“God bless”, or Why take a blessing from a priest? How to ask for blessings from the priest so that higher powers hear you

Church Hierarchy

Clergy- a concept that unites clergy of all degrees. It is divided into white clergy, consisting of married people, and black - from persons who have accepted monasticism.
The Church initially has a sacred hierarchy with its three degrees: deacon, presbyter and episcopal. These degrees are of apostolic origin, and they will endure until the end of the age. The Church has no power to abolish any of them; nor can it multiply the number of sacred degrees.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church is His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. He governs the Church together with the Holy Synod. In addition to the Patriarch, the Synod constantly includes Metropolitans: Kyiv, St. Petersburg, Krutitsy, Minsk.

Bishop is the highest degree of the Holy Order. Each region (Diocese) has its own Bishop. Any clergyman who is at this stage (Patriarch, Metropolitan, Archbishop and Bishop) can be called a bishop. A step below are Priests (Presbyters). They are entrusted with leading the church life in Parishes, urban and rural.

Priests divided into Priests and Archpriests. The senior priest in the parish is called the Rector.

Deacons- The lowest degree of the Priesthood. They help Bishops and Priests perform the sacraments, but do not perform them themselves. Senior Deacons are called Protodeacons.

monks("hermits" - in translation) in Orthodoxy are called "black" clergy, as those who have taken a vow of celibacy (as opposed to "white", married).
There are three degrees of monasticism: cassock, mantle (or small schema) and schema (or great schema). The lowest degree, the cassock, means "wearing a cassock" (cassock is the daily long-brimmed attire of monks, with wide sleeves). The small and great schema (“form”, “image”) are the highest degrees. They differ in more strict vows.

All bishops are monks. Their names in Greek mean:
Patriarch – ancestor,
Metropolitan — a person from the main family,
Bishop — guardian,
Archbishop — Senior Shepherd.

Patriarchs or Metropolitans are the main (primates) of all Church organizations in Orthodox countries.

How to address parishioners

Since we are one in Christ, "brother or sister" This is the best way for believers to communicate with one another. This is how the believers address the whole congregation: "Brothers and sisters" .

In the church environment, it is not customary even to call older people by their patronymics, they only address them by their first names (that is, the way we approach Communion, to Christ).

These beautiful words express the deep unity of the believers, which is said in the prayer: "But unite all of us from the one Bread and Chalice of those who partake to each other in the One Holy Spirit Communion." In the broadest sense of the word, both the bishop and the priest for the layman are also brothers.

When laymen meet, men usually kiss each other on the cheek at the same time as shaking hands, while women do without shaking hands. Ascetic rules impose restrictions on greeting a man and a woman through kissing: it is enough to greet each other with a word and a tilt of the head (even on Easter, reasonableness and sobriety are recommended so as not to bring passion into Easter kissing).

Relations between believers should be filled with simplicity and sincerity, humble readiness to immediately ask for forgiveness when wrong. The church environment is characterized by small dialogues: “ I'm sorry, brother (sister)." - "God forgive me, forgive me" . When parting, believers do not say to each other (as is customary in the world): “ All the best!”, but: “God bless”, “I ask for prayers”, “With God”, “God's Help”, “Guardian Angel” etc.

If confusion often arises in the world: how to refuse something without offending the interlocutor, then in the Church this issue is resolved in the simplest and best way: "I'm sorry, I can't agree to this because it's a sin" or “Sorry, but this is not the blessing of my confessor”. And in this way, tension is quickly relieved; in the world for this would have to make a lot of effort.

How to contact a priest

"Father" or "father" - this is how priests are called as performers of the sacraments through which people are born into spiritual life. Usually after words "father" add a name, for example, "Father Vladimir". You can contact the deacon "Father Deacon" , to the rector of the temple (monastery) "priest father".

In church practice, it is not customary to greet a priest with the words: "Hello", "Good afternoon". When they meet, they say "Bless." If you know the priest's name, then say: "Bless, father (name)", if you don't know the priest's name, just say: "Bless, father."

At parting, as at a meeting, the layman again asks for blessings from the priest: "Forgive me, father, and bless."
In the conversations of Orthodox people, the word is often heard "father" . It must be remembered that this word is used only when directly addressing a priest. It is impossible, for example, to say “Father Andrei blessed me”, this is illiterate.
Contact the clergy "Holy father" as is customary in Catholic countries, not worth it. The holiness of a person is known by his death. They say: "honest father" (for example: "Pray for me, honest father").
We call the wives of Priests, Nuns and workers in the Temple of Older Women an affectionate word "Mother".

To Bishops, Bishops, Metropolitans, Patriarchs- need to apply "Lord" as to those invested with ecclesiastical authority.

When writing to:

— Patriarch – "Your Holiness";
— Archbishop or Metropolitan – "Your Eminence";
— Bishop — "Your Eminence";
— Archpriest, Abbot, Archimandrite – "Your Reverence";
— Priest, Hieromonk, Monk (Nun) – "Your Reverence";
— Deacon and Hierodeacon – "Your Good News".

How to ask for a blessing from a priest

Every believer considers it indispensable when meeting with the Father to ask him Pastoral Blessing, but many do it wrong. Of course, there are no strict canons on this issue, but the traditions of the Church and simple common sense suggest how to behave. The blessing has many meanings. The first of these is a greeting (or farewell). To greet the priest by the hand has the right only equal in rank, all the rest, even deacons, upon meeting with the priest, are blessed by him.

Blessing is taken for the accomplishment of any good deed. Why is the essence of the issue briefly stated to the priest, and then a blessing is asked for the completion of this deed. Priestly blessing is permission, permission, parting words. Before starting any responsible business, before traveling, and also in any difficult circumstances, we can ask the priest for advice and blessings. In order to ask for a blessing, you need to put your palms together, right over the left at chest level, in order to receive the blessing hand of the priest in them. After that, the person receiving the blessing kisses the blessing hand of the priest, as the hand of Christ Himself, who gives the grace-filled power to the blessing. The addition of palms has no mysterious meaning, grace does not “fall” into them, as some old women teach.

Orthodox priest blesses not by his own power and his own name, but by the Power of God and the holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a priest or bishop blesses us with his hand, he folds his fingers so that they represent the letters IC XC, that is, Jesus Christ. This means that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself blesses us through the priest.

Therefore, we must accept the blessing of the clergyman with reverence. The Christian receives a blessing from the Lord Himself and God protects him in his deeds and his ways.

If you find yourself in a society where there are several priests, then the blessing is taken, first of all, from senior priests, that is, first from the archpriests, then from the priests. If not all of them are familiar to you, and this is difficult for you, say: "Bless, honest fathers" and bow down.

