Orthodox faith - George Kapsanis deification. What is interesting about the Timashevsky Monastery of the Holy Spirit

Timashevsk city in Krasnodar region known for the monastery located there - the Holy Spiritual Monastery. It is located on the outskirts of the city, but even during its construction the future rector said that it would become a “center.”

Where is the Holy Spirit Monastery located on the map?

You will find it in the Southern microdistrict of Timashevsk, where Malo-Vygonnaya and Druzhby streets intersect. A branch flows nearby - Kirpiltsy.

History of the sacred place

In 1987, Father George took over the leadership of the Holy Ascension parish in Timashevsk. Then he wished to build a temple here. To do this, it was necessary to obtain territory for development. Local authorities were in no hurry to allocate land. The priest had to endure many difficulties and oppression from them.

The way out of the predicament was to purchase a house on 15 acres of marshy land. There is a legend about this hut: in the 20th century, a certain perspicacious holy fool girl living not far from it predicted the construction of a monastery on this site.

In the fall of 1991, the church was completed and consecrated in honor of the descent of the Holy Spirit. At that time, Father wanted to go to the place of his previous ministry, but God's will was different. Bishop Isidore opens a monastery here, ordains him to the rank of archimandrite and appoints him to the position of governor.

The monastery has shrines:

• reliquary with particles of 23 holy saints of God;
• list of images of St. healer Panteleimon, brought from Athos;
• icons of the Mother of God “Vladimir” and “Burning Bush”;
• a piece of Mamre oak brought from the Holy Land.

The story of the “Vladimir” icon

To Father George, when he was still serving in the Epiphany Church in the Arkhangelsk region, a parishioner brought the face of the “Vladimir Mother of God” and told the following story:

This woman's grandfather was a priest. In the 1930s, when the clergy were massively arrested and an anti-religious struggle was waged, this also affected her grandfather. One evening the commissioners came into the house and ordered him to “get ready for the road.” The priest was confused and asked for time to get ready, but he himself turned to the holy corner and began to pray. Everyone noticed how drops of tears appeared on the image of the Mother of God. The commissioner got angry, took out a revolver and started shooting at the icon, after which he shot the priest in a rage.

Relatives hid the shrine and carefully preserved it, passing it on from generation to generation. Over time, the grandmother gave it to her granddaughter, and she brought it to church. This image was brought by Archimandrite. George in the Holy Spirits monastery Timashevsk. Now it is kept in the temple altar.

About the confessor of the Timashevsky Monastery

Fr. was born. George February 6, 1942 After graduating from school, he entered obedience at the Transfiguration Monastery in Transcarpathia. In 1961, when the monastery was closed, he left for the Nikolaev region. In 1962 he was drafted into the army. Upon his return, he went to live in Irkutsk. There, in December 1968, he took monastic vows with the name George. Then he was ordained a hierodeacon and then a hieromonk. He served first in the Murmansk region, and then in the Arkhangelsk region. In 1978 he studied at the Moscow Seminary.

To the Krasnodar diocese, Fr. George arrived after Metropolitan Isidore, who was still a bishop at that time. He devoted 19 years to improving the “island of spirituality” in Timashevsk. Here he was tonsured into the great schema with the name of Savva. During the years of his ministry, many changes took place - the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was rebuilt, buildings for household purposes and four farmsteads were added in nearby settlements.

However, the abbot is better known for his gift of healing with herbs and prayer. He was a herbalist who knew his business well. He learned the art of using the gifts of nature in the treatment of various diseases in his youth, as a novice in the city of Chernivtsi (in Ukraine), on the border with Romania.

There was always a queue for him. People came to receive spiritual and physical treatment; the Holy Spirit Timashevsky Monastery was visited by thousands. Father gave herbal teas that helped cure those diseases that doctors of official, recognized medicine could not cope with.

Life of monks today

At first it was inhabited by only 12 monks. Over time, their number grew to 80. Following the ancient rules of residence of monastic communities, they feed themselves from the labors of their own hands.

Today, 400 hectares of land have been allocated for the monastery for planting agricultural crops. The brethren bear different obediences. Some are engaged in growing vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, others work in the fraternal refectory, on prosphora, in garages. There is poultry breeding, large cattle and pigs. Excess products - eggs, milk and meat - are sold.

During the construction of the church, all finishing work was carried out by monks: they painted the temple walls and made wooden carved icon cases. Today, all the splendor of the temple can be seen in the photo.

In 2011, Fr. George went to the Lord, but the monks continue his “work” - they collect herbs and make all kinds of infusions and teas for various ailments according to preserved recipes. All this is sold in the monastery shop. Those who have already tried herbal preparations many times leave positive reviews about them.

How to get there (get there)?

The easiest way to get here from the Timashevskaya railway station is by minibus No. 2, get off at the final stop “Naumenko Street”. From here you will need to walk about 1 km in a southeast direction.

It’s easy to get from the center of Timashevsk to the monastery by car like this:

Contact Information

• Address: Druzhby street, 1, Timashevsk, Krasnodar region, Russia.
• GPS coordinates: 45.601274, 38.954505.
• Phones: +7-86130-4-01-24.
• Official site:
• Opening hours: from 4:00 to 19:00.

Timashevsk made the Holy Spirit Monastery a spiritual center not only for monks, but also for everyone who comes here. Divine services are held there every day; on Thursday, an akathist is read in front of the image of that very “Vladimir” icon. In conclusion, we offer a video about this monastery, enjoy watching!

After his enthronement, the new Pope Benedict announced the resumption of the theological dialogue between Orthodox and Roman Catholics, which was interrupted in July 2000 due to Union. In this regard, various assessments of the position taken by the pontiff in relation to important theological problems that create obstacles to the restoration of church unity arose.

Regardless of these assessments, Orthodox Christians look at the restoration of church unity only as a return of Roman Catholics to “that which has been handed down once and for all by the holy faith,” from which Roman Catholics deviated with the heretical dogmas of papal infallibility and papal supremacy, o filioque , about the creatureliness of Divine grace and others.

In an attempt to understand what we should expect from the renewed dialogue, and given the increased danger of proselytizing Roman Catholicism among Orthodox Christians, we publish, with slight modifications, our conversation on the main differences between the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholicism, which took place in 1998 in metropolis at the request of His Eminence.

One of the characteristic features of our era of pluralism is the desire of different states and peoples for rapprochement. Representatives of various Christian denominations or religions are also moving in this direction, who, despite the great differences in doctrinal issues, regularly gather to conduct official or informal dialogues.

However, the superficial ecumenism implanted today, which ignores the existing dogmatic differences of religions, instead of approaching Christian unity, on the contrary, makes it impossible. Father Dimitri Staniloas writes about this: “Those who strive to achieve unity at any cost often experience enthusiasm and confidence that through sensual warmth it is possible to soften reality and remake it without any difficulties; in addition, they believe that a diplomatic and compromising way of thinking, as well as mutual concessions, will make possible reconciliation in dogmatic or general provisions that keep the churches divided. Both of these ways in which reality is perceived or ignored undermines or makes relative the doctrinal foundations set forth in some of the articles of faith of the churches. Such activity shows how little importance some Christian societies attach to these dogmatic truths. Armed with enthusiasm and diplomacy, they propose such exchanges and compromises in the tenets of faith that, supposedly, will not lead to any fundamental losses. However, these compromises pose a great danger to churches in which dogma is of paramount importance. For these churches, such offers of exchange and compromise may amount to unwarranted attacks."

There is another reason why we must be aware of the differences between us: it is necessary to maintain the dogmatic consciousness of the Orthodox in a state of constant vigil.

We live in an era of inter-Christian and inter-religious syncretism and disorder, and the values ​​of the so-called “New Age” are emerging and coming to the fore. The fullness of our Church may be damaged.

Recently, a lecturer at the University of Athens wrote that he could light a candle in front of an icon of the Virgin Mary in the same way as in front of a statue of one of the Hindu deities.

In dialogue with the heterodox, the necessary pastoral duty of the clergy of our Church is to confess the Orthodox faith without compromise, as well as to teach and edify the Orthodox people, especially where the faith is confused due to ignorance of the differences between our doctrinal truths and the dogmas of other confessions and religions. They should teach people our faith much more and point out its differences in those areas where proselytism operates directly or indirectly. The advice of the great Apostle Paul is heard by us even today: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock in which you have the Holy Spirit, and appoint bishops to shepherd the Church of God” (Acts 20:28).

Let's explore the most important differences Orthodox faith from Roman Catholicism.

A. VATICAN STATE

The Vatican is the center management system- the mechanism of the Roman Catholic Church and the Papal State. The Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church and at the same time the ruler of the Vatican State, which has ministers, an economy, formerly had an army, and now has police, diplomats and everything else that is inherent in a state. We all know what bloody and long-term wars the popes fought in the past; for example, the war that began under Pope Gregory VI in 1076 lasted 200 years. The purpose of these wars was to secure and expand the Vatican State. And today, despite a significant reduction in its area, the Vatican actively interferes in the affairs of other states and promotes its decisions and plans for its own benefit. As a result, people die and other peoples suffer, including Orthodox Christians, as was recently the case in the war of Croats and Muslims against Orthodox Serbia.

In various countries the pope is represented by nuncios, each of whom is his eye and ear. In Africa, for example, there is a Latin archbishop, a uniate bishop and a nuncio. All three are representatives of the pope. Papo-Caesarist claims were expressed by Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) in his Homily spoken at his enthronement: “He who has a bride is a groom. But this bride (the Church) was not betrothed empty-handed, but brought me an incomparable, valuable dowry, that is, the fullness of spiritual blessings and the breadth of worldly ones, the greatness and abundance of both... As a symbol of worldly blessings, she gave me a crown : a miter as a symbol of the priesthood, and a crown as a symbol of the kingdom, and made me the representative of the Lord in vestments, writing along its edge: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

According to Western tradition, the emperor was obliged to keep the bridle and spur of the papal horse on official meetings, thereby showing his submission to dad. The combination of ecclesiastical and political power in one person is, in accordance with the teaching of our Lord and the holy apostles, unacceptable. The words of the Lord are well known: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). Possession of double power, according to Saint Nicodemus, is “an incompatible mixture and a monster that kills others.” The confusion of two powers - spiritual and worldly, two kingdoms - heavenly and earthly - is a sign of the secularization of the Church. Thus, the Church succumbs to the second temptation of Christ from the devil: in exchange for worshiping him, he offers power over all earthly kingdoms. The Lord Jesus Christ then answered him: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone” (Matthew 4:10). Let's remember F. M. Dostoevsky with his Grand Inquisitor. Because of such an unmixable mixture, the entire position of the Church suffers greatly and becomes worldly.

This difference between us and the Vatican is significant and should be discussed in the ongoing dialogue. How can the Holy Orthodox Church unite with a church that is also a state?

It is necessary to note here: state power is one thing, and in economic terms the perception of a temporary ethnarchic mission to console and support members of the Church who are under slavish oppression is quite another.

During difficult historical periods of slavery and oppression of the people, our Church has always assigned the duties of ethnarch to the patriarch and bishops. However, the ethnarch had a completely different role than, for example, ministers or presidents of the republic, who vested state power in themselves.

