228 ARCHPRIEST VALENTIN MORDASOV, WHAT DO YOU ADVISE, FATHER? 229

or spiritual gifts, there is no salvation. Because

The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force (Matt. 11:12).

What do you need to always be calm and not be afraid of anything?

In order to always have peace, one must not rely on one's own strength, but constantly learn from the Divine word. It is our fortress

and a quiet haven. There is in the Sacred

The Lord's promise, which for us

wall and fence. The Lord said: I am with you always,

unto the end of the world (Matt. 28:20).1

How to pray to a woman who is preparing to become a mother?

You are pregnant, so pray to the Lord

To God thus: "I thank thee, my Creator, that

You have brought me to a state in which

I am conscious of myself as a mother! Gratifying, desirable for

This is the name of my heart! But in the pleasant consciousness of this name I confess, like St. Solomonia, the mother of the holy martyrs

Maccabees, that I do not comprehend how the

and the living being grows, for I did not arrange the tender limbs of his body, nor did I animate him

Life. Thou, O Lord, hast bestowed existence and life

this tiny creature that announces its existence to me by its movement in me!

Make me a true Christian mother and vouchsafe the fate of those holy mothers who have acquired eternal salvation with those who are born

1 Jerom. Vladimir (Musatov). The Elder's Answers to the Questions of the Cell Disciple. Moscow Metochion of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 2002.

children from them. And grant me like a mother

Samuel the Prophet, to assimilate by fasting and prayer

his mother's name. Cleanse me from all filth of sin, for I realize that as in sin I am

She herself was born, so in sin she conceived what she felt

I am a creature. Therefore, believing and confessing that

Thou alone, O Christ the Saviour, is sinless, I give myself over entirely to Thy paternal providence for me, and with all the strength of my soul I beseech

Thy goodness: complete Thy creation, which was conceived in me, and sustain it with Thy grace