If several people are suitable to receive the blessing, then men come first - by seniority (if there are clergy among the audience, then they come first). Then fit - women (also in seniority).
If a family is suitable for blessing, then first the husband, wife, and then the children (in order of seniority) come up. If they want to introduce someone to the priest, they say, for example: “Father Alexy, this is my wife, Nadezhda. Please bless her."
If you meet a priest on the street, in public transport, in a public place (in a store, on the street, etc.), you can approach him for a blessing, even if the priest is wearing worldly clothes. But only if you are sure that you will not interfere with his personal affairs, and do not put him in an awkward position with your appeal.
If it is impossible to take a blessing, you can confine yourself to a greeting in the form of a slight bow.

Liturgical colors. Symbolism of flowers

The color scheme of liturgical vestments consists of the following primary colors: white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, black. All of them symbolize the spiritual meanings of the celebrated saints and sacred events.

On holidays dedicated to Lord Jesus Christ, as well as in the days of memory of the prophets, apostles and saints, the color of the royal vestments - gold or yellow of all shades.
On the feasts of the Mother of God(as well as the Candlemas) the color of the vestments - blue or light blue and in the days of remembrance of the disembodied angelic forces - white.
In the days of remembrance Cross of the Lord – purple or dark red , signifying the strength of the spirit and the feat of the cross of the Savior.
Holidays saints and holy fools – green . In green vestments of all shades, symbolizing the color of eternal life, are also celebrated Days of Pentecost, Holy Spirit and Palm Sunday.
In ordinary days of Lent serve inh black vestments , on Saturdays and Sundays, Maundy Thursday, the First and Second Finding of the head of John the Baptist and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste - purple , on parental Saturdays, Lazarev and Holy Saturday - whites , Palm Sunday - green, Saturday Akathist(and the Annunciation, if it falls on Great Lent) - blue . As for the rest of the fasts, the color of the vestments at this time does not change compared to the rest of the days of the church year.
Burials, as a rule, are performed in white vestments, for for Christians, death is only a transition to a better world. The white color is also defined on the holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Theophany, the Ascension of the Lord and the Transfiguration of the Lord, because it marks the Divine light that illuminates and transforms God's creation.
The Feast of the Resurrection of Christ begins in white vestments as a sign of the Light that shone from the Tomb of the Risen Savior, but the main Easter color is red with gold. The red color of the vestments is also adopted on the days of the memory of the martyrs, and purple on the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist.

White color, which combines all the colors of the rainbow, is a symbol of the Divine uncreated light. In white vestments they serve on the great holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Theophany, Ascension, Transfiguration; they begin Easter matins. White robes are relied upon for baptisms and burials.

Red color, following the white one, continues the Divine Liturgy of Easter and remains unchanged until the feast of the Ascension. This is a symbol of the inexpressible, fiery love of God for the human race. But it is also the color of blood, and therefore services in honor of the martyrs are held in red or purple vestments.

Yellow (gold) and orange colors are the colors of glory, majesty and dignity. They are assimilated to Sundays as the days of the Lord the King of Glory; in addition, in golden robes, the Church celebrates the days of His special anointed ones - prophets, apostles and saints.

Green color- a fusion of yellow and blue. It was adopted on the days of remembrance of the saints and testifies that their monastic feat revives a person by union with Christ (yellow) and elevates him to heaven (blue). In green colors of all shades, according to ancient tradition, they serve on the day of the Holy Trinity, Palm Sunday, Monday of the Holy Spirit.

Cyan or blue - the color of the feasts of the Most Holy Theotokos. This is the color of the sky, and it corresponds to the teaching about the Mother of God, who contained the Celestial in Her Most Pure Womb.

Purple adopted on the days of the remembrance of the Cross of the Lord. It combines red - the color of the blood of Christ and the Resurrection, and blue, indicating that the Cross opened the way to heaven for us.

Black or dark brown the color is closest in spirit to the days of Great Lent. This is a symbol of renunciation of worldly fuss, the color of weeping and repentance.

Archpriest Alexander Ryabkov, cleric of St. vmch. Demetrius of Thessalonica in Kolomyagi. Transfer from St. Petersburg.

Good evening, dear viewers. On the air of the TV channel "Soyuz" the program "Conversations with the priest." Host - Mikhail Kudryavtsev.

Today our guest is a cleric of the church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica in Kolomyagi Archpriest Alexander Ryabkov.

Hello, father. I ask you to traditionally bless our viewers.

Dear friends, good luck to everyone, Happy Holidays, good health. Help everyone Lord.

- Our today's topic is "The Blessing of the Priest".

Please tell us about what the blessing of a priest is in its essence.

This is a broad question and the answer should be extended. The blessing of the priest, as we believe, as we experience, is the blessing of God himself. Everything in the Church is filled with mysterious, mystical power.

Of course, we should not discard the human factor. Even having such a blessing as the Holy Scriptures, we understand that people also participated in it: prophets, apostles, biblical writers, and even the chosen people, who preserved, in some way supplemented, in some way commented on these texts. Therefore, the blessing of the priest has a divine-human nature. The Lord is the giver of all blessings, but the priest is placed in the Church as the leader. It is wrong to say that a priest is a guide, because between heaven and earth we have only one Guide - this is Christ. The priest is the leader of the community whose life he is entrusted with directing: not only our external life, but also our mental and spiritual experiences.

The blessing has its roots in the Bible. The Lord Himself gives many blessings. This is not only giving a person or society a grace-filled power, but also some kind of instruction. For example, a blessing when the Lord said to people: go and populate the earth. It is not so much about the giving of gifts, but about the instruction that a person needs to follow.

In fact, we all carry a blessing in ourselves - this is the image and likeness of God. On the one hand, this is a given, on the other hand, it is a task.

During the divine service, we hear the words: “The blessing of the Lord is upon you always, now and ever and forever and ever”, that is, it abides now, all the time and will abide, is it something that is always characteristic of us?

Because we are baptized and anointed, this is another kind of God's blessing. Confirmation is, in fact, the ordination of each of us to the first rank - the title of a layman, the title of a member of the Church, giving us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Chrism is consecrated by the Patriarch himself, therefore each of us has the personal blessing of the Patriarch, and through him, of course, the blessing of God.

We have in ourselves the image and likeness of God, then baptism, chrismation, the holy sacraments. Here we see an illustration of the words of the Apostle Paul "grace return grace." Everything is done so that it multiplies in us. The main thing is to be worthy of accepting this gift of grace and those gifts that are constantly presented to us. Here, besides the priest, the fact of our own participation is very important: how ready we are to fulfill this or that instruction. Do not be afraid of the word punishment, because punishment is a punishment. And therefore, discords and experiences in our external life are also a kind of God's blessing, God's gift, which we must be able to understand and accept. What we often miss.

