Sayings of the Holy Fathers about work. We have also prepared for you. Our good deeds

You must definitely go to church services, otherwise you will be sick. The Lord punishes us with illness for this.

It happens that illness seizes to awaken a sleeping soul.

Just as medicine benefits the body, so does disease benefit the soul.

Illness relieves many spiritual passions. The Apostle Paul says: “...if our outer man... decays, yet our inner man... is renewed” (2 Cor. 4:16).

Illness is not a misfortune, but a lesson and a visit from God; sick St. Seraphim visited by the Mother of God; and we, if we humbly endure the disease, are visited by Higher Powers.

Health is a gift from God, said St. Seraphim of Sarov, - but this gift is not always useful: like any suffering, illness has the power to cleanse us from spiritual filth, atone for sins, humble and soften our soul, make us come to our senses, recognize our weakness and remember God. Therefore, both we and our children need diseases.

When you are bothered by inconvenience or painful suffering, or something similar, then try not to lose from your memory the words of Holy Scripture: “Through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

God does not require physical feats from the sick, but only patience with humility and gratitude.

Once I came to Fr. Hegumen Anthony is sick with his legs and says: “Father, my legs hurt, I can’t bow down, and this confuses me.” Father Anthony answered him: “Yes, the Scripture says: “Son, give Me heart,” and not nose.”

St. Theophan the Recluse:

The Lord sends illnesses for this reason, in order to remember about death and transfer from memory to the fact that the sick person is finally concerned with preparing for death.

Our illnesses mostly come from sins, which is why the best way to prevent and heal from them is not to sin.

It happens that God, through illness, protects others from trouble that they would not have escaped if they were healthy.

Suffering, if it embitters the sick person without transforming him or giving him a beneficial reaction (correction and thanksgiving), is only pure evil.

All the most severe sorrows and misfortunes are endured by people more easily than serious bodily illnesses. An undoubted expert in the matter of tormenting and tormenting people - Satan - testified before the face of God Himself that bodily illnesses are more unbearable than all other misfortunes, and that a person, courageously and meekly enduring other disasters, can weaken in his patience and waver in his devotion to God, having been subjected to a serious illness .

The Lord heals many diseases through doctors and other means. But there are diseases, the cure of which is prohibited by the Lord, when he sees that illness is more necessary for salvation than health.

It is a great feat to patiently endure illnesses and, among them, to sing songs of gratitude to God.

The elder inspired his sick friend: “We must pray more often: “Lord! Give me patience here, forgiveness there.”

However, during those hours when there is a service in church, it is better not to lie down, but to sit on the bed, leaning, if infirmity overcomes, against the wall, and so pray intelligently and heartily, with full desire and cheerfulness of spirit.

A father will not give his children a stone instead of bread or a snake instead of fish. If the natural father does not do this, much less will the Heavenly Father do this. And our petitions often resemble the petition of a snake and a stone. It seems to us that this is what we ask for, bread and fish, but the Heavenly Father sees that what we ask for will be a stone or a snake for us - and does not give what we ask for. The father and mother pour out warm prayers before God for their son, that he may arrange the best for him, but at the same time they also express what they consider to be the best for their son, namely, that he be alive, healthy and happy. The Lord hears their prayer and arranges the best for their son, only not according to the concept of those asking, but as it actually is for their son: he sends a disease from which the son dies. For those for whom everything ends in real life, this is not hearing, but doing in defiance or giving the person for whom they are praying to his fate; for those who believe that this life is only a preparation for another life, there can be no doubt that the son for whom they prayed fell ill and died precisely because the prayer was heard and that it was better for him to leave here than to stay here. You say: so what should we pray for? No, it is impossible not to pray, but in prayers about certain objects one must always keep in mind the condition: “If, Lord, You Yourself find this saving.” St. Isaac the Syrian advises shortening every prayer like this: “You, Lord, know what is good for me: do with me according to Your will.”

In illness, before doing anything else, one must hasten to be cleansed of sins in the Sacrament of Repentance and to be reconciled with God in one’s conscience.

Sin not only affects the soul, but also the body. In other cases it is quite obvious; in others, although it is not so clear, the truth remains the truth that illnesses of the body are always and always from sins and for the sake of sins. Sin occurs in the soul and directly makes it sick, but since the life of the body comes from the soul, then from a sick soul, of course, life is not healthy. The very fact that sin brings darkness and darkness should have an adverse effect on the blood, in which the basis of bodily health is based. But when you remember that it separates a person from God, the Source of life, and puts a person in discord with all the laws operating both in himself and in nature, then one must still marvel at how a sinner remains alive after sin. This is the mercy of God, awaiting repentance and conversion. Consequently, the sick person, before doing anything else, must hasten to cleanse himself of sins and reconcile himself with God in his conscience. This will pave the way for the beneficial effects of medicines. It is known that there was some significant doctor who did not begin treatment until the patient confessed and received Holy Communion; and the more difficult the illness, the more persistently he demanded it.

St. rights John of Kronstadt:

Sick and poor - do not complain or grumble about your fate, about God and people, do not envy someone else’s happiness, beware of despondency and especially despair, submit completely to God’s Providence.

Beware that the hater of good does not lead you into ingratitude or murmuring, then you will lose everything.

Thou shalt not kill. By the way, doctors also kill out of ignorance of the patient’s illness, prescribing him harmful medications. Those who do not want to be treated or treat a patient who needs the help of a doctor also kill. Those who kill are those who irritate a patient for whom irritation is fatal, for example, a person susceptible to consumption, and thereby hasten his death. Those who kill are those who do not promptly, out of stinginess or for other evil reasons, provide medical benefits to the sick or bread to the hungry.

St. Demetrius of Rostov:

The Lord makes up for the lack of our good deeds either with illnesses or sorrows.

Patericon of Athos

The brother asked Abba Arseny: “There are some good people, why do they undergo great sorrow at the time of death, being stricken with bodily illness?” “Because,” the elder answered, “so that we, as if we had finished with salt here, would go there clean.”

One elder said about poor Lazar: “Not a single virtue is visible in him that he did,” and only one thing was found in him, that he never grumbled against the Lord, as if he did not show him mercy, but with He endured his illness with gratitude, and therefore God accepted him.

Abba Daniel said: as the body blooms, the soul is exhausted, and as the body is exhausted, the soul flourishes.

Every time your body is struck or inflamed with a strong fever, you are also languishing with an unbearable thirst - if you are a sinner, then bear it, remembering the future punishment, oh eternal fire and executions according to the court and “do not despise” real (punishments) (Heb. 12:5), but rejoice that God visited you, and repeat this beautiful saying: “The Lord punished me severely, but did not put me to death” (Ps. 117, 18). You are iron, and fire will cleanse your rust. If you, being righteous, fell into illness, then through this you will succeed from less to more. You are gold, and through the fire you became purer... Are we losing our eyes? - let us endure this without burden, for through this we are deprived of the organs of gluttony and are enlightened with our inner eyes. Have we gone deaf? - Let us thank God that we have completely lost our vain hearing. Have your hands become weak? - But we have within ourselves hands prepared to fight the enemy. Will weakness take over the whole body? - But from this, on the contrary, the health of the inner person increases.

Rev. Pimen the Many-Painful:

The Lord, out of love for us, sends illness and sorrow according to the strength of each, but also gives them patience in order to make us participants in His suffering; whoever did not suffer here for Christ’s sake will be remorseful in the next century, - after all, it was possible to show his love for Christ by enduring illness and sorrows, and did not do this, trying to evade and avoid all sorrows... Not in anger, not for punishment The Lord sends us illnesses and sorrows, but out of love for us, although not all people, and do not always understand this.

When you are sick, do not wish yourself to die - it is sinful.

The best gratitude to God for recovery from illness is to serve Him the rest of your life in fulfilling His commandments.

When we see a sick person, we will not poorly explain to ourselves the cause of his illness, but we will try to console him.

