When they asked me why I decided to go to the Russian Elder Veniamin’s cell, and how I got to this point, I answered that I was simply tired of wandering around the Holy Mountain as an orphan*. Anyone who has wandered around the mountain for at least a year will understand what I am talking about.
Of course, the orphans support themselves with the proud thought that they are the toughest, strongest Svyatogorsk ascetics, but in reality, they are ordinary vagabonds. What kind of asceticism there! When you sleep haphazardly, pray haphazardly, and eat haphazardly, your asceticism is purely nominal and your soul becomes polluted with all sorts of nonsense.
Perhaps, as a stage in spiritual formation, orphanage is healthy, but, as I learned from my own experience, wandering around Mount Athos for more than a year is not healthy for the soul.
Then, realizing the destructiveness of “spiritual vagrancy,” I went to Father Benjamin. He was, as everyone knew, of course, an intelligent, but extremely wild, in terms of communication, person. Insulting someone was a piece of cake for him. It seemed that Father Veniamin did not even have any mental hesitations on this score. He insulted as naturally as he breathed.
Staying with him for a month was an honor for any orphan, but I’ve already lived with him for a whole year. Everyone was surprised and asked me to tell how I managed it. I didn’t hide anything and answered that I was staying with him because I thought that my elder is a holy monk. Everyone laughed and still laughs at my words as if they were a good Svyatogorsk joke. But the truth is, I really think so.
&mnsp;
The realization of this came to me after one incident, which I want to describe to you.
On that significant day, or rather, on a warm May night, when this event happened, Father Benjamin unexpectedly raised me to prayer:
- Wake up, you slacker! You such a parasite, a loafer and a blockhead of the King of Heaven, don’t you know that we monastics should pray to God more at night than during the day. And work during the day, and not be lazy. Work, you know?!
I, hiding my growing irritation in waves, stood up and combed my tangled hair:
- I'm coming! I'm coming! - I answered the elder’s rude shouts.
He had had similar “attacks of asceticism” before, when he was overcome by a passion to become like himself Joseph the Hesychast "lessons of humility" **. To give you a simple idea of this difficult technique, I will only say that the number of insults inflicted on the novice these days increased significantly, which, given the lack of sleep and strict fasting without [vegetable] oil**, was very painful for my soul. The only consolation in those sorrowful days was that this pious aspiration usually passed in Father Benjamin in a week, or even less.
That night, after my painful awakening, we went to the temple, and the elder gave an exclamation for the Midnight Office. In a hoarse baritone I began to read the kathisma:
– Blessed are the blameless in their journey, who walk in the law of the Lord...
- Oh, Kolya. Quiet! Quiet! – The elder came out of the altar wearing an epitrachelion and cuffs. He looked very strange. His burning eyes immediately awakened my old smoldering doubts about the adequacy and mental health of my elder.
- Listen, Kolya! Shh! – he raised a calloused finger to his lips, showing that now, with all his might, one should remain silent and even breathe as quietly as possible.
- A? How do you feel about this?! A? What, do you hear?
I, tense as a string, listened to the silence of the night, but could not make out anything - only the wind and the croaking of a lonely frog. Shaking my head, I noted cautiously. - Geronta, everything is quiet.
- What?! “He blushed with anger, but, contrary to his custom, this time he did not burst into insults.
“Listen better, deaf aunt, can’t you hear her?” Pay attention, hold your breath, oh, I haven't heard these for a long time demonic rituals.
I again listened to the silence of the night and blushed with fear. Now it dawned on me that the elder meant the croaking of some kind of frog.
- Eh! Tomorrow morning, I’ll go up the mountain again. It’s better to be a wanderer than to live next to a madman,” I thought, and I timidly looked at the old man: “Father Benjamin, do you mean... a frog?”
- What?! Did you say frog?!
For a moment it seemed to me that the elder would hit me.
- This is not a frog, understand? It's the devil himself!
- Wow, that's enough! – My thoughts sprouted on my face into a bewildered and, for fear of the Jews***, servile grimace. - I, frightened by the sudden, unpredictable madness of the elder, wanted to leave the cell immediately, but then I decided to wait until morning and only then return to the ranks of the Athonite orphans.
- Frog! What do you even know about this?
The elder suddenly became extremely serious. – This is the first enemy of my prayer. I have been in this cell for fifteen years. And on that first night, when I, still alone, began my work as a hermit, the devil appeared to tempt me in the form of this, as you put it, frog. As soon as I focused on the words of the psalmist, she began to sing her demonic hymns.
- ABOUT! If only you knew about my pain, my dear novice.
This is the real fiend of hell,
child of satan,
antichrist cat,
green death,
prayer strangler,
cunning jumping beast,
guardian of the ruins,
preacher of iniquity,
servant of thieves,
friend of the night demons,
patron of fornicators,
container of poison,
ugliness incarnate
heir of darkness,
spawning, bug-eyed, croaking night.
The elder narrowed his eyes contemptuously: “I can blaspheme her all night without stopping.” Cursing her, I don’t get tired, but on the contrary, I gain strength.
So you're saying it's just a frog? No, Kolya, this is not a simple amphibian. Not a creature of God. This is not a reptile moving in the waters, this is the serpent himself, he was created to swear at him ****. This is a night demon, which is molded by the devil from the remains of his burnt wings, especially to tempt monks in order to knock them out of prayer.
