Blessed are the peacemakers: as sons of God they shall be called. The Seventh Beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God

“When He saw the people, He went up into the mountain; and when He had sat down, His disciples came to Him.
And He, opening His mouth, taught them..." (Matthew, V 1-2)

First, the Lord indicated what His disciples should be, i.e. all Christians. How they must fulfill the law of God in order to receive a blessed (that is, in the highest degree joyful, happy), eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. For this, He gave the nine beatitudes. Then the Lord gave teachings about the Providence of God, about not judging others, about the power of prayer, about almsgiving, and about many other things. This sermon of Jesus Christ is called the Sermon on the Mount.

So, on a clear spring day, with a quiet breath of coolness from the Lake of Galilee, on the slopes of a mountain covered with greenery and flowers, the Savior gives people the New Testament law of love. And no one leaves Him without consolation.

The Old Testament law is the law of strict truth, and the New Testament law of Christ is the law of Divine love and grace, which gives people the power to fulfill God's Law. Jesus Christ Himself said: "I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it" (Matt. 5:17).

(according to "The Law of God". Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy
-http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/bible/zb/zb143.htm)

THE COMMANDMENTS OF BLESS

" If you love me, keep my commandments ".
GOSPEL FROM JOHN, ch.14, 15.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as a loving Father, shows us the ways or works through which people can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. To all who will fulfill His instructions or commandments, Christ promises, as the King of heaven and earth, eternal bliss (great joy, the highest happiness) in the future, eternal life. That is why He calls such people blessed, i.e. the happiest.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for those are the kingdom of heaven.	1. Blessed are the poor in spirit (humble): because theirs is (that is, it will be given to them) the Kingdom of Heaven.
	The poor in spirit are people who feel and recognize their sins and shortcomings of the soul. They remember that without God's help they themselves cannot do anything good, and therefore they do not boast and are not proud of anything, neither before God, nor before people. These are humble people.
2.Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted.	2. Blessed are those who mourn (over their sins), for they will be comforted.
	Crying - people who mourn and cry about their sins and spiritual shortcomings. The Lord will forgive their sins. He gives them comfort here on earth, and eternal joy in heaven.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.	3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit (take possession of) the earth.
	The meek are people who patiently endure all sorts of misfortunes, without being upset (without grumbling) at God, and humbly endure all sorts of troubles and insults from people, without getting angry at anyone. They will receive a heavenly dwelling in their possession, that is, a new (renewed) earth in the Kingdom of Heaven.
4.Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.	4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (those who desire righteousness); because they get fed up.
	Hungry and thirsty for the truth- people who zealously desire the truth, like hungry (hungry) - bread and thirsty - water, they ask God to cleanse them from sins and help them live righteously (they want to be justified before God). The desire of such people will be fulfilled, they will be satisfied, that is, they will be justified.
5. Blessed are the mercies, for they will have mercy.	5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
	Gracious - people who have a good heart - merciful, compassionate to everyone, always ready to help those in need in any way they can. Such people will themselves be pardoned by God, they will be shown the special mercy of God.
6.Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.	6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
	Pure in heart are people who not only guard themselves from bad deeds, but also try to make their soul pure, that is, they keep it from bad thoughts and desires. They are close to God even here (they always feel Him with their soul), but in the future life, in the Kingdom of Heaven, they will forever be with God, see Him.
7.Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.	7. Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called (named) sons of God.
	Peacekeepers are people who do not like any quarrels. They themselves try to live peacefully and friendly with everyone and to reconcile others with each other. They are likened to the Son of God, who came to earth to reconcile sinful man with the justice of God. Such people will be called sons, that is, children of God, and will be especially close to God.
8. Blessed are the exiles for the sake of righteousness, for those are the kingdom of heaven.	8. Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
	Exiled for the truth- people who so love to live in truth, that is, according to God's law, in justice, that they endure and endure all kinds of persecution, deprivation and calamity for this truth, but do not change it in any way. For this they will receive the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you, when they reproach you, and they give you up, and they say all sorts of evil words against you lying, for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is many in heaven.	Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for me. Rejoice and be glad then, for great is your reward in heaven.
	Here the Lord says: if you are reviled (mocked at you, scolded, dishonored you), applied and falsely speak evil of you (slander, unfairly accused), and you endure all this for your faith in Me, then do not grieve, but rejoice and be glad, because the greatest, greatest reward in heaven awaits you, that is, a particularly high degree of eternal bliss.