If a person grumbles about illness and sorrow, looks for the culprit for these sorrows among people (bewitched, made), demons, circumstances, begins to try by all means to avoid them, then the enemy will help him in this, show him the imaginary culprits (bosses, orders, neighbors, etc., etc.), will arouse in him enmity and hatred towards them, a desire to take revenge, insult, etc., and through this will lead the soul of such a person into darkness, despair, hopelessness, the desire to go to another place, to hide even underground, only not to see, not to hear imaginary enemies, but in fact listening and pleasing his real mortal enemy - the devil, who inspires him with all this and wants to destroy him.

One should not refuse to help the sick for fear of contracting their disease.

Visiting those lying on their beds who are sick and possessed by the sorrow of the flesh delivers from the demon of pride and fornication.

In illness, on the advice of a doctor, we can allow ourselves to temporarily eat fasting food, but in this case we must remember that we are doing this out of necessity, and not for pleasure and enjoyment.

Visit the sick, may God visit you.

The sick person and whoever serves him receives equal reward.

Rev. Anatoly Optinsky:

It doesn’t matter that you are sick: for sinful people this is cleansing; Just as fire cleanses iron from rust, so illness heals the soul.

Reflect on the fact that everything here is fleeting, but the future is eternal. The sick person needs to console himself by reading the Divine Scripture and the suffering of the Savior.

The Lord accepts patience with illness instead of fasting and prayer.

Elder Arseny of Athos:

Thank God that you are on a good path: your illness is great gift God's; Praise and give thanks for this and for everything day and night - and your soul will be saved.

The devil attacks the dangerously sick more strongly, knowing that he has little time.

It happens that some patients use fasting food as medicine during Lent, and then they repent of this, that due to illness they violated the rules of the Holy Church about fasting. But everyone needs to look and act according to their own conscience and consciousness... It is better to choose from lean foods that are nutritious and digestible for your stomach.

Don’t grieve if you sometimes can’t do it due to illness. prayer rule, but thank God for illness, for it is the same as prayer, if we endure it without grumbling and with thanksgiving.

In dangerous illnesses, take care first of clearing your conscience and the peace of your soul.

Blazh. Jerome:

The main reason for cowardice and murmuring against God in days of suffering for many is a lack of faith in God and hope in His Divine Providence. A true Christian believes that everything that happens to us in life is done according to the will of God; that without the will of God not a hair from our head falls to the ground. If God sends him suffering and sorrow, then he sees in this either a punishment sent to him from God for his sins, or a test of faith and love for Him; and therefore, not only is he not faint-hearted and does not grumble against God for this, but, humbled under the strong hand of God, he also thanks God for not forgetting him; that, out of His mercy, God wants to replace eternal sorrows for him with temporary ones; struck by sorrow, he speaks to the righteous David: “It is good for me, Lord, for you have humbled me, so that I may learn through your justification.”

In diseases, care must be taken to cure them.

If you are sick, then invite an experienced doctor and use the remedies prescribed by him. For this purpose, so many beneficial plants arise from the earth. If you reject them out of pride, you will hasten your death and become a suicide.

St. Gregory the Theologian:

Truly, through bodily illnesses the soul approaches God.

Rev. Nicodemus Svyatogorets:

When, for example, a sick person is disposed to graciously endure his illness and endures it, the enemy, knowing that in this way he will be confirmed in the virtue of patience, comes to upset his goodwill. For this purpose, he begins to bring to mind many good deeds that he could have done if he had been in a different position, and tries to convince him that if he were healthy, how good he would serve God, and how much benefit he would bring both himself and others: he would go to church, have conversations, read and write for the edification of his neighbors, etc. Noticing that such thoughts are accepted, the enemy more often brings them to mind, multiplies and colors them, brings them to feeling, causes desires and impulses to business, imagines how well this or that business would go for him, and arouses regret that he is bound hand and foot by illness. Little by little, with frequent repetitions of such thoughts and movements in the soul, desire turns into dissatisfaction and annoyance. The former complacent patience is thus upset, and illness is no longer presented as a cure from God and a field for the virtue of patience, but as something hostile to the cause of salvation, and the desire to free oneself from it becomes uncontrollable, still in the form of obtaining through it space for good deeds and pleasing God in every way. Having brought him to this point, the enemy steals from his mind and heart this good goal of the desire for recovery and, leaving only the desire for health as health, makes him look annoyed at illness, not as an obstacle to good, but as something hostile in itself. As a result, impatience, not healed by good thoughts, takes strength and turns into grumbling, and deprives the patient of his former peace from complacent patience. And the enemy rejoices that he managed to upset.

Whether you are sick or poor, endure. God does not require anything from you except patience. By enduring complacently, you will continuously be in good deeds. Whenever God looks at you, He will see that you are doing good or are in goodness if you patiently endure, whereas in a healthy person good deeds come intermittently. Why, wanting to change your situation, do you want to exchange the best for the worst?

Rev. Barsanuphius the Great:

Showing bodily illnesses to a doctor is not a sin, but humility.

The patient must fast on Wednesday and Friday, and on other days he is allowed to eat meat, except meat.

Rev. Seraphim Sarovsky:

One elder, suffering from water sickness, said to the brothers who came to him with a desire to treat him: “Fathers, pray that my inner man, and as for the real illness, I ask God that He does not suddenly free me from it, for as much as “our outer man decays,” so much “the inner man is renewed” (2 Cor. 4:16).

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk:

If you are in a long-term illness and have any consolation from those who serve you, then look at those who suffer grief and sadness inside, are covered with wounds on the outside and have no one to serve them, feed them, give them something to drink, raise them, wash their wounds - and they endure.

St. Philaret of Moscow:

Lightening fasting for the weak is permissible according to church rules (Apostle, canon 69).

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov:

One of the parish priests became ill, and, approaching his death, he saw his bed surrounded by demons who were preparing to kidnap his soul and bring him down to hell. Then three Angels appeared. One of them stood at the bedside and began to argue about the soul with the most disgusting demon, who was holding an open book in which all the sins of the priest were written down. Meanwhile, another priest came to admonish his brother. Confession began; the sick man, fixing his frightened gaze on the book, pronounced his sins with selflessness, as if spewing them out of himself - and what does he see? He clearly sees that as soon as he uttered any sin, this sin disappeared in the book, in which there remained a gap instead of a record. Thus, by confession, he blotted out all his sins from the demonic book, and, having received healing, spent the rest of his days in deep repentance, telling his neighbors for their edification their vision, sealed by the miraculous healing.

Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev):

The Lord sent you illness not in vain, and not so much as a punishment for previous sins, but out of love for you, in order to tear you away from a sinful life and put you on the path of salvation. Thank God for this, who takes care of you.

In addition to prayer, you should have a spiritual interlocutor who will relieve you from sorrow and despondency.

