but ideally one should do the opposite.

The listed methods must be done for the sake of Christ, then the so-called fruits of the Holy Spirit will appear:

• Love,
• joy,
• longsuffering,
• goodness,
• mercy,
• faith,
• meekness,
• abstinence.

It is also relevant here to list the Gifts of the Holy Spirit:

• wisdom,
• faith,
• knowledge,
• prophecy,
• miracle,
• healing,
• distinguishing and interpreting different languages,
• discernment of spirits,
• petition,
• exhortation,
• assistance;,
• teaching,
• Love.

There are others, but these are the main ones.

Love refers to the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and is also the highest Gift of the Holy Spirit, that is, in fact highest achievement, which is available to the Orthodox. Actually, this is what Christ commanded: to love the Lord and your neighbor as yourself. God left such commandments, establishing New Testament with a person.

The Apostles became the first owners of the Gifts, which they received or acquired on the day of Pentecost. Thanks to this, the apostles had the opportunity to preach in other countries and show miracles to the pagans.

The meaning of the words “to acquire holy gifts” was different for them, since what they received was to some extent an advance (which, by the way, everyone later repaid a hundredfold), due to their special position and relationship with Christ.

Now every Orthodox Christian can embark on his own path of faith and, with diligence, even compare to some extent with the apostles. This fact is confirmed by the examples of saints. For example, Seraphim of Sarov performed great miracles, although he tried to hide this fact from others.

In addition to performing religious tasks - attending services and regular prayer - the tool of an Orthodox believer is the practice of virtue. Through good deeds, love for one's neighbor and the world is cultivated, but there is another significant aspect to consider. In simple words This aspect is called motivation, although in reality it is much more complex in nature.

Useful video

Let's sum it up

The motivation lies in doing good for the sake of Christ. Not for the sake of virtue as such (just to do good), not for the sake of vanity or to feel good about yourself. Only if a believer surrenders and surrenders to Christ with all his mind and deeds can he acquire the grace of the All-Holy Spirit of God.

At the same time, Seraphim of Sarov advises believers to use reason in the matter of acquisition, just as merchants use it in order to get more profit. If you can sincerely pray, then through prayer that is deeply and sincerely done for the sake of Christ, it is possible to acquire grace. The Lord has granted someone the fortitude to withstand fasting and other compulsions of the body, then through these efforts it is necessary to elevate oneself spiritually.

Archimandrite Melchizedek (Artyukhin), rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Yasenevo, answers questions from viewers. Broadcast from Moscow.

- Hello. The program “Conversations with Father” is broadcast on the Soyuz TV channel. In the studio Sergei Yurgin.

Today our guest is the rector of the Optina Hermitage in Moscow and the rector of the church under construction in honor of the Intercession Mother of God in Yasenevo, Archimandrite Melchizedek (Artyukhin).

Hello, father. Bless our viewers.

God help you all, dear brothers and sisters.

The theme of our program today is “Acquiring a Peaceful Spirit.” Venerable Seraphim of Sarov formulated everything necessary for salvation in eternal life in just one phrase: “Obtain a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.” It has a very big meaning, please tell us about it.

We have all heard this motto of St. Seraphim of Sarov, and we would all like to have a gracious, peaceful spirit both at work and at home: patience, attention, endurance, sobriety, non-irritability. All these are qualities that a Christian soul should possess. But we don’t always succeed.

It turns out there is little secret about how we can still acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit and the resulting peace of our spirit. When the memory of one or another saint is celebrated, we hear the following words from the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, faith, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.” Because they fulfilled the law of Christ. So one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is peace, the same spirit is love, joy and peace.

Then the next question arises: how to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit? It turns out that prayer helps with this: both at home and definitely in church. Internal turning to God “in every place of God’s dominion” and in the temple of God. “Six days you shall labor, the seventh day for the Lord Your God.” Many in their lives have noticed that after prayer, after reading the Gospel, and doing good, there is precisely this peaceful spirit. During a service, you don’t want to find out anything in an unpeaceful, irritated spirit. This happens in our everyday bustle.

As Elder Ambrose of Optina said: why does a person feel bad? Because a person forgets that God is above him. When a person remembers this, then he takes care of himself. The Holy Fathers had the expression “sobriety.” They observed their thoughts, words and actions. As soon as the memory of God leaves life, then a person does what he wants. Someone from wise people said: when God comes first, then everything else is in its place. When God comes first, we think about what to say, how to say it, who to say it to, and what the consequences will be.

