Family is a small Church: Hegumen Cyprian (Yashchenko) on how to withstand the storm and stress of a teenager

Hegumen Cyprian (Yashchenko) was hospitalized

On January 4, the abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Father Cyprian (Yashchenko), was taken to the hospital by ambulance with a sharp exacerbation of chronic diseases. In recent days, he had already been feeling unwell, but he held on... “We ask you to pray, order services for the priest, he is going through a difficult period of life and an exacerbation of illnesses ,” the Pokrov magazine says.

He is the founder of training the laity in spiritual programs, was at the origins of the Christmas readings, the Radiant Angel film festival, and the editor-in-chief of the Pokrov magazine. “Those who communicated with him recognize in him the special charisma of a kind priest and a strict, demanding father, shepherd and preacher.

All the projects of Father Cyprian are not only a “school of the Word”, but a “school of Doing”. Studying at the Lavra with Father Cyprian is a real experience of the “churching” of baptized, but not enlightened, people after the era of atheism. Studying at the Lavra and communicating with Father Cyprian is a turning point in life for many. Lavra has become our spiritual homeland.”

Hegumen Cyprian (Yashchenko) was born in Khabarovsk. According to the priest himself, his parents were atheists and had a hard time with his coming to faith. The mother was a party worker, but still came to God after visiting several monasteries with her son and talking with Elder John (Krestyankin) (+2006).

In 1974 he graduated from the Khabarovsk Pedagogical Institute, after which he worked as a teacher at a local high school and was also a director. In 1987, he graduated from graduate school in Moscow with a Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences degree. He stayed in the capital to live and work.

Under the influence of his confessor, the famous elder Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), in 1994 he took monastic vows at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. In 2001 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and in 2003 a priest (hieromonk). After 5 years he was elevated to the rank of abbot.

The whole life of Father Cyprian is connected with scientific and, in particular, teaching activities. In 1996, he was appointed to the position of head of the Department of Pedagogy at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Humanitarian University, and since 1998, dean of the Faculty of Pedagogy at PSTGU. Since 1997 - employee of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church and editor-in-chief of the national educational magazine "Pokrov". Since 1999, he has been giving lectures on the subject of “Pedagogy” at the Moscow Theological Seminary. He is also the vice-rector of the Higher Theological Courses at the MDA. In 2001, he was elected head of the Pokrov Center for Pedagogical Research.

Father Cyprian is the author of several films about Saint Paisius the Holy Mountain, who was canonized in 2015 and whom he personally reveres very much. During a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, Father Superior received advice and blessing to engage in this work from a disciple of Saint Paisius.

Author of about fifty scientific publications and two dozen books, including “A Christmas Gift for Children”, “Orthodox Family”, “Athos Elders. Answers to difficult questions."

Periodically participates in conferences and television programs “Conversations with Father” on the Soyuz TV channel.

For many years of work for the benefit of the Church, he was awarded several orders of the Russian Orthodox Church, in particular, St. Sergius of Radonezh.

Orthodox Life

Youth is usually dreamy. Youth, on the contrary, is pragmatic and aimed at arranging earthly life. We continue the publication of a series of conversations “From conception to the grave” by the candidate of pedagogical sciences, head of the Pedagogical Office of the Moscow Theological Academy, Abbot Cyprian (Yashchenko).

Plant a tree, build a house, give birth to a child

God blessed man's earthly life. Consequently, there must be time primarily devoted to arranging earthly life, worldly concerns - getting a job, creating a family, a home. Youth is the time of the main improvement of earthly life.

In the next age period - maturity - after 30 years, when earthly life is settled, all the mentioned problems are basically solved, and a person begins to develop spiritual needs. But so far this is not the case - the person seems to be charged with material things - he needs to plant a tree, build a house, start a family, give birth to a child. In this earthly field, in these problems, he revolves. The exception is people who have chosen the monastic path - they already live for eternity and have other priorities. It is believed that 25 years is the most suitable age for making a decision to take monastic vows; we and other churches have such church-wide experience. Until the age of 25, such decisions, as a rule, are not blessed - a person still has too much energy, his blood is pumping, he needs to solve all his everyday problems, just mature.

Leading activity in youth is professional. There is a choice of profession, there is improvement. A person can already achieve a fairly high level of skill and objective recognition.

Create a family. To plant a tree. Build a house

It should be noted that people who went through banking and commercial structures in their youth often carry illnesses, both spiritual and physical. In the same way, all former great athletes after their career are maimed, crippled, they have many injuries - physical and mental, like soldiers after the war. If a person was at war, then he should not have received communion for four years. He passed a terrible test, he was crippled, he needed rehabilitation - four years.

And today we are dealing with young people who play these games - sports, commercial. People live crazy lives, they sleep four hours a day, they have neither Saturday nor Sunday, nor time to recover. These systems use the energy of youth.

Be that as it may, gradually, along with mastery, a sense of professional competence appears. It is extremely important for personal development in youth that the chosen profession corresponds to one’s vocation. Yes, there are tragedies - he tried one thing, another, a third - he’s not yet thirty, but he’s already changed five jobs, and in different professional fields. This is a kind of professional fornication, a person gets lost - which is very dangerous at a young age.

In your youth you can wander, but at thirty it’s time to make up your mind and follow certain paths without turning aside. And if you hit your forehead against the wall, try to retrain.

Dreaming is harmful

In youth, a desire for self-expression is revealed. In choosing a profession and in a career, an individual life style is developed. A system of personal, moral, cultural and spiritual values ​​is being built, that is, a mature, full-fledged personality is being formed. By the end of the period of youth, a stable attitude towards oneself, towards one’s family, professional, and social responsibilities arises. A young man or girl determines for himself what he is capable of and what he will probably never be able to do.

This is the phase of life in which a person - depending on his individual personality traits - is most of all a materialist. Youth, we said, is dreamy. And youth is pragmatic. If a young man continues to dream - who will I be? - and this takes up quite a lot of time in his life, he takes it seriously - then he is not in youth, but in youth. Psychologically, he has not yet matured.

The main age-related tasks of youth are inclusion in all types of social and professional life, mastering the diversity of social interpersonal roles. Youth manifests itself in all areas of life. Very soon these people will represent the people. If they start chatting, drinking alcohol, being debauched, and the gospel meaning does not arise in their lives, then this will be a lost generation.

For representatives of this generation, results, position, social status, independence, and diplomas are very important. Who am I in this world? What is my niche? I had the opportunity to communicate with one of the leaders of our country several times, and the most amazing thing is that he still feels like a young man. In general, youth, as we have already said, is not age, it is a spirit. The spirit of youth and energy is also inherent in spiritual elders.

In youth, some distortions may also arise: hypertrophied ambition, the desire for prestige, a shift in emphasis from content to form, refusal from activities in which there are no immediate results. An age-related feature is such an obsession with the result - everything at once and now. Focusing on results can lead to intolerance, insensitivity, and excessive pragmatism.

Evangelical freedom in the family

The family line, along with the professional one, is the main one leading in the formation of personality at this age. Ideally: the person is a professional, he has a family.

God blessed man's earthly life

Building family relationships involves solving the problems of the traditional hierarchical structure of the home church. A conciliar worldview space is being formed, which at the same time should not destroy the individual sphere of human life. The task of every family is to live together and at the same time maintain the personal freedom of the spouse, without putting pressure. What is a common mistake husbands make? Only the newlyweds were married, and he declared to his wife: “Who are you? I am the head of the family, the bishop of a small church, let’s obey!” But you won’t find such novices who would do everything meekly, like in a monastery, now in the daytime. You won’t find them in the monastery either. Free will is violated and conflicts begin. Relationships must be built carefully, carefully, the family hierarchy must be approached gradually, without heavy volitional actions, amicably.

In church terms, the creation of a family is the birth of a new spiritual community, which takes into account the free renunciation of the sin of atheism of its creators. Mechanical copying of existing family ideals - parental and social - takes a person away from solving personal problems. Indeed, a small church is being created as a unit of society, a kind of isolation. Each family, as they say, is unhappy in its own way, each family community has its own unique path to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Physiologically, marital relationships also require mutual adaptation and internal work of each. For Christian marriages, the words of the Apostle Paul are decisive: “The wife has no power over her own body, but the husband does; likewise, the husband has no power over his own body, but the wife does” (1 Cor. 7:4). In this regard, spouses may have completely different needs, and this is often the source of conflicts, betrayals and divorces. Here, of course, special delicacy is needed - believers, church people must live according to the Gospel, and not according to their own pleasure, not the way they want.

The energy of youth - in a peaceful direction

As for spiritual development, it is generally accepted in the Church that the age of 21 already means a certain stage of maturity. Before the revolution, at this age young spouses could be married without the blessing of their parents. Ordination is also possible at this age. You can no longer be just a minister, but a spiritual minister.

Pastoral work with young people means not waiting for them to come to church, but meeting them halfway, outside the church, offering interesting programs and projects. You can use the tirelessness of young people in implementing social service programs - visiting hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes.

Hegumen Cyprian on the Holy Island of Athos

There is a public organization called “Otkazniki”, which works with abandoned children. It began with the fact that one woman was lying with her child in the hospital and heard that in the next room a little boy was crying all the time. It turned out that the baby was nobody’s, no one needed him. She felt sorry for him, then in another department she found the same girl. There was nowhere to place them except the hospital, because the children were sick. She helped one child, attracted her neighbor to another child, and a powerful social movement “Otkazniki” arose, and a website of the same name appeared (Otkazniki.ru).

Over four years, about 10 thousand young people came to work for them, everyone worked voluntarily - from the manager to the programmer. This is a huge team that works around the clock throughout the country, mainly driven by young people. I learned this through my parishioner - a young girl who was busy all the time, it turned out that she was a member of this organization.

It is necessary to conduct systematic spiritual and educational work with young people, conversations about family and chastity. One young man once told me: “I go out on Preobrazhenka, people come up to me and invite me to the temple: “Come to us, we have a youth club, it will be fun.” I came in and they were playing the harmonica, dancing, and singing. They have gatherings in the Russian tradition of youth gatherings. It was really fun and interesting!”

For young people it is important that everything is “youth-style”. We were once in Cyprus, we were received by bankers, they had a daughter, a young girl. She says: “Why should I sit at the table with you old people? I am not interested. If the company was young, we would talk.”

Therefore, it is important to form the youth environment through some interesting work, and at the heart of this work there should be a believer who would pass on his faith and tradition to people. And what kind of business is not so important, the main thing is that it is not immoral. Saint Paisius writes: “The young have ideals, but they have no one to follow as an example. They are worth pitying. Therefore, it is necessary for someone to “touch” their curiosity, to touch them with his simplicity.”

Remember when I talked about the Samovar youth club? Young people put on the samovar, brew tea, and first invite some interesting person. And the conversation goes on; a leisurely conversation can drag on until midnight. A favorable environment has been created where young people, separated from their parents, sometimes involved in crime, or on drugs, end up. These people come and they have some kind of connection with the temple.

Find a common language

In 2010, the film “The Abbot”, directed by Armen Nazikyan, was released. I met the leading actor Yegor Pazenko, and we even became friends. (The film “The Priest” tells about the brutal murder of a priest, Father Mikhail, from a certain provincial town. Another priest, Father Andrei, is appointed in his place, and it turns out that in the recent past he was the criminal authority of St. Petersburg. Tragic life events, the help of the murdered Father Mikhail guide him on the path to God. Now Father Andrey will have to confront the rich businessman and drug dealer Agafonov, who keeps the whole city in fear. - Ed.) So Yegor said that bandits who watched this film write letters to him, and something their heart skipped a beat, turned over, and they left their terrible criminal life.

You need to speak to young people in the language that they understand.