ABOUT! Swamp kikimora,
widow of the devil,
the mermaid's grandmother, luring travelers into a whirlpool,
death predictor,
night stargazer,
nightingale of the false prophet,
devotee of demonic cults,
a creature of passion,
something in which there is not a drop of good,
darkness, without a grain of light,
image of hell,
cerberus of tartarus,
from it flow rivers of evil.
Frog!
I did not know how to respond to the elder’s rhetorical denunciations.
And he, meanwhile, did not calm down, and became increasingly inflamed with anger.
-Have you ever seen this frog? This is the very real prototype of meanness and ugliness. Her whole vile, disgusting appearance speaks of the presence in the world of a hostile spiritual force, preventing the formation of world harmony.
I assessed the situation. On the one hand, it was not bad that the elder’s anger went towards the dumb creature, past me. On the other hand, it’s scary to live with a person who considers a small swamp creature to be a great monster.
- Got it, Father Benjamin! But what should I call her then?
– It! Nothing other than it!
- It?
- Yes Yes! – It!
- The horror of the hermits,
the poisonous breath of the evil one!
It is the cruelest temptation
king among tempters,
rusty prayers,
cat of the Antichrist.
Ah, I have already used this epithet... The old man scratched his gray beard and continued: - It is self-expression,
the embodiment of the devil himself,
curse of nature,
it…
– Is this possible?! - I cried out, unable to bear such an attitude towards some frog: - This is la... - It’s just a beast, a pathetic senseless amphibian! Is it possible to hate him? Forgive me, Geronta, you can kick me out, your right, but I will say my word: to think and think like that is simply blasphemy!
- Blasphemy? “The elder suddenly smiled: “It has taken over you, my son, how can I drive you out now that you are captivated by darkness?” Ha ha ha! “The elder laughed loudly and even, I would say, demonstratively: “It has been stealing my prayer for more than fifteen years!” I'm not even talking about spiritual peace and concentration of spirit, psalmody and silence. Why do you think I changed silence to “lessons of humility”**?
– Is it really because of... him?
Father Benjamin smiled a wide smile, which I saw from him for the first time, and firmly, with both hands, took me by the shoulders: “Take a flashlight and a hoe, the one with which we weed zucchini, my brave warrior of Christ.” It's high time to end this! Let's strike the darkness! We will destroy it!
- Shall we destroy?
- Yes! Yes! I made many attempts to find this monster, but it always eluded me. But now, my aching heart feels that together with you, my glorious ascetic, we will find and destroy the thief who is plundering the peace of our cell. Forward, Nikolai, servant of God. And may God help us!
In the last words of Father Veniamin there were so many flattering comparisons that the elder had not rewarded me with during the entire time of our acquaintance, that I immediately melted, like January snow, which occasionally falls in Greece*****. I found a flashlight and a hoe to destroy the “first enemy of prayer” and went out to the elder, who was already collected and fit as never before.
- Let's go! Create to yourself Jesus Prayer******, Understood?
I confidently shook my head in agreement, but hesitantly shook the hoe in my hands:
- Yes, father, but I don’t know if I can kill this animal?
- Animal?
- Yes.
– Father Benjamin thought seriously. - Whether it is a devilish vessel or an independent force... an animal, I will still destroy it. It's disgusting, one way or another!
- Yes, but...
- No buts! Go straight to her devilish singing, but don't miss the prayer, do you hear? The main thing is to discover it, and I myself will make sure that it is silent forever. Don't miss the prayer, do you hear?
- I understand, Geronta.
We left the cell and, stealthily, followed the croaking of the poor frog. I read a prayer to myself, feeling sorry for my old man, who was inflamed with hatred for some poor frog. However, I have not yet understood what he means - a specific creature, or frogs as a species?
- If he thinks that the devil is depriving him of prayer through the croaking of a frog, then there was no longer any point in staying in this cell. Just look, the elder will force all the frogs in the area to be beaten, and the area near the cell was quite damp.
- If he is looking for some mythical creature, such as a dragon, unicorn, leviathan or basilisk, then perhaps, having killed one frog, he will decide that he has struck the devil himself and will calm down for a long time.
- Shh! - Father Veniamin, taking exceptional precautions, made his way to the thorny bush (we had not turned on the flashlights yet, so as not to frighten off the amphibian).
“Kolya,” he said in a barely audible whisper, “come in on the left, it’s here.” As soon as I turn on the flashlight, turn on yours too. The main thing is not to miss the monster. Maximum attention, Kolya, I rely on you. I come from the center and hit her in the forehead.
He took the hoe from me, and we slowly began to surround the wah.
Finally, like some kind of calm before the storm, there was complete silence, in which the solo of the poor green frog sounded loudly.
With a shudder of heart, I imagined how the old man was hitting the small defenseless creature with a hoe for weeding zucchini, and I shook nervously. Killing the frog, which would free the old man's sick spirit, would be a bloody stain on my conscience. Can I, without damaging my own soul, indulge the monstrous whims of the old man? This long pause, before the supposed death of the frog, was for me the moment of truth. After hesitating for a few seconds, I sharply turned on the flashlight and hissed, wanting to scare away the beast and thereby save its pitiful life, and my conscience from demonic reproach: “Kshsh, kshsh!”
- The old man screamed: - Madman, what are you doing?! What darkness, God help you!