A spiritual or non-spiritual person can be defined as follows. Anyone who tries to follow God’s commandments in everyday life: are my words according to God or not? When the Apostle Paul was not allowed into the city, seeing that he was going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the disciples said: Lord, tell us, let us pray, and fire will come down from heaven and consume them. And the Lord answered them: no need, don’t you know what kind of spirit you are? That is, the spirit of peace, love, justice, brotherly love.

Metropolitan Philaret of Minsky said: love worship - breathe the air of eternity. The “air of eternity” is filled with peace, love, and the praise of God. When a person is in this air of eternity, his moods fade into the background. When he is in his personal thoughts, usually proud, touchy, angry, this results in a person’s forgetfulness about God, about inner peace, and humility. In this state, a person forgets his shortcomings, sins, and little by little he develops self-worth, self-satisfaction, pride and selfishness, and from this he easily gets turned on and goes crazy, starting with his own family.

One must be zealous for the memory of God to exist, and it will keep a person within its limits, in the right attitude towards oneself and towards others. Correct opinion about oneself helps to have a correct attitude towards others. We often overestimate our self-worth: we are above everyone, and everyone is below us. Why do all the seas and oceans contain so many rivers, rivulets and streams? Because they are below them. The person who lives in this humble spirit of God is filled, and everything serves him. This water will not reach those who think too highly of themselves. Having a humble opinion of yourself helps to have a humble and peaceful spirit. Arseny the Great said that if a person does not will go the way self-reproach, he will never find peace anywhere. This is an axiom of our daily life.

Some people say about themselves: I'm a psychotic person, what can I do if I'm so irritable? This is only a manifestation of the abnormality of life, the fact that you are not in the spirit of God, but in the spirit of this world. But you yourself do not allow the Spirit of God into yourself. Each of us has mobile phone, and we know that it needs to be recharged regularly. Likewise, prayer at home and in church is our feeding with the grace-filled Spirit of God.

Question from a TV viewer: How to react to the open rudeness of people, for example, in a crowded transport? You don’t always have time to reproach yourself, and swear words seem to pour out on a person by themselves.

We must remember that we are Christians, and that we cannot correct this situation. Squeezing in, pushing others into a crowded carriage means saving two or three minutes while waiting for the next train. This will give nothing but a spoiled mood for the whole day, especially some kind of negative answer.

As the wise Solomon said, a poke in the nose produces blood. Therefore, there is no need to hit with words or thoughts. You must be able to restrain yourself. It is not for nothing that our tongue is located behind two barriers, behind two barriers: behind the lips and behind the teeth. To not give him free rein. The Apostle Paul says: let every man be quick to hear and slow to speak, slow to become angry, because anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.

If we responded to such a situation, we sowed evil. If we swallowed it, we reduced this evil in ourselves. As someone said, let your soul be like a lake that receives a stone thrown into it. The stone hit the surface of the water, shook it up a little, a small wave passed, and the lake calmed down again. Let your soul be like that too.

Therefore, the first thing that is necessary is to keep your tongue from expressing your emotions. John Climacus said this about this: anger is an ugliness of the soul.

The question arises: when this happens in relation to others, what to do? The pacifism of Tolstoyism or some kind of Christian courage and some kind of bravery? There must always be wisdom here, so that cowardice is not hidden under the guise of humility, and insane despair is no longer hidden under the guise of courage.

Therefore, as you want them to act towards you, do so towards others. In relation to ourselves, we must and can be patient and remain silent; in relation to others, we, of course, must have the courage and wisdom to be able to defend the honor and dignity of the people who are next to us. But never act in relation to rudeness with similar negativity, but competently, with inner courage, put it in its place.

You have already said that in order to acquire a peaceful spirit, you must also love worship, but it often turns out that our work, various affairs or illnesses do not allow us to constantly go to church. Maybe people pray at home, read some literature, but don’t go to church, saying that this time they’d rather stay at home. Do you think such feats replace full-fledged worship?

The holy fathers had such a criterion of illness and poor health that would not allow going to worship. This was quite recently, before our revolutionary upheavals. The criterion was this: if you are sick to such an extent that when a fire starts at home, you will not be able to get out of the house, then you don’t have to go to worship, you are actually sick. That was the attitude.

The more zealous a person is, the more he overcomes himself and looks for a reason to go to church, and the lazy person looks for a reason not to go to church, and all this depends on love and dislike for God.

Silouan of Athos was asked about almost the same thing by his brother in the monastery, who, like Silouan, was its housekeeper. He said:

I cannot, like all the brothers, be at church services; I even miss Saturday and Sunday because I am overly busy.

