Russian Orthodox Church
Speech by the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, at the opening of the international conference “A World Without Borders”, held in Madrid on September 15, 2021.
Mr. President!
Your Eminences and Graces!
Your Excellencies!
Dear Professor Riccardi and members of the Community of Sant'Egidio!
Dear brothers and sisters!
The great ascetic of the Russian Orthodox Church, St. Seraphim of Sarov, instructed his spiritual children with the words: “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and then thousands around you will be saved.” The spiritual depth of these words is such that in every new era their truth resounds with new force. It seems as if they were spoken for our time, marked by numerous conflicts, wars, terrorist attacks, social injustice and a global environmental crisis.
The instruction of St. Seraphim, who continues the tradition of Christian asceticism, contains a deep truth: the transformation of the surrounding world begins with the transformation of the inner world of man. In other words, if we want to change the circumstances of our lives, first of all, we must start with ourselves. “When a person comes into a peaceful mood,” said the monk, “then he can shed the light of enlightenment of the mind on himself and on others.”
We know of numerous examples of attempts to radically restructure society, which, as a rule, brought violence, hatred and civil strife. They were unsuccessful precisely because, while trying to change society, man did not strive to change himself and was driven by the spirit of hostility, not peace. Unfortunately, these days we are witnessing an escalation of violence under the guise of religious slogans. Radical groups stage terrorist attacks that kill thousands of innocent people. Terrorists reach such blasphemy that they carry out their actions even during worship in churches, thereby clearly demonstrating the spirit by which they are guided. This is not the Spirit of God, for, according to the words of the holy Apostle Paul, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). During the historic meeting in Havana, His Holiness Pope Francis and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' emphasized with renewed vigor: “Attempts to justify criminal acts with religious slogans are absolutely unacceptable. No crime can be committed in the name of God, “for God is not a God of disorder, but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33)” (n. 13).
After His resurrection from the dead, Christ greeted His disciples with the words: “Peace be with you!” and commanded the apostles to preach this peace of God even to the ends of the earth. This mission is entrusted to all who call themselves disciples and followers of Jesus Christ. Christians are called to “acquire a peaceful spirit,” that is, to grow in the spirit of peace and love for all creation, becoming like their Creator, and to bring peace and love to others for the sake of their salvation. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the height of this calling, exclaims: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news, who brings peace, who brings joy, who preaches salvation” (52:7).
The history of Christianity provides truly wonderful examples of the ministry of the world in the person of numerous saints through whom the Spirit of God acted. These are examples of meekness, mercy, forgiveness and long-suffering: it is enough to name the names of Seraphim of Sarov, who poured out love on both people and the animal world, and Francis of Assisi, who preached peace to Muslims and had a loving attitude towards all creation.
Even today, the Holy Spirit raises up workers in the field of peacemaking who devote their strength to overcoming prejudice, seeking dialogue, and achieving mutual understanding between religions and peoples. One of the striking examples of serving the cause of peace in our time is the Community of Sant'Egidio, which every year organizes an international meeting of high representatives of various Christian Churches and other religions, the world of politics and culture with one goal - to build bridges between representatives of different beliefs and cultures in order to end hostility and the establishment of a lasting and beneficial peace. We are all here thanks to the tireless efforts of the members of the Community of Sant'Egidio, and I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to its founder, the esteemed Professor Andrea Ricciardi, the President, Professor Marco Impagliazzo, and all the dear friends of the Community for their faithfulness to the ministry inspired by the Word of God for more than 50 years.
I would like to take this opportunity to especially congratulate the Archbishop of Bologna, Monsignor Matteo Zuppi, on his upcoming elevation to the rank of cardinal on October 5th. This decision of His Holiness Pope Francis is an eloquent recognition of the work of His Eminence, including in the field of peacemaking, as well as the merits of the entire Community of Sant'Egidio in various areas of its ministry. I am confident that this recognition will serve as inspiration for new initiatives to promote dialogue between religions and peoples.
Now such dialogue is becoming increasingly popular and relevant. I would like to once again recall the words addressed by Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill to representatives of different religions: “In this troubled era, interreligious dialogue is necessary. Differences in understanding of religious truths should not prevent people of different faiths from living in peace and harmony. In the current environment, religious leaders bear a special responsibility for educating their flocks in a spirit of respect for the beliefs of those who belong to other religious traditions” (paragraph 13). Only dialogue in the name of peace will help peoples rise above their immediate interests and unite to resist violence and terrorism, and bring the word of peace and consolation to places where war has recently raged. This will become possible only when peace reigns in our souls, when the preaching of peace is not only words, but a testimony of the whole life, embodied in concrete deeds of every day.
“The acquisition of the spirit is peaceful” is a school of spiritual improvement, which presupposes growth in love. That is why Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, in their Joint Statement, pay special attention to the education of believers in the spirit of respect for others. With this elementary respect for another person, simple attention to the needs of one’s neighbor, and concern for the world around us, a person’s assimilation of spiritual gifts begins, one of which is inner peace.