Family relationships must be subordinated to spiritual needs. Marriage has a lot of consolation, but it is also accompanied by many anxieties and sorrows, sometimes very deep. Keep this in mind, so that when something like this comes, you do not greet it as a surprise. Now you two are alone. And joys are stronger, and sorrows are more easily divided in half.
Take care of your love with your wife. This is the source of happiness family life. But you need to take care of it so that it doesn’t get clogged. Above all, be afraid of losing trust in each other or having it shaken in some way. Family is a life's cross for the head! Be patient, submitting to the Lord and doing everything on your part, surrendering everything to the will of God.
“What God has joined together, let no man put asunder” - with these words (Matthew 19:6) the Lord affirms the inseparability of Christian marriage. Only one legal reason for divorce is indicated - infidelity of the spouses. But what if something like this opens up? Be patient. We have a universal commandment - to bear each other's burdens; the more willingly such close persons as spouses should mutually fulfill it. Unwillingness to endure stirs up trouble, and trifles pile up into the dividing wall. Why is intelligence given? Smooth out the path of life. Prudence will dispel the contradictions encountered. They are not scattered from a lack of everyday prudence, but rather from a reluctance to carefully think over the situation, and even more from the lack of another goal in life other than pleasure. Pleasures cease, and contentment with each other ceases; further - more, that's a divorce.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Prerequisite to form a strong Christian family, find the future spouses a good confessor. The confessor will play the role of arbitrator, making sure that no quarrels arise in the family. ... For a married couple to move forward, they need to have a common confessor, for he is like a carpenter who wants to fit two boards: having cut down the growths, he planes the boards, aligns them and then connects them together.
God's love certainly arranges everything. To save bad husband, God gives him a good wife. And vice versa.
In life, including family life, people can be roughly divided into two categories. One category is like a fly. The fly has the following peculiarity: it always lands on everything dirty, flying past fragrant flowers. So, there is a category of people who look like flies. I learned to think and look only for evil, without knowing or looking for anything good... Another category of people is like a bee. The bee's peculiarity is to find the beautiful and sweet, bypassing the unclean. Such people have good thoughts, see the good and think only about the good. I suggest that everyone who is accustomed to blaming others, including spouses, choose which category they want to be in...
God did not give children to many people on purpose so that as a result they would love the children of the whole world as their own. God deprived them of a small family, but gave them the right, which gives only to a few, to belong to the great family of Christ.
Parents must live Christianly and monitor their behavior, because children from a young age, when they don’t even speak yet, begin, like a computer, to “record” everything they see and hear in the house. And if children see their father and mother fighting, quarreling, insulting each other, having bad conversations, then they, like blank tapes, “record” all this in themselves and, when they get older, without wanting it, they inherit from their parents all passionate states - they begin to scold and insult their neighbors with the same speeches that they heard from their parents.
Young people with early years those who fuel their interest in the other sex “pull the trigger” without waiting for a favorable time for this. And when the due date approaches, they can no longer feel joy, because they experienced it ahead of time. But those young men and women who were careful in this matter retain peace of mind, and when they wait for the right time, they experience great joy. Look at those women who remained celibate before marriage. They have a peaceful spirit, although they are burdened with many worries. I always pay special attention to the fact that before marriage, young people should live as piously as possible and protect their chastity, which gives both spiritual and physical health.
If both the groom and the bride, with curiosity and with all their might, try to preserve their virginity before the wedding, then in the Sacrament of Marriage, when the priest places crowns on them, they will abundantly receive the Grace of God. Because, as St. John Chrysostom says, the crowns of the Sacrament of Marriage are symbols of victory over pleasure.
Subsequently, the spouses should, as far as possible, cultivate the virtue of love, so that the two are always fused into one and so that the Third, our Sweetest Christ, dwells with them.
A reverent lifestyle is main basis both for family and monastic life. Modern world resembles a field where wheat has been sown. When it began to spike, the pigs came and dug it all up and trampled it. And now we have this picture in front of us: dug up earth, wheat mixed with mud, and only some surviving ears sticking out here and there...
One person asked me: “Geronda, what most of all connects a husband and his wife?” “Gratitude,” I answered him. One person loves another for what he gives him. A wife gives her husband trust, devotion, obedience. The husband gives his wife confidence that she is under his cover and protection. The wife is the mistress of the house, but also the main servant in it. The husband is the ruler of the house, but also the bearer of its burdens.
Spouses must have purified love among themselves in order to receive mutual consolation from each other and be able to fulfill their spiritual duties. In order to live in harmony, they must, first of all, put love at the foundation of life - that precious love that lies in spiritual nobility, in sacrifice, and not false, worldly, carnal love. If there is love and sacrifice, then one person always puts himself in the place of another, understands him, and experiences pain for him. And by accepting his neighbor into his suffering heart, a person accepts Christ into his heart, Who again fills him with His inexpressible joy.
When one of the spouses loves the other, then, even being far from him - if circumstances require it - he will still be close, because for the love of Christ there is no distance. However, if, God forbid, there is no love between spouses, then even if they are close, they can, in fact, be far from each other. Therefore, each spouse must try throughout his life to maintain love for the other, sacrificing himself for his sake.

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets

Let us not be careless about those who live with us, because the gravest punishment and unspeakable torment are in store for those who neglect their family.
In marriage, one must sacrifice everything and endure everything in order to preserve mutual love; if it is lost, everything is lost. True wealth and the greatest happiness is when a husband and wife do not disagree with each other, they are united with each other as one flesh. Such spouses, even if they lived poorly and were ignorant, can be the happiest of all, because they enjoy true happiness and live in constant peace.
Value unanimity in the family above all else and do everything in this way and strive to ensure that peace and silence are constantly preserved in the marriage. Then the children will imitate the virtues of their parents, and virtue will flourish throughout the house, and there will be prosperity in all matters.

Saint John Chrysostom

You can't live even a minute without a crown. Don't have abortions. It will be terrible to answer before the Living God for violating the holy commandment of God: “Thou shalt not kill!”
Having casual relationships is harmful to the soul and physical body.

Elder Nikolai Guryanov

You must always understand why the Lord united you in marriage, crowning you into one flesh: it is you who must continually, with your combined strength, achieve the Kingdom of God. If God gives children, we should also educate them and prepare them especially for the inheritance of eternal blessings, for temporary blessings are deceptive, short-lived and do not constitute the goal of our life; Christians are promised imperishable, spiritual, eternal benefits; stimulate one another to the love of God and heavenly blessings and love for your neighbor. Always keeping in mind the Heavenly Fatherland, you must consider yourself strangers and strangers on earth; value time and use it for deeds of righteousness, and not for empty, vain and sinful deeds; Consider every day a great gift of God’s mercy, given to us for our conversion to God, for correction, for confirmation and improvement in virtue, for the salvation of the soul.
If you live in mutual love, you will bring down God’s grace on yourself and your descendants - and God will dwell in you and crown all your undertakings and deeds with blessed success: for where there is love, there is God, and where God is, there is all that is good. With love, peace and tranquility will be established in your home, for love is long-suffering and covers everything and does not allow a person to become irritated, angry, capricious, or offend in word or deed.