- In early Christian times, the blessing was the same as we know it now?

We cannot delve deeply into church archeology, and we don’t need to: it’s not about the outer shell of the rite. The nature of giving God's gifts, grace, of course, is the same: our church has preserved apostolic succession and the fullness of the Orthodox faith, piety and tradition. The tradition lies not only in the preservation of the rite, but in the understanding of spirituality that Orthodoxy has, and is different from other manifestations of religiosity in our world. In its form, it could differ: the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, the reading of some long prayers. We understand that the ritual side could change.

If we turn to the Sacrament of Unction, we can trace how it has changed over the centuries, epochs, and been supplemented. The rite is a very important shell, nothing happens without the rite. We see that the Lord Himself, healing - and this is also grace - used what was at hand: he took the earth from under his feet, clay, dissolved it with saliva and made such an impromptu ointment, with which he anointed the eyes of a patient with blindness. The rite allows our nature to receive God's touch, God's gift, God's grace.

- In the psalm we hear "Bless, my soul, the Lord." Does the Lord need a blessing? What does it mean?

Our language does not have the ability to fully convey all the semantic shades. For example, we know the word love, by which we designate love for God, and for a person, and for certain things. There is a certain defect in this language, not our nominal language, but in general all the languages ​​of the world. Therefore, often one word can reflect the essence of different concepts or different events.

When we call on our soul to bless God, we call on it to glorify, to praise God with good words. The meaning of our life is, in fact, gratitude.

Why does God need our thanksgiving, blessing? We need to praise and thank Him, not only with our speech, but also with our soul, mind, heart, and understanding. Here we come to a reflection on what gratitude and thanksgiving are. And we understand that the guarantee of our happiness, our fulfilling life is precisely in gratitude, when we are able to see what the grace of God is necessary and possible for. When we do not see in our lives: every day, hour, for which we thank God, then we are deeply unhappy people.

When we talk about the blessing of a person by God, it is not only some action or fact that we do not understand. We have already said that the Lord, in order to touch us, uses the somatics of this world - our spiritual and bodily properties.

If a priest transfers something of grace from God to a person, then he must also find good words so that this grace is fully, not deficiently transferred to a person. In order for a person to perceive something, he needs to feel it with the properties that he possesses. To understand something spiritual, a person uses his mental and bodily properties: somatics and psychosomatics in full combination. Therefore, the priest must be in constant reflection about his ministry: about how he conveys God's blessing to a person, community, and believers. This also imposes important obligations on us, which we must never forget.

- Our viewer from Samara asks why we do not take a blessing from the deacon?

In the Church we see that the performer of the sacraments is the priest, the deacon helps the priest. The priest is delegated from the bishop the right to perform the sacraments. If we turn to church history, liturgy, we will see that very often the words about doing nothing without a bishop are repeated.

When the Church grew and became universal, at least on the scale of the time when the Roman Empire was the universe, the Church embraced this territory and then went beyond it to barbarian tribes far from the ancient world. There was a need for the bishop to have assistants who would perform the sacraments even without the presence of the bishop himself, these rights were delegated to the priest, and he became, in fact, the link between the bishop and the laity - the people of God.

The priest conducts spiritual work, which is one of the pillars of blessing, bestowing and giving to a person the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We come to the point that meaningfulness of every blessing is necessary.

The priest must understand that his blessing is not taken from the ceiling, but from deep reflection. People of deep spiritual life, those who are now already recognized by the Church as saints, have never been ashamed to tell people that today they cannot answer a question or bless, evaluate experiences or a request. They might say that they needed to pray, meditate, or even consult with an older priest or even a bishop. The words of Ignaty Brianchaninov "do nothing without a bishop" are still relevant.

What is the power of the already given blessing? Does it have any independent power?

In contemplating this topic, it is very important to move away from magicism at once. This is an important part of a proper understanding of this topic. Magizm, as a kind of our dependence on some movements, blessings, evil eye and the like, is the sinful nature of our humanity. In this regard, we have a serious problem.

Blessing must be looked at from the other side, not through the prism of magic, but through the prism of honesty. When we take a priest's blessing for something, we must do it. Here the question is not that someone or something will punish us for not fulfilling something, that we have some kind of determinism that will entail punishment for an unfulfilled blessing. In no case.

The question is different: we, not fulfilling the blessing of not only the priest, but also the blessing of the Church, do not bring upon ourselves the dark forces, but we ourselves open ourselves to them. By refusing obedience, we lead ourselves off a certain rut laid out by God, and, like a ship without sails, we begin to be dragged across the sea of ​​life by our passions, desires, constantly changing thoughts, which replace for us the blessing of the Church, and the priest, and the bishop.

Perhaps the most painful question is about the impracticability of the blessing. When a blessing is given to us, but it seems to us either absurd or impossible. What to do?

If a blessing seems absurd to us, we should seek clarification from the one who gave us the blessing. I think that here we must immediately refuse to fulfill and give some kind of assessment to the priest who gave us the blessing. We need to look for support. I am sure that a priest always remembers that he is a shepherd, that is, one who grazes, who guards, instructs, encloses. We have many words that describe a priest: presbyter, elder, that is, a certain father, a respected person. For monks, this is the abbot, the archimandrite. The archimandrite is the one who grazes the flock, manages the paddock where the sheep graze.

If a priest sees that it is difficult for a person, he doubts, he must strengthen him, help him fulfill. Somewhere in a paternal way, with love to protect him from temptations, somewhere to lower the degree of the tension that arises with fulfillment. But if we ourselves seek blessings, ask for it in the fulfillment of some rule or some small feat, then, of course, we must fulfill this blessing.

Another thing is that the person himself, who asks for blessings, must calculate his strength. Very often, the blessings that we thoughtlessly ask for are connected with our pride, conceit and desire for glory, not even worldly glory.

But the shepherd must carefully distinguish between those spirits that guide the layman, who ask him for this or that blessing.

Question from a female viewer: Please tell us about the blessing of children by parents for marriage or travel.

The blessing of parents is always a manifestation of our friendliness, peacefulness and nepotism. We are not puppets, we need live communication with each other. Some element of ritual enters into our life. But there is no need to get carried away with this, since the separation from churchness begins to be filled with rituals invented by us.

Parental blessing is very important for a person. Whether he enters some educational institution, whether he goes to serve in the army, whether he leaves for a long journey. When he marries, there is another component: the parents' assessment of our choices and our behavior, which is also very important.