The ethnarch is the defender of the persecuted and tormented Orthodox people. It is known what a significant mission the Ecumenical Patriarchs carried out as ethnarchs of Orthodox peoples, including Orthodox Greeks during the period of Turkish occupation; many of them paid for this mission with their blood, such as Saint Gregory V, who was tortured and killed by the Turks.

Let us now move on to other theological differences.

B. FILIOQUE

We are talking about the well-known addition “and from the Son” (Filioque) in the Creed about the Holy Spirit. According to the teaching of Roman Catholics, the Holy Spirit comes not only from the Father, as the Lord says in the Holy Gospel, but also from the Son. The very first Saint Photius the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople, and then many great fathers: St. Gregory Palamas, St. Mark of Ephesus and others branded this heretical addition with invincible arguments.

Patriarch Photius of Constantinople writes: “The Lord and God says to us: “The Spirit who proceeds from the Father.” And the fathers of this new-found wickedness say: “The Spirit who proceeds from the Son.” Who wouldn’t close their ears so as not to hear this incredible blasphemy? She rebels against the Gospel, resists the holy Councils, crosses out the blessed and holy fathers: Athanasius the Great, Gregory, famous in theology, the royal vestment of the Church - Basil the Great, the sea of ​​​​wisdom of St. John - truly Chrysostom. But what am I talking about so-and-so or so-and-so? This blasphemous and God-fighting speech takes up arms against all the holy prophets, apostles, hierarchs, martyrs and the Lord’s sayings themselves.”

According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, this addition is anti-evangelical. The Lord definitely says that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The Filioque concerns the Trinity mystery itself, because it introduces duality into the Holy Trinity and makes the super-rational mystery logical, that is, it is an attempt to logically, by reason, and not by faith, approach its comprehension.

Here is how Vladimir Lossky says about it: “If in the first case (Filioque) faith seeks reason in order to move revelation to the level of philosophy, in the second case (Orthodox Triadology) reason seeks the reality of faith in order to be transformed, delving even more into the secrets of revelation. Since the dogma of the Holy Trinity represents the essence of any theological thought arising from the region which the Greek fathers called fundamental theology, everyone understands that one difference in this essential place, however insignificant it may seem at first glance, is of very decisive importance. We are talking about “philosophical anthropomorphism, which has nothing to do with the revealed anthropomorphism of the Bible.” “The dogma of the filioque introduces the god of philosophers and scientists into the bosom of the Living God and replaces with it “the hidden God, who covered darkness with His cover” (Deus absconditus, qui posuit tenebras latibulum suum). The incomprehensible essence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit receives a positive, defining identification. It becomes the subject of “natural theology”: it is “God in general”, which can be equated with the God of Descartes or Leibniz, or, who knows, to some extent even with the God of Voltaire and the dis-Christian theists of the 18th century.”

But His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, speaking at the University of Thessaloniki on October 1, 1997, noted the special significance of the consequences of the filioque in ecclesiology.

And this is very important, since some Orthodox and non-Orthodox are of the opinion that the East and West set out in different ways one and the same apostolic tradition, and this is supposedly a Photian tradition. Such opinions contain terrible distortions and have nothing to do with Patriarch Photius, who was one of the great confessors of Orthodoxy and strongly denounced the slander of the filioque.

IN. CREATURE GRACE

When in the XIV century. The Western monk Varlaam arrived in Byzantium and preached that the grace of God is created (i.e., created), then the Orthodox, through Saint Gregory Palamas, confessed Divine grace as uncreated.

This difference is also significant.

If the grace of God is created, then it cannot deify a person. Moreover, if the grace of God is created, the goal of life in Christ cannot be deification, but only moral correction. Therefore, in the West they do not talk about deification as the goal of human life, but about moral improvement, that is, that we should become better people, but not gods by grace. Consequently, the Church cannot be a society of deification, but is an institution that gives justice to people in a legal and judicial way through created grace. In other words, ultimately, the very truth of the Church as the reality of divine-human communion is abolished.

In this case, the sacraments of the Church are not a sign of the presence of God in the Church and man’s communication with the uncreated grace of God, but are a kind of “tap”: the Church opens it, and created grace flows out of it, from which people expect benefit and legal justification. Thus, the sacraments are perceived as a judicial phenomenon, and not an ecclesiological one. Likewise, asceticism is reduced to the category of moral and ethical exercises. In this case, a struggling Christian cannot experience uncreated grace, and the Tabor uncreated light cannot be seen. According to St. Gregory Palamas, in this case it turns out that man remains without consolation and without love from the Divine light, he does not participate in the glory, in the light and in the Kingdom of God of the Trinity. Likewise, theology without the experience of the uncreated light becomes scholastic and rationalistic. Man finds himself locked in the prison of this world, unable to discover and anticipate the coming Kingdom.

Orthodox Church Great Councils of the 14th century. confirmed the doctrine of the difference between the essence and energies of God and the doctrine of the uncreated Divine Light. She decreed with her theology and proclaimed Saint Gregory Palamas the true teacher and luminary of the Church, and also anathematized those who did not accept his teaching. Catholics to this day have not accepted this teaching, and many of them struggle with the teaching of Gregory Palamas.

This difference has never been discussed in theological dialogue, but it is so significant that it must be discussed, because if, in the end, unification occurs, is it possible for us to simultaneously believe that the grace of God is uncreated, and the Roman Catholics - that grace is created? Let us remember here Saint Gregory the Theologian to the Macedonian Doukhobors: “If the Holy Spirit is not God, then let Himself first become God (lit.: deified), and then it will deify me, who is equal to Him.”

The faith of the Orthodox Church that the grace of God is the uncreated energy of the Trinity God and is contemplated mysteriously and ineffably by the perfect and holy as the uncreated Light, like the light of Tabor, is unshakable. This is the experience of the Church, which the saints of many centuries have experienced within themselves.

As St. Mark of Ephesus, “and we, in agreement with the holy fathers, say that uncreated and Divine nature uncreated (grace) and will and energy. They (Latinists) with the Latins and Thomas equate will with essence, and they say about Divine energy that it is created, despite the fact that it is Divinity, Divine and immaterial light, the Holy Spirit or anything else similar to this. So what emerges is a created Deity, and a created Divine Light, and a created Holy Spirit, and creatures cunningly pray to them.”

Examples and personal testimonies of modern holy elders - such as elders Sophrony (Sakharov) and Paisiy Svyatogorets - confirm the veracity of these words. Elder Sophrony, saint and founder of the stauropegial monastery Honest Forerunner in Essex (England), outlined the experience of knowing the uncreated light in very significant books, which, as a legend, he left to us out of his love for us.

G. PRIMALITY OF POWER, INERRANCE

By the teaching of the filioque that “and from the Son proceeds the Holy Spirit,” a dual principle is introduced in the Holy Trinity, which establishes ditheism, and this degrades the honor of the Holy Spirit. The debasement of the Holy Spirit created a serious gap in the Church that needed to be filled. One person wanted to do this - dad.

Thus, by the Holy Spirit, the infallibility of the Church is transferred to man - the “infallible” ruler of the entire Church.

In order not to be unfounded and not to make an unfounded accusation of the Roman Catholic Church, we place below a characteristic excerpt from the “Dogmatic Decree on the Church” - one of the books containing the decisions of the Second Vatican Council (for Roman Catholics this is the 20th Ecumenical Council).

“However, the council or fullness of bishops has no authority unless it is in communion with the bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter and the head of this assembly, since the full power of his primacy continues to remain over all pastors and believers. Indeed, the Bishop of Rome... as the Vicar of Christ and the shepherd of the entire Church has in the Church full, highest and universal power, which he can always and freely exercise... The Roman Pontiff as the successor of the Apostle Peter is the constant and visible source and foundation of the unity of bishops and the multitude of the faithful ".

We also present excerpts related to this topic from the official “Catechism of the Catholic Church”: “The only Church of Christ... is the one whose care our Savior, after His Resurrection, entrusted to the Apostle Peter (John 21:17), entrusting to him and the other apostles its spread and management... This Church, which was constituted and formed as a society within the world, is located in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of the Apostle Peter and the bishops who are in communion with him.” “The Assembly of Bishops governs the entire Church through an official body - the Ecumenical Council.” “An Ecumenical Council cannot exist if it is not approved in this capacity or, at least, is not declared recognized by the successor of the Apostle Peter.” “The Roman Pontiff, the head of the assembly of bishops, by reason of his dignity enjoys infallibility when, as a shepherd and highest teacher of all believers, strengthening the faith of his brothers, proclaims in a certain “Act” a single teaching relating to faith or morals...” “For the canonical consecration of a bishop today, special permission of the Roman Pontiff is required because of his special status, for he is the greatest visible connection societies with local churches within one Church, as well as a guarantee of their freedom.”

Also worthy of note is the fact that the pope in official papers signs himself not as a bishop of Rome, but as a bishop of the Universal Church, or simply with his name, for example: “John Paul II”. He probably considers himself the supreme bishop, or bishop of bishops.

The Second Vatican Council emphasized the dogma of infallibility, confirming and developing it: “The religious submission of the will and mind must be manifested in a special manner in relation to the teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra.”

The above is nothing more than a statement that “infallibility” applies to any decision of the pope. In other words, if the First Vatican Council declared infallible only the decisions of the pope proclaimed from the pulpit, as well as those in which the term was used defenimus(lat. install), then the Second Vatican Council considered that the pope is infallible not only in the officially stated opinions, but also in any opinions expressed by him.

All this clearly shows that the Ecumenical Council is becoming an advisory body of the popes. Infallibility in the Roman Catholic Church belongs not to the Ecumenical Council, but to the Pope. However, who declared the pope infallible? A cathedral in error?

Thus, the conciliar power transferred by the Holy Apostles is replaced by a pope-centric power. The "infallible" pope becomes the center and source of the unity of the Church, and this means that one person is required to maintain the unity of the Church. This is how the place of Christ and the Holy Spirit is pushed aside and diminished. Moreover, with the transfer of infallibility from the Holy Spirit to the personality of the pope, the eschatological perspective of the Church in history is limited - the Church becomes world-sustaining.

We Orthodox Christians read the above documents with deep sorrow, if not with sacred indignation. We consider them blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is how we understand the stern but humane words of the late Archimandrite Justin (Popovich): “In the history of the human race, there are mainly three falls: Adam, Judas, and the Pope.”

Such a strict position, similar to the statement of St. Justin (Popovich), the Orthodox Church has preserved for many centuries. The Orthodox have always opposed the papal claims to the primacy of power and infallibility with Orthodox ecclesiology. Patriarch of Alexandria Mitrophanios Kritopoulos says: “It is unheard of for a mortal man with many sins to be called the head of the Church. After all, he, being a man, is subject to death. In the meantime, they elect another to succeed him, the Church will be forced to remain without a head. But just as a body cannot live without a head, so the Church cannot remain without its head even for a short time. Therefore, the Church needs an immortal Head in order to always remain alive and active, like the Head Himself... Such a Head of the Catholic Church is the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Head of all, thanks to Him the whole body acts harmoniously...”

Dositheus of Jerusalem in his famous work “Confession” during the Turkish occupation (1672) writes: “Since a mortal man cannot at all be the eternal head of the Catholic Church (meaning the Orthodox Church), our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the Head and Himself holds the stern oars governance in the Church, he controls the helm through the Holy Fathers."

