From publishers

The proposed book by Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), "The Lord's Prayer," was only recently available to the monks of the Pskov Caves Monastery, since the only typewritten copy of this book was kept in the cell of one of the elders of this monastery.The author of the book, Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov, 1880-1961), an outstanding hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, lived a long, difficult and interesting life, wholly devoted to the service of God, the Holy Church and the people of God. The Lord destined him to go through the life in the years of severe trials that befell our Church and Fatherland (on his life see the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1993, NoNo 2-10 "At the Turn of Two Epochs", as well as the book of the same name, published in Moscow in 1994). He happened to be a witness and participant in many events of our recent history, to know the bitterness of exile and the joy of the second acquisition of the homeland. He knew the life of the people well, for he was born and brought up in a peasant family, but no less well he knew the deeds and thoughts of the powerful of this world. Even if we simply mention some of the names of these people, it becomes clear how wide the circle of Vladyka's communication was. He met and had conversations with Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky, later Patriarch) and Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), Bishop Theophan (Bystrov), P.N. Wrangel and many, many other outstanding figures. Throughout his life, he collected spiritual wisdom bit by bit in conversations and meetings with "great people" and generously shared his spiritual wealth with the readers of his books.The works of Vladyka Benjamin, fortunately, have survived to this day, although the whereabouts of many of his works are still unknown. Judging by what has come down to us, he has always been attracted by the mystery of holiness. A living faith in God, in the intercession of the Mother of God and the saints breathes in every line of Vladyka's works.He speaks about lofty, heavenly things simply, sincerely and confidentially.Vladyka Benjamin spent the last years of his life in retirement in the Pskov Caves Monastery. The old-timers of the monastery still remember his heartfelt sermons, which many listened to with tears of joy and tenderness. Vladyka was given by God not only to penetrate into the innermost mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but also to tell his listeners and readers about these mysteries in a surprisingly simple and intelligible way.Originally published in the form of separate issues of the "Pskov-Pechersk Leaflets", the remarkable book by Metropolitan Veniamin is presented to a wide range of readers for the first time in its entirety.

Preface

The reason for the bold attempt to write an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer was an accidental circumstance. One person, even of a non-Orthodox confession (but deeply sympathetic to Holy Orthodoxy), observing the modern "Christian" society of various confessions, came to a sad and horrifying fact: people almost do not pray! The whole world is entangled in unsolvable questions of various kinds. Everyone is anxious and expecting even worse disasters. Everyone is looking for the resolution of the world nodes. And they almost do not pray to God for help in such great disasters... Moreover, believers of various trends, even those who openly confess themselves to be Christians, still seek the solution of painful questions in the same ways as non-believers of various degrees, that is, by reason, politics, war, agreements, and not by prayer to the Most Wise. Worse still, declaring themselves believers, people in their constant daily life either do not pray at all, or limit themselves to visiting their parish churches on certain feast days (if they still do so). Even if they "speak" about God, they do not pray to Him, as if He does not exist at all, and for them in particular. If before the words of the Apostle James were repeated: "Faith without works is dead," now we have to add: "Faith without prayer is dead." Prayer disappears from life. And such devastation of the soul brought this person into a painful, terrible state: if they do not pray, then the matter is bad! Looking for some spiritual outlet, in accordance with the usual rules of an ordinary individual, this person decided to publish a book on prayer. To do this, it stopped at the Lord's Prayer. The reasons are clear. First, the authority of this prayer is exceptional: it was given to the world by God Himself, our Savior Jesus Christ. This means that we need to pray. Secondly, this prayer is the most common among Christians. Thirdly, it is common for different Churches. And fourthly – and this is the most important thing – in this prayer the Lord pointed out to mankind the content of our prayers – how and for what we should pray. No one will dare to object on this question, for the God-Man Himself gave this prayer and not another. And in order to interest readers in the question of prayer in general, and the Lord's in particular, this person wanted to preface the readers of the booklets with interpretations of the Lord's Prayer by three main confessions: Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant; so that believers of different confessions could be interested in both the book and prayer. For a similar purpose, this person turned to me, as a representative of the Orthodox Church, with a request to give some authoritative interpretation of the Lord's Prayer.We have a brief interpretation of it in the catechism, but this was not enough: a more extensive one was needed and corresponding to the current state of minds and souls of readers. In our literature there is a special book published by the famous theologian Bishop Theophan the Recluse, in which he collected together the interpretations of the famous Fathers of the Church - John Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian, Maximus the Confessor and others. There is an interpretation by Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov), but it is too lofty and ascetic, beyond the power of an ordinary believer. There is an interpretation in English by John Cassian the Roman (Orthodox), which was also used by Bishop Ignatius; but his interpretations are also ascetic. That is why I dared to write down what I had to read and experience. May God help me and the readers to benefit from this.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, Who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.

