The most important prayers Fundamentals of the Orthodox Faith

Important prayers. Read each.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner (3 times).

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Important prayers for every Christian

PRAYER OF THE LORD.

Our Father, Who art in heaven! Hallowed be thy name, may the kingdom come

Yours, your will be done, as in heaven and on earth. Give us our daily bread today, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER TO THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.

Oh, Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Lord, Queen of heaven and earth!

to my much painful sighing of our soul, look from the height of Thy saint on us, with faith and love worshiping Thy Most Pure Image! Behold, immersed in sin and overwhelmed with sorrow, looking at Your image, as if you live with us, we offer our humble prayers. No other help, no other intercession, no consolation, only to You, O Mother of all those who grieve and burdened! Help us weak, quench our sorrow, guide us, the erring ones, on the right path, heal and save the hopeless, grant us other time of our life in peace and spend silence. Grant a Christian death and at the terrible judgment of Your Son, the merciful Intercessor will appear to us, let us always sing, magnify and glorify Thee, as the good Intercessor of the Christian race, with all those who please God. Amen!

PRAYER SYMBOL OF FAITH.

I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

the only begotten, who was born of the Father before all ages. Light from light

God is true, from God is true, born, not created, Consubstantial

Father, He is the whole life. For us, man, and for our salvation, who descended from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and became human.

Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And he rose again on the third day, according to the scripture. And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And packs of the future with glory to judge the living and the dead,

His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, Lord,

life-giving, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets. Into one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.

Tea of ​​the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the next century. Amen.

LIVE IN HELP…

Alive in the help of the Most High, in the blood of the God of Heaven will settle. The word of the Lord:

Thou art my protector and my refuge, my God, and I trust in Him. As if He will deliver you from the net of the hunter, and from the rebellious word, His splash will overshadow you, and under His wings you hope: His truth will be your weapon. Do not be afraid of the fear of the night, from the arrow flying in the days, from the transitory things in the darkness, from the scum, and the noonday demon.

A thousand will fall from your country, and darkness at your right hand, but it will not come close to you, both look at your eyes, and see the reward of sinners. As you, O Lord, are my hope, the Most High have laid down your refuge. Evil will not come to you, and the wound will not approach your body, as if by His Angel a commandment about you, save you in all your ways.

They will take you in their hands, but not when you stumble your foot on a stone, step on the asp and the basilisk, and cross the lion and the serpent. As if I trusted in Me, and I will deliver, and: I will cover and, as if I knew My name. He will call to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in sorrow, I will betray him, and I will glorify him, I will fulfill him with the length of days, and I will show him My salvation.

PRAYER TO THE GUARDIAN ANGEL

Holy angel of Christ, I pray to you, my holy guardian, devoted to me to keep my soul to my sinful body from holy baptism, but with my laziness and my evil habit, I angered your most pure lordship and drove you away from me with all the student deeds, slander, envy, condemnation, contempt, disobedience, fraternal hatred and rancor, love of money, adultery, rage, avarice, gluttony without satiety and drunkenness, verbosity, evil thoughts and crafty, proud custom and prodigal rage, having self-desire for every carnal desire.

Oh, my evil will, even the dumb beasts do not create it! But how can you look at me, or come to me, like a stinking dog? Whose eyes, Angel of Christ, look at me, entangled in evil in vile deeds? Yes, how can I ask forgiveness for my bitter and evil and crafty deed, I fall into it all day and night and at every hour? But I pray that, falling to the guardian of my saint, have mercy on me, a sinful and unworthy servant of yours (name), be my helper and intercessor for the evil of my opponent, with your holy prayers, and make the Kingdom of God a partaker with all the saints, always, and now, and forever and forever and ever. Amen.

P oliths are important and beautiful all without exception. After all, each of them was born in the depths of the souls of those who turned to the Lord, the best human feelings are invested in each - love, faith, patience, hope ... And each of us probably has (or will) his favorite prayers, those that somehow especially consonant with our soul, our faith.

H about there are three main prayers, to know by heart and understand the meaning of which any Christian is obliged, they are the foundation of the foundations, a kind of alphabet of Christianity.

The first one is the Creed.

FROM creed - a summary of the foundations of the Orthodox dogma, compiled in the 4th century. Knowing and understanding it is necessary for a believer, so let's read it translated into modern Russian:

I believe in one God the Father, the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and of everything visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only one, begotten of the Father before all time; as Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten and not created, having one being with the Father and by whom all things were created. For us, people, and for our salvation, who descended from heaven and took on human nature from the Virgin Mary through the influx of the Holy Spirit on Her, and became a Man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And resurrected on the third day according to the Scriptures. And ascended into Heaven and is at the right hand of the Father. And He again has to come with glory to judge the living and the dead. Whose kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, who gives life to all, proceeding from the Father, honored and glorified on a par with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets. Into one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. True.

In Old Slavonic, the church language, the Creed sounds like this:

I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born of the Father before this age; Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, Whom all was. For us for the sake of man and for our sake of salvation, he descended from heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin and became human. Crucified for us under Pontius Pshat, and suffered, and was buried. And resurrected on the third day according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And the packs of the future with glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets. Into one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.

Prayer is not easy, the best interpretation of it is given by Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann in his book "Sunday Conversations".

Let us try, following the reasoning of an experienced priest, to try to penetrate into the essence of this prayer.

So, Symbol of faith begins with the words I believe in one God the Father...»

These words are the beginning of all beginnings, the foundation of the foundations of Christianity. Pre-Christian man god, or rather gods, called natural phenomena. There was a god of the wind and a god of the sun, there were as many gods as there were forces acting in nature. “The world is full of gods,” said the Greek philosopher Thales, which meant that many different natural forces and laws operate in the world. The gods were a reflection of the world. Christianity, having proclaimed the one God, thus affirmed the originality of the spiritual, higher being.

The pagan gods were considered evil and dangerous, Christians immediately recognized the Father in their God. The father gives life and continues to love his creation throughout his life, he takes care of him and participates in his affairs, he forgives him for his mistakes and passionately wants his child to be beautiful, smart, happy and kind. The Gospel says about God: "He is love." He is the love for us, his children. And our reciprocal love for Him, our trust and filial obedience are natural.

Further. Naming God Father, Creed calls him the Almighty: I believe in one God the Father, the Almighty…”. With this word, we express our faith that it is in God's providence that all life, everything is from Him, everything is in His hands. With this word, we, as it were, entrust ourselves, our fate to the Lord.

Next line: " Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible". The world is not an accidental cohesion of cells, not an absurdity, it has a beginning, a meaning and a purpose. The world was created by Divine wisdom, He created it "and saw that it was good ...".

« And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten…“Saying these words, we immediately find ourselves in the very core of Christianity,” says Protopresbyter A. Schmemann.

Word " Lord” at the time of the emergence of Christianity meant “teacher”, “leader”. A leader who is endowed with Divine power, sent by God, in the name of God, in order to rule the world. This title was appropriated by the Roman emperors in order to establish the Divine source of their power. Christians did not recognize him as an emperor, for which the Roman Empire persecuted them for more than 200 years. Christians asserted: in the world there is only one bearer of Divine authority, one Lord - Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten.