In 1895, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate under Patriarch Anthimus VI issued an encyclical of exceptional importance, addressed to the clergy and the pious church plenitude of the patriarchal throne of Constantinople. This was a response to the district message of Pope Leontius XIII, who, addressing the rulers and people of the entire planet, as well as Christians of the Orthodox Church, called on them to enter the bosom of the Catholic Church if they recognize the infallibility of the pope, his primacy and the universal power of the pope over the entire Church . Below we place quotes from the encyclical: “The Orthodox Eastern and Catholic Church of Christ recognizes no one else except the ineffably incarnate Son and Word of God as infallible on earth. And the Apostle Peter himself, whose successor the pope considers himself to be, denied the Lord three times and was twice denounced by the Apostle Paul as being not on the right way in relation to the truth of the Gospel." [...] While the Orthodox Church maintains the Evangelical faith unchanged, “the present Roman Church is a church of innovations, changes in the works of the Fathers of the Church and incorrect interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and the definitions of the Holy Councils, and is therefore rightly and correctly declared illegal and considered illegal because it insists on your delusion. “It is better to glorify war,” says the divine St. Gregory the Theologian, - rather than the world separating from God."

At this point I would like to respond to a possible protest.

Recently, we have heard friendly words from Roman Catholic theologians about our Orthodox Church, and we have seen their speeches at some Orthodox conferences. However, are there any reasons that could justify a change in the attitude of some of our Orthodox Christians towards papism?

Indeed, some individual representatives of Roman Catholics express sincere love for Orthodoxy. However, the policy of the official Vatican is different. The Vatican seems two-faced, because when it addresses us, it uses words of love, but at other times, especially when it addresses Roman Catholics, it demonstrates its old, well-known, firm positions towards us. Also, we must not forget that every statement in the spirit of love for Orthodoxy does not necessarily refer to the Orthodox Church, but in general to the Eastern Church, which for many Roman Catholics seems to be the same as the Uniate communities.

We refer to the text of the late John Panagopoula, teacher of the New Testament at the Theological University in Athens. He is an ecumenist and, commenting on the encyclical that talks about the unification of churches (Address of Pope John Paul II to Roman Catholics and all Christians, May 25, 1995), writes: “[...] A particularly significant number of paragraphs ( 50-61) encyclicals are dedicated to the Orthodox Church. While in relation to other Christian communities, Catholics recognize that they retain some elements of Christian truth (10-13), the Orthodox Church, on the contrary, is recognized by us as a sister church, the second “lung” of the Body of Christ (54), although it and continues to be in a state of separation from the Roman Catholic Church. Apostolic succession and the sacraments are also explicitly recognized, and the spiritual and liturgical heritage of our Church is wholeheartedly honoured. However, notwithstanding these assumptions, it is clearly implied that the Orthodox Church does not contain the full Christian truth, nor do the Protestant denominations, until they come into communion with the Roman see. The Roman Catholic Church again expresses its desire to become the source of supreme authority and judge of the ecclesiastical character of all Christian communities. [...] The Encyclical inexorably and inexorably returns to the proclamations of the decree on ecumenism of the ΙΙ Vatican Council. The main position of the Catholic Church is the following: the communion of all churches with the Church of Rome - necessary condition for unity. The primacy of the Roman pontiff is based on the will of God and is understood as “supervision” of church unity in the transmission of faith, in the celebration of sacraments and services, in missionary work, in the canonical system and Christian life in general. Only communication with the successors of Peter guarantees the completeness of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Any conversation about ecclesiastical unity can be carried out on condition of recognition of the unlimited papal primacy, which God established "as a permanent and invisible power and the basis of unity."

As Orthodox believers, we must express our complete disappointment with this new encyclical of the Pope, since it contains the traditional Roman Catholic opinion about the Church and its unity, which since the 5th century. is a stumbling block in relations between churches. Theological dialogue has been going on for 1500 years, however, it has not led to any positive result, which, naturally, cannot be expected as long as the Roman Catholic Church stubbornly claims papal primacy. [...] In other words, the naive opinion that the new papal encyclical leaves open the question of primacy is unforgivable. The only innovation in this matter is the reference to others and the requirement to solve problems in a diplomatic way, so that everyone demonstrates “powerful heroism” and “sacrifice of unity.” This position of the Vatican and the main anti-Orthodox action of the union forced the Ecumenical Patriarchate to interrupt the dialogue with Roman Catholics. The following is worthy of note: several months ago, in an interview with Austrian correspondents, His Holiness Patriarch stated that the Orthodox Church (with the exception of the Romanian Church) did not accept the Balamand agreement.

There are other differences between the two churches, including the doctrine of purifying fire, as well as the doctrine of Our Blessed Virgin Mary, which they call "Mariology". They do not want to understand that by proclaiming the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Most Holy Theotokos, they separate Her from the human race. This teaching carries soteriological consequences for humanity: if the Virgin Mary had a different nature, then it follows that the Lord, taking human nature from Her, deified a different nature, and not the common nature of all people.

All these differences have anthropocentrism as their common denominator. The product of anthropocentrism is the spirit of legalism and jurisprudence of the Roman Catholics, which is manifested in canon law and in many laws of the Western Church.

A simple example that confirms the above is the way in which the sacrament of confession is performed. The confessor and the confessor enter two adjacent rooms and there, without seeing each other, they carry out a kind of “trial”, at which the confessor lists his sins and receives penance prescribed by the canons of the Roman Catholic Church. In the Orthodox Church, this sacrament is perceived in a completely different way: confession is direct personal communication between the confessor and the confessor, when the confessor is a father, and the confessor is a spiritual child who comes to open his heart, express his pain, mourn his sins and accept proper spiritual medicine.

The anthropocentrism of the Roman Catholic Church is also manifested in constant innovations. The Orthodox Church, on the contrary, remains without innovation, adding nothing to what our Lord and the holy Apostles taught us. Our Church is exclusively evangelical and apostolic, and this is expressed in its life and canons, which are completely evangelical and apostolic.

Orthodoxy is a theocentric teaching. In contrast, in the West, both Catholics and Protestants are to a greater or lesser extent influenced by anthropocentrism. Therefore, the Russian theologian and philosopher Khomyakov said that Catholicism and Protestantism are two sides of the same coin. Also, Saint Nektarios of Aegina, comparing the Western Church with Protestantism, wrote: “The only difference between these two systems is the following: in the Western Church the central person is the pope; he is surrounded by many silent and unfree persons, who each time conform to the action of power and the thoughts of the central person in his place. For Protestants, the church is centered around the individual. Therefore, the Western church is an individual, and nothing more than that. However, who can guarantee us the unanimity of all popes? Since the pope judges the truth according to what he thinks, interprets the Holy Scriptures the way he wants, and speaks officially in the way that, in his opinion, is correct, then how does he differ from all the dogmatists of the Protestant Church, how does he differ from earthly rulers? Probably, among Protestants, each person makes up the church, but in the Western Church, the entire church is made up of one person.”

The essence of the above is clear - this is an empire: for Catholics - the empire of the pope, for Protestants - the personal empire of each Protestant, where everyone is the criterion of truth.

In the Orthodox Church, theoanthropocentrism is evidenced by everything that makes up its life and teaching: church art, icon painting, architecture, music, etc. If we compare the Madonna of the Renaissance with the Byzantine Mother of God, we will see the difference: Madonna is a beautiful woman, while while the Mother of God is, first of all, a deified person. If we compare the Temple of St. Peter with the Temple of Hagia Sophia, we will see how anthropocentrism found its grandiose expression in the material grandeur of the Temple of St. Peter. And vice versa, when entering the Church of Hagia Sophia, you feel that you are in heaven. The Church of Hagia Sophia amazes us not so much with its rich decoration, but with its sublime, heavenly beauty. The same thing happens in Byzantine church music, which evokes tenderness and lifts one to heaven, and it has nothing in common with polyphonic European music, which merely nourishes a person sensually.

For all these reasons, the unification of churches is a matter not only of reaching agreement on some dogmas, but of accepting the Orthodox, theoanthropocentric, Christocentric, triad-centric spirit in dogmas, in piety, in ecclesiology, in canon law, in pastoral care, in art, in asceticism.

In order for true unification to occur, either we must abandon our Orthodox theoanthropocentrism, or Catholics must abandon their anthropocentrism. The first, by the grace of our Lord, cannot happen, since it would be a betrayal of the Gospel of our Christ. But the second one is also very difficult to happen. However, “what is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 8:27). We believe that it will be a huge loss for non-Orthodox people if we renounce our Orthodoxy. As long as Orthodoxy has existed, it has preserved without innovation the evangelical faith, “once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), so much has there been living evidence of the real communion of God with man, the truth of the Church as divine-human communion. Thus, even heterodox people who feel that they have lost the true faith know that it exists somewhere and hope to find it. Maybe they, together or separately, will look for her, and find her, and find peace of mind. Let us preserve this Holy Faith not only for ourselves, but also for all non-Orthodox brothers, and for the whole world. As for the “two lungs,” that is, Catholicism and Orthodoxy, which the Church “breathes,” this theory cannot be accepted by the Orthodox side, since one “lung”—Catholicism—does not glorify the right Church and is already incurably sick.

We thank the Most Holy Theotokos and the Life-Giving Trinity for the great gift - our Holy Orthodox Faith, we also thank our pious ancestors, teachers, priests, bishops, our spiritual fathers, who kept it pure, passed it on to us and taught us this Holy Faith.

We confess that we would not be satisfied with a Church that replaces the God-man Christ with an "infallible" man - dad or Protestant.

We believe that our Church is the one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, which has all the fullness of truth and grace.

We regret that heterodox Christians cannot rejoice in this fullness; moreover, they sometimes try to drag Orthodox Christians into their communities and make proselytes out of them. They have only a partial and distorted view of the truth. We honor the love they have for Christ and their good deeds, but we cannot agree that the interpretation they give of the Gospel of Christ is consistent with the teachings of Christ, the holy apostles, the holy fathers, the Local and Ecumenical saints cathedrals

We pray that Archpastor Christ - the only infallible Chief and Head of the Church - will lead them to the Holy Orthodox Church, which is their paternal home from which they once left. May the Lord enlighten us Orthodox Christians so that we remain faithful to death to the holy and unchangeable faith, strengthening and growing in it, “until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4) , 13). AMEN.

FOOTNOTES AND NOTES

Migne, PL 217, 665AB. See: Archimandrite Spyridon Bilalis.Ὀγθοδοξία καί Παπισμός, Ἔκδ. "Ἀδελφ." Εὐνίκη, Ἀθῆναι, 1988. σ ελ. 155.

(In the image and likeness).ἔκδ. Β. Ρηγοπούλου, Θεσς / νίκη 1974, σελ.72 See. in the Russian edition of the article: The Procession of the Holy Spirit in Orthodox teaching about the Trinity.

Lossky Vladimir. Κατ᾽ εἰκόνα καί καθ᾽ὁμοίωσιν Θεοῦ (In the image and likeness).ἔκδ. Β. Ρηγοπούλου, Θεσς / νίκη 1974, σελ.72 See. in the Russian edition of the article: The procession of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox doctrine of the Trinity., VII.

ΕΠΕΣΚΕΧΨΑΤΟ ΗΜΑΣ (Πατριαρχικαί ἐ πισκέ ψεις εἰς τήν συμβασιλεύουσαν , 1997-1999-2000), ἔκδ. Ἱ. Μητροπόλεως Θεσσαλονίκης, Θεσσαλονίκη, 2000.

