What does it mean to receive a blessing from a father. Orthodox faith - the blessing of the priest

Why do they take reverence from the priest and kiss his hand?

When a believer comes to a priest to take a blessing, the Lord first of all blesses the priest, and the priest already blesses the child of God. That is, the priest is the conductor of the grace of God. Therefore, they kiss, kiss, not to the hand of the priest, but to the Hand of the Lord. Let's say we want to get God's blessing and how do we know if He has blessed or not? The Lord left a priest on earth, gave him special authority, and the grace of God descends on the believers through the priest.

How to take a blessing? I took a blessing from the priest to get a job, but nothing happens. I'm confused about these blessings... How far does the blessing work?

How to take a blessing? When we get a job, first we need to find it. Or if we want to get married, we find a groom, come to the priest and say: "Father, I want to get married." Or: "I want to get a job. Bless?"

The priest must find out whether this work will be harmful. Maybe a person will have abortions or cook women for fornication in a hairdresser? There are many ungodly works. And who wants to get married, you need to find out what kind of groom, whether he is an atheist, or a different faith. If the priest understands that the work is good, the groom is respectable, he will approve the choice, say: "God bless."

And if there is no groom, no work, but they ask: “Father, bless you to arrange your life,” these are empty words, there is nothing definite in them.

Does the blessing reach far? When a man gets behind the wheel and goes to some city, he overshadows the road with the words: "In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." How far is this blessing effective? If I go from Ivanovo to Moscow and bless the road, then this blessing is valid until the end of my journey, i.e. to Moscow. But, of course, during the journey it is necessary to read the Jesus Prayer, and if there are believing passengers, let them read the canons, akathists, "Virgin Mother of God, rejoice." Even if something happens on the road, the main thing is to be in prayer, because the Lord said: "In what I find, in that I will judge."

Who blesses on the path of eldership, confessorship, or does the formation occur naturally?

The Lord Himself blesses. There are many monks who confess, but they do not have such talents. There is no diligence to confess people like that, to accept, to instruct, even if they know the holy fathers well. They can know a lot, but there is no return.

What is the correct attitude to the blessing given by the elder? Is it obligatory to fulfill it when circumstances change, or should it be said that it removes the blessing?

If the priest gave penance for sins, then the blessing must be fulfilled. For example, do fifty prostrations every day for a whole month. And the blessing must be fulfilled exactly: not fifty-one and not forty-nine, but exactly fifty prostrations. And then come to the priest and say: "You gave me penance. I fulfilled it."

It is the same when the priest gave a blessing for something. For example:

Father, bless me, I want to change my apartment.

Father says:

God bless.

And suddenly something didn't work. You must then come and inform him of this or say:

Father, I changed my mind about changing the apartment. Remove God's blessing from me.

This is how it should be. Blessings are to be treasured. You know, some people get so used to the blessing that they keep it for some simple business. They approach the priest, but in their head it’s completely different: not to take a blessing, but just like that, for decency:

Batiushka, bless... Listen, Ivan, unload the car with coal there! Father, bless, bless me...

And the priest is waiting for the person to reorganize, figure out what's what. Of course, you can't behave like that. When we come to the priest to take a blessing, we must set ourselves up like this: "Now the Lord, through the priest, will bless me in a visible way." At this time, the Lord sends His mercy and grace and will keep us.

We took a blessing from the priest, from the bishop, we kiss the hand not of the priest, but kiss the hand of the Lord Himself. Through the hand of the priest, the Lord sent us His blessing. And if we are used to taking a blessing for decency, and at that time all sorts of sales, cars, rags, money, household chores are in our heads, then with such an attitude we will not receive grace. It is not allowed to take a blessing with such an attitude.

Nearby are two priests, one rank higher. From whom to take a blessing?

If you want to take a blessing and see that there are several priests, you should first take a blessing from the priest who is higher in rank. If a hieromonk and a bishop are nearby, then the blessing is taken only from the bishop. The bishop is given a great fullness of grace, the hieromonk does not have this fullness. Episcopal grace is equated with apostolic grace, he has the right to perform all the sacraments, and the hieromonk everything except ordination. If a priest and an archpriest are standing nearby, then the blessing should first be taken from the archpriest. If the hieromonk and abbot, then first with the abbot.

(21 votes : 4.67 out of 5 )

priest Andrey Dudchenko

Piety is, as it were, a vertical, directed from earth to heaven (man-God), church etiquette is a horizontal (man-man). At the same time, one cannot ascend to heaven without loving a person, and one cannot love a person without loving God: If we love each other, then God abides in us (), and whoever does not love his brother, whom he sees, how can he love God, Whom he does not sees? ().

Thus, all the rules of church etiquette are determined by spiritual foundations, which should regulate relations between believers who aspire to God.

There is an opinion that there is no need to "manipulate", since God looks at the heart. The latter, of course, is true, but virtue itself offends if it is combined with repulsive manners. Of course, terrifying intentions can be hidden behind a brilliant manner, which is associated with the iconic nature of our behavior, when, say, a gesture can reveal our true state or desire, but it can also hide. So, Pontius Pilate in one modern novel, washing his hands at the trial of Christ, gives the following interpretation to his gesture: “Let the gesture be elegant and the symbol impeccable, if the deed is dishonorable.” Similar abilities of people with the help of ambiguity of gesture, good manners hiding a bad heart cannot serve as an excuse in the absence of the church's "good form." “Bad tone” in the temple can become a stumbling block for a person with few churches on his path to God. Let us remember the lamentations and complaints of new converts who come to churches and meet there sometimes simply a barbaric attitude towards themselves on the part of those who consider themselves to be churchmen. How much rudeness, primitive mentoring, hostility and unforgiveness can be found in other communities! How many people - especially from among the youth and the intelligentsia - have lost parishes because of this! And someday they, these departed people, will come back to the temple? And what answer will be given by those who served as such a temptation on the way to the temple?!

A God-fearing and churchly educated person, if he sees anything indecent in the behavior of another, only corrects his brother or sister with love and respect.

Indicative in this respect is a case from the life of the saint:

“This elder retained one habit from his worldly life, namely, sometimes, sitting down, he crossed his legs, which might not seem quite decent. Some of the brethren saw this, but none of them dared to rebuke him, because everyone respected him greatly. But only one elder, Abba Pimen, said to the brethren:

“Go to Abba Arseny, and I will sit down with him the way he sometimes sits down; then you will remark to me that I do not sit well. I will ask your forgiveness; At the same time, we will correct the elder.”

They went and did so. The Monk Arseny, realizing that it was so indecent for a monk to sit, left his habit ”(Lives of the Saints. Month of May. Eighth Day).

Politeness, as a component of etiquette, in a spiritual person can become a means to attract the grace of God. Usually, politeness is understood not only as the art of showing external signs that inner respect that we have for a person, but also the art of being friendly with people to whom we have no affection. What is hypocrisy, hypocrisy? For a spiritual person who knows the secret dialectic of external and internal, politeness can become a means on the path to the acquisition and development of humility.

The expression of one ascetic is known: do the external, and for the external the Lord will give the internal, for the external belongs to man, and the internal belongs to God. When external signs virtue itself virtue gradually grows in us. Here is how the bishop wisely wrote about this: 1 “He who warns the greetings of others with his greetings, expresses helpfulness and respect for everyone, prefers everyone everywhere to himself, silently endures various griefs and exerts himself in every possible way mentally and practically and in self-abasement for the sake of Christ, at first he experiences a lot difficult and difficult minutes for personal pride.

But for the meek and patient fulfillment of the commandment of God about humility, the grace of the Holy Spirit is poured on him from above, softening his heart for sincere love to God and to people, and his bitter experiences are replaced by sweet ones.

Thus, acts of love without corresponding feelings of love are eventually rewarded by an outpouring of heavenly love in the heart. The resigned begins to feel in the surrounding faces of relatives in Christ and disposes towards them with benevolence.