ABOUT THE PROVISION OF GOD

Jesus Christ taught that God provides, that is, takes care of all creatures, but especially provides for people. The Lord takes care of us more and better than the kindest and most sensible father takes care of his children. He gives us His help in everything that is necessary in our life and that serves our true benefit.

"Do not worry (unnecessarily) about what you eat and what you drink, or what you wear," said the Savior. "Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into a barn, and your Heavenly Father feeds them; but are you not much better than them? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, nor spin. But I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like any of them, but if the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, God dresses like that, how much more you, you of little faith! your Heavenly One knows that you have need of all this. Therefore, seek first of all the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

ABOUT NON-JUDGING YOUR NEIGHBOR

Jesus Christ did not command to condemn other people. He said this: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned. the judgment will be merciful to you.) And with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you again. : why do you like to notice even minor sins and shortcomings in others, but do not want to see big sins and vices in yourself?) Or, as you say to your brother: let me take the speck out of your eye; but, behold, there is a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye (try first of all to correct yourself), and then you will see how to take the speck out of your brother's eye "(then you will be able to correct the sin in another, without offending, without humiliating him).

ABOUT FORGIVENING YOUR NEIGHBOR

"Forgive and you will be forgiven," said Jesus Christ. "For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive people their trespasses, then your Father will not forgive you your trespasses."

ABOUT LOVE TO THE NEAR

Jesus Christ commanded us to love not only our loved ones, but all people, even those who offended us and harmed us, that is, our enemies. He said: “You heard what was said (by your teachers, the scribes and Pharisees): love your neighbor and hate your enemy. that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

If you only love those who love you; or will you do good only to those who do it to you, and will lend only to those from whom you hope to receive back, for what should God reward you? Don't lawless people do the same? Don't the pagans do the same?

So be merciful, as your Father is merciful, be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect?

THE GENERAL RULE FOR THE TREATMENT OF NEIGHBORS

How should we treat our neighbors always, in any case, Jesus Christ gave us this rule: " in everything you want people to do to you(and we, of course, want all people to love us, do us good and forgive us), so do you with them". (Don't do to others what you don't want yourself to do.)

ON THE POWER OF PRAYER

If we earnestly pray to God and ask for His help, then God will do everything that will serve our true benefit. Jesus Christ said this about it: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If he asks him for bread, would he give him a stone? And when he asks for a fish, would he give him a snake? If then, being evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him."

ABOUT ALMS

We must do every good deed not out of boasting before people, not for display to others, not for the sake of human reward, but for the sake of love for God and neighbor. Jesus Christ said: “Look, do not do your alms before people so that they see you; otherwise you will not be rewarded from your Heavenly Father. as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people glorify them. Truly I say to you, they already receive their reward. But with you, when you give alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing (i.e., yourself in front of you do not boast of the good that you have done, forget about it), so that your alms may be in secret, and your Father, who sees the secret (that is, everything that is in your soul and for the sake of which you do all this), will reward you openly "- if not now, then at His last judgment.

ON THE NEED FOR GOOD WORKS

In order for people to know that only good feelings and desires are not enough to enter the Kingdom of God, but good deeds are necessary, Jesus Christ said: “Not everyone who says to Me: Lord! Lord!” the will (commandments) of my Heavenly Father", that is, it is not enough to be only a believer and pilgrimage, but we must also do those good deeds that the Lord requires of us.