St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 34, to those who came from Egypt // Creations. Reprint - STSL, 1994. P. 497.

Monastic recipes for treating cancer from Father George

In the Krasnodar region, Father Georgy lived and helped people, a continuer of Russian herbal medicine traditions. He served as abbot at the men's Timashevsky Holy Spirit Monastery. A professional herbalist, he treated according to ancient recipes and created his own unique complexes.

Infusions and decoctions according to his recipes still help and heal. His fame has already crossed the borders of the monastery and the Krasnodar region - they still write to him, people travel to the monastery from different parts of the former Soviet Union. Many people know the famous gathering of Father George.

Father George was convinced that not only monastery herbs helped the sick. Human sins remind us of themselves through illnesses and it is difficult to cope with them only with medications. Repentance, humility, confession are an important component of healing.

A decoction taken with prayer works better than expensive foreign medicines. Suffering people listen to the instructions of Fr. George, they confess and try to change their lifestyle. Herbs hand-picked from the monastery and the mentor’s word together help – illnesses recede. Among the patients o. George, many were healed from serious illnesses.

Archimandrite Georgy blessed the publication of the Orthodox newspaper. For more than twenty years, the printed publication “Heal by Faith” has been publishing recipes for folk herbal medicine. In 2009, the newspaper was awarded the “Golden Fund of the Russian Press” sign. The abbot publishes useful treatment methods and paths to recovery on the pages of the publication.

Father George's collection has been helping the sick for many years. It gives a chance for recovery to both those who have just heard a terrible diagnosis and those who have already tried more than one remedy. The formula of the medicine contains the beneficial properties of 16 medicinal plants. The antitumor collection is selected in such a way that the components not only make their own contribution, but create a synergy effect - they mutually reinforce each other.

The ingredients of the recipe are ordinary herbs, but the cumulative effect exceeds the healing effect of each plant individually.

Collection of Father George: therapeutic strategy

The abbot recommended the antitumor collection as an additional remedy that restores the body's defenses at all stages of cancer. In case of intoxication during chemotherapy, inhibition of hematopoiesis in the bone marrow, the extract of monastery herbs will come to the rescue. It has adaptogenic, immune-stimulating properties. The restorative collection of Father George shows positive dynamics:

• Restores strength after operations and drug therapy.
• Helps reduce and inhibit the growth of tumor formations.
• Stimulates the activity of the kidneys and urinary tract.

Antitumor collection has a symptomatic effect on organ function digestive system in the presence of tumors of the gastrointestinal tract.

1. Infusion of 16 herbs:

• Sage – (35 gr.);
• Nettle – (25 gr.);
• Rosehip - (20 gr.);
• Immortelle – (20 gr.);
• Bearberry – (20 gr.);
• Series – (20 gr.);
• Wormwood – (15 gr.);
• Yarrow – (10 gr.);
• Chamomile – (10 gr.);
• Dried flower – (10 gr.);
• Thyme – (10 gr.);
• Buckthorn bark – (10 gr.);
• Birch buds – (10 gr.);
• Trifol (or linden flowers) – (10 gr.);
• Dry marsh - (10 gr.);
• Motherwort – (10 gr.).

The herbs must be finely chopped and mixed. Then take 26 grams from this collection (26 grams is approximately six tablespoons), put them in an enamel pan, pour 2.5 liters of boiling water, and leave on very low heat (95 degrees - no boiling) !!!) – exactly 3 hours. In 3 hours, the broth will evaporate to a smaller volume and become concentrated.

After 3 hours, strain the broth, cool and refrigerate. But you need to drink it warm, 1 tablespoon (in severe cases, 3 tablespoons is possible) 3 times a day, 1 hour before meals.

The course of treatment is 30 days, then a break of 10-12 days, and repeat the treatment again. Take as many courses as needed for complete recovery.

During treatment, carry out a control study of the condition of the tumor (ultrasound, x-ray). Store the infusion in the refrigerator until it runs out; In a properly functioning refrigerator, this infusion can be stored for a long time.

When brewing herbs, do not forget to add holy water (preferably Epiphany water) to the decoctions - just a few drops. This collection can also be prepared with alcohol (ideally 70%) in a ratio of 1:4 (100g of carefully crushed collection per 400g of alcohol).

Leave in a dark place for 1 month, take 1 teaspoon per table. a spoonful of water 3-4 times a day 40 minutes before meals.

Note:

The 16 herbs include the dried flower plant, which many people don’t know about. This plant is otherwise called “cat’s paw”, “herb for forty ailments”, “immortelle cordial” (not to be confused with sandy immortelle). “Dried flower” is also called “white immortelle”, “white St. John’s wort”, “serpentine grass”, “hernia grass”< (потому что сухоцвет лечит грыжу).

Dried flowers grow in dry meadows, pine forests, and wastelands, almost throughout Russia and Ukraine. This plant is up to 25 cm high, the flowers are collected in purple-pink or pale pink baskets. Blooms from May to the end of June. After drying, it completely retains its beautiful color.

It is more effective to combine this infusion with the ingestion of an alcoholic tincture of Sophora japonica fruits and a mixture of cognac with sea buckthorn (or olive) oil.

2. Preparation of alcohol tincture from the fruits (or flowers) of Sophora japonica:

Take 50 grams of Sophora japonica fruits or flowers and infuse it in 0.5 liters of vodka (buy high-quality vodka, be careful not to buy a fake!). Of course, it is best to take medical alcohol instead of vodka (the proportions for alcohol are the same as for vodka). You need to insist for at least 40 days!

Drink 1 teaspoon on an empty stomach and before meals 30 minutes 3-4 times a day. Drink for 40 days in a row, then get examined by an oncologist. If residual signs of the disease remain, the course must be repeated 15 days after the first course.

In advanced stages of cancer, it is necessary to carry out five such courses and take Sophora along with an infusion of 16 herbs, which was mentioned above.

Those who cannot drink alcohol should do this: brew one tablespoon of well-chopped sophora fruits in 1 glass of boiling water, leave overnight in a thermos, strain and drink 2 tablespoons 4 times a day 30 minutes before meals.

3. Preparation of a mixture of cognac (or medical alcohol) with olive or sea buckthorn oil:

Take 30 ml of cognac High Quality(or medical alcohol) mixed with 30 ml of sea buckthorn or olive oil(no other oil can be used in this case!), shake well and take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day 1 hour before meals for 2 weeks in a row.

So carry out 3 courses with 10-day breaks, then undergo an examination to monitor the reduction of the tumor: donate blood, do ultrasonography diseased organ. And be sure to consult your doctor.

We wish you

Share useful information with your friends, they might also find it useful:

Hello to you, dear friends! Today I want to bring to your attention the recipe for Father George’s anti-cancer herbal collection. The composition of the herbs included in it was shared with me when I was on a pilgrimage to the Timashevsky Monastery, Krasnodar Territory.

This collection for cancer diseases has a well-known name - "Recipe for 16 herbs". He was recommended by the abbot of the monastery, which is located in the Kuban, Archimandrite Georgy (Savva). Now my father is no longer with us; my father passed away in 2011. The kingdom of heaven to him!

Where to buy the fee

Due to the fact that in the comments some are trying to “convey” the contacts of supposedly verified persons involved in distributing the “correct” collection of Fr. George. I decided to stop all attempts by such well-wishers. I delete phone numbers and addresses immediately!

8-918-418-41-15, 8-86192-5-23-60 Church of the Holy Nativity of the Virgin Mary p. Mostovskoy, st. Pervomaiskaya.135; courtyard of the Holy Spiritual Monastery in With. Solenom Krasnodar region. mail [email protected]

The uniqueness of this recipe is that everyone can collect and prepare the plants included in the anti-cancer collection, if desired. Because these are the most common anti-cancer herbs, growing almost everywhere. The components are required in a minimum quantity. The total mass of the collection is only 245 g.

Here is the composition of the collection of 16 herbs of Father George

sage (35 g), nettle (25 g), rose hips (20 g), immortelle ( Helichrysum arenarium) (25 g), bearberry (20 g), string (20 g), wormwood (15 g), yarrow (10 g), chamomile (10 g), dried flower (Antennaria dioica)(10 g), thyme (10 g), buckthorn bark (10 g), Birch buds(10 g), linden blossom (10 g), cudweed (10 g), motherwort (10 g).

All components of the collection must be thoroughly crushed and mixed thoroughly. And then divide into 9 equal parts.

Newspaper clipping

The medicine should be prepared as follows:

Take 1 part of the collection (this is approximately 27 g) and pour 2.5 liters of boiling water, then keep it on low heat for 3 hours, avoiding boiling (the temperature should be 95 degrees).

During this time, the infusion will evaporate significantly and become concentrated. After this, the infusion is cooled, filtered and subsequently stored in the refrigerator until it is all used for treatment. The infusion can be kept in the refrigerator for quite a long time.

Particular attention to water!

Water should be taken from a holy source! The strength of the recipe increases significantly from the water in which the decoction was made. There is a strong spring in your area, so go to it with the prayer Our Father, with repentance, draw water and prepare a decoction with it.

Admission procedure

Take the medicine 1 tbsp. 3 times a day 1 hour before meals. In especially severe cases - 2-3 tbsp. 3 times a day. The course of treatment is 30 days, then a break of 10-12 days, and the course of treatment is repeated.

Important detail: The medicine must be taken warm. In addition, Father George strongly recommended adding holy water to the decoction when brewing herbs, preferably Epiphany water, literally a few drops. You should also read the Lord’s Prayer before your appointment.

As you can see, you do not need the entire amount of the collection for treatment. Keep a few parts of it for yourself for a second course, and distribute the rest to sick people so that they too can be treated.

Collection treatment experience

Also get acquainted with the experience of the 70-day course of treatment recommended by Father George. Very useful information, I think that it will very usefully complement this material -.

Many people who have given this recipe ask: what kind of herb is dried flower?

Latin name Antennaria dioica. This dried flower is often called cat's paw.

Frankly, even I was confused; it took me a long time to figure out what was right. Folk names each locality has its own, and in order to understand which particular plant was meant, you also need to look at the growing area of ​​a particular species in order to compare the likelihood of its presence in the collection.

Sometimes in collections they call dried flowers grass Xeranthemum annuum is an annual dried flower. Its characteristics are somewhat inferior to those of a cat's paw, but it is still functional.

Grows in pine forests, on sandy soils in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine. Blooms from May to the end of June. Its flowers are white-pink or pink-violet. Flowering baskets are prepared before they fluff up. When dried, dried flowers completely retain their natural beautiful color.

I would really like it to recipe from the monk-healer Father George helped people in need of cancer treatment. There was only one such priest from Kuban who treated oncology and, God willing, many will be healed with his prayers and prescriptions.

My observations

A complete revision of one’s life position, turning to the Orthodox Faith, to God, helps many to heal. Repentance, humility, Faith, give a chance to live the allotted time in the world to the fullest.

Healing herbs are only part of healing, the second part is recognizing one’s own weakness and gaining Faith in God. The Lord opposes the proud, but has mercy on the humble.