The order of eating at the parish often copies the monastic one: if this is an everyday table, then the prepared reader, standing behind the lectern, after the blessing of the priest, for the edification of those gathered, loudly reads the life or instruction, which is listened to with attention. If this is a festive meal, where birthday people are congratulated, then spiritual wishes, toasts are sounded; Those who wish to pronounce them would do well to think in advance what to say.

At the table, they observe the measure in everything: in eating and drinking, in conversations, jokes, and the duration of the feast. If gifts are presented to the birthday man, then these are most often icons, a book, church utensils, sweets, flowers. The hero of the occasion at the end of the feast thanks all those gathered, who then sing to him “Many Years”. Praising and thanking (among believers it is customary to pronounce the full, not truncated thanksgiving formula: not “thank you”, but “God save” or “God save you, Lord”) the organizers of the dinner, all those who have worked in the kitchen, also observe the measure, for “ The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but joy in the Holy Spirit.”

On the behavior of parishioners bearing church obedience.

The behavior of parishioners who carry out church obedience (trade in candles, icons, cleaning the temple, guarding the territory, singing on the kliros, serving in the altar) is a special topic. We know what importance is attached to obedience in the Church. Doing everything in the Name of God, overcoming your old self, is a very difficult task. It is further complicated by the fact that “getting used to the shrine” quickly appears, a feeling of a master (hostess) in the church, when the parish begins to seem like its own patrimony, and hence the disregard for all “outside”, “coming”. Meanwhile, the holy fathers nowhere say that obedience is higher than love. And if God is Love, how can one become like Him without showing love oneself?

Brothers and sisters who carry out obedience in churches should be an example of meekness, humility, gentleness, and patience. And the most elementary: culture: for example, to be able to respond to phone calls. Anyone who has had to call churches knows what level of culture they are talking about - sometimes you don’t feel like calling anymore.

On the other hand, people going to church need to know that the Church is a special world with its own rules. Therefore, one cannot go to the temple defiantly dressed: women should not be in trousers, short skirts, without a headdress, with lipstick on their lips; men should not come in shorts, T-shirts, they should not smell of tobacco. These are questions not only of piety, but also of etiquette, because a violation of the norms of behavior can cause a fair negative reaction (even if only in the soul) from others.

To all those who for some reason had unpleasant moments of fellowship at the parish - advice, you have come to God, bring your heart to Him, and overcome the temptation with prayer and love.

In the monastery

The love of the Orthodox people for monasteries is known. They are now in Russian Orthodox Church about 500. And in each of them, in addition to the inhabitants, there are laborers, pilgrims who come to strengthen their faith, piety, to work for the glory of God on the restoration or improvement of the monastery.

There is stricter discipline in the monastery than in the parish. And although the mistakes of newcomers are usually forgiven, covered with love, it is advisable to go to the monastery, already knowing the rudiments of the monastic rules.

Spiritual and administrative structure of the monastery.

The monastery is headed by the holy archimandrite - the ruling bishop or (if the monastery is stavropegic) the Patriarch himself.

However, the abbot directly manages the monastery (it can be an archimandrite, abbot, hieromonk). In ancient times, he was called a builder, or abbot. The convent is managed by the abbess.

In view of the need for a well-organized monastic life (and monasticism is a spiritual path, so verified and polished by centuries of practice that it can be called academic), in the monastery everyone has a certain obedience.

The first assistant and deputy governor is the dean. He is in charge of all worship, the fulfillment of statutory requirements. It is to him that they are usually sent on the issue of accommodation for pilgrims coming to the monastery.

An important place in the monastery belongs to the confessor, who spiritually nourishes the brethren. Moreover, this does not have to be an old man (both in terms of age and in terms of spiritual gifts).

From the experienced brethren, the following are selected: treasurer (responsible for the storage and distribution of donations with the blessing of the governor), sacristan (responsible for the splendor of the temple, vestments, utensils, storage of liturgical books), housekeeper (responsible for the economic life of the monastery, in charge of the obediences of the laborers who came to the monastery), cellar (responsible for the storage and preparation of products), hotel (responsible for the accommodation and accommodation of the guests of the monastery) and others.

In women's monasteries, these obediences are carried out by the nuns of the monastery, with the exception of the confessor, who is appointed by the bishop from among experienced and usually elderly monks.

Appeal to monks.

In order to correctly address the monk (nuns) of the monastery, you need to know that in the cloisters there are novices (novices), cassock monks (nuns), mantle monks (nuns), schemamonks (schemanuns). IN monastery some of the monks have a holy order (they serve as deacons, priests).

Conversion in the monasteries is as follows.

In the men's monastery.

You can contact the governor with an indication of his position ("Father Viceroy, bless") or with the name (“Father Nikon, bless”), possible and easy "father"(rarely used). In a formal setting: "Your Reverence"(if the viceroy is an archimandrite or abbot) or "Your Reverence"(if hieromonk). In the third person they say: "father governor", "father Gabriel". They turn to the dean: with an indication of the position ("father dean"), with added name ("father Pavel"), "father". In the third person: "father dean" ("refer to the father dean") or "father ... (name)". The confessor is addressed with the use of the name (“Father John”) or simply “father”. In the third person: “what will the confessor advise”, “what will Father John say”.

If the steward, sacristan, treasurer, cellar have a priestly rank, they can be contacted "father" and ask for blessings. If they are not ordained, but have tonsured, they say, "father housekeeper", "father treasurer".

Hieromonk, hegumen, archimandrite can be said: "father…(name)", "father".

A monk who is tonsured is addressed: "father", to the novice "brother"(if the novice in old age is "father"). In an appeal to schemniks, if san is used, the prefix "shee" is added - for example: "I ask for your prayers, Father Schema-Archimandrite."

In the convent.

The abbess, unlike the nuns, wears a golden pectoral cross and has the right to bless. Therefore, they ask her blessings, addressing in this way: "mother abbess"; or with the name: "Mother Varvara", "Mother Nicholas" or simply " mother". (IN convent the word "mother" refers only to the abbess. So if they say “So mother thinks,” they mean abbess.)

In an address to the nuns they say: "Mother Eulampius", "Mother Seraphim", but in specific situation you can just "mother". The novices are addressed: "sister"(in case of advanced age of the novice, it is possible to apply "mother"). The practice of some parishes, where parishioners working in the kitchen, in a sewing workshop, etc., are called mothers, does not find spiritual justification. In the world, it is customary to call only the wife of a priest (father) a mother.

About monastic rules.

The monastery is a special world. And it takes time to learn the rules of the monastic community.

Since this material is intended for the laity, we will only point out the most necessary things that must be observed in the monastery during the pilgrimage.

• When you come to a monastery as a pilgrim or worker, remember that in a monastery everyone asks for a blessing and strictly fulfills it.
• It is impossible to leave the monastery without a blessing.
• They leave all their sinful habits and addictions (wine, tobacco, foul language, etc.) outside the monastery.
• conversations lead only about the spiritual, they do not remember about worldly life, they do not teach each other, but they know only two words - “forgive” and “bless”.
• Without grumbling, they are content with food, clothing, sleeping conditions, they eat food only at a common meal.
• They do not go to other people's cells, except when they are sent by the rector. At the entrance to the cell, they say a prayer aloud: “Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, have mercy on us” (in a convent: “Through the prayers of our holy mothers ...”). They do not enter the cell until they hear from behind the door: "Amen."
• Avoid free treatment, laughter, jokes.
• When working on obediences, they try to spare the weak who works nearby, covering up the errors in his work with love. At a mutual meeting, they greet each other with bows and the words: “Save yourself, brother (sister)”; and the other replies to this: "Save, Lord." Unlike the world, they don't take each other's hand.
• Sitting at the table in the refectory, observe the order of precedence. The prayer that the person who serves food is answered with “Amen”, they are silent at the table and listen to the reading.
• They are not late for worship, except when busy in obedience.
• Insults encountered in general obediences are endured humbly, thereby gaining experience in the spiritual life and love for the brethren.