Then Elder Silouan said:

Nothing gets in the way of loving God.

The algorithm of our spiritual life: Subbotnik and Sunday days should be devoted to divine services, which bless the entire coming week. You can and should pray at home. But this is no substitute for worship. The holy fathers had this expression: one “Lord, have mercy,” read in church with one heart and one mouth on behalf of the entire Church, more than the entire Psalter read in private.

There is such a liturgical text: “In the temple of glory those who stand in heaven stand imaginary.” Those standing in the temple represent those standing in heaven. Of course, when this happens with attention, with detachment from everything vain, at least for these two and a half hours of the All-Night Vigil or the Divine Liturgy.

On the gravestone of the inhabitant of Optina Hermitage, Metropolitan Tryfon Turkestanov, who was buried in Moscow at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery, the following words are written on its reverse side: “Children, love the temple of God. The temple of God is heaven on earth.”

All we do is live face to face with the earth: television, news, and the Internet bring us down to nowhere. In the subway, transport - the spirit of this world is everywhere. We are spinning in a world that lies in evil. There must be a piece of heaven somewhere. The fence of the monastery, the church walls, are that space of eternity where we can, like in a dry cleaner, for some time be cleansed of the sinful salt that has soaked us.

Many people say that God is everywhere, and why should I pray only in the temple. Of course, you need to pray everywhere, but one does not cancel the other. Home prayer is not instead of, but together. Remember the words in the Gospel: “My house will be called a house of prayer.” This means that there is a House of God on earth. Although we know the words of the psalmist, “In every place of His dominion, bless the Lord, my soul!” But there is a special place, there is a special order of worship.

One day they asked Father Vasily whether it makes any difference where to pray, is it necessary to do it in church or can it be done at home? This crafty question was asked regarding holidays and Sundays, because we cannot be in church all the time. He answered like this:

Praying alone at home is like sailing alone in a boat and rowing by yourself, but praying in a temple is like sailing in a liner. So choose what is easier, what is more life-saving and what is more useful.

Not everyone is capable, like Fyodor Konyukhov, of rowing alone across the ocean in a rowing boat for a hundred days.

It often happens that when the first wave of jealousy, the grace of the Lord, has passed, people begin to cool down and look for excuses: blood pressure, hypertension, poor health, heat, stuffy in the church. We suffered something for God's sake in a place of His glorification, His gratitude and praise. God gives us life, health, sanity, this food, this sun, He gives us family, friends, jobs, so thank God. As we read in the Gospel, when people receive healings, everyone receives, but only one in ten returns. The time of worship is a time of gratitude to God. And gratitude, according to the holy fathers, is a hand extended to God for new blessings. And the gratitude of the recipient encourages the recipient to new benefits. We thank God not so that we can have more, but like children.

As the long-suffering Job said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will return to my mother earth. The Lord gave, the Lord took away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!” Saint John Chrysostom said: “Thank God for joys, and joys will multiply. Thank God for sorrows, and sorrows will pass. Thank God for everything.” Worship is the peak of gratitude. If you deprive yourself of worship, you deprive yourself of gratitude when the whole Church thanks God for the week.

On holidays dedicated to the saints, we honor those with whom we have a special prayer connection; these are the friends of God, our prayer books and intercessors. These are our spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ, those who now speak to God about us. He who honors this memory tries to be in this memory and acquires that gracious spirit that not only brings peace, but the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace and patience. Why is there no joy? Because we are not in the spirit of God, but in our own spirit. We can be in the spirit of God through prayer, through worship, through fulfilling the commandments of God.

A man has endured - he is in the spirit of God. A person has forgiven - he is in the spirit of God. A man gave - he is in the spirit of God. According to Silouan of Athos, there are two joys: human joy and God’s joy. When a person accepts, he has human joy. When a person gives, he can have divine joy. And he calls to experience this divine joy.

A well-known expression about a person: he is “in the spirit” or he is “out of spirit”, precisely because this reflects inner world person. Why is he out of sorts: he took something personally, something is not the way he would like it to be. All this is due to the fact that a person has inflated ideas about himself.

When a person is looking not for someone to serve him, but for how he can serve someone, he will always find reasons to serve. The last testamentary words of the Lord before the crucifixion: I came into this world not to be served, but to serve. And if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should also wash each other’s feet. As it is said in the Acts of the Apostles, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

The whole structure of our Christian life should keep us in spirit. Sometimes we slide down, but we get up, then we slide down again and get up again. Therefore, I call on all brothers and sisters in Christ to be zealous for the Spirit through prayer and worship. But the main thing is that there be fruits of this prayer, and its fruits are good deeds, fulfillment of the commandments, starting with family and loved ones and beyond.

