In the Orthodox Church, obedience is perceived as the fulfillment of a certain kind of orders. However, in order to understand this correctly, we must first carefully study what obedience is. And most importantly, what does it mean?
The very meaning of the word "obedience" denotes submission and obedience and consists of a certain duty or work that may be assigned to a monk or novice in a monastery. It can be performed in atonement for some sin or action, and then obedience and prayer are imposed. The meaning of the word "obedience" for ordinary people is that it is a position based on the belief that there is a certain order of position, which consists in the subordination of the lower rank to the higher one.
Parental obedience
If we talk about obedience in the family, then we immediately want to figure out who is obedient to whom: parents to children or children to parents? When a child is born, he has obedient parents who raise him and at the same time constantly care for him. When a child grows up, parents begin to listen to him and want to know what is in his heart, what thoughts are in his head and how he lives. This hearing of another person is called obedience. Parents are always obedient to their children, and over time, children will most naturally be obedient to their parents.
What does obedience mean?
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Theologians note that obedience is, in a sense, a creative process that each person must go through independently. His spiritual mentor can point out certain guidelines, but how to use these instructions depends on the Christian himself.
For this reason, obedience is divided into right and wrong. Correct obedience is spoken of when a person clearly understands what exactly the mentor wants from him. Moreover, he follows all the recommendations exactly and lives up to the expectations placed on him.
If the instructions are taken too literally and there is a lack of common sense and initiative, then such obedience is incorrect. For example, zealously believing parents bring their newborns to confess and receive communion during the service on Easter night. This is an absurd and unnecessary zeal. You shouldn’t disturb a baby at that age at night, when he still has no sins.
This is a purely formal approach to the issue of obedience. Moreover, often such a person, if he is entrusted with something truly useful, but requires some effort, will find a lot of reasons not to do it.
Obedience to the spiritual father
The same thing happens in spiritual practice. Just as a doctor listens to his patient through a phonendoscope, so a confessor listens to the person who comes to him. Then the doctor prescribes treatment for the patient and is in his obedience. Then what is spiritual obedience? It turns out that the priest is also in obedience to his spiritual child, and when he understands all his problems, he begins to give useful advice. This is how mutual obedience occurs. Moreover, it is a mistake to think that only through a spiritual elder can the will of God be known. A person who has inner humility will always ask for admonition, and then the Lord will definitely hear and lead him to His will.
Why do they say that the Almighty is in obedience to man?
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Another fundamentally incorrect perception of obedience is to consider it any orders that are given in the church. If we are talking about relations between priests of different ranks, then they can be formalized in the form of circular letters. But this does not change at all the fact that all this is very far from true obedience.
The Orthodox Church declares that God himself is in obedience to man. This is actually true, because the Almighty constantly listens and hears us. If you know how to turn to the Lord with prayers, lead a righteous and decent life, then you will definitely be able to receive an answer to your every request and appeal. Therefore it is said that God is in obedience to man.
God's will
We often say the prayer words “Thy will be done...”. Thus we ask that God's will be done. But do we really want this? After all, the will of God is a cross and a mystery. Then how to understand the will of God? And for this you need to work hard on yourself and your desires. It is not easy for a person to find the will of God; to do this, he will have to get lost among the mystical signs and tests that the Lord will send him, and he must unravel them and endure everything. God really wants everyone to feel His will, which will be revealed and penetrate into him through spiritually experienced people and life circumstances, through his conscience and conscious fulfillment of God’s commandments. Of course, mistakes and falls will be inevitable, but if a person wants to live according to the will of God, he will definitely come to this.
Obedience in the monastery
The monastery is a monastery for those who seek salvation. What is obedience in a religious community? How is it done? There are two orders in the monastery - internal and external. The obediences that are imposed are the external order of life and the way of life of the monastery. Serving a monastery is God’s special calling. Life in a monastery is not as difficult as it might seem. But it is not the physical labor itself that is difficult there, but precisely the lack of one’s own will. Whatever fathers, brothers or sisters order, must be done in uncomplaining obedience and admonition. And as a reward for this, God gives peace, humility and inner peace of mind. And all the more important is general obedience, which helps to get rid of pride. With obedience comes humility from him and dispassion; God settles in the soul of a person and all good is implanted. Monastic life requires complete obedience and submission, therefore in monasteries such grace of God reigns, where serenity and tranquility of the soul are found.