It is gratifying that already now believers of different religions are joining forces to achieve peace and heal the wounds caused by the war. For several years now, a group has been operating in Russia to provide humanitarian assistance to the population of Syria, in which not only Christians of various confessions, but also Muslims work side by side. Thanks to the work of this group, Syrians of different faiths, destitute by the war, are receiving the help they need. Such cooperation becomes a school of peace for all its participants, because it teaches them to overcome their selfishness and open their hearts to meet others.
All of us, gathered at this forum in Madrid, wish to make our feasible contribution to the work of preaching and strengthening peace, calling on God’s mercy to help our human weakness. Therefore, at the end of my speech, I would like to address to all those present the words of the pastoral call of the Pope and Patriarch: “We call on all Christians and all believers in God to pray deeply to the Creator and Provider of the world, so that He may preserve His creation from destruction and not allow a new world war. For peace to be lasting and reliable, special efforts are needed to return to the common values that unite us, based on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (paragraph 11).
DECR Communications Service/ Patriarchia.ru
PEACEFUL SPIRIT
Acquire a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved.
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov
Jesus Christ (Savior)
My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, I give to you
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You heard that I said to you: “I am going away from you and will come to you.” If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I said: “I go to the Father,” for My Father is greater than Me. And behold, I told you about it before it happened, so that you might believe when it happens. It is not long for me to speak with you, for the prince of this world comes and has nothing in me. But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded Me, so do I (John 14:26-31).
Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29).
Venerable Nicodemus the Holy Mountain
The confused person immediately needs to restore peace of mind
Every time you fall into some forgivable sin, even if it happens a thousand times a day, as soon as you notice it, do not torment yourself and do not waste time in vain, but immediately humble yourself and, realizing your weakness, turn trustingly to God and cry out to Him from the depths of the heart:
"Oh my God! I did this because I am such that nothing else can be expected from me except such sins or something and more, if Your grace does not help me, leaving me with myself. I regret what I have done especially because I do not respond to Your care for me with the correctness of my life, but I keep falling and falling. Forgive me and give me the strength not to offend You anymore and not to deviate from Your will in anything. For I earnestly desire to work for You and please You and to be obedient to You in everything.”
Having done this, do not languish in wondering whether God has forgiven you. The Lord is near and listens to the groans of His servants. Relax in this confidence and, having calmed down, continue your usual activities, as if nothing happened to you.
You must do this more than once, but if necessary, a hundred times every minute, and the last time with the same perfect trust and boldness in God as the first. By acting in this way, you will render great honor to the infinite goodness of God, Whom you must always contemplate as infinitely kind to us. As a result of this, you will continually succeed in your life and keep moving forward, without wasting time and labor.
You can still protect your inner peace when you fall into the above-mentioned sins by doing this: with the internal action of realizing your wretchedness and humbling yourself before God, move towards a warm recollection of the great mercies that God personally showed to you, and thereby revive your love for Him , dispose yourself to give thanks and glorify Him, and by the very deed give thanks and glorify His warmth from the depths of your soul. Since thanksgiving and glorification of God is the highest manifestation of our living union with God, then the fruit of your fall, if you treat it wisely, will be, with God’s help, your greater elevation towards Him. This should be taken into account by those who are too restless and tormented by small sins in order to see how great their blindness is in this case and how they harm themselves through their recklessness. For them, in fact, we give the last instruction, putting in our hands the key with which the soul opens a great spiritual treasury and in a short time can be enriched by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs all glory, honor and worship with His Beginning Father and the Holy Spirit , now and forever. Amen
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov
Gain a peaceful spirit
My joy, I pray you, gain a peaceful spirit! - Father Seraphim said to the monk and immediately began to explain what it means to acquire a peaceful spirit. This means putting ourselves in such a state that our spirit is not disturbed by anything. One must be like one dead or completely deaf or blind in the face of all the sorrows, slander, reproaches and persecutions that inevitably come to everyone who wants to follow the saving paths of Christ. For through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. So all the righteous were saved and inherited the Kingdom of Heaven, and before Him all the glory of this world is like nothing, all worldly pleasures and shadows do not have what is prepared for those who love God in the heavenly abodes - there is eternal joy and triumph. In order to give our spirit freedom to ascend there and be nourished by the sweetest conversation with the Lord, we need to humble ourselves by constant vigil, prayer and remembrance of the Lord.
Gain peace and thousands around you will be saved
The monk persistently advised to preserve “spiritual peace” in every possible way, which he especially followed in himself: “We must try by all means to maintain spiritual peace and not be indignant at insults from others”; “There is nothing better in Christ than peace”; “The holy fathers had a peaceful dispensation, and, being overshadowed by the grace of God, they lived long”; “Get peace,” he says later, “and thousands around you will be saved.” And “when a person comes into a peaceful mood, then he can, from himself and on others, emit the light of enlightenment of the mind”; “This world was left by our Lord Jesus Christ as a priceless treasure to His disciples before His death” (John 14:27).
