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?

It should be remembered that too frequent and long visits can be burdensome, tiring for patients. How can you console those who have been robbed or who have lost money themselves? Patiently enduring the loss of treasures is tantamount to voluntary almsgiving. How to behave when you are in a bad mood?

It is better not to show gloomy moods to others as much as possible. How to drive away the enemy's fear and anguish? In order to drive away the enemy's fear and anguish, it is salutary to read aloud the Psalms of David, for they drive away demons. Even more salvific from the misfortune of demons is the reading of the Holy Gospel. Is it permissible to visit the sick who do not believe in God?

Anyone can visit the sick, even non-believers, as long as there is no harm to the soul; otherwise, in case of harm, do not walk. Tell me, what is allowed for the sake of need? St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says that if a hungry man happened to eat the meat of a dead horse out of necessity, then he would not have sinned. If necessary, the Church allows: priests to celebrate the Liturgy at home (or in the forest) with or without an antimension (

on a martyr's icon, of course, need is persecution), to perform a funeral service in absentia when necessary, to commune vomiting patients with a small particle-grain (St. John of Kronstadt says that even in the smallest particle is the whole of Christ[116]). For the laity, to baptize (for the sake of mortal danger), to relax the fast for pregnant women, breastfeeding women and those who are at hard work, to make general confession, for the infirm, sick and old to replace the vow given to God through a spiritual father with another vow, etc.

Is it possible to take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of troubles when there is a way to get rid of them? St. Theophan the Recluse answered: "Straitness is from God... We tolerate and thank. But if there are ways at hand to get away from them, and this is from God, and there is no sin in using them and freeing oneself from the straits."

How can the authorities and superiors be from God, when we see that bad leaders are more than common? "The establishment of power is the work of God, and the fact that vicious people are admitted to it and are not used as they should depends on the depravity of people" (St. John Chrysostom) [118].

Is it possible to avenge an offense against a non-Christian Jew? I do not advise you to take revenge. Although the Jew is not a Christian, he is still our neighbor; perhaps he will be changed in the same way as Saul, who, having accepted Christianity, became Paul. We must leave vengeance to the Lord God for the offenses that our neighbors inflict on us; He recompenses everyone according to his deeds, and our business is to forgive the offender.