Jesus is a human name very common in Palestine at that time. Christ is a title meaning "anointed one", in Hebrew it sounds like "Messiah". The expectation of the Messiah was justified. The one who was expected, prayed for and proclaimed by all the prophets, has come. The man is Jesus, the Messiah is Christ.

About the fact that Christ is the Son of God, God Himself told us, and this is described in the Gospel: when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove and a voice was heard from heaven: “This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased...". The Son of God, sent to us by God, is His part. His love. His faith is in us humans.

The Son of God - just born, as any of us was born, And born in poverty, His Mother did not even have diapers in which to wrap Him, beds, where to put Him, a newborn ...

“Who is of the Father, born before all ages; Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, Whom all was.” How to understand such words? Very simple. “Father! says Christ on the night of betrayal. - May they all be one - as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You, so they (we, people! - Auth.) May they be one in us - so that the world may believe that You sent me ... ". This is the meaning of these words of the Creed about the Son of God, the Only Begotten.

« For us, man, and for our sake, who descended from heaven...» In the line, the most important, the most important word, the concept is salvation. Christianity itself is a religion of salvation. Not the improvement of life, help in troubles and hardships, but salvation. That is why Christ was sent because the world was perishing—in lies, in unscrupulousness, in human dishonesty. And He did not come to make us carefree and happy, successful in everything, but to show us the way to salvation from total lies and dishonor. This path is not easy, but He did not promise us that it would be easy. He simply warned: if we live the way we live, we will perish, and perish soon. But if we understand that our path is the path to death, then there will be the first step on the path to salvation.

« And incarnated from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and incarnated". For non-believers, these words are often proof enough that the whole of Christianity is nothing more than a beautiful fairy tale. Virgo cannot become a mother under any circumstances. Indeed, it is impossible to prove the reality of a husbandless conception and birth, so we either believe in it - we just believe without reasoning - or there really is nothing to talk about.

So, to prove the fact of the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary is impossible. But ... how much do we know today about the world that surrounds us? It is worth thinking, and it will become clear: the deepest laws of the world are unknown to us, and its mystical depth is also unknown, that depth where our mind meets the action of God the Creator. By the way, after all, the Church does not claim that a husbandless conception and birth is possible, she only says that this happened once - when God Himself came to earth in the form of a man! It was God's decision, God's providence, one of those Lord's ways that are inscrutable to us, that is, cannot be understood due to the fact that they are God's, and not human. Well, the reason for such a decision of God is quite understandable: only having received His Flesh and Blood from the Mother, Christ could become related to us, people, to the end, and that is how He became human. Since then, He has been one of us.

« crucified for us under Pontius Pilate... Why is this name alone mentioned in the Creed, because other people, not only Pontius Pilate, participated in the condemnation and torment of Christ? Not only in order to more accurately indicate the time when the crucifixion took place. Remember, the Gospel of John describes how Pilate asks Christ standing before him: “Why don't you answer me? Don't You know that I have power to crucify You and I have power to let You go?" Of course, Pilate knew: there is no fault for Christ. But the human life of the Lord was in his power. It depended only on his decision, on the decision of his conscience in those hours. And he was looking for an opportunity to let Jesus go - and he did not let go. He did not let go because he was afraid of the crowd, he was afraid of riots that could damage his career as a procurator. Procurator Pontius Pilate was faced with a choice: put an innocent man to death or risk his future in the name of justice. He chose the first. And every time in Creed we pronounce the name of Pilate, we remind ourselves: be careful - it is much easier to choose betrayal than to take the side of the truth. In every person who meets on our life path, you can see the image of Christ. And often we are faced with a choice: to do good to the person we meet or to betray him - out of weakness or fear, out of laziness or indifference, to betray, as he did “before Easter, at the sixth hour, Pontius Pilate” ... Our spiritual salvation depends on such a choice each time or our doom.

« And suffering, and buried". When, after the darkness of Good Friday, the day of crucifixion and death, we enter Saturday, a shroud rises in the middle of the temple, that is, a tomb under a veil with the image of the dead Christ on it. But anyone who has at least once experienced, together with other believers, this day, unique in its depth, in its light, in its purest silence, knows - and knows not with his mind, but with his whole being: this tomb, which, like any coffin, always there is evidence of the triumph and invincibility of death, gradually begins to illuminate with such an initially invisible, barely perceptible light that the coffin is transformed, as the Church sings, into a “life-giving coffin” ... In the early morning, still in complete darkness, we carry the shroud around the temple. And now it is no longer a grave sob that is heard, but a song of victory: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal!” - so writes Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann. Christ announces to us that the kingdom of death is coming to an end. That "buried" does not mean "gone forever", that the resurrection will be!

We all have to die. But behind the words of the Creed stands for some only hope, for others - already the certainty that in our death we will meet with Christ and we will wait for the resurrection.

« And risen on the third day, according to the Scriptures". These words are the very essence, the core of the Christian faith. In principle, faith in Him presupposes faith in the resurrection itself. The Resurrection is a miracle revealed to us as a great gift - that's probably all that needs to be said about these lines.

“And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And the packs of the coming with glory, to be judged by the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end. The sky, according to Christian concepts, is that in the world that is high, spiritual, pure, this is what Christianity in man calls his spirit. Each of us has a piece of the sky. It was “heaven on earth” that Christ revealed to us, He showed us: the meaning of life is ascent. “Ascension to heaven” means, having gone through an earthly, controversial and full of suffering life, to finally partake of heavenly truth, to return to God, to knowledge of Him. Our faith and our love are directed to heaven.

« And packs of the future with glory to judge the living and the dead” - that is, “and again expected to judge the living and the dead.” The first Christians lived in anticipation of the second coming of Christ and rejoiced at the coming coming. Gradually, fear began to be mixed with the joy of waiting - the fear of His judgment, which we habitually call the Last Judgment. The concept of "fear" in Christian Scripture is used in two senses - in positive and negative. On the one hand, all human life is permeated with fear, fears. Fear of the unknown, fear of suffering, fear of misfortune, fear of death, finally. Life is terrible, and death is also terrible. The result of these endless fears is all our illnesses, physical and spiritual, mental. It is from this “negative” fear that Christ came to free us. That is why, says John the Theologian, fear is sinful, because it testifies to the lack of our faith. But also “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.” Such fear is no longer from a lack of faith and love for God, but from their excess. Its essence, meaning is admiration, reverence. We sometimes experience a similar fear when we encounter something truly beautiful and suddenly realize how insignificant we ourselves are in comparison with this “something” ... Fear-admiration, fear-love and its consequence - infinite respect. For example, I am afraid of my spiritual father to the point of trembling in my hands and knees. I'm afraid precisely because I love him and for me his approval or disapproval of one or another of my words and deeds is infinitely important. This fear helps me avoid many problems and mistakes in life - I think over and calibrate my every step according to how the priest will appreciate it ...