The Main Idea of the Lord's Prayer

Usually, when interpreting the Lord's Prayer, individual parts (or petitions) of it are explained, and then individual words. And I do not remember that anywhere I had to read the general synthesis (review or summary) of this prayer - i.e. its main idea, the main spirit that permeates all the separate parts and gives it a general tone. In any case, I myself often asked myself this question, but I did not immediately find an answer to it: separate, private prayers were still understood in one way or another, but it was difficult to generalize them into something integral, unified, dominant. But if we now set ourselves the task of explaining this prayer to the best of our meager strength, then it is natural to set ourselves first of all the goal of revealing this basic, all-pervading thought and its spirit. And it cannot be that in the Divine prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ only fragmentary thoughts would be indicated, not connected by a single center. On the contrary, here we are especially obliged to see wholeness and unity for the sole reason that religious life requires exceptional concentration, concentration of the whole person, and the complete aspiration of the soul. Just as God Himself is the highest Simplicity, Unity, free from all complexity and separation, so He demands the same from His intercessors. And therefore His Word, the Son of God, in the prayer He gave had to give something whole, unified, all-embracing, just as He Himself was one with the Father. What is this main idea? What is the basic spirit of the Lord's Prayer? When I, senseless and sinful, pondered over this question, it was not easy for me to discover the answer. And only after clarifying all the individual petitions of this prayer, with God's help, I was able to see the extraordinary unity of the entire prayer. And then it turned out to be so simple and necessary that it is even impossible for a believer to think otherwise. In fact, let us think a little about the basic question of religion (which has even existed): what is the essence of faith? - in God! Here is the obvious and obligatory answer. God is everything for the believer. Everything, absolutely everything, without the slightest limitation, must be given to God. Any bifurcation, separation of anything from God should be considered a loss of faith or even a betrayal of God. Of course, it is difficult in life, but ideally, in the goal, it should be so. And the Son of God could not teach people to pray in any other way than with complete surrender to God. He Himself prayed and lived in this way, doing not His own will, but the will of the Father, and He could teach the disciples the same. Wherefore He admonished, Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy mind. Without a trace. And again: "You cannot work for God and mammon." God, as the only good, "no one is good, but God alone," said the Son of God. As the only "Being," as the only source of life, and of all well-being, and blessedness, and the meaning, and purpose of all that exists created by Him, God must be the only object of prayer and life for creation, not only for angels, but also for men. If we now, even briefly and simply, without much deepening, cast a general glance at the entire Lord's Prayer as a whole and its separate parts, then we will quite easily see this basic idea, which is expressed precisely by this one word - God. Or to put it more extensively: everything is to God and everything is from God.The very appeal to God, the very requests to Him, as the Only Giver of everything, immediately chains our soul to Him: we rush with our heart and mind "there", to Him. And the content of the following prayers-requests will show us that indeed He is the one center of everything and for everything - both in heaven and on earth. And even the very form of petition – "give", "leave", "deliver", and turning to God as a living listener of prayers, in the second person – "Thy name", "Thy Kingdom", "Thy will", as well as in other prayers – all this brings our spirit into direct communion with God. Man aspires to God. And so it is in the entire Lord's Prayer. The only place where "earth" is mentioned (the third petition) does not disturb this basic concentration in God, as we shall see, but on the contrary, strengthens it even more. In the same way, the mention of "daily bread" is only a new confirmation of the soul's complete conversion to God, behind the most insignificant care for the most necessary. And everything else is directly related to God. And therefore it can and must be said that the main idea, the main idea of the Lord's Prayer is God; the essence of the soul's conversion is God.The second, and already derivative, thought from this primary thought is the idea of a relationship to the world. Sometimes (especially among worldly interpreters) there is a tendency to use the words of the Lord's Prayer to justify this earthly life, to sanctify all human vanity in the creation of culture, or, as it used to be said, to create "the kingdom of God on earth." For this purpose, such interpreters tried in every possible way to adapt the words of the prayer "Thy Kingdom come" - to the earth, to the social and moral structure of civil order, and "Thy will be done"... On the ground. Such a tendency was and is especially present among Protestant trends and societies, and at one time, among the so-called Living Churchmen and Renovationists, it captured quite wide circles not only of the intelligentsia (the "neo-Christians" of St. Petersburg), but even of significant ranks of the clergy in Russia. And to this day one can often come across such speculation among believers. But without entering into the consideration of this question in essence in this section, it must nevertheless be said with decisiveness that in the Lord's Prayer there is not only no such material, but, on the contrary, it is all imbued with a completely opposite spirit of renunciation of the world, of