When Jesus Christ finished His preaching, the people marveled at His teaching, because He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes and Pharisees taught. When He came down from the mountain, many people followed Him, and He, in His mercy, performed great miracles.


NOTE:
See in the Gospel of Matthew chapters - 5, 6 and 7, from Luke, ch. 6:12-41.
and the Law of God. Prot. Seraphim Sloboda-http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/bible/zb/zb143.htm
Prayers on the Internet.


Beatitudes
What is their meaning and difference from the Old Testament commandments
(conversation with Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexei Ilyich Osipov)

When it comes to Christian commandments, these words usually mean the well-known to all: “I am the Lord your God<…>may you have no other gods; do not make yourself an idol; do not take the name of the Lord in vain…” However, these commandments, through Moses, were given to the people of Israel 1,500 years before the birth of Christ.

In Christianity, there is a different code of relations between man and God, which is usually called the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12), about which modern man knows much less than about the Old Testament commandments. What is their meaning?
What blessing are we talking about? And what is the difference between the Old Testament and New Testament commandments?
We talked about this with a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy Alexei Ilyich Osipov.

- Today the word "bliss" for many means the highest degree of pleasure. Does the Gospel presuppose just such an understanding of this word, or does it put some other meanings into it?
- There is one common thesis in the patristic heritage, which is found in almost all the Fathers: if a person considers the Christian life as a way to achieve some kind of heavenly pleasures, ecstasies, experiences, special states of grace, then he is on the wrong path, on the path of delusion. Why are the holy fathers so unanimous on this issue? The answer is simple: if Christ is the Savior, therefore, there is some great misfortune from which we all need to be saved, then we are sick, we are in a state of death, damage and spiritual clouding, which does not give us the opportunity to achieve that blissful union with God, which we call the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the correct spiritual state of a person is characterized by his desire for healing from any sin, from everything that prevents him from reaching this Kingdom, and not by his desire for pleasure, even heavenly. As Macarius the Great said, if I am not mistaken, our goal is not to receive something from God, but to unite with God Himself. And since God is Love, then the union with God joins us to that highest, which in human language is called love. A higher state for a person simply does not exist.

Therefore, the very word “bliss” in this context means communion with God, who is Truth, Being, Love, the highest Good.

What is the fundamental difference between the commandments of the Old Testament and the Beatitudes?

All the Old Testament commandments are of a prohibitive nature: “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not covet”… They were called upon to keep a person from violating the Will of God. The Beatitudes have a different, positive character. But they can only conditionally be called commandments. In essence, they are nothing but a representation of the beauty of the qualities of that person whom the apostle Paul calls new. The beatitudes show what spiritual gifts a new person receives if he follows the path of the Lord. The Decalogue of the Old Testament and the Sermon on the Mount of the Gospel are two different levels of spiritual order. The Old Testament commandments promise a reward for their fulfillment: that your days on earth may be long. Beatitudes, without canceling these commandments, elevate the consciousness of man to the true goal of his being: God will be seen, for beatitude is God Himself. It is no coincidence that such a connoisseur of Scripture as St. John Chrysostom says: "The Old Testament is separated from the New, as the earth is from heaven."

It can be said that the commandments given through Moses are a kind of barrier, a fence on the edge of the abyss, holding back the beginning. And the beatitudes are the open prospect of life in God. But without the fulfillment of the first, the second, of course, is impossible.

What is the "poor in spirit"? And is it true that in the ancient texts of the New Testament it says simply: “Blessed are the poor,” and the word “in the Spirit” is a later insert?
- If we take the edition of the New Testament in the ancient Greek language by Kurt Aland, where the interlinear references are given to all the discrepancies found in the found manuscripts and fragments of the New Testament, then everywhere, with rare exceptions, the word “spirit” is present. And the very context of the New Testament speaks of the spiritual content of this saying. Therefore, the Slavic translation, and then the Russian one, contains precisely “the poor in spirit” as an expression that corresponds to the spirit of the whole sermon of the Savior. And I must say that this full text has the deepest meaning.