How to Behave at a Bishop's Reception

A bishop is an angel of the Church; without a bishop, the Church loses its fullness and very essence. Therefore, a church person always treats bishops with special reverence.

Turning to the bishop, he is called "Vladyko" ("Lord, bless")."Lord" is vocative Church Slavonic, in nominative case- Lord; for example: "Vladyka Bartholomew has blessed you..."

Eastern (coming from Byzantium) solemnity and verbosity in addressing the bishop at first even confuses the heart of a person with little church, who can see here (in fact, non-existent) belittling of his own human dignity.

In official address, other expressions are used.

Addressing the Bishop: Your Eminence; Most Reverend Master. In the third person: “His Eminence ordained a deacon…”.

Addressing the Archbishop and Metropolitan: Your Eminence; Most Reverend Vladyko. If you want to start a conversation with an unfamiliar bishop and you don’t know what hierarchical level he is at, pay attention to the headdress of the bishop: in the modern Russian Orthodox Church, the archbishop, unlike the bishop, wears a small four-pointed a cross made of transparent faceted stones; in addition, the metropolitan, unlike the bishop and archbishop, has a klobuk white color. In general distinguishing feature bishop - wearing them over sacred garments round panagia depicting the Savior or Mother of God. IN third person: “With the blessing of His Eminence, we inform you…”.

Addressing the Patriarch: Your Holiness; Holy Lord. In the third person: “His Holiness visited… the diocese.”

They take a blessing from the bishop in the same way as from a priest: the palms are folded crosswise one on top of the other (right above) and approach the bishop for blessing.

A telephone conversation with a bishop begins with the words: "Bless, Master" or "Bless, Your Eminence (High Eminence)".

You can start your letter with: "Lord bless" or "Your Eminence (High Eminence), bless."

When formally writing to a bishop, the following form is followed.

In the upper right corner of the sheet they write, observing the line:

His Eminence

His Eminence(name),

Bishop(name of the diocese)

Petition.

When referring to Archbishop or Metropolitan:

His Eminence

His Eminence(name),

archbishop(Metropolitan)

(name of the diocese)

Petition.

When addressing the Patriarch:

His Holiness

His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All

Russ Alexy

Petition.

They usually end a petition or a letter with the following words: “I ask for the prayers of Your Eminence…”.

Priests who are, in fact, in church obedience, write: "Humble novice of Your Eminence ...".

At the bottom of the sheet they put the date according to the old and new styles, indicating the saint whose memory the Church honors on this day. For example: July 5/18, 1999 A.D. (Christmas). Rev. Sergius of Radonezh.

Arriving at an appointment with the bishop at the diocesan administration, they approach the secretary or head of the chancellery, introduce themselves and tell them why they are asking for an appointment.

Entering the bishop's office, they say a prayer. "Through the prayers of our holy Master, Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, have mercy on us" they are baptized on the icons in the red corner, approach the bishop and ask for his blessing. At the same time, it is not necessary from excessive reverence or fear to kneel or prostrate (unless, of course, you came with a confession of some kind of sin).

There are usually many priests in the diocesan administration, but it is not necessary to take a blessing from each of them. In addition, there is a clear rule: in the presence of a bishop, they do not take blessings from the priests, but only greet them with a slight tilt of the head.

If the bishop leaves the office for the reception room, they approach him for blessing according to their rank: first the priests (by seniority), then the laity (men, then women).

The conversation of the bishop is not interrupted by anyone with a request for a blessing, but they wait until the end of the conversation. They think over their appeal to the bishop in advance and state it briefly, without unnecessary gestures and facial expressions.

At the end of the conversation, they again ask the blessing of the bishop and, having crossed themselves on the icons in the red corner, sedately retire.

In the days of sorrow

Finally, a few remarks about the time when all festivals are abandoned. This is the time of mourning, that is, the outward expression of a feeling of sadness for the deceased.

Distinguish between deep mourning and ordinary mourning.

Deep mourning is worn only for the father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, husband, wife, brother, sister. Mourning for the father and mother lasts one year. For grandparents - six months. For the husband - two years, for the wife - one year. For children - one year. For brother and sister - four months. Uncle, aunt and cousin - three months. If a widow, contrary to decency, enters into a new marriage before the end of mourning for her first husband, then she should not invite any of the guests to the wedding. These periods can be shortened or extended if before death those remaining in this earthly vale received a special blessing from the dying person, for the dying goodwill, blessing (especially parental) are treated with reverence and reverence.

Generally in Orthodox families without the blessing of parents or elders do not make any important decisions. Children with early years they even get used to asking for the blessings of their father and mother for everyday affairs: “Mommy, I’m going to bed, bless me.” And the mother, having crossed the child, says: "Guardian angel for you to sleep." The child goes to school, on a hike, to the village (to the city) - on all paths he is kept by the parental blessing.

If possible, parents add to their blessing (during the marriage of children or before their death) visible signs, gifts, blessings: crosses, icons, holy relics, the Bible, which, constituting a home shrine, are passed from generation to generation.

The bottomless sea of ​​church life is inexhaustible. It is clear that in this small book only some of the outlines of church etiquette are given.

Hegumen Aristarkh (Lohapov)

Orthodox view of church blessing

Every Christian asks for a blessing from a priest or bishop on important events In my life. Also, believers ask for blessings when meeting with a clergyman. In addition, blessing in one form or another is present in church service. Now, unfortunately, in the minds of many believers there is a misunderstanding of a blessing as a permission or even a command to perform any action...

Most priests today, when asking for a blessing, will overshadow a person with the sign of the cross and, most likely, will not utter any words at the same time or say something like: "God bless." Although it would be necessary to say: "God is blessed" or something like that. Among the Greeks, the priest, when blessing, says: “O Kyrios”, i.e. "Lord." This is an abbreviated version of the answer: "The Lord is blessed."

In order to see how blessing is understood in Church Tradition, which is expressed, among other things, in liturgical tradition, let us turn to our Divine Liturgy.

At the end of Vespers and Matins, the choir sings, addressing the primate: "Bless." Following this, the serving priest utters an exclamation: “Blessed is Christ our God ...” (by the way, here the priest calls God the sacred Old Testament name “Yahweh” - “Sy” - “Being”. The same name is written on the icons of Christ).

The teacher of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute M. Zheltov says about this (below I quote a summary of his lectures from the Internet): “You see how great boldness is in the Christian religion: in Old Testament the high priest only uttered this word once a year, and in the New Testament, each priest at the end of the service pronounces this proclamation: "Be blessed! .." In our country, the word "bless" is often associated with a request to the priest: "Father, bless!" And the father blesses.

In fact, if we look at patristic interpretations and the Bible itself, then the main meaning of the word "bless" is "to bless God." And the choir sings: “Bless!”, And the priest says: “Blessed be the Lord,” he blesses the Lord. And this is observed here ancient tradition: do not bless us, the choir sings here, but “bless” means “God”.

And the priest blesses: “Blessed is Christ our God,” thereby confessing Christ as God. Blessing in the biblical sense of the word is the blessing of God. This understanding persisted for quite some time. Let us recall an example from the life of St. Mary of Egypt. When Zosima meets her, they argue for a long time about who should bless whom. Finally, the Monk Mary yields and says: "God bless," i.e. blesses God.

Blessing God, a person enters into a special spiritual relationship with Him, and this blessing passes to him. This is the biblical model. Following the blessing of God, God Himself blesses the person.

When a priest or bishop is asked to bless someone, it is most often understood as follows: the priest blesses the person, which means that God blesses him too. In fact, God blesses a person through the fact that a person himself first blesses God. This is the model used in the Bible.