Yes, we must wait for Christ "with fear and trembling." But also with the certainty that "there is no human sin that exceeds the mercy of God." If we repent of what has been done, He, returning to us, will forgive us, “His Kingdom will have no end,” and in His Kingdom we will be happy. After all, it is not for nothing that we daily repeat: “Thy Kingdom come…”

“And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets.” Who is this Holy Spirit whom the Creed calls us to worship along with the Father and the Son? The word "spirit" - "ruach" in Hebrew means "wind", "power", something invisible, but having power over the world around us. And when we say “Spirit” about God, we combine in our consciousness His invisibility and His power into a single whole. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God always and in everything. The Spirit "proceeds" from the Father, it is His love for us. His faith is in us, His mercy and care for us.

« who spoke the prophets”- that is, the One who spoke and speaks with us through the prophets, through their mouths: the essence of prophecy is in proclaiming to us the will of God, otherwise how would we know this will? ..

« Into One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church". “I will build,” proclaims Christ, “my Church…” And he builds it. It builds the assembly, the unity of those who aspire to Him. At first, He gathers only twelve people, twelve apostles, to whom he says: “You didn’t choose Me, I chose you ...” And after His crucifixion, it is these twelve that remain on earth as the Church. They, in turn, invite people to join them, go with them and continue the work of Christ. The Church is not one externally - there are many churches in the world, she is one internally - by what she does, by what she is dedicated to - by her service to a common goal. “Cathedral” means universal, since the teaching of Christ is addressed not to any one people, but to all of us, to all of humanity.

« I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen". The apostle Paul says that in baptism we are united with Christ. On earth we are born members of a nation, but a Christian through baptism enters into a new nation—the people of God. In baptism we give, we commit ourselves to Him, in return we receive His love. His Fatherhood is above us. And this is forever.

“Tea” means I hope and wait. So I love you and look forward to seeing you.

Prayer "Our Father"

AT the second "main prayer with which we walk along the road of Christianity" - " Our Father“- is a very warm, very kind, really filial (and daughter) prayer. In it, we especially deeply feel that the Lord is our Father, and not the sovereign.

“Our Father, Thou art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven and on earth” - this is how the prayer begins. In its opening words, our insatiable and eternal desire to be close to the Father, always feel His love on us and realize ourselves protected by His will and His Kingdom. Because without Him it is difficult, bad, scary for us. Without Him, we are defenseless in the midst of the troubles of this world.

The second part of the prayer contains petitions about the most important thing, about that without which human life is unthinkable. " Give us our daily bread today..."We ask Him. That is, on the one hand, do not let us fall, do not let us perish from earthly, everyday needs: from hunger, cold, from the lack of what is necessary for physical life. But it is also a request for daily bread that nourishes our soul. It is not for nothing that in a prayer pronounced in Greek, “daily bread” literally sounds like “supernatural bread” - not only bread from our fields, but also bread for our souls.

The following petition plays a huge, sometimes decisive role in our life: and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors...". That is, forgive us, Lord, as we forgive, as we should forgive our loved ones. And with these words we express something very important for ourselves: after all, everyone deep down has both bitterness and resentment against someone, resentment unforgiven, old, sometimes unbearable ... And we would be glad to forgive, but we cannot! ..

Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh in his book "Conversations on Prayer" told a simple and at the same time amazing story.

“When I was a teenager, like any boy, I had a “mortal enemy” - a boy whom I could not bear in any way, a boy who seemed to me a true enemy. And at the same time, I already knew this prayer. I then turned to my confessor and told him about it. He was a smart and direct person, and not without harshness, he told me: “It’s very simple - when you get to this place, say:“ And You, Lord, do not forgive me my sins, as I refuse to forgive Cyril ... ".

I said: “Father Athanasius, I can’t…”. “Otherwise it’s impossible, you have to be honest…”. In the evening, when I reached this place in prayer, my tongue did not turn to say it. Incur the wrath of God, say that I ask Him to reject me from my heart, just as I reject Cyril - no, I can’t ... I again went to Father Athanasius.

"Can not? Well, then skip over these words ... ”I tried: it didn’t work out either. It was dishonest, I could not say the whole prayer and leave only these words aside, it was a lie before God, it was a deception ... I again went for advice.

“And you, perhaps,” says Father Athanasius, “you can say: “Lord, even though I can’t forgive, I would very much like to be able to forgive, so maybe You will forgive me for my desire to forgive? ..”

It was better, I tried it... And after repeating the prayer in this form for several nights in a row, I felt... that hatred was not boiling in me so much, that I was calming down, and at some point I was able to say: “Forgive me! “I forgive him now, right here…”

Can you imagine what a lesson in forgiveness, and therefore getting rid of negative emotions, was given to the future Metropolitan by his confessor? Not only that, by forgiving "our debtors", we ourselves become better, cleaner, we also become healthier - any negative information accumulated in our subconscious undermines the very foundations of our health ...

But what does "forgive" mean? A person offended you, humiliated you, harmed you, and you just forgive him like that, you say: “It's okay, it's nothing, it's not worth attention? ..” Impossible! To forgive means to forget? Also incorrect. Forgiveness begins from the moment when you are able to look at the offender not as an enemy, but as a weak, malleable, very often unhappy person. He, perhaps, would like to become different, not to harm people, but he cannot - he is weak, petty. And then the resentment will grow into pity. Here he stands in front of you - vain, tormented, tormented by his problems, not knowing the joy of kindness, mercy, compassion ... and it's a pity for him, poor fellow, it's just a pity, because is life really such an existence? .. When Christ was nailed to the cross, He asked: "Forgive them, Father, they do not know what they are doing!" This is forgiveness in all its depth, in all compassion.

“I think,” says Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh, “that this is a very important experience. It is very important that when we pray we do not say anything that is not true (or that we do not fully understand, we say purely automatically). Therefore, if anyone has a prayer book and he prays according to the prayer book, read these prayers when there is time, put before yourself the question of what you can say honestly, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your will, note to yourself that you it’s hard to say, but what you can grow into with an effort - if not the heart, then the will, consciousness, note also what you can’t honestly say in any way. And be honest to the end: when you reach these words, say: “Lord, I can’t say this, help me someday grow to such a consciousness…”.

But back to prayer Our Father…". The following words are in it: and lead us not into temptation...". The word "temptation" in Slavonic means trial. And, probably, the most accurate interpretation of these words will be this: do not lead us into that area where we cannot withstand the test, where we will not be able to cope with the test. Give us strength, give us reason, and caution, and wisdom, and courage.

And finally, " but deliver us from evil". That is, deliver us from excessive trials, temptations, which we can only cope with with Your help, and especially from the machinations of the cunning devil, who pushes us to evil.

Jesus Prayer

No matter how serious our care is, no matter how heavy our grief, in despondency and sadness, in anguish and sorrow, in mental illness and bodily illness, we can always regain peace, health and joy. To do this, it is enough to know a short, at first glance, eight-word prayer. Thick volumes of books have been written about a short prayer. But many volumes do not fit what her words contain. This prayer is the essence of the entire Orthodox faith. To explain it means to explain the whole truth about man and God.