He also turned on his flashlight and aimed it at the thorn bushes. A beam of light illuminated a large boulder, on which, as if nothing had happened, a large green frog was sitting. The creature didn’t even think about running away anywhere. The frog, as if not noticing our presence, continued to croak, inflating a green bubble on its neck. Her front legs were crossed together and her back legs were relaxed rather than tense for a jump. The size of the amphibian was approximately half the size of the palm of the old man, who was already bent over the animal predatorily, raising his large hand over it in order to swat the poor fellow.
Father Benjamin, come to your senses! What are you doing? “I turned pleadingly to the elder: “Don’t be crazy, remember your calling and rank.” Don't disgrace your schema. How can you harbor such great malice towards this dumb creature?
- Ha-ha-ha! – The elder threw back his head and laughed again with a booming, thick laugh. Now he looked like a seduced monk who had not long ago been removed from the Holy Mountain. That monk also laughed madly and claimed that he had begged Judas out of hell. Is my poor old man also in delusion? Everything pointed to that...
The old monk, having laughed a lot, looked at me affectionately. - Do you see, Kolya? It’s not even afraid of us,” Father Benjamin pointed his finger towards the imperturbable creature: “Have you ever seen frogs behave like this?” Nikolai, finally see the light - it is not afraid of us at all. Not a bit! It doesn't believe that we can destroy it.
- Actually, - it was really strange, - "the first enemy of prayer" croaked in concentration, completely unaware of our aggressive presence, as if the frog had absolutely no instinct of self-preservation inherent in every earthly creature.
But perhaps “it” was simply in a state of shock caused by our unexpected appearance and the abundance of light in the night.
– Father Benjamin, the animal was just scared of us and nothing more. Even I am afraid of you now.
- My son! If it were afraid of us, it would not croak so calmly, with such contempt, as if we did not exist at all,” and the old man raised the hoe over the frog.
“But I will stop these devilish litanies, once and for all.”
- ABOUT! I beg you, stop this madness.
The old man, who thought that I was the crazy one here, just smiled and shook his hoe, like a good hockey player with a stick. He's about to start screaming now. - Goal!
But the elder continued in his own style: “Oh, the breeding ground of evil, the demon hiding under the mask of innocence!” You can mislead the whole world, but not me. From the depths of my soul I will strike your image! Damn the devil and his green image! Take it, you beast!
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the murder of an innocent creature, and became firmly convinced of the idea of leaving the cell immediately, without waiting for the morning.
... And then, when our hunt was almost over, something happened that was so contrary to common sense that it unsettled both the elder and myself equally, and forced us to stand for more than a minute in complete silence with our mouths open.
The frog, a moment before the crushing blow of the hoe, croaked in a clear, human, so to speak, voice:
– Hallelujah
!
I, of course, read in the patericon ( lives of saints) something similar, but I didn’t think, it’s so simple - hear it yourself.
If I were alone, I would have thought that this was an auditory hallucination from lack of sleep and poor nutrition, and, most of all, from mental fatigue caused by the constant attacks and insults of the elder - but Father Benjamin was also in amazement, almost more than that, than myself.
The frog, meanwhile, returned to its rank of amphibians and, quickly pushing off the boulder with its hind legs, disappeared into the bushes.
A minute later, having come to his senses, the stunned old man looked at me mournfully:
- How crazy, it turns out I’m an old man, Nikolai! After all, it is written in scripture: "Let every breath praise the Lord"
!
It seemed that he was about to cry from the grief that filled his heart.
“It simply glorified its Creator, and I was angry with him.” It…
“She is a sinless creature of God, and the devil taught me for so many years to hate her.” For fifteen years I thought I was serving and praying to God, but she was the one praying... the frog.
Father Benjamin grabbed his head with his hands and slowly sank onto this boulder.
It was the first time I saw him like this. He was inconsolable and would have sat like that on the boulder for an indefinitely long time if I had not taken him by the arms and taken him to his cell.
After this incident, the elder greatly humbled himself. Of course, I still got it from him regularly and a lot, but there were much fewer insults than before, and for the harshest words, Father Benjamin, when he recovered from his anger, even asked me for forgiveness. He gave his blessing, for the time being, not to tell anyone about this incident, and I have remained silent until now.
True, he also developed another extreme, which, of course, did not cause as much harm as the first (hatred of the frog) - now Father Benjamin began to check the time of our prayer with its croaking...If, as has been the custom since the good old times, most of the monasteries and cells of the Holy Mountain lived according to Byzantine time, and the monks began Compline at sunset, then we checked our time with the croaking of a frog - instead of the sun. The only difference was that she woke us up for Midnight Office and not for Compline. If, on some day, the amphibian was silent for some reason, we began the midnight office only at dawn.
The old man, as if by his unusual behavior, asked the frog for forgiveness for his many years of inveterate anger and, naturally, cut off his will in front of her, as in front of his old man.
Of course, I laughed internally at Father Benjamin’s eccentricities, but, to be honest, I was surprised by his sincerity, both in hatred and in repentance. For this alone I loved and respected my elder.
When he considered her, the frog, a vessel of hatred, there was nothing stronger than his anger. When did he receive his sight and understand that - Let every breath praise the Lord , Father Benjamin began to sincerely try to make amends for his guilt, without fear that he would be considered a madman.
I myself, of course, not only thanked God for such admonition, but from that day on I looked more carefully at my feet, so as not to inadvertently step on some creature of God...