Thus, when a priest is asked for a blessing, he must, overshadowing the one who asks with the sign of the cross, bless GOD, and the Lord Himself will give a blessing to the one who asks him. Or he won't - God is free in His decision. And He has the right not to give blessings to those whom the clergyman blesses.

Now imagine next situation. I asked for a blessing for something and got it. Does this mean that I must certainly do what I have planned? No, it doesn't. I asked God's blessing - which means I asked God to intervene in my situation. And if this deed is for good, God will arrange everything so that the deed is accomplished. If it is not for good, the Lord will somehow point it out to me. In any case, I should not be guided by the principle to do what I have been blessed at all costs.

One day asked a question: “Does blessing have anything to do with prayer? It is quite canonized in the Russian Church: for every deed you must ask for a blessing... What is the connection: what is God's and what is not? There is always this very difficult moment: maybe this is not pleasing to God ... I have such a self that I often just forget about it, I just do it. But this can also be mechanical: he asked for blessings, and went, and you answer, since you blessed. I have experience; I, if I want, will do it anyway, even if it was not allowed, and I paid for it to the extent that I was promised. There is at this moment: inviting trouble on yourself ... "

Vladyka Anthony replied to this: “When we are little children, we ask dad or mom: can I play, can I do this or that? .. When we become a little older, we understand that now we are not up to the game, now we need to do something else, and then we no longer ask: dad, let me, mom, let me, but we know that now is the time, I will do it with God's blessing, if this is not a bad thing in itself. And things happen for the most part average in the sense that it may not be bad, but it may not be particularly good, there is nothing special about it, I can do it.

And if you turn everything into such a situation that you have to ask for blessings about every thing, then, firstly, there is no one, and secondly, it’s even worse when there is someone who has enough wit or intelligence or experience or he will be you stop and say: no, it must certainly be so, and not otherwise. You need to somehow be able to make a choice in an adult way, sometimes thinking, sometimes consulting, and somehow saying inwardly: Lord, bless, I will do it as best I can!”

Then the conversation with Vladyka Anthony continued: “May I amuse you a little? I came to Russia with this blessing, I wanted to buy a car, I came to the priest: I need you to bless me to buy a car ... He says: In general, you know, I’m doing something more spiritual, but about the car I need to consult with who deals with machines, who understands something in them ... Since then, I have divided more or less, but sometimes I get confused.

Thank God, here man of sense turned out! You can always say: Lord, in my mind this is not a bad thing - bless! If it is not according to You, put some kind of barrier so that this does not happen ...

You have to pray and you will feel it!

I think such absolute rules are risky. Now you are in such and such a mood and your soul is open, and you feel: here, yes! .. And at another moment you withered and you do not have such a vivid feeling that God blesses you or not. I think that then you need to think: this is a good thing, right? Or even “average” in the sense that there is nothing particularly good or bad in it, just some everyday business. Pray for him and let God do something that you don't know how to do yourself.

We can’t do everything and we can’t ask for everything: Lord, instruct me! .. - and now God has already put an answer on your soul. Sometimes it happens like this - now I'm not thinking about children, but about adults: a person needs something, and you cannot help him. There is a very remarkable place in one letter where he says: sometimes it happens that a person has a need or pain, he needs something and no one can help him, because God knows that he is not ripe to accept this help. He, perhaps, will accept it - mechanically: “Ah, he has freed himself,” and then he will return to the same problem again, because he has not outlived it in himself. So it is not always possible to solve every problem. This is not a consolation, say, to a priest who does not find any answers to any questions, but it means that sometimes you feel that no, I could formally say something, but this is not the answer to this person and not the answer.

priest Andrey Dudchenko

Search line: blessing for reading prayers

Records found: 35

Hello, father. Please explain why the blessing is taken for reading prayers, akathists (I often meet in your answers), if in fact this is a pious and good deed? Or to hurt yourself? (I read a book about Matushka Selaphiela, which shows the consequences of prayer work). It so happened that I read akathists, but I never took blessings. And then there was a case that during a sermon our father expressed the opinion that when a person takes a blessing on great post, then thereby he shifts the responsibility to the clergyman if he cannot withstand it. This view is controversial. Thanks in advance for your reply.

Natalia

Natalya, if you want to regularly read akathists, you need to consult with the priest with whom you usually confess, and take a blessing, firstly, so as not to do your own will, but to show obedience. Many unwisely begin to read many prayers and akathists, forgetting about the daily morning and evening rule. Secondly, grace is given with a blessing, which will help in a good deed and protect from temptations.

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Hello, father. Please tell me, in order to pray for my daughter from drunkenness, is it necessary to take the priest's blessing to read the akathist "The Inexhaustible Chalice" for 40 days and to order a magpie in the Vysotsky Monastery? The same question arises regarding me regarding smoking. And what do you actually do in such a situation?

Maria

Maria, in order to order a magpie, you do not need to take a blessing. And before reading the akathist, it is better to take a blessing from the priest and ask for his prayers. It is necessary to ask the Lord to strengthen in a good intention and help to cope with a sinful passion.

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Please, please help! My son committed suicide, I want to pray for him, but I don’t know what prayers can be read? What prayers can I help him with?

Elena

Elena, the Church does not pray for suicides, but as a mother, you can ask for a blessing to pray for your son. Contact your nearest temple. There you will be prompted which priest to turn to for such a blessing and the reading of special prayers. In addition, with the blessing of the priest at home, it will be possible to read the prayer of the Monk Leo of Optina: “Seek, Lord, the lost soul of Your servant (name): if it is possible to eat, have mercy. Your fate is unsearchable. your will."

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Maria

Reading the Psalter is mainly a monastic occupation. There is no special charter for reading the psalter. You can read one psalm or one kathisma, reading the initial prayers before it (with the King of Heaven ... according to our Father). It is best to talk on this topic with the priest in the temple, having decided on the quantity and taking the blessing. During class physical labor you can read short prayers that you know by heart: the Jesus Prayer, Virgin Mary, rejoice ... etc.).

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Good afternoon. The servant of God Julia is writing to you. Father, tell me, please, is it possible to read the akathist to Cyprian and Justina without the blessing of the priest? The fact is that my sister got sick, in an instant everything began to hurt. We know that our own grandmother was engaged in witchcraft. After the death of my father, we stopped communicating with her. Please answer, father, is it possible to read an akathist without a blessing? Save you Lord!

Julia

Hello Julia. Akathists were written just for home prayers; there is no need to specially take a blessing for their reading.

Priest Alexander Beloslyudov

Hello, please tell me, is it necessary to have a blessing from the priest in order to read an akathist at home? My mother bought the icon of the Mother of God "Quick Hearing" at the market, the seller said that the icon was consecrated. But I have doubts whether it is possible to consecrate an icon, and how? Wouldn't it be a sin if suddenly the icon was consecrated twice?

Vera

Hello Vera. The blessing of the priest must be taken for the regular reading of the akathist, when you take on a special feat, add the akathist to the prayer rule. And for one-time readings, once a week, for example, blessings can not be asked. The icon can be taken to the temple and asked to consecrate, it will be better. God bless you.

Priest Sergiy Osipov

Father, let me ask you a few questions! 1) If, for example, a feast or a common meal with non-church relatives, is it necessary to pray in front of them, or mentally read a prayer before eating? And how then to cross the food, so as not to embarrass anyone? 2) When reading the prayer rule at home (evening and morning prayers, akathists, etc.) need to be read aloud? Should the head be covered? Do you always need to light a lamp? 3) How many kathismas per day are read about health? 4) My dad is mentally ill, can I read the Psalter about him? 5) How to pray for a person who speaks a lot of foul language?

