How the saints struggled with carnal temptations. To help the suffering soul. medical nursing experience

The name of Germogen Ivanovich Shimansky (1915-1970) is well known to the Orthodox reader from his book "Liturgy: Sacraments and Rites", published in the Sretensky Monastery. In the preface to this work, Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk and Yuryev noted that Shimansky “stands out among everyone with his special composure, methodicalness, always friendly address and unshakable firmness in his views.” He chose the doctrine of salvation from liturgical books as the subject of his PhD research.

The continuation of this work was now published for the first time the manuscript of G.I. Shimansky, sent to the publishing house of the Sretensky Monastery from Kyiv.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

FOREWORD

The goal of the Christian life is to acquire the Holy Spirit, in communion with God. Communion with God is the essence of our salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The path to salvation is the fulfillment of the commandments of God, life in Christ, or, what is the same, the Christian pious, virtuous life.

The Christian virtuous life of every Christian has two essential aspects: the struggle against tempting evil (the struggle against sinful passions and vices) and the acquisition of Christian virtues.

This book is devoted to these vital issues - the fight against the main sinful passions (vices) and the acquisition of basic Christian virtues.

This far from finished work arose on the basis of conversations that the author, acting as a mentor, conducted with students of the seminary. These conversations have been completed and expanded, brought into the system.

Many books have been written on the fight against passions and on Christian virtues by people experienced in the spiritual life under the guidance of Sts. fathers. There are also extensive scientific works from the field of asceticism.

This same book is not a scientific treatise or study; rather, it is a systematized collection of patristic thoughts on individual, most important, issues of active Christian life, which has, mainly, a moral and edifying purpose. In his work, the author strove to present the patristic teaching and experience in a form that is understandable and intelligible to the modern reader and to show their necessary applicability in the life of every Christian, for the commandments of God and the laws of spiritual life are common to all Christians, no matter what way of life and feat they pursue.

In particular, the author had in mind that the book would serve as a manual for students of the seminary, candidates for the priesthood, so that they could get acquainted with the patristic teaching on this issue in a collected form. Acquaintance of the candidate of the priesthood with the questions of Christian asceticism according to the teaching and experience of Sts. fathers and ascetics is of great importance for their future pastoral activity.

The second and immediate goal of writing this work was also its own benefit: “in order to move oneself to correction, to the denunciation of one’s poor soul, so that, although ashamed of words,” as St. John of the Ladder says, “he who has not yet acquired any good deed, begins but only words. And Rev. Nilus of Sinai points out that "it is necessary to speak about good things, and he who does not do good things, so that, ashamed of words, begin deeds" .

The book is divided into two parts. The first part gives general concepts of sin, sinful passions and self-love as the source of all sin and vice. Then a strategic doctrine is presented about each of the main passions separately: about pride and vanity, about gluttony and fornication and the fight against them, about greed and anger, about envy, slander and condemnation, and, finally, about sinful sadness and despondency.

The second part is devoted to the study of the main Christian virtues: love, humility, meekness, temperance and chastity - those virtues that a Christian needs to acquire in the active eradication of the above main passions.

Therefore, when studying chapters, for example, on carnal passions (gluttony and fornication), it is useful to follow this (from the 2nd part) to assimilate the patristic teaching about the main eradicators of these passions - the virtues of temperance and chastity. When studying the issue of struggle with self-love, pride, greed and envy, one should follow this by studying the patristic teaching on love and humility. Anger has its opposite in meekness, etc.

GENERAL CONCEPTS ABOUT SIN AND SIN PASSIONS

Chapter 1

SIN

From ancient times to the present, man has been thinking about a vital question and trying to solve it: where does evil come from in the world? Where does malice, enmity, hatred, resentment, theft, robbery, murder, various disasters, social unrest, etc. come from? Where do sorrows, illnesses, sufferings, old age, death come from?

Many different conjectures and solutions were proposed by people: philosophers, founders of natural (pagan) religions, legislators, political leaders ... But their answers to these questions did not find general recognition and did not stand the test of time, were not confirmed by experience and life. The only true answer about the cause of evil in the world and about the ways and means of combating it, we find in the word of God.

The Creator and our God revealed to people in His Divine Revelation, recorded in the Holy Scriptures (Bible), that the direct cause of all human calamities and all evil is sin. Other than that, there is no evil. Only sin of all human evils is truly evil. He alone is "the source and root and mother of all evils." He brought forth two fruits: sorrow and death. Sin in ancient times gave rise to murder and slavery and made necessary the power to protect evil

§ 1. WHAT IS SIN?

Sin is a transgression (violation) of God's commandment, or, in the words of the apostle, "sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). St. John Chrysostom says that "sin is nothing but an action against the will of God." Sin entered the world through the first people who sinned in paradise (Rom. 5:12; Gen. 2-3). God, writes Rev. Abba Dorotheos, created man (Adam and Eve) in His own image and likeness, that is, immortal, autocratic and adorned with every virtue. But when, at the temptation of the devil, he transgressed the commandment, having tasted the fruit of the tree, from which God commanded him not to eat, then he was expelled from paradise. For God saw that if a person does not experience misfortunes and does not know what sorrow is, then he will be even more established in sinful self-love and pride and will completely perish. Therefore, God gave him what he deserved and expelled him from Paradise (Gen. 3). Through sin, a person fell away from his natural state and fell into an unnatural, sinful state and was already in sin: in selfishness, in love of glory, in love for the pleasures of this world and in other sinful habits, and was possessed by them, for he himself became a slave of sin through crime .

Thus, little by little, evil began to grow and death reigned. There was no true worship of God anywhere among people, but everywhere there was ignorance of God. Only a few, prompted by natural law, knew God, such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac and other patriarchs. In short, very few and very few knew God. For the enemy (Satan) has poured out all his malice upon the people; and since sin reigned, idolatry, polytheism, sorcery, murder, and other devilish evils began.

And then the good God, having mercy on His creation, gave through Moses to the chosen Jewish people a written law, in which he forbade one thing, and commanded another, as if saying: do this, but do not do this. He gave the commandment and first of all said: "The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 4), in order to divert their minds from polytheism through this. And again he says: "And love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength" (Deut. 6:5). ).

So, the good God gave people the law and help for turning from sin, for correcting evil. However, the evil was not corrected. Sin embraced all the forces of the soul and body of man, everything became subject to sin, he began to possess everything. Through sin, people became slaves to the enemy, the devil. And a person could not get rid of the “work of the enemy” on his own.

Then, at last, the all-good and philanthropic God sent His Only Begotten Son to earth, for only God could heal such a disease. And in the fulfillment of times, our Lord came, becoming a Man for us, so that, as St. Gregory the Theologian says, to heal the like, soul soul, flesh flesh; for He became Man in everything except sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, took on our very nature, the beginning of our composition, and became the new Adam, in the image of God, who created the first Adam; He renewed the natural state and made the senses healthy again, as they were at the beginning. Having become Man, He restored fallen man, freed him, enslaved by sin and forcibly possessed by it. For the enemy controlled man with violence and torment, so that even those who did not want to sin involuntarily sinned (cf. Rom. 7:19).

So, God, having become Man for our sake, freed man from the torment of the enemy. For God has cast down all the strength of the enemy, crushed his very strength and delivered us from his dominion, freed us from obedience and slavery to him, unless we ourselves want to sin arbitrarily. Because He gave us the power, as He Himself said, to step on snakes and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19), having cleansed us from all sin by holy baptism, for holy baptism takes away and destroys every sin. Moreover, the most gracious God, knowing weakness and foreseeing that we would sin even after holy baptism, gave us, by His goodness, the holy commandments, written in the Holy Gospel, purifying us, so that we, if we wish, could again, by keeping the commandments, be cleansed not only from our sinful deeds, but also from the passions themselves, from sinful habits, through which they would ascend to perfection and communion with God.

Every sin has two characteristics: abuse of freedom and contempt for the law of God, opposition to God. The Word of God reveals to us that sin arose as a result of the abuse on the part of the first people of the freedom granted to them, that it was not necessary, that the first people might not have sinned. So it is in all the descendants of Adam, “the beginning of sin,” says St. John Chrysostom, “is not in human nature, but in the disposition of the soul and in free will,” in conscious opposition to the will of God. It follows from this that there can be no excuse that sin is the result of our shortcomings, imperfections, imprudence, and so on. Sin is characterized by unbridled and corrupt will and contempt for the law. Sin is always a self-willed deviation from God and His holy law to please oneself. A Christian, although he bears in himself a propensity to sin, inherited from his forefathers, is given to him by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ all grace-filled forces to fight sin and conquer sin.

A person is usually tempted to sin from the flesh, the world and the devil, but in his freedom to resist the sinful temptation.

Each of us, the descendants of Adam, by nature bears in himself an inclination to sin in the form of a sinful desire or "lust" - in the words of the Apostle Paul. This "lust" innate in man is the deepest and first source of temptation from which all sin begins. "Everyone is tempted when he is carried away and deceived by his own lust," says the Apostle James (James 1:14).

The second temptation to sin are temptations from the sinful world, from communion with sinful and depraved people.

The third source of the fall is the devil. He brings darkness upon the soul and, keeping it as if in some kind of intoxication, brings it to the point that it falls into sin, first in itself, and then outside. That is why the apostles exhort Christians to be vigilant and guard against the temptations of the enemy: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour; resist him with firm faith" (1 Pet. 5:8-9); "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might; put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spirits of wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:10-12).

The cause of sin is also an unkind upbringing of children. Such children, having come of age, strive for every evil. All this comes from the neglect of parents.

The habit of a person also strongly attracts to sin: for example, drunkards always strive for drunkenness, predators - for theft, fornicators and adulterers - for uncleanness, slanderers - for slander, and so on. For habit pulls them like a rope to sin, and they yearn for it, like one who is hungry for bread and thirsty for water.

Against all these causes of sin, a Christian who wants to be saved must strive firmly and courageously. A feat against these opponents is difficult, but necessary and highly praised. “Many struggle and conquer people,” says St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, “but they become captives and slaves of their passions. ".

The sin that seems so attractive and sweet to man, the intelligent creation of God, is great evil. And there is no evil, no misfortune, no calamity that would be more disastrous than sin.

And what can be more disastrous than sin, from which all other disasters?

1. Every sin offends the majesty of God. When a person sins, he honors passion and his own lust more than the law of God, and therefore angers the very infinite, most good, righteous and eternal God. Sin, writes St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, there is a departure from the living and life-giving God; he is a betrayal of the vow given to God at baptism; he is the destruction of the holy, righteous, and eternal law of God; it is resistance to the holy and good will of God; he is the grief of the eternal and infinite righteousness of God; an insult to the great, infinite, indescribable, terrible, holy, good and eternal God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, before Whom blessed spirits, holy angels, are very reverent; he is a spiritual leprosy that emits its own stench and infects others, and cannot be cleansed of anyone except Jesus Christ, the souls and bodies of a doctor; sin is “worst than the demon himself,” according to St. John Chrysostom, since the sin of the Angel, created by the Good Creator, made him a demon.

2. For the sake of the destruction of sin and “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), the Son of God came into the world, became incarnate, and endured terrible suffering and death on the cross.

3. Sin separates a person from God, deprives him of the grace of God. God says to such a person that your house is being left empty (Matthew 23:38).

4. A soul deprived of God and His grace dies. For just as the body dies when the soul leaves it, so the soul spiritually dies when God leaves it. Woe to the soul that has lost God, for then it is possessed by the devil and therefore subject to all misfortune. From this we see how great evil is sin.

5. After committing a sin, the sinner's conscience is constantly tormented, which is harder than any gravest disaster. Darkness, restlessness and a certain inner fear overwhelm the soul inside, as happened with the first murderer and fratricide Cain. Sin and sorrow are linked by an unbreakable chain. "Sorrow and distress to every soul of a man who does evil" (Rom. 2:9).

6. Sin befalls people, as well as temporal punishments, and all kinds of disasters, such as: famine, fires, wars, illnesses, weaknesses, sorrows, sorrows, natural disasters (floods, earthquakes), etc. (cf.: Sir. 40, 9).

7. Sin attracts with its temporary sweetness. Sweet is sin to man, but bitter and heavy are its fruits. Sin is the bitterest grape, from the use of which there is a strong soreness. And sin is sweet only for a short time, and hunger for a long time. The pleasure of sin is temporary, but the torment for it is eternal. "A brief sin is sweetness," says St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, "but eternal death will follow."

8. The more a person sins and lives impenitently, the more he accumulates the wrath of God for himself, just as the apostle says: “According to your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you yourself store up wrath on the day of wrath and the revelation of righteous judgment from God, who will reward everyone according to their deeds. him" (Rom. 2:5-6).

9. For unrepentant sinners, eternal torment is prepared for sin. “How great is the sorrow (sorrow) of sin, the dying will know when it is necessary for them to fight against despair and the fear of the judgment of God, when they are sick, anguished and tormented, consumed by conscience, and more (most of all they will know the sorrow of sin) dying eternal death, when great hope is cut short to deliverance from that calamity. Now people run away from death, but then they would wish to die, but they will not be able: and this is eternal death, that sinners will wish to die or turn into nothing from the unbearable torment of Gehenna, but they will not be able ".

From all that has been said, we see that there is nothing more disastrous than sin, that there is no greater evil than sin.

“Beloved Christians!” admonishes St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. “Let us know the perniciousness of sin, let us evade sin; everyone evades the known evil. People know that poison harms, and they evade it; They know that thieves strip and kill, and turn them away. We too, beloved, will recognize sin and the evil that comes from sin, and we will unfailingly turn away from it. "Sin exposes us more than any thief and deprives us of temporal and eternal blessings, and kills body and soul. These are the fruits of the bitter seed of sin. Sin is anger, rage and malice; sin is pride, arrogance, arrogance, arrogance (exaltation, pomposity) and contempt for one's neighbor; sin is slander and condemnation; sin is slander and foul language, blasphemy (reckless, stupid speech), blasphemy and every rotten word; sin is a lie, cunning, deceit and hypocrisy; sin is drunkenness, gluttony and any other abstinence; sin is theft, embezzlement, robbery, violence, and any unjust appropriation of someone else's property; sin is adultery, fornication, and every uncleanness; in a word, every transgression of the law is a sin and is an evil more harmful than any evil that somehow harms our body. For it is only our body that damages, but sin harms and mortifies both the body and the soul. Whoever does not know sin, like a great evil, now, and does not take care of it, in the next century, by the very skill and practice, he will know and find out how fiercely there is evil - sin, but it is too late and useless. For this sake, in the present age, that evil (sin) must be known and kept from it.

The holy fathers and ascetics also indicate the means to avoid sin. Here are some instructions from St. Tikhon Zadonsky.

1. Hearing and paying attention to the word of God brings great help in struggle against sin. It indicates what is sin and what is virtue, it leads away from sin and encourages to virtue. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). For the word of God is a spiritual sword with which the enemy of the soul is cut down.

Everything is a sin that is done by word or deed or thought against the holy and eternal law of God and His holy will. On sin, read the following Scriptures: Mk. 7, 21 et seq.; Rome. 1, 29, etc.; 1 Cor. 6, 9 et seq.; Gal. 8:19-21; Eph. 6, 3 et seq.; Qty. 4, 5 et seq.; 1 Tim. 1, 9 et seq.; 2 Tim. 4, 2 etc.; open 21, 8; Ps. 49, 15 and other places of Holy Scripture.

The Apostle Paul in his epistles to the Corinthians writes that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God: neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor those who fall into uncleanness and lasciviousness, nor idolaters, nor malakias, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor predators, nor envious people, neither murderers, nor heretics, nor drunkards, nor blasphemers and haters - will inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6, 9-10; see also: Gal. 5, 19-21).

The sweet fruits of a virtuous life, given by the Holy Spirit, are the following: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness, temperance (cf. Gal. 5, 22-23; see also: 1 Cor. 13 ; Matt. 5-10). We must take care and pray to God to give us these fruits to create by the grace of His Holy Spirit.

2. It is very useful to read the lives of the saints who struggled against sin, and to imitate them.

3. We must remember that God is present in every place, and is relentlessly with us everywhere, and what we do and think - he sees everything clearly, and everything we say - he hears, and is angry with every sin, and rewards everyone according to his deeds. Beware, Christian, of sinning before the face of God! It is terrible to anger God. In sin itself, God can strike the sinner and send him to hell.

When we recall punishments for sins to our memory, we will be convinced that God is a righteous rewarder: for sins, a worldwide flood was brought on ancient mankind, the completely depraved inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were burned by fire, rebellious and murmuring Israelites were struck by death under Moses in the desert and so on. Let us also remember in our lifetime the punishments for sins that happen to people.

4. Thinking about the fact that Christ the Son of God was martyred and died for our sins leads us away from sin. Christ suffered for our sins: how can we dare to those sins for which Christ the Son of God drank such a bitter cup of suffering? Should we do again that for which Christ endured such grievous sufferings, should we again crucify the Son of God with the sins? It's terrible and very sad. And woe to Christians who sin and do not honor the sufferings of Christ and Christ Himself!

5. You need to remember the last four: death, the judgment of Christ, hell and the Kingdom of Heaven. The memory of them also greatly preserves from sin. “Remember in all your deeds,” says the wise Sirach, “about your end, and you will never sin” (Sir. 7, 39).

6. The memory of the uncertainty of the hour of death can also keep from sin. It is known that we will all die, but when and how we will die is unknown. Woe to him whom death finds in sin! For where death finds us, God will judge us.

7. May the inevitable hour of Christ's judgment keep us from sin. For the same Christ the Lord, Who suffered and was tormented for our sins, He will also judge for every word, deed, and Reflection on eternity eases the Christian's earthly sorrows, and great labor, and temporal punishments, such as: sorrow, bonds, prisons, exile, insults, wounds, dishonor, reproach, need and poverty, and death itself helps to accept with love and gratitude. Thinking about eternity (which awaits us) will not allow us to fall into the lawless nets of sin, will not allow to wallow in fornication and carnal impurity, lie, steal, rob, deceive, be proud, exalt ourselves, condemn our neighbor, slander. Whoever diligently thinks about eternity, he will more seek to hear God's words and instructions for salvation, the sweetness of sin will disgust him and temporary sinful pleasures will lose their apparent charm and attraction.

10. It is necessary to keep in mind and in memory that even during the commission of sin itself, a person can die and perish, passing in such a state into eternity. So once in ancient times the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, pursued after the Israelites, wishing to harm them, but in that very lawless deed he perished (Ex. 14:27-28). So Absalom, the son of David, rose up against his holy father and sought to kill him, and at that time he died ingloriously (2 Kings 18:14). We observe the same thing today: we see that the fornicator and the adulterer are sometimes amazed even in the most vile deed; slanderers - in blasphemy, thieves and predators - in theft, and other lawless people receive according to their deeds. Thus, the righteous judgment of God strikes the lawless, so that we too would be afraid to sin and transgress.

11. You should move away from cases and reasons that lead to sin: all kinds of feasts and drinks, friendship and corrupt conversations with people who are corrupt and do not have the fear of God, for "bad associations corrupt good morals" (1 Cor. 15, 33); it is necessary to protect sight, hearing and be kept from temptations.

12. You should also beware of the smallest sins, since it is easy to move from small sins to large ones.

13. You should never imitate and follow a bad example and not look at what people are doing, but pay attention to what the law of God teaches and is preached in the temple. If we love the law of God, then no temptations of the world will harm us (Ps. 119, 165).

14. With every sin, the Trinitarian God, the great, holy, good, righteous, infinite and terrible God, the merciful and merciful Father is offended and angry. It is a pity and grievous to offend a father who is native to the flesh, all the more grievous to offend God, the Heavenly Father, Who created your father, nourishes, clothes, preserves and supplies with other blessings and calls everyone to eternal bliss. It would be better to die a hundred times than to offend God, our all-good Father and Creator. Protect yourself, Christian, from sin, as from a great evil.