Obedience is better than sacrifice, since there someone else’s flesh is slaughtered, and in obedience, one’s own will is used. For obedience to the elder and every commandment of God, the novice receives great grace. Therefore, one must obey the mentors, because it is they who will tirelessly take care of the soul of their novice. We also know from the Bible that God’s own will expelled the people primordial from paradise. And obedience to their Father again brought them into paradise. Thus, great obedience triumphed and the man was forgiven his sins.
A little about the essence of the concept
Today we often hear the word “obedience.” But often we don’t fully understand what obedience is. It is assumed that this is the performance of some work in the monastery with the blessing of the abbot. But obedience is more viewed as the main component in spiritual monastic life and the main path to salvation in monasticism. This is perhaps the main definition of the term, which for the most part refers to monastic life.
The salvation of a person is impossible without obedience, he accepts the Sacrament of Baptism and thereby restores his nature, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist he unites with God, in the Sacrament of Repentance he becomes closer to the Almighty. The main goal for an Orthodox Christian is union with Christ, which can only happen by God’s will.
Dictionary of obsolete words
In the dictionary of obsolete words we have included terms that are currently practically not used or are used very rarely. Outdated words and expressions are words that it is important to familiarize your child with before reading a fairy tale or explain their meaning while reading, so that the meaning of the work is perceived exactly as the authors would like. Some obsolete words and their meaning will be especially useful for the overall development of the child, for example, measures of length: vershok, fathom and others.
Outdated words in the Russian language are, for the most part, those words that have gone out of use in the modern world, but which our old grandparents can still very often use in communication. We can convey to children the kindness of Little Red Riding Hood, the tenderness of Thumbelina, the hard work of Cinderella and many other best character traits of the characters in the language of their great-grandparents and at the same time instill in children respect and interest in our history.
If this dictionary of outdated words of the Russian language does not contain the word you were looking for or you were not able to fully understand the meaning of existing words, write to us through the feedback form, they will definitely answer you.
Abvakhta - guardhouse Perhaps - or - perhaps, maybe Azhno - so Azovka - a mythical creature Aksamit - velvet Altyn - three kopecks Asps - poisonous snakes Babayka - a large oar attached to a boat Baet - says, tells Baidak - a river boat with one large with a sail Balagta - swamp Balakat - talk Canopy - decorated canopy on posts Balodka - one-handed hammer Basa - beauty, decoration, panache Batog - stick Bergamots - a variety of pears Pregnancy - an armful Bosoviki - slippers Boyars - rich and noble people Scolding - battle Brotherhood - brother-in-law Armor - clothing made of metal that protects a warrior from attacks Damask steel - a weapon made of steel Burochka - a type of warm boots for cold climates, often felt boots Bureau - a table with a box for storing papers Go on patrol - guard, guard In a bag - in pursuit Vacant time - vacation Vacation - vacation Vedat - know Venuti - blow, blow Vershok - an old measure of length, equal to 4.4 centimeters Vestimo - of course, it goes without saying Rag - a rag Knight - a brave warrior, hero Blubber - liquid fat extracted from the fat of marine mammals. Used for lighting in lamps and street lamps Meet - meet Evert - the rhizome of a large tree turned out of the ground Endure - withstand, endure, endure Galushka - dumpling cooked in water or borscht Galyota - a small merchant ship Ganat - guess Voice of obedience - reciprocal voice Goraz - can Gorka - a shelf in the shape of a pyramid for expensive dishes Upper room - room Rowing - a narrow dam on the river Hay girl - maid Ten - 24 sheets Marvel - surprise, amaze Eating - dishes, food If - if Zhaleika - a pipe made of willow bark Jug - a jug with a lid Burmitsky (Burmite) pearls - large and round pearls Zhernovtsy - a small hand-made chalk Zagnetka - a place in the pre-furnace where the heat is raked Zagnetka - a place in front of the firebox where the heat is raked Get started - start fasting Ahead of time - sing in advance of Lazarus - flatteringly beg Sinister - small