All the holy fathers-ascetics constantly and persistently emphasized that it is the awareness of one's spiritual poverty that is the basis of the spiritual life of a Christian. This poverty consists in a person's vision, firstly, of the damage to his nature by sin, and secondly, the impossibility of healing it with his own strength, without God's help. And until a person sees this poverty of his, he is not capable of spiritual life. Poverty of the spirit is essentially nothing but humility. How it is acquired is briefly and clearly discussed, for example, by St. Simeon the New Theologian: “Careful fulfillment of the commandments of Christ teaches a man his infirmities,” that is, reveals to him the illnesses of his soul. The saints affirm that without this foundation no other virtues are possible. Moreover, the virtues themselves without spiritual poverty can lead a person into a very dangerous state, into vanity, pride and other sins.

If the reward for the poverty of the spirit is the Kingdom of Heaven, then why are the rest of the beatitudes needed, because the Kingdom of Heaven already presupposes the fullness of goodness?

Here we are not talking about a reward, but about the necessary condition under which all further virtues are possible. When we build a house, we first lay the foundation, and only then we build the walls. In the spiritual life, humility - spiritual poverty - is such a foundation, without which all good deeds and all further work on oneself becomes meaningless and useless. This was well said by St. Isaac the Syrian: “What salt is for every food, humility is for every virtue. because without humility all our deeds, all virtues and all deeds are in vain. But, on the other hand, spiritual poverty is a powerful stimulus to a correct spiritual life, the acquisition of all other god-like properties and, thus, the fullness of the good.

- Then the next question is: are the commandments of beatitude hierarchical and are they a kind of system, or is each of them completely self-sufficient?

It can be said with full confidence that the first step is the necessary basis for receiving the rest. But the enumeration of others does not at all bear the character of some logically connected strict system. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke themselves, they are in a different order. This is also evidenced by the experience of many saints, who have a different sequence of acquiring virtues. Each saint had some special virtue that distinguished him from the rest. Someone was a peacemaker. And someone especially merciful. This depended on many reasons: on the natural properties of the individual, on the circumstances of external life, on the nature and conditions of achievement, and even on the level of spiritual perfection. But, I repeat, the acquisition of spiritual poverty, according to the teachings of the fathers, has always been regarded as an unconditional requirement, since without it the fulfillment of the remaining commandments leads to the destruction of the entire spiritual home of a Christian.

The Holy Fathers give sad examples when some ascetics who have achieved great gifts could heal, see the future, prophesy, and then fall into the gravest sins. And the fathers directly explain: all this happened because, without knowing themselves, that is, their sinfulness, their weakness in the feat of purifying the soul from the action of passions, in other words, without acquiring spiritual poverty, they were easily subjected to devilish attacks, stumbled and fell.

- Blessed are those who weep. But people cry for different reasons. What crying are you talking about?
- There are many types of tears: we cry from resentment, weep from joy, weep from anger, weep from some kind of grief, weep from misfortune. These types of crying can be natural or even sinful.

When the holy fathers explain Christ’s blessing to those who weep, they are not talking about these reasons for tears, but about tears of repentance, contrition of the heart for their sins, about their powerlessness to cope with the evil that they see in themselves. Such lamentation is the turning of both mind and heart to God for help in spiritual life. And God will not reject the heart of the contrite and humble, and will certainly help such a person to overcome evil in himself and acquire good. Therefore, blessed are those who weep.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. What does it mean? In the sense that all the unmeek will eventually kill each other, and only the meek will remain on earth?
- First of all, it is necessary to explain what meekness is. Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) wrote: “The state of the soul, in which anger, hatred, remembrance and condemnation are eliminated from it, is a new bliss, it is called meekness.” Meekness, it turns out, is not some kind of passivity, weakness of character, inability to repulse aggression, but generosity, the ability to forgive the offender, not to return evil for evil. This property is completely spiritual, and it is a characteristic of that Christian who has conquered his egoism, conquered passions, primarily anger, which push him to revenge. Therefore, such a person is capable of inheriting the promised land of the Kingdom of Heaven.