I remember we were in Cyprus in one very strict, ancient monastery of Macheras, where the Mother of God once appeared. In this monastery I met hermits who live quite ascetically. Their abbot is a bishop - young, energetic. We turned out to be colleagues; he was once a teacher, like me, he graduated from a pedagogical institute, taught at school for five years, then went to a monastery. And he also saw that different generations speak different languages ​​and that we, children and young people, are trying to talk in the church language.

The inhabitants of the monastery - about 30 people - write and draw comics for children of all ages. In this genre they tell what monasticism, monastery, spiritual life, prayer are. In one of the books, for example, a simple story is presented: a father and mother came to the monastery with their daughter and son, saw their grandfather - a monk - and turned to him: “What are you doing here?” - “I’m praying here. Come on, I’ll show you everything.”

And the governor of this monastery is Metropolitan Athanasius of Limassol. And all these comics and drawings are made with the blessing of the Metropolitan. This is an example of an age-appropriate missionary movement.

Like the Apostle Paul, he was everything to everyone in order to save at least some.

LiveInternetLiveInternet

Employees of the Orthodox Educational Center in the village talk about the problem of male infantilism at a meeting with Abbot Cyprian (Yashchenko). Usovo on Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway in the Moscow region.

– Today it is very difficult to find a man who really understands that he is the head of the family. Women are responsible for everything. But you can’t move a man off the sofa, you can’t tear him away from the computer. How to change the situation?

– The image of a husband is formed in childhood, the period from three to six years is especially important. What type of relationship between husband and wife did the child see in front of him? What is important is not just the father or mother themselves, who often dominate and serve as the head of the family, the main thing is their relationship. Then this image will be unconsciously reproduced in the family.

I had one altar boy. While still at school, he fell in love with a classmate, she was also not indifferent to him, and their love continued for seven years. Everything, like in a fairy tale, ended very well - after school and after college they entered into a legal marriage, their parents gave them both an apartment and a car, and three days later the young people divorced - after heavy fighting, they separated with bruises and never saw each other again.

Why are there so many good brides and grooms, but when life together begins, a small church arises, people do not know what to do, do not understand where they are, what duties they must fulfill? It turns out that they did not have this way of life before their eyes - either they grew up in an incomplete family, or the relationship between their parents was very difficult. Mom dominated - and the young wife begins to act in the same way, but the husband resists - he has a different image of the family - there are many types.

I have to reconcile almost all young couples - arrange everyone in a hierarchy, tell them for a very long time why they should fulfill their responsibilities and what they are.

A normal family is always located, as it were, in three dimensions: God; next - the husband, the head of the small church, its bishop, who must establish a relationship with God and with his wife; and then the children come. A small church is always three-story, and if these floors are not there, then we have taken aim at God’s dispensation...

Augustine Aurelius

– The model of a modern family is completely different: the wife is responsible for everything, prays, works, takes care of the house, and the husband “relaxes.” And if his wife tries to involve him in some business, she only irritates him...

– Such a husband should be treated as if he were sick. Never say this out loud, but understand it for yourself. Now 90% of people are born with chronic diseases.

– But how to preserve the correct image of a father for children, how to withstand this yourself? The child sees that his father is lying down all the time... How to explain this to children?

- There is no need to explain anything. Vasily Belov has a story “Lad”, where dad is a complete moron and oligophrenic (he fell ill with a mental illness and did not understand anything), but he was treated as the head of the family. Now infantilism is also a serious viral disease. It all starts with an infantile and effeminate upbringing, in the end a person gets used to relaxing, because there is no masculinity, he has never seen it, no one raised it, he didn’t even set such a goal, and at 30 or 40 years old it’s too late to re-educate.

You need to keep your eyes open before you connect your life with any person. A very powerful factor is ancestral sin, which goes from generation to generation: you look there and it turns out that there is nothing new. My grandmother was a Siberian. When she saw a young man, she asked: “What kind of family are you?” I tell her: “Grandma, it’s so indecent, you’re seeing a person for the first time and immediately asking about their family history.” And she: “So that’s the most important thing.” And indeed, if you look into the birth, it turns out that this is a birth disease. It almost never happens that both the grandfather and the father were courageous, but they were born with such a cripple.

On the other hand, I got a cripple - many suffered in the war, so what can I do... In every church there are sick and infirm people. The church prays for them and performs services. Is there such a thing that the Lord God cannot do? Can we, if we sincerely pray, with tears, with crying, realizing that we are not able to lift such a person from the sofa - no crane is enough - cast this sadness on the Lord? And the Lord can do everything.

Raising the Dead

- Submit notes to the Indestructible Psalter in several monasteries and churches - as they pray for the dead - after all, he died spiritually. The Holy Fathers said: it’s time to bring the deceased to the temple instead. It is enough to commit a few sins without repenting, and we lose grace and become dead. And a very difficult task arises - in fact, the resurrection of the dead, he died for spiritual, family life.

There is a film on YouTube “The Clinical Death of Deacon Sergius” - a very instructive thing. For two hours the main character gives an interview, this is our contemporary, he is alive, you can talk to him. He was still a young man when an incomprehensible, serious illness befell him. It took him so long to be processed in the hospital that he died. They carried him into the ward, laid him on the bed, he went away to relieve himself, then he came up - there was a man on his bed, he began to shake him - and his hand passed through his body, through the bed, he wanted to look from above and rose to the ceiling. He realized that he was already in a different state, something had happened to him - all his movements were carried out with the help of thought, he began to scream - but no one could hear him. He rose from the ground, and many unrepentant sins were revealed to him. Although, it would seem, we are not such sinners, and we still repent.

And all his sins were represented in the form of stones: a small sin - a small stone, a large sin - a large stone. This man found himself in the desert and saw that his sins formed a mountain about 100 meters high and 300 meters wide. And his punishment was to grind these stones into sand. They were very hard, he prayed and began to ask the Guardian Angel: “Even a thousand years won’t be enough for me to grind all this out, maybe you’ll give me another task?” He replies: “Try to shout, ask God to replace it with something else.” And he shouted for a long time, finally a clap of thunder was heard from above: “Bring him back to earth to repent.”

And after all, all the sorrows of our life are also the grinding of our sins. If we could also see our life circumstances from this side: not everyone around us is bad - it was because of our sins that the Lord sent such conditions...

And that man was given an instruction: when you return to earth, tell people what you saw here. He says: they will take me for a madman, who will believe me that this is happening here? And you, they say, don’t worry - in America, in such and such a state, at the university there is a professor who has already described everyone who was here before you, and a movie has already been made based on his stories.

And this man also described in great detail how 14 Angels accompanied him back. So he saw the city, then the hospital, then the ward - they brought him to this bed, they said: get in. He looked at this body - cold, lifeless. No, he says, I won’t climb. And one Angel gave it to him, and he went in like a ball. I personally know such people - they have a different price for life: when they return, they can no longer lie on the sofa. The man understands that he will have to answer both as a husband and as an employee. Our work is also obedience before God.

– These are exceptional cases. But what should an ordinary woman whose husband lies on the sofa do?

Emperor Leo before Christ

– There was such a wife, Feofania, the wife of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise, her husband was not lying on the sofa – he was a great libertine and an iconoclast, a heretic. And she had such meekness that she endured everything. He came - she met him, fed him, pleased him, performed all marital duties. When she died, her relics turned out to be incorrupt, and she was canonized. Her heretic husband died, she prayed for him, but could not pull him out of Gehenna. But he did not become a model for her and for the children.

Monica is an example of a Christian for modern women. She was not only the mother of St. Augustine, but also the wife of a pagan who drank, walked, fought, that is, led a life because of which a modern wife would immediately file for divorce. But she doesn’t. She accepted the cross to tolerate such a husband.

At least he’s lying quietly on your sofa, but it would be better if he didn’t come. And she begged him, he accepted Baptism, became a Christian, stopped drinking and partying and ended his life as a pious Christian. And the son, seeing how his father lived (passions were passed on, remember the confession of Blessed Augustine: he indulged in fornication and fell into heresy), through the prayers of Monica, from a boy who was prone to grave sins from childhood, he became a great teacher of the Church . He wrote two dozen volumes and lived a great life. But he was not born such a saint, his mother begged him with a quiet, meek prayer, but she could not tell him anything, because he did not listen to her.

Monica - mother of St. Augustine

Secret Weapon, or the Creation of Good Thoughts

– In a situation where they don’t listen to us, we have two “atomic” weapons - prayer and the creation of good thoughts. When we think good thoughts about another person, his wings grow, it is very easy for him to rise, and when we judge, we trample him into the dirt.

The doctrine of the creation of good thoughts was formulated by Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, and Elder Paisius of the Svyatogorets expounded it in more detail.

– What are good intentions?

– I’ll give you an example. One husband comes to me. “Father,” he says, “bless me to divorce my wife, I can’t stand it, as soon as I cross the threshold, I scream all the time.” "And you?" - I ask. “I can tolerate it for 10–15 minutes, and then you’ll either hit me or scream.” - “Let’s try this way: she screams, and you, in a calm state, hug her, kiss her, say the kind words she loves.” - “I don’t know such words at all.” - “Take a dictionary, write down 10 affectionate words, memorize them and speak in a gentle, quiet voice, or don’t even speak, but think - and she will stop.”

I conducted this experiment several times, and everything fell into place. Comes a month later - everything is fine, everything has worked out. “It happens,” she screams, and then she says: “Why are you delaying, come on, hug me, kiss me.”

Why did God create Adam and Eve? A man's psyche is calmer and more balanced. Eva's mind is more flexible, mobile, her life is more emotional. “How can I, a rowan tree, move to the oak tree” - that is, find some kind of support in order to extinguish these emotional outbursts with peace, prayer, and good thoughts.

After all, the baby screams, and the mother takes him in her arms, kisses him - “my good one”, shows love to him with various affectionate words, maybe just hugs him and says good thoughts - he is still the best, beyond criticism, no matter what he does.

The Lord gave some good husbands, but for me this is a punishment like a cross, and I will have to crucify myself every day, it may be really very difficult, but I will endure.

You can accept this cross resignedly, with good thoughts, and in good thoughts you see the Savior - not as convenient, but as peacefully - let some order suffer, but there will be peace. The main thing for a wife is to have peace in the house.

Myrrh-Bearing Women

– How can one raise a child with such a dad?

- There is such an apocrypha. There was an ascetic in the monastery - Macarius the Great, who achieved such holiness that during Great Lent he could not eat anything. And when he prayed, he rose above the earth, and he had such grace, he was so happy to live on earth that he once exclaimed: “Lord, is there at least one other person on earth who experiences the same grace?” The angel replied: “Yes, there is, and he is even higher and closer before God.” “How so? I pray and fast from morning to evening, and is there anything higher than me?” – Macarius was surprised. “Go to Alexandria - there are two wives there, they are even higher before God, and they have acquired even greater grace,” answered the Angel.

Macarius ran and what did he see? Imperfect husbands - with swearing, cursing. The Lord did not give these wives perfect husbands. But the reason why they acquired such great grace before God is because they never had a scandal in their family. They had such peace in their souls that the children were also peaceful, and the husbands were reconciled. A wife is a myrrh-bearer; the most important job of a wife is to maintain peace in her heart, in her family. This is how it works: if the husband is an unbeliever, he is saved by his wife who is a believer. If one of the two lives in the Orthodox way, in peace, with God, then there will be no conflict, the family will straighten out.

Our world now is, of course, difficult. Before doing anything, they think: what will I get from this, what will be my benefit? Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) said that in the last times everyone will be in grave egoism, this will turn into a cancerous tumor of humanity. But nevertheless, the Lord will give higher grace to people than to the ancient ascetics. If a person bears the sacrificial cross, lives for his children, and fulfills his duties for his spouse, then the Lord will give him grace higher than that of Macarius the Great.