supermundaneness. Of course, not all of us may like it; A person can even protest, rebel against this direction of Christianity - this is his business, his free choice; but to use the Lord's Prayer for such a "grounded" purpose is to go against the obvious truth. In fact, in this prayer, on the contrary, everything distracts us from the earth, tears us away from attachment to it and from being very anxious, draws us to the same One from Whom everything comes. It is enough to skim through the petitions, and we will see that the entire prayer has a supermundane character. And these petitions for "land" only further confirm how little space is given to it: only "bread" - one, and even then only for one day. The other petitions cited above speak even more strongly not of attachment to the earth, but, on the contrary, of the heavenly, of God. And this is absolutely necessary: the renunciation of the world is only the reverse side of religion, the measure of love for God. And it cannot be otherwise in the prayer given to us by God Himself, the Son of God. He came to call us not to earth, but from earth to heaven!The third, less pronounced general direction of prayer can be denoted by the commonly used word - the salvation of the soul. This can be especially seen in the last three petitions (for sins, temptations, and the evil one); but the other words of the prayer are also imbued with it. It can be expressed in another way: the character of the Lord's Prayer is spiritual. There is no need to dwell much on this: every religion has as its goal not material care for man, but spiritual care – his soul. Everything is to God, everything is from Him.In addition to this, I would like to emphasize one more spiritual mood that should be in our hearts when reading this prayer - the mood of hope.The Lord's Prayer from the very first word of its "Father" - Father - and to the request for deliverance from the evil one, and with the final justification of our requests (that we are all in His Kingdom, that everything is possible for Him, that all this is for His own glory) - all of it leads us into such hope in God, as natural children hope in their father, in their mother. And this hope is not a simple frivolity caused by our sinful blindness, no! it is the Christian gospel of Christ's Gospel, which He Himself not only taught us in words, but also interceded for it on His Cross. And therefore, let each of us, however sinful he may be, approach with this bright mood of hope! After all, God desires only to give, sanctify, save, and deliver us! And moreover, He does all this Himself, and we can only ask Him, pray.. So little.. So easy.. And even a sinner is not required in prayer to perform any special feats, nor to intense his own struggle, but only to ask: forgive, forgive, cover!! Except for one condition - "as we also forgive". And in the other petitions no longer any of our deeds are raised. Just pray, just ask! And He will arrange everything... It is even allowed to pray for "bread", although it is not at all high for a believer. This means that even with our small needs, we can turn to our Father with hope. Therefore, when you read the Lord's Prayer, let a spirit of peace enter into your heart, a spirit of hope, that He hears everything, that He can do everything, that He wants to do everything for us (good). Let not the evil spirit come up with suggestions that God is a harsh Judge, that He always punishes us, that He will not forgive, that He will not give! No, no! He is the Father and gives everything freely: only ask and pray in a childlike way, with trust, with undoubted hope. And this very hope will be the best sacrifice on our part to Him, instead of all our own feats and good deeds.This is how we were taught to pray not by man, but by the Son of God Himself - God! He knows how to pray for us. But from the very beginning of the approach to prayer, we need to establish ourselves in the indicated basic states: to aspire entirely to God and without fail with hope in Him, leaving behind us "every worldly thought" with a small exception (bread); There is one more state of prayer common to all petitions: this is a prayer that we rarely notice not alone, not on our own, not only for ourselves, but for all, on behalf of all of us. But we will leave this feature - very important (and very often forgotten by us in practice) - until we interpret the details of the Lord's Prayer. And now let's just briefly note it... And let's not forget! Let us not forget for one thing that few of us have thought or are thinking about the universality of prayer. Many people just hear about it for the first time. This oblivion has been and is often with us who are unworthy.I also find it useful to bring a little calm to our earthly hearts and minds. We have so many worries, sorrows, needs, questions, troubles, sorrows, tasks, both personal and official, social and worldly, that some will involuntarily be confused and fall into faint-heartedness from such "severity" and the supermundane spirit of the Lord's Prayer: is it possible that God did not allow us to ask Him for our sick needs, even if not high? Does He really not care about our small and big troubles? Is it possible that He has no time for our unfortunate planet with its millions of poor children? This prayer was given to us not for sorrow, but for comfort, peace, and joy even here on earth. We are not forgotten with our needs. But the only question is, what is the way to satisfy them? What is the way out of our sorrows? And the answer to this is given in the Lord's Prayer. True, this answer is not the same as we are accustomed to - the answer is special, Divine, all-wise, amazingly simple in its depth. But there is an answer. But if we followed it, how much easier would it be to solve all "world" social questions! True, this answer is sublime, for it is Divine, the answer is ideal, like all prayer, but it is given. And this answer is within the power of people, like the entire teaching of Christ.