* Siromakh, Siromahi - in Russian "beggar wanderers". In contrast to the “homeless” tramps, they are inspired by the religious idea of becoming like Christ, who did not have “where to lay his head” on earth. Therefore, among them there are real holy fools. Others, still retaining some religious overtones, gradually become ordinary vagabonds, living one day at a time: where to sleep today and what God will send them to eat physically. However, this kind of life also has merits, if only the orphan vagabond does not fall into pride and exaltation, but has a humble disposition.
Around the 3rd-5th century, I don’t remember exactly, this way of life was extremely common in Syria. They were called "waxes", lived in deserts, and loved Christ very much. (Pilgrim’s note, and so on)
** become like yourself Joseph the Hesychast. Then he introduced his rules in his cell, except for silence. It was replaced by the spiritual technique of Father Benjamin himself, who called it "lessons of humility" - And the Great Elder Joseph the Hesychast practiced constant insults to his novices, dissolved, however, by great love. His spiritual son, the now deceased Elder Joseph, wrote about this in his book "Elder Joseph the Hesychast".
** strict fasting without [vegetable] oil - All Holy Mountain residents strictly observe the charter of the Orthodox Church, which prescribes abstaining from vegetable oil on fasting days. In this case, apparently, the fast extended to other days (as Elder Joseph the Hesychast recommended, so that all days should be the same and not distract from prayer - read the deepest book of his letters, useful to everyone: "Exposition of Monastic Experience").
*** fear for the sake of the Jews - A phrase from the Gospel that has become a proverb. This refers to the fear of the disciples of Christ - persecution from the Jews, who eventually captured their Teacher and God. The disciples hid in every possible way that they were related to Jesus, and the Apostle Peter even betrayed Christ by renunciation. So the original “worthy” meaning of “courageous” fear shifted towards cowardice-fear, which made this phrase very capacious, multifaceted and vital.
****"This serpent, whom you also created, curse him". (Ps.103.26) - The serpent (Satan) was not produced for anything else, but solely so that swear to him (Commentaries on the Psalms of St. Athanasius the Great).
***** snow, which occasionally falls in Greece - I even heard the Greek saying "The snow has fallen and is not melting"(they say - “a miracle of miracles”). On Mount Athos, above an altitude of 500 - 700 m, the snow lies (and does not melt) from the end of December to February - about two months.
****** Jesus Prayer - “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us”, “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me”, “Kyrie, Jesus Christ, eleison imas”, “Kyrie, Jesus Christ, eleisonme” - the most common short forms of the Jesus Prayer among monks. The full forms of the Jesus Prayer are, for example, the following: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” “Kyrie, Jesus Christ, ye tu Feu, eleison ke soson imas” (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy and save us).
Stanislav Leonidovich Senkin, story “The First Enemy of Prayer” from the second collection of Athonite stories "Repentance of Agasfer", Moscow, 2008“Lessons in Humility” of the Rule of Joseph the Hesychast - Let every breath praise the Lord!
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21.01.11 Fri 18:24 - `Iva Kosteva`
Great! you start reading and
Great! you start reading and it’s already impossible to put it down! There is so much humor and at the same time tragedy behind the events described that even if you laugh, your heart clench with compassion... (not for the frog))), but for life and the acceptance of such feats. I I really, really liked this story! Write more! Write!
Questions and answers for the month
- 17864 He needed me to believe him.
7 hours 48 minutes back - 17864 Even reading this is scary...
10 hours 17 minutes back - 17863
1 day 7 hours ago - 17864 Hello! Yes, I had to meet real demoniacs through whom the demon spoke to me.
1 day 7 hours ago - 17567 You are confused
1 day 15 hours ago - 17864 Possessed
1 day 16 hours ago - 17863 Hello, I have been suffering for 4 years
2 days 7 hours ago - 17862 Who supplies you with this? Religious organization or retail outlet?
2 days 17 hours ago - 17859 As food or as medicine?
2 days 17 hours ago - 17862 image of God
3 days 8 hours ago - 17859 Good time to you!
3 days 12 hours ago - 17856 This is not decided on the Internet, but at Confession.
3 days 21 hours ago - 17858 I need to go to Confession.
3 days 21 hours ago - 17857 I would go and sit at the table, and when they start dancing, I would leave behind a plausible reason.
3 days 21 hours ago - 17858 Drunken oath
4 days 1 hour ago - 17857 Birthday.
4 days 1 hour ago - 17857 Hello. I have one like this
4 days 8 hours ago - 17847 Weakness
4 days 8 hours ago - 17856 Good day. I have
4 days 10 hours ago - 17855
4 days 11 hours ago - 17854 You still have to decide about your profession.
4 days 11 hours ago - 17853 Not a sin.
4 days 11 hours ago - 17848 Asking for God's blessing on you, I will try to answer.
4 days 11 hours ago - 17852 Is he there? Better look for them in your heart.
4 days 11 hours ago - 17850 In different ways and in different ways.
4 days 11 hours ago - 17855 How to pray correctly?
4 days 13 hours ago - 17847 Weakness
4 days 19 hours ago - 17847 Dear child!
4 days 23 hours ago - 17854 Question
5 days 6 hours ago - 17853 Hello
5 days 15 hours ago - 17852 Complete list of sins
5 days 15 hours ago - 17850 The Lord will ask later
5 days 21 hours ago - 17849 Definitely not on earth, but I haven’t been to heaven yet.
6 days 7 hours ago - 17851 Yes
6 days 7 hours ago - 17850 What are you all about, priest, priest?