The Apostle also speaks about him: and let the peace of God... guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7). For this purpose, he, first of all, advised “to immerse the mind inside oneself and have action in one’s heart, then the grace of God overshadows him, and he is in a peaceful state.” Then we must learn to “tolerate insults from others with indifference... as if their insults did not concern us, but others. Such an exercise can bring silence to the human heart and make it the abode of God Himself.”
“If it is impossible not to be indignant, then at least one must try to hold the tongue, according to the Psalmist: confused and speechless (Ps. 77:5).”
“To preserve spiritual peace, one must also avoid judging others in every possible way...”; “And in order to get rid of condemnation, you must listen to yourself” ... and ask: where am I? Especially for spiritual peace, “one must distance oneself from despondency and try to have a joyful spirit, not a sad one. According to the word of Sirach: Sorrow kills many, and there is no profit in it (Sir.30:25).”
Elder Seraphim
It is appropriate to dwell on this “joyful spirit” with special attention in the life of the monk: it was his distinctive quality, especially later. But not without a struggle, even he received this gift of grace, so saving for the suffering souls who later flowed to him. There is reason to think that the demon of despondency attacked him at the beginning of monasticism. “It is difficult,” says the monk, “to avoid this disease for someone starting monastic life, for it is the first to attack him. Therefore, first of all, one must beware of it.”
Venerable John of Kronstadt
May nothing be more valuable than peace and mutual love
Have peace and holiness with all, for they alone shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). Do not disturb the peace because of the corruptible and transitory, because of your sinful pride. – Love the world more than anything else, as the Lord Himself. May nothing be more valuable than peace and mutual love. Let us love peace, peace, peace!
Venerable Macarius of Optina
Peace of mind
You have not yet conquered passions and have guarantees of them in your hearts, but in peace you do not know about them, and the enemy, outraged by them, fights you. There are opportunities for you to destroy them: through self-reproach, self-awareness and explanation to each other, but this is not a matter of one day or chance, but a lot of time and skill is required so that the enemy is driven away from the pastures of the heart and inalienable peace is established. Everything that sings quickly and comes out without difficulty is fragile.
It is too early to have peace without bothering to destroy passions
When the Lord said to His disciples: My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you (John 14:27), then how, having received such a great gift of peace from God, cannot the soul have peace? But when someone does not have peace of mind, then the reason for this is our passions, hidden within us and not defeated and not destroyed by doing the commandments of God; and if we move away from the cases that our passions show us, then we will never be able to destroy them, and sometimes there are cases of insult from others, but instead of caring about healing our passion, we reproach others who have caused us trouble, not understanding the fact that it was not they who put passion into us, but the guarantee of it lies within us, and they only showed us, by the sight of God, the rottenness of our structure, whom we should consider our benefactors, for without them we would not have known our weakness. This is the reason why the soul has no peace in our passions. And that it is possible for a person to have peace of mind, then believe about this not my words, but the words of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ Himself; He said: Learn from Me, that I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). So, when there is no peace, it is clear that there is no humility. If we fulfill, apparently, a Christian duty: we go to church, read books and perform other duties, and with all this we are carried away into arrogance and opinion of ourselves, then we can no longer expect peace and tranquility, but with all this fulfillment of good, it is necessary to be humble and poor in spirit, then peace will settle in us.
You want peace and tranquility of soul, but this is a reward from God’s grace for your labors, exploits and suffering temptations, but what have you suffered, and are you looking for a reward? Humble yourself and consider yourself unworthy of this. And let me remind you from the spiritual elders: “whoever seeks peace flees from it, but whoever gives himself up to the cross with humble wisdom finds peace.”
I sincerely rejoice that you have peace. Yes, it could not be violated if self-reproach did not recede, but since we have not yet acquired this, then from time to time indignation attempts to be, but let us reconcile ourselves. And not only in community with people, but even if they were in complete solitude, and then there would be internal indignation and deprivation of peace [due to pride and the action of passions], which is even more dangerous than now.
What should we do? We are all still outside the humble path, wandering through rapids and wilds and hills. Apparently, it is too early to have peace without taking the trouble to exterminate passions. But God is merciful and able to send His help to heal her.
Peace is not achieved without fighting passions and conquering them, and when they are our masters, then where is the peace? Isn't captivity constant?
Our unworldliness comes from our disorder, and not from other people’s passions: with their vices they do not put unworldliness into our hearts, but only expose and show us what is in us and what guarantee we have in ourselves.
As soon as a defamatory rumor touches you, your heart will turn upside down. What does it mean? Read chapter 209 of Mark the Ascetic, and St. Simeon chapter 31, and you will see why it happens and how to get rid of it. Knowledge of our weakness and self-reproach is always necessary and useful for us.
