The happiness of children is not in the wealth that their parents leave them

Parents are most often haunted by the thought: "What will my children be left with after me?" This thought is perhaps a good one, for who, in fact, if not parents, should take care of the happiness for the future of their children? But the same thought becomes sinful and harmful when it transgresses the boundaries. And for many, it often crosses the boundaries. How many people do we see who begin to save money, at first without any special attachment to it, in order to provide for their children, and then this frugality turns into greed, and a person, without noticing it, becomes passionately attached to money, becomes miserly, and money, money alone, fills his whole life. And here there is no time for Christian upbringing: neither the fear of God is instilled in children, nor love for God. And how does it all end? Children who are not brought up in the law of God, for the most part, at a very young age, plunge into only worldly pleasures, and if their father or mother dies, and if they get the money saved for them with such greed, they finally perish with it.

Indeed, have we seen many examples of this lately? With the father, who does not pay attention to the religious and moral education of his son and cares only to leave him as much earthly goods as possible, the latter secretly leads a disorderly life, and after the death of his father, you see, the son unwound all the possessions, and all the wealth accumulated for him with such difficulty went to dust. What is the result of this? That parents should first of all take care not of perishable wealth for their children, but of spiritual wealth, i.e. in order to bring them up in faith and piety; then to try to leave them as an inheritance not money, but an example of their own good deeds, and, finally, to entrust the fate of children for the future not to money, but to God. Then the children will truly be happy, because they will be with God and God will be with them. One of the Holy Fathers teaches about this in the following way. "Why," he asks the miserly father, "do you not give to those who demand? Saying, "My children are before me, and I desire to leave them rich." But if thou hast forsaken all things, then thou hast not set firm guardians. If thou hast forsaken God their sorrower and provident, this is greater than the treasures of gold. Leave the children to God's Providence, Who created for them both soul and life, and opened wealth to all. If thou wilt leave rich children, leave to them God the debtor (distributing to the poor), and they will be rewarded much" (Prologue of March 31).

So, it is clear that it is not money that can make up the happiness of our children, but God alone. And God, as you see, will only become their guardian and sorrower, when we entrust them to Him with deep faith, and strive by works of mercy to win His mercy for our children. Let us leave for the future excessive cares for the worldly happiness of our children, and let us take special care to leave them first of all incorruptible wealth; and for this we will try to grow and strengthen in them a spiritual life, to instill in them from an early age love for God and neighbor, sound concepts of the Orthodox faith, to accustom them to the temple of God, to remove them from bad associations, to serve as a good example for them, and in general to educate them, according to the Apostle, in the discipline and teaching of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). This will be an unshakable wealth for our children, which will benefit them. Amen.

APRIL

About how salvific is the contrition of the heart and sorrow for sins

(Homily on the Repentance of Sinners)

It is not in vain that the word of God and the Holy Fathers, speaking of the impurity of the soul, compare it with the impurity of the body, and it is not in vain, speaking of the repentance of the sinner and the cleansing of sinful defilements by repentance, that this cleansing is compared to the washing of the body. In fact, how bodily impurity is harmful to health, unpleasant to the outside eye, and can be painfully contagious to others; In the same way, sinful impurity is both fatal to the soul, and repugnant to virtuous people, and can also be harmful to many. And just as bodily washing contributes to the health of the body and makes its appearance bright and pleasant; In the same way, the washing of the soul from the filth of sin contributes to the salvation of the soul and is beneficial for outsiders as well, giving them a salvific example, arousing in them a good emulation. Let us also add: the washing of the body can be done quickly; Likewise, when the grace of God touches the heart of the sinner, the washing of the soul is soon accomplished. We will show the latter by an example. Blessed Father Paul, called the Simple, related the following incident from his life. Once he went to a certain monastery to visit the brethren and came at the time when they were entering the church for divine services. Since he possessed the gift of clairvoyance, he learned who entered the church in what form and with what spiritual disposition. He saw that everyone was coming in with a bright face, and the Guardian Angels were happy to accompany them. But immediately he saw a certain brother entering the church in black, demons abusing the unfortunate man, and an Angel following him from afar. Seeing this, Paul was saddened and wept bitterly. The brethren noticed this and began to beseech that the monk would reveal to them the cause of their weeping and enter the church. But Paul did not give them an answer and remained as before at the gates of the church. The service was over, everyone left the church, and the sinner brother with them. But what was Paul's surprise when he saw him pure and bright, the demons far away from him, and the Angel of God accompanying him with great joy! Paul began to glorify God aloud; The monks surrounded him, and he told them in what state he had seen the said brother entering, and in what state he was leaving. After this, the brother himself was questioned and reported the following: "I am a sinful man, and all the days of my life, even until now, I have spent in vile deeds. But when I entered the church now, I heard a reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah: "Wash yourselves, cleanse yourselves, remove your evil deeds from my eyes, cease to do evil; learn to do good, seek the truth. Then, if your sins be as scarlet, as white as snow. And if you obey, you will eat the good things of the earth" (1:16-19). Hearing this, I was pricked in my soul and said to God in my thoughts: "Thou art the only one, O God, who came to earth to save sinners! As the prophet said before, "Behold, now, end in deed for me, a sinner and unworthy." For behold, I give Thee my word, I promised Thee with my lips and confessed with my heart, that I am not in this way to do evil, but I reject all iniquity, and I will work for Thee with a clear conscience. Today, O Lord, receive me who repent and abstain from all evil." And with these thoughts, the monk finished his speech, I left the church, condemning my soul and making a promise before God not to sin again." Everyone glorified God.

Thus, brethren, the Lord hastened to mercy on those who truly repent! Let us glorify His ineffable mercy and let us not fail to make use of it. Let us hasten to the grace-filled spring and wash away the impurity of our souls. For when the body is very polluted, it must be washed quickly, so that the impurity does not produce disease. But we must be incomparably more concerned about the cleansing of the soul from the impurity of sin, so that sins do not prevail over us, do not turn into a deadly illness and do not deprive the soul of grace-filled life. Let us arise from the sleep of sin and open our hearts to Christ. In His ineffable mercy, He will surely come and cleanse us and make a dwelling place in us, and then we will rejoice with great joy, and no one will take this joy from us. Amen.

Weapons against enemies

(A sermon from Limonar about the robbers who took the elder's belongings)

Be not overcome by evil, says the Apostle, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). What do these words indicate? That the fire is not poured with oil, i.e. that evil cannot be stopped and stopped by evil, and that the evil that we suffer from our enemies and offenders can only be stopped and stopped by good.

What are the means to overcome evil with good?

The first means is to do some good to your enemy. Once robbers came to a certain elder and said to him: "What you have in your cell, we will take everything" And they took everything, forgetting only sackcloth. The elder took out this sackcloth, caught up with them and, handing it to them, in turn said: "My children, you have forgotten this else." This act touched the robbers so much that they returned to the elder everything they had taken from him, repented and said: "Verily, this man is God" (Prol. Apr. 2, p. 5 on ob.)