/*Exhortation (call), exhort (call). In a word, exhort in the Bible. The texts convey Greek, which is often found both in the Septuagint and in the books of the New Testament. verb parakalein, which is translated as to call, ask, console, encourage./

Let's think about how, in connection with well-known events, we can regain the opportunity to live without constant anxious tension, how not to be afraid of imminent dangers, how to gain the courage, endurance and calmness necessary for a full life, no matter what tests we are subjected to in the near future and distant.

If you are reading these lines, then you should admit to yourself that you have the problems mentioned above. The first good news is that regaining your fearlessness is easy. To do this, it is enough to simply look at what is happening with you and around you from a different, more correct point of view. And this is very difficult. Because it's unusual. But we hope that you are not yet ossified enough...

So what is fear? This is a painful fear of losing something from what we have. Peace, money, health, loved ones, life. The possibility of losing presupposes that we have it. And if so, we are happy.

But do we deserve this happiness? The very fact that each of us is still alive
represents not the norm, but a phenomenon of incredible luck (for non-believers) and the incomprehensible mercy of the Creator (for those who were twice lucky: to find themselves alive and knowing about the existence of God). Let's think: we know for sure that there was a time when we were not there. And the world without us was no worse and no better than the one in which we exist. But we are better off in it. We feel good in it if we cannot imagine ourselves without it. We didn't make the slightest effort to come into the world. So, Someone took care of it. So wouldn’t it be naive to assume that the Same One has lost interest in us and will not protect us from leaving the world prematurely?

We know that there will be a time when we will not be there. There, beyond the threshold of our usual way of being, everything is unknown, and therefore, understandably, scary. Two circumstances will help overcome fear: a) it is inevitable, like the onset of spring after winter; and b) this is for everyone, and therefore there will not be a single trickster who will remain here for a long time after we leave. The popular wisdom is right - “we’ll all be there.”

So, the key question remains - “when”. Something deeply selfish in us helpfully suggests a primitive answer: “the later, the better.” Is it so? The well-known principle of people reduced to an animal level in the terrible camps of the 20th century is “You die today, and I die tomorrow.” Shall we choose this unworthy ethics?

If “yes,” then it’s bad. Then our fear is derived from pride. Then we destroy the entire Holy Scripture. Then we consider ourselves the best of all people, why? And that’s all better. They should die. Then the Savior did not come for us, who clearly said: “Whoever strives to save his soul will destroy it.” Then He didn’t save us. Then our business is bad both here and there.

The riddle: how can one remain a Christian and, with the subtle arrogance of possessing an “aristocratic neurosis,” languidly say: “But I know, I’m afraid of flying, I have... this... - aerophobia.” Translated into a normal system of concepts, it will sound - “Let suckers fly on planes, whose lives are less valuable than mine. I don't care about professional pilots who carry thousands of passengers every day. I don’t care about the theory of probability, according to which many more people in the world die from falling from camels than in plane crashes. I have one very precious life and I will live it as long as possible because this is my will.”

Let's dig further: Any fear is a crime against love. Anyone who does not love has no relation to God, Who is Love. Love is the ability to sacrifice. With what we have - health, prosperity, peace, life. By myself, finally. Love is the joyful overcoming of oneself, oneself that has become obsolete, oneself that is outdated, oneself that is ill-suited to be loved. Fear is the desire to survive at any cost, with all the illusions of peace and security that are dear to a flabby heart.

Yes, we are weak and imperfect. Yes, we are people subject to passions, illnesses and yes, fears. The same as the Apostle Peter, who, being afraid, although two days ago he witnessed the resurrection and a few months ago saw the Transfiguration of Christ on Tabor, it would seem that where there was room for doubt, so he denied the Savior in fear. So it may be natural for us to feel fear. We are all genetically the heirs of the first man Adam, who fussed before the Creator in Eden and shifted the blame from himself. But let us follow Adam and Peter not only in their fears, but also in their crying. Bitter, repentant, without a note of justification for himself, without giving reasons for fear and without explaining its reasons except one - his own cowardice.

How does the soul become stronger? The truth. Let us accept ourselves as we are in our fear and confess it to everyone. I am a coward and I am afraid - this is how our description of ourselves should sound. May we be ashamed of our fear—of our parents, our spouses, our children, our friends and co-workers. Looking at ourselves from the outside, through the eyes of more noble and courageous people, can pull us up a little in our becoming nobility. We may not have become heroes yet, but stopping to justify our fear is a sign of the vector towards gaining courage.

Next, you should distance your fear. It’s not me who’s afraid, it’s not God’s image in me that’s afraid, it’s my fallenness that’s afraid, my animal instincts, I’m finally tempted by nasty devils, I’m forced to fear. Try to think like this. Having accepted this, the possibility of confrontation with one’s “boilers” and the start of a war with them is indicated. And in every war there are different strategies. Sometimes there is a frontal attack, when you feel a lot of strength behind you, but if you don’t, then there is no sin in deceiving and outwitting the enemy. We begin the fight against the fear of the subway - we turn on the player with our favorite music, enter into a conversation with a pretty stranger, reward ourselves with ice cream after passing at least an extra stop.

We will remember that fear is the enemy. He is cunning and dangerous. He doesn’t really want to save us, but he, like a cancer of the soul, will spread further and further if we leave our borders. What else leads to military victory? Allied help. Even if not too strong. So for those who feel fear, it makes sense to unite. It would be wise if we find the strength within ourselves to say: “Yeah, so I started to be afraid of something... Why is this? What does Providence want to tell me with this? Well, of course, I understood that I was lonely and had no one to share my meal, my journey, my feelings with. Out of fear they gather in herds. Let me find my herd, my team, let me get closer to others, otherwise, it seems, my interest in them has dried up and I only care about myself.”

“I’m starting to worry about my health—it’s going to tingle here, then it’s going to ache there. What is it for? Or maybe I spend too much time alone and don’t give anything to others. The energy of consumption accumulates in me and begins to slowly turn sour and rot. I mentally scan myself to see if everything is okay.” Such thoughts about oneself lead to self-pity - “how can this be, I’m so good, but I feel so bad, this is obviously unfair.” Once we stop opposing ourselves to such hypochondriacal fears, they overwhelm us completely. And okay, if we just suffer and harass ourselves and others, it wouldn’t be so bad. But the trouble is that by succumbing to self-preservation at any cost, starting to live according to the principle “no one will take care of me better than myself, which means I must constantly monitor myself, lest it gets worse,” we risk first losing trust—in our loved ones , doctors - and then faith itself. Somehow we begin to admit that the One who created us, the One who loves us, the One who died for us, has somehow forgotten about us. And since I forgot, it means that I am not omnipotent, not omniscient, not a god. So quickly, without even noticing it, we find ourselves outside the Church, but only in the dubious company of our personal demons.

Accept yourself as fearful - understand yourself as fearful - be ashamed of yourself as fearful, cry for yourself as fearful - reject yourself as fearful - this is the sequence of restoring yourself as a person. “I fear no one except God alone” - this is the attitude to which one must come, even if the road is long. Many have followed this path, some have achieved it. Shyness and timidity are inappropriate here, fear is a reason to ask for help: friendly, professional, spiritual, grace-filled. And we will know that we immediately become healed from the bad fear of anything, as soon as we say, even for a moment, but sincerely: “God, for some reason do You need my life right now? Well, take it, because I love you and I believe that this is more than mutual.”

“Always have the fear of God,fear Him who kills and gives life"

Venerable Anthony the Great

"Aren't we all going to disappear from the face of the earth soon?and we will be as if we were not? Where are the works of love?Where is the spirit of Christ in us? Where is the kindness, wherehumility... where is the impartiality towards the temporary?..We are vain, stupid people! We distorted the imageour souls, distorted their lives, upside downleft her. Instead of Christ, we please the devil."

Venerable John of Kronstadt

“If people knew what awaited them after death, they would pray to God day and night, otherwise they think – he’s dead and that’s the end of everything. Our life after earthly death is just beginning - through earthly suffering we earn Eternity. He who knows God endures everything »

Elder Theodosius of Caucasus

Do not hasten death with your delusions -About the fear of God - About death and mortal memory -About the hour of death - How to deal with insensibility -What happens after death?About the vision of Saint Anthony the Great

« Don't hasten your death with the delusions of your life and do not bring destruction to yourselves by the works of your hands. God did not create death and does not rejoice at the destruction of the living, for He created everything for existence, and everything in the world is salvific, and there is no harmful poison, and there is no kingdom of hell on earth. Righteousness is immortal, but unrighteousness causes death: the wicked attracted it with their hands and words, they considered it friend and wasted away, and entered into an alliance with her, for they are worthy to be her lot.” (Wis. 1, 12-16).

Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“The Lord endures for a long time. He only ends a person’s life when he sees him ready for the transition to eternity or when he sees no hope for his correction.”