The building of peace and love is destroyed by pride and built by humility
The evil enemy began to strongly arm you against each other, and not without your fault: but it is true that there was an uplifting of peace, for where there is a fall, pride , according to the word of John Climacus. Look: just as the edifice of peace and love is overthrown by exaltation, so by humility it is rebuilt. Extinguish the spark of hostility while it is still small, but if it flares up, then it will be more difficult. I told you and wrote that peace and love are tempted by the opposite. Show love to your sister when you see her indignant from the enemy, she, poor thing, is not happy about it, but she also grieves, but the enemy’s excuse shakes the dispensation, give alms to the soul at this time, it is more expensive than what we give to the poor, this is real monastic alms. I am writing this to both of you, each in turn do this, and the networks of the enemy will be crushed, with the help of God.
Your peaceful agreement comforts me a lot, which I rejoice at as my own good, it will give you a lot of strength for your feat, which will henceforth appear in the field of your life, it seems that you have been quite experienced and have learned what kind of burden comes from embarrassment, and what is the cause of it? It is obvious that pride and pride, from which A.’s envy was indignant, and M.’s zeal was inflamed.
No matter how much we try about them, everything is the same: everyone is right, there is not a single one to blame, what kind of peace can there be here? There is nothing to say about whims: we don’t want to recognize that passions dominate us, but we think people are to blame. Woe to us! We left the humble path, and we walk proud, obstinate, and for this we are deprived of peace and tranquility.
Hostility must be stopped at the very beginning, so that a flame does not ignite from a spark
For God’s sake, I ask, do not allow the spark of unworldliness to sink into your hearts, so that a strong fire does not ignite.
Most of all, let no spark of enmity creep between you: the enemy does not sleep, he tries to create indignation on both sides, and you overthrow him with self-reproach and explanation, but this may not be without difficulty, for the enemy resists this, and when we humble ourselves, then peace will follow. we find, you learned this from experience.
Do not let the spark of unworldliness and enmity sink in; the further you go, the more the enemy tries to create disturbances between you; Let him not scold you, be careful. Humility destroys all his machinations.
By sinning before God, we lose peace, which returns through our self-reproach and humility
Everything, everything seems to be good and pleasant, giving hope for calm, but sometimes the silence of the sea is a harbinger of a storm, and if there is no self-reproach and humility between you and you, then what will happen? the enemy does not sleep, but will try by all means to outrage you.
Just now I read your letters, and it was sad to see your worries, which, although they were stopped by explanations, it was clear that something was wrong between you. Each sees her own righteousness and the other’s insult: what kind of lasting peace will there be here? If each of you considered yourself to be the last, then with such a preparation the enemy could not have time to sow his tares among you, and even if they accepted one against the other, then even that would be consumed by explanation... But I told you a lot about love and humility as these saving means , now there is nothing to remember about them, it seems that you are moving them far away from yourself, when the promise of enmity has crept in, so that even after an imaginary reconciliation, an ulcer remains, and as soon as small attacks touch it, it is again poisoned. God forbid what this will bring you to! Such an allowance followed with you, as with M., for your exaltation and opinion that you live peacefully and are better than others, carried away by these thoughts, look what a net you are entangled in. You both write: “disassemble me, instruct me”; how can one dissect and instruct when much has been written and instructed, so as to accept with self-reproach, and not with self-justification, or, out of confusion, rather drive out this serpent with an explanation!
Here is a lesson for you not to get carried away into vanity and to do everything for the sake of God: God commanded us peace and love, but the enemy introduces enmity, suspicion and confusion, note, where God’s work is, there is peace and tranquility, and where the enemy is, excuses and instigations, and accepting them, what happens in the soul? What storm and confusion? Just hell! At this time, did you, A., have any trace of humility? And there is nothing to say about love, I am deeply sorry for you that you suffered so much. For God's sake, leave empty squabbles and suspicions, even if exactly what happened, we must consider it a reason for philosophy and teaching what we read and learn and even want to do, humble ourselves and love.
When we sin before God, we lose peace, but through repentance it is returned by the mercy of God. Likewise, we are deprived of peace by accepting sorrow and being hostile to people, and when we extinguish this flame through self-reproach, then peace will also be established.
Without eradicating the memory of past grievances, one cannot hope to have peace.
This is how fragile your peace is, and although you write at the end of the letter that your heart has calmed down and is completely at peace with your sister, until the memory of each other’s previous insults is completely eradicated and self-esteem is killed by humility, you cannot hope to have peace.
“The assembly of the humble is like the assembly of Seraphim”
Thank God that, if possible, you are trying to preserve peace and love for the Lord, but how are they accomplished and strengthened? You know this quite well by humility and self-reproach. Try this, for the Lord’s sake, I beg you. “The assembly of the humble is like the assembly of Seraphim,” writes St. Isaac.
We are all imperfect and are in the struggle of our spiritual battle, and the holy fathers teach us how to overcome it: through self-reproach and humility, until we reach the gates of love.
The seed of the enemy will not bear the fruit of goodness, tranquility and peace; seek these fruits in self-reproach and humility.