On the part of the Lord, the hand is always extended, you just need to grab it. There is such a “Tsar’s Testament” - St. Nicholas of Serbia, which he put into the mouth of the Serbian prince Lazar. The Turks captured the prince, wanted to execute him, and tied him to a tree. And so the Guardian Angel flies to him and says: ask God for whatever you want, he will fulfill everything. He began to think - what to ask for: to win? save life? Then he got confused and asked the Angel himself: “What should I ask?” He says: “Ask God for two things. The first is for the Lord to forgive all your sins. And secondly, so that the Lord gives you grace.” Not only in deeds, but also in thoughts. These are the two fundamental requests we must make of the Lord.

“Lord, give me grace so that I can have a small church, so that by grace I can help my husband and raise my children in a Christian way.” And one hundred percent - what you ask is what you will receive from God. Maybe not right away, but if you sincerely, from the heart, beg, it will happen.

By the way, the whole feat of education consists precisely in standing before God. If only we could be blessed by God all the time: “Lord, bless me not to be irritated with anyone, forgive me my temper, anger. Lord, bless me to live calmly all day, not to be angry with anyone and not to shout.” You can ask for a completely fantastic thing: “Lord, help me not to judge anyone all day.”

We were here with a bishop in Italy, we gathered for the usual meal after the service. The people are all very spiritual, good – priests, mothers. But no matter how anyone starts talking, everything is vilified - either the Italians or the Swiss. And the bishop sat and sat until he slammed his fist on the table: “Stop it! So that there won’t be a single condemnation before sunset!” A few minutes pass - everything again. He hits the table again: “The sun has not set yet!” These are people of spiritual life - they cannot restrain themselves!

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt - healed diseases, he had insight, spirituality, letters came to him in bags from all over the world in different languages, even from people of other faiths or non-believers, he dumped them on the Throne, raised his hands: “Lord, accept the requests of these of people!" And they received what they asked for (and everyone is running around – did they read my note or not?). And he wrote a work that stands apart in spiritual writing - “My Life in Christ.” Surprisingly honest. Now 17 volumes of these diaries have been published. I recommend reading them before morning and evening prayers - literally a few lines, they sometimes touch the heart so much that the prayer after that becomes very alive. Before prayer, the heart needs to be warmed up, like the engine of a car.

And what does he write in these diaries?

He slept little, 3–4 hours, with the window open, and served the liturgy every day. I couldn't do it any other way. And so he approaches the cathedral - a woman is sitting, asking for alms, all ragged and dirty. He thinks: “How many people pass by you, can’t you put yourself in order - get dressed, wash yourself!” He didn’t even condemn, but reasoned. And he felt that he had lost grace, evil thoughts fell upon him. Then he knelt before the Mother of God: “Forgive me for condemning this beggar woman, maybe she is a fool for Christ’s sake.” And he began to justify her in every possible way. This is about the question of what good thoughts are. Justify and regret - that’s their essence. And Father John felt that grace had returned to him, his passions had subsided.

The greatest of the saints of our time, it turns out, sinned every minute with the mortal sin of condemnation. But he had such spiritual vision that he immediately began to repent - he caught himself at the scene of the crime and asked for grace: “Lord, give me the grace not to judge, not to be angry with this person.”

Lord, give me the grace to create good thoughts and have pity on all people!

This is life by grace, life in Christ.

Club "Family"

Conversation with the editor-in-chief of the Pokrov magazine, candidate of pedagogical sciences, hegumen Cyprian (Yashchenko)

The topic of the conversation is conception. What should it be like for a spiritually and physically healthy child to be born? And what actions of future parents, on the contrary, can cripple a person in the womb, deprive him and the entire family of God’s blessing?

Not lust, but obedience to God

Where does human life begin? From which moment? From conception. Conception is the beginning of life: both science and the Church are one here, thank God. The fetus is developing, the baby can be photographed. The ultrasound shows how he breathes, moves, how he tries to put a finger in his mouth.

Unfortunately, women come to us and ask: “Father, bless us to have an abortion.” I answer as one of the saints answered: “Do you have any more children?” - “Yes, there is still a son.” I say: “Kill him and give birth to this one.” - “How is it to take your own son and kill him?!” “And the action is exactly the same. You will be answerable to God just like a murderer.” The child was conceived, and the countdown began; the parents are already responsible before God for how the child is raised.

Are there examples in the Old and New Testaments of what the attitude of the righteous was towards conceiving a child? The parents of the Most Holy Theotokos - Joachim and Anna - prayed before Her conception. They were distinguished by amazing chastity and dispassion. Here is how Saint Paisius of Athonite writes about them: “Saints Joachim and Anna were the most dispassionate married couple that ever existed. They had absolutely no worldly wisdom. This is exactly how God created man. And He wanted people to be born in the same way - dispassionately. But after the Fall, passion appeared in the relationship between a man and a woman. And as soon as an impassive married couple appeared - such as God created man and as, according to His plan, human birth should be, the Most Holy Theotokos was born - this Pure Creation, and subsequently Christ was incarnated from Her. My thoughts tell me that Christ would have come to Earth earlier - if a pure, chaste married couple, like Saints Joachim and Anna, had appeared on Earth earlier. The Most Holy Theotokos was All-Pure, because Her conception occurred without pleasure. The holy Fathers of God fervently prayed to God that He would grant them a child. And after this prayer they came together as spouses - not out of carnal lust, but out of obedience to God.”

Thus, the holy forefathers Joachim and Anna prayed for 70 years before the conception of the Most Holy Theotokos, enduring reproaches and dishonor. There was a clear postulate in the Old Testament: every child is a gift from God. And if this gift of God is not in the family, then God punished. Apparently, the spouses have sinned in some way, they have some kind of secret sin. And these people were truly treated like lepers.

What else did Joachim and Anna do before conceiving a child? They fasted for forty days. The cave in the Judean Desert, in the monastery of George Khazevit, in which Joachim stayed, has survived to this day. And the Lord heard the prayers and gave the righteous a Child - even in old age, not of childbearing age.

There are many such cases now. In Greece, in the mountains, there is a monastery on the border with Bulgaria - Felio-Kousa, where the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of the 4th century is kept. I had to go there and serve there several times. The monastery amazes with its many children. What kind of children are these? There is a tradition there: parents ask the Mother of God for help in having children by cutting off the wicks from the icon lamp. The wife takes Communion, swallows the wick and drinks it down. She eats three wicks, then prays and conceives a child. From a medical point of view, these children could not be born. It is difficult to say what gives such a result, but many children were born. It is probably important that both spouses pray together with the Mother of God.

In another monastery - Hilandar (Greece, Athos) - a miraculous vine grows, the fruits of which, taken with repentance and prayer, relieve spouses from infertility.

In the ancient monastery of Sava the Sanctified in Jerusalem, there is a palm tree that is taken out to the wives (they are forbidden to enter the monastery), they take the leaves from it, soak it, drink it and conceive a child.

Help in childbirth is provided by the Feodorovskaya icon of the Mother of God. Its original is in Kostroma, in the Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery, and the miraculous copy is in Moscow, in the St. Nicholas Church on Maroseyka. Icon of Saints Joachim and Anna - in the Conception Monastery in Moscow.

There are church holidays of the Conception of John the Baptist, the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by righteous Anna, on these days you can especially pray for the gift of a baby.

Authoritative prayer service

One example of turning to God in prayer simply amazed me. We had a friend who married, or better yet, cohabited in Moscow with a major crime boss. His office was located on Taganka, he said: “God grant that you have everything and you don’t have to pay anything for it.” And they also had everything except children. But they wanted to have a child at all costs - this was their most cherished desire. But they couldn’t conceive; they spent a fortune in clinics in Switzerland, America, and Germany. And every time it ended with completely different professors from different countries saying the same thing: “We, dear ones, are powerless here, only the Lord God can help you.” And when this phrase was said to them for the fourth time, they came to me: “Father Cyprian, you are our expert on God. Medical specialists refused to help, they said: we need to turn to God. What should we do to have a child?” I say: “Let’s perform a prayer service, ask the Mother of God to pray and for the Lord to give you a child.” And they arrived at the temple between services, just on the feast of St. Prince Vladimir. An ordinary prayer service, there was no one even to sing, the choir left. Before that they say, “Should we donate something?” - “No, nothing is needed.” To be honest, I didn’t want to touch dirty money. “Can we buy some candles?” - “Please choose, there are many different candles.” And they chose the smallest candles. I was shocked then that people, one might say billionaires, who did not count money when they went to doctors, came to the Church, to God, and saved money by taking penny candles.

And they lit these three candles, prayed, and said: “What should we do now?” - “God bless you, after the prayer service, conceive.” And they conceived and had a child! I was so surprised that the Lord heard such prayers! For such a cheap candle, for such an insignificant sacrifice... The girl was born simply the most blessed. True, she had a difficult fate, she was stolen, she had to be taken abroad, but the fruit was very good, she was always drawn to icons, to Communion, to prayers. Now I don’t even know where they are – somewhere far away, not in Russia.

He who has many children is not forgotten by God

The Lord, when he expelled Adam and Eve from paradise, gave humanity sexual attraction so that people would not shy away from procreation. And crazy modern man has turned the very act of conception into a whole industry, into pleasure. Some sell their bodies, others buy “pleasure”. All this then affects the children, the entire family.

Conception for procreation is a God-blessed action. Many large families are not protected; as many children as God gives, God will give. And for some it is not given without any protection. Therefore, contraception is a sin.

In the social concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, pregnancy protection is allowed in the case of a number of serious illnesses of spouses, including mental ones.

“Spouses must entrust their lives to Divine Providence and not make their own plans,” says Saint Paisius of Athonite. “They must trust that God, who also cares for the birds of the air, will take much greater care of their children.” I remember one sailor who got married when he was 18 years old. And he himself was a poor man, and he took the girl from a poor family. They rented some kind of basement and huddled there. His wife also had a low-paying job, and they lived very meagerly. Imagine: instead of a table, they had a box of peaches, which they were somehow lucky enough to buy! Then they had children. In order to raise them, they subsisted from bread to water. And yet, gradually they became rich and began to live well.

There are spouses who first of all try to put all other problems in order and only then start thinking about children. Such people do not take God into account at all. And other married couples say: “Life today is not easy. Let us have one child - and that’s enough. Just try to grow one here!” And they don’t give birth to other children. These people do not realize how much they are sinning by thinking this way, not trusting in God. God is compassionate. It is easy for Him to stop giving children to their spouses if He sees that they are no longer able to raise them.

There are also married couples who want to have a child as soon as they get married. And if the birth of the child is delayed, then they begin to worry and worry. How can they give birth to a child if they themselves are full of anxiety and mental anxiety? They will give birth to a child when they have driven out anxiety and mental anxiety from themselves and have directed their lives along the right spiritual track.

Sometimes God deliberately delays and does not give children to some married couple. Look: after all, He gave the holy Godfathers Joachim and Anna, and the holy prophet Zechariah and Elizabeth a child in their old age in order to fulfill His eternal plan for the salvation of people.

God does not give children to many people, so that by loving the children of the whole world as their own, these people will help their spiritual rebirth... The judgments of God are an abyss.”

About the sin of infanticide

In modern society, many married couples spend a lot of money to have a child. And others go to great expense - just to avoid conception or to kill the child already in the womb. The paradox of our time: some kill 5 million children every year, while others spend their money and remain childless. In this regard, why not share the murderers of their children with the childless, without committing mortal sins?

We have one wife studying at the MDA Center for Additional Education, she has a child, and her husband is a Muslim. And she cries bitterly about having an abortion. One day she came to me and said: “Father, bless me, I will go to schools, to high school students, and tell them that they cannot engage in fornication, that they cannot have abortions. If only someone had told me about this!” She developed a special lesson. I blessed her and said: go, because out of the abundance of her heart her lips speak.