Katerina

Catherine, you can read a short prayer before eating and cross her. This will not embarrass anyone. 2. When reading the prayer rule at home, a woman's head should be covered. You can read aloud or silently, whichever is more convenient for you. The lighted lamp symbolizes the mercy of God to us and our prayer burning to God, so it is good if you pray with a lighted lamp or candle. 3. Discuss the reading of the Psalter with your confessor. There is no special rule for reading kathismas at home, so it is better to take a blessing from the priest in your church and ask for advice to what extent it will be within your power and benefit. 4. It is possible and necessary to pray for the mentally ill, including reading the Psalter. 5. It is necessary to pray for a foul-mouthed person as for a sick (spiritually) person.

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Save you Lord. Is it necessary to ask for blessings for reading the Theotokos Rule? Is the reading of the Gospel passages, from the Apostles and the teachings of the Holy Fathers about what should be remembered when reading the Canon of the Theotokos after every ten is blessed? Can I consider as a spiritual guide a person who does not know me, but through whose guidance I am trying to come to repentance?

Nicholas

Nicholas! For any rule that you are going to fulfill, you need to seek the advice and blessing of a confessor or priest at confession. If you read your morning and evening prayers, and life circumstances allow you to increase your prayer rule, then the priest will bless you. You need to pray for your mentors, but do not forget that books can only complement, and not replace, personal communication with a priest at confession and discussing your spiritual issues with him.

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Good afternoon! Tell me, please, is it necessary to take a blessing in the temple to read the akathist to Nicholas the Wonderworker at home, or is it not necessary? Thanks.

Svetlana

Svetlana, if you are not going to add this akathist to your daily prayer rule for permanent basis, but you just want to read a few times, then you don’t need to take a blessing from the priest. Read the akathist at home without any embarrassment.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Hello, father, today my grandmother, the servant of God Paraskovya, died, please tell me, how can I help her soul, what prayer can I pray for her to strengthen, save her soul in the next world? Thanks.

Inna

Inna, first of all, you need to order a commemoration in the church at the liturgy. This can be a one-time commemoration, magpie (when they pray for the deceased for forty days) or an annual commemoration. The next funeral service and memorial service is possible after Easter, on Radonitsa. At home, read a prayer for the departed as part of the morning prayers, and if you have the desire and appropriate preparation, you can ask the priest in the temple for a blessing to read the Psalter.

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Hello! Thanks for your help and wise advice. I bought the "Complete Prayer Book and the Psalter", for reading which, as it is written in the introduction, it is necessary to take a blessing from the priest, because "the use of many prayers indicated in the book can instead of benefit bring harm and lead to delusion." Why can reading prayers lead to delusion, and how to distinguish between its "symptoms"? Thanks!

Anna

Anna, it is strange that a blessing is required to read the prayers from this prayer book. And all the more strange is what is written further in the annotation about the harm that these prayers can allegedly bring. I assume that the publishers included in the prayer book those prayers that appear in the Treasury - the book according to which the priest performs the rites. I would not use such a prayer book. And in general, why buy some kind of “complete” prayer books? Do we need to look for our own “special” prayers for every occasion of life? This is paganism! For every sneeze you don’t say hello! Read morning and evening rule, the Psalter and the Gospel, and enough for you as a laywoman. And if you have the strength, add canons - to the Savior, the Mother of God, the Guardian Angel.

hegumen Nikon (Golovko)

Hello, fathers! The question is: is it possible to read the gospel of the sick? Before reading, the following prayer is offered: "Save, Lord, and have mercy on Thy Servant (name) with the words of Thy Holy Gospel and, Lord, the thorns of all his sins have fallen and may Thy grace scorching, cleansing, sanctifying the whole person in the Name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit. Amen." And is it possible to read not about one person, but about many, listing their names? God bless you for the answer!

Victoria

Yes, you can, Victoria, God help you! It is possible about many. Take only a blessing for this work and discuss with the priest whether it will be within your power.

hegumen Nikon (Golovko)

How to read the Psalter correctly? Please tell me is it correct reading Psalms without reading troparia and prayers at the end of each kathisma? I don't read them, but if the reading of the Psalter is not valid without them, then I will try to read them. I took a blessing to read the Psalter, but I can’t ask that priest about it, since he is very far away. Thanks.

Tamara

It is possible without troparia, just kathisma after kathisma, this is also correct. And in general, do not put the question like this: really - invalid. It's strange somehow. Everything we do is real.

hegumen Nikon (Golovko)

Hello. On November 15, my mother died suddenly. After the funeral, she began to read the Psalter to help her soul. Now they tell me that it is impossible to read the Psalter without a blessing. If you really need to take a blessing, then please bless me. I read the Psalter in Russian, and the prayers in Church Slavonic. Is it possible so?

Evgenia

Eugene, do not be embarrassed, as you read the Psalter, read it. It is not necessary to take a blessing to read the psalter for the dead. Take blessings on other occasions. You can read in Russian. Do not forget to go to church and pray there too, confess yourself and take communion. With God.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Hello, father! I got very difficult situation in the family with the payment of loans. I constantly go to church, pray, light candles. I was advised to read a prayer to Spiridon of Trimifutsky and an Akathist, I began to read, they say it helps. Tell me, please, was it necessary to take a blessing from the priest in order to read the akathist? Now it is very difficult and difficult for me. I have no opportunity to go and venerate his relics.

natasha

Natasha, personally, I am generally opposed to loans. I believe that you need to live with what you have, and then there will be no such problems. In life, you always want more, but you need to learn to live within your means, and not in debt. A blessing is not required for reading an akathist, pray that the Lord will help. For the future, I would advise you to refrain from loans.

Hieromonk Viktorin (Aseev)

Hello! After a trip to the icon "Inexhaustible Chalice" in the Serpukhov Monastery, I began to read an akathist to this icon. I learned that it takes 40 days to read. In prayer, I mentioned several names of those suffering from the disease of drunkenness, including the name of my friend's husband. Now he began to drink even more, the situation in the family is tense. What to do, continue to read the akathist? Is it possible to receive the blessing of a priest in absentia for reading this akathist?

Irina

Irina, to read the akathist you had to take the blessing right away, in the temple. In this case, you would pray not only relying on your own strength, but with the help of God. The priest is the conductor of the grace of God. Therefore, when they take a blessing, they are applied not to the hand of the priest, but to the Hand of the Lord. Let's say we want to receive God's blessing, but how do we know if He has blessed or not? For this, the Lord left a priest on earth, gave him special authority, and the grace of God descends on the believers through the priest. In addition, during personal communication, you will be able to ask the priest all your questions about what you are taking the blessing for. And the priest will advise what will be useful for you. Through the Internet, you can only give general advice, but you can receive grace, as well as hear something specific from the priest, only in the temple.

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Hello! I would like to read the akathists of St. Xenia of Petersburg, Peter and Fevronia, Vera, Nadezhda Love and their mother Sophia, and "Softener of Evil Hearts", in the hope that prayers will help me maintain a relationship with my beloved. But I doubt it, I learned that you need a blessing to read akathists! Tell me is it true? Do you think I have a chance to maintain a relationship with my beloved and melt his heart, which has become a little clouded and cooled towards me? And with the help of what prayers to help a loved one get rid of past memories that weigh on his soul, heart, thoughts and mind? I can see how hard it is for him. Give me strength God! Forgive me, save you, Lord!

Natalia

Natasha dear! What do you turn akathists into a love spell, do you expect such a return from them ?! Shouldn't you be talking about real problems with a loved one, “about memories”, etc.? Maybe it's better to start with a problem analysis? By the way, I understand that you had a cohabitation, and not a legal marriage?

Archpriest Maxim Khyzhiy

Thank you very much for your answers and thanks to those who created and monitors the work of this site. Please help me with one more issue. I really want to confess and find my confessor, but I don't know what is needed for confession. Please tell us how the confession takes place and how to prepare for it, in detail. Thanks.