Thank God that you were peaceful among yourself; when you reproach yourself and humble yourself, the enemy will have little time with his machinations.
Thank you to the Lord, who preserves peace and harmony between you, when you watch yourself and always humble yourself in everything, then the arrows of the enemy will all be crushed, they all fight you with one thing or another, now with one passion, now with another, but where true self-reproach is, there They will succeed in nothing, and victory will always remain on your side, with the help of God, to the humble beholder. Beware of conceit, remember the word of the prophet Isaiah, and especially God: “Woe, who are wise in themselves and understand before themselves.”
Thank God that peace is preserved between you, this greatly comforts me, for I know that it is by God, and not by passion, and therefore the enemy often tries to violate it between you, but preserve it through self-reproach, awareness of your badness and humility. Every virtue is corrected through labor, achievement and time, but what is quickly acquired is unsteady, fragile, and unhelpful. Now the Lord has blessed you with peace and harmony, but what kind of shocks and confusion were there between you?.. Watch and value peace, how dear it is on our path, take everything for your skill, so that you may acquire the peace given to us by Christ.
For the elevation of the heart, unworldliness is allowed
And do not be arrogant or arrogant about the fact that there is now peace between you, but humbly preserve it, remembering the word: where they say peace, there is destruction and destruction (1 Thess. 5:3), and this is for arrogance, as we see from the psalm: I cried in my abundance: I do not move... I turned away Your face, and I was confused (Ps. 29: 7, 8).
After peace, you write, excitement and a storm of confusion and unpeace befell you. This should have been expected, I noticed how you both were carried away by some kind of arrogance in your peace, and the enemy is already trying to disrupt it in some way, and what were the pretexts? Afterwards, you yourself will be amazed at this; neither self-reproach, nor humility, nor love was lacking here, but on the contrary, everything was the opposite. Here it was convenient for him to swear at you. Moreover, cowardice has befallen you for not correcting yourself; and it confused you even more, and instead of once reproaching yourself, explaining yourself and saying: “I’m sorry,” as happened before, and calming down, you suffered until you punished yourself enough.
I wrote to you so that your world would not be arrogant, but set guards: love and humility. Love does not fall, and humility will not allow it even more and will strengthen it, but this requires work, not words.
I advise you not to be too arrogant that I will preserve peace, nor to be embarrassed that it won’t be: these are two extremes, opposite to each other and useless. And when peace remains between you, do not be arrogant, and if confusion appears, do not become rigid, but subvert it with accusations and self-reproach.
You are peaceful among yourself, but do not let your hearts be lifted up about this, and do not each attribute to yourself that the world is organized from you or from your efforts, but even more so, let each prefer the other and attribute to her the bearing of weakness, and reproach herself.
You are peaceful among yourself and calm in your cell, but guard this gift with humility, beware of exaltation and the opinion that you live better than others; on the contrary, consider yourself worse than everyone else.
“When you find unchanging peace on your path, then fear”
“Army and intercession, confusion and peace, sorrow and consolation” alternately visit us in our feat, which I see in you: now “languid and sorrowful,” now again “joyful and pleasant,” and from this a person comes to humility and spiritual prosperity . If you always have or want to have “the world is unchanged, then be afraid,” writes St. Isaac (Homily 78), and in gradual change we learn the true path we follow.
In the 78th Word [St. Isaac the Syrian] we wrote to you to read the article: “When you find unchanging peace on your path, then fear,” which is very understandable and makes you understand that when a person thinks to have eternal peace, then he should be afraid of this. For in the struggle with passions, until they are completely defeated and we come to humility, we cannot have constant peace, but there is battle and intercession, fear and hope, darkness and light.
We must seek peace and love within ourselves, and not demand it from people.
Your question in response to the words of the Gospel: and on earth there is peace, “Where is the peace?” not exactly dexterous. Peace has been given to us, but we ourselves are the reason that we are deprived of it; if we fulfill the commandments of God, then nothing can take peace away from us. We must seek love and peace within ourselves, and not demand it from people. When there could be no insults to our temptation, then why would there be a commandment about patience and love of enemies? Before the coming of Christ, people were under a curse and did not have peace, but by this (coming) they were reconciled with the Father.
How to acquire the peace of God?
Always have God as your helper, do not trust in your own mind and in your own strength, consider yourself the last of all, and have love for the Lord and humility among yourself, let there be no elder among you, but each consider yourself to be the last, and consider all your sisters to be your best, Do not look at anyone’s vices and do not judge, then the peace of God will be with you!
Lasting peace living together is achieved through temptations
Peace cannot be strong when there are no battles and is not experienced, and if there are insults in feelings against each other, then you need to destroy them in yourself with humility and love. The enemy will not leave, so as not to raise zeal and reproaches against each other, but you have experienced self-reproach and humility; his machinations are overthrown, and when one says that, although with love, the other will be offended, and after the embarrassment has passed, by revelation, he will take the thought : “I won’t speak now,” I can’t praise that. In the simplicity of your heart, with love, warn each other and consult in everything, although some confusion may happen, it will still be overthrown, God forbid, if a spark sinks into the heart and is hidden, it can cause a big fire, do not allow it to happen: you have There is no older cell, but each one considers itself smaller than the other, then each one will be older... Look, don’t let your heart be lifted up, as if you live well and have peace, you can endure great temptation for your opinion, consider yourself the worst and last of all.