Catharanthus against cancer

This plant is widely used in pharmacology. It is used to make drugs that are prescribed for sarcomas, blastomas, leukemia and chemotherapy. If, due to your health, you cannot go to chemotherapy, then try to be treated with tincture of catharanthus. The treatment is long-term. Ointments, decoctions and tinctures based on the plant will also be used.

Latin name - Catharanthus roseus

In oncology, the stem, leaves and flowers of catharanthus are used. If you have gynecological problems, then use tampons impregnated from the plant with the addition of vegetable oil.

Take half a glass of dried and crushed catharanthus leaves and cook for one hour in a water bath in a liter of vegetable oil. Then leave the decoction for 12 hours. Next, strain and store in the refrigerator.

At night, insert a tampon soaked in the infusion into the vagina. The course is three weeks, then a break for a week and another course. Additionally, you can also conduct a third course.

Tincture

Take two tablespoons of dry crushed catharanthus stems and leaves and pour a glass of vodka over them. Leave in a dark place for ten days. Take 10 drops at a time, three times a day, an hour before meals. The course of treatment is two weeks, then a week break and another course.

Decoction

Take one tablespoon of dried and ground herb with catharanthus leaves, pour a glass of boiling water over the mixture and leave in a thermos for half an hour. Take a tablespoon of infusion three times a day an hour before meals.

Side effects

This plant is poisonous and side effects may include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin irritation. In this case, it is necessary to stop treatment. In any case, before self-treatment with catharanthus, consult your doctor.

Archimandrite George (Kapsanis)

The question of the purpose of human life is very serious, since it affects the most essential thing for a person: the purpose of his earthly existence. Having correctly determined this, having understood our true purpose, we will be able to take a sober look at the smaller issues that we have to solve every day in communicating with people, studying, working, in the family and in the most difficult task of raising children. And so, if we are mistaken in this fundamental question, we will not achieve the goal in all our other life tasks: for how can someone for whom life as a whole is not filled with meaning correctly comprehend them?

The meaning of human life is revealed from the very first pages of Holy Scripture, where the writer of everyday life says that God created man in His own image and likeness. In this we recognize the great love of the Triune God for man. He did not want man to be just a creature, endowed with certain gifts, certain qualities, a certain superiority over the rest of creation, and nothing more; He willed that man should be a god by Grace.

Outwardly, a person seems only to be a biological creature, similar to everything living on earth, akin to animals. And he, of course, is an animal - but at the same time, according to St. Gregory the Theologian, “placed separately from all creation, being the only creature that is capable of becoming a god” (Sermon on the Holy Epiphany, MRS 36, 324.13).

Creation in His image was such a gift that God endowed only with man, and no one else from all visible creation, so that he became the image of God Himself. This gift included: reason, conscience, free will, creativity, love and desire for perfection and God, personal self-awareness and everything that puts a person above the rest of the visible creation, making him a person. In other words, everything that makes a person a person is given to him in the image of God.

Having received image, man is called to acquire similarity, to achieve deification. The Creator, God by nature, calls him to become a god by grace.

God, in His image, endowed him with all the gifts so that he could ascend to heights and, with their help, achieve likeness to his Creator and God: to be with Him not in external relationships, understood only in terms of morality, but in deep personal unity.

It may seem presumptuous to even think that the purpose of our lives is to become gods by grace. And yet neither Holy Scripture nor the Fathers of the Church hide this goal from us.

But many - outside the Church and even inside it - remain indifferent. They believe their goal, at best, is moral reform, to become better people. But this is not the goal that the Gospel, Church Tradition and the Holy Fathers show us. It’s not enough just to improve yourself, to become more conscientious, fairer, more chaste, wiser. All this, of course, is necessary, but this is not the deepest meaning of our life, the ultimate goal for which our Creator created us. And what? In unity with God, in deification, as true unity; not morally external and not sentimentally contrived.

Patristic anthropology places man so highly that if we compare with Orthodox tradition attitude towards man in other philosophical, social and psychological systems, we will be surprised at how petty they are, to what extent they do not respond to the great human longing for something genuine.

Since man is called to realize within himself likeness of God, literally created to become a god, then, deviating from the path of deification, he naturally feels emptiness inside, as if something is wrong. He does not enjoy deep happiness, even if he manages to fill this inner emptiness with something else. He can “freeze” himself by plunging into the world of his own illusions, but even then he will remain just as small and limited; and his petty little world will enslave him and become his prison. In this prison, he will arrange everything so that he almost never has silence, is never left alone with himself. With the help of noise, emotional stress, television and radio, information about anything - and sometimes with the help of drugs - a person desperately tries to forget, not to think, not to worry, not to remember: that he has lost his way, gone far from the goal.

But nothing can give complete peace to the unfortunate modern man until he finds something different, more in his life, something truly full of beauty and creative power.

Can he get closer to God? Can he communicate with Him? Can he himself become a god by His Grace?

The Incarnation of God is the key to the deification of man

The Fathers of the Church say that God became man so that man could become god. Man would not have achieved deification if God had not become incarnate.

And before the Incarnation of Christ there were wise and virtuous people. The philosophical concepts of Hellas, for example, were very high - in relation to both virtue and God. Essentially, Hellenic wisdom contained elements of truth, the so-called “seed logos.” I am sure that the ancient Greeks were very religious, and not at all atheists, as some of our misinformed contemporaries, of course, want to claim about them. They did not know the True God. But, being pagans, they were still pious and devout in their own way. Therefore, those educators, teachers, political and public figures who, contrary to the entire history of the Greek people, attempted to erase faith in God from their God-loving soul, whether they want it or not, rebel against the truth. In fact, they dare to emasculate from the nation everything that is actually Greek, since Greek culture - both ancient, late, and modern periods - is a culture of worship of God, on which, in general, everything is based global significance.

The craving for the unknown God, for experienced communication with God, is easily recognizable in ancient philosophy. They showed loyalty and devotion, only without the true and complete knowledge of God. There was not enough communication with Him. Deification was not yet possible.

Also in culture Old Testament we see many righteous and pious people. However, only with the Incarnation of God, the Word of God, did unconditional unity with God, deification, become possible and achievable. And this is the meaning of Christ’s Incarnation, if the meaning of human life were only moral improvement, there would be no need for Christ to come into the world. There would be no need for the Divine Economy, the Incarnation of God, the Cross, the Death and Resurrection of the Lord - all that was accomplished by Christ himself - since it was possible to teach the human race moral self-correction through prophets, philosophers, righteous people and teachers.

It is known that Adam and Eve were deceived by the devil and wanted to become gods - only not with God’s assistance, not through obedience with love, but relying on their own strength and will, selfishly and autonomously. In other words, the fall was based on the self. Agreeing with self-sufficiency, the first parents separated themselves from God and, instead of deification, found the opposite of it: spiritual death.

The Fathers of the Church say that God is life. And he who rejects God rejects life. Therefore, death and spiritual inaction (physical and spiritual death) were a direct consequence of ancestral disobedience.

The consequences of the fall are clear. Separation from God reduced man to a carnal, animal, demonic life. God’s magnificent creation fell into a serious illness, an illness leading to death. The image of God has become distorted. In the fall, man lost the properties necessary to move towards deification. In this state of severe illness, illness leading to death, a person can no longer return to God. His nature needs a new root. We need a new person, “healthy” - capable of returning the human will to God.

The new root of human nature, the New Man, became the God-man Jesus Christ - the Son of God and the Word of God - who became incarnate to lay a new beginning, a new leaven for humanity.

The great theologian of our Church, Saint John of Damascus, theologizes that through the Incarnation of the Word, the second unity of God with man entered the world. The first, which was in Paradise, was lost by man’s falling away from God. The all-covering love of God now arranges another, second unity between God and man, a unity that can no longer be dissolved - since it was realized in the Person of Christ.

The God-man Jesus Christ, the Son and Word of God the Father, has two perfect natures: divine and human. Both of these perfect natures are united “unfused, unchangeable, inseparable and inseparable” in one Person of God the Word of Christ - according to the well-known definition of the Fourth (Chalcedonian) Ecumenical Council. In this brief and precise, inspired formulation, the Church received theological weapons against all Christological heresies for all times. So, we confess one Christ in two natures: divine and human.

Now human nature, through the hypostatic union of two natures in Christ, is forever united with divinity, for Christ is eternally the God-man. As the God-man, Christ ascended into heaven. As the God-man He sat down at the right hand of the Father. And as the God-man He will come to judge the world at His Second Coming. Henceforth human nature is accepted into life itself Holy Trinity. Nothing can separate her from God. That is why now, after the Incarnation of the Lord - no matter how much we sin as people, no matter how much we move away from God - if we want to return to Him by repentance, this is possible. We can return to union with Him, become gods by Grace.

Participation of the Most Holy Theotokos in our deification

The Lord Jesus gives us the opportunity to unite with God and return to the purpose He originally established for man. That is why in Holy Scripture He is called the Way, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Life, the Resurrection, the Light. He is the New Adam, correcting the error of the old one. The first Adam separated us from God through disobedience. The second Adam, Christ, returns us to unity with God with His love and obedience to the Father, obedience “until death, even death on the cross.” He corrects our free will, returning it to God, so that by offering Him our freedom, we find Him Himself.

The work of the New Adam, however, requires the assistance of the New Eve, Panagia (All-Holy), who corrects the mistake of the old Eve. She led Adam into disobedience. The new Eve served as the incarnation of the Son of God, returning the human race to obedience to God. In this way, She, our Lady Most Pure Mother of God, the first of the entire human race to achieve - in an exceptional and special way - deification, had not just a decisive, but a necessary, irreplaceable participation in our salvation.

According to the great fourteenth century theologian Saint Nicholas Cabasilas, if She had not given Her freedom to God, along with Her obedience, when she answered Yes God, His Incarnation would have been impossible, for then the freedom that He Himself gave to man would have been violated. God could not have incarnated if there had not been such an impeccably pure and holy soul among people. By completely providing Her freedom, will, and her entire being to God, She brought Him down into Herself—and into us.

We owe a lot to the All-Pure One, and the Church pays Her great respect. Thus, St. Gregory Palamas, generalizing patristic theology, places the Most Pure One in the place directly behind the Holy Trinity, calling Her God after God, the border between created and uncreated. “First among the saved” refers to Her as the exact expression of another theologian of our Church. And Saint Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, this recent brilliant teacher of the Church, points out that the angelic ranks are also illuminated by light through the Most Holy Virgin. Therefore, the Church praises Her as “more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious than the Seraphim.”

The Incarnation of the Word and the deification of man is the great mystery of our faith and theology. This is the living, everyday reality of our Church in its sacraments, worship, icons - or better yet, in its entirety. This can be seen even in Orthodox church architecture. The dome with Christ the Pantocrator depicted in it symbolizes the descent of Heaven to earth, that is, that God became man and dwelt with us, in the words of the Evangelist John the Theologian (John 1:14). And since God became man through the Mother of God, then, in order to show that He came down to earth and to people through Her, we depict Her on the altar apse. She is truly the bridge along which God descended to us, and along which we on earth are raised to heaven, a place that contains the Inconceivable for the sake of our salvation and the heavenly “Treasure”.

And the Church also depicts people who have mastered deification, who by grace have become gods due to the fact that God became man. And now in Orthodox churches it is possible to depict, together with the incarnate Pantocrator, not only His Immaculate Mother, the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos, but also saints. On the walls of churches we depict the fruits of God's Incarnation: sanctified and deified husbands and wives.