About the fear of God

Venerable Anthony the Great (251-356) teaches about the fear of God: “If a person wants to acquire the love of God, then he must have the fear of God; fear gives birth to crying, and crying gives birth to courage. When all this ripens in the soul, it will begin to bear fruit in everything. And God, seeing these beautiful fruits in the soul, attracts it to Himself, like the stench of the chosen incense; rejoices over her with the Angels at all times, filling her with joy, and guards her on all her paths, so that she may safely reach her resting place. Then the devil does not attack her, seeing the Supreme Guardian surrounding her; He is even afraid to even begin to approach it, because of this great power. Acquire this power for yourself, may the demons fear you, may the labors you undertake be made easier, and may the Divine be pleased (sweet) for you. This sweetness of Divine love is far sweeter than a honeycomb.

The fear of God will be followed by true humility, for he who fears God humbles himself under the strong hand of God(1 Peter 5, 6).

Stand always before the face of the Lord with righteousness.

The fear of God must always be before our eyes, as well as the memory of death and hostile aversion to the world and everything worldly.

Die every day that you may live, for whoever fears God will live forever.

Let us walk in the fear of the Lord, as we are commanded with fear and trembling commit your salvation(Phil. 2:12). The fear of the Lord eradicates all evil and sins from the soul. He who does not fear God falls into many evils. The fear of the Lord protects a person and protects him until he throws off this body.”

Saint John Chrysostom(347-407) speaks about the fear of God: “You must always have the fear of God before your eyes, and all the most frantic passions will be silent. Living without fear, you cannot accomplish anything noble or amazing. Therefore the apostle says: work out your salvation with fear and trembling(Phil. 2:12). And he didn’t just say: with fear, but added: and trembling which is the highest degree of fear... How can this fear be born? If we think that God is present everywhere, hears everything, sees everything, not only deeds and words, but also everything that happens in the heart and in the depths of the soul: judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart(Heb. 4:12) - if we set ourselves up this way, we will not do, nor say, nor think anything bad. Therefore, Whatever you do, do it with the thought of the omnipresence of God. For He is truly present everywhere... If you constantly have such a thought, then you will constantly be in fear and trembling, as if you were standing next to the king himself...

You believed, did many good things, and ascended to heights. Hold yourself strong, stand with fear and look cheerfully, so as not to fall from there. For there are many spirits of evil who want to overthrow you».

Venerable Isaac the Syrian (550):“The fear of God is the beginning of virtue; it is a product of faith and is sown in the heart when the mind is removed from worldly distraction, so that its thoughts, whirling from soaring, can be collected in reflection on the future restoration.

Just as it is impossible to cross a large sea without a ship and a boat, so no one can achieve love without fear..

We can cross the stinking sea between us and the mental paradise only on the boat of repentance, on which there are oarsmen of fear. But if the oarsmen of fear do not steer the ship of repentance, on which we come to God across the sea of ​​this world, then we will drown in this stinking sea.

Repentance is a ship, and fear is its helmsman, but love is a divine pier. Fear takes us into the ship of repentance, transports us across the stinking sea of ​​life and guides us to the divine pier, which is love.

All who work and are burdened with repentance come to this pier. And when we achieve love, then we have reached God, and our path is complete, and we have come to the island of the other world, where the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are.”

Venerable Abba Dorotheos (620):“It is impossible...to achieve perfect fear if one does not first acquire the original one. For it is said: the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord(Proverbs 1:7), and it also says: the fear of God is the beginning and the end(Sir.1, 15, 18). The beginning is called the initial fear, followed by the perfect fear of the saints. Initial fear is characteristic of our state of mind. It preserves the soul from all evil, like polishing copper, for it is said: By the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil(Prov. 15, 27). So, if someone avoids evil out of fear of punishment, like a slave who fears his master, then he gradually comes to do good voluntarily, and little by little begins, like a mercenary, to hope for some reward for his good deeds. For when he constantly avoids evil, as we said, out of fear, like a slave, and does good in the hope of reward, like a mercenary, then, by the grace of God, remaining in good and proportionately uniting with God, he receives a taste of good and begins to understand what true goodness is, and no longer wants to be separated from it. For who can separate such a person from the love of Christ? - as the Apostle said (Rom. 8:35).

Then he achieves the dignity of a son and loves good for its own sake, and fears because he loves. This is great and perfect fear. Therefore, the Prophet, teaching us to distinguish one fear from another, said: Come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is a person who loves life and sees good things?(Ps. 33, 12-13).”

“A ray of sunshine, penetrating through a well into a house, illuminates everything in it, so that the finest dust floating in the air can be seen; like this and when the fear of the Lord comes into the heart, it shows him all his sins».

Venerable Maximus the Confessor (662):“He who fears the Lord has humility as his constant interlocutor, and through his reminders he ascends to the love and thanksgiving of God. He, remembering his first life according to the spirit of the world, his various sins that happened to him from his youth and temptation, and how the Lord delivered him from all of them, and transferred him from a passionate life to a life according to God, will accept love with fear; and continually, with deep humility, thanks God, the benefactor and ruler of our lives.”

Blessed Diadochos:“No one can love God with all his heart without first warming the fear of God in the feeling of his heart, for the soul comes into effective love after it has already been cleansed and softened by the action of the fear of God. …Fear is the property of the righteous, who are still being purified, in whom there is an average measure of love, and perfect love is the property of the already purified, in whom there is no fear, since perfect love casts out fear(1 John 4:18).

Just as wounds that occur in the body, if they are not cleaned and prepared as they should, do not feel the medicine applied to them by doctors... so the soul, while it remains careless and is covered with the leprosy of voluptuousness, cannot feel the fear of God, at least someone constantly talked to her about the terrible... judgment seat of God. And when she begins to purify herself through the action of full attention to herself, then she begins to feel, like some kind of life-giving medicine, the fear of God burning through her... through the action of reproof. And thus, purifying himself little by little, he finally achieves complete purification. At the same time, as much love is added to it, fear is diminished by the same amount until it comes to perfect love, in which, as it is said, there is no fear.”

Saint Clement of Alexandria:“Fear is the beginning of love and then turns into it. The fear of God, in fact, is not the fear of God, but the fear of falling away from God and falling into sins and passions».

Venerable Simeon the New Theologian (1021):“Whoever is imbued with the fear of God is not afraid to go among evil people. Having the fear of God within him and carrying the invincible weapon of faith, he is strong for anything and can do even what many seem difficult and impossible. He walks among them, like a giant among monkeys or a lion among dogs and foxes, trusting in the Lord, with the firmness of his wisdom he astonishes them, terrifies their meanings, striking them with words of wisdom like a rod of iron.”

Elder George, Zadonsk hermit (1789-1836): “Let your heart be covered not with the fear of illness, not with the fear of poverty and poverty, but with the fear of God. Those who fear the Lord are blessed: they abide in love and keep His holy commandments. There is no envy, no malice, no slander, no reproach and not the slightest deceit in such souls; may the Lord save us from all of these with His fear!”

Elder Arseny (Minin) (1823-1879):“The most important thing for those living in a busy world is to have the fear of God, which extinguishes all sinful passions, skills, and desires. The fear of God is acquired by fervent prayer to God and frequent reflection on the separation of the soul from the body and on the future fate inevitable for each of earth-born.”

Elder Schema-Hegumen Savva (1898-1980) spoke to his spiritual children about the need for the fear of God in the matter of our salvation:

“Everywhere we must have the fear of God, which we are reminded of in worship in the Great Litany: “ For this temple and for those who enter it with faith, reverence and the fear of God, let us pray to the Lord"See? Who can stand in the temple? Only those who have the fear of God. And proceeding to the Chalice - “ draw near with the fear of God and faith". You see how necessary fear is! Without it, the Lord cannot work! And in order to attune your soul to fear during prayer, you need to collect your mind, first let your soul and thoughts calm down, put aside all earthly vanity. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord(Ps. 111, 1). " Where there is the fear of the Lord, there is the correction of all commandments“say the holy fathers. Otherwise, it happens that they cling to the earth, to the care of perishable things - and cannot tear themselves away from the earth with their thoughts, but we must live on the earth, like a wheel turning - barely touching the earth with one point. Elder Parthenius said: “ He who has acquired the fear of God has no sorrow or sorrow on earth—only joy.”

About death and mortal memory

“In all your deeds remember your end,and you will never sin"(Sir.7, 39)

« Remember that death does not hesitate, and the covenant of hell is not revealed to you: before you die, do good to your friend, and according to your strength, stretch out your hand and give to him. Come and accept and comfort your soul, for there is no comfort to be found in hell. All flesh, like clothing, wears out; for from time immemorial there is a definition: “you will die by death.” Like green leaves on a thick tree - some fall, while others grow: so is the race of flesh and blood - one dies, and another is born. Every thing that is subject to corruption disappears, and the one who made it dies with it.” (Sir.14, 12-13, 16-20).