15. A sin that has been committed torments the conscience until it is cleansed by repentance. Beware of sin, like the poison of snakes, if only to avoid pangs of conscience.

16. If you want your prayer to be heard, then avoid sin. For whoever sins and does not lag behind sin, that prayer is not accepted.

17. We must approach the communion of the holy, terrible and life-giving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ with fear and trembling, fearing that communion would not lead to judgment and condemnation. Therefore, before and after communion, one must beware of sin, like a serpent that devours the soul.

18. Our care and struggle in the fight against sin are not strong without the help of God. Therefore, we must always take care and pray, may the Lord help us in this feat.

19. Prayer to God frequent, humble, diligent, with contrition of heart is a very powerful tool in the fight against sin. "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation," Christ said (Matthew 26:41).

20. To the pious Christ will speak at His Second Coming: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). About the blessings prepared for the righteous, the prophet says: "For from time immemorial they have not heard, they have not listened with their ears, and no eye has seen another god besides You, who would do so much for those who hope in him" (Is. 64, 4).

The Lord will say to unrepentant sinners: "Depart from Me, you cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). And these will go away into eternal torment; the righteous into eternal life. And everywhere in the word of God disaster is proclaimed to unrepentant sinners, but bliss to the pious. The Word of God is not false, it is true, what it says will be unchanged. God cannot lie. Heed this, Christian, so that for the temporary sweetness of sin you will not be deprived of eternal bliss and fall into eternal torment, which will have no end.

St. John Chrysostom. Creations. SPb., 1898. T. II. S. 45, 70.

He is. Creations. Ed. 5th. M., 1889. T. I. C. 242. Further, all footnotes, except for specially stipulated cases, are given according to this edition. See 1994 reprint edition.

32. VANITY

33. LAZY

34. ACCEPTANCE OF IMPLE THOUGHTS

35. MULTIPLE

36. IMPURITY VIEW

37. OMITTING THE SERVICE OF GOD BY LATIFE AND NEGLECT

38. ATTENDANCE IN CHURCH AND HOME PRAYER

39. CASE

40. WORD

41. THOUGHT

42. VISION

43. HEARING

44. SMELL

Venerable Macarius of Egypt:

If someone says: “I am rich (in spirit), it is enough for me and what I have acquired is no longer needed,” then he is not a Christian, but a vessel of the devil’s delusion.

With all prudence, one must observe the intrigues, deceptions and malicious actions arranged by the enemy (the devil) from all sides. Just as the Holy Spirit through Paul serves all for all (1 Cor. 9:22), so the evil spirit tries maliciously to be all for all, in order to bring everyone down to destruction. With those who pray, he also pretends to be praying, in order to lead him into arrogance about prayer; he fasts with those who are fasting in order to deceive them with self-conceit and lead them into a frenzy; with those who are versed in Holy Scripture, and he rushes into the study of Scripture, apparently seeking knowledge, but in essence trying to lead them to a perverse understanding of Scripture; with the light that was rewarded with illumination, he also appears to have this gift, as Paul says: Satan is transformed into an angel of light, so that, having deceived with a ghost, as it were, of light, to attract to himself. It is simple to say: he takes upon himself all sorts of forms for everyone, so that by an action similar to the action of good, he enslaves the ascetic to himself, and, covering himself with plausibility, overthrows him into destruction.

Woe to the soul that does not feel its wounds and thinks of itself, because of the great, immeasurable damage of malice, that it is completely alien to the damage of malice. Such a soul is no longer visited and healed by the good Physician, as if she left her sores arbitrarily without care for them, and imagines herself to be healthy and blameless. They do not require, - He says - the health of the doctor, but the sick.

Saint John of the Ladder:

No matter how lofty our feats are, if we have not acquired a sick heart, then these feats are both false and futile.

Saint Gregory of Sinai:

For pride follows delusion (from dreams), delusion follows blasphemy, blasphemy leads to insurance, insurance leads to trembling, trembling leads to frenzy.

Inflaming the whole nature and darkening the mind with a combination with dreamed idols, she drives him into a frenzy with intoxication from her scorching action and makes him crazy.

It is fitting to know that delusion has three main reasons for which it finds: pride, envy of demons, and punitive allowance. The same reasons are: pride - vain frivolity (or vanity), envy - prosperity, punishing allowance - sinful life. - The charm of envy and proud conceit is more likely to be healed, especially if someone humbles himself. But the punitive delusion - betrayal to Satan for sin - God often allows by his abandonment even to death. It happens that even the innocent are surrendered to torment (demons) for salvation. It is fitting to know that the very spirit of proud conceit sometimes gives predictions in those who do not carefully listen to the heart.

If someone with self-confidence, based on conceit, dreams of reaching high prayerful states, and has acquired not true zeal, but satanic, the devil conveniently entangles him with his nets, as his servant.

The free will of a person conveniently inclines towards communion with our adversaries, especially the will of the inexperienced, new in feat, as if still possessed by demons. Demons are nearby and surround the novice and self-made, spreading networks of thoughts and pernicious dreams, arranging abysses of falls. The city of beginners - the whole being of each of them - is still in the possession of the barbarians ... Out of frivolity, do not quickly go into what appears to you, but remain difficult, holding back the good with much consideration, and rejecting the evil ... Know that the actions of grace - clear; the demon cannot teach them; he cannot teach meekness, or quietness, or humility, or hatred of the world; he does not tame passions and voluptuousness, as grace does.

Do not accept if you see something with your sensual eyes or mind, outside or inside you, whether it will be the image of Christ, or an Angel, or some Saint, or if a light appears to you ... Be attentive and careful! do not allow yourself to trust anything, do not express sympathy and consent, do not hastily trust the phenomenon, even if it is true and good; remain cold to it and alien, constantly keeping your mind formless, not constituting any image and not imprinted with any image. He who sees something in thought or sensually, even if it is from God, and accepts hastily, conveniently falls into delusion, at least reveals his inclination and ability to delusion, as he accepts phenomena quickly and lightly. The novice must pay all attention to one action of the heart, recognize this action as uncharming, and not accept anything else until the time of entering into dispassion. God is not angry with the one who, fearing delusion, watches himself with extreme circumspection, if he does not accept anything sent from God, without examining what was sent with all care; on the contrary, God praises such for his prudence.

Saint Simeon the New Theologian on the dreamer's prayer:

He raises his hands, eyes and mind to heaven, imagines in his mind” - like Klopstock and Milton - “Divine meetings, heavenly blessings, orders of holy angels, villages of saints, in short - collects in his imagination everything that he heard in Divine Scripture, considers it is during prayer, looking at the sky, with all this arouses his soul to Divine desire and love, sometimes sheds tears and cries. Thus, little by little, his heart is proud, without understanding it with his mind; he thinks that what he does is the fruit of Divine grace to his consolation, and prays to God to make him worthy to always remain in this work. This is a sign of beauty. Such a person, even if he remains silent with perfect silence, cannot but undergo insanity and madness. If this does not happen to him, however, it is impossible for him to ever achieve spiritual intelligence and virtue or dispassion. Thus were they deceived who saw the light and the radiance with these bodily eyes, who smelled the incense with their scent, who heard the voices with their ears. Some of them went berserk and went insane from place to place; others received a demon that was transformed into a bright angel, were deceived and remained uncorrected, even to the end, not accepting advice from any of the brethren; some of them, taught by the devil, killed themselves: some fell into the abyss, others strangled themselves. And who can enumerate the various deceptions of the devil, with which he deceives, and which are inscrutable? However, from what we have said, every reasonable person can learn what harm comes from this way of prayer. If, however, one of those who use it does not undergo any of the above disasters due to cohabitation with the brethren, because hermits who live alone are most exposed to such disasters, but such a person spends his whole life unsuccessfully.

Rev. Maxim Kapsokalivit:

He who sees the spirit of charm - in the phenomena presented by him - is very often subjected to rage and anger; the incense of humility, or prayer, or true tears, has no place in it. On the contrary, he constantly boasts of his virtues, vainglories, and always indulges in crafty passions fearlessly.

Saint Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer:

True Christian ascetics fast in order to humble their flesh; they make vigils in order to sharpen the mind's eye... they bind their tongues with silence and seclude themselves in order to avoid the slightest occasion to offend the All-Holy God. They pray, hold church services and perform other deeds of piety so that their attention does not deviate from the things of heaven. They read about the life and sufferings of our Lord in order to better know their own badness and the merciful goodness of God; in order to learn and decide to follow the Lord Jesus Christ with self-denial and a cross on one's shoulders, and in order to kindle more and more love for God and kindness in oneself. But, on the other hand, these same virtues can do more harm to those who place in them the whole basis of their life and their hope than their obvious shortcomings. The virtues themselves are pious and holy, but some use them not as they should. Listening only to these virtues, performed outwardly, they leave their hearts to follow their own will and the will of the devil, who, seeing that they have strayed from the right path, not only does not prevent them from striving in these bodily exploits, but also strengthens them in their vain thoughts. At the same time, experiencing some spiritual states and consolations, these ascetics believe that they have already risen to the state of angelic ranks, and feel in themselves, as it were, the presence of God Himself. At other times, having delved into the contemplation of some abstract, non-earthly things, they imagine that they have completely stepped out of the realm of this world and have been caught up to the third heaven... They are in great danger. Having the inner eye, that is, their mind, darkened, they look with it and at themselves and look wrong. Considering their outward deeds of piety to be very worthy, they think that they have already reached perfection and, becoming proud of this, begin to condemn others. After that, there is no longer any possibility for any of the people to convert such people, except for the special influence of God. It is more convenient to turn to goodness for an obvious sinner than one who is covered by a veil of visible virtues.

Venerable Macarius of Optina:

You want to see that you live well and are saved, but you don’t understand that charm is born from this, and weakness humbles us.

The main cause of prelest, in any case, is pride and self-conceit.

Venerable Lev of Optina:

Would you like to know what charm is: charms are diverse and have an effect, as the mind and heart are lifted up, it is darkened and captivated by opinion and from being busy with itself, and thinking itself believes in the opinions and dreams presented to it from the universal enemy - the devil, and by this pronounces those absurdities, as it seems to him from opinion and dreams, and this means charm.

Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

The source of delusion, like all evil, is the devil, and not some kind of virtue.
The beginning of delusion is pride, and its fruit is exceedingly abundant pride.

Saint Gregory of Sinai says: “In general, there is only one reason for prelest—pride.” In human pride, which is self-delusion, the devil finds a comfortable haven for himself, and joins his deception to human self-deception. Every person is more or less prone to delusion: because the purest human nature has something proud in it.

St. Simeon the New Theologian, discussing the occasional failure of the prayerful feat and the tares of prelest arising from it, ascribes the reason for both the failure and prelest to the failure to maintain correctness and gradualness in the feat.

The warnings of the fathers are sound! One must be very circumspect, one must guard oneself very much from self-deception and delusion. In our time, with the complete impoverishment of God-inspired mentors, special caution is needed, special vigilance over oneself.

Just as pride is the cause of delusion in general, so humility - a virtue directly opposite to pride - serves as a sure warning and protection against delusion. Saint John of the Ladder called humility the destruction of the passions.

Charm is damage to human nature by a lie. Charm is the state of all men, without exception, produced by the fall of our forefathers. We are all in awe. The knowledge of this is the greatest protection against delusion. The greatest charm is to recognize oneself free from charm. We are all deceived, we are all deceived, we are all in a false state, we all need to be freed by the truth. The truth is our Lord Jesus Christ.

The beginning of evil is a false thought! The source of self-deception and demonic charm is a false thought! The cause of various harm and destruction is a false thought! By means of a lie, the devil struck mankind with eternal death at its very root, in the forefathers. Our forefathers were deceived, that is, they recognized the lie as the truth, and, having accepted the lie under the guise of truth, they damaged themselves with an incurably deadly sin...

Charm is the assimilation of a lie by a person, accepted by him for the truth. Charm acts initially on the way of thinking; being accepted and, having perverted the way of thinking, it immediately communicates to the heart, perverts the sensations of the heart; having taken possession of the essence of a person, it spreads over all his activities, poisons the very body, as inextricably linked by the Creator with the soul. The state of delusion is the state of perdition or eternal death.

From the time of the fall of man, the devil has always had free access to him. The devil has the right to this access: to his power, by obedience to him, man has subjected himself arbitrarily, rejecting obedience to God. God redeemed man. The redeemed man is given the freedom to obey either God or the devil, and in order for this freedom to manifest itself without constraint, access to man is left to the devil. It is very natural that the devil uses every effort to keep a person in the same attitude towards himself, or even bring him into greater enslavement. To do this, he uses his former and everlasting weapon - a lie. He tries to deceive and deceive us, relying on our state of self-delusion; our passions - these morbid desires - he sets in motion; pernicious demands clothe them in plausibility, intensify to incline us to the satisfaction of passions. The one who is faithful to the Word of God does not allow himself this satisfaction, curbs the passions, repels the attacks of the enemy; acting under the guidance of the Gospel against his own self-deception, taming the passions, thereby destroying little by little the influence of fallen spirits on himself, he gradually leaves the state of delusion into the realm of truth and freedom, the fullness of which is delivered by the overshadowing of Divine grace. The unfaithful to the teachings of Christ, following his will and reason, submits to the enemy and from the state of self-deception passes to the state of demonic delusion, loses the rest of his freedom, enters into complete submission to the devil. The state of people in demonic delusion can be very diverse, corresponding to the passion by which a person is seduced and enslaved, corresponding to the degree to which a person is enslaved by passion. But all those who have fallen into demonic delusion, that is, through the development of their own self-delusion, have entered into communion with the devil and into enslavement to him, are in delusion, they are temples and tools of demons, victims of eternal death, life in the dungeons of hell.

All kinds of demonic delusions to which the ascetic of prayer is subjected arise from the fact that repentance is not put at the basis of prayer, that repentance has not become the source, soul, goal of prayer.

Repentance, contrition of the spirit, weeping are signs... of the correctness of the prayerful feat, their absence is a sign of deviation in a false direction, a sign of self-deception, delusion or barrenness.

Prelest or barrenness is an inevitable consequence of incorrect exercise in prayer, and incorrect exercise in prayer is inseparable from self-delusion. The most dangerous wrong form of prayer is when the praying one composes with the power of imagination his dreams or pictures, apparently borrowing them from Holy Scripture, but in essence from his own condition, from his fall, from his sinfulness, from his self-delusion, - with these pictures he flatters his conceit, his vanity, his arrogance, his pride, deceives himself.

The dreamer, from the first step on the path of prayer, proceeds from the realm of truth, enters into the realm of lies, into the realm of Satan, arbitrarily submits to the influence of Satan.
All the Holy Fathers, who have described the feat of mental prayer, forbid not only to make arbitrary dreams, but also to bow with volition and sympathy to dreams and ghosts that may present themselves to us unexpectedly, regardless of our volition.

Just as an incorrect action of the mind leads one into self-deception and delusion, so it exactly introduces into them an incorrect action of the heart. Filled with reckless pride is the desire and striving to see spiritual visions with a mind not cleansed of passions, not renewed and recreated by the right hand of the Holy Spirit; filled with the same pride and recklessness is the desire and aspiration of the heart to enjoy the sensations of the holy, spiritual, Divine, when it is still completely incapable of such pleasures. Just as an impure mind, desiring to see Divine visions and not being able to see them, creates visions for itself from itself, deceives and seduces itself with them, so the heart, intensifying to taste Divine sweetness and other Divine sensations, and not finding them in itself, composes them. out of himself, flatters himself with them, deceives, deceives, destroys himself, entering into the realm of lies, into communion with demons, submitting to their influence, enslaving to their power.

One sensation of all the sensations of the heart, in its state of fall, can be used in an invisible Divine service: sorrow for sins, for sinfulness, for a fall, for one’s own death, which is called weeping, repentance, contrition of the spirit. …Let us take care to be cleansed by repentance! ... The Lord, having mercy on the fallen and lost people, granted everyone repentance as the only means of salvation, because everyone is embraced by fall and death.

... the ascetics of prayer are subjected to disaster, having cast out repentance from their feat, intensifying to arouse love for God in their hearts, intensifying to feel pleasure, delight; they develop their fall, make themselves strangers to God, enter into communion with Satan, become infected with hatred for the Holy Spirit. This kind of charm is terrible; it is equally soul-destroying as the first, but less obvious, it rarely ends in madness and suicide, but decisively corrupts both the mind and the heart. According to the state of mind it produces, the fathers called it opinion.

The one possessed by this delusion thinks of himself, has made up an “opinion” about himself, that he has many virtues and virtues, even that he abounds in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Opinion is made up of false concepts and false sensations: according to this property, it completely belongs to the realm of the father and representative of lies - the devil. The one who prays, striving to reveal the sensations of a new person in his heart, and having no opportunity for this, replaces them with sensations of his own creation, fake ones, to which the action of fallen spirits does not slow down to join. Recognizing incorrect sensations, both his own and those of the demons, as true and blessed, he receives concepts corresponding to the sensations. These sensations, constantly assimilated to the heart and intensified in it, nourish and multiply false concepts; it is natural that self-delusion and demonic delusion - “opinion” - are formed from such an incorrect feat.

... "opinion" consists in appropriating to oneself the merits given by God, and in composing for oneself the merits of non-existent ones.

There is no longer any ability for spiritual progress in those infected with "opinion", they destroyed this ability, bringing to the altar of lies the very beginnings of man's activity and his salvation ...

Anyone who does not have a contrite spirit, recognizing for himself any dignity and merit, anyone who does not unswervingly adhere to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, but argues about any dogma or tradition arbitrarily, at his own discretion, or according to the heterodox teaching, is in this beauty. The degree of delusion is determined by the degree of evasion and persistence in evasion.

... "opinion" - acts without composing seductive pictures; it is content with concocting false sensations and states of grace, from which a false, perverted conception of all spiritual achievement in general is born. He who is in the charm of “opinion” acquires a false view of everything that surrounds him. He is deceived both within himself and without. Reverie… constantly creates pseudo-spiritual states, close friendship with Jesus, inner conversation with Him, mysterious revelations, voices, pleasures, builds on them a false conception of oneself and of Christian achievement, builds in general a false way of thinking and a false mood of the heart, brings it into rapture himself, then into excitement and enthusiasm. These diverse sensations come from the action of refined vanity and voluptuousness… Vanity and voluptuousness are aroused by arrogance, this inseparable companion of “opinion”. Terrible pride, similar to the pride of demons, is the dominant quality of those who have assimilated one or the other charm. Pride leads those seduced by the first kind of delusion into a state of obvious insanity; in those seduced by the second type, it, also producing insanity, which is called corruption of the mind in Scripture, is less noticeable, clothed in the guise of humility, piety, wisdom - it is known by its bitter fruits. Those infected with an “opinion” about their own merits, especially about their holiness, are capable and ready for all intrigues, for all hypocrisy, deceit and deceit, for all atrocities.

Those possessed by "opinion" are for the most part devoted to voluptuousness, despite the fact that they ascribe to themselves the most exalted spiritual states, unparalleled in correct Orthodox asceticism...

All particular types of self-delusion and deception by demons ... come either from the wrong action of the mind, or from the wrong action of the heart.

The rejection of the system in the study of science is the source of misconceptions... such is the consequence of an indiscriminate exercise in prayer. The inevitable, natural consequence of such an exercise is charm.

In the false thought of the mind, the entire structure of delusion already exists, just as the plant that must come from it exists in a seed.