Beginning of the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father"

The Lord's Prayer begins with an appeal or invocation. This is both necessary and natural. In every conversation with anyone, in every request, we begin with the name of the one to whom we are addressing, and on important occasions we name his rank or position. And these appeals from the very first moment show the relationship of both parties to each other. In such a title, the basic spirit is immediately manifested and felt, which will later be imbued with a petition, or a conversation, or a letter from one to another. Moreover, in order to call someone by a certain name, title, adjective, it is necessary that the person to whom we are addressing should really be such, and that I should know it and feel it, and if he is above me, then I should be allowed to name him in one way or another. An appeal is a reduction in the relationship between two persons, it is the foundation on which all subsequent requests, conversations, and letters will stand. And therefore it is extremely important from what first word the Son of God taught us to pray.

Father! Father!

For a very long time I did not pay attention to this word and did not feel its power. Once, of course, it was explained in the school catechism, but here is the sad experience: neither then nor afterwards did it remain in my heart as a living and constant feeling, and even my mental memory did not impede me to pay attention to this extraordinary name. This word was almost dead, dry, lifeless to me... And then I think many times: why did this happen and even now happens? Why is it necessary to use the effort of the mind and attention in order to establish even now at least somewhat on the understanding, and most importantly, on the heartfelt feeling of this most precious word, on the feeling of it? And this is so important: all further prayer depends on the first attitude of the heart, not only in myself, but also in God's relationship to me. Why has this been and is happening to me? This is not just my question, but a question of very many. And, perhaps, not only my personal state of mind is affected here, but also the result of my school upbringing, and who knows whether there is not even a wide influence on the perception of Christianity itself by the religious masses (Russian, Greek or otherwise)? In any case, I will say that since my childhood almost no one has spoken to me about God as "Father"... Father! ... Yes, this means that God is close to me, like dad, mom is my parents... This means that He loves me with exceptional strength and tenderness... This means that He cares for me, just like my parents. And very briefly and strongly: He is dear to me, and I am to Him... No, no one taught me this, neither at home nor in schools... True, it has been said and taught that God is Love. But they never implanted in my heart a living feeling of this love of Him. On the contrary, from childhood - the idea of God as the Judge, the Rewarder! And I remember that only when I was tonsured into monasticism, at the age of 27, I heard in prayers and instructions to the monk, as if for the first time, about the extraordinary love of God for us, monks: "For God is all-bountiful and abundantly merciful... saying: If the wife also forgets her offspring, I will not forget you... let him receive, and embrace, and protect, and let the wall be firm... consolations of wine (cause)... reclining and rising with thee." Of course, many times I heard the words about God's love with my mind, but they reached my heart exactly for the first time then. Oh, I have experienced God's mercy many times, but this one was closer to the Merciful Judge than to the Father... "Father" was something so distant, so inconceivable, that my heart did not even dare to think of such a thing. Was it an environmental error? School? But then the question is also raised: why did they deviate into such a mistake, if it was a mistake? And was it a "mistake"? Or was there some hidden truth here, that we thought more not about the God of love, but about the God of truth? In the Orthodox perception of Christianity, and especially among the Russian people, repentance has always prevailed. And this was not due to the fact that the Russians were more sinful than other Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians, but on the contrary - from the high requirements of Christian teaching. The ideal of Christ is so high and perfect that an attentive soul will always be dissatisfied with its own state, which does not correspond to it. Thus, a sensitive musician suffers from the slightest dissonance, and even big mistakes are invisible to an ordinary listener. Holy men have almost always considered themselves great sinners. Orthodox Russia was brought up in this spirit. Therefore, this was not a "mistake", but a deep perception of Christianity. One person was presented with an icon with the inscription: "Ask God for grace." It would seem that what is impossible or unacceptable here? To ask for joy, for God's mercy? But in response to this wish, it was written: "Where can I ask for grace? If only the Lord would have mercy on me, a cursed sinner." And this is in Orthodox, in Russian. And she was not at all some great sinner, in our opinion, she was even a "good life": pure, pious, modest, patient. And this repentant perception of Christianity was so ingrained in the Russian Orthodox souls