What do these words mean? Each prayer must be read with understanding of its words. Without understanding, prayer is empty for us. Let's try to figure it all out. The lines of the holy fathers will help us with this.
“...Where there is contrition, tears and humility, there is no disorder or anything bad, on the contrary, there is prosperity and everything good...” - Ephraim the Syrian.
Reading Psalm 50 of King David, we often hear the following words: “...“The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise...” (Ps. 50:19).
In Orthodoxy, contrition is a softened state of the human soul
To understand what a contrite spirit is, you need to understand what contrition is in general. Contrition is strong grief, sadness. Contrition is such a softened state of the human soul, which, due to seeing only one’s own unworthiness, accompanies repentance for sins. That is, a person sees only his sins, he is fully aware of them. After which the person repents to God for the sins he has committed and committed.
The word "contrition" comes from the verb "to crush." This means that the human heart softened, since it was stony and because of the passions that resided in it.
Contrition in human understanding is a state of soul when he sees himself and his sins, after which he tries to repent of them to God.
When a person considers his sins and turns to God, thereby he begins to crush his stony heart. Photo: pp.userapi.com
In Christianity, when a person considers his sins, turns to God, realizes his unworthiness, thereby he begins to crush his stony heart, and also breaks his insensitivity to Divine truth and holiness. The state of contrition is accompanied by crying and tenderness. These two concepts in the human soul can be separated only conditionally, but nothing more.
Crushing of the Spirit
“Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; broken heart
and you will not despise the humble, O God.”
There are two subjects involved here, and they are different; it speaks of a contrite spirit and a contrite heart. The heart is the abode of our feelings, both good and bad; the spirit is that part of our being that is related to God. Therefore, the spirit is much more important than the heart. If you look at v. 12. this psalm, you will see the same difference there, and notice the different ways of God's action in relation to one and to the other. “Create in me a pure heart, O God”; This is what God does with a broken, sinful, and helpless heart. God does not correct it, but He takes it away and creates something new. He takes away a heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh. God treats the spirit differently - “I will put My Spirit inside you.” (Ezek. 36:27). He does not create a new spirit, but infuses His own Spirit into us - the blessed Holy Spirit descends and dwells in our spirit and fills it so much that at times you can hardly discern in yourself which is the old spirit, our spirit, and which is the new, i.e. e. God's. This happens when the Spirit of God rules in us and then He teaches us to act according to His will.
Let us now talk about this broken spirit. Crushed means broken into pieces. “God will not despise a broken heart,” broken to pieces.
David says that God “does not desire sacrifice - otherwise I would give it; You do not favor burnt offerings.” This is not because God abolished sacrifices or no longer required more than the five main sacrifices established in the book of Leviticus; but this means that only that sacrifice is pleasing to Him, which is offered to Him from a contrite heart and a contrite spirit.
If we are looking for peace from the power of our “I”, from its worries, from its bitterness, we will find it only in a contrite and humble heart. In order to give us this peace, God is forced to crush our spirit. What does this broken spirit mean? First, a deep consciousness of sin—a deep consciousness of the horror of sin in general, and also of our own sin. When the soul first approaches Christ, it must decide how it will relate to sin, whether from God's point of view or from man's. A person reasons like this: all people are sinners, this is inevitable and irreparable, and it cannot be otherwise. We are no longer as bad if we only do what all other people do. From God's point of view, sin is death, spiritual death, obvious resistance and enmity against God. There can be no reconciliation between God and sin, and the struggle will continue until victory remains with God and His power becomes undeniable. This question confronts a Christian not only at the moment of his conversion, but again and again arises before him in his subsequent daily life. “Does my sin before God really matter that much?” - sins of irritability, impatience, envy, jealousy, care and mistrust; a constant thirst for some good that we do not have and which, in our opinion, we can never receive; all these are typical sins of Christians that continue to live in the depths of their souls. How many have become accustomed to them and consider them unimportant, deciding that it is not worth bothering with them or trying to get rid of them! Christians are satisfied with this state of affairs, relating to sin from a human point of view, and forgetting the full horror of any sin against God. They flatter themselves with the hope of God’s love for us, our position as children of God and the forgiveness of our sins in the blood of Jesus Christ. How terrible it is if a Christian, counting on all this, seems to say in his soul: “It is not of great importance if I am not exactly what I should be.” A contrite spirit (1) thinks completely differently about sin in the sight of God: he hardly dares to lift up his eyes, being in the dust, when he thinks how terrible sin is against God, and what ingratitude, and danger and curse lies in it. For sin carries with it a curse which cannot be separated from it. To be an opponent of God according to your thoughts is a curse, both in the eyes of God and in the eyes of every sensitive soul. A broken spirit has a deep consciousness of sin.