It seems obvious to us that abortion is a sin. But in today’s troubled world, this is not included in the category of sin, because “everyone lives like this.” And this is precisely a sin for which you will have to pay: either there will be no procreation, or a disabled person or a freak will appear in the family. Perhaps the person will not be physically disabled, but will become a spiritual or mental cripple.

Passions passed on to children

Why are Cain and Abel - two sons of the same parents - Adam and Eve - so different? One is the first murderer, and the other is the first martyr? Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise in an unrepentant, embittered state, and in this state Cain was born. And then repentance occurred. For 900 years Adam cried and looked with tears at this paradise, which he could see, but he could not enter there. And the fruit of this repentance was another son, Abel... It turns out that it is very important what spiritual state the parents are in when conceiving a child.

I happened to be in Siberia, and you look – there’s a whole class of morons sitting there. Every single one of them, their faces are distorted. I ask: “What is this?” The teachers answer: “These are the children of a drunken night. Our whole village is drunk, they conceive children through drunkenness, and these are the children.” And children, indeed, bear the cross for their parents. The first way to cripple a child is to be in a drunken stupor at the moment of conception, in general in sins, in an unrepentant state.

From my pastoral experience I can say: many young men and women engage in self-satisfaction. And medicine incites them: you will have a hormonal disorder if you do not have sexual intercourse. And this is a grave sin: the Holy Scripture says that the malakis will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The sin of fornication affects mental abilities, the mind changes, a person ceases to think: “For exercise in wickedness darkens what is good, and the excitement of lust corrupts a gentle mind” (Wis. 4:12).

Let us listen to what Paisius of Athos says about sexual attraction: “God “do all good things.” A man feels a natural attraction to a woman, and a woman to a man. If it weren’t for this urge, no one would ever decide to start a family. People would think about the difficulties that subsequently await them in the family and are associated with raising children and other family matters, and therefore would not dare to get married.

Spouses are obliged to strive for abstinence so as not to pass on carnal passion to their children. If parents are distinguished by very carnal wisdom, then their child from a young age has similar inclinations.

...At first, like all passions inherited from parents, carnal wisdom is still soft, gentle, like young nettles that do not burn, and you can easily take hold of its leaves. But when it grows up, its leaves begin to burn.” That is, unchastity is passed on to children.

It often happens that the child’s problems are related to the fact that he was conceived on the eve of Wednesday or Friday. A child conceived during fasting may be born sick - physically, mentally, a moron, a freak. Weddings during Lent are generally a challenge to God. Conversely, I know parishes where dozens of children celebrate their birthdays on the same day or in the same month. That is, Great Lent has ended, Bright Week, Radonitsa, has passed, and after prayer, future parents conceive children. They fasted, prayed, wanted this child, and God gives what they ask for.

We also invite all our readers to perceive conceiving a child as a gift from God. God gave attraction for the continuation of the human race - this is its original purpose. Therefore, before conceiving a child, it would be good to fast, pray, and sigh to the Lord. You can serve a prayer service - not all doctors decide.

Well, all these copulations outside of marriage and cohabitation lead to the destruction of the grace of an entire family, depriving the blessing of God not only the people themselves, but also their children, grandchildren, etc. If only people understood this...

Of course, it is difficult not to be crazy in a madhouse, but still the Lord protects His own. And if we turn to Him, He will help.

I know one monk, he is now a metropolitan. In his youth he was very handsome, and the cathedral in which he served was located in a park where a disco was held. The girls came in droves to look at the handsome young man who served as a subdeacon. And they had a competition or argument - whoever seduces him first will break chastity. It got to the point that he changed into women's clothes, wrapped himself up and entered the cathedral like a girl. “And they,” he says, “didn’t notice me.” And he resisted. And there have always been many such people in our country. One German doctor wrote a report to Hitler, asking him to stop the war against the USSR, because, in his words, “a country in which there are so many virgins is invincible.”

People who are godly to God will remain vessels of His Grace. And this grace is passed on to the entire family.

Hegumen Cyprian (Yashchenko)

Source: Pokrov Magazine

September 17, 2021

The link is provided on the page:

Elder Kirill did not talk about love, but showed love

Hegumen Cyprian (Yashchenko) about the life of the late Elder Kirill

On February 20, at the 98th year of his life, the great man, confessor of the three Most Holiness Patriarchs, Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) reposed. On February 23, hundreds of believers who sincerely loved and trusted the elder came to see him off on his final journey.

Elder Kirill came from a believing peasant family; in his youth he worked at a metallurgical plant, and then participated in the Great Patriotic War, including in the historical defense of Stalingrad. It was then that he turned to faith.

Abbot Cyprian (Yashchenko) shared his memories of the deceased archimandrite in the “Our Point of View” program. He noted that Elder Kirill not only knew the Gospel, but also fulfilled it. The archimandrite did not talk about love, but showed it.

He not only knew the Gospel, he fulfilled it

Constantinople: Did you know Archimandrite Kirill well? How do you remember him?

Hegumen Cyprian: A meek old man. A man whose mind lay in the Gospel. He not only knew the Gospel perfectly (perhaps the text that he acquired during the war).

But the main thing is that you rarely see it now - he performed it. He fulfilled it in his words, in his deeds, in his motives - every day.

I witnessed that many people often came to him with perplexed questions and did not know what to do. How to choose the right decision in our difficult life, and which path to take. And he often answered with Gospel words. And the man came out with relief - although he himself knew these Gospel words, he could not apply them specifically to this case.

Of course, Elder Kirill was a very reliable support for all of us, the brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. And we all know that when he was even absent, we were in anticipation. And when he came, we usually came to him with a whole list of such questions. An amazing property: while you were standing, waiting, approaching him, many questions were resolved by themselves. There was some amazing connection.

Hegumen Cyprian (Yashchenko). Photo: Tsargrad TV channel

Non-directive leader and continuer of the patristic tradition:

And, of course, Father Kirill remains in our memory, speaking in modern language, as a very non-directive leader. He never demanded anything, never. It was difficult for him to say “do as I tell you!”

He always gave advice. He even had such a “Kirillov trap”. Often, when you ask: “Father, what should I do?” He says: “What do you think?” And I myself succumbed to this trap for several years. I say: “Father, I think this is how it should be!” He replies: “Well, that’s good, do so!”

And then the brothers told me how to ask him: “Father, not what I think, but how will you bless?” And when I started asking him this question, he began to really think about it. And he says: “Let’s pray, let’s think!” Sometimes the questions were difficult, and he said: “Let us pray with you throughout Lent! You will pray, I will pray, and may God reveal it to us!”

He loved all people

This was truly the successor of our patristic tradition. Father Kirill radiated great love for people. He loved all people. He is like Elder Seraphim of Sarov, perhaps: he did not utter the words “my joy, Christ is Risen!”, but when they entered his cell, he always greeted him with such joy, hugged, supported... And such joy radiated from him that always, when came from Father Kirill, there was very joyful inspiration. There were even times when I didn’t have time to ask any questions; just being with the priest was very inspiring.

Spiritual victories greater than at Stalingrad

Constantinople: Father Cyprian, Archimandrite Kirill went through the Great Patriotic War. How did he remember those tragic events in conversations, what did he tell you about?

Hegumen Cyprian: Father Kirill did not really want to touch on this topic. He rarely touched her. But among our own people there are still quite clear facts: they discovered that it was precisely that Pavlov and that Sergeant Pavlov who defended Pavlov’s House, which still stands in Stalingrad. And the Hero of the Soviet Union award found him in 1992. This is the heroism that he showed, that miracle...

Constantinople: But he was incredibly modest and didn’t talk about it?

Father Cyprian: He didn’t like to talk about it, yes. And his front line really was already spiritual. And, of course, on the spiritual front he won no less, but even greater victories than at Stalingrad. He truly was a man of prayer, a man of prayer for our Fatherland. Many believe that this was one of the last holdouts. He often said: “You and I are all hanging by the same thread.”

Tsargrad: You wrote about this in your materials. “The whole world hangs by one thread,” said Archimandrite Kirill. What is he talking about?

Father Cyprian: He said that this thread is the Russian Orthodox Church. If something happens to the Church, to our Orthodox tradition, then everything will collapse. Both Russia and the whole world will collapse. And it's holding. And he was one of those who kept the Church from shocks, from schisms, from many discords and different theological opinions and movements...

Constantinople: What incident or what conversation do you remember first when talking about Archimandrite Kirill?

Father Cyprian: He had such meekness, it was difficult to quarrel with the priest. When things reached a dead end with the priest, he gave in.

I will give you a case: once a fairly high-ranking official really needed the support of Father Kirill. It was easy to come to an agreement with Father Kirill; he never refused anyone and accepted them in Peredelkino. Although there was a strict access control regime. And when I agreed that this official would come, he somehow unexpectedly was delayed at a meeting in the Kremlin and could not arrive on time. And the priest had already received quite a lot of people, and the cell attendant said: “Father, you are already overtired, you can’t receive anyone anymore.” And when this official arrived, she forbade him, saying: “No, father, I do not allow you to receive this official!” And he, the cell attendant who was actually assigned to serve him like a child, began to beg her. He says: “Listen, dear, come on, the last person, that’s it! Only the last visitor!” She says: “No, father, your heart will be bad, you are not healthy, I forbid you!” And no matter how he begged her or begged her, nothing worked. Then he spread his hands and said: “Well, Father Cyprian, you see, we’re not succeeding this time! Let's wait!"

Indeed, maybe the person was hurt, maybe that was the case, but we don’t know all the consequences of the fact that this meeting did not take place. But there was no conflict. In this case, perhaps, the peculiarity of Father Kirill is reflected, who could solve both large and small issues in a non-conflict way.

He didn't talk about love, but showed this love

Tsargrad: Very often in your publications, when you write about Archimandrite Kirill, the word “love” appears: love for people, love for nature, love for music, love for singing. This is not a coincidence, is it?

Father Cyprian: Of course, Father taught us a lesson. Nowadays there are a lot of people who talk about love. About different loves. And the priest taught us a lesson about this love. He really didn’t talk about love, but showed this love. His every word, his every action was that love.

Let’s say he gathered to read the Gospel and read prayers after the meal. That is, he took it and read it. And everyone read it. He showed that we need to pray. He didn’t say “we must pray,” he took it and prayed. And we all joined and prayed with him.

When he came from vacation, he gave us all gifts, southern delicacies, fruits. He showed what should be given. Several times I wanted to give Father Kirill something. You come, and there are fruits on his table. And they somehow lie there, it seemed to me, carelessly. And I wanted to give him a vase in which these fruits would lie, in my opinion, very beautifully. And I once brought him a vase, so beautiful, crystal, and gave it to him, taking advantage of the occasion - his birthday. And he, having accepted this vase, was stunned and said: “Is this a vase for me?” I say: “Father, this is for you!” “Does she belong to me? Can I use it any way I want?” I say: “Of course, father!” And he gave it to the first visitor he came across. Moreover, I tried once again to give another vase, this time more modestly, and it ended in the same way.

As I understand it, he doesn't need it. He didn’t need some things, and he lovingly gave them to others.

Constantinople: Did Archimandrite Kirill have a colossal influence on the Patriarchs?

Hegumen Cyprian: Yes, absolutely. There are many cases, and I myself know what he advised. There were cases when the opinion of the Patriarch and the opinion of Father Kirill did not always coincide. And, by the way, for many ordinary people the authority of Father Kirill was even higher. But he never used it, did not oppose it, did not oppose it. And the priest always said very delicately: “You yourself can do as you think, but it would be better not to do so.” There was always such delicacy.