that it was absolutely impossible for us to endure the sectarian constant "thanksgiving" to "dear Christ." In general, we were unacceptable to the Protestant teaching about "easy" salvation "by faith".It is known that the most common prayer in Orthodox worship is two words: "Lord, have mercy!" "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" (words of the publican). And in general, prayers of repentance, in particular, the Psalms of David, occupy a very significant place in the preparatory parts of our services: at Vespers, at Matins, at the Hours, at home prayers. And only at the Liturgy does the Church raise us to its height of the "Eucharist" (from the Greek language - thanksgiving, praise) - a hymn to God for the salvation of mankind, for the restoration of the sonship of people to God the Father. Yes, it is. But such is the view of the Church, which lives by the spirit of God, that in its loftiness it has reached the summit of praise by the children of its Heavenly Father. But her feeble, weak children are still unable to rise to such heights. It is known that almost the majority of the faithful present at the Liturgy are filled not with a feeling of delight and praise for the Father, but with a constant repentant awareness of their unworthiness and requests for forgiveness, pardon and intercession for the granting of what is lacking in earthly life. The reason is simple. Our sinfulness, our personal imperfection does not allow each of us (with few exceptions) to rise to the height of trustworthy triumph, but always lowers us to repentant requests. That is why we, always feeling guilty, do not even dare to dwell on the thought of God's "Fatherland" in relation to us. Like the Old Testament Jews, we, the unworthy, see in God the Judge, the Almighty, the God of hosts, the Rewarder, and not our Father. And because of this, and not because of an accidental or erroneous upbringing in the family, school and society, and even in the Church, we feel little of this dear word "Father." Still unbearable. We are not yet the true children of the Father. Bad children. However, even good children not only love their father, not only expect favors, gifts and tenderness from him, but also fear him. True, they are afraid in a completely different way than other people's children or the guilty are afraid of the judge: they are afraid of filial fear, fear of losing the love of their father. But still they are afraid - they are piously afraid. And the angels cover their faces in fear before the majesty of the Creator. But for all this, children always recognize themselves as the children of their father, and therefore turn to him with hope and trust. One should not even call this feeling "fear," but rather awe. Their fear is of the holy height, and ours is of our baseness; These are two fears of different quality. And it is good that Orthodox people do not dare, in their sinfulness, to ascend to the steps of sectarian false joy and constant praise of "dear Jesus," "dear Father." More humble, more just, more pleasing to God, easier, more salvific, more useful is the repentant feeling of constant awareness of one's unworthiness than of self-conceited self-satisfaction and frivolous hope in the "Father." And I believe that such a repentant Orthodox mood is more pleasing to God the Father than a bold reminder to Him of one's sonship and His Fatherland.I recall the eldest son from Christ's parable about the "prodigal son": having returned from his labors (good deeds) to the field (of life), he refers with resentment to his filial fidelity to his father, however, it is not sufficiently appreciated by his father, but the prodigal son, When you look at all this more deeply, then you will understand that there are many grounds and holy truth in our repentant consciousness, as unworthy to consider ourselves children of God, but only to be not expelled at all and to be accepted among the last mercenaries. why do we not feel from the bottom of our hearts this wonderful word of the Lord's Prayer - "Father" - "Father". Perhaps we are not only not children yet, but even yet not His "slaves," not hireling, but children wandering far from the Father, children who have departed and renounced Him, living in sin with swine. And just as a prince who has degraded in soul hides his former high descent from a noble father, so we, sinners, do not dare even within our hearts, before our own consciences, and even more so before the face of the All-Seeing God, call Him Father. This highest name makes us humble ourselves even more and bend our heads guiltily. The publican, standing at the wall of the temple, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven and only beat his chest and said: "God! (and not - Father!) Be merciful to me, a sinner!" But with all this fair explanation of our unworthiness, we must not and cannot forget this word - Father! Didn't the Lord know about our sinfulness when He taught His disciples this word? And then He will speak openly in His prayer about "debts." Jesus Christ gave this prayer to sinners. Sinners listened to Him. And yet He called God Father, teaching us also to call Him in all ages. And for this reason alone we do not dare to renounce this teaching: God Himself commanded it.How can we reconcile the above-mentioned repentant mood with this joyful and hopeful name? Simply. Quite simple. No matter how sinful we are, God in Himself always remains Love. God always