Then (2) the contrite spirit recognizes and mourns its own weakness before God. But there is also a wonderful joy in the awareness of one’s weakness. Is she familiar to you? Human power, in itself, does not bring with it a gracious blessing. Human weakness, when it is laid at the feet of God, contains a wonderful delight that is not familiar to many; and this consciousness of weakness should not leave the soul, even when it experiences the power of God over itself.
John Chrysostom believed that a person who loves God must break his heart
The Holy Fathers also spoke about spiritual contrition. They believed that it has such qualities as a person overcoming prideful insensitivity and realizing his unworthiness towards God. When they talk about crying, they highlight it as a painful experience of this very unworthiness, and about tenderness - as a gracious consolation. But at the same time, these concepts are completely impossible to separate. To better understand the meaning of the sayings, let us turn to the words of the holy fathers.
John Chrysostom said that contrition of the human heart makes it very light and inspired. A person who loves God must contrite his heart, namely, always have his sins before him:
John Chrysostom
Saint
“...Contrition is the mother of tears and sobriety; it makes the soul light and winged...” And he also said: “There is no greater benefit for a sinner than to always have his sins in his mind and before his eyes and to lament and test himself as often as possible.
Nothing more than this appeases the wrath of God: neither fasting, nor lying on the ground, nor vigil, nor anything else of this kind.”
Neil of Sinai believed that Christian life cannot be imagined without a contrite heart. Because if the heart is not contrite, then it is impossible to get rid of various human vices:
Neil of Sinai
Saint
“...Without a contrite heart it is impossible to free oneself from vice; and the heart is brought into contrition by threefold abstinence, I mean abstinence from sleep, from food and from bodily rest.”
St. John Chrysostom
The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: God will not despise a contrite and humble heart
[Humble thoughts, he says, a sacrifice pleasing and pleasing to You, our God. And since You have greatly troubled my heart and crushed it as much as possible, I will make a sacrifice pleasing to You]. I will sacrifice humility to You: just resolve my sin, give me the Holy Spirit.
This sacrifice - I’m talking about humility - is not only now much higher than the Jewish one: it was also then. Three youths who trampled the flames of the furnace in Babylon, young and old, a few who turned out to be stronger than many, captives who defeated the king, who lost their fatherland, but kept their faith, naked and clothed, poor and rich, slaves who rose above the free, who turned the flame into dew who transformed the elements, extinguished the power of fire, bound by the tormentor and resolved by fire - (these youths) sang and said: “We have sinned and acted lawlessly, departing from You, and have sinned in everything; and at the present time we have no prince, no prophet, no leader, no burnt offering, no sacrifice, no oblation, no incense, no place for us to offer sacrifice to You and gain Your mercy. But let us be accepted with a contrite heart and a humble spirit” (Dan. 3:29, 38-39). “A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God will not despise a contrite and humble heart .
A conversation on the rest of Psalm 50, and about repentance.
Simeon the New Theologian - immeasurable contrition of the heart darkens the mind and drives prayer out of the soul
Simeon the New Theologian said that immeasurable contrition of the heart darkens the mind and drives out prayer and tenderness from the soul, and thereby love for God:
Simeon Novy
Theologian
“...Immeasurable and untimely contrition of the heart for something sensual darkens and disturbs the mind. It drives pure prayer and tenderness out of the soul, and implants into it painful heartfelt languor. Hence the cruelty and immeasurable insensibility; and through this, demons usually bring despair to those who have undertaken to live spiritually.”
Basil the Great assured that contrition for a person is a gift from God. The soul of a person that would love the sweetness of sorrow received from a contrite heart would have proof of the love of God:
Basil the Great
Saint
“... Contrition is a gift of God, given either to excite desire, so that the soul, having tasted the sweetness of such sorrow, tries to love this sorrow, or as proof that the soul, with the most careful care, can be in constant contrition and that those who reject it are not at all excusable due to negligence. And if someone who is forced cannot come to contrition, this serves as a denunciation of his negligence at some other time, because without reflection, without much and continuous exercise, it is impossible to begin something suddenly and overcome this, and at the same time it shows that the soul has other passions that do not allow her to act freely in what she wants...”