fantastic creatures Imperial - gold coin of the Indus - even, so the Treasury - money, wealth, property Kamka - silk colored fabric with patterns Karmazin - dark red cloth Kniksen - bow with a squat as a sign of greeting or gratitude on the part of females Kozhukh - outerwear made of leather Kokurochka - a butter flatbread Kolymaga - a carriage in which noble people traveled Korob - a basket, a basket Oblique fathom - an ancient Russian measure of length, the distance from the toes to the end of the fingers of an outstretched hand diagonally is 216 cm Krinitsa - a well, Krosna spring - a home loom Tow - a bundle of flax or wool Body - a wicker basket Plate - iron or steel armor worn by warriors Lyko - the bark of a young linden, willow, elm, bast shoes, baskets, baskets are woven from it Lyt - to evade the task, shirking Lytka - part of the leg below the knee Damask sword - a sword made of especially strong steel This is not the first time for me - this is not the first time for me Hoe - a hand-held agricultural tool Ant - overgrown with grass (ant) The largest - the eldest Whip - a belt whip Namale - soap Unsalted to slurp - to be deceived in one’s own expectations Nikoli - never Flint - a stone or piece of steel for cutting fire from flint Odnova - once, once Come to your senses - come to your senses Yell - plow Chill - freeze Boarding - a school with a dormitory for students Blame - reproach, reproach Finger - finger Renew - reception of a newborn Polati - wide sleeping bunks in the hut under the ceiling between the stove and the opposite wall Bomelo - a broom wrapped in a rag at the end, used for sweeping ash in the stove Tried - tried it on Kidnapper - thief Start - start Clearing - a clearing not overgrown with trees or a lawn in the forest Pryskuchy - fast Pryazhon - fried (fry in oil) span - an ancient measure, the distance between the thumb and forefinger of the hand Rat - an army Reasoner - a person who does nothing himself, but likes to criticize and moralize others Rosstan - the crossroads of two roads Ryadsya - persuade Sazhen - an ancient Russian measure length, the distance of the arm span from the fingertips of one hand to the fingertips of the other Salop - an ancient outer women's dress Sam-ten - ten times more Sam-five - five times more Sam-Thursday - four times more Seredovich - a middle-aged man Tablecloth swearing - a tablecloth woven with patterns Conscience will not spoil - conscience does not bother Sorokopul, shrike - a bird from the order of passerines Student - a well with icy water Sousek - a chest in which flour or grain is stored Twist - twist, twist several strands into one thread Talisman - an object , which, as superstitious people thought, brings happiness, protects from troubles Tereben tavern - a regular visitor to the tavern, a regular Terem - tall, with a turret at the top, houses Tuvalet - toilet, mirror Tuesok - a tall basket with a lid made of birch bark Get out - dress up Ustytse - outer hole in a Russian stove Fizhma - a frame made of willow or steel rods or from whalebone plates to add fluffiness to a woman's skirt Postilion - a coachman sitting on the front horse when drawn in a train Cotton - tow, flax tow Mansions - a large house Store more than the apple of your eye - store anything larger than the eyes Khustochka - handkerchief Flail - a primitive tool for threshing grain, consisting of two connected sticks: a long handle and a shorter working part that strikes the grains. Servant - a servant in the house Cherevichki - women's shoes with heels and a pointed toe Cast iron - an obsolete name for the railway Shandal - a candlestick Fly - a short towel or scarf Train - an elongated hem of a woman's dress Lye - a solution of wood ash Efa - a small poisonous snake Yushka - an ear of Yeasts - food, dishes
Spiritual life in obedience
It is not for nothing that they say that obedience is higher than prayer and fasting. The meaning of the word “obedience” is great. In spiritual life, you must learn to hear, listen, and ultimately be always obedient. We ourselves ask God in our prayer: “Thy will be done...”, this indicates that a person is ready to be obedient, to listen to advice, to the voice of conscience and to the conviction of his sins. And without the will of God this is not given.
By subordinating his will to God's will, man will truly be with God forever. Adam could not do this and Old Testament Israel did not fulfill it. This opportunity appeared only when we received grace-filled gifts for the atonement of human sins by the Savior himself. Christian obedience is the fulfillment of God's will and no one else's, for example, man's. This must be clearly understood.