Saint righteous John Kronstadt

How modest, how unnoticeable to the world the feat of an honest marriage seems... Just two people, husband and wife, loving friend friend and praying together in front of home icons - what significance can this have, how can they help people, the fatherland, humanity? But then, unexpectedly for everyone, powerful deep rivers, transforming and sanctifying the world.
An honest marriage is a Christian feat. Through the trials of everyday work and long separations, wealth and poverty, honor and humiliation, the passions of youth and the infirmities of old age, righteous spouses grow in their purity mutual love, sealed with love for the Almighty. The Venerable Gregory of Constantinople, to whom was shown a vision of the future Last Judgment of sinners and Heavenly reward for the righteous, also saw the triumph of the saints married couples: The Lord called a regiment, very beautiful: their faces were like the color of a rose, their clothes were like snow from petals. These are husbands and wives who lived honestly in marriage. They diligently visited the temples of God, fervently prayed to God and did deeds of mercy. The Lord graciously received them and kindled them, saying: “Come, My beloved, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” So dear in the eyes of the Almighty is the feat of an honest Christian marriage, multiplying holy love in the world, raising children in purity and piety, leading new generations to better things.
The feat of creating a small home church is now one of the most important, perhaps the most important, for Orthodox laity. No external high-profile deeds: neither charity, nor almsgiving, nor political “patriotism” can replace this quiet, vital work for the entire Russian Church. According to the apostolic word, the faithful must be able to love the person whom he sees every day, otherwise he lies when he says that he loves the Invisible God. Without living, God-commanded love for the closest and dearest people, the performance of church rituals, fasting, prayers, and high spiritual impulses will remain empty pharisaism, a lie. In the name of saving their own souls and the souls of their neighbors, in the name of saving the Motherland, Orthodox spouses are called upon to accomplish the feat of an honest marriage. One must cherish the treasure of one's home like the apple of one's eye. One must do this with all the power of humble and merciful love. The destruction of a home church is a desecration of the temple of God. Not only should we not allow a breakup, but also the death of mutual feelings. You need to awaken your soul to each other, learn through all the layers, shortcomings, even vices to see again and again the saint and beautiful image God's.
Let us remember that the souls of all of us are crippled by the evil science of a spiritless society, and let us be merciful and learn to understand, endure and heal the infirmities of our loved ones. Two lovers are called upon not to judge and execute each other, but to help the beloved free himself from the nets with which universal malice has entangled him, and to shine in Divine beauty.
We must remember that every person is a wonderful creation of the Almighty, you need to be able to admire him and elevate him with merciful love. Marital service is difficult; it often requires great patience, meekness, and self-sacrifice. But this work is rewarded handsomely. In the midst of worldly malice it is almost impossible to stand alone. (The Lord calls few to direct service to Himself, to the monastic path, and without a calling from above, a person cannot take up this heaviest cross - he will only strain his spiritual strength.) The sacred union of the two is a solid support on life’s road to Heaven for loving spouses. So, under the chilling winds of the world, a person comes out dressed in the warmth of the family hearth, and returns from the muddy sea of ​​life to the home island of grace, and his strength in enduring troubles and sorrows is doubled. Good for the one whose house has become small church under the protection of the Almighty and All-Merciful Creator!
You must also remember that breaking or distorting a marriage is a betrayal of the person entrusted to you by God. The Sacrament of Marriage also contains the greatest responsibility. At the Last Judgment of the Lord, the one who was concerned only with himself or with external affairs and neglected the soul of himself loved one, will hear the question once addressed by God to the fratricide Cain: “Where is your brother? Where is your sister? A warped marriage means crippled children's souls.

Archbishop of Tashkent and Central Asia Vladimir (Ikim)

During a wedding, they drink from a common cup: wine mixed with water and drunk to the bottom. Wine - joy life together, water (and more of it) - common sorrows, troubles and pains...
There will be roses only at the beginning of the journey, and thorns (no family can avoid them) will appear later. But their number and severity will depend on your wisdom, and most importantly, love. If your feelings include the apostolic definition of love, then you will not be far from happiness.

Archimandrite John (Peasant)

If the husband and wife are of the same equal and good nature, then the marriage will be prosperous and wonderful, for they will always have like-mindedness, harmony and peace, which is what great prosperity consists of... But since Satan, the enemy of human souls, even in good-willed people the union of love and harmony tries break, then the husband and wife should be lenient towards each other in the event of infirmities, and endure each other with love, and then harmony and peace will be preserved.
We see in stories that many wives corrupted their husbands and led them to destruction. Therefore, husbands should not give their wives any slack and allow them to do whatever they want, but should restrain the desire of their disorderly whims, so as not to suffer like others. The serpent approached Eve and deceived her. Eve, being deceived, deceived Adam and led him to destruction. This is how it happens now. The same ancient serpent approaches a wife, seduces her, and through the wife draws her husband to lawless deeds. Husband, be careful and do not follow your wife’s will and advice in everything, so that she does not begin to possess you and lead you where she wants. Eva always has her own character. Love her until God is disgusted. Let her, according to the apostolic word, fear you, and not you her, and let her obey you, and not you obey her.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk

The main misconception regarding family life today is that everyone is looking for and expecting happiness from family life as something ready-made that they must certainly find without work or effort. But there is no such ready-made happiness of any kind or anywhere on our earth: here everything is obtained through labor.
Imagining that happy choice the party is guaranteed forever family happiness and that it is strengthened by the first inclination, many spouses now lose sight of the fact that at the first time of marriage they do not yet know each other as they should, or even themselves in their new position. Only standing close to each other, as spouses stand, and only over time can they study each other’s way of thinking, tastes, inclinations, habits, and, to the surprise of many, in the chosen ones of the heart, along with the virtues that attracted love, significant shortcomings are also revealed.
The discovery of shortcomings, unexpected thoughts, desires and demands sometimes strike both spouses as something extraordinary, dangerous for happiness and proof of a mistake made in the choice. With the further discovery of shortcomings, this idea is confirmed, and multiplying clashes, disputes and disagreements with a lack of self-observation and condescension towards each other are taken as proof that happiness is flying away, that the marriage has failed, that it is impossible to live together, that it is necessary to separate. Meanwhile, the rules of Christian life required both spouses, while grateful to God for the virtues found in each other, to be on guard and wait for the discovery of shortcomings as an inevitable part of every person; study them, treat them with all the condescension that mutual love requires, and accept with meekness and patience the correction of each other.

Ambrose (Klyucharyov), Archbishop of Kharkov

In family life, everyone must forget themselves completely, think only about others - this attitude of family members towards each other binds the family together so that they all feel that it is impossible for each of them to live without the others.
The groom, wise from experience, tries to treat himself as strictly as possible, and to new friend life more carefully, and if you notice some shortcomings in the bride, then attribute them not to her, but to her parents, and try to cover everything with love. Seeing the love and disposition of her husband, in turn, the wife tries to repay the same and, noticing the roughness of her husband’s character, the wife, not wise with experience, covering everything with love, quietly tries to correct these shortcomings, roughness and acts as a leader of the heart very skillfully, and through this mutual loving relationship two beings, perhaps at first and completely opposite friend each other, become closer and closer and live to the point where one heart and one spirit are formed.

Holy Righteous Alexy Mechev

The spirit of obvious or secret pride and vanity possesses us, so that almost each of us thinks a lot and highly of himself and little and lowly of others... Elevating, praising ourselves and humiliating, despising our neighbors, will we humbly serve them? Hence, in family and society, instead of love, harmony and mutual services, mutual intransigence, mutual hostility, envy and hatred of each other, quarrels, strife, and discord reign.

Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov)

The Christian family is a container of love. Love requires continuous and the most tender, meek, dispassionate, enthusiastic relationships. But they are unattainable, like heaven, for those who have not risen to the level of obedience in the ladder of spiritual ascent.

Archpriest Valentin Amfitheatrov

For home life you need to have a gentle character, not be a formalist and make constant mutual concessions. There is no need to be very persistent in your views and dispositions, especially in small things, because small things fill most our life. You must always be prepared to make small sacrifices for your spouse. A good mood is the clean, clear, smokeless air of family life. It's hard for everyone to breathe bad mood and a grouchy, picky, intolerant, demanding and boring character.

Theologian Herman Shimansky

The legitimate purpose of union with a woman should be the birth and raising of children. When a person entering into marriage has only sensual pleasures in mind, and strives only to please the lusts of his flesh, then he is deeply mistaken and by such a union with a woman he introduces disorder into life relationships, the bad consequences of which quite naturally respond to himself and his offspring.

Reverend Maxim Confessor

The form of the bishop’s betrothal blessing, as the text of one of the ancient liturgies conveys it to us, was simple and contained a brief prayerful wish: “O Lord, bless this ring... for just as it crowns a person’s finger... so may the grace of the Holy Spirit surround bride and groom, so that they may see sons and daughters to the third and fourth generation, who will praise Your name." This blessing reveals the essence of Christian marriage: the spiritualization of sensual love, the invocation of God's help, strengthening the joint introduction into life of good, saving principles of morality and the continuation of these spiritual principles in posterity.
...The rings on their hands testify that from now on the Lord is with them to establish them as a “fortified city and a pillar of iron” and to remind them of “the friendship of youth, of love” and their desire to “be holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of His fruits” (Jer. 1, 18; 2, 3). They are given zeal for glorious deeds, for the testimony of truth, for the reception of God’s bounties, for God’s blessing is omnipotent: “The Lord watches over His word, so that it may soon be fulfilled” (Jer. 1:12). This is the guarantee of the strength of their life together and its meaning; This is the secret of preserving mutual love, unfading in time. God sends an Angel to walk before them and lead them to the Kingdom of Heaven. To discover for themselves this Kingdom, which, according to the word of Christ, “is within you” - inside their joint love - is helped by the prayers and blessing of the Church taught to them during the wedding ceremony.

