Probably, like many of you, I grew up in a family of non-believers at that time, it was still Soviet times, and we had not heard anything about God. I grew up in an environment where people did not go to church, did not celebrate Easter, and had nowhere to read the Gospels or the Bible. I met faith through an amazing and special experience of my life. When I was fourteen years old, I had two twin brothers. All the months of waiting, I really did not want this. Well, what is it really: I was no longer the center of attention, and all the attention of my parents, all the love, care and my time, priceless, personal, will have to be devoted to some two lumps? I grieved very much, but when they were born, when it turned out that I had to go to the dairy kitchen, wash diapers, walk – in general, that you can't live as if they didn't exist, then suddenly my heart felt: I love them. Although at first glance it seemed stupid, unreasonable - they interfered with a quiet life. And the question arose: either there is some justification for this love, or to live really, as I read in one of Stendhal's books at the time: "Everyone for himself in this desert of life called egoism." And it turned out that there is no other excuse than to look beyond this life – into eternal life, in fact. Well, there began the path to God and the church.

32. What is a temple?

The church is the house of God, the house of prayer, and not a club of interests. And we must always remember that the church is not ours, but God's. Of course, in a sense, we are the owners there, if we often go there or serve, we seem to be at home, but we are also guests, because the true owner of this house is the Lord Himself.

33. Which church was the first?

The very first church was the Upper Room, in which the apostles gathered, where the Holy Spirit descended on them. This day, when the Holy Spirit descended upon them in the form of tongues of fire, and they spoke in different tongues and went out to preach, is the birthday of the Church. And the Upper Room in Jerusalem is the very first New Testament church.

34. Is your church beautiful?

Very much. Each temple is beautiful. And what a joy it is to see what was recently dirty, ruined, cluttered, like an icon, scratched and dirty, gradually, piece by piece, begins to shine sky-blue, golden, red, and also in our church such pieces are already visible, and those who pray here are very happy about it and appreciate this beauty.

35. Why do we go to church?

Would you tell me why you believe, if you ask such questions wisely? Presumably, we go to church not to chat with a friend or girlfriend about our school news, not so that the priest, seeing you, praises: "Ah, Vasya, well done, diligent, diligent man of prayer!" – or the grandmother, standing in front of the candlestick, put us to it and made us a colleague in this very responsible matter – watching the burning candles, and we go to church to Christ. we walk, as the apostles could not help but follow Christ, although it was much harder for them than for us: they had to give up a lot, give up a lot, no, they could not live without Christ. In the same way, we cannot live without Christ.

36. Is it possible to force a person to go to the temple?

There is a proverb: a slave is not a worshiper. A church proverb! This means that you cannot force your soul into anyone, and you cannot force anyone to be a believer. So what can we do? Not to drag our sisters, brothers, class friends, who are not yet believers, but to live in such a way that they, looking at us, would want to understand what we have in our souls and in our lives, what they do not have and why their lives are more empty, and they themselves would follow us to the church of God. Only then will their faith be the true Orthodox faith.

37. If your parents are non-believers, and you are a believer, and they do not allow you to go to church, what should you do?

We must remember that obedience to people, especially parents, extends very far, but no further than to our Heavenly Father. We must also remember the rule that if we live with our fellow non-believers, then we must be firm in our confession of faith, but extremely gentle in our treatment of them. If, for example, instead of going to church on Sunday, you are told to wash the dishes, peel the potatoes, or do some other work, then get up two or three hours earlier, wash the dishes, peel the potatoes, take out the trash can, and then go to church.

38. Can I be considered Orthodox if I believe in God, but cannot go to church?