Venerable Anthony the Great (251-356) teaches about death and mortal memory: “Death for people who understand it is immortality; and for the simple ones who do not understand it, there is death. And this death should not be feared, but One must be afraid of spiritual destruction, which is ignorance of God. This is what is terrible for the soul! Life is a connection and combination of mind (spirit), soul and body, and death is not the destruction of these combined parts, but the dissolution of their union - God preserves all this even after dissolution. Just as a man comes out of his mother’s womb, so the soul comes out of the body naked, and some are pure and bright, some are stained by falls, and others are black from many sins. Why does an intelligent and God-loving soul, remembering and reasoning about the troubles and extremes of the post-mortem, live piously, so as not to be condemned and subject to them? But unbelievers do not feel and sin, despising what is there to be there, foolish in soul.

Just as, having come out of the womb, you do not remember what was in the womb, so, having left the body, you do not remember what was in the body. Just as you came from the womb and became better and larger in body, so having come from the body clean and undefiled, you will be better and incorruptible, staying in heaven. Mortals must take care of themselves, knowing in advance that death awaits them. For blessed immortality is the lot of a reverend soul when it is good, and eternal death meets it when it is evil.

Remember that your youth has passed, your strength has been exhausted, and your infirmities have increased, and the time of your exodus is near, when you have to give an account of all your deeds, and know that there neither brother will redeem brother, nor father will deliver son. Always remember the departure from the body and do not let eternal condemnation out of your mind; If you do this, you will never sin.”

Venerable Isaac the Syrian (550) writes about mortal memory: "First thought, which, according to God’s love for mankind, enters into man and guides the soul to life, There is sinking into heart thought about the outcome of this nature. This thought is naturally followed by disdain for the world; and with this every good movement begins in a person, leading him to life. This is also what the divine power that accompanies man lays as a foundation when it desires to discover life in him. And if a person does not extinguish this thought we have said in himself with everyday worries and vanity, but grows it in silence, and dwells on it in contemplation, and engages in it, then it will lead him to deep contemplation, which no one is able to describe in words. Satan hates this thought and attacks with all his might to destroy it in man. And if it were possible, I would give him the kingdom of the whole world, just to erase such a thought from a person’s mind with entertainment. For the insidious one knows that if this thought remains in a person, then his mind is no longer in this land of deception and his machinations do not approach the person.

... Someone beautifully said that the fear of death saddens a man who is condemned by his conscience; and whoever has a good testimony in himself desires death as much as life.”

Venerable Hesychius of Jerusalem writes: “Let us, if possible, unceasingly remember death, for from this remembrance is born in us the putting aside of all worries and vanities, guarding the mind and unceasing prayer, impartiality to the body and aversion to sin, and almost, to tell the truth, every living virtue and the active flows from it. Therefore, if possible, let us do this work as continuously as our breathing is continuous.”

Venerable John Climacus (649):“Some experience and wonder why God did not give us foreknowledge of death, if the memory of it is so beneficial for us? These people do not know that God miraculously arranges our salvation through this. For no one, having known the time of his death long ago, would rush to accept baptism or enter into monasticism, but everyone would spend his entire life in lawlessness, and at the very departure from this world would come to baptism or repentance (but from long-term habit, sin would become a second nature in man, and he would remain completely without correction) (Lestv. 6, 9).

I will not fail to tell you the story about Hesychius, the monk of Mount Horeb. He had previously led the most careless life and did not care at all about his soul; Finally, having fallen into a fatal illness, for an hour he seemed completely dead. Having come to his senses, he begged us all to immediately leave him and, having closed the door of his cell, lived in it for twelve years, never saying a small or great word to anyone and eating nothing except bread and water; but sitting in seclusion, as if before the face of the Lord, he was horrified and lamented about what he saw during the frenzy, and never changed his way of life, but was constantly as if beside himself and did not stop quietly shedding warm tears. When he approached death, we knocked down the door and entered his cell and, after much petition, heard only these words: “Forgive me,” he said, “whoever has acquired the memory of death can never sin.” We were amazed to see that in one who had previously been so careless, such a blessed change and transformation suddenly occurred” (Lestv. 6, 18).

Venerable Simeon the New Theologian (1021) writes that “everyone who has begun to live according to God benefits from the fear of torment and the heart disease it engenders. Whoever, without such pain and without such bonds of fear, wants to lay the beginning of a good life, does not only lay the foundation of his actions on sand, but dreams of building a house in the air without a foundation, which is of course impossible. Meanwhile, illness soon gives rise to all joy, these bonds break the bonds of all sins and passions. AND This cry is after death, but it is the culprit of eternal life».

Elder George, Zadonsk recluse (1789-1836):“Memory and reflection about death, about fate, about hell, about the Kingdom of Heaven in undoubted faith is true wisdom. Such remembrance and reflection in no way allows a person to sin a mortal sin before God, or to offend his neighbor in any way, or to reproach, or to slander. Oblivion of this draws a person into such darkness in which he in no way sees himself, nor his deeds, nor the path along which he is walking, nor the end that can suddenly befall him; having forgotten about the righteous judgment of God, he neglects his immortal soul and, flatteringly hoping for the only mercy of God, neither hungers nor thirsts for its spiritual food, and does not even want to think about it. He nourishes his rotten body with all kinds of inventions and serves it with all zeal in order to sweeten and calm the lust of his heart, boiling with blood from carnal lusts; This is what his whole mind is more immersed in - this darkness-blinded eye of the soul!

...In order not to listen to vanity, one must always remember the hour of death and reflect on eternal life and the righteous judgment of God; If it seems unbearable to temporarily endure something annoying and regrettable to the heart for the sake of salvation and piety, then one must imagine the fire of hell and the endless torment into which all those condemned by the righteous judgment of God will go because they did not want to follow the teachings of the Lord and God Jesus Christ, not they wanted to walk the narrow and regrettable path and suffer for the sake of piety for the sake of the name of Christ. Such people reluctantly go to endure unbearable torment, only not for a hundred or a thousand years, but forever- without end. The Lord is merciful and righteous; loves those who remain in the truth of God and has mercy on sinners who repent; calls everyone to salvation with promises for the sake of future benefits, but those who turn aside into corruption will be led away with the workers of iniquity. So, those who have done good will go into eternal life, but those who have done evil will go into eternal fire.”

Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov (1807-1867):“The fate that befell my fathers and brothers will also befall me. They died: I will die too. I will leave my cell, I will leave in it my books, and my clothes, and my desk, at which I spent many hours; I will leave behind everything that I needed or thought I needed during my earthly life. They will take my body out of these cells in which I live, as if on the threshold of another life and country; They will take out my body and commit it to the earth, which served as the beginning for the human body. Exactly the same thing will happen to you, brothers, who are reading these lines. You will die and you: leave everything earthly on earth; With your souls alone you will enter eternity...

Those who have death and eternity before their eyes - the indispensable, inevitable destiny of every person - laugh at the sorrows and sweets of earthly things. From whom the enemy steals the memory of death and eternity, before his eyes a temporary life grows into eternity, sorrows grow into immeasurable and invincible giants.

...To eternity! To eternity! - Let's go, rushing along the path of life! Everything, both sweet and bitter, remains with us. The former is as if it had never happened. One eternal thing is not subject to time, is not subject to change, must be recognized as essential, worthy of all attention, all concerns: because it remains forever. The devil tries to entertain our eyes so that eternity slips from our eyes. She slipped away - and the man struggles, suffers in the catcher’s net. Spiritual intelligence, which is humility, cuts through these networks.“Remember your last and you will never sin”...

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt (1829-1908) writes: “In the sorrow of your soul, sometimes you wish to die. Dying is easy, not for long; but are you ready for death? After all, after death comes judgment for your entire life (Heb. 9:27). You are not ready for death, and if it came to you, your whole body would tremble. Don’t waste words, don’t say: it would be better for me to die, but say more often: how can I prepare for death in a Christian way - by faith, good deeds and generously enduring the troubles and sorrows that happen to me - and face death without fear, peacefully, shamelessly, not as a formidable law of nature, but as a paternal call of the immortal Heavenly Father, holy, blessed, to the land of eternity. Remember the old man who, having toiled under his burden, wanted to die rather than live, and began to call death to himself. She appeared - she did not want to, but wished to better bear her heavy burden.