And love showed through even in difficult issues. Of course, we are now talking about the fact that Father Kirill passed away to the Lord, but we perceive this as a birthday. Every person has three birthdays. The day he came out of his mother's womb, the second time we are spiritually baptized, and the third time a person is born into eternal life. Now the soul of Father Kirill has separated from his body. Father was in seclusion for many years; he had long wanted to be in seclusion and pray. And the Lord arranged it for him - recently he was in such a state that there were few visitors, and he could pray.

And now, one might say, we are still celebrating and celebrating the birthday of Father Kirill (Pavlov) into eternal life...

And we both had communication with him and will continue to communicate with him. In all our joys and sorrows.

No. 37 (982) / October 1 '18

Conversations with the priest

In this topic:

Conversations with the priest

Archimandrite Savva (Majuko): Sacrifice to God and sacrifice to one's neighbor

Conversations with the priest

Archpriest Alexander Diaghilev: School and family

Today we would like to introduce you to an amazing person, a saint of our time - Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets. There are many stories about him, films have been made, etc., but there is also a lot that we don’t know about him and which we will try to figure out in our today’s program.

First of all, it is interesting to know why you devoted many of your works and a lot of personal time to this saint?

– Paisiy Svyatogorets is worthy of this. My acquaintance with him began when we were traveling around Mount Athos, but I personally did not manage to communicate with him. We came to Panaguda's cell, but at one time he was sick and at another he was absent. When books about Paisius the Holy Mountain began to be published, they struck me with the fact that they contained very deep practical theology, written in direct language, with examples and without heavy theological terminology. We can say that this is always a thesis and an example. A simple example from my life that explains the essence of the matter. This is a rather unexpected spiritual experience of helping people, of enormous sacrifice.

One can give an example that is striking and reveals the characteristics of Paisius the Holy Mountain. One day he began to repair his cell. There were novices, but he did everything with his own hands, moreover, at his own expense, and not those who donated. So he was mixing concrete to repair the foundation of a dilapidated building, but when a visitor came, he left everything, started talking to him... The solution hardened, he removed it, mixed the next one... Again the visitor came, the elder again left the solution, and again he had to remove it. His cell attendants were surprised: Father, let the visitor sit and wait until the concrete hardens. And suddenly the elder said sharply: “Go to hell with this concrete, man is much more important.” This is his characteristic approach to all people, to all their suffering. It’s not often that you come across such sacrificial Christians...

Elder Paisios said that a person should be looked at as a saint. This is an example for all of us, because we sometimes treat each other with prejudice, with contempt and condemnation, and, moreover, assessing whether it is worth communicating or not.

You visited Athos during the life of Elder Paisius, although you did not find him, you read works about him. What happened then that you have so many things to do with this saint?

– The works amazed me, I began to imitate Paisius, one might say, through his works - I tried to structure my sermons in the same way.

Once I met on Mount Athos with one of the disciples of St. Paisius the Holy Mountain; we were then implementing a large, comprehensive spiritual program, and he became acquainted with it. I was very embarrassed that I, a monk, was engaged in such large-scale projects that it distracted me from prayer. Previously, I had a confessor - Father Kirill (Pavlov), and I did everything with his blessing. But then the priest was already in weakness, and I was very embarrassed by my activities, and I decided to take such a blessing from the Athonite elder. I asked a question, and he was silent for an unexpectedly long time, pulling his rosary for half an hour. I thought that I must have said something ridiculous that he didn’t even know how to respond to. And suddenly he said that shortly before his death, Father Paisius gathered his spiritual fathers and disciples close to him and said: “You must now devote all your strength to helping and saving young people, bringing them to the Church. So that the laity can do this too. To do this, we must use all means, even all technical achievements, without being embarrassed at all, just to bring people to God.” His attitude was: “Speak their language, lower yourself to them. Be clear to them, take a form that is clear to them.” This was the second feature of Paisius - he spoke the language of the person who came to him. And this elder told me: “Several years have passed since Paisius left us, and to this day we are thinking about how we should do this. And the projects that you are implementing are exactly what he was talking about.”

Was this the 90s? What were these projects?

– We launched a project such as the “Radiant Angel” film festival (“Good cinema returns!”). Also a project on Christmas readings, some kind of cathedral discussion. We had a lot of construction workshops. We have opened Higher Theological Courses for the laity at the Moscow Theological Academy.

We started conducting expeditions for young people, that is, we tried to talk about things that might be of interest to them. The basis should be an activity that is interesting and understandable to people, and the missionary or educational effect itself is achieved through the believer who organizes and embodies it.

And so they liked this idea, and they sent me to another elder, who was already living as a hermit and caring for the parish of Paisius the Holy Mountain. Despite the long queues, I got to him, he asked me to tell him how we do all this, and suddenly he interrupted me and made the following conclusion: “Father Cyprian, you should make a film about St. Paisius the Holy Mountain.” I, of course, objected: “I’m actually a monk, not a director, not a screenwriter, not a producer.” But he was very confident, crossed me, said: “God bless. You do film festivals, find good filmmakers and make a good film. Millions of people will be saved through him.” I still tried to resist, saying: “This is your Greek saint...”. “Why should we, Russians, make a film about your Greek saint?”

And suddenly he told me words with which I largely agree: “The Greeks are in many ways very big nationalists, and the Russians are probably the only people in the world who think universally.” It was difficult for me to imagine that one could hear such a thing from a Greek elder.

Paisius himself is a universal personality; in many countries of the world he is truly one of the most revered saints. There is not even any organization that would educate about Paisia.

I also asked the elder’s student a question about how many episodes should be filmed. He thought, looked at the sky and said: “Take it while the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart.” I ask: “Well, can there still be some kind of limit in the number of episodes?” He sighed and said: “Well, no more than a hundred.”

Now seven have been released, but in total we have already filmed twelve. Of course, there is a promising thematic plan, but there are certain difficulties. We would like to make thematic films: “How to create a strong family” (in Paisiy’s opinion, because it is simple, modern, unexpected).

Father, if Paisius the Holy Mountain were not in your life, what would you do, how would you build your life, because this has become the work of your life?

– Especially for the last five years, we have been making films, doing expeditions, and we have constant communication with people. They even began to call me a “Paisievist.” I guess I really immersed myself in this topic.

Why? I could name several reasons. First of all, as a teacher, I do not even agree with our church pedagogy. In pedagogy, one of the most important concepts is the ideal on the basis of which a child is raised. What an ideal, such a child. If the ideal is set incorrectly, then the same imitation will occur.

We recently arrived at a secular camp and asked the children: “What films do you like?” Half of them said horror films, the other – films with murders and violence. And one child said that he loves comedy films, but at least this is something. These are their ideals, and then they end up in prison. After these films they are possessed.

Of course, we have such a missionary move - here are the great, famous athletes, actors who are on the covers of magazines, in television and radio programs. Such a connection is often assumed - you see, such an outstanding person, revered by everyone, is also Orthodox. That's probably good. I even took this calmly, but then people from the artistic community began to tell me many times: “Why does the Church present people who are very sinful as ideals? Do you know that this person is of the wrong orientation, is involved in really very serious sins, and you show him as a hero?” These are rockers and other people whose lives are not impeccable in moral terms, not to mention in Christian terms. Maybe for people who are completely down, this is also some kind of temporary lifesaver.

It is clear that it is difficult to imitate a saint, but all the lives of saints, all pedagogy, are built on this. Of course, this is difficult, but perhaps we need to be creative in how we can unobtrusively and gently make a person want to get acquainted with the life of a holy person. This thought, one might say, was always central to me. Paisius differs from the ancient saints in that he lived in our time.

Many managed to see him alive.

– We come to his homeland, the whole city knows him. We come to Athos, in almost every monastery they know him, have seen him, have good impressions of him, his teachings.

And so we were blessed to make this film. It seemed to me a great exaggeration that millions would be saved. Well, how can millions be saved through a film? Of course, the merits of the film are debatable, but the seven episodes that are now freely available on YouTube are watched, that’s for sure, and re-watched by many. The Greeks were the first to come up and say (we translated the film into Greek): “We watched the film about Paisius and felt the grace that we felt when we left his cell.” It was amazing: how can a film convey grace? Of course, not the film itself, but Paisiy, who was present in it. Probably, a prayer connection arose.

Then, after the film, the Monk Paisius actually appeared in the families and corrected something. Some even say that they saw him as if physically.

Unfortunately, it so happened that the Athonite elders refused to appear in films, they say this: film me below my beard. Many people don't want to act. And the director submitted his resignation: “I won’t film something like that.” I had to agree that I was sitting, re-reading the life, a new page opened - and we were reconstructing this life. Thus, I got into the frame, and it turned out that I became a recognizable person. People come up and start talking to me as Paisius, they start telling stories: we turned to Paisius, he helped us. I realized that it would probably be penance for the rest of my life to stand and listen to people. I have to travel around the world, and the British, the French, the Romanians, the Bulgarians, the Serbs, who greatly revere Elder Paisius, come to me.

Even more interesting things. Recently I was on Mount Athos, in Kutlumush and two other monasteries. Monks came up to me and said: we watched your film, left everything, came to Mount Athos and became a monk. It's hard to even understand why. Apparently, Paisiy called them that way. They watched the film and said to themselves: “Why are we wasting the time of our lives? What nonsense are we doing!”

You spoke about the Athonite elders. Who are they? Perhaps one of them will also be a saint. How do you meet them?

– We just organized such an expedition - we went to Mount Athos with students from various secular and religious universities and set ourselves the task of reconstructing the life of St. Paisius, living in the places where he lived. To reconstruct not so much externally (how he ate and prayed, of course, it is impossible to engage in such asceticism), but most of all to try to at least somehow imitate his virtues.

For example, Paisius had such a peculiar virtue - he argued that every person should be a “factory of good thoughts.” The factory produces. That is, our goal is to produce as many good thoughts as possible every day.

Whatever we think about, even bad things, we need to reformat it into a good thought.

A whole area of ​​such intentions and thoughts is opening up that are not aimed at condemning the government or some kind of global conspiracies. The most destructive energy is precisely the energy of anger, condemnation, and sadness. What are we doing? We destroy ourselves and others.

If we take the biblical story, the same Job, they generally lost everything and at the same time created good thoughts. This is the teaching of Tikhon of Zadonsk “A spiritual treasure collected from the world” - constantly remembering God, constantly standing before Him, perceiving all circumstances from the point of view of the fact that God is involved in them. They said to one saint: “How can you, a reasonable person, seriously think that a whale swallowed Jonah?” And he replied: “Yes, if it were written in the Holy Scriptures that Jonah swallowed a whale, I would believe it too.” Such trust in God, such standing before Him and perception of all people and all one’s actions through this.

As for the elders... Indeed, there are such on Mount Athos, there are disciples of St. Paisius. By the way, we could even provide your TV channel with quite serious conversations between our students and Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogeia (for example, the conversation “On Joyful Lamentation”).

This is exactly the position of Paisius - real joy occurs only on the basis of genuine repentance, complete compassion. How Paisius practiced this (after all, it was his life, his skill) was just told by Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogeia. We have such a virtue - live joyfully, rejoice.

Of course, not causeless joy, but hard-won joy. Metropolitan Nicholas revealed the subtleties. And these questions were necessary for the guys, because they themselves are trying to do this. It turns out that living the way Paisiy lived is very difficult.

In order to accept the tradition, one must, of course, sit “at the feet of Gamaliel.” Do this not according to books, but in living together with the elder.

Christ also had only twelve apostles. We shouldn't do this en masse. It will be good if these guys turn out to be youth leaders strong in faith. Or they may become confessors for our Russia; there will be someone to follow as an example. The main thing is that we launch the ideals of those people who strive to live a holy life.