At the same time, the holy fathers explained that here we are not talking about this, our earth, filled with sin, suffering, blood, but about that earth, which is the abode of the eternal future life of man - the new earth and new heaven, about which the Apostle John the Theologian writes. in his Apocalypse.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. That is, it turns out that God treats the merciful differently than the unmerciful. He favors some and not others?

It would be a mistake to understand the word “pardoned” in a legal sense, or to believe that God, having anger against a person, but seeing his mercy towards people, transferred His anger to mercy. Here there is no judicial pardon for the sinner, nor a change in God's attitude towards him for his kindness. Rev. Anthony the Great explains this beautifully: “It is absurd to think that the Deity was good or bad because of human deeds. God is good and does only good things, remaining always the same; but when we are good, we enter into communion with God - by our likeness to Him, and when we become evil, we are separated from God - by our dissimilarity with Him. By living virtuously, we become God's, and by becoming evil, we become rejected from Him; and this does not mean that He had wrath on us, but that our sins do not allow God to shine in us, but they unite them with tormenting demons. If later, by prayers and good deeds, we gain permission in sins, then this does not mean that we have pleased God and changed Him, but that by means of such actions and our turning to God, having healed the evil that is in us, we again become able to taste God's goodness; so to say: God turns away from the wicked is the same as to say: the sun hides itself from the blind. That is, pardon here does not mean a change in God's attitude towards a person for his mercy, but this mercy towards his neighbor makes a person himself capable of perceiving God's unchanging love. This is a regular and natural process - like is combined with like. The closer a person becomes to God through his mercy to his neighbors, the more God's mercy he becomes able to accommodate.

- Who are the pure in heart and how are they able to see God, who is the Spirit and about whom it is said: No one has seen God?

By “pure heart” the holy fathers understand the possibility of achieving dispassion, that is, liberation from slavery to passions, for everyone who commits sin, according to the word of Christ, is a slave of sin. So, as a person is freed from this slavery, he really becomes more and more a spiritual spectator of God. As we experience love, we see it in ourselves, so, like this, a person can see God - not with external vision, but with an internal experience of His presence in his soul, in his life. How beautifully the Psalmist speaks of this: Taste and see that the Lord is good!

- Blessed are the peacemakers - who is this about? Who are the peacemakers and why are they promised bliss?

These words have at least two conjugate meanings. The first, more obvious, concerns our mutual relations with each other, both personal and collective, public, international. Those who disinterestedly strive to establish and preserve peace are gratified, even if this was associated with some infringement of their pride, vanity, etc. This peacemaker, in whom love overcomes his often petty truth, is gratified by Christ.

The second meaning, deeper, refers to those who, by the feat of struggle with passions, cleansed their hearts from all evil and became able to receive into their souls that peace about which the Savior said: My peace I give you; not as the world gives, I give to you. This world of the soul is glorified by all the saints, who affirm that he who acquires it acquires true sonship with God.

- Well, the last question - the exiled for the sake of truth. Isn't there a certain danger here for a modern person - to confuse their personal problems, which have caused unpleasant consequences for you, with persecution for Christ and the truth of God?

- Of course, this danger exists. After all, there is no good thing that cannot be spoiled. And in this case, all of us (each one to the extent of his susceptibility to passions) are sometimes inclined to consider ourselves persecuted for that truth, which is not at all the truth of God. There is an ordinary human truth, which, as a rule, is, in mathematical terms, the establishment of the identity of relations: twice two - four. This truth is nothing but the right to justice. V. Solovyov very accurately said about the moral level of this right: "Law is the lowest limit or a certain minimum of morality." Exile for this truth, if we compare it with the modern context of the struggle for freedoms and human rights, it turns out that is not the highest dignity of a person, because here, along with sincere aspirations, vanity, and calculation, and political considerations, and others, not always disinterested, are often manifested. , motives.