Just as it is important for a priest to shepherd without enslaving anyone, without subordinating anyone to himself, without humiliating anyone and without depriving him of his will, parents should do the same. The apostle Paul tells parents about this: do not grieve your children. Each of us, father and mother, must understand that they are responsible not only for the food of the child, but they must give their child both love and affection, their blessing, without which it is hard for him. Not because something didn’t give him some powers, but because if we weren’t given some kind of blessing, some powers that we potentially had were taken away from us. If we have some kind of strife, then we lose part of the grace-filled energy that God has invested in us.

The blessing of parents is always support, friendly participation in this or that event that takes place in our lives, especially in marriage. In marriage, it is important not to impose your choice, your opinion on children. It’s another matter if we see that our daughter or our son is making a mistake, we must make every effort: especially intensify prayer to God for our child, if it seems to us that he is mistaken. At the same time, we must remember that I myself can be mistaken, and pray not only for my child, but also for myself.

Just recently, I was talking to a man about how parents' misconceptions about marriage led to the tragedy when a marriage, made not out of love, but only with parental blessing, could not be whole and fell apart. And that marriage, which was supposed to take place, and the obstacles to the completion of which were far-fetched, took place today, but already illegally. There was a violation of the wedding. Of course, the bishop will consider the situation in which, by the unreasonable blessing of their parents, these people have fallen. The Lord will manage everything, but here, unfortunately, we see how much parental or priestly pride can harm a flock or a child.

- A question from a viewer: Does the blessing of a simple priest and a metropolitan have the same power?

The second question: if the priest is without vestments, in civilian clothes, can I take his blessing?

It is wrong to answer a question with a question, but with the question that I will ask the audience and myself, I will try to answer the first question.

Is the Eucharist celebrated by a priest and a bishop the same? Of course, we understand that both the Eucharist and Communion are the same.

As for the priest whom you meet in the temple or on the street, whether he is in vestments or without him, he always remains a priest. And every priest must remember that wherever he is, he always attracts the eyes of his flock.

Even I, in our big city, being in a different area of ​​the city where I serve, constantly encounter people who come up, say hello, ask for blessings. Here a person takes a blessing for the segment of life that he will now have: whether he goes to work or home from work. In our lives, we constantly take a blessing from God: whether we leave the house, whether we drive a car. Therefore, we can take a blessing from the priest whom we met.

There is a problem among the laity when people try to imitate the monastic principles: to take a blessing literally for any little thing.

Probably, this happens in our lives, we even hear literally anecdotal situations with blessings. In my practice (I have been in the priesthood for quite a long time), I either did not encounter such situations, or encountered them extremely rarely, since they were not reflected in my memory.

Most likely, such situations happen just in such a place where holiness prevails, no matter how strange it sounds. People, knowing that there is an old man, go to him - I apologize to the audience - as to some kind of clairvoyant or soothsayer. The lack of churchness in such a person leads to such anecdotal situations when a person himself does not understand why he does this. Was the person looking for some advice or guidance?

When a person has an ecclesiastical consciousness, what can happen in this situation is what is described in the patericons. When it is described how, having come to the holy elder, the young monk did not ask him anything, while others asked him questions. When the elder asked him why he did not ask anything, the young monk replied: it is enough for me to see you. That is, being near a saint is already a blessing.

When we go to an old man or a spiritually experienced priest who has acquired a spirit of peace, then it is enough just to see him, his behavior, which itself pacifies us. Therefore, the very stay in the monasteries, even regardless of the conversation with the monks, being in an atmosphere of prayer, peace, humility is much more important than receiving a blessing, asking for advice and instructions, when, it happens, we ask only for the sake of formality.

Question from a TV viewer: When I approach a priest for a blessing, should I explain to him for what purpose I take a blessing from him?

If we take a blessing for a simple, worldly matter, for some segment of today's life, there is no need to explain anything here. But when we come to a priest in order to ask for advice besides his help, then, of course, we explain both our question and the confusion or sadness that confuses or torments us today. If we want the priest to give us an order, advice on how to act in this situation and bless us to fulfill this vector, then it is necessary to explain here.

Maybe you, father, have not encountered such a situation, but it exists: when the laity, keeping some problem in mind, approach the priest, ask for a blessing, and then say that they are doing something with the blessing of the father. Although that father does not know about this, since a simple blessing was requested. How to be?

Maybe this is what happens. But just as I believe in our clergy, I also believe in our laity. I don't think a large percentage of our believers have such perverted ideas about blessings.

If someone thinks so, he, of course, is deeply mistaken when he believes that by substituting a head for blessing, in which some thoughts are swarming, he believes that these thoughts were blessed by the hand of a priest. This is a very satirical scheme and, of course, deeply erroneous.

Such a phenomenon as early old age, being a negative phenomenon, is quite often based on a blessing.

I think that we, priests, must not lose control of ourselves at any interval from ordination. We must always remember that we are just people, and we are all taken care of by God. Even if I am a priest, I am still a shepherd, because our most important shepherd is Christ.

There are times when not only priests, but even just ministers, unfortunately, begin to consider themselves important persons in the Church, in a given community. Unfortunately, this often happens. Traveling around Russia, visiting temples and seeing how monks or nuns communicate with those who came to the temple, I sometimes wanted to say: father (or mother, or brother, sister), remember that neither you nor I are Christ and not the Mother of God. You are just a servant to bring this person to the shrine, to the priest, but not the punishing sword of God. Unfortunately, this self-confidence is characteristic not only of the young, but also of the elderly. This self-confidence begins to prevail among people who have either lost or failed to acquire a culture of behavior. These are no longer ridiculous behavioral stereotypes, but they already cause grief: when a person begins to assert himself at the expense of someone, starting to obscure God.

This is sadness and this is a disease, and a disease that affects not only young priests, although we are all under the supervision of both the rector and the bishop. I believe in our hierarchy, in the healing nature of the Church, I believe that the grace of God, given in the Church, heals the weak, and replenishes the impoverished. I constantly feel this both in myself and in people, I see how the grace of God corrects us, but for this it is necessary to have humility. If we reject humility, do not understand and do not accept it, then the grace of God, unfortunately, cannot do anything with us. Humility is a vital necessity for each of us.

The feat of humility should not be understood as some kind of heavy burden that must be carried to death in order to throw it off and receive some reward from God. No, humility is what allows us now to survive and live a full Christian life.

Question from a viewer from Yeysk: We are elderly people: we cannot come to church for communion. Batiushka comes to our house, and we communicate with him on the phone. How, in this case, to ask the priest for blessings? Is it possible by phone?