This is the Jesus Prayer:

« Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner «.

We have lost contact with the Divine — and that is the reason for all our troubles and misfortunes. We forgot about the spark of God that is in each of us. We forgot that a person is meant to protect and strengthen the connection between his own divine spark and the Divine fire, which seems to connect us to the "accumulator of the Universe." And we are given as much strength as we need, without any restrictions. The Jesus Prayer restores this connection.

Here is how the Athonite monks Kallistos and Ignatius write about this: “Prayer, with attention and sobriety, performed inside the heart, without any other thought or imagination of any kind, with the words: Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, insubstantially and silently raises the mind to the most called Lord Jesus Christ, with the words have mercy on me again brings him back and moves him to himself.

It is very important in the Jesus Prayer to understand well the meaning of its second part: "... have mercy on me, a sinner."

Can each of us sincerely call ourselves a sinner? Indeed, in the depths of his soul, a person thinks: I am not so bad, I am kind, honest, I work hard, I take care of my family, relatives, friends, I have practically no bad habits ... No, there are many people around who much more sinful than me. The only thing is that the word "sin" has not only a generally accepted meaning, but also another, much deeper one.

Sin is, first of all, a person's loss of contact with his own depth. Think about these words. Who can honestly say that every day he lives with all the depths of his soul, heart, mind, with all the scope of his will, with all his courage and nobility, lives in full force, using without a trace the physical and spiritual reserves that the Lord gave him at birth? Alas, this is how we live only in rare and wonderful moments of spiritual impulses. The rest of the time, our deeds and thoughts are at half strength, exactly as much as daily necessity requires.

But it's a shame! The Lord created us great, strong, beautiful, and we… we were crushed and almost completely forgot what we could be… And then it breaks out: “Lord, forgive me!..”

But the word "have mercy" is not a synonym for the word "forgive". This word is Greek, it has many meanings. “Forgive” means forgive and forget that I am like this. Lord, it just so happened, what can you do. In Greek, “have mercy” - “kyrie, eleison” - does not just mean “forgive”, but “forgive and give me time to come to my senses” - give me the opportunity to correct mistakes, help me become what You created me, what I should be. Saying the Jesus Prayer, we, exhausted by deeds and problems, living in endless haste and bustle, do not give up hope of becoming worthy and beautiful again. And you, Lord, have mercy on us - kyrie, eleison - and in the struggle for ourselves!

Always before praying for anything, asking for something from the Lord, say these few words in your heart several times. Believe me, they will give you much more than you can imagine...

In addition, the prayer book contains canons, akathists, as well as prayers on different cases.

Prayers for various occasions are usually said many times during the day - when a person starts some business, or something disturbs him, or sad thoughts disturb him; it is good to read short prayers when you are angry or annoyed, when you are afraid of something, even when you are just tired, and there is still a lot to do.

A person without faith is like a blind man. Faith gives a person spiritual vision, which helps a person to see and understand the essence of what is happening around: how and why everything was created, what is the purpose of life, what is right and what is not, what one should strive for, and so on.

History reference

Since ancient times, since apostolic times, Christians have used the so-called "creeds" in order to remind themselves of the basic truths of the Christian faith. Several brief creeds existed in the ancient church. In the 4th century, when false teachings about God the Son and the Holy Spirit appeared, it became necessary to supplement and clarify the old symbols.

The Creed, which we will explain here, was compiled by the Fathers of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils. At the First Ecumenical Council, the first seven members of the Symbol were written, at the Second, the remaining five. The First Ecumenical Council was held in the city of Nicaea in 325 after the Nativity of Christ to affirm the apostolic teaching about the Son of God against the incorrect teaching of Arius, who believed that the Son of God was created by God the Father and therefore is not the true God. The Second Ecumenical Council was held in Constantinople in 381 to affirm the apostolic teaching about the Holy Spirit against the false teaching of Macedonia, which rejected the divine dignity of the Holy Spirit. According to the two cities in which these Ecumenical Councils were held, the Creed bears the name of Niceo-Tsaregradsky.

The Creed consists of 12 members. The 1st member speaks of God the Father, the 2nd to 7th members speak of God the Son, the 8th - of God the Holy Spirit, the 9th - of the Church, the 10th - of baptism, the 11th and 12 th - about the resurrection of the dead and about eternal life.

Text of the Creed

According to Church Slavonic

1. I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible.

2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born from the Father before all ages: Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, consubstantial with the Father, Whom all was.

3. For us, man, and for our salvation, descended from Heaven and incarnated from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and became human.

4. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried.

5. And he rose again on the third day, according to the scripture.

6. And ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.

7 And the packs of the one to come with glory to be judged by the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

8. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets.

9. Into one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

10. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.

11. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead,

12. And the life of the future age. Amen

In Russian

1. I believe in one God, Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, everything visible and invisible.

2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages: Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, one being with the Father, by Him all things were created.

3. For the sake of us people and for the sake of our salvation, he descended from Heaven, and took flesh from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and became a man.

4. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried,

5. And resurrected on the third day, according to the Scriptures.

6. And ascended into Heaven, and sitting on the right side of the Father.

7. And coming again with glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

8. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who is worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets.

9. Into one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

10. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

11. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead,

12. and the life of the next century. Amen (that's right).

What do we believe according to the Symbol?

We start the Symbol with the word “I believe“because the content of our religious convictions is based not on external experience, but on our acceptance of God-revealed truth. After all, the objects and phenomena of the spiritual world cannot be checked by laboratory means and logically proved - they are included in the sphere of a person's personal religious experience. However, the more a person succeeds in spiritual life, for example: the more he prays, thinks about God, does good, the more his personal inner spiritual experience develops and the clearer and more obvious religious truths become for him. In this way, faith becomes for the believer the subject of his personal experience.

We believe that God is the fullness of perfection: He is the Spirit, all-perfect, beginningless, eternal, almighty and all-wise. God is everywhere, sees and knows everything before anything happens. He is infinitely kind, just and all-holy. He does not need anything and is the root cause of everything that exists.

We believe that God is one in essence and trinity in Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit are a Trinity consubstantial and indivisible. The Father is not born and does not proceed from another Person, the Son is eternally born from the Father, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father.

We believe that everything Persons or hypostases of God are equal among themselves according to Divine perfections, majesty, power and glory, namely, we believe that the Father is the true all-perfect God, and the Son is the true all-perfect God, and the Holy Spirit is the true all-perfect God. Therefore, in prayers, we simultaneously glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as one God.

We believe that all the visible and invisible world was created by God. First, God created the invisible, great angelic world, or the so-called “heaven” in the Bible, then our material or physical world (in the Bible, “earth”). God created the physical world out of nothing, but not all at once, but gradually over periods called “days” in the Bible. God created the world not out of necessity or need for it, but out of His all-good desire, so that other creatures He created would enjoy life. Being infinitely good, God created everything good. Evil in the world comes from the abuse of free will, which God endowed angels and people. So, for example, the devil and demons were once good angels, but rebelled against God and voluntarily became evil. These rebellious angels, who became demons, were expelled from paradise and formed their own dark kingdom, called hell. Since then, they have been inciting people to sin and are the enemies of our salvation.