Charm ... as in the monastic language is called self-deception, combined with demonic seduction, is an indispensable consequence of premature removal into deep solitude or a special feat in cell solitude.

A kind of delusion based on arrogance, called “opinion” by the Holy Fathers, lies in the fact that the ascetic accepts false concepts about spiritual objects and about himself, considering them to be true.

“If the expectation of grace is hidden in you, beware: you are in a dangerous position! Such an expectation testifies to the secret honoring of oneself, and honoring testifies to the lurking conceit, in which there is pride. Pride will conveniently follow, charm will conveniently cling to it.

“Love God as he commanded to love Him, and not as self-deluded dreamers think to love Him.

Do not invent delights for yourself, do not set your nerves in motion, do not inflame yourself with a material flame, the flame of your blood. A sacrifice acceptable to God is humility of the heart, contrition of the spirit.

Love for God is based on love for neighbor. When the memory of malice is blotted out in you: then you are close to love. When your heart is overshadowed by holy, grace-filled peace to all mankind: then you are at the very doors of love.

But these doors are opened only by the Holy Spirit. Love for God is a gift of God in a person who has prepared himself to receive this gift with purity of heart, mind and body.

Natural love, fallen love, inflames a person's blood, sets his nerves in motion, excites dreaminess; holy love cools the blood, calms both the soul and the body, draws the inner man to prayerful silence, immerses him in rapture with humility and spiritual sweetness.

Many ascetics, mistaking natural love for Divine, inflamed their blood, inflamed their daydreams. The state of excitement passes very easily into a state of frenzy. Those who were in a fever and frenzy were considered by many to be full of grace and holiness, and they are unfortunate victims of self-delusion.

Fathers of the true Church, ascend with humility to the spiritual height of Divine love through the doing of the commandments of Christ.

Know for sure that love for God is the highest gift of the Holy Spirit, and a person can only prepare himself with purity and humility to receive this great gift, which changes the mind, heart, and body. Labor is in vain, it is fruitless and harmful when we seek to prematurely reveal in ourselves high spiritual gifts: they are given by the merciful God in due time to the constant, patient, humble fulfillers of the gospel commandments.

spiritual flower garden

This article describes in detail the sins that are listed in the abridged confession of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov. This confession is only a short extract from his full confession. It lists 47 sins; although there are certainly many more. The Holy Fathers number eight passions from which all other sins and passions are born, namely: gluttony (30), fornication, love of money (35), anger (7), sadness, despondency (15), vanity (32) and pride (4) . Our confession does not cover serious sins that need to be confessed to a priest. This abbreviated confession is most suitable for a home examination of conscience.

The description of each sin listed in the above-named confession is given according to the following scheme. First, an explanation of this word is given according to the dictionary of Dahl, Ozhegov or the Academy of Sciences. Then follows an extract from the Holy Scriptures, then an extract from a well-known spiritual book, then a short discussion, and at the end there is advice on how to act if we are under the influence of this sin. Most of the extracts are from the works of the Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt, since he lived almost in our time, and his speech and his reasoning are very close and understandable to us.

There are general rules for resisting sin. They can be divided into three parts: before the temptation, during the temptation and after the temptation or after the sinful fall.

Before temptation, we need to prepare for the moment when sinful temptation will attack us. This preparation consists of prayer, confession, repentance, fasting, spiritual reading and a plan of how to act during temptation, etc. Also, during preparation, you need to think carefully and make sure why this particular sin is not worth committing. During fasting, we especially try not to sin.

What do we do when we are tempted? One must pray, move away from sin, or try to do the opposite virtue.

After removing the temptation, you need to pray and thank the Lord God for help in overcoming the temptation. In case of a sinful fall, we must immediately stop sinning and try to correct what we have done, then we need to pray, repent and in no case fall into despondency.

As already mentioned in the Preface, regarding excerpts from books on the old orthography, in these notes, the following rules are: (1) Grammar and spelling are preserved as in the original, that is, according to the old orthography. (2) Since there are not enough letters according to the old orthography in the printed technique, letters according to the new orthography are written instead of them and (3) A solid sign is issued at the end of the word, after the consonant letter.

1. Sin idle talk

Idle talk - Empty, idle words (Ozhegov). Empty, idle, unnecessary conversations.

I tell you that for every idle word,
what people will say
they will give an answer in the day of judgment: (Matthew 12:36 rs).

These words remind us that our life is not eternal and that it will come to an end. For everything we have done and said, we will have to answer.

Therefore, a Christian thanks the Lord God for every day of his life and does everything thoughtfully and purposefully. He values ​​his time and does not waste it on idle, empty and unnecessary deeds and conversations.

Empty speeches or, as they say, transfusion from empty to empty, take away living faith, fear of God and love for God from the heart (Paris, 1984, p. 9).

The life of a Christian has a deep meaning. Its goal is to cleanse a person from sin, bring him closer - in his qualities - to the Lord God and inherit eternal life. To achieve this, you need to live according to the Commandments of the Law of God. Idle time, empty talk and idle talk are not only a waste of precious time, but also give rise to other sins such as condemnation (2), slander (8), slander (24), foul language (40), gossip (40), etc. n. Idle talk can be a bad habit and even a passion.

In order not to sin with idle talk, you first need to create a disposition in yourself in which there is no opportunity to engage in idle talk. You need to do something useful. Nothing breeds idle talk like idleness (33). It must be remembered that silence is much better than verbosity and empty talk.

Then, in order not to sin with idle talk, you need to watch what we say and bridle your tongue.

2. Sin condemnation

To condemn - to blaspheme, to find fault, to denigrate or disapprove, to condemn, to condemn (Dal). Condemn someone.

In the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew it is said:

Judge not lest ye be judged;
for by what judgment do you judge,
thus you will be judged; (Matthew 7:1-2 rs).

Here the Holy Scripture teaches us not to judge others and reminds us that the Lord God will also judge us at the Last Judgment. A Christian does not judge the actions of others. Only the Lord God has the right to do this, only He is wise and sees and knows everything. Due to our limitations, we simply cannot know and understand all the actions of another person and therefore are not able to reasonably judge.

Does this mean that you can not talk about the actions of other people? Does this mean that it is necessary to turn a blind eye to evil, not to talk about it, and thus contribute to the spread of evil? How can this seeming contradiction be resolved? So, how beautifully, how deeply, how wisely this question is resolved by the Holy Father John Chrysostom. He interprets this very well in his conversation, and Archbishop Averky (Taushev) includes this in his textbook: “A Guide to the Study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament”, part 1, p. 120.

Archbishop Averky distinguishes two words: JUDGMENT and CONDEMNATION. The word JUDGE means to reason, disassemble and analyze some act. The word CONDEMNATION means to make a sentence to a person, it can only be oral, but still a sentence. Referring to St. John Chrysostom, he believes that we can and should JUDGE, but it is forbidden for us to JUDGE (JUDGE) and only the Lord God Himself can do this. If we could not reason, that is, judge the actions of people, then we would gradually cease to distinguish good from evil and virtue from sin, and would lose the ability to live according to Christianity.

Here is what exactly is written by Archbishop Averky in his book "A Guide to the Study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament":

Judge not, lest you be judged" - these words of St. Luke puts it this way:
“Judge not, lest you condemn” (Luke 6:37).

Here, therefore, it is forbidden not to JUDGMENT about one’s neighbor, but to JUDGE him, in the sense of gossip, occurring, for the most part, from any self-loving and impure motives, from vanity, pride, slander, slander, malicious censure of other people’s shortcomings, resulting from a feeling of dislike , hostility to neighbor. If any JUDGMENT about the neighbor and his actions were forbidden here, then the Lord could not have said further:
"Do not give the saint a dog: do not mark your pearls before swine"

and could not Christians fulfill their duty to rebuke and admonish sinners, which is prescribed by the Lord Himself further in ch. 18 art. 15-17. An evil feeling, gloating is forbidden, but not in itself an assessment of the actions of one's neighbor, because not noticing evil, we could easily begin to be indifferent to evil and good, we would lose the sense of distinguishing between good and evil. Here is how St. Chrysostom:
“If someone commits adultery, should I not say that adultery is evil, and should I not correct the libertine? Correct, but not as an enemy, not as an enemy, subjecting him to punishment, but as a doctor applying medicine. It is necessary not to blame, not to vilify, but to admonish; not to blame, but to advise; not to attack with pride, but to correct with love (St. John Chrysostom, Conversation 23).

Here Christ forbids, with an unkind feeling, to blame people for their shortcomings, but not noticing their own, perhaps even greater shortcomings, but there is no question of a civil court, as some false teachers want to see, just as there is no question of evaluating a person’s actions in general. These words of the Lord meant the proud, self-important Pharisees who treated other people with unmerciful condemnation, considering themselves alone to be righteous (Jordanville, NY, 1974, p. 120).

On the same subject, the Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt wrote in his diary “My Life in Christ” as follows:

It is necessary to despise the very sins, errors, and not the neighbor who does them at the instigation of the devil, out of weakness, habit; to pity your neighbor, with meekness, with love to admonish him, as one who forgets or as a sick person, as a prisoner, a slave of his sin. And our malice, our contempt for a sinning neighbor only increases his illness, oblivion, his spiritual captivity, and does not reduce it, and it makes us, as it were, insane, sick, captives of our own passions and the devil - their culprit (Paris, 1984, p. 37).

Do not confuse a person - this image of God - with the evil that is in him, because evil is only an accidental misfortune, illness, a demonic dream, but his essence - the image of God - all the same remains in him (Paris, 1984, p. 7) .

So condemnation is a great and vile sin. Condemnation is a sign of pride (3), anger (7), malice (7), envy (6), evil habit, lack of good disposition and love for a person. Judgment can be a bad habit and even a passion.

In order not to sin with condemnation, you first need to create a disposition in yourself in which there is no possibility of condemnation. To do this, you need to study and know your vices and pay attention to them, and not to others. Then you need to develop a good disposition towards your neighbor. If he really has vices, then you need to pray to the Lord God for him and try to help with love, as mentioned above. It is necessary to retire and avoid conversations and people who condemn. We must remember about death and the Last Judgment at which the Lord God will judge us all. It is necessary to do something useful, since very often idleness (33) gives rise to idle talk (1) and condemnation.

Then, in order not to sin with condemnation, you need to watch what we say (40) and generally restrain your tongue. It must be remembered that silence is much better than verbosity and empty talk.

3. The sin of disobedience

Disobedience - Disobedience, disobedience.

The Lord God created this world, our universe, according to the laws. Everything moves, everything is in sync, everything is wise, everything is beautiful. There is natural order everywhere. There must also be order in a person's life; virtue and the absence of sin, that is, life according to the Law of God. A person may not adhere to this order, but then interruptions and all sorts of negative consequences come out in his life. In some cases, it is clear to us that such and such a sin will lead to our destruction, but in other cases, due to our human limitations, this is not clear. Many things become clearer to a person with life experience. It becomes clearer and clearer that if we sin, then sin ultimately destroys us; sin is destructive behavior.

So, the Lord God gave us his covenant, to pray and live according to His law, that is, according to the Law of God. We need to believe, pray at home and in church, live according to the commandments, confess, take communion, fight against our sinful habits and thus gradually re-educate ourselves. But the Lord God also gave us free will; freedom to choose between good and evil.

The whole Law of God is built on the idea of ​​good, and therefore, in order to live according to the Law of God, one must be able to distinguish between good and evil, virtue from sin, a good person from a bad person, a good deed from a bad one. This is the basis of a successful and fruitful life on earth and a guarantee of eternal life.

What is good and what is evil? Good creates, builds and creates: peace, tranquility, love, joy, spiritual and moral beauty, forgiveness, peacefulness, holiness and good relationships between people, in the family, with friends, at school, at work and in society. Thus, when a person ceases to sin, does good and virtue, then in his qualities he begins to approach the Lord God, who is the primary source of all good.

Evil is the opposite of good, it undermines all that is good. It destroys, ruins, destroys, creates anxiety, fear, anger, anger, irritation, spiritual and moral ugliness, bad relationships. Evil removes people from the primary source of good, from the Lord God.

That Christianity has the key to the knowledge of good and evil, without which it is impossible to live successfully, this fact is hidden from people in every possible way. Enemies of Christianity say that it is lifeless, vicious, cloudy and strict. On the contrary, true Christianity is not lifeless, but teaches a pure and fruitful life; Christianity is not evil, but teaches love; Christianity is not gloomy, but teaches joy; Christianity is not strict, but teaches forgiveness.

The consequences of good and evil are obvious. So:

Good creates, evil destroys.
Good loves, evil hates.
Good helps, evil drowns.
Good conquers with good, evil with force.
Good is joyful, evil is frowning.
Good is beautiful, evil is ugly.
Good is peaceful, evil is hostile.
Good is calm, evil is irritated
Good is peaceful, evil bullies
Good forgives, evil is vindictive.
Good is holy, evil is vile.

The sin of disobedience here means not wanting to live a good life, not keeping the holy commandments of the Law of God, not listening to our Father, the Lord God, how we should live and disobeying His Holy Will. Every sin is already disobedience to His Will.

Disobedience also means disobedience to our superiors; unless it requires of us that which is not in accordance with the Law of God.

4. The sin of pride

Proud - Haughty, arrogant, arrogant; inflated, conceited; who puts himself above others (Dal).

The beginning of sin is pride (Sir. 10:15 rs).

Here the Holy Scripture teaches us that the beginning of all sins is pride. From this it follows that the virtue opposite to pride, humility, is the beginning of all virtues.

In the Creation of the saints of our father Ephraim the Syrian, there is chapter 3 called "In the laying down of pride." There the nature of pride and the inherent virtue of humility are beautifully described:

Without humility of mind, every feat, every abstinence, every submission, every non-acquisitiveness, every great learning is in vain. For just as the beginning and end of good is humility, so the beginning and end of evil is arrogance. But this unclean spirit is quirky and varied; why he uses every effort to prevail over everyone, and to everyone, no matter who goes the way, puts a snare on him. A wise man catches with wisdom, strong in strength, rich in wealth, handsome in beauty, eloquent in eloquence, having a good voice in pleasantness of voice, an artist in art, resourceful in resourcefulness. And in a similar way, he does not cease to tempt those who lead the spiritual life, and sets up a snare to him who has renounced the world in renunciation, who is temperate in abstinence, who is silent in silence, who is not acquisitive in non-possessiveness, who is learned in learning, who is reverent in reverence, who is versed in knowledge (however, true knowledge is associated with humility). Thus arrogance tries to sow its tares in all. Why, knowing the cruelty of this passion (for as soon as it takes root somewhere, it makes both a person and all his work worthless), the Lord gave us the means of humility to overcome it, saying:
“When you do all that is commanded to you, say: as if you were servants without keys” (Luke 17, 10) (St. Sergius Lavra, 1907, Part 1, p. 29).

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, in his works, has the following reasoning about pride:

A vile sin is pride, but few people know it, as if it is hidden deep in the heart. The beginning of pride is ignorance of oneself. This ignorance blinds a person, and so a person is proud. Oh, if a person would know himself, would know his poverty, poverty and wretchedness, would never be proud! But even more so, there is a most wretched person who does not see and does not know his poverty and wretchedness. Pride from deeds, like a tree from fruits, is known (Creations like in the Saints of our father Tikhon of Zadonsk, Flesh and Spirit, Book 1-2, p. 246).

Signs of pride
1. Glory, honor and praise in every way to seek.
2. Things are beyond their strength to start.
3. Arbitrarily interfere in any business.
4. Raise yourself without shame.
5. Despise others.
6. Having lost honor, to be indignant, to grumble and complain.
7. Higher to be disobedient.
8. Kind to yourself, and not attributed to God.
9. To be careful in everything. (To try - to try (Dal).
10. Discuss other things.
11. Raise their errors, reduce their praise.
12. In word and deed, some kind of arrogance is shown.
13. Corrections and exhortations not to love, not to accept advice.
14. Do not tolerate being humiliated, and so on. (Creations like in the Holy Father of our Tikhon of Zadonsk, Flesh and Spirit, Book 1-2, p. 34).

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary "My Life in Christ" writes as follows:

Whoever is infected with pride is inclined to show contempt for everything, even for holy and divine objects: pride mentally destroys or defiles every good thought, word, deed, every creation of God. It is the death breath of Satan (Paris, 1984, p. 10).

Keep a close eye on manifestations of pride: it manifests itself imperceptibly, especially in chagrin and irritability towards others due to the most unimportant reasons (Moscow, 1894, Volume 1, p. 25).

Pride in faith manifests itself by the fact that the proud one dares to place himself as a judge of faith and the Church and says: I do not believe this and do not recognize this; I find this superfluous, unnecessary, but this is strange or funny (Moscow, 1894, Volume 2, p. 251).

So the beginning of sin is pride. Pride, like sin, is never alone. It gives rise to a whole string of other sins associated with it. A proud person seeks praise, exalts himself, despises others, does not submit to the highest, does not accept advice, is offended, cannot forgive, remembers evil, does not want to give in, cannot admit a mistake, wants to be better than others, is self-willed, etc. Thus, pride is not only a sin, but also the beginning and source of every other sin and evil. Very often a not stupid, intelligent and educated person turns into a fool because of pride.

The Holy Fathers number eight passions from which all other sins and passions are born, namely: gluttony (30), fornication, love of money (35), anger (7), sadness, despondency (15), vanity (32) and pride (4) .

In order not to sin with pride, you need to know and remember your sins and weaknesses, this will humble us. One who knows little about himself can really be proud. Then we need to remember that everything we have is from the Lord God and without Him we would have nothing. In addition, we must remember that we are on earth temporarily and all our achievements here - knowledge, glory, wealth - have no price with the Lord God.

In order not to sin with pride, you need to avoid parts and try to never be in the first place. You need to talk less, avoid arguments, behave modestly and do nothing for show, try not to be the center of attention and not insist on your own.

5. Sin unmercy

Mercy - Compassion, sympathy, love in business, willingness to do good to everyone (Dal).

In the Holy Scriptures, in the Sermon on the Mount, in the Beatitudes, in the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew it is said:

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall receive mercy (Matthew 5:7 rs).

Be merciful
just as your father is merciful (Luke 6:36 rs).

Here the Holy Scripture teaches us to be merciful and sets us as an example our Father, the Lord God. In general, we should try to draw closer—in our qualities—to the Lord God.

In the book "Creations of the Holy Father of our Tikhon of Zadonsk, Flesh and Spirit", it is written about unmercy as follows:

Grace is the fruit of love, as has been said. What is mercy, and how should it be done? Man consists of two parts: body and soul; therefore, the mercy shown to him is twofold: spiritual and bodily.

1. There is bodily mercy when mercy is given to the body, for example. to feed the hungry, to give to the thirsty, and so on. Mercy of the soul, when mercy is done to the soul, for example. exhort the sinner from sin, and lead to a better life, console the grieving, and so on.

2. There is mercy when we do good to the unworthy, that is, to those who have not deserved it in any way, if only the reward were higher than merit. Eg. whoever worked a day, and his labor cost no more than twenty or thirty kopecks, and if more were given, fifty kopecks, or a ruble, then there would be mercy; otherwise there will be no mercy, but there will be retribution. Likewise, when we do mercy without any of our self-interest.

3. What is done in the most necessary case, the greater mercy there is. Eg. It is a great mercy to dress naked than even in a thin dress. It is a great mercy to be in distress with the needy, rather than simply to help him without his own action.

4. Alms or mercy is judged according to the diligence of the giver: “God loves a willing giver,” says the Apostle (2 Corinthians 9:7).

5. Mercy must not be done for the sake of vanity, otherwise there will be no reward from the Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:1).

6. Mercy should be rendered from one's labors, and not from abduction; otherwise there will be no mercy, for what is not your own is given.