I sincerely rejoice that you have peace among yourself and that you have learned where each one’s confusion comes from from himself and from his own dispensation; know also that, whenever there was no battle, there would be no temptation, you saw battle, victory and victory, have learned the weapon against the evil enemy, self-reproach and humility, by which God’s help is also attracted.
He who endures all sorrows with thanksgiving finds peace.
We must endure sorrows for our sins in this life if we want to be pardoned at the Last Judgment, therefore it is better to endure those that the Lord sends: consider yourself unworthy of peace, and then everyone who is on the outside will either from relatives or from N.. insults will be more bearable and easier for you, I cannot indicate any other way to preserve peace of mind, in the midst of this world full of troubles and misfortunes. In your patience your souls will be gained (Luke 21:19), says the Lord Himself, and all the holy fathers teach that our salvation lies in the patience of sorrows.
Violation of God's commandments leads to war and deprivation of peace, which is already God's punishment
He [God] left us and gave us His peace, commanded us to have love and learn from Him humility and meekness, by which we can find peace for our souls. When we delve into the depths of our hearts, will there even be a spark of our obedience to the fulfillment of this loving commandment of the Lord to us? That’s why we have disorder, quarrels, disputes, fights, and we all only blame others, and not ourselves, and for this God’s punishment is the very disorder and deprivation of peace.
Special parties destroy peace and love
God save you from special parties and so that one does not know the other, this means destroying the love planted by God and confirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He commanded us: then everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35), and if you don’t have it, then whose disciples will there be? And St. The Apostle John pierced all his Epistles with love, wanting to establish it in the disciples of Christ... However, love for neighbors is not shown by going around all the cells, but by not avoiding community and brotherly greeting, not as some believe that one mother daughters should no longer have any intercourse with others, this is not pleasing to God, and I do not advise you to follow these rules if something like this happens.
The love of money destroys the world
You write: “friendship doesn’t lose count”;
this is a worldly proverb, but a spiritual wisdom: “yours and mine” is the peculus [guardianship] of the evil one, and this is in relation to acquisitiveness and love of money, the root of all evil, and for you, as you yourself see, calculations flow from another stinking source, from self-love and pride, and that too, and maybe something else. All this does not create friendship, but destroys it. I advise you and her to avoid small calculations as much as possible and not to harbor the passion of love of money, not wanting to be obligated to each other. This is in the full sense: “peace”! Heart peace and harmony are more valuable than all the treasures of the world; keep it more than money or pride. “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give with you.”
You are peaceful and calm among yourself, and this is most precious, this gift our Lord Jesus Christ, leaving this life, left St. To the apostles and to all who believe in Him: peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you (John 14:27). How can we not value it when it is with us! That’s the trouble when confusion settles somewhere, where the enemy rides with his chariot and shakes the mind, heart and soul, and what’s more sad than that? and where peace reigns, there God dwells. Where two or three are gathered in My name, I am in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20), says the Lord. Let us try to preserve this world with the help of God.
Where there is peace, there is the Lord, and where there is enmity, there is the devil.
Where there is peace, there is the Lord in your midst, and where there is confusion, there is opposition. Let us desire and attract the first, and let us turn away from the last; the means to this are known: self-reproach and humility. Where there is peace, there is God! and where there is enmity, there is opposition, from which may the Lord deliver you!
Inner peace is given to humility
Peace of mind is gained not so much from deeds as from humility (I do not ignore deeds, they are needed), just as the Lord teaches us: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). And St. Isaac writes at the beginning of the 34th Word: “If you do virtue for good, and do not feel the taste of its intercession, do not be surprised: until then a person will not humble himself, he will not accept the reward of his doing. Reward is not given to doing, but to humility. Offend the second, the first will destroy.”
Our life is all fighting
Our life here is all warfare, and spiritual warfare, invisible; The strongest weapon for this is humility, no matter what we do or undertake for our peace of mind, but without humility we will not find it.
In continuation of the words of Seraphim of Sarov: “Save yourself, and thousands around you will be saved.”
A person knows a lot from birth, but does not remember, because the information is not contained in the brain, and the brain is not in contact with it. The soul is the bearer of knowledge and intelligence, and a person feels its prompts, but cannot always understand his feelings. Prompts of conscience - this is the soul, a child of the higher Mind and a resident of eternity, trying to prevent a person from doing things that lead to a bad result. But there are other forces of influence on a person, they are called unclean, dark forces, demons, and they persuade him to do things with a bad outcome. Their influence is also felt by a person when he feels irritation, anger, hatred, and all temptations.