A person goes wherever he goes, but then everything returns home. Likewise, a Christian, no matter who he is, noble or simple, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, wherever he is, whatever position he holds in society, whatever he does, must remember that he is not at home, but on a journey , on the way, and must return home to his father, to his mother, to his older brothers and sisters, and this house is Heaven, the Father is God, the mother is the Most Pure Mother of God, the older brothers and sisters are Angels and holy people of God; that all earthly duties and affairs are not the essence, but the real matter is the salvation of the soul, the fulfillment of the commandments of Christ and the purification of the heart. Ah, my brothers! Will we not all soon disappear from the face of the earth and be as if we had never existed? Where are the works of love? Where is the spirit of Christ in us? Where is kindness, where is humility, where is love for souls, where is impartiality towards the temporary? Where is the zeal for spiritual benefits? We are vain, stupid people! We have distorted the image of our souls, we have distorted our lives, we have left it upside down. Instead of Christ, we please the devil. There is, Christian brothers, a true, real life, and there is an imaginary, false life: to live in order to drink, eat, dress, walk, get rich, generally live for earthly pleasures or worries, as well as start intrigues, intrigues, judge and dress up about others - this is an imaginary life; to live in order to please God and others, to pray for the salvation of souls and to help their salvation in every possible way means to truly live. The first life is unceasing spiritual death, the second is the unceasing life of the Spirit.

What is the most terrible thing for a person? Death, yes... death. Each of us cannot imagine without horror how he will have to die and take his last breath. And how are parents tormented when their dear children die, when they lie lifeless before their eyes? But do not be afraid or grieve, brothers, through faith. Jesus Christ, our Savior, with His death conquered our death and with His resurrection laid the foundation for our resurrection, and every week, every Sunday day we triumph in the risen Christ, our common future resurrection and we begin eternal life, to which the present, temporary life is short, although a difficult and regrettable path; the death of a true Christian is nothing more than a dream until the day of resurrection or like birth into a new life.”

Venerable Elder Theodosius of the Caucasus (1841-1948):“Always have mortal memory with you, and also constantly keep in mind the thought - whatever you do, you do in the presence of God.

If people knew what awaited them after death, they would pray to God day and night, otherwise they think he’s dead and that’s the end of everything. Our life after earthly death is just beginning - through earthly suffering we earn Eternity. He who knows God endures everything.”

Hegumen Nikon Vorobyov (1894-1963) in one of his letters to his spiritual children about death and mortal memory he writes:

“Think more often about death and who will meet you there. They may be greeted by bright angels, or they may be surrounded by dark, evil demons. Just looking at them can make you go crazy.

Our salvation consists in being saved, that is, not falling into the hands of demons, but getting rid of them and entering the kingdom of God, into endless, incomprehensible joy and bliss here. It's worth working here, there's a reason for it. Demons are proud and take possession of the proud, which means we need to humble ourselves. Demons are angry, which means we need to acquire meekness so that they do not take possession of us as if they were their own. Demons are vindictive and unmerciful, which means we need to quickly forgive and make peace with those who have offended us and be merciful to everyone. And so in everything.

You must suppress the demonic properties in your soul, and plant the angelic ones, which are indicated in St. Gospels.

If after death there is more of the demonic in our soul, then the demons will take possession of us. If we are still here aware of our demonic qualities, we ask forgiveness from the Lord for them and we ourselves forgive everyone, then the Lord will forgive us, destroy everything bad in us and will not give us into the hands of demons. If we do not condemn anyone here, then the Lord will not condemn us there. So it is in everything.

Let us live in peace, forgiving each other, putting up with each other rather, Let us repent of everything before God and ask for His mercy and salvation from demons and eternal torment, while there is still time.

Let us not gamble with our eternal destiny.”

Elder Feofan (Sokolov) (1752-1832):“It’s a pity that we don’t think much about death. When you get bored, think about death and the coming of Christ. Think about how you will be held back in the air, and what you will answer at the ordeals. Force yourself to read as much as possible. When you have done all this, it seems there is no time to be bored. The Lord God knows what you need; Call upon Him: Thy will be done!”

About the hour of death

Elder Schema-Hegumen Savva (1898-1980).

From the memories of the elder’s spiritual children.

My father once said: “If you see that your hour of death has come and there is no one around you to confess your sins, say: “Listen, earth” - and list your sins; If you are on the water, say: “Listen, water,” and list your sins.”

“I remember well how my father said about death: “The hour will come in your life when your soul will part with your body. Dark forces will surround her. The whole soul will tremble with fear and hear: “Our soul has come.” And you resist and say: “No, I am not your soul, but God’s.” They will shout: “Ours, because you are a sinner.” And you again: “Sinful, but still God’s, I prayed on earth.” The dark forces will scream: “You prayed wrong!” - And you say: “I prayed correctly, I read “I Believe” - and immediately read: “I Believe in One God...”

Instantly all the darkness will part, and it will become light and light. The Holy Angels will come, take you and lead you to God for worship.”

Venerable Elder Sebastian of Karaganda (1884-1966):

“It is difficult for a person who does not have faith to die, leaving relatives and wealth, and for non-believing relatives to lose a loved one in whom they trusted all their earthly happiness. The Lord cuts off their hope, but they do not understand God’s will. Among believers, although relatives cry for the deceased, they do so with restraint, and they grieve, but in moderation. Everything is dissolved in prayer and hope for God’s help. The believer dies calmly, as if falling asleep, and after death the last kiss of the Guardian Angel is imprinted on his face.”

Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga John (Snychev) (1927-1995) writes in one of his letters to his spiritual children:

"You ask How should you behave in your dying moments? First of all, firmly believe that your present situation is sent from the Lord for your salvation. Further. Surrender yourself entirely to the will of God. Remember that for you now the only feat of virtue that will accompany you into eternal life is patience And prayer. Say to God: “Lord, although I am unworthy of Your mercy, yet in Your love for mankind, have mercy on me and do not deprive me of Your Kingdom. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Do not allow either despair or excessive hope, but follow the middle path - the path of crying over the evil deeds and hoping for God’s mercy through the prayers of your spiritual father. I will always pray for you.

Don't be embarrassed by your parents' crying. This is also a temptation. Because of this, your desire for God weakens, and your heart inclines toward caring for your parents. Stay awake and do not weaken in your feat. The Lord Himself will manage the lives of your household. Your job now is to direct your mind and heart to God, the Source of life.

I bless you to join at any time. What kind of priest should I call? Anyone to whom your heart is located.

Those who multiply the gifts of the Holy Spirit received in the sacrament of baptism and confirmation will reach the Kingdom of God. Read carefully in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25 from verse 13 to the end and in the second letter to Timothy from verse 7 of the fourth chapter- and then everything will be clear to you. Just don’t be embarrassed by the thought that, they say, I can’t do anything good for my neighbors. Remember that you are sick, and your virtues are patience and prayer.”

How to deal with insensitivity

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place: they see the evil and the good”

(Proverbs 15:3).

Saint John Chrysostom(347-407) says that people have become insensitive and are not afraid of future retribution and the One who will judge us according to our deeds, due to extreme attachment to the present and rare thoughts about the future:

“The highest virtue is to attribute everything to God and consider nothing to be yours.”, do nothing to acquire human glory, but do everything to please God. For He, and no one else, will demand an account from us in all our deeds. But in our time this order is perverted. For Now we are not so much afraid of the One who will one day sit at the judgment seat and demand from us an account of our deeds, but we are afraid of those who will appear with us at the judgment. Why do we have this disease? Where did she get into our hearts? From rare thinking about the future and extreme attachment to the present. This is why we so easily fall into evil deeds, and if we do something good, we do it only for show, so that we are threatened with punishment for this too. Someone can look at a woman with lustful eyes and hide it from the one at whom he looked, and from his companions, but he will not hide this in any way from the Eye that never sleeps. Even before a person commits a sin, the watchful Eye has already seen in his soul criminal lust, and inner fury, and the violent and unbridled movement of thoughts. For Omniscient has no need for witnesses or evidence. Therefore, do not look at slaves like you. For even if a person praises your deeds, it will be of no use to you unless God accepts them; also, even if a person blasphemes them, it will not harm you at all, unless God blasphemes. ...So, let us despise human praise. How long will we humiliate ourselves and grovel on the earth? How long will we strive for the earth when God draws us to heaven?

Venerable Abba Dorotheos (620) teaches:

“When the soul is insensible, brother, it is useful to frequently read the Divine Scripture and the touching words of the God-bearing fathers, remembering the terrible judgment of God, the departure of the soul from the body and the terrible forces that meet it, with the complicity of which it did evil in this short and calamitous life. It is also useful to remember that we will have to appear before the terrible and righteous judgment seat of Christ, and not only in deeds, but also in words and thoughts, give an answer before God, before all His Angels and in general before all creation.

Remember also often the sentence that the terrible and righteous Judge will pronounce on those standing at His side: Depart from Me, curse, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angel(Matthew 25:41). It is also good to remember the great sorrows of man, so that, although involuntarily, in this way the cruel and insensitive soul will soften and come to the consciousness of its sinfulness.”

Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891) Father once said about the insensibility and lack of fear of death among people (regarding S.’s sudden death):

“Death is not just around the corner, but behind us, and at least we have a stake on our heads.”

He also said: “If at one end of the village they hang people, at the other end they will not stop sinning, saying: they will not reach us soon.”

What happens after death?