7. Mercy done, as much as possible, should be forgotten, so that vanity is not damaged.

8. Mercy should be shown to everyone, good and evil, friends and enemies, if only the need required.

9. Mercy can be done, looking at the need of the one who requires it: whoever has a great need, give more so that the need of his help (St. Petersburg, Book 1.2, pp. 62,63).

So, one of the most important duties of a Christian is to actually show his benevolence, charity, mercy and love for others; without thinking about personal gain and self-interest. A Christian should always provide bodily and spiritual help to his loved ones.

It is necessary to help (clothe, feed and drink) the needy, sick and infirm. In addition to physical help, you need to provide spiritual help. If our loved one has difficulty, sadness, grief, then we need to help with deed, advice, direct or instruct. If we see that our loved one is mistaken and sinning, then our duty is to help, guide and explain to him that his act is a sin. But all this must be done not with vicious criticism, but as a doctor to advise and instruct and save him from sin with love and kindness. (In this case, the Orthodox Christian teaching is completely inconsistent with the mind your own business approach accepted in our society; that is, do not interfere in other people's affairs).

In order not to sin with mercilessness, it is necessary - at every opportunity - to do the opposite virtue, that is, it is necessary to show mercy.

6. Sin envy

Envy - Annoyed at someone else's luck, happiness; to regret that oneself does not have what the other has (Dal). Feeling of annoyance caused by the well-being, success of another (Ozhegov).

Envy is the most subtle and sophisticated sin that was forbidden in the Old Testament, in the 10th commandment. This commandment is found among the other 10 Commandments in the Holy Scriptures, in the book of Exodus (Exodus 20:2-17):

Do not covet your neighbor's house;
do not covet your neighbor's wife,
neither his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,
neither his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his cattle,
nothing that your neighbor has (Exodus 20:17 rs).

In Holy Scripture, in the New Testament, in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians, there are such words about envy:

Let us not be conceited, provoke one another, envy one another (Galatians 5:26 rs).

In the book "Creations of the Holy Father of our Tikhon of Zadonsk, Flesh and Spirit", it is written about envy as follows:

Envy is sorrow for the good and well-being of one's neighbor. Painful grow! In other sins, there is some kind of sweetness, although imaginary, but the envious one sins, and suffers a lot (St. Petersburg, Book 1.2, p. 15).

Here St. Tikhon of Zadonsk teaches us that when a person sins, he often receives some kind of temporary sweetness from sin (for which he will still have to pay for it later, in one form or another), and an envious person, with his envy, brings evil and pain, only to himself yourself.

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary "My Life in Christ" writes as follows:

Envy in a Christian is madness. In Christ we have all received infinitely great blessings, we have all been deified, we have all become heirs of the inexpressible and eternal blessings of the kingdom of heaven; Yes, and in earthly blessings we are promised contentment under the condition of seeking the truth of God and the kingdom of God ...

Is it not insane after this to envy your neighbor in some way, for example: his honors, his wealth, a luxurious table, magnificent clothes, a beautiful home, etc.?

So, let us acquire mutual love, benevolence and contentment with our condition, friendship, hospitality, poverty, hospitability and the height of virtues: humility, gentleness, meekness, holiness. Let us respect the image of God in each other ... (Moscow, 1894, Volume 1, pp. 234-5).

The sin of envy attacks everyone. One can even envy and be annoyed by the good qualities of a person; just seeing his kindness. In the Prayer Book, in the section “Prayers for the Future Sleep”, there is a prayer-confession of Macarius the Great “Prayer 3, to the Holy Spirit”, where the one who prays before going to bed confesses to the Lord God, remembers his sins, repents and says:

... or seeing someone else's kindness, and that would hurt the heart: ... (Jordanvile, NY, 1968, p. 44).

The sin of envy can lead to other sins such as condemnation (2), unmercy (6), anger (7), slander (8), insolence (13), irritation (14), retribution of evil for evil (16), bitterness ( 17), slander (21), reproach (23), slander (24), lies (25), ambition (29), slander (30), etc. Our feelings of envy are based on our vanity (32) and selfish rivalry . Usually people in their rivalry are afraid that they will not be recognized or they will not be given their due and others will be put above them. In a good loving family, we rejoice in each other's success. We should also rejoice at the success of our friends, acquaintances and colleagues.

It is interesting that when a person sins, he brings evil to his neighbors, and an envious person, with his envy, brings evil and pain only to himself.

In order not to sin with envy, we must remember that all of us on earth are temporary and all our achievements here - beauty, wealth, glory, knowledge - have no price with the Lord God.

7. Sin anger

Anger - Feeling of strong indignation, indignation (Ozhegov).

In the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew it is said:

But I tell you, everyone
angry with his brother in vain,
subject to judgment; (Matthew 5:22 rs).

Here the Holy Scripture teaches us not to be angry and reminds us that we will answer for our anger at the Last Judgment.

Elsewhere in Holy Scripture, in the New Testament, in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians, there are these words:

When angry, do not sin:
the sun shall not set in your anger; (Ephesians 4:26 rs).

Here the holy Apostle Paul also urges us not to be angry, to be careful not to sin during anger and to be reconciled with everyone until sunset; that is, before our sleep.

In the work of our Reverend Father John, Abbot of Mount Sinai, Ladder, there are these words:

If the Holy Spirit is called and is the peace of the soul, and anger is the indignation of the heart; then nothing hinders the coming of the Holy Spirit in us so much as anger (Ladder 8:14, p. 89).

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary "My Life in Christ" writes as follows:

There is no reason for a Christian to have any malice in his heart against anyone; malice, like malice, is the work of the devil; a Christian must have only love in his heart; and since love does not think evil, it should not think any evil regarding others, for example; I should not think of another without a clear reason that he is angry, proud, and so on, or - if, for example, I do him respect, then he will become proud, - if I forgive the offense, he will again hurt me, laugh at me. It is necessary that evil does not nestle in us under any form; and malice is usually too multifaceted (Shanghai, 1984, p. 85).

In the book "Creations of the Holy Father of our Tikhon of Zadonsk, Flesh and Spirit", it is written about malice as follows:

Anger is nothing more than a desire for revenge (St. Petersburg, Book 1.2, p. 14).

Anger is one of the eight basic sins from which all other sins and passions are born. Thus anger breeds a whole string of other sins:

• condemnation (2),
• defiance (3),
• pride (4),
• unmercy (5),
• envy (6),
• slander (8),
• inattention (9),
• neglect (11),
• carelessness (12),
• audacity (13),
• irritability (14),
• retribution of evil for evil (16),
• bitterness (17),
• disobedience (18),
• grumbling (19),
• self-justification (20),
• second words (21),
• willfulness (22),
• rooting (23),
• slander (24),
• lie (25),
• laughter (26),
• temptation (27),
• pride (28),
• ambition (29),
• vanity (32),
• omission of the service of God through laziness and negligence (37),
• absent-mindedness in church and home prayer (38),
• case (39),
• word (40),
• thinking (41),
• vision (42)
• and other feelings of soul and body (47).

All these sins and many others are born of anger. In a burst of anger, a person can be capable of great sins, even crime. Therefore, if we stop anger in ourselves, then at the same time we will stop a lot of other sins.

Non-anger and non-malice (lack of malice) are the most basic good qualities of a Christian that need to be cultivated in oneself. Therefore, we must forgive our offenders and enemies, and also not return evil for evil.

So to be angry, angry with anyone, that is a sin. We need to forgive and reconcile. However, under some circumstances anger may be justified, then it is not a sin. Unjust anger, rancor, or even vengeance, is unacceptable in the Christian character.

Anger and anger, like all other sins, can easily become a passion, that is, a sinful habit. It is very difficult to get rid of passion, but it can be done through prayer and fasting.

At St. Basil the Great says that:

Irritation is a kind of momentary frenzy (Book 2, Conversation 10, p. 160).

It also says somewhere that "anger is temporary insanity" or in Russian "anger is temporary insanity". From a spiritual point of view, anger is worse than just madness, because when evil is infused into an angry person, then the person himself becomes a source of evil. One has only to look at a very angry person to be sure that this is true. He begins to think, speak, reason according to evil, and this will eventually bring evil as well. When a person is calm, he argues logically, consistently and harmoniously. In anger, a person is not logical, invents, accuses and lies. He invents all kinds of accusations and can commit many of the sins that were listed above. An angry person infects everyone around him with evil. But as soon as this anger is met with calmness, silence, and love, then all this evil disappears and seems to dissolve in the air.

An angry person falls down the scale of virtue, further from God and closer to evil. He loses good qualities and acquires evil and bad ones. He begins to remember all sorts of grievances, which, in a normal state, he almost forgot. His personality changes. He seems to have another, his second personality, his bodily counterpart, but spiritually much worse; vicious, dirty, insulting and lying, not loving God and not forgiving. The evil that he does, he does not notice at all, and a slight inattention shown to him is immediately inflated and all sorts of accusations are invented. Evil has entered into him and he becomes the personification of evil itself. And so, after this evil tide leaves a man, he returns again to his normal state and returns to his first personality. Verily, an angry person becomes a slave and a servant of evil itself.

Therefore, one should decide never to give in to anger. To do this, you need to think in detail about the circumstances that lead us to anger and prepare for them. We must decide how to act when these circumstances reappear. Of course, you need to behave according to the Law of God, be calm and not get irritated, and never forget that when we get angry, we temporarily lose our minds and "lose our temper." When the temptation to be angry appears, then you need to behave as it was already decided before.

If we are unable to control ourselves from anger, then it is best to move away from people and environments that encourage anger.

When meeting with an angry person, you need to meet him calmly and with love, calm and stop him, and in no case imitate him. There is no point in talking, arguing or doing business with an angry person, since he has “lost his temper” and is not in his normal state. It is more advisable to wait until he calms down and then deal with him.

8. Sin of slander

Slander - Discrediting someone, or something, a lie (Ozhegov). To slander - to spread slander about someone or something (Ozhegov).

Slander is a great sin, which was forbidden in the Old Testament, in the 9th commandment. This commandment is found in Holy Scripture, among the other 10 Commandments, in the book of Exodus (Exodus 20:2-17):

Don't bear false witness
not your neighbor (Exodus 20:16 rs).

Defamation is when someone deliberately invents a lie in order to harm someone. She is a terrible sin that can bring a lot of evil. It is difficult to fight against slander, and the slanderer can cause much grief and evil. One can be judged for slander, but it is usually very difficult to condemn a slanderer.

Slander comes from pride (4), malice (7), envy (6) or simply from sinful habit.

To get rid of the sin of slander, you must first remember that this is a terrible and terrible sin. Secondly, you need to restrain your tongue. Thirdly, you need to think more about your weaknesses and shortcomings, and not about strangers. Then you need to try to find good qualities in people, and most importantly, you need to pray for them.

9. Sin of neglect

Inattention - 1. Absent-mindedness, lack of attention. 2. Lack of respect for anyone. (Ozhegov)

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary "My Life in Christ" writes as follows:

The life of a Christian should be constant attention to himself, that is, to his heart, because every minute invisible enemies are ready to devour us; every minute evil boils in them against us (Paris, 1984, p. 20).

Pay attention to yourself unceasingly, so that spiritual life and spiritual wisdom do not dry up in you. Think often about everything you read and sing or listen to in church or sometimes at home. Live the life of the saints, prayer, their wisdom, their virtues: meekness, humility of mind, gentleness, mercilessness and rejection of yourself, your peace, contentment and enjoyment for the sake of love for God and neighbor, patience, courage, struggle - their faith, hope, love.
“Let your loins *) be girded and your lamps burning; and you be like people who are waiting for the return of their master from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, immediately open to him ”(Luke 12:35-36 rs) (Moscow, 1894, Volume 2, pp. 234-5 ).
* (Loins - Loins (Ozhegov).

The sin of inattention can affect oneself, people, or the Lord God.

The sin of inattention towards ourselves is when we do not think about our salvation, and do not live according to the Commandments of the Law of God. Here, inattention comes from insufficient faith and from a frivolous attitude to the work of salvation.

The sin of inattention towards people is when we do not adhere to the Commandments of the Law of God, are not attentive to them and sin. Inattention comes from a lack of love for one's neighbor.

The sin of inattention towards the Lord God is when we do not adhere to His Will, His Law. It comes from a lack of faith. In all these cases, inattention undermines the spiritual and moral foundation of a person; that is, the spiritual and moral way of life.

To avoid the sin of inattention, you need to devote more time to spiritual life. It is necessary to achieve confidence that the Christian life is really the most correct in relation to the Lord God, people and oneself.

10. The sin of negligence about your salvation

Negligence - Does not work, does not try.

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary "My Life in Christ" writes as follows:

Always think that without God you are cursed, poor, poor, blind and naked in spirit, that God is everything to you: He is your truth, sanctification, wealth, clothing, your life, your breath - everything (Paris, 1984, p. .112).

The sin of negligence about one's salvation is when a person does not pray and does not try to keep the Commandments of the Law of God. Such a person undermines the whole foundation of his Christian existence and gradually ceases to be a Christian in deed.

A person who does not care about his salvation in general can live more or less righteously if he does not encounter sin and sees examples of holiness and piety everywhere around him. He does not need to make a special effort to live according to the Commandments of the Law of God; it just comes out by itself. But if a person lives in the midst of sin and encounters sin all the time, then he needs to make especially great efforts and work on his salvation. That's why they leave for a monastery, because it's easier to escape there.

Everything that has been said about the fight against the sin of inattention can be applied to the fight against the sin of negligence for one's own salvation.

11. Sin of negligence

The sin of negligence is the same as the sin of neglect (9) and the sin of negligence for one's salvation (10).

12. The sin of carelessness

Careless, about a man - Not caring about anyone; carefree, frivolous, negligent, unzealous, indifferent (Dal).
Careless, about business - Not requiring much care, easily executed; irresponsible, carefree (Dal).

The sin of carelessness is the same as the sin of inattention (9) and the sin of negligence for one's salvation (10).

13. Sin of insolence

Insolence - Insolent, rebellious, rude (according to Dahl).

Daring - Irreverent, insultingly rude (Ozhegov).

The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his book “The Path to God”, compiled according to notes from his diary “My Life in Christ”, writes as follows:

A daring one against his neighbor is also daring against God (St. Petersburg, 1905, p. 85).

Insolence seems like a small sin, but it creates a bad disposition and is the source of many other sins. Other sins arise from insolence: rudeness, condemnation (2), disobedience (3), unmercifulness (5), anger (7), slander (8), inattention (9), neglect of one's salvation (10), negligence (11) , irritability (14), retribution of evil for evil (16), bitterness (17), disobedience (18), self-will (22), reproach (23), slander (24). Thus, when we stop being bold, then we also stop being the source of other sins.

Insolence can be the result of a bad upbringing or a bad habit. Insolence can also show our unkind disposition towards our neighbor, say, inattention (9), lack of love and respect for people, or simply envy (6). Also often, in a tense atmosphere, a more or less calm person becomes impudent. The one who suffers from this disease brings much harm and grief not only to his neighbors, but also to himself. In addition - in most cases - the defiant does not understand how unpleasant his behavior is to others. Very rarely there are brave people who will try to explain to the sinner about his vice. Therefore, you should always carefully monitor people and listen to them in order to trace their reaction to our words.

In order not to sin with insolence, you need to restrain your tongue, watch what we say and treat your neighbors with love. It is necessary to find in each person his good side and love him for it and thus prevent the appearance of insolence. The most important thing is to develop a good disposition towards people. In addition, you need to know in what circumstances we begin to sin and prepare for them; make a plan for how to proceed.

14. The sin of irritability

Get irritated - Come into a state of nervous excitement, anger, annoyance (Ozhegov).

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary "My Life in Christ" writes as follows:

Our self-love and pride are revealed especially in impatience and irritability, when one of us does not tolerate the slightest trouble caused to us by others intentionally or even unintentionally, or obstacles, legally or illegally, intentionally or unintentionally, opposed to us by people or objects around us. Our self-love and pride would like to put everything on its own, surround ourselves with all the honors, the conveniences of temporary life, we would like all people to obey our beckoning silently and quickly, and even - to what pride does not extend! - all nature; ... Whoever is impatient and irritable does not know himself and humanity and is not worthy to be called a Christian! (Moscow, 1894, Volume 1, pp. 75-276; Paris, 1984, pp. 10-11).

Irritability is very close to insolence. She seems like a small sin, but she creates a bad disposition. Other sins arise from irritability:

• audacity (13),
• rudeness, condemnation (2),
• defiance (3),
• unmercy (5),
• anger (7),
• malice, slander (8),
• inattention (9),
• carelessness about your salvation (10),
• neglect (11),
• retribution of evil for evil (16),
• bitterness (17),
• disobedience (18),
• willfulness (22),
• rooting (23),
• slander (24).

Thus, when we cease to be irritated, then we also cease to be the source of other sins.

It often happens that irritability is just a bad habit that can be got rid of by the opposite habit; that is, gradually accustom yourself not to be annoyed. The method of combating irritability is very close to the method of combating impudence. We need to consider under what circumstances we begin to get annoyed and prepare for them; you need to make a plan on how to proceed. Then you need to develop a good disposition towards people. If we get irritated when we are in a hurry, it is better to do things more slowly and remain calm than quickly and get irritated. When irritability attacks, you need to restrain your tongue and watch what we say.

15. Sin of discouragement

Despondency - To be hopelessly sad, to lose heart, to be shy, to despair, to lose all vigor and hope, not to find consolation in anything (Dal). Hopeless sadness, oppressive boredom (Ozhegov).

The Lord God loves us and takes care of us, and this is called the Providence of God. The one who falls into despondency ceases to believe in the Providence of God; that is, in the constant care of the Lord God about us. Therefore, despondency is a sin.

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary "My Life in Christ" writes as follows:

“Do not be discouraged by strong temptations, sorrows or illnesses or stumbling blocks from embarrassment of the enemy: all this is a righteous denunciation and punishment, testing the heart and womb, the Lord, for your purification, awakening and correction, for burning out the thorns of carnal passions, and therefore do not complain, if sometimes it hurts a lot. Look not at the pain, but at the good consequences of this punishment and at the health of the soul. What are you doing to keep your body healthy? Moreover, for the health and salvation of the soul, which has immortal life, everything must be endured” (Moscow, 1894, Volume 1, p. 198).

“Sorrow is a great teacher; sorrows show us our weaknesses, passions, need for repentance; sorrows purify the soul, sober it up as if from drunkenness, bring grace into the soul, soften the heart, inspire aversion to sin, affirm in faith, hope and virtue ”(Moscow, 1894, Volume 1, p. 226).

“There are hours in the life of a Christian of joyless sorrow and illness, in which it seems that the Lord has completely abandoned you and abandoned you, for there is not the slightest feeling of the presence of God in the soul. These are hours of temptation of faith, hope, love, patience of a Christian. Soon “cool times will come for him again from the presence of the Lord”, soon the Lord will rejoice him again, so that he does not fall under temptation” (Paris, 1984, p. 11).

The Lord God daily serves you, man, bringing forth for you the all-illumining and all-warming sun during the day, and the moon and stars at night, growing for you various, tasty and healthy fruits for your nutrition and enjoyment; established for you a saving Church with divine teaching and sacraments. He trains you continually for His kingdom. You yourself must diligently serve your Creator for your well-being and your neighbors and completely obey His all-good, wise and righteous laws (St. Petersburg, 1902, p. 84).

Man has the freedom to choose between good and evil. The Lord God does not want automatic obedience from us, but free and voluntary obedience. As a loving child listens to his father, so we must listen to our Father, the Lord God, and act according to His Holy Will, that is, according to goodness and Christian love.