Repentance is what is needed for our heart to be pure and contrite
What does the phrase “...A sacrifice to God has a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise...” mean? We figured out that contrition is a strong grief, sadness, and also this softened state of the human soul, which, due to seeing only one’s own unworthiness, accompanies repentance of sins.
In this case, crying is a broken spirit, a contrite and humble heart, which God will not despise, that is, will not give over to the power and reproach of evil spirits and demons, as a proud heart, which is filled with conceit, arrogance and vanity, gives over to them.
“The heart is contrite...” because it was softened, all the uncleanness flowed out of it, and it was filled with various dirt. In order for our heart to be “contrite and humble,” we need to repent of our sins. If we consider these words from a spiritual point of view, we see that they immediately become clear and simple for our understanding.
Repentance is what is needed for our heart to be pure and contrite. "Repent!" - the Lord says to us. From the moment the Lord began to preach, he said: “... repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” For every person, the path to Christ begins with sincere repentance. This should be followed by every person who considers himself a true Christian.
In their teaching on repentance, the Lord and John the Baptist proposed a complete change in a person’s life in order to completely turn to God for a new - eternal life. The Son of God called and calls all people to repentance, because it is He who gives a repentant person new eternal life.
Repentance is what is needed for our heart to be pure and contrite.
For every person, the path to Christ begins with sincere repentance. The Son of God called and calls all people to repentance, because it is He who gives a repentant person new eternal life. Photo: kyiv-pravosl.info
BROKEN HEART
And at the last hour of death, those who are contrite and humble in heart receive confirmation that they have been pardoned by the merciful God, and they depart rejoicing and having fun. So great is this incomparable gift of God. He is the resurrection of souls, which still happens in real life...
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian
Prophet (King) David
God! Open my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise: for You do not desire sacrifice - I would give it; You do not favor a burnt offering. A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; you will not despise a contrite and humble heart, O God (Ps. 50:17-19).
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian
The main characteristic of a Christian is humility
So, it is not required that a person give anything other than the knowledge of himself that he is nothing in exchange for his soul.
Only in this way will he be able to offer God a contrite and humble heart - the only sacrifice that it is fitting for every pious person to offer to God. God will not despise this one sacrifice, knowing that man has nothing of his own that he could bring to Him, as Saint David also says: even if you wanted sacrifices, you would give them, but you will not be pleased with burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a contrite and humble heart, God will not despise (Ps. 50:18-19). By this sacrifice all kings, nobles, nobles, lowborn, wise, unlearned, rich, poor, beggars, thieves, offenders, covetous people, debauchees, murderers and every kind of sinner were saved, are being saved and will be saved. The depth of humility - this saving sacrifice - must be measured by the measure of sins, that is, by the measure of sins that a person has committed, so that he may also have humility with contrition. But even the most righteous, and the venerable, and the pure in heart, and all those who are saved are saved by nothing other than this sacrifice. And alms, and faith, and withdrawal from the world, and the greatest feat of martyrdom, and all other sacrifices are kindled from the ignition of this sacrifice, that is, heartfelt contrition. This is a sacrifice for which there is no sin that overcomes God’s love for mankind. For this one sacrifice (so that it is and is preserved) there are illnesses, sorrows, cramped conditions, the fall itself, spiritual passions and the bodily passions that accompany them - all so that this sacrifice can be offered to God by all God-fearing people. Whoever acquires this sacrifice of contrition with humility has nowhere to fall, because he considers himself lower than everyone else. And God came down to earth and humbled Himself even to the point of death for no other purpose than to create a contrite and humble heart in those who believe in Him. A contrite and humble heart
There are two sacrifices that God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ accepts and for which he has mercy on each person individually and the whole world as a whole - of which one is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and God incarnate, and the other is the contrite and humble heart of every believer in Him. So, let someone take all his property and give it to the poor, let him fast, keep vigils, sleep on bare ground, say prayers day and night, and not seek from God to acquire for himself a contrite and humble heart (for every gift is perfect, is from above, comes from the Father of lights - James 1:17), no one will receive such benefit from his labors. Why is it necessary to seek that one path on which a contrite and humble heart is acquired, for whoever acquires such a heart will walk on earth, as if he were walking on a mountain - in the kingdom of heaven. And at the last hour of death, those who are contrite and humble in heart receive confirmation that they have been pardoned by the merciful God, and they depart rejoicing and having fun. So great is this incomparable gift of God. He is the basis for the ascent along the ladder of virtues and the descent of the gift of miracles and signs; he is the resurrection of souls, which occurs in this life, before the general resurrection of bodies; he is the deliverance for which God the Father gave His Son, so that everyone who believes will not perish, but had eternal life and, having this eternal life, knew the one true God, and He sent Him, Jesus Christ (John 17:3).