First of all, I am very glad that you are in communion with God, that you receive Holy Communion. Of course, when a priest brings you the Holy Gifts, you can ask for his blessing. When you are at home, and the priest is in church, and you need to make some decision, every priest receives calls during the day when parishioners ask for blessings for this or that action. This is quite acceptable, and the ritual side does not matter here. It happens that people call when they leave somewhere and ask to be remembered in prayer as traveling or sick.

I would like to return to the question of the difference in priestly and episcopal blessings. They say that there are certain cases when you only need to go to the bishop for a blessing.

In the case when we are talking about some kind of disciplinary manifestations, this is true. In this case, we are not talking about the mysterious nature of the blessing, here is a different context: canonical, disciplinary.

Today we have already read the words of Ignatius the God-bearer: do nothing without a bishop. Indeed, there are a number of issues that cannot be resolved without the bishop's blessing. But here we are talking about blessing not as some kind of spiritual impetus, a potency given to a person to do some deed, but about a decision that only an archpastor can make. These may be questions related to the funeral of a person who died under special circumstances, or the issue of marriage - various difficult points that relate to the performance of sacraments or rituals.

I would like to ask about the blessings that are often asked for from priests: these are various indulgences in the rule of prayer or fasting. How much freedom do you think a layman has in these matters?

It is not always possible to immediately meet with the priest or get through to him. If a doctor prescribes a change in diet due to an illness, we should not turn off our will, we can make a decision and then discuss it with the priest. Especially when it comes to our self-preservation.

As for disciplinary things, such as holding a fast, then even before fasting, we can discuss with the priest how much our spiritual and bodily strength allows us to do this or that measure of fasting. This also applies to the prayer rule, we can discuss this point with the priest and decide how to do this in order to realize our church life. There are different situations in the family, different attitudes of our loved ones to our faith.

If we suddenly did not have time to decide something, did not take the blessing, but we must make a decision, we should not reach the point of caricature.

It happens that even within the same parish, different priests adhere to different measures of severity, and the laity know that if one priest necessarily forbids, another will allow. Is this choice foolish?

Perhaps one priest may have a stricter opinion on the practice of fasting, on preparation for communion. There may be slyness here when, in order to justify our laziness, we go to a milder priest, put pressure on pity, and he blesses us with some indulgences. I think that the person himself will sooner or later understand that his cunning has not led him to anything good, but only to spiritual relaxation, laxity and even godlessness, like dehydration, when we lose spiritual grace.

- To what extent spirituality binds a person to the blessing of one priest?

If we began to carry out spiritual work and, like a doctor, entrusted ourselves to a certain priest, then not a single doctor likes it when a patient runs from one doctor to another, does not like to complete the treatment of someone who has been treated by another doctor. The point here is not hardness of heart, but the fact that each of us has different methods in relation to our body. As for our soul, here we must constantly be in constant spiritual communion, because here is shepherding, fatherhood, when some kindred relations are built between the pastor and the laity, so the continuity of this communication is very important.

Another thing is that both should understand that there is no need to cross any boundaries. A priest should not enslave a person, but a person should not give himself into slavery to someone. You can not strive to relieve yourself of obligations, completely turn off your will, give yourself into someone's slavery and not think about anything. This is also, unfortunately, a false situation that leads both the layman and the priest into a dead end.

When we are looking for a person to whom we could give ourselves into slavery, here our spiritual nature is already damaged, we have already entered into a certain mistake, a flaw that we must correct in time, come to our senses. Therefore, we must all remember that we are only servants of God. The Lord Himself does not call us slaves, but children, He calls us friends. We call ourselves slaves out of humility, like the prodigal son who, having betrayed his father, returns home and tells him: I am not worthy to be your son, at least take me as your slave. Scripture tells us: do not be slaves to men. This false nature must be seriously observed by us and corrected or even cut off in time.

- God save, father, for the answers, and I ask you to bless us for the end of the program.

God help everyone. Bless you in your work. God bless everyone for all good deeds and undertakings. God bless everyone.

Host: Mikhail Kudryavtsev.

Transcription: Yulia Podzolova.

Blessing as a quality of a person is the ability to have the right to allow, allow to do something, give good parting words, wish happiness, good luck and prosperity.

A priest is walking through the desert, and a lion is meeting him. The priest begins to pray: "Lord, inspire this lion with Christian thoughts." The lion kneels: - God, bless my food!

Blessing is the secret of good luck and prosperity. Blessing is a force that does not allow you to lose enthusiasm in your development. It manifests itself in four forms, and each subsequent form is higher than the previous one. The simplest blessing is verbal. The second form is a mental or mental blessing. The man, looking after another man who had done something good before meeting him, thought: “I wish him happiness.” May he be fine. This form of blessing is higher than the first, for it is manifested with restraint. Pride, false ego can sit in a verbal blessing.

The third form is blessing with a glance. A person sends a warm look to someone who has done something good for him. The fourth form is blessing at the level of the mind. You don’t really see a person, but you heard that he did a good deed. In this case, a mental message can go. The blessing, as by e-mail, goes to the addressee.

Blessing is a revenue item in the piety account. We need it to pay off curses. There is also a telepathic blessing, subject only to saints. It is not sent to anyone personally. Saints "generate" it and "retransmit" it around themselves for free use, like free Wi-Fi. In holy places, in God's temples free access to Wi-Fi blessings. The holy people created this store of piety and blessings, they were not puzzled who would take them. The rain sheds its waters everywhere: on the ocean, and on the mountains, and on the fields, freely, take everything you need. This is a special kind of blessing.

A blessing is showered on a person with magical rain if he knows how to serve other people, that is, he can “read” their desires and intentions. It is necessary to understand the other, his experiences, to show him compassion and mercy. When a person has learned to build relationships with others, that is, he has acquired the skill not to stick out his desires and intentions, but on the contrary, first of all, to think about the intentions of others, the blessings of those around him cover him with a healing waterfall.

As soon as the "resources" from the blessing begin to flow into the account of piety, magical changes take place in a person's life - everything that he wanted begins to be fulfilled. For example, you selflessly helped a lonely old woman: they brought food, helped to clean the apartment. She says, “Thank you, baby! God grant you health! Such a blessing can give you more health than all the clinics in the world put together. Women's, especially maternal, blessing has incredible power.

If you did "good" to the old woman and then say: Well, old woman, bless me soon, and I'll go already. This does not work. A blessing is valid if it comes from a pure heart. He has an absolutely free nature. A blessing cannot be knocked out by force, achieved under pressure, forced by threat. Blessing is achieved by selfless service, sincere concern and respect for another person.