What kind of truth did the Lord speak about, promising the Kingdom of Heaven to those who were exiled because of it? Saint Isaac the Syrian wrote about her: “Mercy and justice in one soul is the same as a person who worships God and idols in one house. Mercy is the opposite of justice. Justice is the equalization of the exact measure: because it gives to everyone what he deserves ... But mercy. compassionately bows to all: he who is worthy of evil does not repay him with evil, and he who is worthy of good fills him with excess. Just as hay and fire do not tolerate being in the same house, so justice and mercy are in the same soul.

There is a good saying: "Demanding your rights is a matter of truth, sacrificing them is a matter of love." God's truth is only where there is love. Where there is no love, there is no truth. If I say to a person with an ugly appearance that he is a freak, then formally I will be right. But God's truth will not be in my words. Why? Because there is no love, no compassion. That is, the truth of God and the truth of man are often completely different things. Without love, there is no truth, even if everything looks quite fair. And, conversely, where there is not even justice, but there is real love, condescending to the shortcomings of the neighbor, showing patience, there is true truth. St. Isaac the Syrian cites God Himself as an example: “Do not call God just, for His justice is not known in your deeds. more than that, He is good and gracious. For he says: There is good to the evil and the ungodly (Luke 6:35). The Lord Jesus Christ, being a righteous man, suffered for the unrighteous and prayed from the Cross: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Here, it turns out, for what kind of truth one can and should really suffer - for love for a person, for truth, for God. Only in this case, those persecuted for the truth will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (5.9)

Where there is sin, there is no peace, for sin, by its very nature, is war with God or war with people and the rest of God's creatures. Only the Sinless One, i.e., the All-Holy One, is the only owner, the only bearer, the only distributor of the true world, and gives it to people according to the measure of their holiness. And then He gives it by the Holy Spirit, in whose kingdom there is no sinful worldliness and rebellious lawlessness. Therefore it is said: kingdomsie Godnot food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). This is the "world above" for which we pray several times a day in the peaceful and devotional litanies. He lives in the Kingdom of God between divine truth and divine joy, which is why he contains so much of the divine. The kingdom of God is peace in truth and joy, the kingdom of the devil is non-peace in untruth and sorrow. The peace of Christ is the peace of the Holy Spirit, always consubstantial with grace, why peace and grace are inseparable in the sensation and consciousness of the Church (cf. 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2, 1 Tim 1:2, 2 Tim 1, 2 Tit 1, 4, Philemon 3, 1 Pet 1:2, 2 Pet 1:2, 2 John 3, Rev 1, 4). This is the reason why the world is a gift of the Holy Spirit: it arises, and grows, and develops, and improves only in the closest unity and communion with all the other evangelical virtues, with all the other gifts of the Holy Spirit. (cf. Gal. 5:22-23; 2 Tim. 2:22; Jude 2; 2 John 3).

There is no doubt that it is an exceptional blessing for a person to be a son of God, but how can one become a son of God? - Being born from God. Only Christ is the Son of God by nature, but people become sons of God by grace. And they become, being born from God, through the holy virtues ( John. 1.12-13). By fulfilling the holy gospel virtues, people become sons of God by grace ( Matt. 5, 45-48). The Good Comforter leads them along this path ( Rome. 8.14), who fills their hearts with Himself: with holy thoughts, holy feelings, holy dispositions ( cf. Gal 4:6-7). For all this, they repay God with boundless, unconditional, unshakable faith ( cf. Gal. 3, 26), living in evangelical purity with the help of the holy evangelical virtues ( cf. 2 Cor. 6, 17).

cleanand with their hearts they see God. This is great bliss. Bliss from peacemaking is greater; it is deeper, for here a person is born from God, becomes a son of God: and his thoughts are born from God, and feelings, and desires and deeds. And everything in it is immortal and eternal and blessed, for it is from the Living and True God. Being born of God, becoming sons of God, people actually become brothers of the Only Begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke such good news: Whoever does the will of my Heavenly Father is my brother and sister and mother (Matthew 12:50). The will of the Heavenly Father is expressed in Christ and in His Gospel (cf. Eph. 1:7-10). Whoever fulfills the Gospel of Christ is born of Him spiritually, becomes His brother by grace. The peacemakers are both the sons of God and the brothers of Christ, which is why there is no limit to their bliss.