About Saint Anthony the Great's vision of the passage of souls from the earth after death.

“What happens after death?” In order to imprint this thought in the souls of his disciples, Saint Anthony the Great told them what was revealed to him, as Saint Athanasius the Great tells about it in his biography:

“Once, before eating food, at about the ninth hour, having stood up to pray, Saint Anthony felt within himself that he was delighted with his mind, and what is most surprising, he saw himself as if he were outside himself, and someone seemed to be lifting him through the air, in the air there are some gloomy and terrible faces that tried to block his path to ascension. Anthony's guides resisted them, but they approached as if with rights, demanding an account whether Anthony was subject to their authority in anything. They had to give in, and they were getting ready to keep score. But when they wanted to count from the birth of St. Anthony, his guides opposed this, saying: what was from birth, the Lord blotted out when he made a monastic vow, keep count from the time he became a monk and made a vow to God; but in this regard his accusers could not convict him of anything; why they retreated - and the path to Anthony’s ascent became free and unobstructed. After this, Saint Anthony began to feel that he was again entering into himself, and then he became completely the same Anthony. But he had already forgotten about food, and spent the rest of that day and night in sighs and prayers, marveling at how many enemies we would have to fight and with what difficulty a person would have to walk through the air. Then the words of the Apostle Paul about prince of air power(Eph. 2:2). For the enemy has the power in the air to engage in combat with those passing through it, trying to block their path. Why did the Apostle especially advise: take all the weapons of God, so that you may be able to resist on the day of cruelty(Eph. 6:13) and let the enemy be put to shame, having nothing to say reproachfully about us(Tit.2, 8).”

And here is another vision of Anthony the Great about the state of the soul after death:

“Saint Anthony once had a conversation with the brethren who came to him about the state of the soul after death, and about where its location would be. The next night someone from above calls him, saying: get up, go out and look; Anthony goes out (for he knew who ordered him) and, raising his gaze, sees some kind of giant, ugly and terrible, whose head touched the clouds, and then some birds rose from the ground, of which the giant blocked the path of some, while others flew over him, and having passed him, grief was already comfortably ascended. At the latter he gnashed his teeth, but at the former he rejoiced. At this, an invisible voice said: Anthony, understand what you have seen! Then his mind opened and he realized that this was the passage of souls from the earth and that this giant is our primordial enemy, who holds back the careless and those who obeyed his suggestions and forbids them to go further, but cannot detain the zealous and those who did not listen to him, and they pass on. above him. Such a vision of St. Anthony took it as a reminder to himself, and began to make even greater efforts to succeed in his feats of resistance to everything of the enemy. For the same purpose i.e. To arouse greater zeal for the purity of life, he told others about this vision.

Abba Kronius says that Saint Anthony once spoke about this vision before a large gathering. Moreover, he added that Saint Anthony, before this vision, prayed for a whole year so that it would be revealed to him what happens after death to the souls of the righteous and sinners; that the giant’s arms were stretched across the sky, and under him lay a lake the size of the sea, into which the birds fell, which he hit with his hand (Lavsaik, chapter 24). In the Latin Fatherland, in the story about this, the idea is given that the birds were then only hit by the giant and fell into the lake when they themselves stopped in the air below his hands, not having the strength to rise above them, but which were strong to rise above his hands and head, on those he only gnashed his teeth, watching as they then soared to the sky and were received by the Angels.”

What is fear? How is fear different from insurance? Does fear have spiritual roots? What causes fears in children? The Orthodox psychiatrist Dmitry Aleksandrovich Avdeev answers these and other questions out of fear.

Question: Tell us about the origin of fears.
“Perhaps there is no person on earth who does not know what fear is.” Fear is inherent in the nature of fallen man, which instinctively fears threats from without. Numerous scientific studies have been devoted to the topic of fear. There is also a theological judgment on this matter. We will touch only on some aspects of this complex topic. What is fear? Psychological literature refers to fear as an emotion that arises in situations of threat to an individual. If, say, pain is a consequence of the real impact of some dangerous factors, then fear arises when they are anticipated. Fear has many shades or degrees: apprehension, fear, fear, horror. If the source of danger is uncertain, then in this case we talk about anxiety. Inappropriate fear reactions are called phobias.

Question: Tell us about phobias.
- Phobic syndrome (in Greek phobos - fear) is a very common phenomenon. There are many phobic conditions. For example, nosophobia (fear of illness); agoraphobia (fear of open spaces); claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces); erythrophobia (fear of blushing); mysophobia (fear of pollution), etc. All these are examples of pathological, that is, not related to a real threat, fears.

There are fears from cowardice and cowardice. Cowardice can, unfortunately, be instilled. If, say, you tell a child something like this every five minutes: “don’t touch”, “don’t climb in”, “don’t come near”, etc.
Psychologists identify so-called parental fears, which “migrate” from parents to children. This, for example, is a fear of heights, mice, dogs, cockroaches and much more. These persistent fears can often later be found in children.
There is a distinction between situational fear, which arises at the moment of threat or danger, and personal fear, the occurrence of which is associated with character traits.

Phobic syndrome can occur in many mental and somatic (body-related - Ed.) diseases. Speaking about the latter, it should be understood that this is rather a personal reaction to a particular illness. For example, I had to observe how some patients reacted to the term “heart attack.” This word, like a bomb, hit the psyche of many patients at the cardiology clinic and steadily deprived them of peace of mind. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to be sick like a Christian. An adequate, courageous reaction to illnesses is rare; much more often, people in such situations experience neurotic reactions.

Thus, Professor V.P. Zaitsev identifies five types of such reactions to myocardial infarction. Among them, the so-called cardiophobic reaction stands out: patients are afraid “for their hearts”, they experience fear of repeated myocardial infarction and sudden death; they are overly cautious, especially when trying to expand their physical activity regimen; increased fear is accompanied by trembling in the body, weakness, pale skin, and palpitations.
* * *
I recall a patient who experienced a pronounced fear of death after suffering a myocardial infarction. The doctors' efforts were crowned with success. With God's help, our patient recovered, his heart became stronger, but this painful fear did not let him go. It was especially intensified in public transport, in any confined space. My patient was a believer and therefore it was easy for me to talk frankly with him. I remember asking him: could anything happen to him without the permission or permission of God. To which he confidently replied: “No.” “And in that case,” I continued, “do you really think that your death could be an absurd accident?” And to this question my patient said in the affirmative: “No.” “Well, take this burden off yourself and stop being afraid!” - That’s roughly what I advised him.

Ultimately, our thoughts boiled down to the fact that he “allows himself to die,” if God so wishes. After some time, this is what he told me. When fear arose again, he internally said to himself: “My life is in the hands of God. God! Thy will be done!” And the fear disappeared, dissolved like sugar in a glass of hot tea, and did not appear again.

Neurotic fears are characterized by the fact that they are not caused by any real threat or this threat is far-fetched and unlikely. Orthodox doctor V.K. Nevyarovich rightly states: “Obsessive thoughts often begin with the question: “What if?” Then they become automated, take root in the mind and, repeated many times, create significant difficulties in life. The more a person struggles, wanting to get rid of them, the more they take possession of him. In addition, in such states there is a weakness of mental defense (censorship) due to the natural characteristics of a person or as a result of the sinful destruction of his soul. It is well known, for example, that alcoholics are highly suggestible.”

I often have to face various kinds of fears, the origin of which I associate with religious ignorance and misunderstanding of the essence of holy Orthodoxy. For example, in a state of fear and confusion, people come to a reception and say something like this: “I greatly sinned by passing candles with my left hand at the service” or “I lost my baptismal cross! Now it’s all gone!” or “I found a cross on the ground and picked it up. I must have taken on someone else’s life’s cross!” You sigh bitterly when you listen to such “complaints.”

Another common phenomenon is various superstitions (such as the “black cat” or “empty buckets”, etc.) and the fears that grow on this basis. Strictly speaking, such superstitions are nothing more than a sin, which should be repented of in confession.

Question: What does the word “insurance” mean?
Insurance is an unclear, incomprehensible, terrible, heavy horror that a demon brings when a person’s body becomes numb, when it is difficult for him to pronounce the very name of Christ the Savior.

Question: What is known about the spiritual nature of fears?
Fear can be a consequence of mental illness, but it can also have a spiritual origin. For example, Psalm 90 says: “Do not be afraid from the fear of the night.” In practice, I often encounter states of unmotivated fear and anxiety. I was convinced of the spiritual nature of many of these states from experience. I was also convinced that these fears are healed by the grace of God. There are many examples of this in patristic literature.