Obedience is the path to freedom
Obedience is a difficult subject.
On the one hand, everyone has heard that this is one of the main Christian virtues, in other words, one of the main requirements for the personality of a Christian. On the other hand, too often this word causes more or less, conscious or unconscious protest. Because, perhaps, in non-religious life, many find themselves - at least it seems - through disobedience. Or because every person has mechanisms of self-defense and resistance to coercion. In addition, upon hearing the word “obedience,” many immediately assume an extreme option—a complete renunciation of one’s own will. And they believe that obedience is only for monks. So what is obedience, and how should it be present in our lives? This is our next conversation with the editor-in-chief of the magazine “Orthodoxy and Modernity,” Abbot Nektariy (Morozov). — How and why did the very concept of obedience arise?
How did it happen that it came to be called one of the main Christian virtues? What is its spiritual background and spiritual significance? - Here we must begin with where all the misadventures of the human race began, namely, with the Fall. The falling away of the forefathers from God occurred precisely through disobedience, the transgression of the commandment that was given to the primordial man - about not eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This commandment that the Lord gave to man was precisely about obedience. What is its meaning? The Lord taught man to conform, to unite his will with His will. It was when man went against the will of God, when his will began to act separately from the will of God, that the Fall occurred. This entailed a distortion of the nature of man himself, a distortion of the entire world visible to us. This is the fruit of disobedience.
But the holy fathers say: the way grace leaves, the way it returns. Through the disobedience of the primordial man, sin entered the world and began to dominate human nature; By the obedience of the Son of God, the new Adam, sin in human nature was overcome. This is why the virtue of obedience is so important.
Actually, what is Christian life for us? This is living according to the Gospel. And the Gospel is not only the Good News, it is also those New Testament commandments that the Savior gives us. Not only the Beatitudes, but also a huge number of commandments, commands, and sometimes, perhaps, advice from Jesus Christ to each of us and the entire human race. By obeying these commandments, we are obeying God.
“So, first of all, we must be obedient to the Gospel.” But this obedience alone is not enough? Is obedience more than just following the gospel?
- We must be obedient to the Gospel and Christian conscience first of all, and secondly to the Church: if he does not listen to the church, then let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector (Matthew 18:17 ). The Apostle says that the Church is the pillar and foundation of the Truth. That is why we are required to obey the canons, rules and, to some extent, the traditions of the Church - those traditions that have become of a general church character. But the Church is not an abstract category. In the Church there are bishops and bishops, and there are priests who act with their blessing. We show obedience to both the bishops and those priests with whom we communicate directly when we come to the Church. What does this obedience consist of? They teach us to live the church life, to live in Christ. We listen to them, follow their advice, their instructions.
The duty of a priest is not only to perform the Sacraments, not only to be a performer of demands, but also a mentor and teacher for every person who comes to the temple. It is no coincidence that a priest is called a shepherd; The sheep must obey the shepherd. The word of instruction with which the priest addresses his flock must be fulfilled. In this way, a person, firstly, joins the general church experience, and secondly, learning to cut off his will in something, enters the field of struggle with pride. Pride is the cause of all falls. But here we must talk not only and not so much about pride, but about our own will, which the holy fathers called the wall standing between us and God. By showing obedience to a person - a priest - obedience in Christ and for the sake of Christ, we thus learn to listen to God. Seemingly insignificant cases of cutting off one’s own will, abandoning it, train a person to renounce this sinful will, from sinful desires in much more serious and problematic situations for his spiritual life.
One of the most terrible ulcers of the human soul is what is usually called selfishness. Selfishness is a certain derivative of a person’s incorrect love for himself. It must be dealt blow after blow until it is crushed. And it is precisely cases of refusal of one’s own will and manifestations of obedience that crush it. Another person may say: I myself know how to be saved, and I do not need to obey the priest. Well, this person can try to save himself as much as he wants. But, even if he has a high intellect and reads patristic literature, the selfishness that manifests itself in his words will not allow him to be saved as he should. It is she who will destroy him, even if he outwardly follows all the rules of Christian life.
— Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh said that obedience does not come from the word “obey,” but from the word “listen.” It's always like that?
— This statement by Bishop Anthony is, of course, very profound. It is certainly useful to think about what Bishop Anthony means in this case. But it is equally useful to turn to the experience of the holy fathers. This experience shows: you need not only to listen, that is, listen attentively to the meaning of any prohibition or command, but also to obey, to obey, and here one is inextricably linked with the other. If the question is this: to observe some norms of Christian life simply because they are commanded to be observed, or to delve into their meaning, then, of course, it is the latter. After all, man is a verbal, rational being, and he should not do anything that he does not understand.
At some point—and this is completely natural—a person in the Church becomes like a child whose parents tell him not to touch a hot stove. The child does not yet know what a stove is, what fire is, but he understands that it is better for him to listen to his parents. However, in order to protect the child, parents must not only prohibit, they must explain to him the meaning of the prohibition, explain what the danger is. The priest is called to do the same. He must not only say “impossible” or “necessary,” but explain why it is necessary and why it is not possible. Sometimes a person understands and accepts with both mind and heart what the priest tells him. But it happens differently. It happens that we do not understand something or cannot immediately accept it. And then we need to show humility in this way: simply believe the priest and the Church. And give up something. On the contrary, to do something is out of obedience. And in the process of fulfilling this obedience, understanding will come.
After all, if a person comes to Church, it is not because someone forces him, but because he feels the need. He feels that he needs the Church in order to live in God. Based on this, a person tries to understand what the Church is. And if the Church teaches a person something, if a person sees that this is not the desire of an individual priest, but the experience and life of the Church as such, then logic should tell this person: it is unlikely that the Church will impose on him something that is harmful to salvation . And, accepting the Church as a whole, a person also accepts what she invites him to fulfill “in a separate case.”
“However, both the shepherd and the archpastor are just people. What if their actions cause disagreement? If, in defending what is dear to us, what seems right and fair to us, we are forced to enter into an argument with them, even into conflict? To obey or to act according to our own conscience, taking responsibility upon ourselves—life may well lead us to such a choice.
- This is, in essence, a question of spiritual power. The power that is given to the bishop and priest is not for destruction, but for creation. In other words, neither a bishop nor a priest has the right to demand obedience to himself personally. The Lord did not give him such a right. He did not place either the bishop or the priest in the position of a ruler in relation to the “common people”, the laity. There is nothing like this in the Church and there cannot be. Spiritual power is given primarily as responsibility. Therefore, one of the titles of the Roman high priest is servant of the servants of the Lord; This is how Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov liked to call himself. Therefore, when a priest or bishop demands obedience to himself personally as a person, such a demand is illegal. If a shepherd or archpastor demands obedience to the Law of God, then the person who refuses him this obedience is unhappy. You just need to distinguish between his personal desire and where the law of God is.
Wanting to act according to his own conscience, a person must remember: his conscience is just as damaged by the Fall as his whole being. Our conscience is crafty and resourceful. We tend to justify our passions, our pride, and not just justify, but ennoble, elevate: “I act according to my own conscience, I protect what is dear to me.” Therefore, when making a decision, you need to be very attentive to yourself, very strict. And at the same time have such a spiritual guarantee: the desire to obey rather than disobey. When I want to obey with all my might, to do as the shepherd demands of me, but something very important does not allow me, to my greatest regret, to do this - then there is hope that I am doing the right thing by not obeying. But when we don’t have this guarantee, but have a desire not to obey in any case, whether the reason is important or not, then it’s a completely different matter.
“So we should be critical of our own motives?”
- Yes, and daily exercise helps us very well with this. Elder Paisios said that a person who wants to practice obedience must show it to everyone - not only the elder, not only the confessor. At that moment, when Elder Paisius uttered these words, a kitten scratched at the door; Father Paisiy stood up, opened the door and said: you see, I have just obeyed the kitten.
Our life consists of little things: you are standing in line, a person comes up to you and asks: “Let me skip the line, I’m in a hurry.” If you have a desire to learn obedience, you will miss it. You are driving a car, someone is trying to overtake you - if you have this desire, you will allow him to overtake.