Ruslan Narushevich writes: “When we help people achieve their desires by service, they give blessings in return so that we can fulfill ours. But when a woman serves everyone and does not stutter a single gram about what she needs, what she needs a blessing in, they will never receive it, although they seem to be doing everything right. When a man tells everyone what he needs, but is not going to serve anyone, he will not receive anything either. Therefore, it turns out that two things are needed - you need to know your desires and be able to adequately express them. And the second is to be able to serve others, sensitively understanding, deeply understanding their desires and aspirations. This is the secret and this is how we actually improve our destiny. The most terrible curses can be neutralized by the power of a blessing... The curse cannot be reversed. Once it has sounded, it is no longer possible to neutralize it. It can only be softened."

Blessing implies the right to give it. Not every person can give a blessing. This quality of personality, therefore, not all polls possess it. First of all, one must be found who has the purity and power to give blessings and not rape those who cannot do so.

A person is powerless to give blessings if he does not have the appropriate resource. Therefore, you need to find a qualified person with purity and piety, and ask him for blessings precisely in the area where he is a specialist. For example, a good master may bless a student. In a word, for a blessing, you need to turn to a person, taking into account his qualifications and strength. It is absurd to ask for blessings on health from a sick person, family happiness from a womanizer and red tape, knowledge from a fool and an ignoramus, wealth from a beggar, power from a frail, success from a loser.

One priest tells: “After the service, a young man comes up and says: “Bless me, father, tomorrow I’m going to take the entrance exams.” “God bless you,” I answer and overshadow him with a cross. We meet in a few days. "How's your exam?" I ask him. "Double" set. “Well, thank God,” I console as best I can. "But what about the blessing?" The young man looks at me in bewilderment. “Well, you would have done what you wanted,” I try to explain to him, “and in twenty years I would have realized that I had chosen the wrong profession. And the Lord saved you. Why are we worried? Because it doesn't work out for us. We ask God for what seems important to us today, and He sees the future, protects us from the wrong choice. You asked - He helped. Do you know what the holy fathers used to say? Thank God for everything! And in Russia there is a saying: there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. My interlocutor bowed his head, folded his hands in a cross - the right over the left - and asks: "Bless, father, for all the good."

The next step is to contact the person you found, glorifying his qualities. Naturally, this must be done without flattery, toadying and lies. Since you have chosen him, it means that you sincerely believe that he is an expert in what you intend to ask him. Having glorified his qualities, it is necessary, showing respect and humility, to tell, without humiliation, about your problem or about the helplessness of your position. The final stage is to correctly express the request for a blessing.

There is such a parable. One monk had a poor lay brother and gave everything he earned to him. But he became poorer the more the monk gave him more. Seeing this, the monk went to some old man and told him about what was happening. The old man advised:

If you want to listen to me, then give him nothing more, but tell him: “Brother! When I had, I gave to you. But now you work hard, and what you work out, give me.” Whatever he brings to you, accept from him and pass it on to some stranger or needy old man, asking them to pray for him. The monk acted according to this instruction, and when a lay brother came to him, he did as he was commanded by the elder. The layman left him sad. But now, after some time, he comes and brings some vegetables from the garden. The monk, having received them, gave them to the elders, asking them to pray for his brother. When they accepted this offering, the layman returned to his home. A little later, he again brought vegetables and three loaves, and the monk, having accepted them, acted in the same way as on the first occasion. The layman, having received the blessing, left. For the third time, he already brought a lot of food, and wine, and fish. The monk, seeing this, was surprised, and, having called the beggars, treated them to a meal. At the same time, he asked the layman: - Don't you need a few loaves? He answered him: - No! Before, when I took something from you, it entered my house like fire and devoured it. Now, when I do not accept anything from you, I have everything in abundance - God has blessed me.

Blessing is the source of the individual's enthusiasm. A blessed person has reserves of enthusiasm, so it is from him that you need to ask for blessings. Who would ever think of asking for blessings from a person who has fallen into a deep depression, personifying despondency, disappointment and sorrow.

A reasonable person reaches out for a blessing to people who are carriers of enthusiasm. In whatever area they show enthusiasm, there you can ask for blessings. Vyacheslav Ruzov writes: “Therefore, a reasonable person asks everyone, even seemingly suspicious individuals, but still asks. Because everyone has something to bless. Everyone has an enthusiasm for something. Of course, it is better to ask someone who is spiritually developed. But we can get a real blessing from any living being, if we can endure it and be grateful to it - this is a real blessing, then it comes automatically. If we tolerate someone and are grateful to him, the blessing comes automatically and enthusiasm arises ... As long as we do not lose enthusiasm, then this blessing is there. If we feel enthusiastic in ourselves, if we were able to get up and come and communicate, then there is already a blessing. That's when you feel that laziness, then the enthusiasm and blessing is over, you have to go and ask again. That is, when laziness, you need to at least go for enthusiasm, for a new blessing, at least for him, then everything will be fine.

Blessing is given upon request. You can go outside and bless the first passerby, but that doesn't work. Blessing presupposes a willing and giving blessing. The picture is formed when one wishes, and the other can give. Therefore, one must realize that there must be a really great desire on the part of the one who wishes, and there must be a person who has these blessings, and then he can give them without hindrance.

Petr Kovalev 2014

There are days in the life of every believer when he attends church and comes to spiritual cleansing. Orthodox people quite often have conversations with God through their thoughts or through the priest. It is the priest who is the guide to God and to the truth for every believer. But have you thought about whether you need ask the father for blessings for any requirement.

Imagine for a moment, if the priest is a guide to God, and you want to ask God for approval to do a special deed, then accordingly you need to turn to the priest so that he gives you this approval - God's grace on behalf of the priest. Then, of course, you will think about the question of how and under what circumstances this should be done. This article will be useful for everyone Orthodox and believers who came early or late to this question.

What is a blessing and how to ask for a blessing from a priest

- these are the actions of the priest aimed at wishing good to the person who came to him with a request for blessing. In other words, this is a special prayer, the words of which depend on the person's conversion. And also it is considered the approval of God, any business in the person of the priest.

Many church members meeting the father on his way want to ask him for blessings. But often they do it wrong. Of course, there are no obligatory canons on how to ask for a blessing from a priest, but still, in order to answer the question of how to receive a blessing from a priest, you need to know certain rules. First of all, all who ask must know that they must ask for things that really exist. Asking for God's grace to marry, for example, is not possible if you do not yet have a bride or groom. Consider the example of getting approval from a priest to get married:

1. Before you get approval, you need to get a groom (bride), agree on everything, and then come to the priest and ask for parting words so that everything goes well in this matter.
2. You will be asked whether your chosen one belongs to another faith and whether this is done with the consent of both.
3. After that, he will approve and say: "God bless."