St. John of Damascus in his work “An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith” indicates: “Fear also comes in six types: indecision, bashfulness, shame, horror, amazement, anxiety. Indecision is fear of future action. Shame is the fear of expected reproach; this is the most wonderful feeling. Shyness is fear of an already committed shameful act, and this feeling is not hopeless in the sense of saving a person. Horror is fear of some great phenomenon. Amazement is fear of some extraordinary phenomenon. Anxiety is fear of failure or failure, for, fearing to fail in any matter, we experience anxiety." And further: "There is also fear that comes from darkening of thoughts, unbelief and ignorance of the hour of death, when, for example, we are afraid at night, if any noise occurs. Such fear is contrary to nature, and, defining it, we say: unnatural fear is a shudder from surprise. The Lord did not allow such timidity to Himself. Therefore, He was never afraid except in the hour of suffering, although repeatedly, according to the plans of the economy, He hid (from danger) - for He knew His hour.

Persistent obsessive fears can also be a consequence of the devil's militia. At the same time, people suffer terribly, are tormented by their conditions, are burdened by them, but cannot help themselves. By the way, the medical term “obsession” itself, which denotes obsessive phenomena, is translated as “obsession.” Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) teaches us this way: “The spirits of evil wage war against man with such cunning that the thoughts and dreams they bring to the soul seem to be born within itself, and not from an evil spirit alien to it, acting and at the same time trying to hide.”

Bishop Varnava (Belyaev) explains: “The sages of this world, who do not recognize the existence of demons, cannot explain the origin and effect of obsessions. But a Christian who directly encounters dark forces and constantly wages a struggle with them, sometimes even visible, can give them clear evidence of the existence of demons. Sudden thoughts, like a storm, fall on the person being saved and do not give him a moment of peace. But let’s assume that we are dealing with an experienced ascetic. He arms himself with a strong and strong Jesus Prayer. And a struggle begins and continues, with no end in sight.

A person is clearly aware of where his own thoughts are and where the alien thoughts implanted in him are. But the full effect is ahead. Enemy thoughts often assure that if a person does not give in and does not deign to them, then they will not lag behind. He does not give in and continues to pray to God for help. And at that moment when it seems to a person that perhaps this struggle really is endless, and when he no longer believes that there is such a state when people live calmly and without such mental torment, at that very time the thoughts immediately disappear , suddenly, unexpectedly... This means that grace has come, and the demons have retreated. Light, peace, silence, clarity, purity are shed into the human soul (cf. Mark 4:37-40).”

In another place, Bishop Barnabas writes: “The mistake of modern people is that they think that they suffer only “from thoughts,” but in fact also from demons... So, when they try to defeat thought with thought, they see that nasty thoughts are not just thoughts, but “obsessive” thoughts, that is, with which one cannot cope and against which a person is powerless, which are not connected by any logic and are alien to him, extraneous and hateful... But if a person does not recognize the Church, grace, Holy Sacraments and the jewels of virtues, that is, does he have anything to defend himself with? Of course not. And then, since the heart is empty of the virtue of humility and with it of all others, demons come and do whatever they want with the mind and body of a person (Matthew 12:43-45).”

Question: I heard that fear and vanity are somehow connected. Is it so?
The Holy Fathers point out that vanity is often hidden behind fear. In this regard, the fear of public speaking or the fear of communication is indicative, dictated by the fact that deep down a person is afraid of seeming less smart or talented than he, in his opinion, actually is. And here’s what’s remarkable: when a person realizes this circumstance, humbles himself, allows himself to make a mistake or mistake, thinks more not about how to say, but what to say in order to first of all please God, the situation is decisively corrected, peace and tranquility are found in the soul.

Question: How to overcome fears?
“The fear of the Lord is true wisdom,” says the Holy Scripture (Job 28:28). If there is no Fear of God in the soul, then, as a rule, various neurotic fears are found in it. Truth is replaced by a surrogate. And further. In Holy Scripture we read: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because in fear there is torment” (1 John 4:18). It turns out that the presence of fear in a person’s soul and heart means the absence or lack of love.

Question: I read about phobias of occult origin. Have you encountered similar cases?
Especially it should be said about various kinds of fears (phobias) that arise in connection with a passion for occult practice. It seems that these fears inform a person about the disastrous, sinful state of his soul in which it resides. Unfortunately, today many people have become victims of the occult.

Let us take the following case as an example. N., 38 years old, came for an appointment. In her youth, she dated a young man and wanted to marry him, but unexpectedly he married someone else. N. was very worried, cried a lot and, on the advice of her friends, decided to “bewitch” the groom. She was offered detailed “instructions,” which even included funeral prayers. Soon after performing witchcraft, N. felt terrible fear and a pressing feeling of anxiety, but despite this, she repeatedly resorted to the same occult rituals. During all these almost twenty years, N. was treated for phobic neurosis by psychiatrists and psychotherapists; the treatment brought only minor relief. Reflections on what she had done led her to the idea of ​​the need for repentance and turning to God. After the first confession in her life, she felt the already forgotten peace and joy in her soul.

Question: Tell us about childhood fears.
If we talk about children's fears, then in this case we can even identify a certain pattern or phasing.
From one to three years, a child may experience fear and severe anxiety during separation from loved ones, especially the mother. Fear can also appear with a sharp change in the stereotype or daily routine.

From three to five years old, in children who already have some life experience, imaginary fears are added to the above-mentioned fears (fairy-tale characters, impressions that pop up in the child’s mind, stories that are scary for him, etc.). This is another reason why children’s souls and eyes should be protected from all wickedness and vulgarity. How important it is to nourish the soul of a child with the grace of God.
A distinctive feature of the fears of children five to seven years old is the fear of death that often arises at this age (one’s own, that of parents, or grandparents). The soul of a child does not agree with death, which seems unnatural to it. And that's what's important. Believing children from church-going families practically do not experience this kind of fear. They know that death is the beginning of eternity for a person.

Under no circumstances should children be locked in a dark room or closet. And also to scare children with an “evil uncle” or someone else, to scare the child with the idea that “we will hand you over to other parents” or “you will live on the street,” etc. Apart from fear, these pseudo-pedagogical techniques will not bring anything.

I always recommend, especially to young people, to improve themselves physically (of course not at the expense of spirituality), to move actively, and to harden themselves. Unworn flesh confuses the young man with unworthy thoughts. In addition, reasonable physical education trains not only the muscles, but, perhaps more importantly, the will, and accustoms one to work. All the holy fathers avoided even the slightest idleness, spending their lives in prayer and work. In case of persistent, constantly tormenting fears, you should visit a doctor. In this case, it is necessary to exclude the disease. If painful disorders are confirmed, then appropriate treatment must be carried out.

Almost every secular publication periodically publishes articles entitled approximately the same as this material. The topic of fear and attempts to overcome it has always worried humanity. And today our editorial office regularly receives letters in which people write about their worries and concerns. Some people worry about family relationships, others fear for the future of their children, others talk about the horror they experience when they think about illness or death - their own or those of their loved ones.

“Foma” spoke with Archpriest Pavel Velikanov about what could be behind our painful anxieties, whether it is possible to fight them and whether the Church has a “vaccine” for fear.

Fear of the future

– In the letter of the Apostle John we find the following words:There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because in fear there is torment. He who fears is imperfect in love(1 John 4:18). It turns out that for the apostle the most common fear becomes the most important obstacle to perfect love?

But in life we ​​encounter just the opposite. The more we love someone, the more afraid we are of losing that person. The stronger the love, the deeper the fear. How then is it possible to compare this thought of the apostle with reality if it contradicts it?

– It seems to me that there is a confusion of concepts here. First we must define what fear is. Fear is a state of numbness. A state of paralysis of mental strength, when a person is unable to adequately perceive the events occurring around him and cannot respond rationally to them. They say: “he froze with fear,” “he looked with horror,” “fear gripped him all over, from head to toe...”. But what you are talking about is rather a state of anxiety and worry, rather than fear as such, not “horror”. And I would not put an equal sign between them.

Why do we worry and worry about our loved ones? It seems to me that there is some connection here with the fact that we treat our loved ones as property. We perceive our children and loved ones as an extension of ourselves, as a certain part of ourselves. And if something happens to them, it will be very bad for us.

However, when a person trusts God in everything (no more and no less - this is the necessary and ultimate condition), then he understands that everything he has is given by God. Not a person’s “property”, but His gift. God, as it were, gave us to hold, allowed us to touch, perhaps even for the entire time we live in the body, but nothing more. If you learn to look at it this way, then there will no longer be this feeling of ownership, and therefore no reason to feel anxious.

The Apostle John, speaking about fear, which prevents a person from loving completely, also speaks about the fearful person’s lack of freedom.

A friend of mine once said a very important phrase: “He who is afraid to die has not yet begun to live.” While a person is afraid of something, he cannot treat it correctly and adequately. Anyone who is always afraid of death and always runs away from it is not able to breathe deeply, to be fully integrated into this life, and when death comes, to accept it as an inevitable page of life. Before my eyes there is already an elderly woman who really does not want to die and at the same time her life is tragic. Because she devotes all her resources and energy to maintaining her health, which nevertheless inevitably gets worse year after year. It was precisely because of the fear of death that the only content of her life became a panicked flight from death. Is this life?