Archpriest Gennady Nefedov

How happy is a home where everyone - children and parents, without a single exception - believes in God together. In such a house there is a joy of camaraderie. Such a house is like the threshold of Heaven. There can never be alienation in it.
After marriage, the first and main responsibilities the husband - in relation to his wife, and the wife - in relation to her husband. The two of them must live for each other, give their lives for each other. Before, everyone was imperfect. Marriage is the joining of two halves into a single whole. Two lives are bound together in such a close union that they are no longer two lives, but one. Each person has a sacred responsibility for the happiness and highest good of the other until the end of his life.
Wedding day should always be remembered and highlighted especially among other important dates in life. This is a day whose light will illuminate all other days for the rest of your life. The joy of marriage is not stormy, but deep and calm. Over the wedding altar, when hands are joined and holy vows are pronounced, angels bow and quietly sing their songs, and then they overshadow happy couple with their wings when their journey together in life begins.
The first lesson to be learned and executed is patience. At the beginning of family life, both the advantages of character and disposition are revealed, as well as the shortcomings and peculiarities of habits, taste, and temperament, which the other half did not even suspect. Sometimes it seems that it is impossible to get used to each other, that there will be eternal and hopeless conflicts, but patience and love overcome everything, and two lives merge into one, more noble, stronger, fuller, richer, and this life will continue in peace and quiet.
The duty in the family is selfless love. Everyone must forget his own self, devoting himself to another. Everyone should blame themselves and not others when things go wrong. Endurance and patience are required, but impatience can ruin everything. A harsh word can slow down the merging of souls for months. On both sides there must be a desire to make the marriage happy and overcome everything that interferes with this. The most strong love Most of all, it needs daily strengthening. Most of all, rudeness is unforgivable in our own home, towards those we love.
Another secret of happiness in family life is attention to each other. Husband and wife should constantly show each other signs of the most tender attention and love. The happiness of life is made up of individual minutes, of small, quickly forgotten pleasures from a kiss, a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment and countless small but kind thoughts and sincere feelings. Love also needs its daily bread.
Another important element in family life is unity of interests. Nothing a wife cares about should seem too small, even for the gigantic intellect of the greatest of husbands. On the other hand, every wise and faithful wife will willingly take an interest in the affairs of her husband. She will want to know about his every new project, plan, difficulty, doubt. She will want to know which of his endeavors have succeeded and which have not, and be aware of all his daily activities. Let both hearts share both joy and suffering. Let them share the burden of worries in half. Let everything in their life be common. They should go to church together, pray side by side, together bring to the feet of God the burden of caring for their children and everything dear to them. Why don't they talk to each other about their temptations, doubts, secret desires and help each other with sympathy and words of encouragement. So they will live one life, not two. Everyone, in their plans and hopes, must definitely think about the other. There should be no secrets from each other. They should only have mutual friends. Thus, two lives will merge into one life, and they will share each other’s thoughts, desires, feelings, joy, grief, pleasure, and pain.
Be afraid of the slightest beginning of misunderstanding or alienation. Instead of holding back, a stupid, careless word is uttered - and between the two hearts, which before were one whole, a small crack appears, it widens and widens until they find themselves forever torn from each other. Did you say something in a hurry? Ask for forgiveness immediately. Do you have any misunderstanding? No matter whose fault it is, don't let him stay between you for an hour. Refrain from quarreling. Don't go to bed harboring feelings of anger in your soul. There should be no place for pride in family life. You should never indulge your sense of offended pride and scrupulously calculate who exactly should ask for forgiveness. Those who truly love do not engage in such casuistry; they are always ready to give in and apologize.
Without God's blessing, without His sanctification of marriage, all congratulations and good wishes friends will be an empty phrase. Without His daily blessing of family life, even the most tender and true love will not be able to give everything that a thirsty heart needs. Without Heaven's blessing, all the beauty, joy, and value of family life can be destroyed at any moment.
One word covers everything - the word "love". The word “love” contains a whole volume of thoughts about life and duty, and when we study it closely and carefully, each of them appears clearly and distinctly.
It is necessary that the husband’s hands, inspired by love, be able to do everything. Every loving husband must have a big heart. Many sufferers must find help in real family. Every husband of a Christian wife should unite with her in the love of Christ. Out of love for her, he will go through tests of faith. Sharing her life, filled with faith and prayers, he will connect his life with Heaven. United on earth by a common faith in Christ, refining their mutual love into love for God, they will be eternally united in Heaven. Why do hearts on earth spend years merging into one, intertwining their lives, merging souls into one union, which can only be achieved beyond the grave? Why not immediately strive for eternity?
Not only the happiness of a husband’s life depends on his wife, but also the development and growth of his character. Good wife- this is a blessing from Heaven, the best gift for a husband, his angel and a source of innumerable blessings: her voice is the sweetest music for him, her smile illuminates his day, her kiss is the guardian of his fidelity, her hands are the balm of his health and his whole life, her hard work is the key to his well-being, her economy is his most reliable manager, her lips are his best adviser, her breasts are the softest pillow on which all worries are forgotten, and her prayers are his lawyer before the Lord.
A faithful wife need not be either a poet's dream or beautiful picture, nor an ephemeral creature that is scary to touch, but you need to be a healthy, strong, practical, hardworking woman, capable of fulfilling family responsibilities, and still marked by the beauty that a high and noble goal gives to the soul.
The first requirement for a wife is fidelity, fidelity in the very in a broad sense. Her husband's heart must be trusted to her without fear. Absolute trust is the basis true love. A shadow of doubt destroys the harmony of family life. A faithful wife, by her character and behavior, proves that she is worthy of her husband’s trust. He is confident in her love, he knows that her heart is invariably devoted to him. He knows that she has his best interests at heart. It is very important that a husband can trust his faithful wife to handle all household chores, knowing that everything will be in order. The extravagance and extravagance of wives have destroyed the happiness of many married couples.
A woman is endowed with the gift of sympathy, delicacy, and the ability to inspire. This makes her seem like a messenger of Christ with a mission to alleviate human suffering and sorrow.
If knowledge is the strength of a man, then gentleness is the strength of a woman. Heaven always blesses the home of the one who lives for good. A devoted wife places her fullest trust in her husband. She doesn't hide anything from him. She does not listen to words of admiration from others that she cannot convey to him. She shares with him every feeling, hope, desire, every joy or sorrow. When she feels disappointed or insulted, she may be tempted to seek sympathy by telling close friends about her feelings.
The main center of any person's life should be his home. This is the place where children grow - grow physically, improve their health and absorb everything that will make them true and noble men and women. In a home where children grow up, everything around them and everything that happens affects them, and even the smallest detail can have a wonderful or harmful effect. Even the nature around them shapes their future character. Everything beautiful that children's eyes see is imprinted on their sensitive hearts. Wherever a child is raised, his character is influenced by the impressions of the place where he grew up. We must make the rooms in which our children will sleep, play, and live as beautiful as our means allow. Children love paintings, and if the paintings in the house are clean and good, they have a wonderful effect on them, making them more refined. But the house itself, clean, tastefully decorated, with simple decorations and with a pleasant surrounding view, has an invaluable influence on raising children.
Great art is to live together, loving each other tenderly. This must start with the parents themselves. Each house is similar to its creators. A refined nature makes a house refined, a rude person makes a house rude.
There cannot be deep and sincere love where selfishness rules. Perfect love is perfect self-denial.
Parents should be what they want their children to be - not in words, but in deeds. They must teach their children by the example of their lives. Another important element of family life is the relationship of love towards each other; not just love, but cultivated love in the daily life of the family, the expression of love in words and deeds. Courtesy in the house is not formal, but sincere and natural. Children need joy and happiness no less than plants need air and sunlight. The richest legacy that parents can leave to their children is happy childhood, with tender memories of his father and mother. It will illuminate the coming days, will protect them from temptations and will help in harsh everyday life life when children leave their parents' home.