Hello Olya. For the first confession, you should not be too lazy and draw up a cheat sheet for yourself. You do not need to describe the history of your life, you just need to call by their proper names those of your actions, thoughts, desires that weigh on your conscience, contradict your worldview, are condemned by you. It is best for the first confession to approach the priest and ask him to set a time for you for an individual confession. You can take a blessing certain rule preparation for confession. It may include prayerful reading of canons, psalms, prayers. It will not be superfluous to read the manual for those preparing for confession. For example, "To Help the Penitent" by St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) or "The Experience of Building a Confession" by Father John (Krestyankin). God help you.

Priest Alexander Beloslyudov

Good afternoon! if it is not possible to take blessings for reading an akathist (there is no church in the village, and the opportunity to travel to the city appears once a year), can you ask for it? And another question: why is it necessary to take a blessing for reading an akathist or fulfilling a prayer rule?

Irina

Hello Irina! Before you take on any prayer rules, you need to consult with your confessor or with a priest with whom you regularly confess. Assessing your life situation and the measure of spiritual progress, the priest will bless (or not bless) to read. It often happens that a person takes on an unbearable burden, and in connection with this, he has spiritual problems. If you pray in obedience and with blessing, then such problems can be avoided. If in this moment You do not have the opportunity to get into the temple, you can read the akathist, and when you are in the temple, tell the priest about this and take a blessing. Also ask if your temple has a website on the Internet through which you could communicate with the priest between visits to the temple or there is an opportunity to decide important issues by phone. Still, it is better to communicate with the priest whom you know, who takes care of you.

Priest Vladimir Shlykov

Hello, please tell me, I smoked for a very long time, then God had mercy, I prayed, asked, and quit one day after communion. But something terrible happened. Somehow, also after communion, I had a big scandal, I was very angry, and lit a cigarette, moreover, I also drank well (I am very sorry and repent). After that, I repented and took communion, but I did not stop smoking. I am very guilty. Now it is so difficult to return to that former state. But it was so easy for me to quit, even I was surprised myself. How to be? And yet, the father blessed me to read the prayer to the Mother of God on the rosary, should reading be daily? Thank you for your help.

Angelina

About how often to pray and in what quantity, it is better to check with the priest, who gave this blessing. As for smoking, for the first time the Lord gave you a gift, and now you have to “earn” freedom from this passion. Try to gradually reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke and pray that the Lord will give you the strength to free yourself from this passion.

Deacon Ilya Kokin

1

Archpriest Alexander Ryabkov, cleric of St. vmch. Demetrius of Thessalonica in Kolomyagi. Transfer from St. Petersburg.

Good evening, dear viewers. On the air of the TV channel "Soyuz" the program "Conversations with the priest." Host - Mikhail Kudryavtsev.

Today our guest is a cleric of the church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica in Kolomyagi Archpriest Alexander Ryabkov.

Hello, father. I ask you to traditionally bless our viewers.

Dear friends, good luck to everyone, Happy Holidays, good health. Help everyone Lord.

- Our today's topic is "The Blessing of the Priest".

Please tell us about what the blessing of a priest is in its essence.

This is a broad question and the answer should be extended. The blessing of the priest, as we believe, as we experience, is the blessing of God himself. Everything in the Church is filled with mysterious, mystical power.

Of course, we should not discard the human factor. Even with a blessing like Holy Bible, we understand that people also participated in it: prophets, apostles, biblical writers, and even the chosen people, who preserved, in some way supplemented, in some way commented on these texts. Therefore, the blessing of the priest has a divine-human nature. The Lord is the giver of all blessings, but the priest is placed in the Church as the leader. It is wrong to say that a priest is a guide, because between heaven and earth we have only one Guide - this is Christ. The priest is the leader of the community whose life he is entrusted with directing: not only our external life, but also our mental and spiritual experiences.

The blessing has its roots in the Bible. The Lord Himself gives many blessings. This is not only giving a person or society a grace-filled power, but also some kind of instruction. For example, a blessing when the Lord said to people: go and populate the earth. It is not so much about the giving of gifts, but about the instruction that a person needs to follow.

In fact, we all carry a blessing in ourselves - this is the image and likeness of God. On the one hand, this is a given, on the other hand, it is a task.

During the divine service, we hear the words: “The blessing of the Lord is upon you always, now and ever and forever and ever”, that is, it abides now, all the time and will abide, is it something that is always characteristic of us?

Because we are baptized and anointed, this is another kind of God's blessing. Confirmation is, in fact, the ordination of each of us to the first rank - the title of a layman, the title of a member of the Church, giving us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Chrism is consecrated by the Patriarch himself, therefore each of us has the personal blessing of the Patriarch, and through him, of course, the blessing of God.

We have in ourselves the image and likeness of God, then baptism, chrismation, the holy sacraments. Here we see an illustration of the words of the Apostle Paul "grace return grace." Everything is done so that it multiplies in us. The main thing is to be worthy of accepting this gift of grace and those gifts that are constantly presented to us. Here, besides the priest, the fact of our own participation is very important: how ready we are to fulfill this or that instruction. Do not be afraid of the word punishment, because punishment is a punishment. And therefore, discords and experiences in our external life are also a kind of God's blessing, God's gift, which we must be able to understand and accept. What we often miss.

- In early Christian times, the blessing was the same as we know it now?

We cannot delve deeply into church archeology, and we don’t need to: it’s not about the outer shell of the rite. The nature of the giving of God's gifts, grace, of course, is the same: our church has preserved apostolic succession and all its fullness. Orthodox faith, piety and tradition. The tradition lies not only in the preservation of the rite, but in the understanding of spirituality that Orthodoxy has, and is different from other manifestations of religiosity in our world. In its form, it could differ: the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, the reading of some long prayers. We understand that the ritual side could change.

If we turn to the Sacrament of Unction, we can trace how it has changed over the centuries, epochs, and been supplemented. The rite is a very important shell, nothing happens without the rite. We see that the Lord Himself, healing - and this is also grace - used what was at hand: he took the earth from under his feet, clay, dissolved it with saliva and made such an impromptu ointment, with which he anointed the eyes of a patient with blindness. The rite allows our nature to receive God's touch, God's gift, God's grace.

- In the psalm we hear "Bless, my soul, the Lord." Does the Lord need a blessing? What does it mean?

Our language does not have the ability to fully convey all the semantic shades. For example, we know the word love, by which we designate love for God, and for a person, and for certain things. There is a certain defect in this language, not our nominal language, but in general all the languages ​​of the world. Therefore, often one word can reflect the essence of different concepts or different events.

When we call on our soul to bless God, we call on it to glorify, to praise God with good words. The meaning of our life is, in fact, gratitude.

Why does God need our thanksgiving, blessing? We need to praise and thank Him, not only with our speech, but also with our soul, mind, heart, and understanding. Here we come to a reflection on what gratitude and thanksgiving are. And we understand that the guarantee of our happiness, our fulfilling life is precisely in gratitude, when we are able to see what the grace of God is necessary and possible for. When we do not see in our lives: every day, hour, for which we thank God, then we are deeply unhappy people.

When we talk about the blessing of a person by God, it is not only some action or fact that we do not understand. We have already said that the Lord, in order to touch us, uses the somatics of this world - our spiritual and bodily properties.

If a priest transfers something of grace from God to a person, then he must also find good words so that this grace is fully, not deficiently transferred to a person. In order for a person to perceive something, he needs to feel it with the properties that he possesses. To understand something spiritual, a person uses his mental and bodily properties: somatics and psychosomatics in full combination. Therefore, the priest must be in constant reflection about his ministry: about how he conveys God's blessing to a person, community, and believers. This also imposes important obligations on us, which we must never forget.

- Our viewer from Samara asks why we do not take a blessing from the deacon?

In the Church we see that the performer of the sacraments is the priest, the deacon helps the priest. The priest is delegated from the bishop the right to perform the sacraments. If we turn to church history, liturgy, we will see that very often the words about doing nothing without the bishop are repeated.