Question from a TV viewer: The boss at work says that I have a square in my warehouse, but I come and see that it is a circle. He says it's a square, but my eyes say it's a circle. I’m speaking conditionally, the problem is that we just can’t find mutual understanding with him. It is unclear how to resolve this peacefully.

It is said: “Be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and reverence.” Good: management demands a report. Sit down, write a report that there was a circle, but according to such and such invoices, they were sold out. Write that I would be happy to give you a circle, but I don’t have one.

You must be able to convey and explain the situation to your superiors, and not only to him, but also to your wife, mother, grandfather, grandmother. I should have done this, but I can’t do it due to such and such circumstances. Our whole problem is that we cannot explain to each other. We must be able to explain ourselves, for this we have reasoning, language and wisdom, which we must ask from God.

Someone wise said: “Speak loudly so that you are heard, speak quietly so that they listen to you.” You should never yell, prove that you are right in anger and shouting, you must calmly and quietly explain. It is best to explain to your superiors in in writing outlining your evidence point by point. The bosses have a lot to do telephone conversations, vanity, and the piece of paper lies on the table. I read it once, read it twice, and realized that you really can’t hold five watermelons with one hand.

When you are given a lot of tasks at once, it is not clear which one to do first; it is impossible to complete them all in one day. When this is conveyed point by point to the authorities, then the boss understands that two people are needed for this position. And if a person does and says nothing, then the load can be increased. If you think that the workload is heavy and the salary is small, then show it visibly: the following tasks were completed within a week, and so many more were completed within a month. If they tell you that you are not doing a good job, then write down what issues you solved during the day.

It’s the same in the family: it happens that you are offended by your wife, but she doesn’t even know what you think, what she did wrong. Either it seems to you that you said something to her in a normal tone, but to women, as very emotional creatures, it seems that it was not in the right spirit, that the delivery was not the right one. For women, it is not what is more important, but how they are told.

Someone wise said that the truth should be presented like a coat, not like a wet rag, thrown in the face. You should always ask for wisdom, delicacy and the ability to explain yourself, to be able to negotiate. This will be necessary throughout your life. And you need to not only hear your loved ones, but also be able to listen to them. Everyone makes mistakes sometime, and there are no fish without bones. People forgive us a lot, and we must forgive people a lot.

Question from a TV viewer: I don’t have the opportunity to go to church often due to objective reasons, not out of laziness. I manage to go to confession only once every two months. What to do in such a situation?

If this is due to health problems, then act according to the possibilities that you have. If it is because of neglect and misunderstanding that we should be in church on Sunday, then that is different.

If it’s for health reasons, then when the temple is coming worship, do nothing at home except worship. For example, from 5 to 7 there is an All-Night Vigil, and at this time you will pray at home: the Psalter, Akathists to the Savior and the Mother of God, the Gospel, the Apostolic Epistles. Spend these two hours with God, and this will be your participation in a divine service in which you would like to take part, but cannot due to physical impossibility. One must be involved in the worship that is going on at this time.

As far as I know, Soyuz broadcasts services on Saturday and Sunday. And I, being in the studio of the TV channel, was expecting a question about whether the broadcast of the service could somehow replace being present in the church. For elderly people, mothers of many children, the sick and others who, for physical reasons, cannot be in church, this is participation in the worship of the Church. Although you are in front of the TV, mentally you are in the temple of God.

But in the case where we have the opportunity to be at a worship service, and we replace it with a television broadcast, this will be wrong. Therefore, while you have the opportunity to come yourself, it is better to come to the temple for a short time than to stay at home.

Thank God that there is such a comprehensive and accessible TV channel “Soyuz”, which has brought people closer to thinking about the Gospel and spiritual issues, where there are educational, historical, missionary programs, morning and evening prayers, broadcast of worship services. When a person is a beginner, he himself cannot put the correct accents, but for a start it is useful to listen to the morning and evening rules. Then a person should begin to pray on his own. Because prayer is communication with God, the breathing of the soul. Where there is no prayer, there is no life of the soul.

Elder Barsanuphius said this to one of his interlocutors:

When products: meat, fish begin to spoil, we recognize by the smell that they have spoiled. The soul is not material, it has no smell, and we cannot find out about its health or ill health by certain material signs." John Climacus says that the first sign of darkness of the mind and soul is laziness in prayer and laziness in worship. Evidence of health soul and being in the spirit is the love of prayer and the love of worship.