Knowing these things, you realize, when you are drawn to a sinful deed, that it is an evil spirit that is trying to entice you, and if you succumb to it, the result will be disastrous for you. But in order to think about this and refrain from doing bad things, you need to load a restraining program into your brain. It was brought by Jesus Christ, and it can be loaded into the brain by simply reading the Gospels.
When it is loaded, a person still feels the influence of opposing forces, and if he is not given the instructions of Christ as a program of action, this is hindered by dark forces. No one will help against them except the will aimed at searching for the truth and the manifest work of the mind on the Word of God given by the lips of Jesus Christ. If there is such a will and a person tries to delve into the meaning of the Gospel Word, there will be finds for him that will arm him against demonic forces. They look like revelations in which important things are revealed unexpectedly and impressively. And when a person, reading the instructions of Christ, begins to believe them, it is his soul that tells him that what is being said here is correct.
It can be said that the Word of God causes the germ of faith to grow. Among the Soviet people, he was weakened and crushed to the limit, and the people only laughed cheerfully at conversations about God, as at stupid inventions. But it is simply impossible to completely kill the divine principle in a person. And when a person begins to read the Word of God, the germ of faith sprouts. Jesus described the growth of faith with the parable of the mustard seed - how a bush grows from a seed, in whose leaves birds can hide. And faith in a person grows, starting from a weak sprout, and not so that faith is a constant value. When faith grows, inner strength grows. It helps a person to hold on in difficult circumstances, helps to restrain indignation, helps to drive away vain fears and vain worries. And it turns out that it is much easier for a believer to live than for an unbeliever - having faith, a person has strength, and it is always easier for the strong to live than for the powerless.
With all this, we can suggest to people in distress that they can be filled with strength so that their lives can be easier. To do this, you need to think about the Word of God. Mental work on the Word brings good mental strength in the form of an understanding of the fundamentals of life. Mental work on the Word also brings good strength of spirit in the form of love and faith, as well as the inseparable hope of gaining eternal life. And most importantly, a person’s assimilation of the Word of God and then the faithful fulfillment of the commandments attracts God to him and leads to the Heavenly Father revealing himself to him, answering his requests and questions, as promised in the Word. And when this happened, he begins to live with God, as with the Father and the highest Teacher, which is the beginning of a completely different life - incomparably brighter and richer.
All these stories are written down in the hope that they will find a response in your soul, because every soul knows about God, and if you feel in your soul that the truth has been told to you about the possibility of receiving His responsiveness, then turn to the Word of God.
“Save yourself, and thousands around you will be saved,” said Seraphim of Sarov, and one can continue that when thousands are saved, millions around them will be saved. And when the Russian people begin to seek and find the saving responsiveness of God, this movement will lead to the fact that the entire Russian people, all of Rus', will live with God.
How to save yourself?
Save yourself, and thousands around you will be saved.
© Seraphim Sarovsky
The words of St. Seraphim of Sarov can often be misinterpreted. Without delving into their meaning, many people believe that they mean - think only about yourself, let others think about themselves. But their true meaning is different - first save yourself, find yourself, and only then can you help others. Harmony and peace should dwell within us, humility - a state in which we are in flow with the world, accept all its gifts and feel a sense of gratitude for them. Being in this state, we enjoy life and are able to inspire people around us by our example.
We often underestimate our capabilities and believe that we are not doing anything for the good of this world. But in fact, many manifestations of kindness are invisible at first glance, and often we don’t even imagine how much our well-timed kind word can affect the life of another person. In general, the purer our consciousness, the higher vibrations we emit into the world, and the brighter the world around us becomes. This is something worth striving for. But you shouldn’t reproach yourself if something doesn’t work out and doesn’t work out. The growth process is always accompanied by crises and setbacks. Our world is dual, and any of its manifestations are quite natural. Therefore, it is very important to start with yourself. It's stupid to try to save a drowning person if you yourself don't know how to swim. But you can do everything in your power - for example, call for help.
This also raises the question: “How can you save yourself?” We are talking here about finding that same inner harmony and harmony with yourself and with the world. This is a long and laborious process of cleansing ourselves of negative beliefs and those adverse experiences that pull us down to the bottom. This is a life-long process, but it is very exciting and interesting. Many people are afraid to develop, because in the process they have to face all their old fears and grievances, raise all the negativity within themselves, everything that kills and destroys us from the inside, cuts down any endeavors at the root and breaks our whole life into small fragments. They are more accustomed to doing nothing for their development and sliding down into the abyss than to make a decision to change their life for the better, to make it happier. Each of us here makes our own choice, and there is no need to judge those who are not yet ready to take this path. But those who take the path of development, going through difficulties, cleanse their souls of accumulated negativity and gain invaluable experience. Life becomes more multifaceted and brighter. The path of development does not mean complete happiness and pleasure; negative emotions are inevitable along it. And you need to learn to express them harmoniously and live them in harmony with the world and with yourself.