Moreover, obedience is the key to our spiritual freedom. A person who cuts off his will gains freedom: no matter what happens to him, it does not conflict with his will. Unfortunately, we rarely take this path, and therefore we do not gain freedom. But, in essence, there are not many things in our lives that we really cannot refuse. Of course, when something or someone attracts us to something that contradicts the will of God and our Christian conscience, we not only have the right, but also must refuse. But in almost all other cases we can easily obey.
Abbess Arsenia Sebryakova, a famous ascetic of the 19th century, said: in order to love your neighbor, you must be ready to give him your place.
What kind of place is this? This is any of the places, that is, in fact, the whole world. - So, you need to be ready in any everyday situation to act not as you want, but as your neighbor wants?
— Elder Silouan of Athos recalled such an episode. When he was not yet old, a monk approached him and said: come with me to such and such an old man, I want to ask him a few questions. Monk Silouan stood up and walked with his brother. When they were already approaching the elder’s cell, the monk asked Silouan: “What do you want to ask him?” - “About nothing.” - “Why are you coming with me?” - “You asked me about this.” For Elder Silouan this was not violence. It was natural for him. But, of course, he did not thoughtlessly go with his brother, but because his brother needed it, he needed a companion, support.
The Lord gave me to see a man in whose life Christian obedience was realized in practice. This is Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov). When communicating with him, it was surprisingly clear that he did not act of his own free will. When one of those who came or from his spiritual children asked him a question about what to do in this or that case and this situation did not have an unambiguous solution, Father Kirill always asked: what do you think? And he thought about this together with the person who turned to him, and consulted with him himself. Sometimes I sent him to people who could provide authoritative advice. And only in those cases when the answer came in a completely obvious way from God - and this happened - he said: do this. This was outwardly very noticeable: here Father Kirill was sitting, talking to a man, and suddenly some kind of change had occurred in his entire appearance, and he immediately resolved all doubts. But at the same time, he never imposed his own opinion on others. If a person said: “No, father, I won’t be able to do it the way you advise,” Father Kirill said: “Do as you please.” If, again, I did not receive “notification” from God.
But at the same time, people had a great desire to obey the priest - even beyond their own strength. Absolute trust in this man came precisely through the understanding that he never imposed his own on anyone. And if he talks about something, if he calls a person to something, then only to fulfill the will of God. I had the feeling that if a person who came to Father Kirill said during a conversation: “Father, you are standing here, you are disturbing me, you move a meter to the side,” Father Kirill would have calmly walked away. Fortunately, I think such people were not among those who approached him. But getting up and bringing a chair for the person who came in was the norm for Father Kirill.
I was preparing for publication a small book of his sermons dedicated to the Mother of God; in one of these sermons, he said that She never had any other desires other than the desire to do the will of God. Why is the earthly life of the Blessed Virgin Mary practically not reflected in the Gospel? Precisely because Her entire life was devoted only to fulfilling the will of God, She did not think of Herself outside of this. When I read this, I realized what exactly I happened to observe in Father Kirill: for him, life was also the fulfillment of the will of God. And everything else is only as necessary. That’s why he so easily gave up everything except fulfilling this will, everything that we all hold on to so tightly.
- But is it possible to refuse self-defense? What to do if your neighbor’s demand is illegal, unjustified, and sometimes simply boorish? Just recently, my colleague and I were returning from a Moscow business trip; Following our fellow traveler, our neighbor in the compartment, a whole group of friends who were seeing her off burst into this same compartment. With twenty minutes remaining before the train departed, the company decided to arrange a small farewell by laying out and placing on the table everything that was required in such cases; and we, legitimate passengers with tickets, were kindly invited to make room, or at least stand in the corridor for the time being. A colleague—perhaps a more obedient and humble person than me—calmly walked out into the corridor; I exploded and successfully escorted the entire company to the platform - along with their fried chicken and bottles of beer. Did I do the wrong thing?
- From a legal point of view, your demand to this company - to leave the compartment - was, of course, completely legitimate and legal. But if you look at this situation from the point of view of spiritual benefit, it would be more useful for you to allow these people to rejoice for twenty minutes, while you yourself spend this time in the corridor and read an akathist to the Savior or the Mother of God. It would be a different matter if this company decided to ride in your compartment the whole way, and kept you in the corridor the entire way.