– What fears hinder us most in love? Is it possible to call lack of faith an exhaustive explanation of our fears? After all, we know that the saints were also afraid. Even Christ was afraid of death.

– Maximus the Confessor has a very detailed analysis of what was the main content and meaning of what Christ did for all humanity when he was on. He, having felt the full weight of the fear of death and the fear of suffering, overcame them, changing man forever. After all, all our sins are just variations on these two themes: death and pain. We want live, and we want pleasure, and therefore we fear their absence more than anything else. However, no matter what we do, this fear of death only deepens, and the more acute and painful the problem, the more noticeable it becomes. But only in Christ can the fear of pain and death be overcome, because He Himself personally went through them and defeated them on the Cross.

Let's model this, I think, situation that is familiar to many. There are two people: the groom and the bride. They love each other and want to be together all their lives. What are they afraid of? Most of all - betrayal, rupture. That the groom, for example, will have an affair on the side. But in what situation can the bride overcome this fear? When she realizes that she loves him so much that even the very fact of possible betrayal will not knock her off her feet. She knows that with her love she can overcome this. Still, perhaps, not only is there no betrayal, but there is even no reason for suspicion, and she already knows that she will still not stop loving him. He in itself is more valuable to her than the significance of even his most wrong actions. The power of her love is much stronger than the fear of losing a loved one, which is completely justified from the point of view of human logic. And here we again hear behind this with much more convincing power the words of the Apostle John: There is no fear in love.

Fear of God

– Fear for any person is always something extremely negative. But Christianity in this sense is paradoxical, because it puts “fear of God” at the head of all virtues. What it is? And why should faith in God be built on such a seemingly negative foundation?

– There are two types of fear: one is animal, affective, associated with the fear of death, which is generated by the instinct of self-preservation. We have already talked about it, and it is natural for humans. Religious fear has the exact opposite vector of direction. This is a kind of spiritual category. He is not “excluding”, “avoiding” the object of fear, but, on the contrary, “rushing” to Him - to God. This fear, or rather a deep feeling of reverence, is built on the realization that in this world there is One who has the power to put the “final point” in your life, who stands over you, and you are just you before Him, and only. This fear rather resembles admiration, the experience of the sublime, the incredible, that which does not fit either into the consciousness or the heart, that surpasses you in all dimensions. The fear of God is the awe of that which is “above you,” which you worship. This is an unconditional recognition that you are not the Lord God. This experience of oneself is exactly the opposite of what Nietzsche said through the mouth of Zarathustra: “If gods exist, how can I bear that I myself am not a god?”...

– Today they often say that in the Church everything is built on the rhetoric of fear: they say, if you don’t do this or that, you’ll go to hell, get sick, lose something, and so on. One gets the feeling that some kind of substitution is taking place: instead of the “fear of God,” a “phobia of God” is being instilled. Is there something correct and useful for a person in such rhetoric, and vice versa - harmful and painful?

– Fear for a beginner is a necessary pedagogical measure that helps him begin to sense the boundaries of what is permitted and what is not permitted. Fear here works like road signs, based on which the driver can avoid life-threatening incidents. Imagine that you are driving along a road that is undergoing construction work. If you drive, ignoring certain safety rules and road signs, then nothing good will come from it to you or your car. The same is true of life in the Church. It contains very specific, reasonable principles that, if you want to truly grow spiritually, must be guided by.

At the same time, as soon as the road has become familiar to you, road signs are no longer needed. So it is in spiritual life. Fixation on fear for someone who already understands the very content of a relationship with God can turn out to be negative and even destructive.

Here we can again turn to relationships between people. While people are just getting to know each other, there are inevitably many conventions between them that help to build boundaries so as not to accidentally offend or offend another, or to stir up some long-standing, but unknown to the other, spiritual wound. But the closer people become to each other, the better they understand each other, the less the significance of these conventions becomes: they simply love, appreciate, value each other - and it is no longer external boundaries that work, but empathy, empathy towards the other. They are careful not to say anything that will hurt the other's ears, not because they are afraid of doing so to ruin the relationship, but because the other's pain will inevitably become his (or her) own pain. In the same way, someone who loves God obeys Him not because he fears punishment for breaking a commandment, but because he begins to see sin as if from the point of view of Another, his Friend - God.

Road signs warning of a dangerous turn and requiring you to reduce speed to 40 km/h

– It can be assumed that fear is somehow connected with worldview. This is some kind of illness or even phobia of the modern single person. Anyone who is lonely is afraid to forever remain a “unit” - useless, unclaimed, abandoned, restless. Perhaps such fear is associated with the loss of community? And loneliness itself is unnatural for a person?

– It is difficult to compare the problem of fear of loneliness with community. Theoretically, the premise itself seems to be correct: the stronger the small society, the community, the greater the chance of not being “loner.” But let's be honest! There are a huge number of large families with children who feel completely alone. They are separated from their family, they have no one to talk to, no one is able to share with them their discoveries, values, and experiences. Some of them eventually grow up, make their way into the public eye, become musicians, poets, directors, but they may not communicate with their family of origin for years, decades. And how many schoolchildren do we know who remain abandoned for years, useless to anyone, despite seemingly so many peers surrounding such single children.

In fact, the problem of loneliness is not solved from the outside, but rather from the inside. Real overcoming of loneliness is possible when a person finds within himself a “portal” to the Kingdom of God. And often the door to this “portal” is right before our eyes. Someone can find it in the service of Divine harmony in music, another - in raising children, a third - in delight at the accuracy and order in mathematical research, a fourth - in the joy of preparing a new dish and the reflection of happiness on the faces of those at home.

We literally “bathe” in these “entry points” into the Divine Kingdom, but we often don’t notice them, we pass by. But we don’t notice because we don’t have the skill of carefully looking inside ourselves, understanding what our heart, our “depth” of personality, responds to.

“The Kingdom of God is within you,” the Savior tells us. But it is much easier to look for external causes of our misfortunes and fight them on a large scale than to simply sit down, calm down and begin to gradually delve into ourselves.

One must have great courage to be able to bear the fact of this acquaintance with oneself. There's so much to see there! Such an acquaintance with the real “I” will require from us downright knightly courage. You can endlessly run away from this very important meeting and try to hide from yourself in other people, their warmth, attentiveness, compassion - but where can you run away from yourself? And only by “finding” yourself, learning to “live” with yourself, accepting the best that is, separating the worst, cultivating the soil of the soul, can you understand how to “accept” other people - no longer as a “consumer” of someone else’s spiritual warmth, but as its “producer”.

I’ll say it again: most often the problem of our loneliness is not in the people around us (or not around us), but in ourselves. Oddly enough, the path to others always lies through the path to oneself. What most reliably connects us to each other is not something external, but the depth of our heart, which we must not only get acquainted with, but also make friends with.

A person who mourns his uselessness overcomes this grief not by swimming in the sea of ​​someone else's warmth and love, but only by giving himself to others. The fire of love and service must be kindled and stoked in the soul, and then the problem of loneliness evaporates. When there is an understanding that you can make someone at least a little happier, the tyranny of loneliness no longer exists.

– What can the Church offer to someone who is afraid to be alone?

– The fear of loneliness is overcome by an open heart to love. And so the Church offers tools that allow a person to learn to love, breaking through self-obsession. However, at the same time, the idea of ​​the church community itself must overcome human alienation and loneliness. In its conciliarity, the individual, while remaining himself, becomes part of a single community of people in Christ. The Lord Himself defined the essence of church community in the following words: By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.(In 13 :35).

However, as we know, what should be does not always become reality. In the modern world, a person, even included in one or another parish, is often left alone with himself and his problems.

When we traveled to different cities with the presentation of our program “50 words about what is important” (a social and educational media project in which an attempt was made to reveal such topics as man and God, freedom and punishment, soul and faith, fear and truth, evil and happiness), then in one of the towns of the Arkhangelsk region we had a very interesting meeting in a cinema. We showed our short film from the series “50 words about what matters.” Then I talked to those who came. And then suddenly one grandmother, who was sitting in the front row, at some point says: “You know, you are saying everything correctly, everything is very great. But understand, I'm so lonely! I go to church, confess, take communion. And I suffer so much from loneliness! Nobody needs me. This feeling of loneliness exhausts me.” Interestingly, there were people in the same hall - parishioners from her own temple! They all knew her very well, but they didn’t even think that she needed any help. And I was very pleased to see that after the conversation they surrounded her, agreed to meet, about what they would do, and exchanged phone numbers.

Although after this I had a very bitter question. How do people go to the same church for years, take communion from the same chalice, but there are no horizontal connections between them? They don’t understand who lives what, even in a small town where, it would seem, everyone should know each other well. But for some reason, close relationships and close communication do not work out. Maybe we have forgotten the art of being attentive to each other, showing interest, without being intrusive or humiliating the other? This is an open question for me...