We believe that God contains everything in His power that is, He governs everything and leads everything to a good end. God loves us and takes care of us like a mother takes care of her child. Therefore, nothing bad can happen to a person who trusts in God.

We believe that Son of God Our Lord Jesus Christ, for our salvation, descended from Heaven to earth and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. He, being God from eternity, in the days of King Herod assumed our human nature - soul and body, and therefore He is at the same time the true God and true man, or the God-man. He unites two natures, Divine and human, in one Divine Person. These two natures will forever remain in Him without change, without merging and without turning one into the other.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, while living on earth, through His teaching, example and miracles, enlightened the world, that is, taught people what they should believe in and how they should live in order to inherit eternal life. By his prayers to the Father, by the perfect fulfillment of His will, by His sufferings and death on the Cross, He defeated the devil, redeemed the world from sin and death. By His resurrection from the dead, He initiated our resurrection. Having ascended with the flesh to Heaven, which happened on the 40th day after the resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ sat “at the right hand (on the right side) of God the Father,” that is, he accepted as God-man one power with His Father and since then together with Him governs the destinies of the world.

We believe that Holy Spirit, proceeding from God the Father, from the beginning of the world, together with the Father and the Son, gives creatures existence, life, and governs everything. He is source of spiritual life both for angels and for people, and the Holy Spirit deserves glory and worship along with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament spoke through the prophets, then, at the beginning of the New Testament, spoke through the apostles, and now acts in the Church of Christ, instructing her pastors and Orthodox Christians in the truth.

We believe that Jesus Christ, for the salvation of all who believe in Him, created on earth Church sending down on the apostles the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Since then, the Holy Spirit has been in the Church, in this grace-filled society or union of believing Christians, and keeps it in the purity of Christ's teaching. In addition, the grace of the Holy Spirit, which dwells in the Church, cleanses the penitent from sins, helps believers to prosper in good deeds, and sanctifies them.

We believe that the Church is single, holy, catholic and apostolic. It is one because all Orthodox Christians, although they belong to different national local churches, are one family together with the angels and the righteous in Heaven. The unity of the Church is based on the unity of faith and grace. The Church is holy because her faithful children are sanctified by the word of God, prayer and sacred sacraments. The Church is called catholic because it is intended for people of all times and all nationalities; The Church is called apostolic because it preserves the apostolic teaching and the apostolic priestly succession, which, from apostolic times to our time, has been continuously transmitted from bishop to bishop in the sacrament of ordination. The Church, according to the promise of the Lord Savior, will remain invincible from her enemies until the end of the world.

We believe that in sacrament of baptism I forgive the believer all sins and that through this sacrament the believer becomes a member of the Church. A member of the Church has access to other sacraments that save her. Thus, in the sacrament of chrismation, the believer is given the grace of the Holy Spirit; in the sacrament of repentance or confession, sins made in adulthood after baptism are forgiven; in the sacrament of communion performed during the Liturgy, believers partake of the true body and blood of Christ; in the sacrament of marriage, an indissoluble union is established between husband and wife; in the sacrament of the priesthood ministers of the Church are ordained: deacons, priests and bishops; and in the sacrament of unction, healing from spiritual and physical illnesses is given.

We believe that before the end of the world, Jesus Christ, accompanied by angels, will come again earth in glory. Then everything, according to His word, I will rise again t from the dead, that is, a miracle will occur in which the souls of dead people will return to their bodies, which they had before death, and all the dead will come to life. At the general resurrection, the bodies of the righteous, both the resurrected and the living, will be renewed and become spiritualized in the image of the resurrected body of Christ. After the resurrection, all people will appear on judgment of God so that everyone may receive according to what he did when he lived in his body, whether good or bad. After the judgment, unrepentant sinners will go to eternal torment, and the righteous - to eternal life. Thus begins the kingdom of Christ, which will have no end.

Closing word " Amen We testify that we wholeheartedly accept and recognize as true this confession of the Orthodox faith.

The Creed is read by the person who is being baptized (“catechumenized”) during the sacrament of baptism. At the baptism of an infant, the Symbol is read by the receivers. In addition, the Creed is sung in the church at the liturgy and should be read daily during morning prayers. Careful reading of the Symbol has a great influence on our faith. This is because the Creed is not just a religious formula, but is prayer. Speaking with a prayerful mood the word “I believe” and other words of the Symbol, we revive and strengthen our faith in God and in all those truths that are contained in the Symbol. That is why it is so important for Orthodox Christians to read the Creed every day, or at least regularly.

A global poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation proved once again that we are a much more fantastic people than dogheads and Martians (although neither of them exists, but we almost certainly exist - in spite of the laws of physics and common sense). So, according to statistics, 53% of the Russian population consider themselves Orthodox. At the same time, only 69% of them believe in God at all, and even less hope for the immortality of the soul - only 61% of the “Orthodox”, but at least 12% of the total number of our wonderful believers visit the church at least occasionally. Well, okay. Over in Perm, according to the All-Russian population census, there are 34 people with the nationality "hobbit", and this is not counting the Perm elves and orcs.

That is, the level of catechesis (a complex of elementary ideas about one’s religion) is going off scale in our country to such an extent that any Christian missionary would have to sit down on this ashes and burst into tears (with happiness, of course) at the sight of such a gigantic field for future exploits.

History of Orthodoxy

Until 1054, the history of Orthodoxy was no different from the history of the rest of Christianity. But in that year the Great Schism took place, during which Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael Cirularius of Constantinople solemnly anathematized each other and refused to associate with each other. They had the most compelling reasons for this. While the patriarch of Constantinople meekly and decently knew his place at the feet of the Caesar, nourishing the united Byzantium, the state reliably bridled and meek, the Pope of Rome had to arrange a trick on the lathered backs of all these rebellious German principalities, Frankish empires and Scandinavian democracies. Naturally, given such a different state of affairs, it soon became clear that Christianity in the West and Christianity in the East had almost diametrically opposed paths of development and survival and, accordingly, had different ideologies. Only after 1010 years, in 1964, the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople will take back their anathemas, but even after this remarkable act of reconciliation, the rivalry between them will not subside.

Fact

The word "peasants" originally meant "Christians". Agree, the documents of the serfdom era look wild now, in which, instead of testifying about people bought or sold, they preferred to use the term “peasant souls”.

So far, dad is winning by a huge margin. There are approximately 1.2 billion Catholics on Earth - this is the largest denomination in the world, spreading across all continents. There are barely 250 million Orthodox today. First of all, these are Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Greece, Georgia, Eastern European countries, and, well, little things in the form of diasporas in other countries.