Agree with this - such a measure of obedience is probably not available to you today, and you should not try to achieve it right away. This would be contrary to common sense. Because everything in a person must be whole. If a person is ready, at the request of some ill-mannered company, to go out into the corridor of the carriage and stand there all night resignedly, it is obvious that this person must have a different prayer rule, and a different measure of fasting, not the same as ours. And if we suddenly decided to make this kind of breakthrough, I would go out and stand for the sake of obedience! - then this breakthrough would later turn into something negative for you and lead to distortions.
“So it’s better to move gradually?”
- Our growth in obedience, as in everything else, can only be step by step. We cannot push off from the shore and swim if we have not yet learned to swim. Modern man is broken, frayed, and it is difficult for him to begin to learn obedience. Maybe that’s why we see such extremes: one person is simply unable to obey even the most reasonable words of the priest, the other, on the contrary, is eager to immediately do whatever he is told - without any criticism. And this ultimately leads to spiritual breakdown and even a retreat from the Church. The best option is a soft, gradual entry into obedience.
We cannot demand either from ourselves or from others that we abandon all human means of solving the problems that confront us, but we must know: the more we renounce these means and allow God to act, the more protection and help the Lord gives us.
The Monk Isaac the Syrian says: he who seeks human help and relies on it often deprives himself of God’s help. And, on the contrary, to the extent that we move away from the help of people, to the extent we gain Divine intercession.
“Once upon a time, out of purely journalistic interest, I took a psychological test, which is used when joining the police. The test result was the following: it is not recommended to work in a structure that implies strict subordination. Nature, in other words, is this: it cannot stand submission. Indeed, we are very different; for some it is natural to obey and obey, but for others it is quite the opposite.
— Yes, everything here is very individual. There are people who are not really passionless, but weak-willed. They are told: “Do this, go over there” - and they do it, they go, not at all out of Christian virtue, but simply out of lack of will. Such “cutting off of the will” cannot be pleasing to God; God is pleased when a person, for the sake of the commandment, cuts off what he has. A person who is weak-willed and indifferent to everything - he will also create evil if he is ordered to do it.
If we talk about people who are more obedient and less obedient, then, of course, a greater feat is accomplished by that person who, being very willful by nature, consciously suppresses this self-will in himself. The Monk John Climacus said that a more valuable feat is accomplished by a person who, being passionate by nature, has taken up the burden of struggling with passions, than by one who did not act under the influence of passions, because he did not have strong passions.
Our character is not something we should protect as some kind of value, it is something we are called to transform. The Monk Barsanuphius the Great, answering the questions of his spiritual children, said: the more you soften your heart, the more it will be able to accommodate grace. And this is the secret of humility. A proud human heart in relation to grace is like water into which one tries to immerse a stick. They immerse her, and she jumps out. Our hearts are just like that. At some moment we experience tenderness, heartfelt repentance - grace fills our heart, warms it, but we lose it instantly, because our heart immediately hardens, and the meek and humble spirit of God does not live in such a heart. The Savior said: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29 ). By the way, this is the little that we know for sure about God - in the internal sense - that He is meek and humble in heart, and that He was obedient even to the point of death on the cross.
- We are talking to you about the fact that obedience should be done - not only to the priest, bishop, confessor, but also to every neighbor. But how sometimes you want to explain to your neighbor that he is wrong, that it is precisely he who should not insist on his own. Let's say, I go into the temple for exactly five minutes before work - to write a memorial note, light a candle - and my grandmother, standing behind the candle box, immediately notices that I am without a scarf, and immediately begins to look for some kind of scarf for me in her box...
“You can look at this situation from a completely different perspective. You need to think not that the grandmother is too picky, annoying, etc., but that she is a person with established ideas. She “gets you” not because she wants to teach you, but because your “plain-haired” appearance offends her religious feeling. This woman went to church when none of us had gone there yet. And for her, this scarf on her head was an external sign of her confession of faith. And when she now sees a woman, a girl, entering the temple without a headscarf, she feels pain. For the sake of love for this grandmother, it is worth obeying, although you find yourself infringed on some of your rights and lose some time. But the Lord will reward us much more for this.