The Monk Paisius had the following criterion: if you are offended, but you are not offended, then you are not far from a holy life.

Some simple things really...

- What do we say? This man goes to church every day, he has such prayer rules in the morning and evening, he often takes communion, he has such a confessor... That is, we often take purely external things and say that this is a person of high spiritual life. And they touched him with a finger, he gets so irritated, so angry, so condemning!.. And where are the indicators of a holy life?

Paisiy just looked at a person by behavioral aspects - by how he lives, and everything else is means. Of course, we do not deny them, but whether these funds are directed there is the question.

Why is Paisiy Svyatogorets important to us? He himself said that the Lord and the Mother of God gave him a “spiritual television.” He didn't use it often, but he did. There are many descriptions and testimonies that I have received from word of mouth. He could pray for a person, and his whole life was revealed to him from birth to death. For example, he even told Metropolitan Neophytos from Cyprus what kind of death he would die. He would have come to Athos as a young man, a law student, and Elder Paisios told him: “You will be a bishop in Cyprus.” - Yes, I barely go to church. - No no…

And he told him all the main events of his life.

Some people could not perceive or understand Elder Paisius. Despite the fact that they were in a circle of other people, they were shown that when Paisius prays, he rises above the ground and a strong glow comes from him. And there were people nearby who saw him just standing there. There are a huge number of such cases.

Serious, ascetic monks really don’t like to tell, but they still say that Paisius could be in two or three places at the same time: be on Mount Athos and at the same time talk in Greece and appear in Australia. These are not tricks, but this is really life. Out of necessity, he appeared to those whom he helped.

Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) even wrote an entire book where he compared Seraphim of Sarov and Paisius the Holy Mountain; he found more than thirty similarities. In terms of spiritual significance for the world, perhaps we have not yet fully revealed everything, but in terms of his significance for the world, the Monk Paisius is the second Seraphim of Sarov. Of course, television loves to use the theme that almost all events before the Second Coming of Christ were revealed to St. Paisius and how all this will happen. He clearly saw them, and there were cases when, if necessary, he opened them, and not allegorically, but very clearly.

There is such a common name for him in the foreign press that he is “Orthodox Nostradamus,” that is, a prophet. Hierotheos (Vlahos) also describes him as a modern prophet who prophesied, inspired, and led the people. Why is it valuable? Paisius, unlike such saints as Basil the Great and John the Baptist, of course, was connected with our problems, he knew what the Internet and drugs were, he knew all the challenges of our time. And he had ways to overcome temptations in the modern world. Therefore, he is very valuable to us; there are very few such saints.

The Russian people love and honor Paisiy, live with him, and Paisiy helps many people a lot. For example, one of Paisius’s deepest convictions was this: he said: “It would be nice for you to change your friends.” We all have friends with whom we communicate in confidence and who help us. And he offered to include holy people in his circle of friends. When it is difficult or joyful, communicate with these holy people. He argued: if you associate with holy people like this, they will chase you and help you ten times more than all your living friends put together.

What kind of holy people are these? Real?

- Either the Heavenly Patron, or St. Nicholas, another saint. He recommended treating the saint as a friend. As we are friends, so be friends here. And indeed, such friendship with a saint usually changes your whole life.

Please tell us briefly how to get to you to actively participate in your project. You said that not only seminarians and students from Orthodox universities can come to you, but also from secular ones.

– If it’s organized, then we have an address on the Internet – https://vk.com/gerontas_paisios.

In principle, everything can be found out through open sources on the Internet.

– We work more with university youth, and if it is a university, then the guys who went on expeditions can come to your university, show a presentation, tell everything.

To any university in Moscow?

– We can even travel around the country. Here is a living participant who tried to live like Paisiy, tried to make friends with him and what came of it... Indeed, this is a whole story - how the guys changed.

The second way is to contact us. In October we will have an educational project “Factory of Good Thoughts”. And those who pass through the factory become candidates for the next expedition - the “Paisius rally”. We assume that this will be an international expedition with the participation of youth from fifteen Local Churches and that the final result will be such a life with an elder...

Father Cyprian, I thank you for taking the time to come to us. Thank you so much for today's conversation.

– Thank you too for this opportunity. I think it will be beneficial because many of those who are listening to us today will discover Paisius and through him they will strengthen their faith and make their life with God more solid.

Recorded by: Ksenia Sosnovskaya

You can view or listen to the full version of the program on the website of the Soyuz TV channel.

In other rooms:

“Yes, it was death. I died - I woke up. Yes, death is awakening.” Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace"

The best time to prepare for death is the hour when we go to bed. This is a rehearsal for death.

Many people say: they don’t have the strength to read the evening rule. It turns out that all your life (all day) you are training to move away from this life - and you leave without prayer. But you need, overcoming yourself, to remember the whole day, repent of your sins, thank the Lord, ask him: “Into your hands, Lord Jesus Christ, my God, I commend my spirit. You bless me, you have mercy on me and grant me eternal life,” this is a prayer for the outcome of the soul. Indeed, every night the soul leaves the body, and then - in the morning - it returns. This is a temporary death that we face daily.

An intelligent woman once asked me: “Well, what is Orthodoxy? Whether it's the theory of reincarnation. There the soul can fly, then return to the body again - that’s a new life. I answer: “So we have reincarnation every day.” - "Like this?" “In the morning the soul returned to the body - here is a new life. Every day, start living with a clean slate.” I tried to explain it in her language.

Go to Christ and rejoice with Him

Do you think death is scary or not scary? How did the holy fathers perceive death?

- Like a celebration.

– When Saint Paisius the Svyatogorets was informed that he had cancer in one of the worst forms, he asked: “Bring me some kind of handkerchief, and I’ll start dancing!” I will dance the dance “Be healthy, goodbye to this unfortunate world!.. I have never danced once in my life, but now I’m starting to dance for joy that death is approaching.”

“If Christ lives in a person, then death is a joy for him... When a person rejoices in death, in the good sense of the word, then death leaves him and comes to some coward! If you want to die, you don’t die,” writes Saint Paisius the Svyatogorets.

“...The good God arranges it so that a person dies when he becomes mature. But whatever you say, a spiritual person, whether young or old, should rejoice in the fact that he lives, and rejoice in the fact that he is about to die. Just don’t try to achieve death yourself, because that would be suicide.

For a person who has died to the world and has been spiritually resurrected, there is no anxiety, fear or worry at all regarding death, because he awaits death with joy. This happens because he will go to Christ and rejoice next to Him. But even being in this life, he also rejoices, because in this life he, too, is with Christ and feels part of the joy of heaven while still living on earth,” writes Saint Paisius. Was death a holiday for all the holy fathers?

- Not everyone.

– Look in the Lives of what many martyrs and righteous people said before their death? “I don’t know if I have made the beginning of repentance”; “I’m scared, pray for me...” These are the words of the greatest righteous people.

“In all your deeds remember your end, and you will never sin” (Sir. 7:39).

Previously, in communal monasteries, one of the monks was given the obedience to remind other fathers of death. When the monks were busy with their affairs, this monk approached them and said to everyone: “Brothers, we have to die.”

Yes, remember every day that you can fall asleep and not wake up. I sometimes stand in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra at the shrine of St. Sergius, people come up and say: “The man fell asleep and did not wake up.” No illnesses, no misadventures - the soul left the body and did not return. Reincarnation did not occur.

When does the Lord take a person? When he has already reached his perfection and God sees that he will not get better. That's when death comes.

“God takes each person at the most appropriate moment of his life, takes him in a special way, suitable only for him - so as to save his soul. If God sees that a person will become better, He lets him live. However, seeing that the person will become worse, He takes him away to save him.

And others - those who lead a sinful life, but have the disposition to do good, He takes to Himself before they have time to do this good. God does this because He knows that these people would do good if given the opportunity to do so. That is, God is the same as saying to them: “Don’t work: the good disposition that you have is enough.”

- Father, why do children die?

“When a baby dies,” writes Saint Paisius, “Christ takes him to Himself, like a little Angel, and his parents weep and beat their chests, when they should rejoice. After all, how do they know what he would have become when he grew up?

– There are several categories of people, including suicides and unbaptized people, for whom the Church does not pray. Does this mean they are eternally condemned?

– The Church does not pray for people who commit suicide without being mentally ill, just as it does not pray for dead heretics. The Church leaves these people to the judgment and mercy of God. But we don’t know why they committed suicide or what state they were in at the last moment of their lives.

Saint Paisius writes: “I heard a story about a girl who lived in a village and went to herd a goat. She was tying a goat in the meadow, and she was playing nearby. One day, when she was playing, the goat got loose and ran away. The girl began to look for her, but did not find her and returned home without the goat. Her father became terribly angry, beat her and kicked her out of the house. “Go look for the goat! - he said. “If you don’t find her, then you’d better hang yourself.” The unfortunate girl went to look for a goat. Night fell and she had not yet returned home. Her parents became worried, went to look for her and found her hanging from a tree. She made a noose on the rope to which the goat was tied and hanged herself. The unfortunate girl had curiosity and took her father’s words literally. She was buried behind the cemetery fence.

Of course, the Church did the right thing by burying her behind the church fence. The Church did this in order to slow down those who commit suicide over trifles. But Christ will do the right thing..."

The elderly are closer to death

We don't know when we will die. Tell us the date of the end of our torment here on earth - it is still unclear how we will behave. That's why it's hidden, it's a secret. This is how the Lord arranged it. But to some saints He revealed the time of their death. For example, the Mother of God appeared to St. Sergius with two apostles - Peter and John, and said that in 100 days he would go to the Lord. What did St. Sergius begin to do? He talked with the Most Holy Theotokos for more than an hour, asking what would happen to the monastery, how many monks there would be, who would take care of the monastery. Calmly, soberly: if I leave, it means I need to hand this matter over to someone. And the Mother of God made a promise that until the end of the century She would take care of everyone who lives in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and would become her Trustee. The monk asked: “How many monks will there be here?” - “As many as birds.”

Do you know how many birds are in the Lavra now? There are many - as many as there are monks who have already died, live and will still live here. And the next day, St. Sergius appointed Nikon as abbot of the monastery. He immediately resigned as abbess and went into seclusion: to pray, to purify his heart for a meeting with God. Here is an example of how a person can behave before death.

In old age, before going to God, people need to pray or even take monastic vows. This was a tradition in our Rus': the parents of St. Sergius - the Reverends Cyril and Maria, the holy noble princes Alexander Nevsky, Daniil of Moscow, took monastic vows before their death. It is not necessary, perhaps, to become a monk, but a person must take care of his soul.

“Our life,” writes Saint Paisius, “is wrapped in mortal flesh. This great secret is not easy to understand for those people who are made only of flesh and do not want to die, do not even want to hear about death. Death becomes double death and double grief for such people. But, fortunately, the Good God arranged everything so that at least older people benefit from some of the signs of old age that is approaching them. After all, older people are naturally closer to death than young people. Their hair turns gray, they no longer have the same vigor, their strength gradually leaves them, they begin to drool, and thus they humble themselves and are forced to philosophize about the vanity of this world. ...Have you seen how in villages, when the funeral bell rings, old people sitting in a coffee shop stand up, cross themselves and ask who died and when he was born? “Oh,” they say, “just look, our turn has come!” We will all leave this world!”

Divine Communion is a medicine

– It’s very difficult for a person to tell him that it’s all over.

- Why all? Just the beginning of everything.

If it is the will of God, if a person is given unction, given communion and prayed for, then perhaps he will live longer. And, by the way, how death occurs is also not indifferent, just as it is not indifferent in what environment a person is born. In what state, with or without prayer, the soul is separated from the body, where it ends up - in the intensive care unit or in a monastery - these are different things...