Rev. Nikita Stifat
Humility does not consist in bending the neck, or in letting down one’s hair, or in wearing unkempt, coarse and poor clothing, which many consider to be the whole essence of this virtue, but in contrition of the heart and humility of the spirit, as David said: The spirit is broken: the heart is contrite and God will not humble you humbly (Ps. 50:19).
Venerable John Climacus
Humility alone could heal his incurable sores
I find that Manasseh sinned more than all other people, desecrating the temple of God and all Divine services by worshiping idols, so that even if the whole world had fasted for him, it would not have been able to satisfy him in the least for his iniquities. But humility alone was able to heal his incurable sores. As if you had desired sacrifice, David says to God, you would have given: burnt offerings, that is, bodies that are melted by fasting, you do not deign: a sacrifice to God is a broken spirit (Ps. 50:18), the rest of what follows is known to everyone.
Those who sinned to the Lord once cried out to this blessed humility to God after committing adultery and murder: and immediately heard: The Lord has taken away your sin (2 Sam. 12:13).
Saint Basil the Great
Who is broken in heart and humble in spirit?
He who is alien to all arrogance and is not proud of anything human is both contrite in heart and humble in spirit. He is great before God who humbly yields to his neighbor and, without shame, accepts even unfair accusations, in order to thereby grant the Church of God a great benefit - peace. If anyone humbles himself, he will be exalted brilliantly and majestically, because God lifts up the humble with His own power.
Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
One sacrifice accepted by God from fallen human nature is contrition of the spirit.
Saint Theophan the Recluse
Humility and a contrite spirit should form the background of your life, like everyone who lives in the true spirit of Christ.
Venerable Hilarion of Optina
In the event of any slippage in deeds, words and thoughts, immediately repent and, recognizing your weakness, humble yourself and force yourself to see your sins, and not corrections; from considering sins, a person comes into humility and has a contrite and humble heart, which God will not despise.
Unknown Athonite Hesychast
SOber Contemplation
(Word sixteen)
About the contrition of the heart, which scourges demons stronger than any heaviest punishment, quickly burning all their intricacies like brushwood
Bless, father
Break, O monk, your heart with prayer, so that the power of Satan in it may be completely crushed.
With every heartfelt prayer, groan and sigh bitterly from the depths of yourself in order to be saved from the snares and snares of the devil.
Cry out to God from the center of your heart, so that your cry reaches the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
Cry out to Christ with the silent cry of your heart, so that He, with the lightning of His Divinity, will condemn the demons who offend you and overcome the devils who fight you.
Since the devil always fights with you and tempts you, then you should always groan to Christ so that His help may come to you as quickly as possible.
With contrition of heart, always resist the lying Satan with strength, so that his evil head may be crushed.
Just as a person is afraid to put his hand on a hot and sparkling iron, so the devil is afraid of a broken heart. For contrition of the heart completely crushes its wickedness.
As soon as a heart that is at peace and without contrition notices a devilish dream within itself, it immediately accepts it, and the thought embedded in this dream leaves a deep mark on it. In a contrite heart there is no place for any dreams.
Where there is contrition of the heart, from there all demonic wickedness flees, there every demonic action is scorched.
Contrition of the heart humbles the ascension of the star and elevates the one who possesses it to heaven.
Therefore, beloved, with constant contrition of heart, crush the offering of the star, so that your soul may be crowned by the Lord Almighty.
For as soon as your heart is contrite, the malice of the demons will immediately disappear in you and a ray of God’s truth will shine in your soul.
Break your heart with prayer in order to see your soul, clothed in the power of the Most High, without any fear, like the Angel of the Lord, rushing at the devil.
Break your heart with prayer, so that the sin in your heart will be broken.
It is not only the demon, the servant of Satan, who flees from the face of a broken heart. But from the face of a heart broken by prayer, even Satan himself, the first among demons, flees faster than lightning.