When the Church grew and became universal, according to at least, according to the scale of the time when the universe was the Roman Empire, the Church covered this territory and then went beyond it to barbarian tribes far from ancient world. There was a need for the bishop to have assistants who would perform the sacraments even without the presence of the bishop himself, these rights were delegated to the priest, and he became, in fact, the link between the bishop and the laity - the people of God.

The priest conducts spiritual work, which is one of the pillars of blessing, bestowing and giving to a person the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We come to the point that meaningfulness of every blessing is necessary.

The priest must understand that his blessing is not taken from the ceiling, but from deep reflection. People of deep spiritual life, those who are now already recognized by the Church as saints, have never been ashamed to tell people that today they cannot answer a question or bless, evaluate experiences or a request. They might say that they needed to pray, meditate, or even consult with an older priest or even a bishop. The words of Ignaty Brianchaninov "do nothing without a bishop" are still relevant.

What is the power of the already given blessing? Does it have any independent power?

In contemplating this topic, it is very important to move away from magicism at once. This is an important component correct understanding this topic. Magizm, as a kind of our dependence on some movements, blessings, evil eye and the like, is the sinful nature of our humanity. In this regard, we have a serious problem.

Blessing must be looked at from the other side, not through the prism of magic, but through the prism of honesty. When we take a priest's blessing for something, we must do it. Here the question is not that someone or something will punish us for not fulfilling something, that we have some kind of determinism that will entail punishment for an unfulfilled blessing. In no case.

The question is different: we, not fulfilling the blessing of not only the priest, but also the blessing of the Church, do not bring upon ourselves the dark forces, but we ourselves open ourselves to them. By refusing obedience, we lead ourselves off a certain rut laid out by God, and, like a ship without sails, we begin to be dragged across the sea of ​​life by our passions, desires, constantly changing thoughts, which replace for us the blessing of the Church, and the priest, and the bishop.

Perhaps the most painful question is about the impracticability of the blessing. When a blessing is given to us, but it seems to us either absurd or impossible. What to do?

If a blessing seems absurd to us, we should seek clarification from the one who gave us the blessing. I think that here we must immediately refuse to fulfill and give some kind of assessment to the priest who gave us the blessing. We need to look for support. I am sure that a priest always remembers that he is a shepherd, that is, one who grazes, who guards, instructs, encloses. We have many words that describe a priest: presbyter, elder, that is, a certain father, a respected person. For monks, this is the abbot, the archimandrite. The archimandrite is the one who grazes the flock, manages the paddock where the sheep graze.

If a priest sees that it is difficult for a person, he doubts, he must strengthen him, help him fulfill. Somewhere in a paternal way, with love to protect him from temptations, somewhere to lower the degree of the tension that arises with fulfillment. But if we ourselves seek blessings, ask for it in the fulfillment of some rule or some small feat, then, of course, we must fulfill this blessing.

Another thing is that the person himself, who asks for blessings, must calculate his strength. Very often, the blessings that we thoughtlessly ask for are due to our pride, conceit and desire for fame, even we are talking not about worldly glory.

But the shepherd must carefully distinguish between those spirits that guide the layman, who ask him for this or that blessing.

Question from a female viewer: Please tell us about the blessing of children by parents for marriage or travel.

The blessing of parents is always a manifestation of our friendliness, peacefulness and nepotism. We are not puppets, we need live communication with each other. Some element of ritual enters into our life. But there is no need to get carried away with this, since the separation from churchness begins to be filled with rituals invented by us.

Parental blessing is very important for a person. Does he enter any educational institution whether he goes to serve in the army, whether he leaves for a long journey. When he marries, there is another component: the parents' assessment of our choices and our behavior, which is also very important.

Just as it is important for a priest to shepherd without enslaving anyone, without subordinating anyone to himself, without humiliating anyone and without depriving him of his will, parents should do the same. The apostle Paul tells parents about this: do not grieve your children. Each of us, father and mother, must understand that they are responsible not only for the food of the child, but they must give their child both love and affection, their blessing, without which it is hard for him. Not because something didn’t give him some powers, but because if we weren’t given some kind of blessing, some powers that we potentially had were taken away from us. If we have some kind of strife, then we lose part of the grace-filled energy that God has invested in us.

The blessing of parents is always support, friendly participation in this or that event that takes place in our lives, especially in marriage. In marriage, it is important not to impose your choice, your opinion on children. It’s another matter if we see that our daughter or our son is making a mistake, we must make every effort: especially intensify prayer to God for our child, if it seems to us that he is mistaken. At the same time, we must remember that I myself can be mistaken, and pray not only for my child, but also for myself.

Just recently I was talking to a man about how false, misconception parents, concerning marriage, led to a tragedy when a marriage, made not out of love, but only with parental blessing, could not be whole and fell apart. And that marriage, which was supposed to take place, and the obstacles to the completion of which were far-fetched, took place today, but already illegally. There was a violation of the wedding. Of course, the bishop will consider the situation in which, by the unreasonable blessing of their parents, these people have fallen. The Lord will manage everything, but here, unfortunately, we see how much parental or priestly pride can harm a flock or a child.

- A question from a viewer: Does the blessing of a simple priest and a metropolitan have the same power?

The second question: if the priest is without vestments, in civilian clothes, can I take his blessing?

It is wrong to answer a question with a question, but with the question that I will ask the audience and myself, I will try to answer the first question.

Is the Eucharist celebrated by a priest and a bishop the same? Of course, we understand that both the Eucharist and Communion are the same.

As for the priest whom you meet in the temple or on the street, whether he is in vestments or without him, he always remains a priest. And every priest must remember that wherever he is, he always attracts the eyes of his flock.

Even I am in our big city, being in a different area of ​​the city where I serve, I constantly encounter people who come up, greet me, ask for blessings. Here a person takes a blessing for the segment of life that he will now have: whether he goes to work or home from work. In our lives, we constantly take a blessing from God: whether we leave the house, whether we drive a car. Therefore, we can take a blessing from the priest whom we met.

There is a problem among the laity when people try to imitate the monastic principles: to take a blessing literally for any little thing.

Probably, this happens in our lives, we even hear literally anecdotal situations with blessings. In my practice (as a priest, I am quite long time) I either did not encounter such situations, or encountered them extremely rarely, since they were not reflected in my memory.

Most likely, such situations happen just in such a place where holiness prevails, no matter how strange it sounds. People, knowing that there is an old man, go to him - I apologize to the audience - as to some kind of clairvoyant or soothsayer. The lack of churchness in such a person leads to such anecdotal situations when a person himself does not understand why he does this. Was the person looking for some advice or guidance?

When a person has an ecclesiastical consciousness, what can happen in this situation is what is described in the patericons. When it is described how, having come to the holy elder, the young monk did not ask him anything, while others asked him questions. When the elder asked him why he did not ask anything, the young monk replied: it is enough for me to see you. That is, being near a saint is already a blessing.

When we go to an old man or a spiritually experienced priest who has acquired a spirit of peace, then it is enough just to see him, his behavior, which itself pacifies us. Therefore, the very stay in the monasteries, even regardless of the conversation with the monks, being in an atmosphere of prayer, peace, humility is much more important than receiving a blessing, asking for advice and instructions, when, it happens, we ask only for the sake of formality.

Question from a TV viewer: When I approach a priest for a blessing, should I explain to him for what purpose I take a blessing from him?

If we take a blessing for a simple, worldly matter, for some segment of today's life, there is no need to explain anything here. But when we come to a priest in order to ask for advice besides his help, then, of course, we explain both our question and the confusion or sadness that confuses or torments us today. If we want the priest to give us an order, advice on how to act in this situation and bless us to fulfill this vector, then it is necessary to explain here.

