It is necessary to regularly commune such a person, take him to church, and help him in his prayer life. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the patience of Christ (2 Thess. 3:5).

Why is intimacy between people who love each other considered a mortal sin?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)  

First of all, it is necessary to clearly understand what sin is and why Divine revelation classifies fornication and adultery among the mortal sins. The Lord God created the world perfect and laid down laws to maintain this primordial harmony. If people violate the laws of the physical world, there are disastrous consequences, ranging from injuries and injuries to large-scale disasters like the Chernobyl accident. Laws are also given to the spiritual world. There is no chaos there. And when, in conditions of mass disbelief, the majority of people do not know and do not want to know the laws of the invisible world, a spiritual Chernobyl arises, the destructive consequences of which we are witnessing. Statistics reveal to us only certain aspects of this tragedy. In our country, about 5 million people suffer from drug addiction. Every year, 6.5 million women kill their babies by having abortions. About 3 million people commit crimes in the country every year. More than 80 thousand murders occur per year. 80% of marriages end in divorce. There are 5 million homeless children in Russia. According to the results of a study conducted by the World Health Organization, "Health Behavior of School-Age Children", more than 40% of adolescents in our country aged 13-15 are already sexually active.

An external crime is preceded by an internal state of sinfulness. Generally speaking, any transgression of God's commandments is a sin: Whoever commits sin also commits iniquity; and sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). The divine word not only reveals to us the nature of sin, but also enumerates the most egregious and dangerous of them. Why is fornication included in this list? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). People who lead a sexual life without marriage pervert the Divine plan for a grace-filled life union. The Lord blesses this union: "What God has joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6). That is why the holy Apostle Paul so persistently exhorts: We beseech and beseech you through Christ Jesus, that having received from us how you ought to act and please God, you may be more successful in this, for you know what commandments we have given you from the Lord Jesus. For the will of God is your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication; so that each one of you may know how to keep his vessel in holiness and honor, and not in the passion of lust, like the pagans, who do not know God (1 Thessalonians 4:1-5).

The sin of fornication is by its nature equivalent to the transgression of Adam, which damaged human nature. "It is obvious that the forefathers, having disobeyed God and bowed down in obedience to the devil, made themselves strangers to God, made themselves slaves of the devil. The death promised to them for the transgression of the commandment immediately seized them: the Holy Spirit, who dwelt in them, departed from them. They were left to their own nature, infected with sinful poison. This poison was imparted to human nature by the devil from his corrupt nature, full of sin and death" (Ignatius (Brianchaninov), St. Discourse on Man).

The Holy Fathers call any mortal sin (including fornication) a serious illness. Just as a deadly bodily illness suffered by a person weakens a person's physical health, so a mortal sin seriously undermines the ego's spiritual health. Mortal sin inevitably injures the soul and leaves scars. Such a person, even after repentance and mercy brought to God, finds it difficult to build a spiritual life. He painfully feels inner weakness. In the words of St. John Chrysostom: "In the New Testament [the sin of fornication] received a new gravity, because human bodies received a new dignity. They have become members of the body of Christ, and the transgressor of purity already brings dishonor to Christ, dissolves unity with Him. The adulterer is punished with spiritual death, the Holy Spirit departs from him."

We live in a terribly depraved time. Many young people (girls and boys) become victims of the "spirit of the times". However, the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven is not closed to anyone. Christianity is a religion of resurrection. Not only once fallen, but even prostitutes were not only corrected, but also became saints, if they followed the path of podvig. I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, shall live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die (John 11:25-26). Therefore, in order to heal the soul, it is necessary to enter into the grace-filled experience of the Church, to resolutely cast off all fear, to trust God and to begin a spiritual life in the Church, in its holy salvific sacraments. The main thing is to fulfill the Gospel commandments. "When the fornicator becomes chaste, the covetous one merciful, the cruel one meek, then this also contains the resurrection, which is the beginning of the future... Sin was put to death, but righteousness was resurrected, the old life was abolished, and the new and evangelical life began" (St. John Chrysostom).

Is it possible to tell others what the confessor has said?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)  

There is an ancient rule: do not discuss your spiritual state with anyone except your mentor. If the spiritual father gave advice of a general nature, then you can share it with people close to the faith, without touching on personal moments.

Does a mother's prayer really have a special power?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)  

The relationship between parents and children is modeled after our relationship with God, our Heavenly Parent. That is why the Lord gave parents special authority over their children: "Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is pleasing to the Lord" (Col. 3:20). The commandment to honor one's parents is not only a prescription, the non-observance of which is a sin. With its fulfillment the Lord connected our longevity on earth: "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee" (Exodus 20:12). The Holy Apostle Paul says that this is the first commandment with a promise (Ephesians 6:2). A son or daughter who offends his parents, openly neglecting their authority and power, will face a sad fate. The eye that mocks the father and disdains obedience to the mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, and the chicks of the eagle will be devoured! (Proverbs 30:17). The power that the Lord God gave to the mother over her children is associated with the special power of a mother's prayer. One of the most edifying examples of great motherly love and prayer for a spiritually perishing son is the prayerful feat of Monica, the mother of Blessed Augustine, who was for ten years in captivity of the pernicious false teaching of the Manichaean sect. The son she prayed for not only escaped hell, but also became a saint. In his Confessions, Blessed Augustine illuminated his mother with the most touching words: "Thou didst stretch forth Thy hand from on high, and 'drew my soul' out of this deep darkness, when my mother, Thy faithful servant, wept over me before Thee more than the mothers of dead children mourn. She saw my death by virtue of her faith and the spirit she possessed from Thee, and Thou hast heard it, O Lord; Thou didst hear her, and did not despise the tears that watered the earth in streams in every place where she prayed; Thou hast heard her" (Confessions, Book III, 11.19).