abides with us in relation to the Fatherland. This is His unchangeable attribute - unless we voluntarily deny Him ourselves - as happened with the demons, former angels. And if we turn to Him, then He immediately turns to us on the side of the Fatherland. This is His attribute. Such is the first reason for this word.And the second lies in His Son Jesus Christ.Before the Saviour, mankind did not dare to call God the Father, close to itself. But when the Son of God took upon Himself the sins of men and offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice for them, He thereby interceded for the right to call God Father, Abba (Rom. 8:15), and us children and His "brethren" (Heb. 2:17; 3:14). Thus, in this word "Father" the idea of redemption is hidden. It had not yet come to pass when the Lord said this. But His very coming was the beginning of redemption, and He could already speak of the future as of the present. Even at the baptism of Christ, the Father said to John: "This one who is being baptized is My beloved Son, in Whom (through whom) I am well pleased," i.e. He returned His fatherly favor to people. And at His birth in Bethlehem, the angels sang to the shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest... good will toward men," of course, God's. For the sake of the Only-begotten Son, we have been restored to the sonship of grace with the Heavenly Father. Thus, both in Himself and for the sake of the Son of the Redeemer, God is truly the Father. The Son of God commanded and taught thus. And for this reason alone we are obliged, and we can call God our Father. And what happiness is contained in this word.. Let's turn a little deeper into history. The Jewish people, like the pagans, were deprived of paternal mercy for the Fall. And they called God mainly by the words "Just Rewarder". But from the lips of Jesus, these same Jews, ordinary people, fishermen, workers, a few Pharisee leaders, hear this new name: God is the Father... One can imagine what a joyful message this name sounded to them! And the stronger it was, the more unusual it sounded.. But it is better to listen to our own heart... Sometimes (and often, alas!) you read the Lord's Prayer mechanically, deadly. And this word flashes by completely imperceptibly, without a trace.And another time you dwell on it, but the unworthy heart, oppressed by sins, is afraid to accept its meaning... Father! No, I am not worthy of this right to consider myself a son of Him, therefore, for me personally He is not yet the Father... And it hurts my soul... But sometimes you perceive this holy word with your mind and heart... You will even induce yourself to accept it. After all, this is exactly how the Son of God Himself taught us to pray! Therefore, so it is truly! This is how one should pray. Not by my audacity, but by obedience to our Saviour... And having lingered for a short time with attention, you will suddenly establish yourself in relation to God as truly to the Father... And then blissful, comforting thoughts and feelings are revealed to the soul. And then it is not easy to remember, but at that moment they are experienced quite clearly and vividly. And immediately God reveals Himself first of all as Love... God loves people... It means that he carries me in His love... How blissful is that feeling.. And if He does, then He wishes me all the best: both to the soul, especially to the soul, but even to my body, my earthly existence. He wants me better than I do. He cares about me. Even about bodily existence. And hope enters the heart... But am I a sinner? All the same, He cares about me, a sinner... And is it not more than about the 99 righteous men! After all, He is my Father! And not the Judge, constantly punishing. I will go to Him with childlike trust, even though I am a sinner... Thou art the Father: accept, do not reject! And I know: you will not drive away, you will not turn away: You are the Father! Thou didst endure me when I forgot Thee altogether in my sins, and even if I did, Thou didst grieve Thee with my transgressions. But You did not execute immediately. Thou hast waited for my conversion, Thou hast not even frightened me with the horrors of hell and eternal torment. Thou hast spared me even in sin. Why? You are the Father.. Is it possible that when I return to Thee in repentance, when I turn to Thee in prayer, when I call Thee Father for encouragement and hope in my salvation from Thee, Thou wilt turn away from me?.. Oh no!.. You are the Father! Your Only-begotten Son commanded us to name and revere and convert and feel and act in this way, and He did not do His own will, but Your will, which means that You Yourself want it. Therefore I bold, I urge myself not to fear Thee! I move my heart to meet Your Love and say: You are also my Father.. Therefore, I hope, I hope... And in joyful hope I even weep with comforting tears - like a child cries in its mother's lap.. And Thou dost receive. You're welcome. You'll give! For Thou art always the Father, and if Thou shalt send me sorrows temporarily, I will receive them also. For Thou dost send them not as a punishment to me, but as a remedy for Thy love for me. You want me to come back stronger to You as a son, and You can love me even more as a Father. And then the soul is filled with quiet light. Gosh! Gosh! how wonderful it is that Thou art our Father! And we must never forget this wonderful revelation given to us: God is our Father!