Fear of death

– If we turn to the plot of Christ’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, we can see that even Christ was afraid, that He was under the blow of this fear of death... But He is the Son of God. He knew that he would be resurrected. What did He have to fear? Can we really reproach Him for lack of faith?

– This is a big question: did Christ know that He would rise again? Of course, He spoke about this to His disciples. But you see, His human consciousness, will, feelings did not yet know the experience of death and resurrection. This is about the same as if a person is given anesthesia that he has never been given before. He had heard from others what it was like to be under anesthesia, but had never experienced it himself. Another example: women who gave birth and those who did not give birth are completely different. You can read books about pregnancy as much as you like, listen to the stories of others, but until a child appears in your body and you give birth to it, many things will remain understandable only theoretically, but not practically.

I dare to suggest that something similar may have happened with Christ. He knew about His resurrection as God, by the interpenetration of the divine and human natures, but the quality of this knowledge and understanding was completely different from what He had after the resurrection.

And when He shouted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, it was a cry of absolute loneliness. The situation is brought to the very limit, to what is called the bottom - and Christ emerges from this state as a winner, in a completely new capacity, and now He, as the Apostle Paul writes, having Himself been tempted, can help those who are tempted. Christ receives personal experience of loneliness, death - and personal experience of resurrection.

We can say that on the Cross there was a victory of faith, and therefore an overcoming of the most important fear - the fear of death, which we have already discussed above. If a rebellion had begun in the soul of Christ while He was suffering on the Cross, this would have nullified His coming into the world. But His cry was the cry of human nature, which did not understand and was perplexed at what was happening, especially since His human nature did not know sin and, due to sinlessness, could not feel the sense of the inevitability of death justified among people. But at the same time remaining faithful to Her Heavenly Father to the end. And this loyalty became the core around which everything was subsequently built.

– And yet, if we put the question to the extreme: is it natural that a person is afraid of death or not? Is it only the affective that plunges a person into horror before it, or is there also some ontological prerequisite here? After all, Christian theology has always maintained that death is alien to man. And perhaps Christ experienced this fear so deeply within himself in Gethsemane that he realized the unnaturalness of what was happening.

“God did not create death,” says the Holy Scripture. God is the “Giver of Life,” and therefore any formulation of the question of the “creation” of death by God is absurd. If parents gave a child a tablet, which he broke, then who is to blame? Parents? Or is the tablet itself “to blame”, because for some reason it did not turn out to be “indestructible”?

Understanding the impossibility of any analogies, when we talk about basic, fundamental concepts, we must still say: a person’s horror of death is colossal - not only of its very fact, but also of its inevitability in relation to oneself. Someone else's death - no matter how terrible it may be - is far from the same as the fact of the inevitability of your own. And, indeed, everything in human nature rebels against this. Everything in a person screams against death, nothing wants to die, being created specifically for life. Why are young children most often calm about the death of others - because they, in principle, cannot project this onto themselves, for them it is impossible, it is unbearable for the consciousness, for the psyche.

How is it possible that I, so beautiful, joyful, happy, will... die? Yes, this is simply impossible! Me and death. This simply cannot happen! Let everyone die, but I will remain! And when a little later, as you grow older, the inevitability of your own death begins to appear more and more clearly before your eyes - that’s when the full horror of death as such is revealed. Which is impossible not to be afraid of. Which no matter how you ignore it, no matter how you repress it, it will still come. Remember how Prince Bolkonsky in the novel “War and Peace,” just before the moment of a grenade explosion during the Battle of Borodino, mentally shouts: “Is this really death?,” thought Prince Andrei, looking with a completely new, envious gaze at the grass, at the wormwood and at the trickle. smoke curling from a spinning black ball. “I can’t, I don’t want to die, I love life, I love this grass, earth, air...”

But here we, Christians, have only one hope, one clue, one thin, suspended bridge over the bottomless abyss on the threads of our faith - this is Christ the Savior, the Firstborn of people, who broke through death and can now lead us across this bridge created by Him. and everyone who believes Him, loves Him, follows Him.

– What is the deepest fear you have experienced in your life and what was it associated with? Did you manage to overcome it and if so, how?

– There was one episode related to the birth of one of my children. When my wife started giving birth, it so happened that my wife and I were left alone - the doctor did not have time to get there due to an unexpected snowstorm. Just a few minutes later, right before our eyes, the newborn baby began to freeze and turn blue. And at that moment I was gripped by extreme fear. Fear of powerlessness: your child is going to die, and you can’t do anything, you can’t even call an ambulance. I was completely gripped by withering horror - everything was happening very quickly. And then I realized: all that remains is to pray. I think this was my most sincere prayer in my life. And thank God, everything ended well.

Good morning everybody! The topic is good, thank you, Taisiya!

Not afraid of any difficulties of life or death, a self-confident person is suddenly frightened by the mere possibility of being reprimanded by his boss, arousing ridicule from society, or, conversely, not receiving any distinction or self-esteem satisfaction. Brave warriors turn pale at the word or glance of a weak woman. Dark fear is always caused by passion. This fear is always a consequence of untrue love either for the world, or for another person, or for oneself. But there is also fear from spiritual emptiness, from a person’s loss of himself. The Apostle Peter was frightened by this last fear in the courtyard of Caiaphas, in the presence of Christ the Savior Himself. Ready to give his life for Christ, he (this is a consequence of arrogance) suddenly became lost and afraid.
In the midst of his dark fear, modern man is like the most primitive. What are people not afraid of? The life of a modern person, like an ancient one, is woven from fears that fly through his soul like birds, not always reflected on the screen of his consciousness. Modern man is not aware of all his fears. But, if there is not complete peace in his heart, we can say that fears, these children of his human passions, live in his spiritual home.
Fears enter a person's doors and windows, whistle through his keyholes, fill all pores of life, paralyze the activities of active people and excite inactive people to activity. Anyone who is not insensitive is afraid of something, sometimes of a lot. Rulers and subjects, superiors and subordinates, rich and poor, healthy and sick. Everyone is afraid in their own way... There is no doubt that, frightened on all sides by all sorts of personal, social and world ghosts, modern man is an even greater slave of demonic fears than the ancient pagan or the naive African of our days.
Until recently, many people, frightened by the authority of “science,” hastened to renounce the highest values ​​of their life and culture - from the Creator, from their eternal salvation, from the Gospel, from their soul... Wasn’t this the fear of ghosts? These childish scientific conclusions of the last century have now disappeared in the light of new human knowledge, in the new word of science, which no longer opposes itself to God, but is modestly aware of its limits.
A person is tormented by his own body. The human body has its own understanding of happiness and grief, joy and sadness. Bodily emotions are a new source of suffering and fear for a person - fears of the body and fears of giving in to the body. The body is inert, persistent and rude in relation to the spirit, it has its own psychology and will. It comes upon the spirit of man like a lion; bound by the spirit, turns into a pitiful dog. It is “of this world” and does not recognize the highest demands of the human spirit; he has to be forced to do good deeds, to pray, to self-sacrifice.
The “spiritual” body (1 Cor. 15:44) fears many things. It often trembles, while the person’s spirit remains peaceful and surrendered into the hands of God (the experience of many believers during aerial bombings).
Man is afraid to meet himself, because by finding himself, man can find God. But people don’t want to meet God. That is why a person is afraid of his great depth and runs away all his life from the slightest deepening into himself. The whole rush of his life, the whole bustle of the world, the whole dynamics of his civilization, with its leveling and standardization of life, its entertainment and hobbies, worries, plans and enthusiasm, seem to expel man from the Face of God and deprive him of a human face. But - “How will I walk from Your Spirit, O Lord, and how will I flee from Your Face?” Many people still don’t understand this. The impulse of an unbeliever or a little believing humanity is aimed at fleeing from its depth, from its silence, where heavenly bliss is hidden, where God meets man. A person is running away from the spiritual world - where? In a vicious circle of external creativity, external tasks, external relationships with people, transient successes, instantaneous joys that never satiate. And a person is increasingly afraid of being left alone with himself. He no longer looks at the stars, does not think about life in silence. The depth of his soul, which can accommodate the great love of the Creator Himself, is not a joyful vision for him, but an eerie vision.
Man is afraid of the depth of his immortal self, his absoluteness, his “capacity for anything”: the possible abyss of his crime and his ultimate self-giving to God.
And in everything a person fears his own pain, and the unknown, like unexpected pain. He is afraid of his own fear, for fear is pain; and sometimes even a person is afraid of joy, for joy is false and, when it leaves, it brings pain; a person may be afraid of his joyful hopes. How deep a person is, so mysteriously vast is the world of his spirit; one can truly say: such a spirit as human could only be given to an immortal person.

Excerpt "Apocalypse of Petty Sin"
Archbishop John of San Francisco (Shakhovskoy)

Best regards, Valentina.