A person who accepts these thoughts is deprived of any reward from God"[111]. My neighbor's child was born underdeveloped. She has not been able to find a place for herself for many years because of this - how can she be comforted? "Parents who have underdeveloped children should not be upset about this, because they are saved. It is even necessary to rejoice, for they go to paradise without much difficulty.

What else do parents want for a child when paradise is provided for them? If they consider this matter in this way, spiritually, then they themselves will benefit and will have a spiritual reward" (Elder Paisius of Athos) [112]. It is said that it is good to anoint sick members of the body with holy oil from lamps, but is it permissible to anoint diseased reproductive organs or other unseemly places, is this not blasphemy?

It is very good to use various holy things. God created man, and there is nothing impure in him; therefore it is permissible to anoint all places when they are sick. How can I bring the labors of repentance if I am weak and cannot bear the feats? If anyone is weak in body, but has committed many sins, let him walk the path of humility.

Is it possible to drink your own urine for treatment (the so-called "urine therapy")? This must be avoided. You need to be treated with a shrine, not with urine. I ask for prayers to "remove ailments." In order to be healed of an illness, it is necessary that the Sacrament of Unction be performed on you, in other words, Extreme Unction.

The priest in special prayers asks that not only the body, but also the soul be healed, since the cause of many diseases of the body is the diseases of the soul – sins. In addition, the Holy Fathers advise, before going to a doctor, to repent of sins, i.e. to confess and receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Prayers for health, performed on your order in the church, are also very helpful.

It helps some a lot when they ask to pray for them in monasteries, ordering commemorations for health for a long time: for a month, for six months or for a year. But if all the methods you have taken do not help, then the illness should be treated as a cleansing remedy for sins, as the Cross[113]. What to do in a hopeless situation?

First, stand up for prayer and ask the Lord to show you the way out. Secondly, to read the Holy Scriptures and the books of the Holy Fathers – they very often indicate ways out of various dead ends. And thirdly, go to confession and ask the priest for advice, having previously prayed that the Lord would reveal to him the will of God regarding you.

I am often sick and cannot attend church as often as I would like. Can reading prayers at home replace a church service? And in church you usually confess and receive absolution of sins and commune of the Holy Gifts. What should I do if I can't go to church for health reasons? There is no substitute for church prayer.

Try to call a priest at home at least once a year for confession and Communion. Are there any benefits from diseases? Sorrow, distress, illness, and labors bring us closer to God, if we endure them wisely. Do not murmur against them, and do not be afraid of them. Why is a person allowed to have sorrows, insults, and illnesses in life? The All-Good Lord allows a person in this life various insults and constraints, illnesses, and so on; all this in order to cleanse his soul of sins and instill him in eternal life.

Should surgery be performed for incurable diseases? "It is necessary to know that there are diseases in which the will of God can be clearly discerned. We mean incurable diseases, for example, liver cancer, etc. The question is: is it possible to decide on the proposed operations in such diseases? I don't think you should. It would be better for a believing Christian in such cases to reconcile himself to illnesses and look upon them as a cleansing test sent by the Lord God" (Archbishop Arseny Zhadanovsky)[114].

How should we relate to the alms given to us? Let us accept alms with fear, because at the Last Judgment we will give an account for the good we have received, which has remained without retribution on our part. Let us pray for the benefactors, so that the beneficence received from them would not be made a sin for us. Elder Leonid, for example, liked to pay for any service either with a mutual favor or with a gift. What should the patient do?

St. Theodore the Studite said: "Do not make illness a reason for idleness"[115]. It is good for a sick person to read (or listen) to the Divine books, so as not to be occupied with empty thoughts. Teach me how to endure resentment? When you are offended, remember how the Savior was offended and even tortured to death, and, hanging on the cross, He said: "Father, forgive me! Forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

To endure offenses is a higher virtue than to be righteous. To remember an offense means to be defeated by evil. For example, St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, when he heard that the abbot spoke ill of him, said to his cell-attendant: "Take sugar, bring him either grape wine, or something else; maybe he doesn't." How to look at treatment?

It is possible to be treated, but in such a way that in this case there would be no damage to faith in the Lord, there would be no addiction to treatment. How to treat those who have offended? Do not forget to send gifts to those who have offended you and pray: "Save the Lord and have mercy on me, and through their holy prayers grant me humility and patience." How often should patients be visited?