Passion-bearer Queen Alexandra (Romanova)

St. Apostle Paul(1 Corinthians 13:4)
“Love is long-suffering, merciful, love does not envy, love is not arrogant, is not proud, does not act outrageously, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth: it loves everything, it believes everything, it trusts everything. endures. Love never fails."

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
And it will be revealed at the Last Judgment that the only meaning of life on earth was LOVE!

It is love - neither faith, nor dogma, nor mysticism, nor asceticism, nor fasting, nor long prayers that constitute the true image of a Christian. Everything loses its power if there is no main thing - love for a person.

Archimandrite Rafail Karelin
When the Lord allows you to experience love, you understand that it exists. true life, and the rest is a gray dream. Only love makes life deep, only love makes a person wise, only love gives strength to bear suffering with joy, only love is ready to suffer for others.

Saint Nicholas of Serbia
When love rushes towards love, everything loses its meaning. Time and space give way to love.

Saint Nicholas of Serbia
“The one who truly loves you is the one who secretly prays to God for you.”

Venerable Sergius of Radonezh
“Take heed to yourselves, brothers. First have the fear of God, spiritual purity and unfeigned love.”

Monk Simeon of Athos
“Casting bells and gilding the domes of churches is good, but this is still far from Love.
Building temples and erecting monasteries is even better, and this is not far from Love.
Comforting children, the elderly, the sick and prisoners is very close to true Love.
Helping at least one suffering person throughout your life is true Love.”

You must have love, and love with wings: on the one hand - humility, and on the other - alms and all condescension towards your neighbor.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
To love means to stop seeing yourself as the center and purpose of existence. To love means to see another person and say: for me he is more precious than myself.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
“If a person carries great love within himself, this love inspires, and that’s all life trials are transferred with greater ease, since a person carries within himself a great light. This is faith: being loved by God and allowing God to love you in Christ Jesus.”

About life

Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky)
“I fell in love with suffering, which so amazingly cleanses the soul. For I must testify to you that when I walked along a very difficult path, when I bore the heavy burden of Christ, it was not at all heavy, and this path was a joyful path, because I felt quite realistically, quite tangibly, that the Lord Himself was walking next to me. Jesus Christ is the one who upholds my burden and my cross.”

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova
“Life is too short to waste it fighting and quarreling, especially within the sacred circle of family.”

Venerable Ambrose of Optina
Each of us should take more care of himself, about his soul and about his own spiritual benefit, because, according to the word of the Apostle, each of us will give a word about himself to God. Our confusion stems from the fact that we are increasingly inclined to reason with others and try not only to convince, but also to dissuade and prove with various arguments.

Monk Simeon of Athos
“The true door is always open, but people fight against the doors they themselves painted on the wall.”

Venerable Seraphim of Sarov
“You need to remove despondency from yourself and try to have a joyful spirit, not a sad one.”

Venerable Ambrose of Optina
Living simpler is best. Don't break your head. Pray to God. The Lord will arrange everything. Don't torture yourself thinking about how and what to do. Let it happen as it happens - this is living easier.

The Lord does not pit us against people in vain. We all treat the people we meet in life with indifference, without attention, and yet the Lord brings a person to you so that you give him what he does not have. I would help him not only materially, but also spiritually: he taught him love, humility, meekness - in a word, he attracted him to Christ by his example.
If you refuse him, do not serve him in anything, then remember that he will still not be deprived of it. The Lord gives you an opportunity to do good, to draw closer to God. If you don’t want it, He will find another person who will give the one who demands what he deserves and needs.

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets
When a person condemns, he drives away the grace of God from himself, becomes defenseless and therefore cannot correct himself.

When you go to visit one of your relatives or friends, go not to have good food and drink, but to share a friendly conversation with them, to revive your soul from the vanity of everyday life with a conversation of love and sincere friendship, to be comforted by the common faith.

About attitude towards one's neighbor

Archimandrite John Krestyankin
May every person whom the Lord sends to you today life path, will become the most important, dearest and closest to you. Warm his soul!

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Accustom yourself, when you first look at a person, to always wish him well from the bottom of your heart.

Saint Nicholas of Serbia
If you can help a person - help, if you can’t help - pray, if you don’t know how to pray - think well of the person! And this will already be a help, because bright thoughts are also a weapon!

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt
When in your eyes people fall into various sins against you, against the Lord, against their neighbors and against themselves, do not be angry with them, for even without you there is a lot of evil in the world, but pity them from the heart and forgive them when they offend you , saying to himself: Lord! let them go, for they are confused by sin, they do not know what they are doing.

Venerable Ambrose of Optina
“...It is necessary to adhere to the advice of Saint Isaac the Syrian: “try not to see a person’s malice.” This is spiritual purity.”

Venerable Silouan of Athos
“I never come to people without praying for them.”

Holy Righteous Alexy Mechev
Try to do good to everyone, whatever and whenever you can, without thinking about whether he will appreciate it or not, whether he will or will not be grateful to you.

About marriage and family

Saint John Chrysostom
“A wife is a haven and the most important cure for mental disorder. If you keep this pier free from winds and waves, you will find great peace in it, but if you disturb and agitate it, then you are preparing for yourself the most dangerous shipwreck.”

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
“If you let God be the master of the house, the house becomes a paradise.”

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt
A child whose parents and neighbors have not warmed him (with love) to the root of his soul, to the roots of all his feelings, will remain dead in spirit to God and good deeds.

Priest Alexander Elchaninov
Every day, a husband and wife should be new and unusual for each other. The only way for this is to deepen the spiritual life of everyone, Full time job above oneself.

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets
The greatest treasure for people living in the world is parental blessing.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
If you want your children to be pious and kind, be pious and kind yourself, and set yourself as an example to them.

Saint John Chrysostom
No matter how irritated you are, never reproach your spouse for the damage you have suffered, because he himself is your best asset.

Saint Theophan the Recluse
As much as someone loves their parents, so much will they be loved and respected by their children when God sends them.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
Children look more at the lives of their parents and reflect it in their young souls than listen to their words.

Saint John Chrysostom
Do you want your wife to obey you as the Church obeys Christ? Take care of her yourself, as Christ takes care of the Church.

Saint Gregory the Theologian
If you have an unbridled tongue, you will always be hated by your husband. An insolent tongue has often caused harm to the innocent. It is better to remain silent when the matter itself calls for a word, than to speak when the time does not allow room for an immodest word.

About God and knowledge of God

Elder Ephraim Svyatogorets
The purpose of prayer is to unite a person with God, to bring Christ into the heart of a person. Where the action of prayer is, there is Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit - the consubstantial and indivisible Holy Trinity. Where Christ is the Light of the world, there eternal light world: there is peace and joy, there are angels and saints, there is the joy of the Kingdom.
Blessed are those who have clothed themselves with the Light of the world—in Christ—back in real life, because they have already begun to wear incorruptible clothing...

St. John Chrysostom
Listen to God in the commandments so that He can hear you in your prayers.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
“God always approaches us, He is always close, but we feel Him only with a loving and humble heart. We have a spark of love, but there is very little humility.”

Saint Nicholas of Serbia
For spiritual person There are three windows in heaven: the first is open to a believing mind, the second is open to a trusting heart, the third is open to a loving soul. Anyone who looks out of only one window will see only a third of the sky. Whoever looks at three at once, the whole sky is open to him. Saint Barbara cut three windows in the tower in which her pagan father imprisoned her, so that she could confess her faith in the Holy Trinity. To see the Divine Trinity in Her Unity, we must recognize ourselves as a trinity in unity. For only the Trinity can contemplate the Trinity.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
“In the Old Testament, to see God was to die; in the New Testament, meeting God means life.”