Maybe you, father, have not encountered such a situation, but it exists: when the laity, keeping some problem in mind, approach the priest, ask for a blessing, and then say that they are doing something with the blessing of the father. Although that father does not know about this, since a simple blessing was requested. How to be?

Maybe this is what happens. But just as I believe in our clergy, I also believe in our laity. I don't think a large percentage of our believers have such perverted ideas about blessings.

If someone thinks so, he, of course, is deeply mistaken when he believes that by substituting a head for blessing, in which some thoughts are swarming, he believes that these thoughts were blessed by the hand of a priest. This is a very satirical scheme and, of course, deeply erroneous.

Such a phenomenon as early old age, being a negative phenomenon, is quite often based on a blessing.

I think that we, priests, must not lose control of ourselves at any interval from ordination. We must always remember that we are just people, and we are all taken care of by God. Even if I am a priest, I am still a shepherd, because our most important shepherd is Christ.

There are times when not only priests, but even just ministers, unfortunately, begin to consider themselves important persons in the Church, in a given community. Unfortunately, this often happens. Traveling around Russia, visiting temples and seeing how monks or nuns communicate with those who came to the temple, I sometimes wanted to say: father (or mother, or brother, sister), remember that neither you nor I are Christ and not the Mother of God. You are just a servant to bring this person to the shrine, to the priest, but not the punishing sword of God. Unfortunately, this self-confidence is characteristic not only of the young, but also of the elderly. This self-confidence begins to prevail among people who have either lost or failed to acquire a culture of behavior. It's not funny anymore behavioral stereotypes, but they already cause grief: when a person begins to assert himself at the expense of someone, starting to obscure God.

This is sadness and this is a disease, and a disease that affects not only young priests, although we are all under the supervision of both the rector and the bishop. I believe in our hierarchy, in the healing nature of the Church, I believe that the grace of God, given in the Church, heals the weak, and replenishes the impoverished. I constantly feel this both in myself and in people, I see how the grace of God corrects us, but for this it is necessary to have humility. If we reject humility, do not understand and do not accept it, then the grace of God, unfortunately, cannot do anything with us. Humility is a vital necessity for each of us.

The feat of humility should not be understood as a kind of heavy burden, which must be brought to death in order to throw it off and receive some reward from God. No, humility is what allows us now to survive and live a full Christian life.

Question from a viewer from Yeysk: We are elderly people: we cannot come to church for communion. Batiushka comes to our house, and we communicate with him on the phone. How, in this case, to ask the priest for blessings? Is it possible by phone?

First, I am very glad that you are in fellowship with God, accept holy communion. Of course, when a priest brings you the Holy Gifts, you can ask for his blessing. When you are at home, and the priest is in church, and you need to make some decision, every priest receives calls during the day when parishioners ask for blessings for this or that action. This is quite acceptable, and the ritual side does not matter here. It happens that people call when they leave somewhere and ask to be remembered in prayer as traveling or sick.

I would like to return to the question of the difference in priestly and episcopal blessings. They say that there are certain cases when you only need to go to the bishop for a blessing.

In the case when we are talking about some kind of disciplinary manifestations, this is true. In this case, we are not talking about the mysterious nature of the blessing, here is a different context: canonical, disciplinary.

Today we have already read the words of Ignatius the God-bearer: do nothing without a bishop. Indeed, there are a number of issues that cannot be resolved without the bishop's blessing. But here we are talking about blessing not as some kind of spiritual impetus, a potency given to a person to do some deed, but about a decision that only an archpastor can make. These may be questions related to the funeral of a person who died under special circumstances, or the issue of marriage, - different difficult moments relating to the performance of sacraments or rituals.

I would like to ask about the blessings that are often asked for from priests: these are various indulgences in prayer rule or fasting. How much freedom do you think a layman has in these matters?

It is not always possible to immediately meet with the priest or get through to him. If a doctor prescribes a change in diet due to an illness, we should not turn off our will, we can make a decision and then discuss it with the priest. Especially when it comes to our self-preservation.

As for disciplinary things, such as holding a fast, then even before fasting, we can discuss with the priest how much our spiritual and bodily strength allows us to do this or that measure of fasting. This also applies to the prayer rule, we can discuss this point with the priest and decide how to do this in order to realize our church life. There are different situations in family, different relationships our loved ones to our faith.

If we suddenly did not have time to decide something, did not take the blessing, but we must make a decision, we should not reach the point of caricature.

It happens that even within the same parish various priests stick to different measure strictness, and the laity know that if one priest necessarily forbids, another will allow. Is this choice foolish?

Perhaps one priest may have a stricter opinion on the practice of fasting, on preparation for communion. There may be slyness here when, in order to justify our laziness, we go to a milder priest, put pressure on pity, and he blesses us with some indulgences. I think that the person himself will sooner or later understand that his cunning has not led him to anything good, but only to spiritual relaxation, laxity and even godlessness, like dehydration, when we lose spiritual grace.

- To what extent spirituality binds a person to the blessing of one priest?

If we began to carry out spiritual work and, like a doctor, entrusted ourselves to a certain priest, then not a single doctor likes it when a patient runs from one doctor to another, does not like to complete the treatment of someone who has been treated by another doctor. The point here is not hardness of heart, but the fact that each of us has different methods in relation to our body. As for our soul, here we must constantly be in constant spiritual communion, because here is shepherding, fatherhood, when some kindred relations are built between the pastor and the laity, so the continuity of this communication is very important.

Another thing is that both should understand that there is no need to cross any boundaries. A priest should not enslave a person, but a person should not give himself into slavery to someone. You can not strive to relieve yourself of obligations, completely turn off your will, give yourself into someone's slavery and not think about anything. This is also, unfortunately, a false situation that leads both the layman and the priest into a dead end.

When we are looking for a person to whom we could give ourselves into slavery, here our spiritual nature is already damaged, we have already entered into a certain mistake, a flaw that we must correct in time, come to our senses. Therefore, we must all remember that we are only servants of God. The Lord Himself does not call us slaves, but children, He calls us friends. We call ourselves slaves out of humility, like the prodigal son who, having betrayed his father, returns home and tells him: I am not worthy to be your son, at least take me as your slave. Scripture tells us: do not be slaves to men. This false nature must be seriously observed by us and corrected or even cut off in time.

- God save, father, for the answers, and I ask you to bless us for the end of the program.

God help everyone. Bless you in your work. God bless everyone for all good deeds and undertakings. God bless everyone.

Host: Mikhail Kudryavtsev.

Transcription: Yulia Podzolova.

Orthodox Christians in front of some important matter or an event, they usually go to church and ask the priest for blessings. Why is this needed?

What's the point

The fact is that the priest is an intermediary between God and people, and turning to him for a blessing, you get support Higher powers. If the Lord himself approved your work, then you receive spiritual help from Him. The very word "blessing" means that you receive a word from God for the good of your soul.

In the old days, without a blessing, nothing serious was done at all. It was believed that a business started without a blessing is doomed to failure, or even plunges a person into danger: for example, robbers could attack a merchant who went with goods to another city.

Blessings are asked, as a rule, for some important events for a person - trips, operations, treatment, admission to an educational institution, employment, marriage, starting a project.

How to ask correctly

A blessing is asked after the liturgy. If there are several priests in the temple, then it is better to take a blessing from the one who is higher in rank.

As a rite of blessing is a special kind sign of the cross. At the same time, a believer who asks for a blessing must fold his hands in a cross - right palm on the left, palms up, and say the words: “Bless, father.” After receiving the blessing, it is necessary to kiss the priest's hand - this symbolizes the kissing of Christ's hand.

Can a priest refuse

Maybe if he considers that your case is contrary to religious canons. For example, there are restrictions for some actions in a post. It is also unlikely that you will receive a blessing for a divorce or abortion: according to church rules it is unacceptable. Definitely, a priest will not give a blessing on something that has a dubious moral side. So, you should not ask him for a blessing if, for example, you get a job in a nightclub.