The Sacrament of Marriage, God's blessing to those who enter the path of family life, is the mysterious union of husband and wife in the image of the union of Christ with the Church. The purpose of marriage as a sacrament is to consolidate the union of love of spouses, to make it spiritual and sacred. In it, the grace of the Holy Spirit is given to the newlyweds, sanctifying and helping them in the matter of giving birth to and raising children. A marriage, properly performed, remains in force until the end of the life of the spouses. The Holy Father considers the condition for the truth of this Sacrament to be "the consent of both to accept matrimony with themselves, and to preserve love with each other, in which they do not leave the other to one until the end of their lives" (1:4). This condition is at the same time the highest goal of a marriage union that unites two persons together. The saint also gives instructions on how to prepare for the reception of this Sacrament and in what cases it cannot be performed. "Let those who wish to enter into marriage prepare themselves for pious deeds, and let them confess their sins, and let them commune of the Divine Mysteries, three or four days before the wedding." In addition, the newlyweds must have "the right intention, not to marry in a bestial way and not for the sake of carnal pleasure, but so that the human race may increase to the glory of God, according to the blessed birth and according to the pleasing upbringing of children." St. Tikhon also points out the obstacles to entering into a marital union. These include: spiritual and carnal kinship, marriage not by consent, but by compulsion (1:4), the fourth marriage, as well as the age or age of one of the spouses (1:18). Thus, the sacrament of marriage has as its goal to spiritualize the newlyweds and thus strengthen in their hearts oneness of mind, walking the holy path to achieve their salvation.

An equally important Sacrament in the matter of salvation and healing of spiritual and bodily infirmities of a person is the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. It, like all other Sacraments, has a Divine institution. The Saviour of the world, sending His Apostles to preach, commanded them to heal every sickness and infirmity in people (Matt. 10:1), and the Apostles, according to the commandment of Christ the Saviour, "anointed with oil many sick things, and healed them" (Mark 6:13). The holy apostles, after the ascension of the Son of God to heaven, transferred this authority to the Church of Christ in the person of its clergy. The Holy Father, relying on the words of the Apostle James: "If any man be sick in you, let him call the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick" (James 5:14-15), says that "the Anointing of the Sick is a mystery, in which through the anointing with oil sanctified through the priestly prayer, the remission of sins, the salvation of the soul, and the health of the body are given to the sick" (1:5). For the celebration of this Sacrament, in accordance with the canons of the Church, as the Holy Father says, a sevenfold number of clergymen is required, expressing the fullness of the Divine gifts, although he does not deny – in extreme cases – a smaller number of priests. The saint first of all advises those who receive the sacrament of Unction to purify their soul through the sacrament of Repentance. St. Tikhon attaches great importance to the perfect words: "Holy Father, Physician of souls and bodies...", after the pronunciation of which "this mystery is accomplished" (1:5).

In this way, through the seven Holy Sacraments taught by the Orthodox Church, the Christian is given the grace-filled power of the Holy Spirit, which sanctifies and strengthens him on all the paths of earthly pilgrimage, from the cradle to the grave mound. That is why the Holy Church of Christ is the only grace-filled hospital in which its spiritual members receive from the Loving Heavenly Father everything necessary for their salvation.

4. The grace of God and its salvific action

Divine grace, which is abundantly poured out on believers in the Holy Sacraments, is that special power of the Holy Spirit which is given to a Christian for the sake of the redemptive feat of Christ the Savior and which accomplishes the spiritual rebirth of a believer. This Divine power helps a Christian at every step of his earthly life, as the Lord Jesus Christ says: "... without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

According to the teaching of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, this "grace and mercy have been earned to us by the Only-begotten Son of God, the Heavenly Father gives us this grace, the Holy Spirit accomplishes it" (4:296). It was in the great work of Jesus Christ's redemption of the human race from the devil, hell and death that the incomprehensible grace of God was revealed (5:154).