Just as a person does not dare to enter a fiery furnace, so the devil does not dare to enter a heart heated by prayer with compulsion.
Just as it is impossible to count the movements of the wings of a flying bee, so it is impossible to count and imagine the swiftest tramp of Satan, running away from the face of a heart broken by prayer.
Just as the guard on the wall fears the glorious and courageous warrior, so the demon fears the one who always breaks his heart with prayer.
But if, nevertheless, the demon wants to get closer in order to at least achieve his goal by deception, then he first prepares to flee in order to be able to save at least himself from the burning lightning of a heart broken by prayer.
For, as soon as he sees that a person has begun to crush his heart with prayer, he no longer continues his walk and does not examine with curiosity the contrition of his heart, but immediately breaks into pieces, running away from the person’s face.
Just as a speaker, when he is surrounded by fire, at that hour no longer talks about the fire, but tries to save himself from the fire, so the demon, seeing a heart inflamed by prayer, no longer looks at its state, but tries to save himself from the red-hot heart.
A hare, when chased by a dog, hopes to escape thanks to the speed of its legs. But when he is pursued by a hound, even though he runs as fast as he can, he still becomes the hound's prey. So is the demon. When some other virtue struggles with him, he hopes to escape the scourge of the flaming sword. But when he is pursued by the flaming sword of contrite prayer, he is convinced that the lightning of this prayer will overtake him very quickly and scatter the bones of his malice in hell.
Sparrows are not as afraid of the attack of an eagle as the demons are afraid of the attack of a heart broken by prayer.
When limestone falls into fire, it is consumed by the fire more slowly than all the evil of the demons is consumed and consumed by contrition of heart.
The devil saw a heart wounded by the contrition of prayer - he immediately remembered the wounds of Christ, which He endured for the sake of man, and therefore he trembled and was afraid.
Therefore, beloved, crush the devil with contrition of heart, so that you may enter victoriously into the joy of your Lord.
Break your heart with prayer so that Satan, who deceives you, will be broken into countless pieces.
Break your heart with a prayer that the one who is waiting for an opportune time to capture you in the net of voluptuousness will leave you.
Do not be afraid of the contrition of your heart, so that the demons fear you. Sometimes demons do not fear a virtuous person as much as they fear him when he crushes his heart with prayer.
Just as a snake fears a cat’s claws most of all, so Satan fears contrition of heart more than other virtues.
A cat's claws are poisonous to a snake, but the devil's claws are seven times more poisonous to the human soul. However, for the devil himself, contrition of the heart is seventy-seven times more poisonous than his own claws.
As soon as Satan hears the sorrowful sighs coming from the depths of the heart, he immediately takes flight, because he feels that a heart broken by prayer, and therefore Christ Himself, is not far away.
Where there is heartfelt contrition, the Lord is not far from there. Therefore the Prophet says: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.
As soon as the wolf hears the dogs barking, he immediately runs away, because he understands that there is a shepherd and a sheep guard nearby.
As soon as the mice hear the cat’s voice, they immediately become quiet in their holes and holes, stopping their secret theft.
As soon as the devil's columns hear the sorrowful sighs of the heart, they immediately clean up their anger and become quiet.
As soon as the demons hear someone’s sighs from the middle of the heart, they immediately disappear, fearing the Lord’s vengeance.
When a thief hears gun shots nearby, then he no longer tries to steal anything, but strives to save his soul by running away or hiding.
When Satan hears how someone roars from the groaning of his heart, according to the Prophet, shedding streams of tears in search of his Creator, he no longer looks for what he can steal from that person’s soul, that is, with what passion to fight with it, but tries to save himself myself.
Therefore, O monk, crush your heart with prayer, so that the throne and exaltation of Satan may be crushed.
Break your heart with prayer so that Satan will tremble when he sees you as a perfect warrior of Christ, fully equipped with armor.
As you crush, crush your heart with prayer to bring the proud and arrogant Satan under your feet.
As soon as the devil hears a voice hoarse from contrition of heart, his power is immediately abolished through fear and the flame of his malice is extinguished through sorrow.
As soon as Satan saw streams of tears on the face of a man with a contrite heart, he was immediately scalded by boiling water.
Are you coughing up blood from the extreme compulsion of your heartfelt prayer? Know that you have thrown quicklime into the center of hell.
If you sighed from the depths of yourself, then you were pierced by an arrow from the eye of the lady.
If you remembered your Creator Jesus and shed tears of joy, then you spilled boiling water on the head of the star.