All this is so that whoever enters an Orthodox church, along with the beauty of the icons, immediately perceives the experience of what God has done for us, and sees with his own eyes the meaning of human life. Everything in the temple affirms God's incarnation and human deification.

Church as a place of deification

Those who wish to achieve unity with Christ and with God the Father in Christ know that this is accomplished in the Body of Christ, which is our holy Orthodox Church.

Of course, we are united not with the Divine essence, but with Christ’s deified human nature. However, this union with Christ is not reducible to anything external and exceeds the moral level.

We follow Christ not in the sense of following any philosopher or religious teacher. We constitute His Body, His Church. The Church of Christ is His Body in the most literal sense, and not at all figurative, as some theologians mistakenly philosophize, without bothering to deeply delve into the spirit of the Holy Church. Christ accepts us, Christians, into His own Body, despite our unworthiness and sinfulness. He makes us truly parts of Himself, and we become, in a very real sense, members of His living Body. As the Apostle Paul says:

“We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones” (Eph. 5:30).

Of course, depending on each individual's personal spiritual state, Christians are at times either living or dead members of the Body of Christ. But even though they are dead, they do not cease to be His members. The one who is baptized becomes part of the Body of Christ. But if he does not confess, does not receive communion and does not live spiritually, he is still dead.

However, if he repents, he is immediately filled with divine life and becomes a living member of the Body of Christ. It doesn't need to be crossed. An unbaptized person is not co-corporeal with Christ, no matter how worthily he lives. He needs baptism to become Christ's, to be taken into His Body.

And as for those who are in His Body, His life is offered to us—His divine life becomes ours. We accept life, salvation and deification: a thing unthinkable if God Himself had not made us members of His holy Body.

The patristic tradition asserts that our salvation is impossible without the Holy Sacraments of the Church, which assimilate us to Christ, making us of the same flesh and the same blood as Him.

What a terrible blessing to be partakers of the Holy Sacraments! Christ is assimilated to us, His life becomes our life and His blood our blood. Therefore, Saint John Chrysostom says that there is nothing greater that God has to offer man than what He gives him in Holy Communion. Just as a person has nothing to ask from God beyond what he receives from Christ in Holy Communion.

Thus, having been baptized, anointed and repentant, we partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord and become gods by Grace. We unite with God in such a way that we are no longer strangers, but His own.

In the Church, where we unite to God, we will be given the experience of that new reality that was brought into the world by Christ: a new creation. This is the life of the Church and the life of Christ - which becomes ours through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In the Church, everything leads to deification: the Divine Liturgy, the sacraments, prayer, preaching the Gospel, fasting - everything. This is the only place of deification.

The Church is not a social, cultural or historical institution like other human organizations. It is not comparable to any worldly institution. There are many wonderful institutions, societies and organizations in the world - and yet the Orthodox Church will always remain the only place of unity with God, a unique place of deification. Nowhere else will man become a god. Not in universities, not in public organizations, not in anything beautiful and good that exists in the world. No matter how good they are, they are not able to give what the Church offers.

This is why no secular institution can replace the Church, no matter how progressive it may be.

It is not surprising that we, weak and sinful, at times endure sorrow and disorder even within the Church. I am not surprised by scandalous disagreements, at least within the church community itself. They happen because here we are still on the path to deification, and it is quite natural that our human weakness manifests itself. We are not gods yet, but we are only moving towards that. No matter how many times we encounter such troubles, they will not turn us away from the Church, because only in Her do we approach unity with God.

For example, when in church during the divine liturgy we meet people who do not pay attention to its holiness and disturb us with their idle talk, how natural is it for us to think: “Why, exactly, did I come here? Wouldn’t it be better for me at home, where nothing would distract me from prayer?”

However, we must firmly resist the evil thought and answer it: “Yes, I would be more comfortable at home - but there would be no Divine Grace there to renew and sanctify me. There would not be Christ dwelling in the Church, there would not be His most pure Body and His priceless Blood, which are here on the Holy Throne. There I would not be a participant in the liturgical Last Supper, having separated myself from my brothers, with whom I now constitute the Body of Christ.”

And no matter what happens, we will not leave the Church, for only in Her do we find the path to deification.

Deification is possible thanks to uncreated divine energies

According to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers of the Orthodox Church of Christ, deification is possible for man due to the fact that the Grace of God is uncreated. God is not only an essence, as the Western “church” believes, but also energy. If He were only the essence, no connection, no communication with Him would be possible for us - after all, the essence of God is unapproachable and unbearable for man: “You cannot see My face: because man cannot see Me and live” (Ex. 33:20).

Let's give something similar from everyday life. If we hold a bare electrical wire with our hands, we will die. And if we connect a light bulb to it, we get light. We will be enlightened, we will rejoice, we will benefit from the energy of electricity, while its essence is dangerous to us. Let this at least remotely explain to you about uncreated divine energies.

If it were possible to unite with God’s essence, we would also become gods in essence. And this means - everything would become deity, there would be confusion, and nothing would be God in essence. This is what happens in Eastern religions: for example, God in Hinduism is not a personal being, but an indefinite force that fills the whole world - people, animals, inanimate objects. This is pantheism.

And if God were only an unapproachable essence, and not energies, He would always remain “closed” in Himself, removed and hidden from His creation.

Orthodox theology knows that God is Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. According to the amazing expression of St. Maximus the Confessor, St. Dionysius the Areopagite and other fathers, God is filled with divine love, divine eros for His creatures. Out of this infinite ecstatic love of His, He emanates from His Essence for the sake of communicating with His creation. This finds expression and fulfillment in His energy, or rather, energies.

With His uncreated energies, God created the world and continues to create it. His creative energies give essence and hypostasis to this world. With preserving energies He is always inherent in everything and provides for the entire universe. The enlightening energies of God teach man, and the sanctifying energies sanctify him. Finally, God's adoring energies accomplish his deification. With His uncreated energies, the Holy God enters animate and inanimate nature, human history and the life of every person.

The energies of God are divine. They are God Himself, although not His essence. They are also God - and only for this reason can they deify a person. If these energies were not divine, uncreated, then they would not be God Himself. And they would not be able to give us deification, to unite us with Him. There would be an impassable gulf between us and God. Thanks to the divine uncreated energies by which God connects with us, we can communicate with Him and connect with His Grace - without identifying with Him, as would be the case if we were to enter into communication with His essence.

Therefore, we unite with the uncreated divine energies of God, and not with His Essence. And this is the Sacrament of our Orthodox faith and life.

Western heretics cannot accept this. The rationalistic mind does not distinguish between God's essence and energies. For them, God is only His essence, which means it is no longer possible to talk about deification. What kind of deification can they talk about if they do not consider the energies of God to be uncreated, but only created, a creature? How can a created thing, separated from God Himself, adore created man?

They are afraid to talk about deification in order to avoid pantheism. And what remains for them as the meaning of human life? One moral improvement. If there is no deification by divine energies, by divine Grace, then what remains for man? To improve and establish yourself morally? But moral perfection is not enough for a person! What does not give him completeness is only to become better than before and to behave decently. His ultimate goal is union with the Holy God. This is the meaning of the creation of the whole world. This is the desired goal. In it is our joy, our happiness, our fulfillment.

The soul of man, created in the image and likeness of God, strives for Him, yearns for unity with Him. And there is no rest for her until a person finds God and unites with Him, no matter how high his life is and how numerous his good deeds are - because the Holy God Himself put in him this holy thirst, this divine eros, this sacred desire for deification, unity with God. The power of lust is planted inside a person, given by the Creator in order to love truly, strongly, selflessly - like the Holy Creator Himself, in love with creation, with His world. Man is given the power to fall in love with God, to desire Him with all the strength of holy lust. If he did not have the image of God in himself, his search for the Prototype would be fruitless. Each of us is clothed with the image of God, has the Prototype of God. The image strives for the Prototype, and only when it finds It does it rest in It.

In the fourteenth century, the Western monk Varlaam caused great unrest in the Church. He heard the Athonites talk about deification. He was told that after a great struggle, after purification from passions and great prayerful labors, they are rewarded with unity with God, are awarded an experienced knowledge of God, and enter into the contemplation of God. He heard that they were being visited by the Uncreated Light, which once shone upon the apostles on Tabor at the Transfiguration of the Lord.

And the rationalistic mind of the heretic Varlaam could not bear this, could not believe the truth of the experience of the humble Athonite monks - and he accused them of delusion, heresy and paganism. Knowing nothing of the difference between the Divine Essence and the uncreated divine energies, he insisted on the impossibility of seeing the Divine Light.

Then Grace raised up the great teacher of our Church, the Athos monk Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Being enlightened by God, with great wisdom based on personal experience, he preached, wrote and taught, in accordance with Holy Scripture and Tradition, that the Light of Divine Grace is uncreated, it is divine energy. He argued that those who have been worthy of deification actually see the Uncreated Light, and they themselves are visible in the Divine Light, and this is the truest and highest experience of deification. This is the glory of God, the radiance of the Divine, the Light of Tabor, the light of Christ's Resurrection and Pentecost and the Cloud that overshadowed the Old Testament Tabernacle. This is real, and not symbolic, as it seemed to Varlaam and his supporters, the Uncreated Light of the Divine.

Some time later, the Church at three Councils of Constantinople confirmed the confession of St. Gregory Palamas that life in Christ is not only moral improvement, but also deification. And this means participation in the glory of the Lord and contemplation of God, His Grace, His Uncreated Light.

Our gratitude to Saint Gregory Palamas is great, since he received from God and through his theology and prayerful deed conveyed to us the Church teaching on deification and its enduring experience. It is not what makes a person a Christian just to reason correctly about God, but rather to approach Him experientially. It’s like when you talk to someone you love very much: you feel at one with him, you rejoice in communicating with him - this is exactly what happens when someone communicates with God. This is not external communication, but the mysterious unity of a person with God in the Holy Spirit.

But Catholics still consider Divine Grace and Divine energies to be created. And this, too, is one of those many sad differences between us that must be taken into account in theological dialogues. “Filioque”, papal primacy and “infallibility”, unfortunately, do not exhaust the serious differences between the Orthodox Church and Catholicism: what we talked about here is also important. Until Roman Catholics accept Divine Grace as uncreated, reconciliation is unthinkable, even if they accept everything else. After all, how can deification be realized if God’s Grace is only a creature, and not the Uncreated energy of the All-Holy Spirit?

Conditions of deification

The Holy Fathers affirm that in the Church we can achieve deification.

However, we need to remember that this is a gift from God, and not something that can be achieved by our own effort. Naturally, our desire, our struggle and readiness are necessary to accept and jealously preserve this amazing gift, for God does not want to do anything without our consent. And yet, the gift remains a gift. This is why the Holy Fathers say that we “experience” deification while God “works” it in us.

We can only indicate the necessary “prerequisites” that put us on this path.

A) Humility

This is the primary condition for deification, according to the patristic tradition. It is impossible to take the path of deification, to accept divine Grace, to become a friend of God without holy humility. Even in order to simply realize that the meaning of life is nothing other than deification, a certain amount of humility is needed. How else will we agree to see our life purpose outside of ourselves - not in ourselves, but in God?