We often see that a person, through a difficult life path, comes to God's Truth. It would be easy for the Lord God to hasten this way, but He does not. If He had done this, then the person would not have reached by his own will, by his free choice, but would have been simply a weapon of the Lord God. The Lord God helps us, but the choice must be ours.

A person falling into despondency does not believe in the Providence of God and in God. With the Lord God, everything has a purpose: our life, our grief, and our cross. Everything has a purpose and for our spiritual benefit. Due to our short-sightedness, we think only about earthly happiness, but the Lord God thinks about both earthly and heavenly. If we consider the future life, we will see great spiritual significance in our sufferings and experiences, which are always for our benefit.

How to deal with the sin of despondency? First, we need to remember those people who are in much more difficult circumstances than we are, and who do not lose heart. Then we need to remember all the difficulties in which we have been and how the Lord God helped us. It is also necessary to remember that despondency will attack those who are not busy with anything. Therefore, it is best to prayerfully take up some kind of charitable work.

16. The sin of repaying evil for evil

Repay - Give, return (Dal).
Retribution - Reward for something; retribution, retribution (Academy of Sciences).

The Lord's Prayer (Our Father) is a model of Christian prayer and was given to us by the Lord God Himself, Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:9-13). It contains words that oblige us not to repay evil for evil, but to forgive our debtors. If we do not do this, then we cannot read these words with a clear conscience:

And leave us our debts,
as we leave our debtors: (Matthew 6:12).

So, a Christian is called not to give evil for evil, but to fight evil, good. His behavior is based on the Commandments of the Law of God, and not on the behavior of other people. In other words, the behavior of a Christian should not be a mirror image of the behavior of other people. If it's good with him, then he's good too. If he is treated badly, then he is also treated badly. The behavior of a Christian is based on God's Will. In particular, we must remember that a Christian struggles with evil, virtue.

Fighting the sin of repaying evil for evil is one of the most difficult tasks, because, due to our weakness and sinfulness, we always want to respond with the same, that is, evil. But having considered well the consequences of such behavior, it becomes clear that it is much more expedient to return good for evil. Before our eyes, evil is disarmed, and if not immediately, then we reap positive results.

How to put into practice such wise advice, but also so difficult? The most important thing is, of course, preparation. We need to think carefully about what is happening and when we usually react with evil to evil. You need to make a plan for what to do next time. All this requires a lot of patience. If the temptation to respond with evil to evil is very strong, then you can read the Jesus Prayer to yourself, and in extreme cases you can get away from the temptation.

17. The sin of bitterness

Bitterness - A state of irritation and extreme bitterness, reaching cruelty. Extreme tension, perseverance (Ozhegov).

Non-malice is the absence of malice in a person. Kindness should be one of the most basic qualities of a Christian. It is necessary to forgive our offenders and enemies, and also not to return evil for evil.

Bitterness comes from the accumulated anger, which turns into extreme irritation and anger. When the degree of bitterness becomes already extreme, then bitterness turns into cruelty.

Therefore, bitterness is a sign of a serious spiritual illness and the absence of its treatment. This is already an inveterate sin, the lack of sincere prayer, knowledge and life according to the Commandments of the Law of God, confession, communion, etc. Bitterness is the source of many other sins, such as: rudeness, condemnation (2), disobedience (3), unmercifulness (5) , anger (7), anger, slander (8), inattention (9), neglect of one's salvation (10), neglect (11), insolence (13), irritability (14), retribution of evil for evil (16), bitterness (17), disobedience (18), self-will (22), reproach (23), slander (24), cruelty. Bitterness pulls a person down the spiritual scale, from the Lord God, to that dark spiritual area in which sin is more abundant.

In order to cast out the sin of bitterness, a great deal of preparatory work must be done. We need to think over our spiritual disposition and understand that it is completely incompatible with the high rank of a Christian. It is helpful to delve into our spiritual baggage and remember our sins and understand that we are also sinners. Then we must forgive our offenders and enemies. As the crowning achievement of this work, we must experience sincere repentance.

18. The sin of disobedience

Drying - Disobey (Dal).
Disobey - Do not obey any requirement, order (Ozhegov).

The sin of disobedience is the same as disobedience (3).

19. The sin of murmuring

Murmuring - To express displeasure at something (Dal).

And St. Ephraim the Syrian writes about disobedience and grumbling like this:

A murmurer, when they give him an order, contradicts, is unfit for business; in such a person there is not even a good disposition: because om is lazy, and laziness is inseparable from murmuring ... A murmurer always has a pretext ready. If he is ordered to do business, he grumbles; and soon corrupts others. “And what is this for,” he says, and what else? And there is no benefit in this matter .... " He never does a job alone, unless he involves another in the same job. Every deed of a murmurer is not worthy of approval, and is worthless and alien to all virtue. The murmurer is glad of peace, but he does not like restlessness. A grumbler loves to eat and abhors fasting. Murmuring and lazy: he knows how to use his ears, he knows how to weave a speech; he is resourceful and resourceful, and no one will surpass him in verbosity; he always slanders one against the other (St. Sergius Lavra, 1907, p. 15).

The Lord God loves us and takes care of us, and this is called the Providence of God. Providence of God is the constant care of the Lord God about us; He always guides us to good.

A person who is dissatisfied with his fate is dissatisfied with the Providence of God. Due to its limitations, a person cannot see the full picture of his life, as the omniscient Lord God sees it. Therefore, a person often does not understand his situation and complains. However, we must remember that everything that does not happen to us, all this is by God's Will or by His permission and therefore is for our benefit.

The place of grumbling and complaints is to thank the Lord God for everything. Thinking through the most difficult moments of our lives, many years later, we must always admit that indeed, they were to our advantage. This spiritual law was well understood and realized by St. John Chrysostom. Therefore, before his death, his last words were: Glory to God for everything!

So, murmuring and being dissatisfied with one's fate is a sin. A Christian should be content with his lot and be content with little. We need to thank God for everything. The difficulties that the Lord God sends us are for our enlightenment and for our spiritual growth. The fact is that a person has a limited horizon and therefore he does not see far. In addition, a person is interested in earthly life, and the Lord God is both earthly and eternal. For a person, earthly well-being is important, and for the Lord God, the spiritual growth of a person.

How to deal with the sin of murmuring? First, we need to remember those people who are in much more difficult circumstances than we are, and who do not lose heart. Then we need to remember all the difficulties in which we were and how the Lord God helped us. It must also be remembered that murmuring will attack those who are not busy with anything. Therefore, it is best to prayerfully take up some kind of charitable work.

20. The sin of self-justification

Self-justification - Justification of one's own actions (Academy of Sciences).

In the Holy Scriptures, in the Sermon on the Mount, in the 2nd Beatitudes, in the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew it is said:

Blessed are those who cry
for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4 nf).

In this commandment, those who mourn - that is, those who mourn - are those who understand their sinfulness and are truly saddened by their sins. Such regret is a necessary condition for further spiritual growth.

In the Holy Scriptures, in the Old Testament, in the Book of Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, it is said:

“The beginning of sin is pride” (Sir. 10:15 rs).

Here Holy Scripture teaches us that the beginning of all sins is pride (4). From this it follows that the virtue opposite to this sin, humility, is the beginning of all virtues. One of the many sins that results from pride is self-justification.

The sin of self-justification is when a person does not admit his guilt and justifies himself with all sorts of cleverly invented half-truth theories, or blames someone else. Self-justification seems like a small sin, but it can hide a big spiritual illness behind it. A person who justifies himself in everything and all the time, in fact, does not see his sins, and thus he is not able to develop spiritually and correct himself.

The sin of self-justification is associated with contradiction (21), self-will (22), stubbornness and great self-conceit.

In order not to sin with self-justification, one must try to see one's mistakes and boldly admit them. Then the evil we have done needs to be corrected, as well as to apologize or ask for forgiveness, and in the future do not do it again.

21. Sin of contradiction

Contradict - Contradict, argue with words, object, refute, argue, speak opposite, contrary (Dal).

A person who contradicts all the time is difficult, not easy to deal with. He cannot agree with anyone. If they say so, then he contradicts, and if it is the other way around, then he will also say the opposite. He always insists on his own, cannot give in, is stubborn, everything should always be as he wants. Controversy is a vile sin, it creates discontent around itself, confusion, undermines good will, and hinders every undertaking. Usually, contradiction is associated with self-will (22), great self-conceit and obstinacy. Stubbornness makes even an educated person a fool.

In order not to sin with contradiction, you need to try to see your mistakes. To do this, you need to follow the listeners, how they react to our speech and, if necessary, correct it. Then you need to restrain your tongue and try to think about what we are saying.

22. Sin self-will

Self-willed - Acting or committed according to his whim, arbitrariness (Ozhegov).

Self-will here means to act according to one's own whim, not to consider other people, not to submit to the will of God, not to keep His Commandments. Thus, any sin is also a sin of self-will.

A self-willed person is difficult, it is not easy to deal with him. He always insists on his own, cannot give in, is stubborn, everything should always be as he wants. It often happens - when self-will turns into passion - that it is even difficult for such a person to listen to his neighbor. Listening, for real, requires some kind of good disposition and manifestation of some kind of love for one's neighbor. Self-will is a vile sin, it creates discontent around itself, undermines good will. Usually self-will is associated with selfishness and stubbornness.

In order not to sin with self-will, you need to develop a good disposition towards people, be friendly and sincerely relate to other people.

23. Sin reproach

Reproach - Reproach, censure (Ozhegov).

The sin of reproach is the same as the sin of condemnation (2).

24. Sin of slander

slander - slander; evil, diabolical speech (Dal).
Slanderful - Evil, caustic speaking, speaking about someone or something (Ozhegov).

In Holy Scripture, in the New Testament, in the Second Epistle of the Apostle Paul to

The Corinthians have these words:
Neither thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
neither slanderers nor predators
- The kingdom of God will not be inherited (2 Corinthians 6:10).

In the book "The Creations of Our Father Ephraim the Syrian" about slander, it is written as follows:

Everything is in the slanderous, and slander, and hatred, and falsehood; therefore he is recognized as a fratricide, pitiless, unmerciful. And whoever always has the fear of God in himself, and who has a pure heart, does not like to slander others, does not delight in other people's secrets, does not seek consolation for himself in the fall of others (St. Sergius Lavra, 1907, Chapter 20, p. 19 ).

In the book "Christian Philosophy", the Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt writes as follows:

Love covers everything, all the sins of the penitent and various physical and moral shortcomings; but enmity and hatred invents all sorts of imaginary physical or spiritual shortcomings, finds fault with everything, exacts cruelly for everything; but in relation to God and the saints, he imposes thoughts of filth, crafty and blasphemous. Oh, sin that lives in man and acts. How fierce, cursed, angry, captious, restless, deadly you are! (S.Pb., 1902, p.58).

Our beloved saint explains to us that enmity and hatred “invents all sorts of imaginary physical or spiritual shortcomings, finds fault with everything, exacts cruelly for everything.” In other words, it is the beginning of slander.

Slandering is barbs, evil hints, evil bad words, condemnation (2), quarrels. All this becomes a habit and can become a passion. One should try with all his might to avoid this sin, which poisons good relations between friends and people. Very often people suffering from the passion of slander do not know it themselves and no one will tell them this.

Foul language is the use of bad, that is, bad words. Along with slander, in some circles it is customary to use bad swear words and it even becomes a habit and a passion. This is of course a sin, bad words should not be part of Christian speech.

In order not to sin with slander, you must first consider how much evil our evil speech brings: it develops resentment, anger, bad disposition, etc. in other people, and firmly decide to get rid of this vice. Then we need to think about when and how temptation attacks us and we begin to sin with slander. After that, we need to firmly decide how we will behave in such cases. When tempted to bring your intended plan into execution.

In general, you should always think about what we are saying and not talk in vain, and also try to talk less and do more.

We need to watch what we say, and also need to listen to other people, how they react to our speech. Along with slander, you also need to pay attention to the tone of speech. The tone can be friendly, whining, obnoxious, suspicious, or angry.

A bad tone can become a habit, become a passion and be harmful. In general, you need to learn how to speak. Usually people do not get offended by what they are told, but are offended by how they are told.

25. Sin lie

To lie - To lie, speak or write a lie, a lie, contrary to the truth (Dal).

In the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel of the Apostle John, the following is said about lies:

Your father is the devil; ...
for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44 rs).

Life according to God's Law is life according to God's Truth. Then at the root of every virtue and every good there is God's Truth, and at the root of every sin and evil there is a lie.

In the book "The Creations of Our Father Ephraim the Syrian" about lies, it is written as follows:

But ill-fated and pitiful is the one who stagnates in every lie; because the devil "has been lying from the beginning" (John 8:44). He who stagnates in a lie does not have boldness; because it is hateful to both God and people. And who wouldn't weep for a man who spends his life in a lie? Such a person does not deserve approval in any matter and is suspicious in every answer ... The liar is highly inventive and resourceful. There is no ulcer deeper than this, there is no shame higher than this. A liar is vile to everyone and laughable to everyone. Therefore, be attentive to yourselves, brethren; do not stagnate in lies (St. Sergius Lavra, 1907, Chapter 14, p. 13).

Lies and easy deception are so common now that people do not even consider and do not notice that they are lying. All kinds of advertisements lie, salesmen exaggerate, firms lie and exaggerate their resources to get a contract. People promise that they will do or help, and then they say that they “were busy” or that “there was some kind of unforeseen delay”, etc. A Christian knows that lies come from the devil, about whom the Lord God Jesus Christ said that he is a liar and the father of lies.

To get rid of this vice, you need to think over our behavior throughout the day: at home, at school, at work, etc. We need to check when and where, and under what circumstances we are telling lies. We need to be sure that our lying is a sin, and like every sin, not only is it not the fulfillment of the commandments of our Father the Lord God, but it will also ultimately harm us; not only in the next life, but also now.

Lying, like all other sins, can become a passion. Let's say a person constantly exaggerates and exposes himself and his abilities, in brighter colors than in reality. This is no longer just a small sin, but this is already a corruption of the human soul, this is already its illness. A person ceases to see the truth about himself and loses the ability to grow spiritually. In this case, this sinful habit, like every passion, is much more difficult to get rid of. We need prayer, fasting, confession and repentance. During fasting, you need to especially monitor your passion.

26. Sin laughter

Laughter in itself is not a sin, but creates a disposition in which sin easily arises.

In Holy Scripture, in the Old Testament, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, the following is written about laughter:

About laughter I said: stupidity!
and about fun: what does it do? (Ecclesiastes 2:2 rs).

Lamentation *) is better than laughter;
because with the sadness of the face
the heart is made better (Ecclesiastes 7:3 rs).
* (Mourning - sadness).

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of merriment (Ecclesiastes 7:4 rso).

St. John Chrysostom writes (The Works of our Holy Father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople) about laughter as follows:

... laughter and joking words do not seem like a clear sin, but lead to a clear sin; often from laughter bad words are born, from bad words even more bad deeds; often from words and laughter swearing and insult, ... (St. Petersburg, 1896, Volume 2, p. 173).

One must in every possible way refrain from obscene laughter, ... (St. Petersburg, 1897, Volume 3, p. 826).

So, although laughter may at first glance seem bosobic, you need to be careful with laughter. It can easily lead to sin: idle talk (1), barbs, foul language, swearing, insults, blasphemy, etc.

Laughter should not be confused with a "sense of humor". Everyone needs a share of humor. It softens an awkward or even difficult situation, and in every possible way makes life easier for us.

Laughter and joy are not the same thing, but very close feelings. Christianity calls us to "joy in Christ", to love everyone and everything: God, people, animals, plants, and all nature. An example of such joy and love was the holy Reverend Seraphim of Sarov, who greeted everyone with joy, a smile and with the words “Christ is Risen!”

So let's watch our behavior and be careful with jokes, laughter, hints and remember what they can lead to.

To get rid of sinful laughter, we need to think over our behavior throughout the day: at home, at school, at work, etc.

It is necessary to check when and where, and under what circumstances we sin with laughter. If indeed our laughter leads us to sin, then this must be stopped.

27. Sin temptation

Seduce - To incline to something evil, to confuse, involve, lure, seduce, introduce someone into temptation (according to Dahl).

In Holy Scripture, in the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, the following is said about temptation:

Woe to the world from temptations,
for temptations must come;
but woe to that man
through which temptation comes (Matthew 18:7 rs).

And in the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel of the Apostle Mark, the following is said about temptation:

And whoever seduces one of these little ones,
believers in me, it would be better for him,
if they hung a millstone around his neck
and threw him into the sea (Mark 9:42 rs).

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, in his works, has the following reasoning about temptations:

Discussing temptations woe to the world from temptations, according to the word of Christ, but more woe to him by whom the temptation comes. Those who give temptation sin themselves twice: they themselves sin and lead others to sin, they themselves perish and lead others to perdition.

Temptation is best served
1. Shepherds and leaders.
2. Parents to their children; what children see in their parents, they themselves learn.
3. Old to young, for the above reason. But other ordinary people also tempt each other, and accept temptation from each other.

Temptations are different
1. In a word, when someone speaks rotten, harmful, to the corruption of faith or morals.
2. By deed, when bad deeds lead others to a bad life.

(Creations like in the Holy Father of our Tikhon of Zadonsk, Flesh and Spirit, Book 1-2, p. 26).

So, the sin of temptation is a great sin, since not only a person sins, but also leads his neighbor to sin. This sin can be committed when a person deliberately teaches someone to sin.

The sin of temptation can be committed when a person sins and sets a bad example. Thus, if a person sins, and others see or know it, then in addition to his sin, he also sins by setting a bad example and thereby tempting others. This applies especially to parents, to elders, and in general to persons who occupy some kind of responsible position in society.

In society, they are often seduced by indecent conversations, cigarettes, food and alcohol.

In our time, the sin of seduction is terribly common. Advertisements, movies, television, radio, music, newspapers, magazines, etc., all draw a person away from God. They all promote pagan values: materialism, beauty, strength, fame, fornication, etc. Fashion is often full of temptation. Everything that is physically annoying and hints at physical illicit love is emphasized and done.

Young people, not understanding what they are doing, seduce each other. Often young men seduce and corrupt girls, and other so-called girls seduce young people. No one says that all this is a sin, and sin is the same destructive behavior (destructive behavior).

It happens that someone who is using someone will seduce and "catch" for marriage. After that, the whole marriage is based on this terrible sin.

Sin by temptation seems small, but it is almost always the beginning of many sins. In fact, temptation is a vile and contrary thing to God.

In order not to sin by temptation, we need to think carefully about our behavior - and the consequences of such behavior - throughout the whole day and firmly decide, by our behavior, never to tempt anyone to sin.

28. Sin of selfishness

Self-love - Self-passion, predilection for oneself, vanity and vanity in everything that concerns one's personality; ticklishness and resentment, desire for primacy, honor, distinction, advantages over others (Dal).
Ambitious - Ambitious, who loves honor and flattery, wants to be the first everywhere, and demands recognition of his merits, puts himself above others (Dal).

In Holy Scripture, in the New Testament, in the Second Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, there are these words:

For people will be self-loving, money-loving, proud,
haughty, blasphemous, disobedient to parents,
ungrateful, unholy, unfriendly,
unacceptable, slanderers, intemperate,
cruel, not loving goodness, traitors,
impudent, pompous, more voluptuous,
than godly,
having a form of piety,
her powers are denied.
such are removed (2 Timothy 3:2-5 rso).

So, in the enumeration of sins, the Apostle Paul in the first place, not by chance, puts the sin of self-love. This sin is the stinking source of many other sins.

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, in his works, has this reasoning about self-love:

Discussion about self-love. Self-love here, of course, is immense love for oneself. Through self-love man opposes all the law of God; the whole law and the Prophets are in these two commandments, according to the word of Christ: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” and the rest, “and thy neighbor as unto thyself.”