6 days 7 hours ago - 17851 Is it possible to sign
6 days 10 hours ago - 17842 Save your soul.
6 days 17 hours ago - 17850 For good advice.
6 days 17 hours ago - 17849 Where is heaven? On the ground
1 week 6 hours ago - 17848 events in the world
1 week 15 hours ago - 17846 Thank you very much, I was already scared of magic
1 week 17 hours ago - 17847 Stubborn children
1 week 20 hours ago - 17846 There is only one family. There is nothing surprising.
1 week 20 hours ago - 17845 Why do you ask?
1 week 20 hours ago - 17844 You just need to build your life on earth with God.
1 week 21 hours ago - 17843 We must go to Confession.
1 week 21 hours ago - 17842 Ignore it.
1 week 21 hours ago - 17841 In the nearest Orthodox church.
1 week 21 hours ago - 17834 But, first of all, try to change yourself.
1 week 21 hours ago - 17846 Hello, tell me what to do
1 week 1 day ago - 17845 It's unclear to me
1 week 1 day ago - 17844 Loser
1 week 1 day ago - 17843 Hello. My name is
1 week 2 days ago - 17840 Dreams and Hatred
1 week 2 days ago - 17842 Hello, please help!
1 week 2 days ago - 17841 So in Krasnodar where I can conduct a secret. Confessions
1 week 2 days ago - 17840 Hello!
1 week 3 days ago - 17835 Thank you very much!
1 week 3 days ago - 17834 Thank you very much for this
1 week 3 days ago - 17838 Communion.
1 week 3 days ago - 17838 Well, not quite so “come and take it.”
1 week 3 days ago - 17826 Say this at Confession.
1 week 3 days ago - 17837 Yes, the situation.
1 week 3 days ago - 17838 God bless you!
1 week 3 days ago - 17839 Go to Confession. “You’ll spread the straws.”
1 week 3 days ago - 17838 This is the trend of our time.
1 week 3 days ago - 17836 Because he is still learning.
1 week 3 days ago - 17835 Call it as it is, and if clarification is needed, the priest will ask about it.
1 week 3 days ago - 17834 You know, we always have three ways out of every situation.
1 week 3 days ago - 17839 wish for bad luck
1 week 3 days ago - 17836 Fallen Spirits
1 week 4 days ago - 17838 Communion
1 week 4 days ago - 17838 Is this possible???
1 week 4 days ago - 17837 Honoring parents
1 week 5 days ago - 17836 people
1 week 6 days ago - 17835 Hello, sorry for the question!
1 week 6 days ago - 17826 I’m embarrassed to talk to all people in general
1 week 6 days ago - 17834 The marriage is falling apart.
1 week 6 days ago - 17831 For the glory of God!
2 weeks 6 hours ago - Thanks to Elena Kleshchenko for ascorbic acid
2 weeks 7 hours ago - 17828 And there is such a concept as “God the Father”
2 weeks 10 hours ago - 17827 Did you want to leave captivity just like that? But who will let you go?
2 weeks 10 hours ago - 17826 You are right to be afraid.
2 weeks 10 hours ago - 17825 Asceticism is actually training.
2 weeks 10 hours ago - 17824 Fornication and watching fornication videos are two different things.
2 weeks 10 hours ago - 17829 What is a wake?
2 weeks 11 hours ago - 17831 Thanks for the advice!
2 weeks 11 hours ago - 17830 Do you know what chastity is? And why is family life called marriage?
2 weeks 11 hours ago - 17831 Don’t you know this one: “Lord, have mercy!”
2 weeks 11 hours ago - 17832 What I don’t know is how to return your beloved to you.
2 weeks 11 hours ago - 17833 Well, what are you doing? God will forgive!
2 weeks 11 hours ago - 17833 Hello, father! Help
2 weeks 17 hours ago - 17832 Relationships
2 weeks 17 hours ago - We are going to Athos from August 10 to 30, 2020
2 weeks 1 day ago - 17831 Driving
2 weeks 1 day ago - 17830 Hello! God bless you
2 weeks 1 day ago - 17797 Good afternoon. Thank you father
2 weeks 1 day ago - 17829 Father's anniversary
2 weeks 2 days ago - 17828 Trade
2 weeks 3 days ago - 17827 Vera
2 weeks 3 days ago - 17826 Hello, how to get rid of the sin of embarrassment?
2 weeks 3 days ago - 17824 I'm just a little embarrassed
2 weeks 3 days ago - 17825 Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos "Inexhaustible Chalice"
2 weeks 3 days ago - 17824 What difference does it make what you call your weaknesses (sins)?
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17823 What are you talking about?
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17820 Sorry if I offended you.
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17819 You see, you know everything!
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17819 Don't you dare..
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17824 Hello, please tell me
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17823 their "guild" address and name
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17820
2 weeks 4 days ago - Norwegian victimized girls
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17818 God gave us all amazing Freedom
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17819 Murder + Suicide
2 weeks 4 days ago - 17565
Sixth day of the marathon.