The rite itself also takes place in a certain way. In order to receive a blessing, you need to approach the priest, put your right hand on your left, while the palms should be directed to the sky. Then say: “Bless, father!” Then the sign of the cross will follow.

The clergyman conducts this ceremony with his hand, folding his fingers so that they depict IC XC - Jesus Christ. Thus, the Lord himself blesses us, through the priest. After that, it is necessary to kiss the hand of the priest, this will mean that we are, as it were, kissing the invisible hand of God.

When to ask for a blessing from the priest

Before, none the believer did not go far and did not perform any important deeds without the blessing of the clergyman. It was believed that it was prayer and God's grace that protect a person from troubles and sins. Now they don't take it so seriously. So, when to take a blessing from a priest? Recently, believers have been asking for blessings:

• On the road.
• To do well in exams.
• To do the job.
• For the right upbringing of children.
• To make a purchase and so on.

If you are going or just planning to go on a long journey, then it is best to get parting words from the priest. All this is done for to keep the road calm, without incident and brought only joy.

When preparing for exams or doing work, you can take approval so that everything you plan succeeds and nothing gets in your way.

In order not to doubt the correctness of your methods of raising children, a priest will also help you. Prompt, show and bless. After that, there is only a small chance that you can do something wrong.

God's grace can and should be asked with or without reason. For those who are a regular visitor to the temple, instead of the words "Hello" and "Goodbye", the priest blesses you. By the way, it is also impossible to greet the priest with a handshake, only individuals have the right to do this.

In order for your purchase to benefit you and no problems arise with it, you also turn to the church. There are no restrictions on exactly what issues and deeds to ask for God's grace. It is important to remember that it is not necessary to be baptized before and after the ceremony.

A priest has the right to bless being not only in the Temple and the sacred cassock, but also being outside the church in civilian clothes, but only in specific cases. Ask and you will be heard and your words and actions will be blessed. Don't forget about responsibility. As the saying goes: "Trust in God, but don't make a mistake yourself."

Is it necessary to receive a blessing for fasting

Fasting in Orthodoxy is a time of abstinence. If possible, permission or blessing for fasting must be taken. But if for some reason you do not have the opportunity to go to church and do this, then, of course, you can fast on your own. The blessing for Great Lent, for example, is the day of Forgiveness Sunday. On this day, all Orthodox gather in the temple and ask for forgiveness both from each other and from the priesthood for voluntary and involuntary offenses. Fasting is our sacrifice to God. And the Great One carries the meaning of the forty-day fast of Jesus in the wilderness.

Although church fasts do not have to be kept by all believers, it is important to ask for a blessing in order to refuse fasting for one reason or another, for example, due to illness.

How to ask for blessings from the priest for childbirth or surgery

In order for you to be calmer during childbirth or during an emergency operation, contact the priest. Order a prayer service before childbirth, let the priest bless you and your child for an easy birth. There is no set time to take the blessing for a future birth or surgery. You can apply to the church with these at any time in a week or a few days.

Do not forget that you should also take communion. Of course, the priesthood will ask you when your event will take place, as well as other details. Do not be afraid that you will not be blessed, the priest will find time for you, listen and help you figure out your plans. You will not be left without God's grace. The rite of blessing itself will follow the same pattern as in the example described above with the blessing of marriage. However, in general, all blessings are given in this way.

Vladyka, how does the blessing “work”? If, for example, a doctor prescribes eating meat, and the priest blesses a strict fast, whom should one obey?

As you said, it “works” according to the word of the Holy Scripture: “According to your faith, let it be done to you.” A person believes that through a priest or bishop he will receive a direct answer from the Lord, and he is ready to fulfill this word exactly.

Let's remember why we need a post at all. The fasts were established by the Church for the benefit of a person, in order to sanctify him, protect him from the influence of evil spirits, because “this kind does not come from anything” - only by prayer and fasting.

We can say that this is our obedience to the Church. The holy fathers determined just such a number of fasts and fasting days to help the salvation of the soul, and if we trust them, trust the Church, then we will fulfill all the decrees. If we accept that fasting is a blessing of the Church, it will be easy for us to observe it. Many church people say that they look forward to fasting, and when it ends, they feel some grief: they don’t want to part with it, you are so used to it, it’s so easy for you.

To those who carefully read the Gospel, at some point it may seem that Jesus Christ neglected fasting, because he did not fast like others, and led a lifestyle different from those around him: he visited the houses of sinners and tax collectors, he was in public all the time , in the spotlight. And when the Pharisees rebuked Him, the Lord answered: “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth” (Matthew 15:11). But we must remember that Christ's ministry on earth was short - just over three years, so He concentrated on the most important. When he left his disciples and ascended to heaven, then all the fasts and decrees returned, and the apostles began to observe them, as it was predicted: “Can the sons of the bridal chamber grieve while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15).

The highest goal of fasting is, as I said, the sanctification of a person, reconciliation with God, staying in His love. But without physical exercise it is impossible to reach such a spiritual height. This is what fasting is for: it disciplines, teaches self-restraint, self-sacrifice.

When a person is sick, the disease itself becomes a kind of limitation for him, puts him in such conditions when he is constrained by something, sometimes he cannot even get out of bed, live a full life, and must humble himself. An illness deprives us of worldly joys, brings us to a state of peace, when we delve into ourselves, look for the spiritual roots of the disease, and think about our lives. This is exactly what this post is about. So we can say who is sick, he is already fasting.

Whom to listen to: a doctor or a priest. If a person trusts the Church, puts all his hope on God, that God will direct the mind of this priest, enlighten him correctly to give a blessing, he goes and asks. And every priest, probably, when they ask for a blessing, approaches this very seriously, because they are ready to trust you completely, and you, as a clergyman, must take responsibility for what a person should do next.

When I give a blessing, first of all I find out how a person lives, what his schedule is, how much free time he has for prayer, so that the blessing is not an unbearable burden.

Any priest, if he wants to help, will try to delve into a person’s life and select such a prayer rule and such a measure of abstinence in food that will help to recover both physically and spiritually. And if a person with faith accepts the blessing of a confessor, then everything works out for him.

But it is not necessary to recklessly trust what the priest says. It is necessary to look at whether the blessing is taught in the church tradition, how commensurate it is with the strength of the person himself, his life schedule, physical and moral, spiritual strength.

10 akathists I do not bless

- How do you determine when you need to give a blessing, and when not?

