And a person who strives for it receives eternal joy. This is the goal of the Christian life, this is salvation. It is not that a person will perform namaz like a Muslim and he will have one hundred and twenty-four concubines every day and three million money. And joy - from the mere sight of three million. This is not the salvation, you will agree.

Of course, salvation lies in living the life of God Himself, finding the source of joy in Him. For example, a person who prays, he already feels a participation in this peace. Why did the martyrs rejoice under torture? Not because they were fanatics, but because they rejoiced in the fact that the power of God was at work in them, which turned these tortures into nothing. Some did not even feel torture, can you imagine!

The life of God overwhelmed them so much that they became sources of grace. To this day, miracles are performed at their relics. People touch the relics of the saint and are healed of a serious illness. And the bodies of the saints themselves are not subject to decay for centuries, millennia. Why? Because the life of God overflowed even their bodies, not to mention their souls. This is precisely our hope, life in God Himself, in His source of strength. He is always a source of strength.

"For an ordinary person, this is unattainable. — It is achievable. It is attainable to all the baptized. It is unattainable for the unbaptized. "How so?" — Everyone can achieve it, if they want to. Through Communion, the main path is through Communion, a person who does not partake of the Body and Blood will never achieve this. "And all these miracles and healings, you can't check them, can you?" "How is that?"

Please, they are still happening, take it, check, the accounting is going on all the time. — And how to check whether a person really recovered, whether he was sick or is it a deception? — Well, there are certificates, examinations. I personally examined. There was a case, I saw a case before my eyes – the healing of an HIV-infected person. HIV, AIDS – acquired immunodeficiency syndrome – is an incurable disease.

I saw the certificates with my own eyes, the presence of the virus in the blood, there was undoubtedly a detailed examination later, and in several hospitals, independently of each other, and the fact of the absence of AIDS after communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. The girl Katya, a good friend of mine, confessed throughout her life: she was a drug addict and fell ill with AIDS. She repented of her deeds, communed of Christ's Holy Mysteries, and AIDS disappeared. "That is, she went to church?"

"She didn't just go, she changed her whole life, stopped being a drug addict, took communion. And I saw healing with my own eyes. And there are actually hundreds, hundreds, if not thousands of such examples in Moscow alone. In fact, the Orthodox Church has not lost the power of miracles to this day. But what is important for us? For us, it is not the miracle in itself that is important. Of course, a miracle is good. But communication with God is important for us.

A man can be healed, remember, like a leper, and healed, go and forget to give thanks. For God, the heart is more important. Although the Lord still gives many miracles. By the way, many people are regularly brought to this church with myrrh-streaming icons. "How do you mean myrrh-streaming?" "Look at the photos. You can see how fragrant oil begins to be released from the icon. "What kind of butter?" "Fragrant, yes.

Moreover, you can examine everything there, see - there are no holes, there is nothing. I once saw how in front of one icon of the Tsar-Martyr there was such a vapor, the myrrh stood out before my eyes. And in another case, a man told me, he also saw with his own eyes how four drops flowed down from the four ends of the icon. — Do you have such an icon in your church? "She is brought to us.

"And not now?" — At the moment, there is none. It is brought very often. "And you had myrrh streaming?" — Yes, and so much flowed down that whole vases were filled. People were healed from this world. Let us now come to the very heart of the mystery of Christianity. The most important faith of Christians, the very heart, is faith in the trinity of God.

We believe that God is not just a Person, but a Superperson, because these are three Persons Who are One God – the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery of mysteries, the most important of all in Christianity. In the name of the Trinity we are baptized, in the name of the Trinity we receive adoption, in the name of the Trinity we receive forgiveness of sins. Why do we believe in the Trinity? Because God has revealed it.

We know that disbelief in the Trinity implies disbelief in love. For example, Muslims do not believe that God is a Trinity. And they don't believe that God is love. And we believe that God is love and therefore a Trinity. Whom did God love before the creation of the world? God loved His Son and the Holy Spirit. And if He is alone, alone? Is he the Great Egoist? But this is not true, we know that God is always faithful and loving, He is Love, precisely because He is the Trinity.

There are various attempts to logically substantiate the trinity. We can compare the Trinity with the solar disk, coming from it with a ray and heat. The solar disc is a symbol of the Father, the ray is a symbol of the Son, and the heat is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Although they differ from each other, they constitute a single something. But this is only an image. Or, for example, a river is a source, a channel and an estuary are three components of one whole, although they differ from each other, the essence is the same.

But these are all images that are supposed to illustrate the mystery. The mystery will remain a secret. We cannot say why God is a Trinity. Trinity exists without any "whys." It should not be thought that if you prove it, then God is a Trinity, and if you do not prove it, then He is not a Trinity. He is Triune in Himself, whether we like it or not. Many people say: well, why are you scaring me with your Judgment of God, I still don't believe in God.