Father

So it seemed that I "finished" my thoughts with hope in the Father. But as the waves replace one another, so the feelings come again and again. And it would be impossible, dangerous and even sinful before God and one's conscience to silence them... I write them as they are born of themselves in a living soul in a natural sequence, without even my will and reflection... How good, how blessed it is to trust in the Father! But I immediately remember how many times this very hope for the "Merciful" was badly used by my weak soul. "Oh, God is merciful! - forgive everything!" and again you fall into sin... Maybe others have had the same thing sometimes? And now the highest good – God's Fatherland – turns into a pretext for sin... What a horror and crime it is to turn God Himself into the path to evil!! What then? Or is it not true that He is the Father? No, holy truth! But I am so sinful and weak that I turn even the truth into a lie, light into darkness... It turns out that hope in the Father is also dangerous to me... And then the concept of the "Righteous One", the "Judge" arises in my mind again. And the thought of the "Father" fades into the shadows. You no longer feel the Father. But I do not want to remain only before the Retributor "according to my deeds"... And you close the eyes of your mind so that you see nothing: neither fatherland, nor judgment, nor punishment in righteousness... But even this is impossible: there is nowhere to run away from oneself and God's light... What to do? Looking for a way out of these extremes - the abuse of the fatherland and hope in it, you do not know where to lean? But still, as soon as you remember the Lord's Prayer and the word "Father," you grasp at Him as if it were a saving anchor: it is better for me to sin in excessive hope than to fall into faint-hearted despondency; I would rather hope than despair. But this anchor still rests on a certain chain - on repentance or at least on the consciousness of one's sinfulness. Though without words or sobs, I say: "Be merciful to the sinner! I hope for Your saving mercy! I believe that in some way Thou wilt save me, unworthy and be called Thy son!" Better is the danger of over-hope than the fear of a faint-hearted fruitless fear. However, from these experiences, you begin to understand: why sometimes God Himself does not show you His love? It is dangerous for our weak nature! And so the same love takes the form of "truth" in order to lead us back to the path of salvation. If we were real children, if we really loved God, our Father, then we would not sin against Him. And you yourself know how beautiful it is for the heart when it is pure. How good it is after sincere confession! And the inner spirit says to you: "Behold, how blessed it is to be in the love of God! so don't lose her..." Alas! Soon this filial love and unwillingness to grieve the Father with his sins weakens... Wonderful is our Father! We are bad children. And yet, Father He.I had to receive from a secular person an amazing reflection and "an experience of God as Father." "For we are all made in the image of God and in His likeness." What a simple and holy thought! In fact, according to God's very creation, we are already His children, as created in His image. And therefore, no matter what we are. He, as our prototype, cares for His image and likeness, as fathers care for children who are similar to them by birth. We often stain this image of ours, but still it is never completely erased... Until the Last Judgment, when the image of God will be completely taken away from the condemned.So, no matter which path we take, we still come up against the salvific word "Father" again and again. And the essence of this word is goodness and mercy. And let us not depart from this salvific foundation. This is the essence of Christianity. This is the essence of the Gospel, or, which is the same thing in Russian, "evangelism." Thus our Saviour Himself taught us to pray! And so let us feel and pray.God is truly our Father! On this I stand! This is my hope! This is hope for me, a sinner! This is my consolation! This is my faith! No matter what people say to me, no matter what the demons of despondency whisper to me, I obey my Lord, Who taught us to say in His prayer: "Our Father." I remembered the prodigal son, who no longer dared to call himself a son, but asked at least to become a mercenary... But then I read in the Gospel text that he nevertheless, despite his sinfulness and unworthiness, still called his father - father: "I will go to my father," he thought to himself, "and say to him: 'Father!' and so on... So it is with us: no matter what we sinners may be, we will still call God no other than Father, like the prodigal son. It is no accident that this name of the Father was dropped only in one place of the Lord's Prayer. No, it is constantly used by the Saviour in His conversations with the people: "Love your enemies... that ye may be sons of your Father which is in heaven... Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5) "Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly... Your Father knoweth what ye have need of, before you ask" (Matt. 6:1, 4, 6, 8). All this was said even before the Lord's Prayer. Therefore, it was not so surprising for the listeners that Jesus Christ commanded to call God by the same name in prayer. In general, the entire Gospel is full of this very word: Father. This is the fruit of Christ's redemption. He gave us the right to call God that. We do not see anything of the kind not only among the pagans in their religious books, but even among the Jews in the Old Testament Scriptures. Therefore, no Christian should renounce this holy word: Christianity is in it, and the Gospel is in it. It is good to humble oneself in one's soul, considering oneself "unworthy to be called a son," but still one must call God: "Father.. At least accept him as a mercenary." And when you feel this Fatherly attitude of God towards you, your heart becomes touching... Who knows: if we felt this Fatherland more often, if we knew the abyss of the Father's love for us, then perhaps we would sin less. Someone asked St. Seraphim of Sarov: what does God have more - "truth or love"? And he answered him with the words of St. Isaac of Syria, which have long sunk into my soul: "Do not dare (!) to call God just: because His justice over you is not seen. Though (the Scriptures) call Him righteous and upright, yet His Son declared that He is more good and merciful; He is good to the ungrateful and the wicked... How can we call God just, if