A person who seeks blessings must understand that by doing so he voluntarily gives himself over to the obedience of a confessor.

Here they come for a blessing to read 10 akathists a day. I don't bless. Because a person can have such a good desire, and it seems to him that he will master it. But you should always start small. First read one, then there may be more, and so on.

Or ask for a blessing not to eat meat. If a church person understands what step he is taking, and he has the opportunity for this, then such a blessing is given. It will help the believer to follow this path, as further temptations will come, and he cannot do without the help of God.

Do you give a blessing if you know that it will be difficult for a person to hear and accept your word? Or will you regret?

This will already be to some extent penance, medicine for the soul. Every clergyman must take care of the health of his parishioners, spiritual children, and sometimes you have to give such blessings that, at first glance, people may not like.

For example, someone asks for or release from fasting. He complains that there is not enough strength, but the priest sees that this is from cowardice, and at this moment the person just needs to be supported. The confessor does not give blessings and thereby strengthens the faith. And then the person is surprised how he managed to endure everything, and rejoices at how wisely the priest acted with him, that he did not give a reason to relax.

We are all weak and looking for relief. Everyone justifies himself even before his own conscience. But this is self-lulling, but you need to take a sober look, cheer up, and then even what at first seemed impossible becomes real with a blessing. In this case, a blessing is like a prayerful strengthening of a person in business, in his ministry, in his life.

What can not be blessed

Isn't going to the priest "for a blessing" an attempt to shift the responsibility for one's life and actions onto another person?

Yes, to some extent the responsibility lies with the confessor, but personally I try to adhere to the position that any blessing must be accepted with consent. If a person is not ready to trust, it is better to wait and not give blessings. And if I see that people are ready, they have everything for this, but there is no determination, in this case the word of the shepherd becomes an impetus for them, and then they joyfully follow this path. It happens that it is difficult for a person to take the first step, and when, having trusted the confessor, he takes this step, he goes to a qualitatively different level, a higher one.

Such a blessing, for example, is sometimes needed by students who have graduated from the seminary, married, but do not dare to take holy orders.

- Have you ever given such a blessing that would completely change people's lives?

People themselves must decide how to change their lives. The priest can only be an adviser.

Literally this year, a married couple turned to me for a blessing for adoption. They thought to take only one child, but it turned out that there are four more of his brothers and sisters in the orphanage, and the smallest one has AIDS. And these parents were very worried about whether they could bear such a cross. They consulted with the priest, then came up to me. This was before the start of Lent. And we decided this with them: throughout Great Lent we will pray fervently about this, so that the Lord reveals His will, and during this time we will strengthen ourselves in faith, decide on our intentions, and then it will already be clear.

When Easter came, the couple came up to me and said that ... they were ready. And then I already gave them a bishop's blessing.

There was such a case. One businessman hesitated whether to take another child from the orphanage into the family. And also, after the prayer, having properly thought everything over and consulted, he received such a blessing.

In a situation of decisive choice, a priest cannot make it for his spiritual children. You let a non-native child into your family and you will try to surround him with love and care so that he feels like family - you can’t bless this. The person must be ready.

There are people who are afraid and want to shift a difficult life choice onto the shoulders of a priest. When they come to me with such questions, I try to explain that in our life we ​​ourselves must make decisions.

How do you feel about the fact that the confessor does not bless, for example, getting married? Or vice versa, recommends a specific boy and girl to start a family? Do priests really have some kind of spiritual gift, or maybe it's such an everyday skill - to see who suits whom, and what path awaits whom?

If we talk about the church tradition, then the Orthodox Church knows the elders who had the gift of clairvoyance, from their own spiritual experience they saw who could suit each other in temperament, character, compatibility. But at present, this gift is present only in individuals.

Maybe the priest knows the secret spiritual life of a young man and a girl, sees their mood, that they sympathize with each other, but do not have determination. Then he can try to offer them to start a family. But this is under the only condition - that people lead a church way of life, the word of the confessor is authoritative for them, and in the future they will also be able to consult with him.

But there is also a very pernicious practice, I would say, mentally harmful, when a priest takes upon himself the right to decide the fate of people: he blesses some to marry, others to go to a monastery, and others says that there is no need to give birth to children, since the last times have come. Who can know this? What are we, prophets? The prophets - “before John” (Matthew 11:13), and then everything, the prophecy ceased, and now a person every day must hope in the mercy and will of God.

We cannot stop fulfilling our direct duties. If there is a family, let children be born in it. If a young man wants to serve God in a monastery, there is no need to block his access and bless him to marry just because the priest has judged so. You can advise to wait, test yourself, live in the monastery as a novice, but to decide the fate of people is categorically unacceptable.

Learn to think for yourself

On what issues can one apply for a blessing: only on very important ones or on all? Do they ask you, for example, to buy or sell piglets, whether to embroider on Sunday? What do you answer?

Yes, there are some questions. But only at first glance they seem unworthy of attention, but in fact, this is a person's life, and for him it is very important.

The Monk Ambrose of Optina could talk for hours with a woman about turkey poults. When they asked him: “Father, there are so many people here waiting for you to talk on serious spiritual issues,” he answered: “You see, her turkey poults are her whole life, we are talking about her life, about what worries her.”

So a person worries, worries: will he be able to make a deal - to sell an apartment or even the same pigs. And for greater confidence in God's help, he comes for a blessing.

But it is desirable that a Christian should have some skill and not run for advice on petty everyday issues, but decide for himself. There must be an inner core, a feeling that tells a person whether his actions and words are consistent with the Orthodox church tradition, one hundred and whether he himself is on the solid stone of the Gospel commandments, or whether he has deviated to the side.

So do we. Sometimes they ask if it is possible to go to the dacha for the holidays. I try to delve into every question, but to instruct people in such a way that later they themselves can consider whether their intentions are contrary to the commandments of God, the church charter, and if not, then you can act, and it is not necessary to enlist the blessing of the priest every time. Not all of the child should be fed with milk, he must grow and eat already solid food.

What should a person do if he has received a blessing with which, let's say, he does not agree, and understands that he cannot do this. Is it possible to "cancel" the blessing?

Advice for the future: with any question about a blessing, go only to a priest whom you know well and trust.

It’s another matter if the priest has imposed his blessing or in some other way forces you to fulfill it. In this case, you can contact the bishop.

But still, in order not to get into such situations, you need to cultivate trust in the priest and responsibility for your life. If the questions are really difficult, weigh everything properly and make a decision, and then just ask the priest for advice. When the situation is difficult, the opinion of people can shed light on the problem, including the invaluable spiritual experience of the priest.

The conversation was Yulia Kominko