As long as human consciousness remains selfish, self-absorbed, autonomous, man places himself at the center of all life meaning. He believes that he can perfect, develop and deify himself. After all, this is precisely the spirit of modern civilization, philosophy, politics: to build a new, better world - autonomous, focused on a person who is not related to God, who does not recognize God as the source of all good. Wasn't Adam making the same mistake when he believed that he could become a god and achieve perfection on his own? Humanistic trends of all centuries only repeat his error. They do not consider communication with God necessary to achieve perfection.

In Orthodoxy, everything is aimed at the unity of man with God, realized in Christ, everything is directed towards the God-man Jesus. Take anything outside of Orthodoxy: Protestantism, papism, Freemasonry, Jehovah's Witnesses, atheism - despite all the differences, you will notice one common feature: focus on man. And with us everything is directed to Christ. That’s why it’s so easy to become a heretic, a Jehovah’s Witness, a Freemason, anyone – and so difficult to become an Orthodox Christian. To become an Orthodox Christian, you need to put Christ, and not yourself, at the center of the universe.

So, at the very beginning of our path to deification lies humility, namely, the recognition that the meaning of our life lies not in us, but in our Father, Creator and God.

Humility will also be necessary in order to see that we are sick, damaged by passions and weaknesses.

It will be necessary continuously throughout the entire path to deification - for those who decide not to leave it. Otherwise, as soon as he accepts the idea that he is doing well and is doing well, pride throws him off the path, and he has to start all over again. What has been achieved is lost, and again initial humility is needed: to remember one’s depravity, about human weakness, and not to rely on oneself. Anyone who hopes to stay on the path of deification relies only on the help of God’s Grace.

This is why in the lives of the saints their modesty is so striking. They were very close to God, shone with His Light, performed miracles, exuded myrrh - and with all this they placed themselves below everyone else, considered themselves far from God and the worst of people. And it was precisely this humility that made them gods by Grace.

b) Ascetic work

The Fathers note that deification has its own stages, from the very beginning to the highest. Having learned humility, we begin the work of fulfilling Christ’s holy Commandments in our daily lives, with repentance and great patience, for the sake of cleansing ourselves from passions. But the Holy Fathers point us to something more: they say that God Himself is hidden in His commandments, and when a Christian fulfills them out of love for Christ, he finds Him as his Friend.

According to the Holy Fathers, this is the first step to deification, called doing. This is ascetic guidance, the beginning of the path.

Naturally, this step is not at all easy, because there is a great struggle to eradicate our inner passions. It takes a great effort to little by little clear our hitherto uncultivated field of stones and thorns of passions. inner man and spiritually cultivate it so that the seed of the word of God can fall on it and bear fruit. Great self-compulsion is necessary for everyone for all this. That is why the Lord said: “The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it away.” (Matt. 11:12). And the Holy Fathers repeated: “Give blood and receive the Spirit.” In other words, we will not accept the Holy Spirit if our heart does not shed blood in the struggle for cleansing from passions, in the struggle for genuine and deep repentance, for the acquisition of internal Christian virtues.

All these virtues are different manifestations of one great virtue of love. When a Christian acquires love, he has all the virtues. Love expels from the soul of the one who acquires it the very cause of all evil and passions, namely, selfishness. All evil occurs within us from a selfish focus on oneself, from painful love for oneself. Therefore, the Church offers us a culture of asceticism. Without ascetic deeds there can be no spiritual life, no struggles and no progress. For the sake of purification from our inner passions, we show obedience, fast, stay awake, work in prostrations and stand for hours in prayer. If the Orthodox Church stopped being ascetic, it would cease to be Orthodox. She would no longer help a person get rid of passions and become a god by Grace.

The Holy Fathers developed the deepest and most accurate teaching about the structure of the soul and human passions. They distinguish between rational and sensual powers or abilities in the soul. The latter includes irritable and desirable forces. The mental power is responsible for the rational activity of the soul - reasoning and contemplation. The irritable force can be positively or negatively directed - giving rise to love or hatred. The power of desire can turn to sensual pleasures, greed, gluttony, carnal passions, etc. If these three powers of the soul - intelligent, irritable and desirable - are not purified, a person will not be able to contain the Grace of God and will not be able to be deified. Mental power is purified by sobriety, which is constant attention to one’s mind and reasoning of thoughts, i.e. cutting off thoughts and feelings inspired by the enemy, and cultivating others that come from God. Irritable power is healed by love. And finally, the power of desire is purified by abstinence. Prayer serves to cleanse and sanctify them all.

V) Church Sacraments and prayer

Christ enters the human heart through the Church Sacraments - Holy Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, and the Divine Eucharist. Those who are Christ's carry God within themselves and have His Grace in their hearts, being baptized and proceeding to confession and Holy Communion.

However, passions muffle Divine Grace in the hearts, just as ashes cover sparkling coals. Through good deeds and prayer the heart is cleansed of them, and the sparks of Divine Grace are rekindled, and then the Christian clearly hears Christ in his heart, in the center of his being.

Each church prayer helps cleanse the heart. But we receive special help in this from the practice of the so-called short prayer, or "mental prayer", known as "Jesus": . This prayer, passed down from generation to generation on the Holy Mountain, has the following advantage: being short, just one sentence, it helps to easily focus the attention of the mind. We immerse the mind focused on it in the heart and make sure that it is not scattered on other things and thoughts - good or bad - but is completely occupied with God.

The practice of mental prayer, which over time, by God’s grace, can become both heartfelt and unceasing, is in itself the science of sciences, a sacred art, described in detail by the Fathers of the Church and collected in a lengthy anthology of patristic texts, known as the Philokalia.

This prayer strengthens and delights its workers. Those who succeed in it, if they live in accordance with the holy commandments of Christ and the Church, are rewarded with the experience of Divine Grace. They begin to taste the sweetness of communion with God and experience what it means to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 33:9). For us Orthodox, God is not an idea, not something we think about, talk about, or read about. This is the Person who enters into living communication with us, this is the One by whom we live and Whom we know from experience.

Then we will know what a great, indescribable, inexpressible joy it is to carry Christ within us, to be Orthodox.

And for the laity, immersed in the whirlwind of everyday worries, at least a few minutes devoted in silence to this prayer can be a huge help.

Of course, every deed done for the sake of God, all labors and duties performed with humility and love, sanctify a Christian. But it is necessary to pray. In a silent room with a quiet lamp in front of the icons, having removed - as far as possible - from everything distracting and giving himself some rest from thoughts, a Christian can go with his mind to his heart, repeating the prayer - Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. What silence and strength fills the soul from the peace of God! What a wonderful support such a prayer provides a Christian throughout the day, keeping him in deep peace, free from irritation and anxiety. It brings all the forces of the soul into harmony and unity.

Some seek even a little peace of mind through artificial paths, in alien and dangerous pastures, in the so-called Eastern religions. Through external exercises, meditation and the like, they try to find peace and bring soul and body into harmony. The mistake is that in this case a person, trying to renounce the complexity of thoughts and everything material, does not, in fact, enter into a dialogue with God, limiting himself to a monologue, a conversation with himself. He comes to anthropocentrism and does not achieve success.

Experience of deification

The experience of deification is directly proportional to the degree of purification. The more a person is cleansed of passions, the more he accepts the experience of Communion with God, in vain of God in accordance with the promise: “Blessed are pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).

When a person begins to repent, confess and cry for sins, then his first experiences of Divine Grace come to him. At first these are tears of repentance, which fill the soul with inexplicable joy and deepest peace later. Therefore, such crying is called “joyful” - just as the Lord says in the beatitudes: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

Then a person ascends to higher levels, such as divine enlightenment, illuminated by which, the mind sees things, the world and people in a completely different light.

From this, the Christian’s love for God increases, and other tears come, higher than the first, tears from love for God, tears of divine eros. This is no longer crying about sins: because he knows that God has forgiven everything. These tears, which bring the greatest bliss, happiness and peace to the soul, are also an experience of deification.

Next, a person ascends to dispassion, a life not subject to the violence of passions and sinful weaknesses. He is peaceful and unshaken by any external insults, free from pride, hatred, pride and carnal desires.

This is the second degree of deification, called “contemplation.”

Already cleansed of passions, a person is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, illuminated and adored. The Holy Fathers designate this degree with a Greek word derived from “to see.” To contemplate God is to see God. To see God you need to be deified yourself. Therefore, contemplation of God is deification.

When a person is truly and completely purified and offers himself entirely to God, then he accepts the greatest (for a person) experience of Divine Grace. According to the Holy Fathers, this is the experience of the Uncreated Divine Light. It is given to those who have already greatly advanced in grace, to very few in each generation. The saints of God see it and are visible in it, just as they are depicted on holy icons, surrounded by halos.

For example, from the life of St. Basil the Great, we know that when he prayed in his cell, others (those, of course, who could) saw him and the cell itself filled with this Uncreated Light of God, the light of Divine Grace. The lives of many Greek new martyrs testify that when the Turks hung their bodies (after horrific torture) in city squares to intimidate Christians, more than once in the middle of the night they were clearly surrounded by a shining light. It was so noticeable and bright that the torturers themselves ordered the bodies to be removed as soon as possible so that they would not serve as a confirmation of the faith of Christ. They did not want to be disgraced in the eyes of Christians, who saw so clearly that God glorifies His saints.

The grace of deification preserves the bodies of saints and holy relics incorruptible, so that they exude myrrh and work miracles. Saint Gregory Palamas explains that first uniting with the souls of ascetics, Divine Grace then also dwells in their bodies, sanctifying them. And not only them, but also their graves, their icons and temples. This is why we pay respect to the icons, relics, graves and churches of saints: they partly carry within themselves the Grace that the saint acquired thanks to his union with God, thanks to deification.

In the Church, not only our souls, but also our bodies, abundantly participate in the Grace of deification. Participating in the feat together with the soul, the body, of course, is glorified with it, as the temple of the Holy Spirit living in it.

This Grace, emanating from our Lord, God and the Man Christ, is poured out on the Most Pure Mother of God, on the saints and on us the humble.

Of course, I must note that not everything that Christians experience can be regarded as a genuine experience of deification or, in general, as something spiritual. Many have been deceived by demonic or simply spiritual experiences. In order to avoid both self-deception and demonic influence, it is necessary to humbly reveal everything to the spiritual father, whom God will enlighten to understand whether what is being revealed to him is genuine or not, so that he will give the appropriate instruction to the confessor. Generally speaking, obedience to the spiritual father is a very essential aspect of spiritual life, thanks to which we acquire the church spirit of martyrdom in Christ, and which legitimizes our asceticism, designed to raise us into unity with God.

A special place in the Church in the manifestation of the mystery of deification has always belonged to monastics, who, having devoted their entire lives to this, testify to the sublime experience of unity with God.

By ascending to deification, to sanctification, the monks thereby serve the entire Church. For we believe, in accordance with the holy Tradition of the Church at all times, that their struggles and exploits support every Christian in his spiritual warfare in the midst of the world. Hence such reverence for monasticism in the Orthodox community.

And finally, in the Church we participate in the communion of saints, we learn the joy of unity in Christ. That is, we cease to be Her individual members, but become a single whole, a living organism in fraternal unity not only with each other, but also with all the saints of God - both those living now on earth and those who have already departed. Even with death this unity does not disintegrate. Death cannot separate Christians, because their unity is in the risen Body of Christ.