In addition, unlike Catholics, Orthodox churches do not have a common center or a single head. Today there are 15 autocephalous, that is, completely independent churches; about six autonomous ones, that is, partly independent from the "mother" autocephalous ones, and many more movements, for example, various Russian Old Believers. And all of them more or less regularly squabble among themselves, and sometimes even call names the bad word "heretics". In general, being a Catholic has always been easier and more understandable.

How are Catholics different?
and Orthodox

Many. For example, Catholics emphasize the meaning of the sacramental words of Christ in an anaphora instead of an epiclesis, which, as you understand, is completely unforgivable. Many had their heads cut off for less.

But if you list the differences that can be understood not only by you, but also by us, then perhaps the following can be considered the main ones.

Catholics venerate the Virgin Mary precisely as the Virgin, while the Orthodox see in her, first of all, the Mother of God. In addition, Catholics are sure that the Virgin Mary was just as immaculately conceived as Christ (although there was no IVF * then). And Catholics also believe that she was raised alive into heaven, and the Orthodox even have an apocryphal story about the Assumption of the Virgin, so that no one doubts: this worthy lady died, like all people die.

« IVF - in vitro fertilization, conception "in vitro". Here the Catholic guys with their obsession with the immaculate conception hit great. They still cannot figure out what to do with so many sinlessly born. However, the Orthodox also allow IVF only with gnashing of teeth: only for married people, only with the gametes of the spouses themselves and with an indispensable requirement to transplant all the resulting embryos into the uterus, even if abnormal development is detected in some zygotes in the test tube»

Among Catholics, all priests should not have sex, much less marry. And Orthodox priests are divided into black and white clergy, so deacons and priests can and even must marry, while black clergy (monks) are forbidden to have sex. The highest ranks and titles in Orthodoxy, however, can only be achieved by monastics. In order to become a bishop, priests have to part with their wives (it is advisable to send their spouse to a monastery), which they periodically do.

Catholics recognize that in addition to hell and paradise there is purgatory - a place where the soul, recognized as not too sinful, but not righteous, is properly roasted and bleached before it manages to penetrate the gates of heaven. Orthodox Christians do not believe in purgatory. However, their ideas about heaven and hell are generally vague - it is believed that knowledge about them is closed to a person in earthly life. Catholics, on the other hand, long ago calculated the thickness of all nine heavenly crystal vaults, compiled a list of plants growing in paradise, and even measured in terms of honey the sweetness experienced by the tongue of the soul, which for the first time inhaled the aromas of paradise. However, when you pin them against the wall with a pitchfork, they immediately begin to talk about figurativeness, symbolism, and about the fact that one should not take everything literally.

The Catholics in their "Creed" pronounce the terrible word "filioque", which they themselves came up with to insert into this most important text for any believer. A text that, in fact, makes the speaker a Christian. There is no need to think about the text of the "Creed" - you need to unshakably believe in the absolute truth of each of his words. So, back to the filioque. Listing what exactly you believe in, you pronounce the line "in the Holy Spirit, the Lord who gives life, who proceeds from the Father." So, the Catholics put the filioque in there! That is, “and from the Son”! Outrageous self-control.

During communion, Catholics give parishioners unleavened bread, while Orthodox give bread made from leavened dough.

During baptism, Catholics only pour water on children and adults, and in Orthodoxy it is supposed to plunge into the font with your head. Therefore, large babies who do not fit into the children's font completely, as a result of which the priest is forced to water the protruding parts of their bodies with a handful, in Orthodoxy are called "dipping". It is believed, albeit unofficially, that demons have more power over oblivants than over normal baptized*.

*- Note of a warthog named Phacochoerus Funtik:
« And I am in ecstasy from the custom of infant baptism on the feast of Epiphany - right in the wormwood. It is January, and the priest dips newborns from the icy edge of the hole into the water, grows Spartans ... By the way, if the baby slipped out of the ossified hands of the priest and went to the bottom, the parents were delighted. It was believed that in this way the child immediately turns into an angel.»

Catholics are baptized from left to right and with all five fingers connected in a pinch. At the same time, they do not reach for the stomach, but make a lower touch in the chest area. This gives the Orthodox, who are baptized with three fingers (in some cases two) from right to left, a reason to assert that Catholics do not draw on themselves a normal cross, but turned upside down, that is, a satanic sign.

Catholics are obsessed with fighting any form of contraception, which is especially appropriate during the AIDS pandemic. And Orthodoxy recognizes the possibility of using some contraceptives that do not have an abortive effect, such as condoms and female caps. But, of course, only in a legal marriage.

Yes, we forgot the most important thing. Catholics revere the Pope as the infallible vicar of God on earth. Guess what the Orthodox think about this.

Orthodoxy and power

Strictly speaking, point 9 is the main and only irremovable factor in the contradictions between Catholics and Orthodox. Catholics as a whole are not completely lost people, they are not impostors-Protestants for you. But this dad of theirs… A type who claims that every word of his is an indisputable truth, that God speaks through his mouth, and even constantly encroaches on secular power wherever possible, is a nightmare for any Orthodox figure. Strictly speaking, Orthodoxy is initially much closer to the ancient, original Christianity. It was a religion in which patience, humility and obedience, including to secular rulers, were the most important requirements for a person. What did the apostle Paul say? “Let every soul be submissive to the highest authorities, for there is no power except from God; the authorities that exist are established by God.” So there is nothing to argue about.

Is it pleasing to the ruler to hang you on the lanterns? Be patient. Are you being suffocated by taxes? Rejoice! Do they cut off tongues for idle chatter? Thank the authorities for understanding.

Therefore, since the time of Byzantium, the Orthodox Church has considered its main function "to fill the peoples with meekness and hand them over to the shepherd's hand." Individual patriarchs, who had a different view of these duties, rather quickly ended their days in the underground casemates of Constantinople and could not finally admire their own beautifully released intestines only because the executioners had previously cut out their eyes.

There were certain advantages in this state of affairs: no matter how bloody palace coups, no matter what conquests and revolutions shook the Orthodox country, the invaders and tyrants soon began to understand that the Orthodox Church is the most reliable ideological assistant, which it is simply a sin not to use. Since any power is from God, then both Mamai and Stalin are pleasing to God. The Russian Orthodox Church managed to be useful even to the atheist Bolsheviks, who, after the first twenty years of persecution, eventually got on with the church quite soul to soul. The communists finally restored the institution of the patriarchate, once destroyed by Peter I, and from now on they could not worry that breakthroughs would happen on the spiritual ideological front: the red priests bravely fought both the emigrant renegades from the Russian Church Abroad and the priests who did not recognize Soviet power, united in the Catacomb Church. The Moscow Patriarchate fished out the last ones from the underground with the energy of bloodhounds and handed them over to the internal affairs and state security agencies. Yes, and the mood of the believing laity was the subject of regular denunciations of the Soviet priests, many of whom considered the secrecy of confession not such a serious problem compared to the NKVD and the KGB. By the way, one of the last church anathemas was delivered in 1997 to the human rights priest Gleb Yakunin. Officially, he was accused of falling away from the church, self-will and meddling in politics, but it would be useful to recall that it was Yakunin who constantly demanded an open, honest investigation into the cooperation of the ministers of the Russian Orthodox Church with the CPSU and expel priests from the ranks of the clergy who soiled themselves with denunciations and were too tender an affair with secular Soviet cesars.