Fruits of selfishness. The first is every sin and iniquity; and the greater the self-love, the greater and the most numerous sins are guilty. The second - in the next century, eternal sorrow and torment: (Creations like in the Saints of our father Tikhon of Zadonsk, Flesh and Spirit, Book 1-2, p. 0).

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary "My Life in Christ" writes as follows:

The purer the heart, the more spacious it is, the more it can accommodate loved ones; the more sinful it is, the more cramped it is, the less capable it is of containing within itself those it loves—to the point that it is limited to love only for itself, and then false: we love ourselves in objects unworthy of an immortal soul: in silver and gold, in fornication *), in drunkenness and the like (Shanghai, 1948, p. 9).
(* Fornication - Fornication).

So a proud person wants to be in the first place everywhere, wants honor (28), honor, distinction, primacy and all other advantages over other people, is partial to himself, vain (32), touchy, loves flattery, demands recognition of his merits.

In order not to sin with self-love, one should try to do the opposite virtues. It is necessary to do everything on the contrary, what the glorious one desires. You have to try to be humble, don't expose yourself, avoid parts, and try to never come first. All this is very difficult in our time, since pride and pride are encouraged in every possible way in people.

29. Sin of ambition

Ambition - Thirst for fame, honors, desire for an honorable position (Ozhegov). Loving honor.

Ambition is when a person loves to be given credit, to be praised, to be put in the first place, to be saluted. All this, of course, is a sin. One of the basic qualities of a Christian is modesty, which is the opposite of ambition.

Ambition is a consequence of the sin of pride (4) and self-love (28). Ambition is very close to love of glory. To better understand the nature of ambition, one should read about self-love (28).

In order not to sin with ambition, as in love of glory (28), one must try to do the opposite virtues. It is necessary to do everything on the contrary, what the ambitious one desires. You have to try to be humble, don't expose yourself, avoid parts, and try to never come first. All this is very difficult in our time, since pride and pride are encouraged in every possible way in people.

30. Sin of gluttony

Glutton - Living for food (Dal).

In Holy Scripture, in the New Testament, in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, there are these words:

Therefore, those who live according to the flesh
They cannot please God (Romans 8:8 rs).

This means that those who live for their body, that is, the most important thing in their life is the satisfaction of their bodily needs, do not please the Lord God.

Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt writes in his diary “My Life in Christ”:

Satiation takes away the faith and fear of God from the heart: one who is satiated does not feel the presence of God in his heart; far from him is heartfelt warm prayer (Paris, 1984, p. 16).

Gluttony is idolatry and pleasing to our womb; that is, our stomach or belly. It is the love of eating well, gluttony, seeking out good food. All this, when it crosses the border of normal needs, becomes a passion. The sin of gluttony, constant concern for one's stomach and oneself, naturally leads to another sin, the sin of selfishness (28).

In another book, The Path to God, which is also compiled from extracts from his diary, St. John writes:

Our heart is in the vicinity of the stomach and is in great subordination to it, and therefore it is necessary to keep the stomach in moderation and subordinate it to the mind and heart so that they are not burdened and clouded by it. It is necessary to disturb the stomach and heart with bows and the sign of the cross in order to drive out of them the proud serpent, which easily crawls into a satiated womb. Prayer and fasting are always necessary for a Christian (St. Petersburg, 1905, p. 288).

Satiated and satiated incessantly, does not the womb make our heart carnal, earthly, proud, impudent and contemptuous (disdaining self-satisfiedly all (Far) regarding God and people and everything holy, worthy, heavenly and earthly, eternal? says the wise one. The stomach must be very limited, it plays a very important role in the work of our salvation. Note that the Lord Himself began His great ministry to the human race - with a forty-day fast.

Remember His words:
“This kind (demonic) can come out of nothing,
only by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9, 29 tss) (St. Petersburg, 1905, p. 287).

Here our beloved saint explains to us the existing connection between satiety and pride. This connection, at first glance, does not seem to exist, but with a deeper analysis, it becomes clear that a jaded person is really easily infected with pride (4) and insolence (13). Therefore, a satiated person is often self-satisfied, with great conceit, and with contempt treats people, and God, and in general everything holy.

So gluttony is not only idolatry and pleasing to our womb, but it also promotes self-love (28), pride (4) and insolence (13). The sin of gluttony itself is very close to the sin of excess in food and drink (31).

The greatest weapon against the sin of gluttony is fasting. During the year we have a little more than half of fasting days. This is if you count all the fasting days; including Wednesdays and Fridays. We need to start small and gradually, as we gain experience, rise to more. Then, gradually, you need to pay attention to the measure of food and how many times a day. Of course, bodily fasting is only a strengthening of spiritual fasting.

Fasting is not only a way against the sin of excess in food and drink, but also a means of combating other sins and passions, a school of self-discipline and a school of self-knowledge.

Fasting has been preserved only among Orthodox Christians since ancient times. A fasting person can feel great satisfaction that he is fasting in the same way that Christians have been fasting for two thousand years.

31. Sin excess in food and eating

In Holy Scripture, in the Gospel of the Apostle Luke, there are such words about gluttony:

Look after yourself
lest your hearts be weighed down
gluttony and drunkenness and worldly cares,
and lest that day come upon you suddenly (Luke 21:34 rs).

With satiety and drunkenness, an incorporeal enemy enters the heart of a person—every attentive person can feel this…—these unfortunate enemies have an enemy in their hearts. How to exorcise the demon of drunkenness? Prayer and fasting (Moscow, 1894, Volume 1, p. 176).

In another book, The Path to God, the holy righteous Father John of Kronstadt writes:

Why did the antediluvian people and the inhabitants of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah become extremely corrupt and savage, forgot God? From excess in food and drink. Why do today's people become corrupted, morally run wild and fall away from God and the Church? From excess in food and drink, from celiac and celiac rabies. “Do not get drunk with wine, there is fornication in it (Ephesians 5:18 ts) (St. Petersburg, 1905, p. 38).

Any excess in food and drink is accompanied by a relaxation of the soul and a moral decline in its strength, cooling off towards God, towards prayer, towards every good deed, a decline in love for one’s neighbor, deprivation of meekness, humility, sympathy for people, a cruel heart, a rude attitude towards the poor, a tendency to to sleep, to fornication, etc. A lot of work of prayer, sighs, tears are needed to restore good relations with God and neighbors and make the soul again tender, sensitive to God and neighbor. Thus the soul falls from intemperance. Oh, how necessary is abstinence at all times for a Christian! How harmful is intemperance!.. (St. Petersburg, 1905, p. 38).

Drinking wine immoderately and at the wrong time makes the soul powerless in the struggle against inner temptations; the soul is easily subject to indignation, demonic fear - where there is no fear; ashamed where there is no shame (St. Petersburg, 1905, p. 68).

The sin of excess in food and drink is very close to the sin of gluttony (30). Gluttony is always a passion and a more refined zeal for food and food. The sin of excess in food and drink may be a passion, but not necessarily, but can easily turn into a passion.

Excess in food and drink undermines the health of a person and his entire spiritual and moral foundation. Excess in drinking leads to a passion for alcohol, which undermines not only the person himself, but also his entire family and the entire family structure.

The greatest weapon against the sin of excess in food and drink is fasting. For a further description of the struggle against this sin, see the description of the struggle against the sin of gluttony (30).

32. Sin of vanity

Vain - Who greedily seeks worldly or vain glory, strives for honor, for praise, demands recognition of his imaginary merits, does good not for the sake of good, but for the sake of praise, honor and external signs of honor (Dal).

In Holy Scripture, in the New Testament, in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians, there are such words about vanity:

Let's not be conceited
annoy each other
envy one another (Galatians 5:26 rs).

Also, in the Holy Scriptures, in the New Testament, in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians, there are these words:

Do nothing
out of curiosity *) or out of vanity,
but in humility
honor one another as superior to yourself (Philippians 2:3 pc).
(* Curiosity - A tendency to controversial conversations, to word disputes (Dal).

The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary “My Life in Christ” writes the following words about excess in food and drink:

Flatterers are our great enemies: they blind our eyes, do not allow us to see their great shortcomings, and therefore block our path to perfection, especially if we are proud and short-sighted. Therefore, we must always stop flatterers who tell us flattering speeches, or avoid them. Woe to him who is surrounded by flatterers; good, - who is surrounded by simpletons who do not hide the truth, albeit unpleasant, for example, denouncing our weaknesses, errors, passions, mistakes (Moscow, 1894, Volume 1, p. 326).

So the vain one wants fame, honor, flattery, praise, compliments, attention, to be the center of everything.

The sin of vanity is closely related to the sin of pride (4), self-love (28) and ambition (29).

For an idea of ​​the struggle against the sin of vanity, see the description of the struggle against the sin of pride (4), self-love (28), and ambition (29).

33. Sin sloth

To work hard and not be lazy is the main duty of every Christian. Even in the Old Testament, in His example of the creation of the world, then in the 4th and 8th Commandments of the Law of God, as well as in many other places of Holy Scripture, the Lord God gave us the commandment to work and not be lazy.

The Lord God Himself created the earth in six days, and by this act He gave us an example that we need to work. This is described in Holy Scripture, in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis (Genesis 1:1-2:4).

The 4th commandment is among the other 10 Commandments of the Law of God, in the Holy Scriptures, in the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus (Exodus 20:2-17). She says this:

Remember the Sabbath day, hedge it:
six days you shall do, and in them you shall do all your works,
on the seventh day, the Sabbath, to the Lord thy God (Exodus 20:4 TS).

Thus, the 4th commandment also teaches us to work for six days, and to devote the seventh day to the Lord God.

Thou shalt not steal (Exodus 20:4 nf).

This commandment not only forbids theft, but also any appropriation, in any way, of what belongs to others. Therefore, not only theft, but laziness and not fulfilling one's position at work or at school, is also a sin. Since a person receives a payment, but does not perform his work diligently.

In the Holy Scriptures, in the New Testament, in the Second Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, there are such words about labor:

If you don't want to work, don't eat (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

Here the holy Apostle Paul teaches Christians about work and even emphasizes that those who do not want to work should not eat. (By the way, these words of the apostle, the communists pass off as their work).

The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary “My Life in Christ” writes about labor as follows:

The one who performs obedience without complaint is a great fruit for the soul: what we see, as from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who for obedience is exalted according to humanity, above all principality and power and dominion, ... In addition, the one who performs obedience has a rich fruit for the body: for what are the lazy lose, the industrious and diligent, bearing obedience gain. Therefore, obedience is fruitful for the soul and for the body, and if not fruitful for the body, then certainly for the soul. So everyone be obedient for good, but not for evil (Moscow, 1894, Volume 2, p. 27).

Labor strengthens the will of man and ennobles him. Work must be treated honestly and conscientiously. Christianity does not divide work into "black" and "white". It only requires that the work be honest and profitable.

But on the other hand, we are also told to develop God-given talents and abilities, to improve ourselves, not to be lazy, to study the world - the creation of the Lord God and acquire prudence.

The sin of laziness is the source of many other sins: idle talk (1), condemnation (2), disobedience (3), envy (6), slander (8), inattention (9), neglect of one's salvation (10), neglect (11) , carelessness (12), despondency (15), disobedience (18), murmuring (19), self-justification (20), contradiction (21), self-will (22), reproaches (23), slander (24), lies (25) , laughter (26), temptation (27), gluttony (30), excesses in food and drink (31), vanity (32), acceptance of unclean thoughts (34), unclean outlook (36), omitting the service of God through laziness and neglect (37), absent-mindedness in church and home prayer (38).

To fight the sin of laziness, you need to remember all those people who live in difficult circumstances, who are overwhelmed with various responsibilities, who are sick, or who are somehow unhappy in some other way. After that, you need to pray to the Father our God and take up some kind of charitable deed; benefit people and the Lord God.

34. Sin accepting impure thoughts

Impure - Prodigal.

The sin of accepting impure thoughts is the same as sinning in thought (41), only that this is not just a sin, but the sin of accepting impure thoughts; that is, the sin of accepting fornication thoughts.

You need to know that the "addition" is not a sin, since the thought came to us without the participation of our will. But "combining", "combining", etc., are sins, since we are already thinking with the participation of our will. (See below the thought (41), about the reasoning about the degrees of sinfulness).

The sin of accepting impure thoughts is associated with the sin of impure view (36), sight (42), hearing (43), smell (44), taste (45) and touch (46).

The sin of accepting impure thoughts is greatly facilitated by the world around us and our past sins. From all sides - if not the media, then people and even our colleagues, acquaintances or relatives - we are constantly told and hinted at. We are tempted all the time by double entenders, allusions and anecdotes, or provocative and teasing fashions. Our life and our past sins gradually create in us a habit and memories that can also tempt us later and give us no peace. All this can influence a person and he will begin to sin by thinking.

To avoid the sin of accepting impure thoughts, one must refrain from looking and listening to everything that can tempt: pictures, conversations, people. We need to drive away sinful thoughts from ourselves and do something that will make us think about something else.

35. Sin of many ages

Acquisition is the accumulation of material wealth; this is materialism.
Multi-acquisition is already an acquisition that has turned into a passion. Christianity calls for the accumulation of not material, but heavenly treasures; to virtue and the cleansing of the soul from sin.

In the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, the following is said:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust exterminate
and where thieves break in and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-20).

It says here that all earthly, material treasures have no value. Firstly, they can easily be lost, and secondly, they have no value with the Lord God; and this is the most important thing. It is necessary to collect spiritual treasures. We must not sin and correct our sinful habits and thus deserve to live eternally.

The sin of acquisitiveness is greatly facilitated by the present world. From all sides, the media, we are constantly being told to buy either this or something else. Because of this, it is very difficult to resist this sin.

To fight the sin of acquisitiveness, you need to remember those people who live in difficult circumstances, in poverty and in need. We must remember that in the end death will also come for us, and then the Lord God will not ask us about our earthly riches, but about spiritual ones. He will ask us what kind of person we were and how we lived? Therefore, you need to firmly resolve to acquire only what you really need, be content with little and lead a modest lifestyle. Then you need to try in every possible way to help those in need and, in general, pay more attention to spiritual life.

36. Sin is an impure view

View, look - look, look, gaze (Dal).
The impure is the wicked.

The sin of an impure view is the same as sinning with the eye (42), only that it is not just a sin of the view, but a sin of the impure view; that is, delusional thinking.

The sin of an impure view is closely related to the sin of receiving impure thoughts (34). From prodigal pictures a person easily passes to prodigal thoughts.

An impure look is when a person looks at his neighbor impurely; especially on the near opposite sex. He notices his body, wonders what is under his clothes, thinks, dreams, enjoys.

A Christian must be pure, his thoughts, heart, eyes. This thought, like no other, is beautifully conveyed by our beloved Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his book “The Way to God”:

A true Christian should have everything else in spirit, in body and in life: other thoughts - spiritual, holy; other desires - heavenly, spiritual; another will - right, holy, meek, good; other imagination - pure, holy; a different memory, a different look - pure, simple, holy, cunning; another word is chaste, pure, sedate, meek; in a word, a Christian must be a different person, heavenly, new, holy, divinely living, thinking, feeling, speaking and acting by the Spirit of God. Such were the saints. Read their lives, listen, learn, imitate (St. Petersburg, 1905, New York, 1971, p. 8).

The sin of an impure view is greatly facilitated by the world around us and our past sins. From all sides - if not the media, then people and even our colleagues, acquaintances or relatives - we are constantly told and hinted at. We are tempted all the time by double entenders, allusions and anecdotes, or provocative and tantalizing fashion. Our life and our past sins gradually create in us a habit and memories that can also tempt us later and give us no peace. All this can affect a person and he will begin to look not cleanly and sin with an impure view.

To avoid the sin of an impure view, one must refrain from looking and listening to everything that can tempt: pictures, conversations, people. We need to drive away sinful thoughts from ourselves and do something that will make us think about something else.

37. Sin is the omission of the service of God through laziness and negligence

The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary “My Life in Christ” (Paris, 1984) writes the following about the service:

With what maternal, or rather, divine love, the Church daily, as it were, carries in her arms, offering unceasing prayers to the Lord for all of us, in the evening, at midnight, in the morning and around the middle of the day: teaches us, cleanses, sanctifies, heals and strengthens sacraments and in all ways, guides us in the gentlest and gentlest way to salvation and eternal life (p. 89).

The Church, through the temple and divine services, affects the whole person, educates him entirely: it affects his sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, imagination, feelings, mind and will with the splendor of icons and the whole temple, ringing, singing, incense, kissing Gospel, cross and holy horses, prosphora, singing and mellifluous reading of scriptures (p. 90).

What will happen to that person who, having fallen from a ship into the water and seeing a rope or a boat thrown to him to save him, not only does not grab the rope or boat, but also pushes them away? He will die in the abyss. Such are the Christians, to whom, for salvation from eternal perdition, a rope, as it were, was given from heaven - St. Scripture, all the sacraments with the greatest mystery of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The saving boat is the Church of Christ. Whoever rejects Her will undoubtedly perish, and indeed, for his pride, for his madness, foolishness, vile predilection and for his whim (p. 91).

They say: - there is no desire, so do not pray; - crafty wisdom, carnal; if you don’t just start praying, you will completely lag behind prayer; the flesh wants it. “The kingdom of heaven is in need” (Matthew 11:12 nf); without self-compulsion to do good you will not be saved (p. 75).

Sincere prayer is not easy. It requires attention and composure. The sin of omitting the service of God through laziness and negligence is closely connected with the sin of absent-mindedness in church and home prayer (38).

In order not to sin by omitting the service of God through laziness and negligence, we must remember that prayer is a conversation with our loving Father, the Lord God. Therefore, it must be sincere. Prayer must be performed freely and with joy, but on the other hand, sometimes you need to force yourself a little.

You need to be well prepared for prayer. First of all, all our prayers and services should be well studied and known. When we understand them, then we will penetrate more deeply and delve into prayer and we will have less reason to be careless.

In order to better participate in church services, it is good - before each service - to read in advance from the Apostle and from the Gospel those passages that will be read in the church.

Then, of course, you need to come to the beginning of the service.

Among other things, it would be very good for the soul, and for a more conscious participation in worship and for supporting church life, if we somehow got involved in parish life and began to help in the church and in the parish.

38. Sin absent-mindedness in church and home prayer

The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his diary “My Life in Christ” (Paris, 1984) writes the following about distraction:

There is the sin of distraction, to which we are all strongly subject; do not forget it, but repent of it; we indulge in absent-mindedness not only at home but also in church. The culprit of absent-mindedness is the devil and our many different addictions to worldly, earthly things; its causes are lack of faith; the remedy for it is fervent prayer (p. 9).

The enemy, knowing the Goodness of God and the power of prayer, tries in every possible way to turn us away from prayer, or during prayer to disperse our mind, to stumble us with various passions and predilections of life or haste, embarrassment, etc. (p. 13).

Great is our negligence and laziness in prayer: we are always inclined to pray and often pray somehow, just to finish our work as soon as possible; That's why our prayer is like the wind: it will make a noise, it will blow, and that's it (p. 82).

Whoever hastily, without heartfelt understanding and sympathy, reads prayers, overcome by his lazy and sleepy flesh, he serves not God, but his flesh, his self-love, and curses the Lord with his inattention, the indifference of his heart in prayer:
"For God is Spirit:
And those who worship God
We must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24 nf). - not hypocritical. No matter how lazy and relaxed your flesh is, no matter how it makes you sleepy, overcome yourself, do not spare yourself for God, deny yourself, let your gift to the Lord be perfect, give God your heart (Shanghai, 1948). , p. 138).