Every time we say: I have the right, this is my territory, this is my inner space - yes, we act in accordance with our rights, but we do not allow grace to enter our heart.
What rights did Christ have? They were immeasurable. But He trampled all His rights for our salvation. He left us a sample. The rarest people in the history of the Christian Church could immediately and completely follow this example. But probably every person should strive for this. — Unfortunately, many negative phenomena in today’s church life are associated with the concept of obedience.
“We live in a very difficult, very crafty, de-churched time. And we, unfortunately, have to deal with people in clergy who replace obedience to Christ with obedience to themselves; who want to rule over human souls. Not for the sake of saving souls, but for the sake of satisfying one’s own passion - the passion of lust for power, of which they are not aware of it due to their foolishness. We must exercise prudence so that, when looking for a shepherd, we do not find a wolf, and we ourselves do not turn out to be a sheep that will be eaten in a spiritual sense.
Some holy fathers, in particular Simeon the New Theologian, say that one must first test the future confessor, understand whether this is really a man of spiritual life, capable of instructing for salvation, and only then, having tested, obey unquestioningly. This advice is correct, but for our time it needs to be adjusted. Today a person comes to church in such a state that he cannot test his confessor. He does not have those guidelines, those criteria - internal, not external! - using which he could determine what a potential confessor is like. Modern man, unfortunately, is very easy to deceive. He is deceived in sects, in pseudo-Orthodox movements, he is deceived by false elders and false spiritualists. Therefore, the test of a future confessor cannot be one-time - only until one completely entrusts oneself to him, no - one has to test it later. Moreover, even a good, sincere priest sometimes undergoes difficult trials, and breaks, falls, and drags the people around him into his fall. We may encounter a similar situation, and here we must also be careful and remember: our main guideline is the Gospel. Life in line with church tradition, in line with obedience - it removes many questions for a person, answers many questions, but one cannot lose vigilance. In some cases, it is necessary to refuse obedience to a confessor, even one’s long-time confessor. Of course, in a form that is not offensive to him. At some point you need to say: Father, it seems to me that your words and actions are at odds with the word of God. Explain to me why you act this way, this is exactly what you teach, answer my question. If we say this not out of a desire to condemn the priest or to become superior to him in some way, but from the depths of our own bewilderment, it is probably justified and, perhaps, will help the priest himself to stop in time and not fall into temptation.
A person, according to the words of St. Ignatius, must understand the spirit of the time in which he lives, in order to avoid the pernicious that is present in this time, not to allow this perniciousness into himself. But it is probably necessary to understand the spirit of the times in order to act wisely. Understand your own measure, the measure of the people around you, and act based on this understanding. One of the most prominent church authors today, Archimandrite Lazar (Abashidze), in one of his books used the following expression: “We are all children of a hangover party.” This is indeed the case, and we must act based on our understanding of this fact. We must not demand too much either from ourselves or from those from whom we must learn. But if there is even a little good in us and in those who teach us and instruct us, that we can cultivate, we must thank God for it.
— Previously, there was a practice of laymen taking vows of obedience; I've read about this more than once. Now this is not the case... And, apparently, it is not necessary?
- Most likely, it’s not necessary. We have seen how people, out of their ardor, make some vows, and then, due to their weakness, find themselves unable to fulfill them. And an unfulfilled vow is a deception towards God. Therefore, it is better to gradually cultivate the ability to obey. Gradually get used to it, get used to it, and then be happy to see what fruits it brings. Because ultimately, our obedience is a matter of our relationship to God. The Lord rejoices at our obedience, and the consciousness that we please the Lord helps us overcome the sorrow that is associated with obedience.
Marina Biryukova talked with Abbot Nektariy (Morozov)
Obedience. Sermon
How can we know the will of God? For every person it is very well revealed in the Holy Scriptures, which is simply impossible to know outside the Church and outside the Holy Spirit. Its distorted interpretation of the Gospel by sectarians and apostates leads these poor people not to salvation and God, but to complete destruction. For every person, Gospel sermons are a kind of source that quenches thirst. Answers to various burning questions can only be found in them. They can serve as a fence, focusing on which a person will never go astray from his path.