Catholicism, on the other hand, took a different path. The popes chose the path of struggle and secular power, were the heads of empires, ruled numerous military orders and considered themselves kings over kings. There were epochs when not a single king of Europe could put on his crown, and especially keep it on his head without the approval of Rome (to be fair, there were also times when popes stayed in prisons with secular rulers for a long time). Catholics left humility and obedience for God, while in the secular European life, energy, civic activity and disobedience were considered quite respectable qualities. All this led to the fact that the supra-secular power of the popes became a kind of eternal opposition to any tyrant who would try to unite too many people under his power and too actively instill in them his personal views on life. And if sometimes the popes themselves began to overdo it with their “governance on earth”, then, thank God, there were enough crowned vassals around who were always ready to help the ascended pontiff return to earth as soon as possible. And sometimes under it.

Another rather significant advantage of having God's voice at hand around the clock was greater mobility of religious views. On any issue that began to disturb the faithful, the popes issued encyclicals - messages that were considered as an exhaustive answer and a guide to action. If the conditions of life changed dramatically, outdated encyclicals were safely forgotten and new ones, more suitable for the occasion, came out. This allowed Catholicism to rejuvenate for a long time and adapt to the changed conditions of existence. Although it did not save from the emergence of the newest version of Christianity - Protestantism (we will still dance on its bones).

Fundamentals of Orthodoxy

Orthodoxy is surprisingly little striving to tell people about how this life works and what will happen in the future. Even here, the Orthodox are offered a kind of humble indifference without any guarantees or instructions. The cleansing of the soul from sin is in itself a great joy, and the decisions of the Lord are not our dog's mind.

The three foundations on which Orthodoxy stands are catholicity, ritualism and tradition. Do as everyone else, humble yourself in spirit, join the common consonant choir of souls. And even blindly, even deafly, even without understanding anything, follow the instructions: so be baptized, so fast, so confess and take communion, as they did a thousand years ago. The liturgies have a strict form, and the Greek and Church Slavonic languages ​​of the Orthodox Church do not make the meaning of religion more understandable to mere mortals. But Orthodoxy has never insisted that sacred knowledge should be distributed to just anyone. (And most of all, the priests do not like stubborn converts who run after them and demand all sorts of explanations. The priests are people too and want to rest.)

Temple Etiquette

How to behave if you accidentally entered an Orthodox church, confusing it with a library.

Take off your baseball cap, top hat, yarmulke, or whatever else is on your head (you can leave the wig on). A man in the church must be bareheaded, otherwise it is regarded as a direct challenge to God. A woman, on the contrary, should cover the top of her head with at least a handkerchief, but the priests, who are still inclined to show indulgence towards non-Christians wandering in the darkness, can turn a blind eye to such an offense. But the man in the hat will definitely be asked out.

Try not to stand with your back to the altar - this is a room hidden by a fence of icons (iconostasis) opposite the entrance. Particularly zealous believers even leave the church exclusively backwards, but this is already aerobatics. And in no case do not try to enter the gate in the middle of this iconostasis! Lay people are usually barred from entering there, and only a priest can enter the central Royal Doors.

Do not kiss the icons, even if everyone kisses them. The modest miracle of everyday syphilis can come down on you in the most unexpected places.

If you are asked to pass a candle, then take it only with your right hand. There is a superstition among many parishioners that a candle held in the left hand ceases to be pleasing to God. They can beat.

Is it easy to be Orthodox?

Before becoming Orthodox, it is worthwhile to properly understand what exactly you are obligated to do by entering the bosom of the church. Do you agree, for example, with such rules, drawn from various "Regulations on Penances"?

But do not be too frightened: today the church in Russia is doing its best not to scare away the former pioneers and Octoberites and is showing an exceptional breadth of views, tolerance and peacefulness. She firmly holds by the scruff of her most ardent conservatives, who demand the immediate return of the Law of God to schools, scourging vice, punishing debauchery and purifying the flock with harsh penances. On the contrary, the ideologists of the church prefer to work in velvet gloves and with a smile of forgiveness on their faces.

Of course, there are categories of the population with which the Russian Orthodox Church communicates harshly. For example, with art historians who do not give icons from museums to the church. Or with militant atheists who, under the guise of art, dare to breed blasphemy in their Sakharov centers. Or with the Protestants, who keep climbing here with their misplaced missionary work.

But in general, the ROC now resolutely intends to love, forgive and pardon - "not to bother with strict morality, to scold a little for pranks."

ordeal

Most of the ideas about the mystical side of life in Orthodoxy, oddly enough, belong to the Apocrypha - writings that are not officially recognized by the Church as an unambiguous Holy Tradition, but nevertheless are considered to belong to the "spiritual tradition", that is, quite digestible. Such, for example, is the story of the tribulations of St. Theodora, which St. Gregory had a vision of in the twelfth century. Gregory clearly saw how two guardian angels carried Theodora's soul to paradise, fighting off demons who, no worse than customs officers, jumped out in turn at the gates of the heavenly road and made claims to the transporters.

There were exactly twenty claims (and outposts): ordeals of idle talk, lies, slander, gluttony, laziness, theft, love of money, covetousness, unrighteousness, envy, pride, anger, malice, murder, sorcery, fornication, adultery, Sodomy sins, heresy and unmercy .

The angels reported as best they could on each item, presented a waybill of virtues and receipts for the payment of sins in penitent currency of the purest standard. All this rigmarole went on for forty days. Fortunately, souls are not perishable goods, and therefore Theodora arrived safely at her destination. Now this version of the posthumous journey of the soul is, in principle, considered acceptable, and our custom to commemorate the deceased on the fortieth day comes from there.

Smooth blue and silver domes

A sign that the church bears the name of some saint.

Photo: shutterstock.com

There are a great many prayers in Orthodoxy. They are vary in importance and use. Some of them are read constantly, some - only in special cases.

A number of prayers are used in worship. They are not called prayers, but liturgical texts and have their own special names: kontakion, troparion, stichera. There are also prayers and canons that are read only by the priest, and parishioners are forbidden to read them.

Types of prayers by content

According to the content of the prayer can be divided into four types:

• laudatory. This is the highest form of prayer, in which a Christian does not ask God for anything, but only glorifies Him. A variety of laudatory prayer is doxology - the glorification of all three persons of the Holy Trinity. The most famous is the so-called small doxology ("Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit ..."), which always completes church prayers and hymns. There is also a great doxology ("Glory to God in the highest"), which is sung at the end of Matins .
• thanksgiving, or thanksgiving prayer. In meaning, it is close to laudatory: a person thanks the Lord for everything he has.
• penitential. In such a prayer, the believer repents, that is, he acknowledges his sins before God and asks for His forgiveness.
• Petition, or prayer of supplication. Such prayers are said when God's help or comfort is needed in trouble, need or illness. Before asking, you should always read a prayer of repentance.