Yesterday I came across a phrase that you hear quite often: “few people come to church out of happiness.” Yes, perhaps the statistics speak precisely of this: most people come to church because some problems, illnesses fall on them, life puts pressure on them so much that they no longer have the strength to straighten their shoulders on their own. And then someone they know or an angel over their shoulder advises them: “go to church, it will become easier.” Why, I myself often had to say this phrase to the people with whom the Lord brought me together. How else can you console a person in a situation that is hopeless by human strength? But it turns out that we perceive God as a cure for our problems. Unfortunately, we really often have to deal with such a feeling of God and the Church. But I don’t want to believe that among the people who came to the Temple, the majority were those who came out of grief. There is a survey at the end of the post, if it’s not difficult, choose an answer or write yours in the comments. And according to tradition, I’ll tell you about myself, since this is my diary :)
I can’t say that I came to the temple out of some special happiness, but there was definitely no grief in my life at that moment. I have always lived with a sense of the presence of God. For me, His existence was beyond doubt. After all, all life has spoken about the fact that He exists, He is nearby, He loves. It’s just that there was no church in the city where I was born. This is a small city built after the war. The temple, naturally, was not included in the urban planning plans during these years. Of course, we were taken to neighboring old villages to see the open air, to Irkutsk to theaters and museums. And there, naturally, we were taken to churches. We, junior schoolchildren, bought candles in a crowd, because “that’s the way it should be,” and whoever could, lit them in front of the icons. And then, at one moment, my candle fell. I wouldn't even notice this, because... I had already turned away. But this was noticed by the grandmothers sitting nearby on a bench... “Oh, bad sign! The Lord does not accept!” — I heard a hiss behind me. Then I somehow had enough sense to ignore it, pick up the candle and place it so that it wouldn’t fall again. But the next time, when they tried to take us to the temple, I could no longer enter there. “If the Lord does not accept me, why should I bother Him?”
Unfortunately, I had no one to explain to me that this idea was stupid, hostile and false. Therefore, I lived with her for almost twenty years, without crossing the threshold of a temple. During this time, I moved to St. Petersburg, where in the first years I actually had no time to think about my soul - I had to survive in a foreign city. But then life began to get better, a stable job appeared, stable housing, real friends, and I already had time to enjoy the temptations of this world to the point of nausea. And then it became very noticeable that something, or rather Someone, was missing in my life. I began to think more and more about God and read something. The profession also required at least a little knowledge of the main biblical stories and church art, which also reminded us of Him all the time. And my excuse that there was no temple nearby no longer worked. But I still couldn’t enter there. “After all, He doesn’t accept, I don’t want to impose myself.” But only after looking at my life did I at some point realize that all this was nonsense. Would I be able to survive alone in a foreign city without His help and care? He has always been there all my life, how many troubles He saved me from, how much joy He gave me! How can one seriously think after this that “He does not accept.” The falsity of this thought suddenly dawned on me and I wanted to immediately run to Him!..
This turned out to be difficult. Because the demon that sat inside me and persistently whispered this thought to me was stronger than me for a very long time. It took me several more years to fight it on my own and to no avail. By that time, I already knew that I only wanted to be baptized and go to the church at my Alma Mater - the Academy of Arts, but I just couldn’t open the door to it. Until Solovki happened in my life... The trip there somehow worked out by itself, I chose it little consciously, what attracted me most when choosing was that it was an island, and that the history there was connected with the terrible 1920s-30s , and then I just started working on this period. Only when I arrived home, with a ticket in my hands and brochures about Solovki given in addition, did it dawn on me where I was going. If I can’t go into the temple, then it’s pointless for me to even get off the boat there - the whole land is Holy there! I realized that in the short time that I had left before the trip, this problem needed to be solved. And then I turned to the Lord for help. Going to the temple, I prayed as best I could in my own words, but with all the strength I had. It didn’t work out the first time either, but “he” had to give up. Then, after the trip, during the announcement, I felt how this demon flew out of me like a cork from a bottle and flew away writhing somewhere towards the vestibule. Therefore, when I had to blow on him three times and spit on him, I did it so realistically and with all my heart that even the priest later said “well, well, I see that you are very serious” :)
Well, how could it be otherwise? I've been waiting for this for so long! An opportunity to finally cling to Him and truly thank Him for all He has done for me! From the very first services in the temple, I fell in love with the words of the psalms of praise “Praise the Lord from heaven! Praise Him in the highest! Let every breath praise the Lord!” And they became the motto of my whole life. And only later, after baptism, I had difficulties, sorrows, and illnesses, and I think there will be many more. Life has not become even and smooth. But that’s not what I came to Him for and I never expected a cloudless life from life with God, so Glory to God for everything! And first of all, for this World and our life in it, even if it is not always the way we want it.
All the best to you! Peace, Love and Beauty!
The Church remembers the commandment given by God to man: “Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the wild animals, and over the birds of the air, and over every livestock...” (Gen. 1:28). Many Orthodox monasteries breed animals and birds, which serve not only as decoration for the monastery, but also as a comfort to people. With details - Deacon Fyodor KOTRELEV.
Novosibirsk: deer, peacock, squirrels...
In the Novosibirsk men's monastery in the name of the holy martyr Eugene live sika deer, squirrels, peacocks, crayfish and fish. As the abbot of the monastery, Abbot Philip (Novikov), told NS, the living corner began with one squirrel, which was given to him at the Novosibirsk Zoo when he brought orphans from an orphanage there on an excursion. A small house was built for the squirrel in the temple courtyard. Then one of the parishioners donated two more squirrels to the temple. The squirrel cage stands in the most prominent place in the church yard, arousing constant interest among parishioners and visitors to the monastery.