Therefore, we need to think about where those endless things come from that prevent us from getting up for prayer and going to church. There must be a spiritual regime, a spiritual routine and an algorithm. By the way, the Greeks, who did not experience revolutionary upheavals and, accordingly, disruptions in the continuity of spiritual life, have the following view of spiritual life: the daily routine is very important. Everything must be organized and subordinated to spiritual life.

If you know that the All-Night Vigil is at five o’clock, then do your work in advance: from morning until lunch. Since it's a day off, you can sleep for an hour during the day. IN eastern countries A nap during the day is considered a reward for getting up early. Daytime naps replace two hours of nighttime sleep. The man rested and came to the All-Night Vigil with new strength. If you got up late, ate at noon, then cleaned up until four o’clock, then you will come to the service in a completely different state. All because of the stupid distribution of time. We will try to gradually bring everything into the order established by God.

I remember the story of one priest who was transferred to another village church, and every Sunday he sees an old woman on crutches who comes to the temple from a neighboring village. When he met her, he asked if it was hard for her to go to church on crutches from another village every Sunday? And she answered:

Of course, it’s hard, but before my feet go to the temple, my heart goes there.

A person has an attitude, and everything is subordinated to him. If there is no love, no attitude, then everything is bad, everything is under control.

Someone said: there is no tailwind for those who are not sailing anywhere. Everything is born from love for God. If there is love for God, everything falls into place: both health and daily routine, everything obeys this.

We have been given heaven on earth, the air of eternity, prayer is the breath of life. We go to the House of God. Even simple human communication has benefits for a person, how much more incomparable are the benefits of meeting with God Himself.

Some say they don't understand worship. This is a separate topic. Saint Basil the Great gives an algorithm for staying in the temple. When at the All-Night Vigil we do not understand all the readings, he says that it’s not scary, because you came to the temple to the Lord, so talk with Him. He also says that prayer at home and in church should begin with doxology, then there should be confession of one’s sins and only then petitions. First, glorify the Creator, thank Him for everything, then repent of the things in which you were not worthy of your God, and when you have poured out your soul to God, then ask Him, first of all, for you to be better, for you to be a real Christian, and then ask for your wife, children, work, your everyday affairs. The algorithm is to start from the sky, then the earth comes. We think about which icon to put a candle so that we can have this and that.

The Holy Fathers say that attention is the soul of prayer. Where there is no attention, there is no soul of prayer, so we are bored and incomprehensible. We have not entered into the inner spirit; our thoughts are with news, problems, children, experiences. The Optina elders said that when you go to church, read the prayer “Come, let us worship our King God...” Who are you saying this to? Your feelings and thoughts. Let there be only one worship - Christ, the King and our God. And when entering the temple, say: “I will go into Your house, I will bow to Your Holy Temple.”

“I have asked one thing of the Lord, this I will require: that I may live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord, and that I may attend His Holy Temple,” wrote the psalmist David. These are the words that pour out from the heart and soul if a person is in the Spirit.

Therefore, I wish all of us, dear brothers and sisters, a peaceful spirit, which depends on the totality of the entire spiritual life. If we are in the Spirit of God, then we will be in faith, and in hope, and in love, and in peace and in joy. Because when we are with God, then God is with us on all the paths of our lives. Amen.

Thank you, father. With these words we will end our today's broadcast. Thank you for such an interesting conversation. Finally, bless our viewers.

Peace to you all, dear brothers and sisters.

Presenter: Sergey Yurgin.

Transcript: Yulia Podzolova.