There is a lot of information, and I will dwell on this topic in more detail in my future materials, but now I will give a brief answer to the question - “How to save yourself?” I would like to note that I do not claim to be the ultimate truth and am sharing the experience that I personally and many of the people around me have gone through. And I will only be glad if it helps someone else become happier!
Saving yourself begins with studying the laws of the universe and changing your thinking. It is necessary to understand the structure of the world, to know the laws that our Universe obeys, to be able to apply them in any situation, and also to introduce this knowledge into your daily life and live in accordance with it. This point is very important and serious. And here I recommend, without fanaticism, turning to various teachings that explain the structure of the world. About 70% of all teachings say the same thing, just in different words. The remaining 30% of differences in information arise as a result of our worldview. At the same time, the mentor also receives information through the prism of his mind and experience, which also affects some inaccuracies in the presentation of the material. In short, all these laws are available on the Internet, for example, the law of attraction, the law of cause and effect, and others. We will talk about them in more detail in other articles.
The second point is cleansing your life. A person needs to strive for goodness, for a pure way of life - both external and internal. Because if our environment is dirty, then we will not be able to get top management - all these impulses from above will be lost. Therefore, at the initial stages of personal growth, it is better to be guided by some principles. Many religions have this as commandments. Do not kill, do not steal, and so on... Therefore, a guide to the rules is given on how to act. It is important to cleanse your life gradually, without fanaticism, with a sincere desire to live differently. By getting rid of negative habits and ineffective beliefs, our consciousness is cleared, we begin to emit higher vibrations into the world, and the world reacts - it changes, transforms, and our life changes its quality - it becomes brighter and more harmonious.
Then you need to gain trust in the world. We must understand that there are higher powers that are much wiser than us, that our soul knows the true picture of events and how it will be better for us. She seems to look down on everything that is happening, and sees the past, present and possible future. And it is she who can guide us, put us on the right path. Here it is important to open up to the world, trust it, take the position of a student - to allow higher forces to guide you, allow your soul to realize its purpose in this world, and gain the experience for which it came. The most favorable thing for a person is to accept this guidance from higher powers, the very ones who love us unconditionally, and everything happens only for our good. We must understand that we are not leaders, but followers. That the path we have chosen for ourselves is not always the best and therefore true, and we need to be able to read the signs of the world, hear ourselves, find contact with our soul - and accept this guidance. But the first step in this process is precisely acceptance - acceptance that there are higher powers, God, who loves us unconditionally and does everything for our good. You need to open up to the world, trust it. Only then will we be able to receive higher guidance - what to do, what not to do, learn to read the signs of peace and live in a state of happiness and ease.
The next point of saving yourself is the ability to listen to yourself, find contact with your soul. Here you will mainly have practical work in the form of meditations and queries to your mentality. It is also very important to learn to evaluate incoming information, think analytically and form your own opinion, as well as adapt it to yourself and your life - otherwise there is a high risk of fanatically following other people’s teachings and trying to copy someone else’s success. Isn't it better to create your own? And in order to determine your true path, on which success and complete self-realization are possible, you need to learn to listen to yourself and listen to yourself, consult your intuition. Moreover, there are two types of intuition - intuition at the level of the mind - false intuition, which is associated with our attachments to feelings, and true, at the level of the soul, when guidance is given from above on how to act in a given situation. To reveal true intuition, you need everything that we talked about above - pure life and the revelation of knowledge, namely, studying the laws of the universe, changing your thinking. And also - the ability to trust the world, to take the position of a student.
A small note about adapting the information to suit yourself: When performing some practices and exercises, first it is better to repeat everything exactly as the author advises, and when you have the appropriate experience, transform them in accordance with your life, in a way that is convenient for you personally and as you see fit. It’s similar to preparing a new dish - at first you try to do everything according to the recipe, and only later, when you already have sufficient experience, do you change the cooking process as you see fit.
And lastly, it is necessary to apply this knowledge in your life. Often we listen to some information, agree with it, but do not put it into practice. Therefore, there is a movement along a sine wave - we change our lives, meet the resistance of old habits, roll back - to the past. And then we start all over again. And this is quite natural and justified. Our psyche needs time to change and get used to a new way of life. And although personal growth is a lifelong process, implementing this knowledge helps make life easier and happier. After all, happiness is not the absence of problems. Happiness is when we have the ability to solve problems and overcome difficulties that come into our lives.
And remember - there are no those who are higher, there are no those who are lower. We are all different. And everyone is in the place where he should be, at the stage of development that his soul has chosen, and receives the experience that he needs for his own good. And each of us chooses for himself between development and degradation. Therefore, you should not save, force or persuade someone if they do not ask for it. It is enough to give them support and participation, support and encourage them, indicate the direction of movement, but do not try to drag them all the way on yourself. Save yourself, study knowledge, purify your life and your consciousness, trust the world, open up to higher leadership, listen to yourself, inspire others with your example. Save yourself, and thousands around you will be saved. And you and the whole world around you will become happier!
With love and wishes of peace and goodness, Natalia Romanova.