Seeing such popularity of the “living corner”, the monastery brought in rabbits, pigeons, and dug a small pool where fish and crayfish live in the summer. And at the end of last year, the monastery zoo was replenished with sika deer. The deer brought from Altai was presented to the monastery by Archbishop Tikhon of Novosibirsk and Berdsk. “At first we were very worried: after all, it’s one thing to take care of small animals, and another thing to take care of a deer. How to feed him, how to support him - no one had any idea,” says the abbot of the monastery, Abbot Philip. “We had to send one of the novices specifically to study with specialists.” The deer was named Yasha - this was the decision of the Sunday school students. Yasha lives in an enclosure specially built for him. The enclosure is small, but, according to Father Philip, “if the enclosure is made larger, he can run away, jump over the fence and run away.” In the "living corner" of the monastery there are also several rabbits, budgies, pigeons and a peacock. According to the rector, the presence of animals at the temple can play a missionary role: “Sometimes a person cannot come to the temple right away. But then he comes here to the territory, sees how beautiful everything is here - squirrels, deer. And people think: how wonderful everything is, so why not go to the temple?”
Ostriches also live in Russian monasteries (St. Nicholas Monastery in Kolomna). Photo ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Smirnov
Peacocks are bred at the Vvedensky Vladychny Women's Monastery in Serpykhov near Moscow. This tradition dates back more than 300 years: at the end of the 17th century, the Vvedensky Monastery was presented with “... a nest of cranes, a peacock and a peahen.” Peacocks were bred not only as ornamental birds, but also as an ancient Christian symbol of immortality. Breeding peacocks in the monastery turned out to be so successful that when the issue of Serpukhov’s coat of arms was being decided at the end of the 18th century, it was decided to place an image of a peacock on it. Interestingly, even the Soviet version of the Serpukhov coat of arms contained a peacock - along with a tractor gear and an atomic ring. With the revival of the monastery, peacock breeding also returned. Now there are a dozen and a half peacocks in the monastery.
Trinity-Sergius Lavra: cats are safe
Photo by Evgeny Poznyak
At the end of October last year, the online community of animal advocates was shocked by terrible news. According to one of the LiveJournal users, 30 cats living on the territory of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra were taken in sealed bags outside the city and allegedly thrown into a reservoir next to the landfill. Information began to rapidly acquire new “facts”. It was as if the cats were with kittens, and activists of the “Cat and Dog” community, who urgently arrived at the scene of the “tragedy”, managed to save ten animals. Someone even reported that the kittens had their eyes gouged out (but then this information was denied on the same forum). Needless to say, all the messages literally glowed with righteous anger towards the monastic brethren, but the speakers did not provide any facts confirming the killing of cats. What really happened? As NS was informed in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, a large number of stray cats accumulate on the territory throughout the year. Some animals are thrown in, others come on their own, they multiply, and their numbers are steadily growing in the absence of dogs. In addition, compassionate people in the Lavra feed the animals, and the cats live quite well here. However, there is no veterinary hospital on the territory of the Lavra, and such a concentration of stray animals is unsafe. In order to protect the brethren and visitors to the monastery from possible diseases that cats can spread, every year at the end of October stray cats are collected and taken to a vacant lot outside the territory of Sergiev Posad. There the animals are released (some of them, by the way, return to the Lavra again), and there can be no talk of any killing of cats. Unfortunately, the monastery does not yet have any other means of solving the pressing problem of homeless animals.
Cat Monastery in Cyprus
Ten kilometers from the Cypriot city of Limassol is the convent of St. Nicholas the Catman. According to tradition, several dozen cats live within its walls. According to legend, in 327 A.D. Cyprus was visited by St. Queen Elena. Having learned that an unprecedented number of snakes had bred on the island, which was suffering from a terrible drought in those years, she ordered about a thousand cats to be delivered here. After a few years, the snakes were eliminated. Not far from the place where Elena went ashore, the monastery of St. Nicholas was founded, which became a refuge for cats brought to the island. A Venetian monk who visited the island in 1484 said in his notes that cats came running for lunch at the sound of the monastery bell. Having had their fill, they again began their direct duties - hunting for snakes. Sources say that when the surrounding lands were donated to the monastery in the 16th century, a condition was set: the brothers must care for at least a hundred cats, providing them with food twice a day. After the capture of Cyprus by the Turks in the 16th century, the monastery fell into disrepair and was revived only in the 80s of the 20th century - already as a women's monastery. The nuns restored the tradition of keeping cats. Now the monastery has five nuns and about 70 cats. Every day of the nuns begins at about three o'clock in the morning: first they prepare food for the cats, then they go to the temple for service. After the service - breakfast, feeding the cats, cleaning the yard and other obediences. In addition to caring for cats, Orthodox nuns engage in icon painting.
Photo by Ekaterina Stepanova
Let every breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from heaven,
Praise Him in the highest.
A song to God is due to you.
Praise Him, all His angels,
Praise Him with all His might.
A song to God is due to you.
Psalm 148
Praise the Lord from heaven,
Praise Him in the highest.
Praise Him, all His Angels,
Praise Him, with all His might.
Praise Him, sun and moon,
Praise Him, all you stars and light.
Praise Him The heavens of heavens and the waters that are above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the Lord:
as He spoke, and was, He commanded, and was created.
If I put it in the age and in the age of the century, I lay down the command, and it will not pass by.