“What a bridle is to a horse, so is work to our nature. God gave you hands not so that you could accept from others, but so that you could work and give to those in need.” (St. John Chrysostom)

* * *

“He who is busy with work will not soon allow anything unnecessary in deeds, and in words, and in thought, since his whole soul is completely devoted to a hard-working life” (John Chrysostom)

“Bodily fasting alone is not enough to achieve perfect purity of chastity; it must be surpassed by repentant contrition of spirit and persistent prayer against it unclean spirit; then constant teaching in the Scriptures combined with mental work, also physical labor and handicrafts” (Cassian Roman)

* * *

“True work cannot be without humility, for work in itself is vanity and is not counted as anything” (Reverend Barsanuphius the Great)

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“Let us not be ashamed of crafts and let us consider it dishonor not work, but idleness and idleness” (John Chrysostom)

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“The intention of piety should not serve as an excuse for laziness and escape from work, but as an incentive to even greater work” (St. Basil the Great)

* * *

“There has never been a single person who, without difficulty, anxiety and severe embarrassment, reached the Kingdom of God.” (St. Theophan the Recluse)

* * *

“Our life is fraught with work, since without work we usually become corrupted. Our nature cannot remain idle, otherwise it easily leans toward evil.” (St. John Chrysostom)

* * *

“Bodily labors are instruments of virtue and are saving for the soul.” (St. Anthony the Great)

* * *

“Bodily labor brings purity of heart, and purity of heart makes the soul bear fruit.” (St. Anthony the Great)

* * *

“Whoever runs to God and asks for His help in any work will find peace in work.” (St. Isaiah the Hermit)

* * *

“He who does not rely on his own labors feels God’s help the most.” (St. Isaiah the Hermit)

* * *

“Whoever talks idlely while doing something has fun while doing it, and whoever immerses his thoughts in the holy word will accomplish more.” (St. Ephraim the Syrian)

* * *

“Try to finish your day's work on the appointed day, and the mind, unfettered by care and sadness, will have free time for prayer."
(St. Ephraim the Syrian)

* * *

“If you go out with your brothers to share, then, to the extent of the strength given to you by the Lord, help the weaker, knowing that you will receive a reward from the Lord for your work and compassion. If you are weak and weak, then do not talk much, give orders and take liberties, but rather remain silent and silent, and the Lord, seeing your humility, will convince the heart of your brethren not to place a burden on you.” (St. Ephraim the Syrian)

* * *

“One should not shy away from work; on the contrary, if brother helps brother, then they will be elusive in the devil’s snares.” (St. Ephraim the Syrian)

* * *

“Whoever does not like to work, through inaction, feeds passions and gives freedom to desires to rush towards objects related to them, which is especially revealed during prayer; for then the attention of the mind is completely absorbed in what the heart is occupied with, and all it does is think through what is suggested by passion, instead of talking with God and asking Him for what is useful for itself.

Business is an anchor for thought and gives it a safe direction. Even though storms are approaching from everywhere and gusts of wind threaten destruction, thought stands steadily, held by action like an anchor; She is somewhat worried by rising thoughts, but is not carried away into danger, because the bonds that hold her are stronger than the winds that drive her. (St. Neil of Sinai)

* * *

“When praying, work is required from a strong body; without it, the heart will not be broken, prayer will be powerless and untrue.” (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov)

* * *

“We must first put in the work and sweat, then the fruits will begin to show. But the urgent condition is not to feel sorry for yourself (not to feel sorry for yourself does not mean heaping mountains on yourself.” (St. Theophan the Recluse)

* * *

* * *

Life is work; labor is life. Moderate physical labor is very useful in cultivating virtues, but vices proliferate from inaction. (Abba Isaiah)

* * *

“To feed ourselves, let us work in trust in God. Do not mourn the work; many, doing nothing, were burdened by self-carelessness.” (St. Ephraim the Syrian)

* * *

* * *

“Get your daily food not with hidden money, but with your own labor.” (St. John Cassian)

* * *

“You are no better than Paul, no better than Peter, who never had peace, but spent their whole lives in hunger, thirst and nakedness. If you want to get what they get, then go the narrow way.” (St. John Chrysostom)

* * *

“He who does not have extra time is hardworking.” (St. Nilus of Sinai)

* * *

“Poverty is like a courier: it soon overtakes the lazy.” (Prov. 6, 11)

* * *

“Know that if, being healthy, you live at someone else’s expense, then you are eating up the property of the poor and weak.” (St. Gregory the Theologian)

* * *

“Do the works of your ministry gracefully and carefully, as if you were serving Christ.” (ancient monastic regulations)

* * *

“Just as fresh waters, turning into stagnant waters, spoil, so the human soul and body spoil from idleness. He who lives in idleness sins continually.” (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

* * *

“A lazy and idle life is the same as an idle and uncultivated field, on which nothing grows except worthless herbs.” (Filaret Archbishop of Chernigov)

* * *

“To eat your bread by the sweat of your brow is God’s penance.” (St. Theophan the Recluse)

* * *

“When you get up in the morning, say to yourself: “Work your body to feed you; Be sober, soul, that you may inherit the Kingdom.” (St. Basil the Great)

* * *

* * *

“Jesus Christ bore bodily labor, the Apostle Paul labored continuously, and for everyone piety should be considered not a reason for inaction, but an incentive to greater labor.” (St. Basil the Great)

* * *

“The apostle commands that one should work, and that he who does not work should not even eat.” (ancient monastic regulations)

* * *

* * *

“The present life is all given to labors and exploits, and the future is given to crowns and rewards.” (ancient monastic regulations)

* * *

“We must do every deed as if it were being done in the sight of the Lord, and formulate every thought as if the Lord were watching it.” (ancient monastic regulations)

* * *

“The apostle teaches to live quietly, in one’s place, not to be curious about rumors and the fables of everyday life, to correct oneself more, to work with one’s own hands, not to desire gifts and alms, to withdraw from disorderly people.” (St. John Cassian)

* * *

“Work and prayer, prayer and work—this is the most proper and best use of the time God gives us daily.”

* * *

“According to the commandment of God, set aside one day out of the week for complete service to God; on the rest of the days, try to devote at least certain hours from your work and activities and devote them to prayerful conversation with God, mainly and certainly in the morning, after rising from sleep, and in the evening, before going to bed.” (St. John Chrysostom).

* * *

“If you stretch out your hand to work, then let your tongue sing and your mind pray; for God requires that we always remember Him.” (St. Nilus of Sinai)

* * *

“Life is work; work is life." (Abba Isaiah)

* * *

“Moderate physical labor is very useful in cultivating virtues, but vices proliferate from inaction.” (Abba Isaiah)

* * *

“The Angel of the Lord himself taught to alternate prayer with difficulty.” (St. Anthony the Great)

* * *

“He who lives in idleness sins continually.” (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

* * *

“Whoever is able should work and share with those in need. For whoever does not want to work is not considered worthy to eat.” (St. Basil the Great)

* * *

“Man, imitate the earth, bear fruit for others, as the earth bears for you.” (St. Basil the Great)

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“You should not eat bread in idleness, because you are able to work.” (ancient monastic regulations)

“Lord, help you to be greatly strengthened by His spirit, and you need to take care of this, and if you are ill, if you are not collected within yourself, and when you are sick, turn to the Lord. This cannot be obtained on your own; but it doesn’t come without difficulty. From there and from here it is necessary, but it is necessary. First, God created light, and then gathered it into luminaries. So it is with us. There is goodness, but it is scattered or spilled. We need to bring everything into one. And, it seems, the soul asks for this... but it doesn’t guess. And most importantly, there is self-pity. Lord have mercy on us! Without labor and self-compulsion we will not succeed in anything. Even just a little bit, you have to force yourself, even if just by a hair's breadth. When there is zeal and zeal, everything will go well. But true jealousy is merciless towards itself. Is there more to it and is the foundation good? - The foundation is here: a deep feeling of sinfulness and irresponsibility before God. All hope then is the Savior; - and hence the incessant: Lord have mercy!” (St. Theophan the Recluse)

Orthodox faith lamps,
monasticism and unshakable pillars,
Russian lands of consolation,
venerable elders of Optinstia,
having acquired the love of Christ and the soul
who considered their own for their children...