Suppose someone finds out that he has an incurable disease. The doctors abandoned the man; it is clear that he did not have much time left. Either he is rushing about, looking for some fantastic medicine, or he is humbly accepting the will of God - he is going to die anyway, so it is better to prepare for the outcome. Salvation does not depend on life expectancy, but on how we lived, what fruit we left on earth.

– And yet, if a person is dying, is near death, is it necessary to tell him the truth?

– Saint Paisius advises this: “It depends on what kind of person he is. Sometimes a person with cancer asks me: “What do you think, Geronda, will I survive or die? If you tell him that he is going to die, he will die right there, before your eyes, from frustration. If you don’t tell him about this, he becomes encouraged and treats his illness without fear.

Having “ripened”, the sick person takes on his own cross and finds the strength to overcome everything that happens to him afterwards. This means that he will be able to live a few more years, help his family, prepare for death himself, and also give the opportunity to prepare his relatives for this. Of course, I don’t tell such people that they will live a thousand years or that their illness is a trifle, but I tell them this: “It’s difficult to help you as a human being. Of course, nothing is impossible for God, but try to get yourself in order spiritually.”

“Heronda,” they asked the saint, “sometimes the relatives of a seriously ill person are afraid to give him communion, lest he begin to have thoughts that he will die.” “That is, what happens,” the monk replies, “that a person should die without Communion so that he does not understand that he is dying and does not get upset? Let the relatives of such a person tell him: “Divine Communion is a medicine. It will help you. It would be good for you to take communion.” Thus, a person receives communion, receives help and at the same time prepares for another life.”

Computer in heaven

Recently a boy came to me and asked: “Father, will there be a computer in heaven?” I say: “It won’t.” “What about Mercedes and other cars?” - “No, there will be no cars in heaven.” “Oh,” he says, “father, then I don’t want to go to heaven.” You see the situation we find ourselves in: how much the devil has replaced values, that technical means have become the main thing.

Some holy fathers gave an interesting interpretation of what hell is: this is a place where a person suffers from the fact that he cannot eat what he is used to here. The philosopher Victor Frank was thrown into the dungeons of Auschwitz during World War II. There, of course, there was a lot of abuse, and it was cold and hungry. But when asked what was the hardest thing he had to endure in Auschwitz, he replied: “That I couldn’t drink a cup of coffee in the morning.” We're all hooked. There will be no coffee in heaven. And there will be no chocolate. And ice cream. No drink, no snack... No supermarket. I ask smokers: how will you manage there? The Nativity Fast is coming soon - so try here to give up what you don’t need, this is a rehearsal for life in paradise. There you will definitely have to overcome torment, there is already spiritual life. And so we choose our own hell. Hell is torment without what we are accustomed to here.

- Father, what will happen in heaven? And how can you enjoy heavenly life, knowing, for example, that your close relative is suffering in hell? Will they see each other?

– Do you know how they do handicrafts in heaven? - Saint Paisius the Holy Mountain asked those who came. And he answered: with unceasing praise of God.

“...Imagine that there is a fire burning in the room at night. Those who stand on the street see those who are in this bright room. Likewise, those who will be in hell will see those who will be in heaven. And this will be even more torment for them. And imagine again: those who are in the light at night do not see those who stand on the street in the dark. Likewise, those in heaven will not see those in hell. After all, if those who are in paradise saw the tormented sinners, they would be in pain, they would grieve over their bitter fate and would not be able to enjoy paradise. But in heaven “there is illness”... Those who are in heaven will not only not see those who are in hell, they will not even remember whether they had a brother, or a father, or a mother, if they are not in heaven together with them. “On that day all his thoughts will perish” (Ps. 146:4), says the psalmist. After all, if those in paradise remember their relatives suffering in hell, then what kind of paradise will it be for them? And not only that: those who are in heaven will think that there are no other people (except those who are in heaven). They will also not remember the sins they committed in earthly life. If they remember their sins, then out of curiosity they will not be able to bear the thought that they have upset God.

It must also be said that the amount of joy that each person will experience in heaven will not be the same. One will have a thimble of joy, another will have a cup of joy, and the third will have a whole lake of joy. However, everyone will feel fulfilled, and no one will know how much joy, how much divine joy the other is experiencing. That is, everyone in heaven will see the glory of God in accordance with the purity of their spiritual eyes.”

Eternal values

Do you think there are values ​​that will be useful to us both in this life and after our death? Are there eternal values?

- Love.

- Love, right? Virtues are qualities that God possesses. And therefore they are supernatural; without God’s help their formation is impossible.

Neil of Sinai said: do not consider anything as equal to worthy virtue. Because she is the face of God, unchangeable, like Him. It is difficult to find something eternal and incorruptible in this world. And virtues are eternal. Why are saints, for example Paisius the Holy Mountain, canonized to the rank of saint? He became like God, the qualities that God has, acquired virtues that made him a relative of God.

Christian pedagogy is based on this. Why bother about something that does not last forever? And if we instill virtues in our children, they will be useful both in this life and in the next. And they will remain unchanged. As Neil of Sinai writes: “Virtue is a constant, a direction of perfection, making a person a vessel capable of receiving the Grace of God.”

“There is nothing,” they say, “to receive the Grace of God.” What is grace? The Divine energy, the Holy Spirit, which descends on us, gives us strength, can heal, and enlighten us. Only everyone is different: some are able to receive grace and become better because of it, while others cannot. The sun shines on both the righteous and the unrighteous, and the rain pours on everyone - in the same way the Lord gives grace to us all. But many are unable to perceive it. Why? There are no virtues. Virtue is our spiritual property that allows us to be akin to God and perceive his grace. <…> How was man created? His body was incorruptible, did not burn in fire, did not drown in water. The heart had to work forever. What is our motor resource? 70–80 years old. If we honor our parents, maybe the Lord will add another 10–20 years. What kind of mind did Adam have? He could understand the essence of things. And this knowledge, this mind was given by God. These were great gifts, but also fulfill the commandments. If you fulfill the commandments, you will live forever.

The Lord gives us Gospel grace more than Adam. And you and I can be higher than Adam. But the Lord will also ask us: how did you fulfill the commandments?

How will the Last Judgment take place?

“At the Last Judgment it will be instantly revealed in what state each person is. Every person will go to the place he deserves. Everyone, as on television, will see both their own lewdness and the spiritual state of the other. A person will look at his neighbor as if in a mirror and, bowing his head, will go to his place.” When Adam and Eve broke the commandments, God stopped communicating directly with them. This is what pedagogy is all about. A parent can do the same thing: “Here, stand here in the corner, when you decide, come over, we’ll talk to you. Or I’ll come back after some time.”

Where did heavenly pedagogy end? There is such an icon - “The Descent into Hell”: Christ descended into hell and brings out Adam and Eve. They had to ask for forgiveness for a long time: repent for 900 years, and then go to hell, nevertheless, the first whom the Lord returned to heaven were Adam and Eve.

Repentance is like a four-story house

If a commandment is broken, there must be repentance. What is repentance? Repentance is a four-story house. First of all, this is the awareness of one’s sin, the vision of one’s sin. The second is the experience when we feel sick and disgusted with the crap that I have done. When we experience this, and not just mentally realize that it is not good, then we are close to repentance. Next - the main thing - confession, confession of sin. And finally, bearing fruits worthy of repentance, that is, changing life. It is necessary to atone for sin with good deeds, thoughts, and virtues. This is where the end of repentance is.

What do you think is evidence or an indicator that God has forgiven us of sin?

– If I calmed down, it means God has forgiven.

- Absolutely right. If the sin is no longer repeated. If he doesn't bother us. If he doesn't bother us anymore. He is disgusting to us. We have become above this sin. Can he join us?

- Maybe through thoughts.

– Yes, and the demon, of course, will not calm down. But we can more or less easily distance ourselves from it with God’s help.

The Holy Fathers called fasting the foundation of all virtues. Because by fasting our mind is preserved in the necessary purity and sobriety, and our heart in the necessary subtlety and spirituality. And he who shakes the foundation of virtues shakes the creation of virtues. <…>

Help us, Lord, by the grace of God, to live to old age and have time to bring our souls to repentance.

“This is what I wish for us,” writes Saint Paisius, “if we go to heaven, then so to everyone, and if to hell, so to no one... It will be very ungrateful if, after all that God has done for us people, we end up in hellish torment and grieve Him. God forbid that not only a person goes to hell, but even a bird.”

Nurturing virtues

– Father Cyprian, on July 10, 2013 you turn 60 years old. How old do you feel?

– About 30–40 years...

– Why do you think one person at 18 feels like a 40-year-old, and another at 70 feels like a young man?

– The fact is that the human soul has no age. In fact, a person - whether small, middle-aged, or elderly - has that soul that stands above age. You can meet both a little old man and an elderly young man.

And yet, every age has its own juices. For example, a teenager strives to assert himself in society, in the world, to know who he is. But this process can take a long time, and sometimes a person asserts himself throughout his life. Or in adolescence, people usually search for the meaning of life, but not everyone finds it in their youth, and a person can be in search until the end of his days. His meaning of existence changes periodically, but he remains a youth in spirit. Just like preschool children who directly communicate with God: years pass, but the elders remain like babies - sincere, spontaneous, trusting, pure. And they can exist at this age for the rest of their lives.

Of course, there is biological age: the clock is ticking, physiologically the body ages. Each person has his own motor resource: “seventy years, if he can, eighty years,” as it is said in the Psalter, then – physiologically – he must end his earthly existence. True, there is a fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that good may come to you, and that you may live long on earth.” For respect for parents, the Lord prolongs a person’s life on earth. Indeed, you can meet centenarians of a hundred years or more. All of them amazingly respected their parents, elders, and superiors. And the Lord extended their life for this property and gave them such a reward. And vice versa, there are people who, for disrespect for their parents, are deprived of earthly happiness and shorten the days of their lives. You can even say this: any disrespect we have for our parents - both by blood and spiritual - shortens the days of our existence on earth. Our physiological resource has nothing to do with it. Doctors shrug their shoulders: it is unclear why one person in the prime of life dies, while another, seemingly decrepit and cannot exist, but continues to live. This just goes to show that not everything is determined by physiology and years. Our life is determined by the spirit. What is the spirit is such a soul, and this soul shines and manifests itself through the body. Looking at a photograph, we look not just at anatomical details, but try to understand what kind of spirit, what kind of soul looks through the portrait, through the gaze, through the movements.

When people tell me now that I am turning 60, it seems to me that they are talking about someone else. Of course, I’m not used to this, it sounds amazing to me. This is probably true for many people.

I have often been told that life is very fleeting and flies by unnoticed. And I thought: how can you not notice hours, hundreds of hours, months? How can this go unnoticed for several decades? But really, quite a lot goes unnoticed. And I would not say that life is not filled with events. Today in a day (the conversation takes place around midnight - Ed.) I counted 15 events, quite bright, important, impressive. Usually about a dozen events happen a day, life flows in this mode.

Some colleagues say: “Listen, it’s time to put on the brakes. It's time to live in a different rhythm. You can’t live so richly, you’re already old... You have to come to contemplation – of yourself, of the world around you.”

- And what do you answer?

“I also understand that maybe it’s time to move on to contemplation.” Or rather, I have been wanting to go to him for quite some time. Probably, every person is faced with a dilemma: either life seems boring and unfulfilling to him, or vice versa - he is fed up with the bustle, he needs to retire somewhere and relax. There are two natural states. On the one hand, there is a desire for new impressions or, at least, for an external change of place and activity, and on the other hand, on the contrary, the desire for seclusion: to sit at home, relax, look into oneself, be with God.