What is grace and what does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit? 1) Divine action in general; 2) Divine action aimed at preserving and developing the world; 3) Divine action aimed at saving a person. The word “grace” itself means a good, kind gift, because only God is the source of the highest good. Can grace be called God, Divinity? In addition to the fact that the Church distinguishes between essence and persons in God, it also recognizes the reality of the manifestation of God’s essence. In principle, any entity manifests itself in one form or another: by definition, there is no unmanifestable entity, because the very existence of an entity is already its manifestation. And of course, the essence of Him who is (Ex. 3:14) is constantly manifested in the most precise and exclusive meaning of this word. The manifestation of the essence of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is called Orthodox Dogmatics Divine energy or Divine action. Due to the fact that Divine energy is inseparable from essence, and essence is inseparable from its manifestation or energy, it is called God. Likewise, the manifestation or action of the nature of fire - the incandescent, radiant movement of gases, contemplated in the form of tongues - we call not only combustion, but also fire. Just as by touching fire, we become involved not in its essence, but in its action (it is the action that burns), so participation in the Divine manifestation or energy, participation in grace, is participation in God Himself. In this regard, the grace of God is often referred to as and third person Holy Trinity- The Holy Spirit, although it can be designated by a more detailed expression: the grace of the Holy Spirit or the grace of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is called the Holy Spirit because Divine action always flows from the Father through the Son and is manifested in the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit? The acquisition of the Holy Spirit is the acquisition of God's grace. Acquisition does not mean accumulation in the same way as material or even intangible values, such as work skills or knowledge, are accumulated. Acquisition of grace means something else. As a person undergoes spiritual and moral transformation, which is accomplished only with the assistance of God, a person not only becomes better and more perfect; he becomes like God and becomes spiritually closer to Him. The higher the degree of similarity and unity between man and God, the brighter God’s grace manifests itself and shines more expressively in him. Actually, this entire grace-filled saving process is called the acquisition of grace or sanctification, deification (see: Synergy; Deification). How should one approach the provision of teaching grace through sacred objects, shrines, such as icons and relics of God's saints? The descent of grace can be carried out by God both directly and through representatives or objects of the created world. In cases of sending down grace through holy icons and relics, they serve as a means of communication with God and His saints (see: Icon; Relics of saints). Unlike magical means, where the emphasis is on rituals and spells, the grace of God does not act mechanically, but is taught to a person according to his faith. The ability to perceive grace depends on internal state a person, from his heartfelt attitude. In this regard, prayer is understood by the holy fathers not as if by praying, a person bows to God, but in such a way that by praying, he himself rises and opens up to interact with Him. When praying in front of an icon or relics, it is easier for the pilgrim to tune in to conversion, easier concentrate and lift up your spirit (mind and heart) to that prototype whose image is captured on the icon, or to that saint whose relics he wants to fall. By entering into a prayerful relationship with saints, we ask them for intercession before the Creator, and He responds - to the extent necessary for the benefit of the one praying - with His blessing (action). It is wrong to believe that orthodox icons or holy relics are independent sources of God's grace, God's energies. This attitude is akin to the attitude of pagans towards talismans and amulets, and should be recognized as alien to the Christian consciousness.***According to the teaching of the Church, grace is a supernatural gift of God to man. “All gifts of grace are found on those who are worthy beyond nature,” says St. Mark of Ephesus - and they are different in comparison with the natural gifts that are in us and formed as a result of our efforts. And also, every life of those who live according to God is different in comparison with natural life, being spiritual and God-like.” Divine grace is uncreated, unborn and personal (hypostatic). IN Holy Scripture it is often called strength (“...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you” (Acts 1:8), “... the Lord said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”” (2 Cor. .12:9)).The Holy Fathers call grace “rays of the Divine”, “Divine glory”, “uncreated light”... All three Persons of the Holy Trinity possess the action of Divine grace. “The action of an uncreated essence,” writes St. Cyril of Alexandria, “is something common, although it is characteristic of each Person.” St. Irenaeus of Lyons, reflecting on the economic manifestation of the Holy Trinity, notes that grace comes from the Father and is communicated through the Son in the Holy Spirit. According to St. Gregory Palamas, grace is “the general energy and Divine power and action of the Trinitarian God.” The action of Divine grace opens up the possibility of knowing God. “...Without grace, our mind cannot know God,” teaches St. Silouan of Athos, “...each of us can talk about God to the extent that he has known the grace of the Holy Spirit.” The action of Divine grace gives a person the opportunity to fulfill the commandments, salvation and spiritual transformation . “Acting within himself and around himself, a Christian brings his entire personality into his exploits, but he does this, and can do it successfully, only with the continuous assistance of Divine power - grace,” teaches St. Justin Popovich. “There is no thought that a Christian can think in an evangelical way, there is no feeling that he can feel in an evangelical way, there is no deed that he can do in an evangelical way without the gracious help of God.” The action of Divine grace imparts to man the invaluable gift of union with God - deification. In this state of grace, a person, according to the word of St. Macarius the Great, becomes like Christ and becomes higher than the first Adam. The action of Divine grace is carried out in cooperation (in synergy) with the free will of man. “Theanthropic synergism is a significant difference between Christian activity in the world. Here man will work with God and God will work with man,” explains St. Justin Popovich. -... Man, for his part, expresses his will, and God expresses grace; from their joint action a Christian personality is created.” According to the teachings of St. Macarius the Great, when creating a new person, grace acts mysteriously and gradually. Grace tests human will, whether he retains complete love for God, noticing in him agreement with his actions. If in a spiritual feat the soul turns out to be well-skilled, without grieving or offending grace in any way, then it penetrates “to its deepest compositions and thoughts” until the whole soul is embraced by grace. The concept of “The Grace of God” in the Holy Scriptures The word “grace” is very often used found in the Holy Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, and is used in various senses: a) sometimes means favor, favor, favor, mercy (Gen. 6:8; Eccl. 9:11; Esther 2:15, 8 :5); b) sometimes a gift, a good, every good, every gift that God bestows on His creatures, without any merit on their part (1 Pet. 5:10; Rom. 11:6; Zech. 12:10), and natural gifts, with which the whole earth is filled (Ps. 83:12, 146:8-9; Acts 14:15-17, 17:25; James 1:17) and the supernatural, extraordinary gifts of God that are given by God to various members of the church (1 Cor.12:4-11; Rom.12:6; Eph.4:7-8); c) sometimes means the whole great work of our redemption and salvation, accomplished by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” “When the grace and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Tit. 2:11, 3:4-5); d) but actually grace is the saving power of God, which, communicated to us through the merits of Jesus Christ for our sanctification and salvation, revives us into spiritual life and, confirming and perfecting, completes our sanctification and salvation. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Do not get carried away by different and alien teachings; For it is good to strengthen the hearts with grace, and not with foods from which those who indulge in them do not benefit (Heb. 13:8-9).