If you called on your Master Christ, you angered the devil.
Did you see the icon of Christ and the Mother of God, and did your soul rejoice? Countless thoughts take possession of Satan and surround the star.
If you called from the depths of the sweetest name of Christ and the Most Pure Mother of God, then you plunged your invisible enemy into the underworld.
If your heart hurts from prayer, then Satan's stomach hurts.
If your strength is killed by intense prayer, then Satan is also weakened.
If you, enduring, endured in heartfelt prayer, then your soul saw the glory of the Lord as divine glory.
If you crushed your heart with prayer, then your soul enjoyed divine eros, and your heart felt the inexpressible sweetness of your Creator Christ.
Return of the Prodigal Son
If you, having crushed your heart with prayer, fall asleep, then in your sleep you will see a divine and comforting vision.
Have you broken your heart with prayer until it hurts? And so, streams of tears immediately appeared in your eyes.
Is your heart sick from the compulsion of prayer? Behold, you have felt divine grace and protection.
Has intense prayer produced pain and cuts in your heart? Behold, with your soul's eyes you soon saw a divine vision.
If, from the pain of a contrite heart, you have already despaired of your life, then one of God’s hidden mysteries has been revealed to you.
If you have experienced grief from the bitter pain of a contrite heart, then indeed your soul, thanks to the Lord Almighty, has tasted the feeling of His sweetest Kingdom.
If through the compulsion of prayer you destroyed your heart, then you saved your soul by acquiring paradise.
If you gave the blood of your heart, you received the Holy Spirit in your soul.
If you, praying with your heart, sweated from oppression, then you remembered the sweat of Christ, which during His prayer was like drops of blood and fell to the ground.
If you crushed your heart with prayer, then you lifted up the horn of your soul, crushing the horns of the star.
If, from the compulsion of prayer, a dry cough has taken hold of your chest, then Satan, oppressed by your oppression, has also coughed.
If your voice broke from the immeasurable compulsion of heartfelt prayer, then your soul began to sing a heavenly, incomprehensible and sweetest song.
If, due to heartbreak, you lost your voice, suddenly you heard the singing of Angels, sweetly praising their Creator Jesus.
If you prayed to Christ from the depths of your heart, then Satan, unable to listen to you, stopped his ears.
If you sighed from the depths of yourself, then Satan lost his mind from fear.
If you cried out to God against your enemy, you prepared terrible thunder for the flattering Satan.
If contrition has disappeared from your heart, then the flesh has rebelled against the soul. If you crushed your heart with prayer, then the soul opposed the flesh.
If you crushed your heart with prayer, then your soul became angry with the devil, closing itself off to sin.
Seeing the contrite heart, the Lucifer immediately became afraid, because this shook his strength.
If your heart was crushed by prayer, then the Spirit of the Lord rejoiced over your soul and the army of the star was grieved.
As soon as you crushed your heart with prayer, the warmth of virtue and, as a result, the desire for the Lord immediately ignited in it.
Breaking, breaking, O humble one, break your heart with prayer, so that your womb may be renewed by the Spirit of the Lord. And renew the right spirit in my womb, says the Prophet.
Contrite, crush and humble by prayer, O beloved, your exalted heart, so that your soul may be loved by your Creator Jesus, Who is truly meek and lowly in heart.
Break your heart with prayer, O monk, in order to laugh at the devil, the chief of evil, making his arrows the arrows of a child.
Because to the one who breaks his heart with prayer, Satan is like an ant, and he is not afraid of him. For the one who does not crush the heart, Satan is like a lion, and he is always afraid of him.
If you forcefully break your heart with prayer, then you suddenly feel peace not only in your soul, but also in your body. Because in many contritions of heart, the star of dispassion and purity always shines.
Therefore, beloved, crush your heart with prayer, so that your soul may converse with the Angels of God, which is truly a blessed thing, desired, but found and achieved with difficulty.
By crushing, crush your heart with prayer, O humble one, in order to acquire purity of body and sobriety of thought, which are the two wings of your soul, with the help of which it soars freely to heaven.
O insignificant monk, always crush your heart with prayer so that the eyes of the mind are enlightened, with which you will see the invisible paradise as clearly as you clearly see sensory objects with your bodily eyes.