Praise the Lord from the earth, you serpents and all the deeps:
fire, hail, snow, bareness, stormy spirit, doing His word,
mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars,
beasts and all cattle, reptiles and birds.
The kings of the earth and all the people, the princes and all the judges of the earth, young men and maidens, old men and young men,
let them praise the name of the Lord, for the name of the One and only has been exalted, His confession on earth and in heaven.
And the horn of His people will exalt a song to all His holy ones, the sons of Israel, the people who draw near to Him.
Psalm 149
Alleluia. Sing a new song to the Lord: his praise in the church of the faithful.
Let Israel rejoice in him who made him, and let the sons of Zion rejoice in their king.
Let them praise his name in person, in the tympanum and psalms, and sing to him.
For the Lord delights in his people, and will lift up the meek to salvation.
They will praise the saints in glory and rejoice on their beds.
The heaps of God are in their throats, and two sharp swords are in their hands:
bring vengeance on the nations, reproof on the people:
bind the kings with fetters, and their glorious ones with hand-made fetters of iron:
to create in them judgment is written. This glory will be to all his saints.
Psalm 150
Alleluia. Praise God in his saints, praise him in strengthening his power:
praise him according to his strength, praise him according to the abundance of his greatness:
...
Every breath praise the Lord.
praise him in the heights.
You befitting song to God.
praise Him with all his power.
You befitting song to God.
Psalm 148
Praise the Lord from the heavens,
praise him in the heights.
Praise Him, all ye his angels,
Praise Him, all His power.
Praise him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars and light.
Praise him ye heavens of heavens, and water, which is shed above the heavens.
Praise the name of the Lord:
Thou That speech, and things were made, That led, and will create.
I have set up in the age and for ever and ever, put the command, and not mimoidet.
Praise the Lord from the earth, and all Zmiev abyss:
fire, hail, snow, Golota, the spirit of Buren, the creative word of His,
mountains and all ye hills, tree prolific, all ye cedar,
Beasts and all ye cattle, Gadi and feathered fowls.
Tsarie Zemst and all ye that ye people, all ye princes, and Judge Zemst, young men and maidens, old men with yunotami,
praise the name of the Lord, for they lifted up the name of Him edinago, confessing Him on earth and in heaven.
And exalt the horn of his people, the song of all His saints, the children of Israel, lyudem approaching Him.
Psalm 149
Alleluia. O sing unto the Lord pesn nova: praise him in the church prpdbnyh.
Yes Israel rejoice about sotvorshem it, and the sons of Zion rejoice about their kings.
Yes, praise his name in litse in timpane and psaltery let them sing to him.
Thou art the LORD taketh pleasure in his people both, and he will exalt the meek in salvation.
Praising prpdbnii in slave and rejoice upon their beds.
Sheaf of God in the roof of their mouth , and swords are sharp a win in their hands:
sotvoriti vengeance in yazytseh, conviction of people both:
svyazati shackles of their kings, and their Glorious hand shackles zheleznymi:
sovoriti in their written judgment. And this is the glory of the Rev. vsem it.
Psalm 150
Alleluia. Praise God in his saints, praise him in the authorized strength of his:
praise him in the power (in power) him, praise him on the set of his Majesty.
Prot. Dimitry Smirnov: Actually, to be honest, it says “let him praise the Lord,” but the meaning does not change because our Lord is our God. “Every breath” refers to every creation of God. All the creatures of God that breathe - birds, amphibians, animals, and plants, because everything that God created, He created for His glory. God for us, His creations, is absolutely invisible and incomprehensible, which is expressed in these words: “God is nowhere to be seen” (John 1:18). But we can observe the greatness of God in His creation. We see the tit, its beauty - and praise God. And the tit, chirping, praises God. And so is every living being. A beautiful shell glorifies its Creator, because the mollusk does not have a developed brain; it could not create such a structure itself. This is the Lord. Or the structure of a hive - an insect, a bee, cannot create it, God created it. And the beehive with its most intelligent structure glorifies God. All fish and all animals praise God. Every breath glorifies the Lord by its existence. And God desires that a person who has been given the great gift of reason, speech, marriage, the ability to know God, through religion, which God also gave to man, glorify God through shame and conscience. This is a call to all creation. But, of course, it is not only creatures that are living beings who glorify God. The mountains, as has been said, and the rivers and seas praise God. So everything created by God praises Him. The universe especially praises God. Anyone who looks at the sky can feel this, seeing its bottomless size and absolutely divine beauty - especially in our nature and region, this is the August night, which shows us the greatness of God the Creator. I remember, as a small child of about five years old, the sight of the sky put me in such a state that I still remember this event when I paid attention to it. Since then I have been under this impression and, when I find myself in front of a clear sky dotted with stars, I remember this childhood impression, and it continues to affect me. Volcanoes also praise God, now Etna is erupting. What kind of energy power is concentrated inside our planet, and how did God arrange that the earth’s crust holds this power within itself, and only at certain points shows us what is inside - such temperatures that we can only reproduce for a few seconds with the help of our technology. But for God this is not something transcendental. Real plasma is very close, and the Lord will protect us.
Prot. Alexander Berezovsky: And the highest creation of God - man - falls out of this general orchestra.
Prot. Dimitry Smirnov:
Yes, man has a journey ahead of him. He must use the precious gift of freedom in order to also glorify God with his life. So that people see the good deeds of man and glorify the Heavenly Father.
...........................................
Answer: Father Dimitry Smirnov