And of course, I remember when I became a monk, I thought: I’ll finally shut myself up in my cell, read a thousand Jesus prayers, and become, as described in the lives of the saints, a hermit monk who contemplates God. But, thank God, I had a confessor, our great elder Father Kirill (Pavlov), who said that if I shut myself up, I would completely perish: “Your obedience is to engage in educational activities in the Church.” I couldn’t understand this, I thought: “How can this be? Am I going to be sued like a monk – for prayers?” The elder gave me obedience, with which I did not really agree... But all my attempts to shut myself up and retire really showed that Father Kirill saw my character: active, lively, mobile. Within the framework of such “asceticism” you can have some pauses, but it was apparently impossible for me to change my lifestyle. And now it’s the same. I just can't stop. Maybe I would like to. Or rather, I try to stop every day, every evening...

- Father, how do you rest?

– Firstly, a change in activity is already a rest. In addition, I have an hour before bed that I devote to prayer and which gives me a lot. Sometimes you can find such an hour in the morning. Well, almost every day I try to serve. Liturgy is still a couple of hours...

- Recreation?

– In spiritual terms, this is rest. Certainly not relaxing...

“But in the physical sense, this is also colossal stress.

– Here, probably, it is no longer the laws of physics, but grace. I have a strong feeling that if I did not attend the liturgy, then it means that the day was lived in vain. And in general, it’s physically very difficult – at any age – to get through the day if you haven’t prayed or taken communion.

And here - you stand before God, and the soul comes into order, and passions subside, and vanity - external and internal - disappears. And often after the liturgy, when you are in a peaceful state, simple decisions come - what to do, how to act, how to fulfill your obediences.

I have to do a lot of creative, non-standard activities. And this is also a kind of incentive to turn to God. You ask: “Lord, give me understanding on what to do.” Maybe you have your own guesses, feelings - “it seems so to me.” But, as the holy fathers said, “don’t trust yourself.” It would be nice to receive some sign from God, to understand what God’s will is.

Indeed, the liturgy is an important time when you ask the Lord to bless you in your deeds, so that God’s will may be revealed through circumstances, through other people. At this moment, external activities and liturgical, spiritual activities are united. This does not mean that during the liturgy you think about some business. You simply ask: “Lord, You see everything, you know everything, do it in a way that is beneficial for my soul, and for people, and, perhaps, for our Fatherland.” Because some of our projects go beyond the boundaries of one parish and concern a large part of our people or children.

Christmas readings. Twenty years later - Father, you are doing an incredible number of things at the same time: serving, teaching, writing books, making films, publishing magazines. It’s quite difficult to even list your positions. You are the director of the program “Spiritual and moral education of the younger generation”,

With the rector of the Moscow Orthodox Theological Academy, Archbishop Evgeniy (Reshetnikov) of Vereisky.

During Holy Week of Great Lent, VBK students traditionally make pilgrimages to the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery. In the photo: the temple at the cemetery of the Diveyevo monastery.

“From birth, many children amaze with their angelic appearance, spontaneity, sincerity, and purity. It would be good to strengthen this in them, to give them the opportunity to demonstrate good qualities in acts of mercy and prayer. Seeing the eternal, the virtuous in a person is one of the main diagnostic properties of a teacher.”

Pilgrimage of VBK students to Italy. May 2013.

“The essence of the Christmas readings project was to unite the state and the Church in some kind of conciliar understanding of where we are, where we are moving, to try to establish a partnership.”

Head of the Pedagogical Office of the MPDA, First Vice-Rector of Higher Theological Courses at the Moscow Theological Academy, Editor-in-Chief of the Pokrov magazine, Rector of the Institute for Expertise of Educational Programs, etc. and so on. Is it possible, on the eve of your 60th birthday, to highlight, say, the three most important things or events in your life?

– Many, of course, have already forgotten, but the colleagues who worked with me and eyewitnesses still call me the founder of the Christmas readings. The idea of ​​the Readings was born in our dialogue with one official. The essence of this project was to unite the state and the Church, society in some kind of conciliar understanding of where we are, where we are moving, to try to establish partnerships and relationships of trust. This forum was born and has existed for 20 years; its teams and leaders have changed several times. His activities seem impossible to stop.

I am pleased that such a project is bearing fruit, although a little more than half of what we planned is being accomplished. There is not yet a single normal final document of the Readings, there are no plans for joint actions, no serious analytics - what is happening. There are very subjective reports that take certain events out of context, the significance of which is either exaggerated, or the facts do not have any serious assessments or grounds behind them.

A year has passed - it would be good to look back: what reflection, what happened? What didn't work out as planned? What fruits? In military terms: where is the enemy, where are ours, where is the front line? To win a battle, generals and staff members sit down, unfold the map, and develop directions of attack. If they are not clearly identified, it is impossible to win. And information is not taken from the head - there is reconnaissance, and an accurate assessment of forces, and reconnaissance.

So it is in spiritual battle. But we have only just made a diagnosis, established where we are, and then we need to collectively understand what to do. Proposals can be prepared before the start of the Readings in order to discuss them together at the council. Moreover, at the Readings there are people who can make management decisions at all levels: at the federal level, at the gubernatorial level, at the level of educational schools. We need to show positive examples, find out what models of problem solving exist.

It would be good if every Reading ended with some kind of joint program of action, in which every person and organization would understand where they are, what niche they occupy. A person should be clear who his neighbor is, with whom he may be competing, what they have in common, how he differs from other workers. In the meantime, this fog remains as it was, and no comprehension occurs. But when an action plan is not adopted, then it becomes a personal matter for everyone. Or even if such a plan is adopted, it is known only at the top, and no one knows what is happening below.

For example, one of my acquaintances, a priest, told me that a bishop recently gathered them and announced: “I give you a day, figure out how to work with young people.” They sat and discussed all day and... came up with nothing. Father said: “We,” he said, “left in bewilderment. No one has any positive experience working with young people.” Because, indeed, this is a very specific audience that is in some kind of protest or search. To work with it you need to find special forms. And find such charismatics who could work with young people.

I was recently in Cyprus. And I was amazed that in the city of Limassol, Metropolitan Athanasius communicates with young people on the radio five times a day. His last meeting takes place from 11 to 12 at night, and this is an hour of live broadcast. The bishop gives answers to the most tricky questions of young people. Such an amazing feat. A man sacrifices himself. Although he is a metropolitan, he does not necessarily have to speak on the radio. It’s like a governor, his job is to govern the diocese and ordain the priesthood. And the Metropolitan is very brave; for example, he is not shy about making comics for children. The generation is so young now, they have a completely fragmented, clip-like consciousness. They find it difficult to comprehend large texts. And so an interesting move is proposed: comics are not caricatures, but very pious, through them the essence of monastic life, the meaning of monasticism, and the foundations of faith are presented. I think that this would cause a lot of controversy among us, but, nevertheless, such schemes should be discussed by the council. What products should we release for young people, for the clip consciousness of children, for modern society?

Or another topic - various modern youth movements are a type of sect. The youth who visited there actually have to be resuscitated. They need rehabilitation, this is a whole process. How can you rehabilitate a child who, as they say, is hooked on a computer and has fallen into a severe information addiction?

It was assumed that the Christmas readings are a kind of multi-story building in which interesting practical and theoretical solutions can be found. People who have achieved something should be on the podium, they should be heard and seen by everyone else. The reports are made not by those who have some positions or personal favor with their superiors, as we have under socialism, but by those who actually did something this year. That was the point of the gathering: the country should know its heroes. They need to be seen, heard, and inspired by their example.

Nevertheless, somehow it gets done. At least people communicate on the sidelines. Maybe some don’t even go to official meetings, but for those who work in neighboring “trenches”, it is important to meet, listen to each other, and share experiences.

With God everything is possible. Only the first 20 years have passed since the beginning of the Readings. This is half the time of the Jews' journey on the way out of Egyptian captivity. Another 20 years will probably pass, and then the Christmas readings will enter the Promised Land.

Good movie is back

...The second thing, and here I may not be expressing my point of view so much as a public one, I am credited with becoming the founder of the Radiant Angel film festival. Good cinema is back." At one time I was really outraged that television showed films that corrupted people. The films that are shown in cinemas have an aura of the attractiveness of sin. And when I started talking to filmmakers to find out why this was happening, it turned out that even screenwriters base many of their stories on the conflict between one passion and another. Very often, a film is based on the motive of revenge. Someone killed someone, and someone else is chasing him and taking revenge. Or everything is built around love passion, when you need to master, take possession, conquer. One sin collides with another and everyone loses.

And I had a thought: can cinema be virtuous? Indeed, there is good, there is evil, good fights evil. And good can win. Or a person can win if he chooses between a lesser good and a greater one. Whatever he chooses, it is still useful for God, for him, and for people. They tell me: it’s impossible to watch, it’s not interesting. Well, how uninteresting is it? Although, in reality, a person is born with a fallen nature, which is more inclined to passions. And of course, when he is shown passion, the passion that lives in him resonates. And he becomes interested. But man is not an animal that exists only on the basis of animals and spiritual passions. He has both the beginnings of heaven and the beginnings of virtue. He can see another person living a blissful life, and this will become a motivating example for him, which will inspire him, turn his life around. Can a saint be the main character of a film? Holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, for example? Probably yes - an ideal, an example to which a person strives.

Thank God, the film “The Island” by Pavel Lungin appeared, in which there are no heavy passions. There, perhaps, passionate things are described at the very beginning. But then the man spends 30 years repenting for the sin of murder. He has been reading the Jesus Prayer for 30 years—virtually continuously. But now even 30 minutes is difficult for many to repent.

Of course, it is important to create films that are based on virtues, talk about a hero who strives for holiness, is blessed, beneficent, or at least a holy fool for Christ’s sake - like Father Anatoly in the film “The Island”. This, of course, is not an ideal to which everyone should strive. Because if everyone becomes, like Father Anatoly, holy fools, it will be difficult. But surprisingly, more than 70 million people watched the film, and many admitted that it was the best film they had ever seen. It turns out that we have a great people who have figured everything out. It turns out that cinema can be spiritual, moral and box office. And virtuous.

When kids enter our theological schools or seminaries, I ask: why are you coming here? And some said: we watched the film “The Island”. “What happened before that?” - “Before that, I wanted to enroll in economics, I went to preparatory courses.” What an incentive! This is necessary: ​​one film, an image, developed a person - professionally and ideologically! I ask: “What did you see there?” “And I,” he says, “realized that there is spiritual life. That God exists. And that you can devote your life to Him.”

God bless! You see, when a person is unobtrusively allowed to think about where he is, where he is going, why all this is happening, then all the moments of prestige - how I will look in society - all this husk, disappears. And when you die, where will your position in society, your well-being go? Will you say at the Last Judgment that you were a good entrepreneur? Made a lot of money - so what?

– You once told a parable: after death, a rich man goes to hell. “How is it possible,” he is indignant, “I restored churches, I invested so much money.” Then the Guardian Angel appears to him and says: “Don’t be afraid, I agreed with the apostles - the money will be returned to you...”

– In general, this is the most important question: for a person to one day feel himself in the face of Eternity. And he really made the right decision about where to go, what to do and what not to do. Is it worth the fuss and spending time on these activities? Is this pleasing to God or not? These are the most ontologically important questions...

And this year the Radiant Angel festival turns 10 years old. In time, this is a quarter of the way to the Promised Land.

– What else would you like to see at the festival?

– I am happy that more and more directors, screenwriters, producers are appearing who come and say: we made a film for your film festival. These are good films, about goodness. Moreover, this does not mean that the film is confessional, necessarily Orthodox, it is enough that this picture or re- ροή would be conducive to good. It would make you think: what is good and what is evil. And where am I? Of course, there are such fruits - the films “Pop”, “My Love”, many documentaries, animated films...