July 19, 1754 (or 1759), Kursk - January 2, 1833, Sarov Monastery) - hieromonk of the Sarov Monastery, founder and patron of the Diveyevo convent. Glorified Russian Church in 1903 in the rank of venerables on the initiative of Tsar Nicholas II.
Today we are publishing an excerpt from the sermon of a doctor of theology, church historian, protopresbyter about, delivered at the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow at Vespers on the Week before Epiphany (January 15, 1978).

Dear brothers and sisters! ... churching, this sanctification, this Christianization of the entire life of a given culture, a given society, a given country, people and state, never succeeds if it is not associated with transformation, change, sanctification, churching, Christianization of each individual human personality, each individual person.

This is the tragedy of historical Christianity, in that it proclaimed high social ideals - the creation of an ideal Christian society, an ideal Christian culture - and at the same time failed to transform, educate, Christianize every single Christian.

And therefore, Christianity as a social force that forms all of humanity into a single holy Christian ideal society and culture, in essence, failed. And it tragically failed. For it failed to combine, to unite two elements: the social ideal and personal holiness. It has always been like this with us: either people personally tried to be saints, to live a holy life pleasing to God, and then they left public ideals, or people indulged in the public ideal and then forgot about personal holiness. But here is an example of such a church call, Christ’s call to personal holiness in the name of public ideals, to personal holiness, which is a necessary condition every Christian success in public work is...

Here he was an amazing saint, a saint whom it is difficult to even imagine, difficult to even describe to others, because he, having gone through the entire feat of monastic work, all types of monastic hermitage - pillarism, seclusion, all types of Christian sublime perfect aspiration towards God, and then - clergy , when he was open to advice, to influence people, having gone through all this, all his life he was surprisingly even, surprisingly the same, despite the variety of his exploits. He was always unusually kind, unusually affectionate, unusually joyful, unusually cheerful. This is amazing! With everyone with whom he spoke, to whom he addressed, he had no other words than “my joy”: “Christ is risen, my joy!” He said to everyone: “Get tenderness” and prayed before the icon of the Mother of God, which is called “Tenderness.” What is tenderness? Tenderness, dear brothers and sisters, is a feeling that, unfortunately, we rarely have. Joy happens often, joy happens often, and tenderness... Tenderness is the ability to rejoice, rejoice, the ability to be in an unusually good mood when there is no reason for this. A person rejoices when he has reasons to be happy, a person is happy when something funny happens. And tenderness is an ability, this is a feature of the soul, when a person is constantly rejoicing, constantly blessed, constantly, as if in an Easter mood, then when there is no reason, when there are no visible reasons for this, when, on the contrary, everything visible reasons and the circumstances of life contradict this, pushing towards grief, despair, crying, irritation, anger - but a person is capable of being moved.

This is the amazing ability of St. Seraphim. And it was not for nothing that he prayed in front of the “Tenderness” icon and always told everyone, often repeated: “My joy, gain, i.e. gain, tenderness." Or he also said: “Acquire a peaceful spirit, acquire tenderness, and thousands around you will be saved.” Because tenderness, this peaceful spirit, this joyful perception of even misfortune, even pain, even ugliness, even evil - it affects others, as if communicated to others.