Gather, O monk, yours in the depths of yourself, where the throne of your heart is. And when, like a kind of guard, you place him at the throne of the heart, say a prayer from the depths of yourself, until the grace of this prayer delights the mind with inexpressible sweetness. And then you will see how he will soar immaterially into heaven, to God, to where his true rest is located.
The sermons of Jesus Christ were a call to repentance of people
Like John the Baptist, Jesus Christ's preaching was a call to repentance. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark quote almost identically the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of Mark it sounded like this: “... repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15).
From all this it becomes clear that if there is no sincere repentance from a person, then there cannot be saving faith in the Gospel, because just as the soil must be plowed before something is planted there, so the heart of a sinful person must be prepared, before it accepts biblical truth. That is why the Lord tells us: “...Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4), that is, those who cry about their sins will be able to be comforted in the Kingdom of God. The Lord also said: “Unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way” (Luke 13:3).
During the period of Great Lent, the time for repentance is the best. At this time, as much effort as possible is made to change ourselves so that our hearts and souls become pure. What cannot be missed in the sacrament of repentance?
Of course, these are confessions of one’s sins and repentance for them. It seems quite simple to name your sins, but in reality it is not at all so. It is also important that you ask for forgiveness for the sins you have committed, and not just say them. Repentance for sins is an action that needs to be taken with great care.
Please note that the woman is confessing to the priest. After a person repents of her sins before God, the priest covers her head with an epitrachelion and reads a prayer. In it he asks God to forgive his sins
Sometimes people believe that the more feelings they experience during repentance, the better. Of course, it’s good when emotions help people repent, but this is not the most important thing.
The Lord does not force anyone to come to Him. This should always be done in repentance - a return to the One who loves you infinitely.
The Lord expects from us love and a desire to be and abide with Him.
A contrite heart and spirit is a recognition that we cannot live without the Lord, we do not want to live without Him. The Lord always calls us to this in various ways.
By leaving a comment, you accept the user agreement
Evfimy Zigaben
Sacrifice to God—the spirit is crushed.
A soul that spontaneously laments in its humility and meekness is a sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God.
God will not despise a contrite and humble heart.
Often Scripture, as we have already noticed, calls the soul a heart, because the heart is very closely connected with the soul, and likewise the soul primarily resides in the heart, which is why, when the heart suffers from some kind of illness, the soul immediately flies out or leaves the body. So, God does not humiliate this contrite and humble soul, that is, does not turn away.
Words of the great Basil: Contrition of the heart is the destruction of human thoughts; for whoever despises earthly things and devotes himself to the word of God, subduing his majestic mind to those superior to man and most divine, he can have a contrite heart and offer this sacrifice, not despised by the Lord. And to whom God benefits, desiring them to walk in newness of life, He crushes the old man within them. Therefore, sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; for here the spirit of the world, which produced sin, is crushed, so that the right spirit may be renewed in the inward parts, and they need to crush their high-wise and arrogant heart with knowledge, so that their humility becomes a sacrifice to God. St. Mark: Without contrition of the heart it is impossible to free oneself from evil; The heart is crushed by threefold abstinence, that is, from sleep, from the womb and from bodily rest, Theodorite: Divine David, having heard the Divine voice: I will not accept bulls from your house, nor from your flocks of goats, - the sacrifice, says, The best and most favorable sacrifice for you is humility spirit; Therefore, having greatly humbled my heart and, as it were, crushing it, I will offer You the best sacrifice. These words were also uttered by the blessed youths in the cave: With a contrite heart, they said, and a spirit of humility, let us be accepted by You, as with the burnt offerings of rams and fat bulls. Hesychius also speaks in agreement with him: Here the spirit means that the sacrifice acceptable to God is humility: for blessed are the poor in spirit, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. How can we crush the spirit with humility? When, while doing good, we will not be proud, but will constantly remember our sins. And in the explanation: Have mercy on me, God, it also contains the following: although a contrite spirit and a humble heart are separated from one another, nevertheless in a truly repentant they are united, just as in a sinner a proud spirit and a cruel heart come together; for whoever sins out of the pride of his spirit also sins out of the hardness of his heart. Note that St. Augustine calls tears the sweat of the heart and the blood of the soul. Therefore, whoever cries for his sins, in his tears brings to God, as a favorable sacrifice, the sweat of his heart and the blood of his soul. Therefore, one of the saints, referring to this sacrifice, said: God better accepts repentance from one who repents with humility and contrition, rather than the guiltlessness of a lukewarm and weakened righteous person.