When we talk with people of high rank and in high position, we are always attentive to them and to the conversation. Moreover, when we speak with our Father and the Creator of the world, we need to be sincere, attentive and think about every word of prayer. The negligent in prayer, as it was said above, really "swears to the Lord by his inattention, by the indifference of his heart in prayer." To avoid carelessness and inattention to prayer, we need to avoid prayer when we are tired or when we are in a hurry somewhere.

On the other hand, all prayer books warn us that sincere and deep prayer is not easy and that the enemy will try in every possible way to interfere with us. It requires our concentration and our full attention.

The sin of absent-mindedness in church and home prayer is closely connected with the sin of omitting the service of God through laziness and negligence (37). A person who casually prays at home and in church always also finds a reason why he cannot be in church.

In order not to sin with distraction in church and home prayer, we must remember that prayer is a conversation with our loving Father, the Lord God. Therefore, it must be sincere. Prayer must be performed freely and with joy, but on the other hand, sometimes you need to force yourself a little.

You need to be well prepared for prayer. First of all, all our prayers and services must be well studied. When we understand everything, then we will be able to penetrate more deeply and delve into prayer.

Then you need to have certain prayer rules, morning and evening.

We must always pray in the same place. At home in the same corner with icons (in the red corner, that is, in a beautiful corner), but in the church in his favorite place.

Then you should never pray hastily. It must be remembered that no one needs hasty prayer; neither to us, nor to people, nor to the Lord God. If someone hears a hasty prayer, then it has a depressing effect on him. Hasty, careless, and hurried prayer leads others into temptation and temptation (27) and sets a bad example. Also, you can not become a slave to the rule. If there is no time, then it is better to pray with feeling and less than without feeling and a lot.

You should try never to pray when you are tired. For example, do not perform the evening prayer rule just before going to bed, but a little before bedtime. Thus, the person is not yet sleepy and can concentrate on prayer. If a prayer rule is performed immediately before going to bed, then it can easily become sloppy. Before going to bed, you can cross yourself and say only one short prayer:

In Your hands, Lord Jesus Christ, my God,
I betray my spirit.
Bless me, have mercy on me
and give me eternal life.
Amen.

39. Sin matter

A person can sin by deed, word or thought. This confession, intended for home and church use, does not list the big and obvious sins that are in the 10 Commandments of the Law of God. Therefore, in this paragraph, one can place the sins guided by the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes. (See Section 4 - Definition of sins according to the Ten Commandments).

40. Sin word

Word, the great gift of the Lord God to man. It can be a source of good, but it can also be a source of evil. The word is a reflection of the soul of a person, but it can also be just a habit. Much is written about the word in Holy Scripture.

For example, in the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, the following is said about the good and evil words:

…for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
a good man from a good treasure
brings out good;
but an evil man from an evil treasure
endures evil; (Matthew 12:35 rs).

Our word, our language can become the source of many and various sins. All of them bring resentment, insult, contention, quarrel and other evil to our neighbors. This category of sins includes: idle talk (1), condemnation (2), slander (8), insolence (13), murmuring (19), self-justification (20), backbiting (21), reproach (23), slander (24) , lies (25), as well as foul language, gossip, and hypocrisy.

Foul language is the use of bad, that is, bad words. Along with slander (24), some people use bad swear words and this can become a habit and a passion. Bad words, of course, should not be part of a Christian's vocabulary.

Gossip (gossip) is when someone, accidentally or on purpose, adds something invented to what they hear. It turns out not true or half-truth; gossip comes out. Gossip appears as a result of empty talk (1), lies (25), ill will or malice towards one's loved ones.

Hypocrites are those people who try to seem kinder, better, smarter, more beautiful than they really are. These people play, pretend - it means that they put a lie at the basis of their whole being. Hypocrites are also those who say and pretend that they are believers, but in fact they are not believers.

In order not to sin with a word, you need to watch what we say and you need to curb your tongue. It must be remembered that the tongue is the source of many sins, for example: idle talk (1), condemnation (2), slander (8), insolence (13), self-justification (20), backbiting (21), reproaches (23), slander (24) , lies (25), laughter (26) and temptation (27). It must be remembered that silence is much better than verbosity and empty talk.

A person who talks all the time is busy with what he wants to say and therefore follows and listens to others less. Silent and listening can focus on others. He has more opportunity to observe, listen, focus, deepen, understand and weigh. Thus the silent and the listener is in most cases deeper than the speaker, who is usually more superficial.

41. Sin of thought

Thought - Thought, reflection (Ozhegov).

You can sin by deed, word or thought. Any deed, as well as a sinful deed, is always preceded by a thought. Therefore, in order to stop a sinful deed or word, it is necessary to stop it at its very beginning, that is, when it is still only a thought. A sinful thought, a sinful reflection and a sinful daydreaming is also already a sin.

It must be said that “attachment”, that is, when, without desire and against the will of a person, sinful thoughts or ideas (pictures) appear in him, is not a sin. If he drives away this "attachment", then he has not yet committed a sin. Only when a person voluntarily thinks about sin, only then does he commit sin.

Here it is appropriate to give the basics of the doctrine of the stages of sinfulness:

The fall of man occurs gradually. It is very important to know that a person does not immediately fall into a great sin, but gradually. From the first small and seemingly harmless sin, it can fall further and further until the sin becomes a habit. This gradualness applies to all sins, small and large: let's say laziness, lying, cheating, theft or alcoholism and drug addiction. The Holy Fathers, ascetics of Christian asceticism and piety, distinguish five stages (degrees) of sin: attachment, combination, addition, captivity and passion.

Christianity calls us not only to live according to the Commandments of the Law of God, but also to engage in spiritual self-education. Fight our sinful habits and cultivate positive qualities in ourselves. This spiritual growth is achieved gradually.

Addiction is when, without desire and against the will of a person, sinful thoughts or even ideas appear in him. If we immediately drive away this sinful thought, then we have not yet committed a sin. In this degree, sin is the easiest to overcome. When an adjunction appears, it must be resolutely rejected.

The combination is voluntary meditation on sin. A person does not commit a sin, but only thinks about sin, this is already a sin.

Addition is already the desire of sin. Man sometimes sins, but he is still aware of his sinfulness.

Captivity is already a frequent fulfillment of sin, but a person is still aware of his sinfulness.

Passion is when sin has already become a habit, it is already slavery to sin. Sin is committed easily and a person does not feel that he is sinning and can even be proud of it. In this degree, it is most difficult to overcome sin. Church prayer and strenuous struggle are needed.

The sin of thinking is connected with the sin of receiving impure thoughts (34), impure sight (36), sight (42), hearing (43), smell (44), taste (45) and touch (46).

The world around us and our past sins largely contribute to sin by thinking. From all sides - if not the media, then people and even our colleagues, acquaintances or relatives - we are constantly told and hinted at. We are tempted all the time by double entenders, allusions and anecdotes, or provocative and teasing fashions. Our life and our past sins gradually create in us a habit and memories that can also tempt us later and give us no peace. All this can influence a person and he will begin to sin by thinking.

In order to avoid sin by thinking, one must refrain from looking and listening to everything that can tempt: pictures, conversations, people. We need to drive away sinful thoughts from ourselves and do something that will make us think about something else.

42. Sin sight

Vision - One of the five main external senses (Ozhegov). (Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch).

The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt in his book Christian Philosophy writes the following about the sin of sight:

“To keep feelings from the sin of sight means: not to look with prejudice at someone else's beauty, at other people's outfits, rich incomes, rich home decorations, at other people's treasures and wealth, for all this will go to dust and ashes and destroy the purity of the soul; do not give free rein to vindictiveness, impure imagination, representing and depicting sin in charming, longed-for forms: do not look at seductive images or pictures and statues, do not read seductive books; avoid seductive communities, gatherings of cheerful and frivolous, where sin is imputed to nothing, in general, beware of any reason for sin, for there are many temptations in the world (St. Petersburg, 1902, p. 170).

Vision (how a person looked), like a word, also conveys mood. Thus, one can sin, offend, offend with a simple glance.

A person sins with his eyesight when he looks at prodigal pictures, etc. We need to avoid everything that can lead us to sin through our eyesight.

Sinning with sight, at first glance, may seem harmless. In fact, it can lead to sin. Man gradually becomes accustomed to sin. The sin of sight is connected with the sin of thought (41) and the acceptance of impure thoughts (34).

The world around us and our past sins largely contribute to the sin of sight. From all sides - if not the media, then people and even our colleagues, acquaintances or relatives - we are constantly told and hinted at. We are tempted all the time by double entenders, allusions and anecdotes, or provocative and teasing fashions. Our life and our past sins gradually create in us a habit and memories that can also tempt us later and give us no peace. All this can affect a person and he will begin to sin with his eyesight.

To avoid the sin of sight, one must refrain from looking and listening to everything that can tempt: pictures, conversations, people. We need to drive away sinful thoughts from ourselves and do something that will make us think about something else.

43. Sin hearing

Hearing - One of the five main external senses (Ozhegov). (Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch).

A person sins with hearing when he hears about evil, listens to gossip, talk, indecent or blasphemous anecdotes. (blasphemous means to speak of a saint with mockery). We need to avoid everything that can lead us to sin through our hearing.

Hearing about sin, at first glance, may seem harmless. In fact, it can lead to sin. At first, the listener gradually gets used to and begins to repeat what he heard, and then he begins to participate more actively in the conversation. Simply, just hearing about evil all the time can also lead to sin. A person loses faith in goodness and gets used to evil. He gradually falls into despondency or becomes a cynic, and then he also begins to sin himself.

The sin of hearing is connected with the sin of thinking (41) and easily passes into the sin of the word (40).

Sin by hearing is greatly facilitated by the world around us and our past sins. From all sides - if not the media, then people and even our colleagues, acquaintances or relatives - we are constantly told and hinted at. We are tempted all the time by double entenders, allusions and anecdotes, or provocative and teasing fashions. Our life and our past sins gradually create in us a habit and memories that can also tempt us later and give us no peace. All this can affect a person and he will begin to sin by hearing.

To avoid the sin of hearing, you need to avoid looking and listening to everything that can tempt: pictures, conversations, people. We need to drive away sinful thoughts from ourselves and do something that will make us think about something else.

44. Sin of smell

Smell - The ability to perceive and distinguish odors (Ozhegov). One of the five basic external senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch).

It is possible to sin by enjoying a smell that is associated with sin or resembles sin.

The sin of smelling is connected with the sin of thinking (41). From the sense of smell, a person easily passes to sinful thoughts, and then to the most sinful deed. This fact is well known and used by sinful people who want to tempt (27) other people to sin.

To avoid the sin of smelling, we need to move away from the smell that can lead us to sinful thoughts and do something that makes us think of something else. In addition, everything that can lead us to sin through our sense of smell should be avoided.

45. Sin Taste

Taste - The sensation on the tongue, in the mouth, or the property of the food that is the source of that sensation. One of the five main external senses (Ozhegov). (Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch).

The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt, in his book "The Way to God", compiled from extracts from his famous diary, wrote the following:

Despise voluptuousness, this lure of the evil one, the sweetened demonic soul-destroying poison that separates and weakens the heart from God and covers it with darkness (St. Petersburg, 1905, p. 240).

So, through voluptuousness, through taste, a person can fall into sin. The sin of taste is associated with gluttony (30), excess in food and drink (31). A person can easily pass from taste to sinful thoughts.

To avoid the sin of taste, one must avoid taste that can lead us to sinful thoughts and engage in something that makes us think of something else. In addition, everything that can lead us to sin through our taste should be avoided.

46. ​​Sin of touch

Touch - The sensation of pressure, heat, cold that occurs when the skin touches something. One of the five main external senses (Ozhegov). (Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch). Touch - Feel, touch, grope.

It is possible to sin by enjoying the sense of touch, which is associated with sin or resembles sin. Thus, one can sin against another person, and it is also possible against oneself.

The sin of touch is connected with the acceptance of sinful thoughts (41). From touch, a person can easily move to sinful thoughts, and then to sinful deeds.

To avoid the sin of touch, we need to avoid touch, which can lead us to sinful thoughts, and do something that makes us think about something else. In addition, everything that can lead us to sin through our touch must be avoided.

47. Sin other feelings of soul and body

A person has five main external senses through which a person can sin, these are: sight (42), hearing (43), smell (44), taste (45), touch (46). Other, that is, other spiritual and bodily feelings, are meant here.

In addition to the basic external senses, a person has other external and internal senses. Animals have only external. There is a feeling of pain, hunger, etc. Then there is a feeling of joy, conscience, shame, pity, anger, curiosity, envy, vanity and pride. Many of these feelings are not sinful, but sin can enter a person through them.

To avoid other spiritual and bodily sins, we need to avoid everything that can lead us to them and do something that will make us think about something else.

Confession of a Penitent Sinner

I thank You, Lord my God, with all my being, for especially that You saved me, a lot - and a great sinner, still alive; I know, Lord, that Your goodness leads me to repentance.
So, I thank you and repent before You. Oh, God, be merciful to me a sinner, and accept my sincere repentance for my grave sins!
“Look at me, O God my Savior, with Your merciful eye and accept my warm confession!”
“Love of mankind, if everyone wants to be saved, You call on me and accept me as good, repentant!”

1. A Christian must be a stranger to the world and everything worldly. Do not love the world, nor anything else in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in it: like everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are not from the Father, but are from this world. And the world passes away and its lust: but he who does the will of God abides forever (John 2:15-17).
And I am completely devoted to this world and I love money, clothes, luxury, honors, fame, fun, dances and especially lively pictures (for a modern person - cinema, television), although I know from experience that after them, as after amusing lights, nothing remains but stench and darkness.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner! Weaken and cool in me the love for this adulterous and sinful world, and whether I want it or not, lead me along the path of salvation.

2. A Christian should always lead a repentant life. True and tearful repentance is a strict condemnation of oneself before God, contrition for sins, unremitting attention to the cause of spiritual salvation and the feasible replacement of one’s misdeeds with opposite deeds.
But I do sometimes condemn myself, but too severely, and nothing comes of it, but more often than not I excuse my sins; sometimes I lament over them, but I have no cleansing tears; sometimes I try to be reconciled with God and with my conscience, but I do not do good, the opposite of evil.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner, and give me the gift of true repentance!

3. The Christian must always remember that the omnipresent and omniscient God sees through him, and that this remembrance keeps him from sin and encourages him to do good.
And whatever I do, I do everything, thinking not about the omniscient God, but about people's opinion about me and about my own benefit.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner; forgive my forgetfulness about You and tell me: "I am the Lord - the Almighty: please me and be blameless" (Gen. 17, 1).

4. A Christian constantly remembers his last, i.e., death and the terrible judgment, and thus curbs his evil passions and keeps from sins, especially mortal ones, such as: pride, hatred, gluttony, fornication, murder, carelessness for the salvation of the soul and despair .
And I, forgetting about my future fate and living only in the present, carelessly indulge in sinful passions and mortal vices that kill my soul for an eternally blessed life.
Oh, God, be merciful to me a sinner, Wake me yourself from a sinful sleep and drive me away, by their own fates, my carelessness, my oblivion and my negligence!

5. The Christian lives temperately and bridles his body with established fasts, and thus remains a submissive son of the Church.
And I don’t exactly observe fasts, and in general I live intemperately, according to my whims, and not according to the rules of the Church.
Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner and rebellious St. Your Church and instruct me to fast with a pleasant fast, pleasing to the Lord!

6. A Christian shies away from association with free-thinking and ill-tempered people.
And I see them, and if I am not carried away by their teachings and examples, then I will indulge them, from my unkind views.
Oh, Lord, I condemn myself in this before You, and I ask You to deliver me from every bad person!

7. A Christian, in simplicity of heart, reads the Bible every day, especially the Gospel and the Apostolic Epistles, as well as other soulful books.
And I do not always read what is due, reading what feeds idle curiosity, impure imagination and soul-destroying passions.
O Lord, direct my steps according to Your word, so that no iniquity possesses me!

8. A Christian in the temple of God fervently prays a conciliar prayer, which lifts his soul to God, and attentively follows the service of God, understanding its every action and conforming his prayer to it.
And when I am in church, I stand there distractedly, not attentively, dreaming, staring at living pictures, idle talk, laugh, in a word - I forget where I am standing and in front of Whom I stand ...
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner; forgive me my absent-mindedness, inattention, coldness and carelessness, and teach me to worship You in spirit and in truth, together with the faithful.

9. A Christian never pronounces the name of God in vain, remembering the commandment of the Savior: wake up your word: she, she, neither, nor (Matt. 5, 37).
And I swear, I swear, sometimes shamelessly, and I break my oath.
Oh Lord, have mercy on me a sinner and write this commandment on the tablet of my heart!

10. A Christian never lies, does not cheat, does not dissemble, does not deceive, does not slander, but is guided by simplicity, directness, frankness, truth and justice in everything.
But I lie very often and cover up my misdeeds with lies, then I prevent well-deserved reproaches or punishments, I give rise to others to ridicule and condemnation of those about whom I speak falsely or exaggeratedly, then I weave nets for my neighbors.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner; do not remember my lies, neither frivolous nor harmful, fill my heart with your fear and love for truth and justice!

11. A Christian always speaks and acts sincerely, without any pretense, without pleasing people and flattery, without malicious intent.
And I often say not what I feel, I act feignedly, hypocritically, I flatter, I do not serve the cause, but people, I seem only affectionate and kind.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner. I condemn before You my dishonesty, hypocrisy, deceit, Judas kiss, and I pray to You: cleanse me from this filth and make me a child for evil.

12. A Christian remembers that every person is the image and likeness of God, and does not dishonor anyone with reproachful names, according to the commandment of God (Matt. 5:22).
And I, especially in anger, pour out on the image and likeness of God all the impure and even shameful scum of the human word.
Oh God, forgive me a sinner who defiled St. Thy gift, the gift of the word, and the one who denounced Thy image and Thy likeness with Thy names forbidden by law.

13. A Christian does not condemn his neighbors, according to the commandment of the Lord: do not judge, lest you be judged (Matthew 7:1); and when he has to speak about them, he condemns vices or sins, and not sinners.
But I attribute vices to others, not being sure whether they have them; I condemn other people's weaknesses, despite my own, and forgetting that God alone is the Judge of all.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner; forgive my slander that burdens my conscience, and bless me to love all people with their shortcomings.

14. A Christian is always modest and meek: he is not puffed up with praise, he is not offended by humiliation, he rejoices quietly, he speaks prudently without offending anyone, he treats everyone with dignity everywhere and tames someone’s anger with silence or kindness.
And I? when they praise me, I tell everyone the praise given to me, and even with the addition to it; when they prefer others to me, I am offended, I mourn, I cry. My conversations are mocking, seductive and obscene; fun - noisy and violent; the treatment of people is often insolent; I have an answer to anger - irascibility, and even beatings.
Oh, Lord, forgive me all this fury of mine and grant me, Thy servant, modesty, meekness and timely silence!

15. A Christian is always obedient not only to the authorities, but also to all intelligent and experienced people; does not impose his opinions on them; listens to their objections and refutations calmly; solid evidence accepts willingly; otherwise, he argues meekly and peacefully, expressing not his pride or wit, or resourcefulness, or the amount of information, but - one desire to know the truth or the truth.
And I consider myself smarter than everyone, - I can’t stand objections, - I want to stubbornly put everything on my own, - I conduct debates with vehemence, even with an insult to the personality of the interlocutor, but I gain absolutely nothing from that, but only tire everyone, and reveal my imaginary arrogance , stubbornness and pride.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner; lay guardianship to my lips, and grant me, Thy servant, reasonable obedience and humility!