we read the story of the prodigal son, who squandered all his wealth in debauchery? Because of the mere tenderness (contrition) expressed by the son, the father ran out to meet him, took him in his arms and gave him his former dignity. The Son of God Himself is none other! - testified to this about God: there is no room for doubt about this! Where is the justice of God, when Christ died for us while we were His enemies?" Or here are the words of another holy father, Ephraim the Syrian, this wonderful preacher of tearful contrition for our sins and hope for God's mercy for repentance. In "The Discourse on the Truth and Goodness of God" he writes as follows: "Praise of Thy goodness, which the prudent boast: for even having lost everything, they can restore all things by it! - Praise be to Him Who acts by two means on the shameless - both by merciful mercies and cruel blows, in order to restrain by fear the one who, through the bounty of God's love, becomes even more audacious in sins. Listen and be comforted: although the retributive truth is terrible, if a person repents, one drop of tears destroys the handwriting of debts. Listen, and tremble: though the sea of goodness (of God) be full of bounties, yet if a man does not repent... will not receive mercy in the day of judgment.'" May both righteousness and goodness have pity on me, for all of me is covered with invisible leprosy... And may it be fulfilled in me that which has been said: "Where sin has increased, there grace has triumphed exceedingly" (Rom. 5:20). Inasmuch as sin has overcome sin in me, O Lord, let mercies reign in me!" And in another place he says: "Do not lose heart, soul, do not grieve. Do not pronounce a decisive judgment on yourself for a multitude of sins. Do not draw fire upon you, do not say: the Lord has rejected me from His presence. "Such words are not pleasing to God!" Can't he who has fallen rise again?.. Or do you not hear what grace the Father has to the prodigal son? Do not be ashamed to be converted, but boldly say, 'Arise, I go to my Father!' "Get up and go!" No, I will not deny the Father, no matter what happens to me! This is what the Son of God taught! Here are some more thoughts... Can a great sinner, or one who is generally aware of the depth of his sinfulness, call God Father? It is not said: minor or great sins. Every: therefore, and great. Only one condition is required first of all: to recognize oneself as a sinner, or, which is the same thing, to repent in one way or another. That is why the greatest sinner can call God his Father when he prays. In this very designation – the Father – there is already a humble and repentant mood. Without this mood, it is impossible to call God the Father. For example, the devil is in no way able to call God by this name. And nowhere in the Scriptures is it possible to find such a case. In order to call God Father, the devil would have to humble himself before and at this moment, honor God with the lofty name of the Father, confess His love and have at least the slightest love for Him. But there is nothing of the kind in the devil's heart, and therefore he cannot call God Father. And if he had, he would have been saved. And vice versa, when a person, even the greatest sinner, calls Him Father, then at that moment he cannot but feel his sinfulness, humility, reverence for God and love for Him. And therefore it is very useful for great sinners to call God Father. The prodigal son, when he was about to sin, even then they call God Father: "Father, forgive them! Give me the next part of the possessions" (Luke 15:12). And on the contrary, the eldest son, returning from the field when the Father had given a feast to the repentant son, did not enter the house: he was angry. And when the Father came out and "called him" to take part in the joy, this seemingly good son not only did not honor the Father with his obedience, but did not even call him Father, but rudely and proudly said in response to the Father: "Here I have been serving You for so many years, but You have never given me a kid!" And he could not. At that moment, he had enmity and anger against his brother and Father in his soul. "And when this Thy son, who squandered His substance with harlots, came, Thou slaughtered a fatted calf for him." Yes, when we do not love our brothers, when we are in anger and pride, then it is impossible to pronounce the word "Father." But even at that moment, God Himself remains our Father and considers us children. See what the Father said to his elder brother after his angry speech: "My son! you are always with Me; and all that is mine is yours." Yes, we are bad, but God always remains God the Father and to us. Therefore, let us call God Father, even though we are great sinners, because this name makes us better and humble at that moment. St. Isaac of Syria has such strong words about God's fatherly love for people that he could only express them in the exclamation: "Oh, if only people knew that God is Love!" And of the ascetics who recently lived (on Mount Athos), with whom I had occasion to correspond, one schema-monk constantly repeated this main thought of his: "How God loves us!" (He died in 1939.) I will cite a few extracts from them." I want you to live according to the will of the Lord and love Him alone. He loves us very much. Thank Him more often for everything. And for sorrows... The merciful Lord loves us and gives us sorrows, so that we may be more experienced in the spiritual struggle and overcome the enemy by the grace of God for humility." "The Lord especially loves it when we pray for people." In another letter: "Rejoice in the Lord. Endure sorrows. Trust in God. He is very merciful." Again: "I write to you (a certain layman) on behalf of God's mercy, that He wants everyone to be saved, but He gives His grace to the humble, and it attracts love for God and neighbor." Again: "Whoever does not love the enemy will not know the Lord, how merciful He is, how much He loves man." "He who lives rightly fears the Lord alone... And his soul fears neither death, nor thunderstorms, nor beasts, nor robbers, but in all things it firmly trusts in the Lord, Whom our Holy Church knows: He is very merciful and meek, He does not remember the sins of man, if only he repents and loves God and His law... Grant, O Lord, that your soul may taste the goodness of the Lord and the humility of Christ." Again: "The Lord by the Holy Spirit has revealed how the Lord loves His fallen creation! I write and rejoice! I am a great sinner; but the Lord does not abandon me with His love!"