• If you ever show mercy to anyone, you will receive mercy for that.

• The Pharisee prayed and fasted more than ours, but without humility all his work was nothing, and therefore be most jealous of the publican’s humility, which is usually born from obedience and is sufficient for you.
• Moreover, it was noted by the holy fathers that when a person prepares to receive the Holy Mysteries or expects to celebrate some holiday, the devil tries with all his might to annoy the person and thereby confuse his soul, so that that day would be spent not in joy in the Lord, but in demonic sorrow . The reasons for his attack on us are different, but the most important one is the condemnation of our neighbors, which sin, and in addition to fornication and other temptations, defiles not just the body, but also our very soul.
• Peace of mind is acquired from complete devotion to the will of God, without which nothing would happen to us. And if your husband really was not good, then ask yourself in conscience before God: “Am I, a sinner, worthy of a good and kind husband?” And your conscience will certainly say that you are absolutely not worth anything good, and then in humility of heart, with submission to the will of God, you will love him from your heart and find a lot of good things that you have not seen before.

• One passion reproaches another: where there is self-love, there the love of money gives way, and vice versa happens. And we know that all vices sometimes leave a person, but one remains with him - pride, which is content to replace the others.
• But we should not dare to accuse someone who insults us, even if the insult may seem wrong, but consider him an instrument of God’s Providence, sent to show us our dispensation.
• And no one can offend us or annoy us, unless the Lord allows this to be for our benefit, or for punishment, or for testing and correction.

• If you pacify your own heart towards someone who is angry with you, then the Lord will tell his heart to be reconciled with you.
• Every task must begin by invoking the name of God for help.

• If you want to have love, then do things of love, even without love at first.
• We must live on earth the way a wheel turns: only one point touches the ground, and the rest constantly strives upward; And once we lie down on the ground, we can’t get up.
• Living simpler is best. Don't break your head. Pray to God. The Lord will arrange everything, just live easier. Don't torture yourself thinking about how and what to do. Let it be - as it happens: this is living easier.
• The asked cross is difficult to bear, but it is better to simply surrender to the will of God.
• Whoever has a bad heart should not despair, because with God's help a person can fix his heart. You just need to carefully monitor yourself and not miss the opportunity to be useful to your neighbors, often open up to the elder and give alms within your power. This, of course, cannot be done suddenly, but the Lord is patient. He only ends a person’s life when he sees him ready for the transition to eternity or when he sees no hope for his correction.
• Before the judgment of God, it is not the characters that matter, but the direction of the will. Know that characters matter only in human judgment and therefore are either praised or blamed; but at the judgment of God, characters, as natural properties, are neither approved nor condemned. The Lord looks on good intentions and compulsion to goodness and values ​​resistance to passions, even if a person is sometimes overcome by weakness due to something. And again, there is only One who judges negligence in this regard, knowing the secret heart and conscience of a person, and his natural power for good, and the circumstances surrounding him.

• If you see a mistake in your neighbor that you would like to correct, if it disturbs your peace of mind and irritates you, then you also sin and, therefore, you will not correct the mistake with an error - it is corrected with meekness.
• And it is useful for us when we are pushed. The tree that is swayed more by the wind is strengthened by its roots, but the tree that is in silence immediately falls.
• How circumstances have worked out is how we should live, because the circumstances around us are arranged not just by chance, as many of our modern, new-fangled wise men think, but everything is done to us by the Providence of God, constantly caring for our spiritual salvation.
• We ourselves increase our sorrows when we begin to grumble.
• Have what you need and need, but don’t collect what is superfluous, and if you don’t have and you grieve, then what’s the point? - Better stay in the middle.
• What works most powerfully in a person is contradiction. At will, a person will sometimes do something difficult, but if you tell him something easy to do, he will immediately become upset. And we must obey.
• Just as one should not seek honor, so those living in society should not renounce it for the benefit of others. The honor imposed is also from God.
• To everyone, that act of his neighbor seems great, which exposes him to something.

• Let us humble ourselves, and the Lord will cover us, and we will be holy. Until we humble ourselves and appease God, even if we break our foreheads on the floor with bows, our passions will not diminish.
• Be patient with everything - you will be peaceful yourself, and you will bring peace to others! And if you start to reckon with it, you will lose the world, and with it salvation.
• I’m telling you a secret, I’m telling you the best way to find humility. This is what it is: endure any pain that pricks a proud heart.
• Without winter there would be no spring, without spring there would be no summer. So it is in spiritual life: a little consolation, and then a little sorrow - and so little by little the path of salvation is formed.
• Let us accept everything from the hand of God. If it consoles us, we will thank you. And if it doesn’t console us, let us thank you.
• Learn to be meek and silent, and you will be loved by everyone. And open feelings are like opening gates: both the dog and the cat run there... and they shit.
• We are obliged to love everyone, but we do not dare demand that they love us.

• A sure sign of the death of the soul is avoidance of church services. A person who grows cold towards God first of all begins to avoid going to church, first tries to come to the service later, and then completely stops visiting the temple of God.
• The Lord puts each soul in such a position, surrounds it with such an environment that is most conducive to its prosperity.
• Our whole life is the great mystery of God. All circumstances of life, no matter how insignificant they may seem, have great value. We will fully understand the meaning of real life in the next century. How carefully we need to treat it, but we turn over our life, like a book, sheet by sheet, without realizing what is written there. There are no accidents in life, everything happens according to the will of the Creator.
• We must remember that the Lord loves everyone and cares about everyone, but if, humanly speaking, it is dangerous to give a beggar a million so as not to ruin him, and 100 rubles can more easily put him on his feet, then all the more the Omniscient Lord knows better who gets what for good.
• The hardest thing is prayer. Every virtue from practice turns into a habit, and in prayer you need compulsion until death. Our old man resists it, and the enemy especially rises up against the one who prays.
• I hear complaints that we are now going through difficult times, that complete freedom has now been given to all heretical and godless teachings, that the Church is being attacked by enemies from all sides and people are becoming afraid for it, that these will overcome it. muddy waves unbelief and heresies. I always answer: “Don't worry! Don't be afraid for the Church! She will not perish: the gates of hell will not prevail against her until Last Judgment. Don’t be afraid for her, but you need to be afraid for yourself, and it’s true that our time is very difficult. From what? Yes, because now it is especially easy to fall away from Christ, and then - destruction.”

• They say the temple is boring. Boring because they don't understand the service! Services need to be learned! Boring because they don't care about him. So he seems not one of us, but a stranger. At least they brought flowers or greenery for decoration, if they took part in the efforts of decorating the temple - it wouldn’t be boring.
• Live simply, according to your conscience, always remember that the Lord sees, and don’t pay attention to the rest!

• The main thing is to beware of judgment from loved ones. Whenever condemnation comes to mind, immediately pay attention: “Lord, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother.”
• You cannot demand from a fly that it do the work of a bee - each person must be given according to his standards. It can't be the same for everyone.

• There has never been, is not and never will be a carefree place on earth. A sad place can only be in the heart when the Lord is in it.
• You should not seek human truth. Seek only God's truth.
• Always remember the law of spiritual life: if you are embarrassed by any shortcoming of another person and condemn him, later you will suffer the same fate and you will suffer from the same shortcoming.
• Do every task, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, carefully, as if before the face of God. Remember that the Lord sees everything.

Our reverend fathers, the elders of Optina, pray to God for us!