Eucharistic canon

The Euchristian Canon is a part of the Liturgy during which the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ takes place. He quietly recited by the priest at the altar while the choir sings the chants.

The Eucharistic canon belongs to the so-called secret prayers and cannot be pronounced by the parishioners, it is read only by the priest.

There are some prayers that every Christian should know by heart:

• Lord's Prayer "",
• prayer to the Holy Spirit "",
• prayer of the Mother of God "",
• prayer of the Mother of God ""

They are used both in home prayer and in worship.

Orthodox prayer "I believe in one God the Father Almighty"

A prayer that begins with these words called the Creed and is one of the most important prayers. Unlike other prayers, the Creed does not contain an appeal to God, the Mother of God, saints or angels, but the whole essence of Orthodox Christian teaching is summarized. A person who does not agree with the statements listed in the Creed, or simply does not understand them, cannot be called an Orthodox Christian.

This is one of two prayers that are sung aloud at the Liturgy by all those praying in the temple, and not just by the chanters. Before the baptism of a child, future godparents need to learn the Creed by heart: the godfather or godmother pronounces it during the sacrament.

Orthodox prayer "Our Father" - interpretation and essence

The Lord's Prayer is also called the Lord's Prayer - this is the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples. It contains all the requests that a Christian should offer to God.

According to this prayer, a true believer

• believes that God lives forever in heaven
• praise the name of God
• waiting for the Kingdom of God to come
• obeys the will of God
• asks God to give him what he needs to live
• he himself forgives those who are guilty before him, and prays to God to forgive his sins
• asks God to deliver him from the temptations and power of the devil.

"Our Father", like the Creed, sung by all worshipers in the temple at the Liturgy. This prayer is also need to know by heart.

Prayer "King of Heaven"

Prayer to the Holy Spirit is better known for its first two words - "King of heaven." This is an appeal to the Holy Spirit, who comes from God the Father and sanctifies the entire Church with His grace. Without the grace of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to be saved, so Christians must call on the Holy Spirit to help them.

All those present in the temple at the great vespers on the Day of the descent of the Holy Spirit sing "King of Heaven" aloud together with the church choir.

Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer occupies a special place among Orthodox prayers. It is very short and sounds like this: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner / sinner."

What is the power of the Jesus Prayer?

The Jesus Prayer has been known in the monasteries of the Orthodox Church since ancient times. Its incessant repetition aloud, in a whisper or in the mind, is one of the main Orthodox monastic practices. According to Orthodox teaching, it is saving for a person to pronounce the very name of our Lord Jesus Christ: the name of God is a kind of icon (the image of God), and, pronouncing it with reverence, prayerfully, a person is sanctified by God's grace. And disrespectful, careless treatment of the name of God (bozhba and even more so blasphemy) is blasphemy that offends God.

Jesus Prayer - how to pray?

The practice of continuous repetition of the Jesus Prayer is possible only under the guidance of a priest.

To do this, you need to take a blessing, and also be able to constantly tell this priest about your spiritual state.

The independent, uncontrolled practice of the uninterrupted Jesus Prayer is dangerous both for the spiritual state and for mental health.

Another practice must be distinguished from the uninterrupted Jesus Prayer. Sometimes priests may give a general recommendation: for example, all the parishioners of the temple during the fast should read the Jesus Prayer 10 times a day. Or in the rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov for the laity, it is recommended from time to time to say "Lord, have mercy" or "Most Holy Theotokos, save us." This is not continuous prayer and does not require special spiritual guidance.

Prayers to the Theotokos and Saints

In addition to appeals to the Lord God, the most important prayers also include prayers praising the Most Holy Theotokos Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The Christian Church considers the Mother of God above the saints and even angels.

The prayers “Our Lady, Virgin, rejoice” and “It is worthy to eat” are part of the daily prayer rule and are constantly used in worship.

A short prayer of the Mother of God - “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!” - It is recommended to pronounce during the day as often as possible.

Why do we pray to saints?

In addition to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Most Holy Theotokos, Christians also pray to saints. Saints are people on whom God's grace descended during their lifetime. After death, they ascended to God in heaven and there eternally glorify His greatness. However, in their mercy, the saints do not forget those who remained on earth. They hear our prayers and intercede for us forever before God..

Veneration of saints

Christians revere the saints as their intercessors before God, and also as an example for themselves. Looking at the actions of the saints, a Christian learns to please God and do what is right - as Christ told him. The Church honors the saints from the very beginning of its existence. The first saints were the apostles - the disciples of Christ.

The exploits of the martyrs

In the first three centuries of the existence of the Christian Church, believers were persecuted by authorities, first Jewish, then Roman. The Jews considered Christ a false messiah, and His followers - dangerous heretics and blasphemers. The Romans, on the other hand, demanded that all their subjects honor the emperor as a deity.

Christians did not give divine honors to anyone but God. Many were forced to make sacrifices to the emperor or pagan deities, but believers preferred to die rather than betray God. These people were called martyrs. Their remains (relics) were taken and kept by their comrades in the community. This is how the tradition of venerating the saints and their relics arose.

Our heavenly patrons and intercessors

Each person has two heavenly patrons:

• guardian angel whom God sends to a person at baptism, and
• a saint with whom a person shares the same name.

Both of these wonderful intercessors always help people, wish him salvation and all the best. Therefore, they should always be approached with prayer. Prayers to the guardian angel and the saint are included in the daily prayer rule.

What is a prayer service?

A prayer service is a special, short divine service addressed to the Lord God, the Mother of God, or some saint. The service of the prayer service is, in fact, an abbreviated and simplified Matins.

In the temple, prayers are usually served after the Liturgy, sometimes after Matins and Vespers. A prayer service can be served not only in the temple, but also at home and in nature. Public prayer services are served on holidays and on special occasions (for example, during disasters). According to the needs of parishioners, private prayers are performed.

Thanksgiving Prayer

In case of need or at someone's request, pleading prayers. Reasons for a prayer prayer can be illness, an epidemic, an enemy invasion, a journey, a new business, natural disasters, and infertility.

Peculiarity thanksgiving service in that it is served only to the Lord Jesus Christ and only after the Liturgy. In a prayer of thanksgiving, believers express their gratitude to God for His help. It must be served if the Lord heard the prayers, and the difficult situation was resolved. After all, even if we turn to the saints for help, help always comes only from God.

How to order a prayer service

When a Christian wants to ask for help or express gratitude to God for all the good that God sends him in life, he orders a prayer service in the temple. To order a prayer service, you need to go to the candle box and write a note. It should list:

• type of prayer (if pleading - indicate the need),
• to whom to serve a prayer service (to the Lord God, the Most Holy Theotokos or saints - indicate the names of the saints),
• for whom a prayer service will be served (names in the church version, in full form).

A child under the age of 7 is considered an infant, and the note, respectively, writes "baby" and the name in the genitive case.