I would like, dear brothers and sisters, to read to you one section from the memoirs of St. Seraphim, read it own words, because if I tell you, then many of you will doubt how correctly I reproduced them. For this will sound very unusual, but meanwhile, this is St. Seraphim spoke. He said: “Joy is not a sin; it drives away fatigue. But fatigue can cause despondency. A worse than despondency there is nothing. It brings everything with it, despondency. So, when I entered the monastery, I also visited the choir, and I was so cheerful, my joy.” It was cheerful in the choir, in the monastery! “It used to happen that when I came to the choir, the brethren would get tired, well, despondency and attack them. And I amuse them, they don’t even feel tired. After all, it’s not good to say or do something bad. But in the temple of God it is not proper to do evil. But to say a kind, friendly, cheerful word, so that everyone’s spirit in the face of the Lord is always cheerful and not sad, is not at all a sin. There is no way for us to lose heart, because Christ conquered everything, raised Adam, freed Eve, put death to death!”

These are amazing words, dear brothers and sisters, words that show that St. Seraphim had this early Christian spirit of joy, constant joy, constant tenderness, constant affection. That is why he called on everyone to acquire this tenderness, to acquire, to acquire this joy, because this acquires the most important thing, as he said - the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. Here, I will read you his own words: “Prayer, fasting, vigil and all other Christian deeds, no matter how good they are in themselves, however, doing them is not the goal of our Christian life, although they serve as necessary means for achieving it . The true goal of our Christian life is to acquire the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. Good done for the sake of Christ not only gives truth in the life of the next century, but also in this life fills a person with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

Dear brothers and sisters, this is the ideal, this ultimate goal put forward by St. Seraphim before every Christian, before every person. Joy, affection, tranquility, spirituality, tenderness, cheerfulness - in order to acquire the Holy Spirit. And at the same time, he said, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit is not there, in heaven, where it will be complete, but it begins here on earth. He called people to transformation already here on earth, to a transformation that begins in the life of every person through the power and action of the Holy Spirit. That theosis, that deification, which, according to the teachings of the ancient Eastern fathers and teachers of the church, is the goal, the final result of every person, of every human holiness, likeness to God - it already begins here, it must begin already in the life of every person.

And we know how this manifested itself in St. Seraphim. We have records of Motovilov, a man who communicated with St. Seraphim for many years and was healed by him, an intelligent man who knows spiritual life, who wrote down these experiences word for word, for certain. And Motovilov wrote down for us how he went with St. Seraphim is this path of acquiring the Holy Spirit. He did not understand what it meant – “acquiring the Holy Spirit”, how it manifested itself. And then St. Seraphim showed him - he took him by the shoulders and said: “What are you feeling now? We are already with you in the Holy Spirit!” And Motovilov looked at the face of the saint. Seraphim - and it glows unusually. And Seraphim asks: “What do you see with me?” - “I see such a light that I cannot bear.” Asks Rev. Seraphim: “What are you feeling now?” (And this was in winter, there was deep snow and frost, they were in the forest). “I feel,” he says, “extraordinary tranquility, extraordinary peace, silence and joy in my soul.” And then St. Seraphim asks: “What else do you feel?” And Motovilov here describes all those feelings of transformation that were experienced by him, a man like us, but ascended, thanks to St. Seraphim, by the action of the Holy Spirit to this degree of deification, to this theosis, to this acquisition of the Holy Spirit. And he describes that he felt an inexpressible sweetness, an inexpressible joy, an incredible warmth. Then Seraphim said: “Well, how do you feel the warmth? After all, there is snow and frost all around, and the snow that falls from the sky does not melt on us.” "Yes, but I feel like I'm in a bathhouse." Seraphim says: “So, this is the internal acquisition of the Holy Spirit, this is the Kingdom of God among us.” “Well, what smell do you smell, like in a bathhouse?” “No, I have never smelled such a smell in my life. It fills me with extraordinary joy and pleasure.” “This is,” he said, “the feeling of acquiring the Holy Spirit.”

Dear brothers and sisters! This, of course, is an extraordinary experience, perhaps an exceptional experience, which St. Seraphim showed Motovilov what it means to acquire the Holy Spirit. But this is what is the goal of each of us: through internal transformation to achieve this acquisition of the Holy Spirit.

Orthodox community, No. 55, 2000