16. A Christian observes the measure in everything. He is not too condescending, not too strict, not too affectionate, and not for a long time menacing. He gives to each his own, is just without flattery and without cruelty; and covers the superiority of his personality with humility and courtesy to spare someone else's pride.
And I - either look at everything through my fingers, or - I exact even for trifles; with my caresses or - I annoy, or even spoil the caressed; I am angry for a long time - not until the setting of the sun; justice I say cruel; I envy gifts; I humiliate valor; I like to find a weak side in everyone and I do not equal myself with anyone.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner; forgive my deviations from prudence, truth, love and decency, may I always be equal to myself; let not my conscience reproach me for the fact that I act, although prudently, but not very justly - although justly, but cruelly and not decently.

17. A Christian does not offend anyone, but forgives the insults and insults caused to him and is favorable to those who offended him even in their presence.
And I offend and offend many; I am angry at those who offended me, I threaten them and take revenge; but in society I pretend to be magnanimous to my offenders, for a long time I remember the evil and quietly try to vilify them.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner! I condemn before you my rage, vindictiveness, hypocritical generosity and real vindictiveness, and I pray You, grant me a sincerely generous transfer of insults and the grace of prayer for enemies.

18. A Christian loves his enemies.
And I get angry at them, hate them and tend to harm them.
Oh God, have mercy on me a sinner and help me by Your grace to love my enemies and look at them as benefactors in moral self-knowledge.

19. A Christian suffers quietly in the face of God, the omniscient and who prepares a great reward for the sufferers, and does not complain about the perpetrators of suffering.
And I get irritated, complain about them, and in this way I sin myself and lead others into sin, I lay my blame on others, I exaggerate my sufferings before others, I become effaced...
Oh, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner, and bless me to suffer quietly, to pray the prayer of my Savior: “if possible, let this cup pass by; if not, then God's will be done!”

20. A Christian remembers that the blessed peacemakers will be called sons of God, and he makes peace.
But I myself, accursed, quarrel with many, and I quarrel with others among myself.
Oh Lord, have mercy on me a sinner and tame my cruel and evil temper!

21. A Christian constantly and invariably loves all those close to his heart, all relatives, friends and acquaintances - he loves in God.
And my love for everyone is impetuous, impetuous, but not lasting, if my pride is not satisfied with it.
Oh God, forgive the fickleness of my love; bless me to love everyone for your sake, unselfishly!

22. A Christian does not self-serve another's good and does not envy him; compassionate to the unfortunate, merciful to the poor, and kind to those around him. He sincerely loves his relatives and worthy friends and protects them strongly, and generously rewards their services, and he does all this in the name of God, Who is Love.
And I envy the happiness of my neighbors, I don’t always make money righteously, I’m stingy, I don’t help the unfortunate enough, I live for my own pleasure, I don’t properly reward those around me and those who serve me, I languidly intercede for my friends, sparing my pride and cherishing my peace, I help the poor lazily, and sometimes with irritation, indignation, and not always out of pure benevolence.
Oh Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner, who has neither pure nor strong grace of the heart, and cleanse and strengthen it with Your grace.

23. A Christian is chaste. He knows that his body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and he fights lust, asking God for the gift of purity (Wise Ch. 8), not giving free rein to imagination, memory, voluptuous thoughts, not satiating his stomach, spending his days in labors, but on the night, making the sign of the cross and entrusting itself to the Guardian Angel, fights to old age and achieves purity of dispassion... And when, due to the weakness of human nature, it falls, it immediately rises, cries about its sins, rushes to the Savior and, rushing into the abyss of His mercy , with tears and sighs, receives His most pure Blood and thus is cleansed from all his sin.
And I don't have it all. - I'm a carpenter. I live voluptuously, and from fornication I lose money, property, health, honor, and I gain illness, early old age, stupidity, spiritual emptiness; I always sin, remembering my former fornications and enjoying such memories; and thus in my soul I am extremely impure from dreams, thoughts, desires and lusts of voluptuous, and I become completely worthy of God's wrath and eternal torment, like an unrepentant sinner.
O Lord, I dare not even lift my eyes to heaven, where nothing filthy will enter; but I beseech Thee from the depths of my soul: have mercy on me according to Thy great mercy, and according to the multitude of Thy mercies, cleanse my iniquity, especially wash me from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin; for I know my iniquity, and my sin before me is taken out; forgive my sins and grant me, Thy servant, chastity.

24. A Christian always has holy humility. It is the feeling of our mental weakness and the consciousness of our sinfulness, the assimilation to God of all that is good in us, the remembrance of all His mercy to us and obedience to His wise and holy will.
And I am proud, arrogant; I brag about my supposedly good qualities, I love only praises, but I can’t stand remarks and take offense at them, I conceit, exalt myself, get angry, annoyed, slander, argue, argue, take offense, admire myself.
Oh Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner like a painted coffin. I condemn before You my arrogance and pride with all their offspring, and I pray to You: tear them out of my heart and plant grace-filled humility in me!

25. A Christian is always filled with the fear of God, feels the presence of God everywhere, venerates Him, marvels at His majesty, marvels at His holiness and righteousness, and thus fetters his passions, curbs his self-will, and refrains from violating the commandments of God.
But in me there is no fear of God, there is no salvation and fear of violating the law of God, I always do what my passions, bad inclinations, habits tell me to do, I live far from God, and I live lawlessly.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner! I condemn before You the forgetfulness of Your saving prohibitions and Your commandments, my self-will and disrespect before Your greatness, and I pray You: plant Your fear in me!

26. A Christian has an unremitting zeal for the fulfillment of all the commandments of the Lord and a constant, strong thirst for justification by faith in the merits of the Savior; for he cannot fulfill all the commandments, and if he does everything, it is inaccurately and not always from pure motives.
And an unrelenting zeal operates in me to violate all the commandments of the Lord: and if I thirst for this justification, then only when I am preparing for confession, and only on these days, and the rest of the time I sin and only sin.
Oh, God, be merciful to me a sinner: accept my momentary repentance; help me lay the foundation for salvation, and strengthen faith in my Savior, like a sprout of Christian life, capable of bearing its fruit over time!

27. A Christian always has in himself a spiritual prudence, testing the legitimacy and purity of thoughts, desires, inclinations, actions, and giving the best direction to his Christian life.
And I am inattentive to myself; least of all I care about my soul and do not know its state; I do not give myself an answer every day in my thoughts, desires and actions. I don't know myself and I don't try to improve myself.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner. Forgive my negligence and ignorance of myself - help me by Your grace to recognize the admixture of the sensual to the spiritual in me - to eradicate my evil inclinations and habits and improve spiritually.

28. A Christian prays without ceasing. His prayer is a sweet union with God, an expression of love for Him and hope in Him, consolation in sorrows, a meeting of weakness with the grace of St. Spirit, the cry of the soul to all its forces: "Come, let us worship our King God." In his prayer, he glorifies God, thanks Him for everything, and asks for forgiveness of sins and everything necessary for his life and others. Prayer is his element, the life of his soul, and gives the best direction to his whole life.
And I don't even have a clear idea about such a prayer. I make obeisances, read various prayers, but coldly, without the participation of my heart, out of habit, reluctantly, and often I don’t pray, and therefore I don’t correct myself. Not knowing myself well, I don’t know how to pray for myself: the proud one does not ask God to humble my soul, the lazy one does not beg for the fear of God for all good things, the voluptuous one does not yearn for the Savior, the luxurious one does not ask for spiritual blessings, the dark one does not ask for wisdom, - cruel and irritable, I do not beg for heartfelt goodness.
O God, be merciful to me a sinner and teach me to worship You in spirit and in truth! Oh, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner and bless me to start praying even with our Father, even with the Lord have mercy! Do not reject me from Thy presence, and do not take away Thy Holy Spirit from me... Create a pure heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb... Give me the joy of Thy salvation and strengthen me with the Master Spirit!.. I beg You with tears and with contrite heart.

29. A Christian believes in the triune God, Creator, Provider, Savior, Sanctifier and Judge. But his faith is a living force that produces in him reverence and humility before the majesty of God and fear of angering Him, eternal thanksgiving for all His mercies, striving for union with Christ through imitation of His holy life and thirst for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
But in me this faith is like an indistinct sketch of a magnificent picture without colors and expression: a dead faith that does not arouse in the soul the Christian virtues required by living faith; I often doubt the dogmas of faith only because I do not understand them with my mind, I am ashamed to confess it before the sons of the age, and most often I do not think about the holy truths of faith ...
Oh Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner, and apply to me that faith that true Christians have, and which alone can justify me before God, giving a better direction to my life. I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.

30. A Christian, believing in God, constantly hopes in Him: he expects God's help, truth and mercy in all the many-poor circumstances of temporal life, and eagerly expects eternal bliss; submits himself and everything to the will of God and is obedient in everything to the One God, - he says: may the will of God be always and in everything!
And although I hope in Him, my hope is not complete, not firm, not pure, not strong. I hope a lot for myself and for others - I care too much unnecessarily, and because of this I don’t have peace of mind and body, I torment myself: I get discouraged, longing, sad, I strive to change the place of my service, everything seems not according to me, but internally not I change, I postpone repentance.
Oh my God, my God! I condemn before You all these sins of mine: arrogance, preoccupation that devours the body and soul, unceasing anxiety from imaginary dangers and fears, all despondency, longing, unreasonable sadness, grumbling, timidity, carelessness about one’s salvation and postponing repentance for an unknown time, and I pray You: have mercy on me a sinner and grant me that hope in You that true Christians have!

31. A Christian loves God with all his soul and with all his being; aspires to Him with all the forces of his soul - with his mind, as for the Highest Truth, - with his will, as for the Highest Good, - with his heart, as for the Highest Beauty, he finds all his ideals in Him and lays all his bliss; as a result of such fiery love for God, he is passionately jealous of His glory: he strives to fulfill all His commandments, contributes, as much as he can, to the spread of the true faith and Christian life. The soul of a Christian, loving God, lives in Him alone, thinks, feels, rests, is blissful, is transformed in His image and likeness, inscribes His perfections in itself, unites with Him.
But I, a sinner, have no such love for God. I imagine that I love God, but I do not fulfill His commandments, while I cater to all the whims of a loved one. With my mind, will and heart I seek the ideals of truth, goodness, beauty outside of God, in created objects, and in them I dream of finding all my bliss: “I prefer temporary, but forget about eternal glory”; and do not care about the glory of God. All my life I live, think, feel, act somehow separately from God, not thinking about Him. I do not love God, in Whom alone is peace and bliss; and not finding peace and bliss in anyone or anything other than Him, I am prematurely tormented by the torments of hell.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner. I condemn before Thee my forgetfulness about Thee, Giver of life, wisdom, virtue, immortality, truth, goodness, bliss; I condemn my indifference to the zealous spread of Thy Glory; love that cries out in the depths of the soul: Abba Father, yes with Peter I can say to You: yes, Lord, You know that I love You! May I rest and receive my bliss in You alone; for apart from You there is nowhere for me - in no one and in nothing - peace and bliss!

32. A Christian imitates Christ, his Savior, meek, humble, merciful, righteous, forgiving his enemies, having no flattery in his mouth, purest, long-suffering, laboring, obedient to the will of the Heavenly Father, doing His will, praying, suffering meekly ... That is why all Christians virtues, like the stars of heaven, adorn the soul of a Christian; and its crown is the inner world, that is, the harmony of all the forces of the soul: imagination, memory, reason, will, conscience, and its peace in God, proceeding from a living feeling of God's goodwill towards it, after it has become an image and likeness Christ the Savior. Such peace or tranquility is acquired after a long-term balancing of the forces of the soul, after observing all the commandments and fulfilling all the virtues - from repentance to love for God.
Is it possible for me, a sinner, to receive such peace and tranquility when my mind and heart are not in harmony, and all the forces of my soul are at odds, when I, accursed, do not even think of imitating the earthly life and activity of Christ, my Savior? And from this, I either have no good deeds, or very few, and even those with an admixture of my pride and vanity, and almost all the commandments have been violated by me. May the Lord vouchsafe me to enjoy that peace of mind that comes immediately after confession and the remission of sins! And this peace is a great blessing; according to it one can at least judge and have an idea of ​​the eternal blissful peace and tranquility of the soul!
I long for peace and rest for my poor, agitated soul, and from the depths of my heart I cry out to Thee, O God, my Savior: be merciful to me a sinner; accept my sincere repentance and forgive all my sins, voluntary and involuntary, heal my sick soul, and give her at least a drop of grace-filled comfort in You! Pacify all the forces of my soul; give me the strength to do Thy commandments, to do Thy good, pleasing and perfect will, may I recognize in myself the change of Thy anger to mercy on me, may my soul feel Thy good will towards her, and may Thy peace and rest be settled in me! ...

33. The Christian, after the first birth from flesh and blood, receives another, higher and better birth from the Spirit. Despite my impurity and insensitivity, immediately after birth, from the arms of my mother, I was accepted into her arms by St. Church: washed the filth of my nature in the font of baptism; consecrated by the grace of St. Spirit; imprinted in white clothes of innocence. “From a child of anger, I became a child of grace.
But I, accursed, threw off this royal vestment - scattered the gifts poured out on me - I did not save my grapes ... I did not save the grace of baptism; did not remain faithful to the One to whom he was combined; defiled the white robe of innocence; lost the grace of St. Spirit… One took the world; another was stolen by passions; it was lost from negligence and carelessness; I am all like a man who has fallen into robbers: from the feet to the head there is no wholeness in me ...
To whom to turn for help, except You, Omnipotent Creator and Omnipotent Provider of mine? Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me! Lost like a lost sheep, seek Your servant! Bring my soul out of prison to confess to Your name! Create a pure heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb!

34. A Christian child, brought up in the bosom of his mother, in the arms of his father, learns to obey them and honor the Heavenly Father and the grace-filled Mother of his Church - following the example of Christ the Savior, he grows, strengthened by age and spirit, filled with wisdom and strengthened by the grace of God and people (Luke 2:40, 52).
And I did not always, as I should, obey my parents, did not honor the Church and the Heavenly Father with saints, did not imitate my Savior. He was lazy to learn, lied, swore, stubborn, did not want to ask for forgiveness, mimicked, played naughty, scolded, took something without asking and concealed, envied, adopted the evil and tried to do it, did not reveal the truth ...
Oh Lord, have mercy and save me! So I myself, from a child of grace, more and more again became a child of anger, my body grew, and my spirit weakened, instead of wisdom I was filled with foolishness, instead of grace I became stronger in bad habits: Lord, accept my repentance, enlighten and save me! ..

35. The Christian youth, like his forefathers, is in the paradise of innocence, in front of him is the tree of life with a promise and the tree of death with a commandment: he has every opportunity not to stretch out his hands to the forbidden fruit - he is powerful to remain on the path of truth and integrity, keeps everything him - and the grace of baptism, and the voice of conscience, and parents, and educators ...
And, alas, nothing stopped me! And the serpent tempter seemed to me more reliable than my Creator and Benefactor; and for me the tree of death seemed good for food, pleasing to the eye, and red for understanding; and I, unfortunate, tasted boldly bitter food and lost paradise.
Oh, Lord, my God, if the days of my youth would return, I would enter into Your path, I would turn away from the debauchery of sin and the vanity of the world! But these days will not return for me; It remains for me to exclaim from the depths of my soul: Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me!
Do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorance! Remember me for the sake of goodness, your only goodness!

36. A young Christian brought up in the Christian law is filled with the fear of God, which curbs all his self-will, is obedient and respectful to his elders, compassionate, modest, bashful, chaste. Like his Savior, he does the will of the Lord in everything, learns in the law of the Lord day and night, and, learning the sciences, never leaves the world school of St. Churches.
And I am not God-fearing, and therefore self-willed, irreverent, mocking, impudent, cruel, angry, shameless and unvirgin; I do not heed the law of God, I do not obey the Holy Church, and if I study, I study only for the sake of curiosity and self-interest.
Oh Lord, accept my repentance and heal my soul!

37. A Christian girl, as long as she belongs to God alone, must be holy in body and soul; she keeps her virginity; its distinctive properties are chastity, humility, meekness, modesty, modesty, obedience, compassion and prayerful concentration in God. From this, everyone respects her, and no one allows herself liberties in dealing with her.
But I am proud, quick-tempered, talkative, mocking, stubborn, evil, lazy, dreamy, careless, so that I myself give men a reason to treat me freely, my friendship with them is not without sin; I rather inflame young people to lust than chaste them; I am often a real heliporter, and I am lazy to pray to God, absent-minded.
Oh Lord, accept my repentance and heal my soul!

38. A Christian of mature years firmly and steadily fulfills his duties, courageously fights vice in all its forms, wisely uses the gifts of happiness, magnanimously endures the blows of misfortune, is always ready for every good deed, is removed from all lies and untruths, is temperate and strict with himself. himself, magnanimous and merciful to his neighbors, meek, sincere, loving to everyone, unmemorable even to his enemies.
But I did not and do not fulfill my duties as I should: vice often takes possession of me completely - in happiness I am proud, arrogant, unapproachable, cruel, wayward, in misfortune I am base, crafty, obstinate, vile - I am not at all disposed to goodness, I don’t value truth and righteousness, I indulge myself in everything, but with my neighbors I’m impatient, stingy, obstinate, crafty and cunning, I’m not disposed to love them and I remember evil for a very long time.
Almighty Creator, my prayer is to You: have mercy on Your poor creation! Give me the strength to break the bonds of sinful skills and passions! Turn away my eyes in a hedgehog not to see the fuss! Touch the sin-loving heart, let it stop beating for dust and decay! Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me! Save me from myself.

39. A Christian spouse loves his wife, prays for her, respects her, does not betray her, treats her decently and temperately, does not upset her, hides her shortcomings from others and corrects meekly, considers her his helper, asks for her advice and consent in family matters, takes care of the well-being of the family, keeps his house in piety.
And I'm not doing my duty. I don’t always love my wife, I don’t pray for her, I don’t respect her, I cheat on her, I indulge her absent-mindedness, I often upset her, I torment her with suspicion, jealousy, stinginess, pride, temper, quarrels, I disclose her shortcomings, I humiliate her, I don’t ask and don’t I listen to her good and useful advice - I do not care about the house and family, I spend my property on the side.
Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner, forgive my iniquities and heal my soul!

40. A Christian wife, loving, honoring, respecting and praying for her husband, submits to him, is afraid to cool his love, remains faithful to him, endures his shortcomings patiently and meekly, gradually corrects them with prudence. She is a pleasing to God, a helper to her husband, a second grace to children, an example of order, cleanliness, good manners at home, not whimsical and not luxurious idle.
And I'm fickle; I do not always obey and please my husband, although I can and must; I often upset him with my irascibility, quarrelsomeness, stubbornness, whims, luxury not according to my condition, passion for outfits with evil goals; I like to take over my husband: I do a lot in my own way; I love children, but I do not serve them as an example of piety; households are not always pleased with me; burdened by the economy; I don't live well.
Oh Lord, accept my repentance and heal my soul!

41. A Christian, like a master, is meek, merciful and compassionate towards his household, spares their strength, satisfies them, corrects, gives and makes them possible and necessary assistance; like a household member, he serves his masters as if he were serving Christ Himself, fulfills all their orders respectfully, conscientiously, exactly, works with diligence, protects the master’s property as his own, does not disclose the weaknesses of his masters, does not slander them.
And I, as a master, sometimes treat my subordinates cruelly, I don’t care about them, I only pay according to the contract, I don’t provide them with benefits; but as a subordinate, I serve negligently, I do not regret the master's things and spoil them; I deceive and rob my masters, and I conceal deception and theft of other servants, and if I do not slander my masters, then I condemn and divulge their weaknesses.

Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner: have mercy and save me!