Grace is an act of God's greatest love for sinful man. It is given to him only by the goodness of God, and on a person thirsting for salvation it is poured out like a flowing river or a life-giving spring (4:352). Without the grace-filled help and support of His Creator, man cannot live a single minute (5:285; 2:182). The power of grace-filled help in the matter of man's salvation is so great that it is given a primary place in this matter. It helps a person in the struggle with demons, restrains him from sinful actions, and assists in the victory over the passions. In addition, it not only assists the Christian in all the paths of his life, but also helps in the acquisition of virtues (2:305). Without its salvific action, the soul becomes poor, blind and sickly (2:118; 2:23). For a person seeking salvation, the grace of the Lord is the main food that strengthens his spiritual strength. Just as food serves as the surest means for the maintenance of a person's physical strength, so grace nourishes and gives life to the immortal soul (4:330; 5:163). The grace of God can also be likened to a garment that warms and covers the nakedness of a person's soul (2:106). However, the action of God's grace depends on the state of the Christian's soul. If a person leads a sinful life, then grace cannot dwell in his soul. Such a soul can be likened to a dead body, which not only remains motionless, but also decomposes and emits a fetid smell (2:101, 118, 235). Deprived of grace, a person becomes spiritually powerless in the struggle against sin. His every effort will remain in vain until divine help comes to him (5:166), the power of grace that drinks the soul with life-giving juices, just as the sap of the vine revives the branches of a tree (4:41-42). Only with the assistance of grace can the moral norms and principles that were inherent in it before the Fall be restored in the soul of a Christian.

Thus, the grace of God is given a primary place in the matter of human salvation, but it manifests its action only when the person himself responds to its call (2:386). In this case, Divine grace helps a person to overcome sinful habits and directs his spiritual forces to a virtuous life (4:330). Therefore, every Christian should not attribute good deeds to himself, but to God, Who helps and saves, he must thank Him for this grace-filled help (3:359).

Man by nature is inclined to sin; he can overcome the weakness of his nature only with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is able to lead a Christian through the crucible of struggle both with the enemy of our salvation, the devil, and with external temptations, to cleanse his soul from passions, from attachment to everything carnal and sensual, to strengthen him inwardly in a virtuous life and to give him the strength to fulfill the commandments of God (3:230-231). 239). Without the grace-filled power of God, a Christian easily succumbs to all kinds of temptations and sinful stumblings. A person on the path of life is like a boat carried away by the current of a river and needing strong rowers or a sail with a fair wind to move against the current (4:329).

In addition, a Christian is constantly subject to the influence of an evil force that seeks to kill his soul. And if Divine grace did not strengthen him and did not overcome this evil force, then the Christian would constantly depart from his path of salvation (3:309).

Since the human heart is the center of his spiritual life, grace seeks to act on this organ in order to cleanse, renew and make it a God-pleasing vessel (4:194). Without its influence, the heart itself remains senseless and petrified (2:103). It becomes like cold iron, which does not yield to the hammer of a blacksmith until it is thrown into a red-hot furnace. But as soon as the heart is touched by the Divine power, then it softens and becomes the purest and most pleasing to God (2:103).

The grace of God knocks at the door of the heart of every person, calling those who lie in sin to repentance (4:150). These saving invocations of grace manifest themselves in various ways; either through the reproach of conscience, or through hearing the word of God, or through the trials of life (2:233-235). Thus, gradually, the grace of God awakens a person from the sleep of sin and directs him to the path of repentance (3:117). A person begins to compare his sinfulness and God's mercy shown to him, and then he begins to "grieve and be wounded in his heart, because he... He insulted and angered his lover... and by this (sorrow – A. I.), as with an arrow, it is wounded" (4:341). Sorrow for God, combined with grace, radically changes the whole being of a person, directs him along the path of a virtuous life (2:346), contributes to the acquisition in the soul of a Christian of the fear of God, humility and prayer. Under the influence of the grace-filled power, the prayer of a Christian becomes fruitful, salvific, pleasing to God, like a fragrant censer. "Such a prayer, though brief, passes through heaven and enters into the ears of the Lord Almighty" (4:342). Thus, gradually, the grace of God leads a Christian to moral perfection. And the more his soul is enlightened by the grace-filled light, the more experienced and irresistible the fighter he becomes, the more clearly he discerns good and evil, virtue and vice, truth and falsehood (3:328). And this discernment of good and evil gives the Christian the opportunity to avoid sin and direct his spiritual forces to the acquisition of good, to pleasing God, to abiding with God (4:340-341).

Raising a Christian to a higher spiritual level, the grace of God teaches him to be merciful, compassionate not only to his well-wishers, but also to his enemies, and brings him to such a state when he "would like to embrace all, without exception, with his love embrace, and to see all those who are being saved" (4:344). And the more virtues a Christian acquires, the more grace burns in his heart and little by little takes possession of his whole being; there is no place for sinful defilement in it. A person becomes already free in Christ Jesus. Even if he is subjected to chains and all kinds of deprivations, he is always free in spirit, because "no one can enslave or bind the spirit" (3:169).

Thus, with the help of grace-filled power, the Christian gradually restores in his soul "the purest and clearest image of God" and becomes a son of God by grace (3:88). In his heart dwelt the longed-for peace, joy, joy, and joy, testifying to his anticipation of a blessed life in eternity (5:35).