Therefore, every Resurrection and every time the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, we all participate in it along with the angels and saints of all times. Our departed neighbors also participate, if, of course, they have a part in Christ. We are all there, and mysteriously communicate with each other - not externally, but in Christ.

This is obvious during the celebration of proskomedia, when on the holy paten around the Lamb-Christ particles are placed for the Most Pure Mother of God, for the saints, for the living and the dead. Upon the consecration of the Holy Gifts, all these particles are immersed together in the Blood of Christ.

This is a great blessing of the Church that we are Her members and can communicate in Her not only with God, but also with each other as members of the holy Body of Christ.

Its head is Christ Himself. Life descends from the head to the whole body. Naturally, the body consists of living members, but not all of them are equally full of life or equally healthy. Most of us are not in perfect spiritual health. Nevertheless, life, or rather the Most Pure Blood, flowing from Christ Himself through His living members to the less healthy, little by little revives and heals the very last. This is why we must be in the Church! To accept health and life, since apart from the Church there is no possibility of recovery and revival.

Of course, everything doesn’t come at once. All his life, step by step, step by step, an Orthodox Christian wages a struggle to acquire the grace of God in the Church - through humility, repentance, prayer, the Holy Mysteries, ascending to sanctification and deification.

And isn’t this our great calling and purpose of this life, to ascend? It doesn't really matter to what extent we rise here. It is important to move forward - in the struggle, which is always rewarded in abundance by God: here and in the next century.

Why do many not achieve deification?

Although we are called to strive to achieve this great task: to find unity with God, to become gods by Grace, to perceive the ineffable blessing for which our Creator created us - often we live as if this highest goal does not exist. And then we can say that our life did not happen.

Holy God created us for deification. And if we trample on this, we trample on our whole life. Why do we do this? Here are some of the reasons:

A) Devotion to earthly cares

We may have many very useful and truly necessary things to do - study, profession, family, financial worries, charity. If in all this we perceive and use the world eucharistically, as a gift from God, then everything unites us with God and becomes a step to Him. And if not, then everything is in vain. Everything is in vain if we do not move towards unity with God.

Usually people are deceived by these secondary tasks in life. Deification is not considered as the main and primary task. Temporary goals are completely absorbed. The heart is given over to them and forgets about the eternal, “but there is only one thing that is needed” (Luke 10:42),

Nowadays especially, people are always extremely busy, constantly in a hurry (maybe the devil intended this deceive even the elect?), and because of this they forget about their salvation. For example, today we need to study, read, so there is no time for prayer, no time to go to church, no time for confession and Holy Communion! Tomorrow there will be meetings and conferences, a lot of social and personal responsibilities - and it’s simply impossible to find time for God! The day after tomorrow we will have to go to a wedding, and there are a lot of household chores - so we are simply not able to engage in spiritual matters. We repeat to God all the time: “I... cannot come... I ask You to forgive me” (Luke 14:19-20).

And through this, everything beautiful and legal loses its meaning. All of the above has real, significant value when done with By God's Grace. When done for the glory of God. All this has real, genuine value when we do not cease to desire and love what is behind all our activities, studies or work, family or any other good and sacred duties and deeds. All of them are filled with true meaning only when we do not stop striving for deification in them. Then they too acquire eternal and lasting significance, and we prosper through them.

Our Lord said: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). The Kingdom of God is deification, the acquisition of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. When Divine Grace enters a person and reigns in him, he is led by God. Through those who have acquired this, Divine Grace enters the lives of other people, and everyone has fellowship in the Kingdom of God.

According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, Thy Kingdom come in the Lord's Prayer means “let the Grace of the Holy Spirit come.” And to whom His Grace comes, it adores him.

b) Moralism

Unfortunately, the already mentioned spirit of moralism, that is, the reduction of Christian life to moral improvement, had a largely detrimental effect on the piety and spirituality of Christians in Greece. Often the desire for deification is suppressed under the influence of Western theology.

But the doctrine of moral improvement is the acceptance of man as the center of the universe. In it, human effort prevails over Divine Grace, as if it were not grace, but our moral principles that save us. And therefore, being in such a dispensation, we are deprived of genuine communion with God, and the consolation of the soul is not true, and its thirst is not quenched. This direction (and the corresponding nourishment), having been tested and proven to be incompatible with the true spirit of the Church of Christ, is largely responsible for the godlessness and indifference to the spiritual life of many of our contemporaries, and especially young people.

We - parents, teachers, clergy and all representatives of the Church, in Sunday schools, sermons and anywhere else - we should, instead of fruitless conversations about “Christian morality,” lead our children to deification, in accordance with the true spirit and experience our Church. In the end, all virtues, no matter how great they may be, do not represent the goal of our Christian life, but are only means and methods that prepare us to accept deification, to acquire - in the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov - the Grace of the Holy Spirit.

V) Anthropocentric humanism

The autonomy of humanism, as a social and philosophical direction, cut off and independent from God, forms a civilization entirely built on selfishness, and this becomes a serious obstacle to modern man. Everything is aimed at making us alien to the Orthodox faith, in the name of freedom and human dignity. But is there any greater dignity for a person than deification?

The fruits of the spirituality of deification

Spiritual nourishment, which the Orthodox Church teaches in its worship, patristic theology and monastic tradition, is a guide to deification, and it decisively places Christ, the Incarnate God, the God-man, and not just man, at the center of life.

Great joy enters our lives when we realize the height of our calling, when we realize what bliss awaits us.

Such nourishment sweetens the bitterness of all everyday sorrow and the pain of suffering with the hope of deification.

When the hope of deification leads us through life, and likewise we see each other as called to become gods, then we relate to our neighbors completely differently. How much deeper and more serious nourishment we can then give to our children! What kind of God-pleasing love and respect will parents be filled with for their children if they realize their sacred duty and calling to help them achieve deification - that for which, by God’s grace, they were born into the world! And how can parents help their children with this until they themselves have taken the path of deification? But how much genuine human dignity, without egocentrism and the pride of godlessness, will appear in us upon the realization that we were created for such an amazing purpose.

The Holy Fathers and teachers of the Church theologize that in this way, overcoming the everyday anthropocentricity of fallen human consciousness, we truly become individuals, we become truly human. We meet God with respect and love. With the deepest respect, we give everyone his true dignity - as one who has the inheritance of deification, looking at him as the image of God, and not as an object that can be used.

Until we come out of the self-centered limitations of our “I”, we are only individuals - not persons. When we follow the path of deification - with the help of Grace, promoting It and our efforts - at the moment when we break out of the isolation of our individual existence and begin to love, giving ourselves more and more to God and our neighbors, then a personality is born. In other words, we find ourselves where our “I” meets the “Thou” of God and the “Thou” of our neighbor - because it is in the communion of deification, for which we were created, that only we can open up completely, open up and enjoy each other pure, not selfish.

This is the spirit of the Divine Liturgy, in which we learn to transcend our petty individual desires inspired by sin, demons and passions, and learn to open ourselves to the sacrificial communion of love in Christ.

Awareness of such a high purpose as deification can give true consolation and fulfillment to the human personality.

The Orthodox “humanism” of our Church is based on this divine calling of all people, and therefore leads all the powers of the individual to their fullest disclosure.

What other humanism, no matter how progressive and courageous it may seem, is as radical as church “humanism”, which elevates man to becoming a god? Nowhere except the Church will you find such philanthropy.

Nowadays, there are too many people who want to deceive people, especially young people, with various pseudo-humane inventions that in fact disfigure and cripple a person, and do not lead him to fullness. Therefore, it is very important now to emphasize this side of genuine Church care.

Consequences of spiritual nourishment that does not lead to deification

Young people are looking for experience. Tired of the materialism and rationalism of the society that we, their fathers, handed down to them, our children - the images of God, called by Him to become gods by Grace - are looking for something beyond the rational forms of materialistic philosophy and godless education that we offer them. They are eager to experience true life; it is not enough for them to just hear about God. They want to feel Him, His Light, His Grace themselves. Not knowing that the Church can give them all this and has the experience that they are looking for, many of them are looking in the wrong place, in their search for something transnational, resorting to various cheap substitutions.

Some are fond of Eastern mysticism, such as yoga, others - occultism and Gnosticism, and recently, unfortunately, outright Satanism.

As for morality, there are no boundaries for them. Having been emasculated and torn away from their true purpose - to unite a person with the Holy God - moral principles have lost all meaning.

Hence such a tragic rampant of anarchism and terrorism. Many of those who have a deep need to realize the power inherent in them, but cannot, because no one directed them to deification, indulge in all sorts of extremes and violence towards their neighbors.

Most young people, and not only young people, waste precious life time and excess strength given by God in order to succeed in the work of deification on sensuality and carnal pleasures. What a pity that often, with the connivance of the state, hedonism and pleasures of the flesh become modern idols, modern “goddesses,” seriously damaging the bodies and souls of young people.

Others, having absolutely no ideals, waste time on various aimless and fruitless activities. Others find pleasure in meaningless racing at speeds that so often lead to disasters and death. And others, after many wanderings, limply surrender to the devilish captivity of drug addiction, this modern plague.

Finally, many, after a relatively short life full of disappointments and failures, consciously or unconsciously interrupt the torment of their aimless searches, reaching the worst form of despair - suicide.

All these boys and girls who drove themselves to such crazy and destructive actions are not strangers to us. These are our youth, children - both God's and ours - disappointed by the rationalistic, self-sufficient society that we handed over to them. They failed to find the purpose for which they were created, the real reason and eternal meaning of existence - because we did not teach this to them, and it, this eternal meaning, remained closed from them. They did not know the amazing purpose of human life - deification. Finding no peace in anything, they came to all this out of despair.

There are already many shepherds of the holy Orthodox Church - hierarchs, priests, spiritual fathers and God-loving laity - who, out of Christian love, daily devote their strength to the spiritual guidance of youth towards the goal of deification. We gratefully welcome their sacrificial efforts and believe that through this God-pleasing work of theirs, Grace will save and sanctify the souls for whom Christ died.

The Holy Mountain residents humbly support the Church in this great struggle. Being a valid Destiny Mother of God, a special place of sanctification and rest in God, Athos abundantly tastes the blessing of deification, lives in communion with God and has a vivid and obvious experience of His Grace, His Light.

This is why many, including a large number of youth receive benefit, strengthening, and rebirth in Christ through a pilgrimage to Athos or a closer spiritual connection with it. This helps them feel God in their lives. It is revealed to them why Orthodoxy, Christian deed and spiritual struggle are needed, and with what great joy and meaning they fill their lives. In other words, they partake of this amazing gift of God to humanity, of deification.

And all of us - pastors of the Church, theologians and catechists - should not remain silent about deification, forgetting this primordial direction of truly Church spiritual care. Through him, our children and we, the humble ones, laboring daily in repentance and striving to walk in His holy commandments by God’s grace, are approaching the opportunity to rejoice in such an indescribable blessing of the Lord: unity with Him. We are given the opportunity to enjoy deeper joy in this life and gain eternal blessing and bliss.

We should constantly thank the Holy God for the gift of deification, the gift of His great love. To respond with love to His love. Our Lord wants and thirsts for our deification. That more? This is precisely why He became Man and died on the cross: to shine like the Sun among many suns, like God among gods.

(Archimandrite Georgy. Deification as the meaning of human life. - Vladimir, 2000)