In the material world, the world is undoubtedly the first cosmic reality: everyone and everything is in boundless harmony and unity. This harmony and this all-unity have been violated by the intrusion of sin into the world. From there, as it were, all this is shifted from its foundation, shifted into chaos and disorder, and non-peace. It is obvious: the source of non-peace and disorder is sin, and the source of peace and order is logos and holiness. The logos unity of beings and creatures is the guarantee of peace, order and harmony; the sinful weakness of beings and creatures is the cause of non-peace, disorder, disharmony. - In the Kingdom of life and existence, God is the main and first peacemaker, the devil is the main and first warmaker, for he is the main sin-creator. Sin, first of all, separates from God, Who is the core of every being and every creature; and then begins a swift fall into chaos, into disorder, into non-peace . “Where do you get hostility and strife? Is it not from here, from lustii of yours fighting in your members?” (James 4:1). Each, even the smallest sin, is the leaven of non-peace and disorder, first of all, non-peace and disorder in relation to God and before God, and then already towards people and before people. Sin is the first and only violator of cosmic and human unity. Therefore, the whole creation is broken, divided, just like the nature of the human race: here everything fights against everything through sin, each against all and all against each. God-Logos incarnate is the only remedy for this universal war of sin. That is why He is one and heals this fateful brokenness and disunity of the creature and human nature. The only begotten Son of God heals nature afflicted with sin through the sons of God by grace (cf. Rom. 8:18-22), and brings into it that pre-sinful and pre-sinful divine world, which means bliss in unity and all-unity in bliss. As the head of the material cosmos and the sanctified cosmos, the Church, the incarnate God-Logos pours His divine world throughout the entire essence of the Church, sanctifying the members of the Church, and through them the whole creation. (cf. Col. 1:16-22). This is peace of Godii - in one body (cf. Col. 3:15) in one organism - the divine-human. This is the all-unifying world, for which the Orthodox Church, crying day and night, prays to the wonderful and all-merciful Creator of lights: “for the peace of the whole Mipa”, “grant peace to the world”, “grant peace to the universe”, “grant peace and great mercy”. .

Blessed are the peacemakers. Here Christ not only condemns the mutual disagreement and hatred of people among themselves, but demands even more, precisely that we reconcile the disagreements of others; and again represents also a spiritual reward. Which one? For they shall be called sons of Godiimi, for the work of the Only Begotten Son of God was to unite the divided and reconcile the warring. By peacemakers are meant, - says the blessed Theophylact, - not only those who themselves live with everyone in peace, but also those who reconcile those who quarrel among themselves. Peacemakers and those who by their teaching turn the enemies of God to the truth, Such people are the sons of God, for the Only Begotten Son of God has reconciled us with God.

Concerning this beatitude, blessed Augustine says: The Sons of God are peacemakers in themselves, since, putting all the passions of their souls in order and subordinating them to reason, that is, mind and spirit, they completely subjugate bodily desires: thereby they become the Kingdom God, in which all things are ordered in such a way that the main and supreme element in man owns without resistance others, those that we have in common with animals; and that this supreme element in man itself, i.e. the intellect and reason, is subject to something even better: truth itself, the Only Begotten Son of God. For man is not able to master the lower until he submits himself to the higher. And this is the peace that was given on earth to people of good will (Luke 2:14); it is a complete and perfect life. From such a kingdom, in which perfect peace and order have been established, the prince of this world is expelled, who rules where there is corruption and disorder.

The clergy who arrived at the monastery of Kellii (Chelie) on the occasion of the day of remembrance of St. Justin Popovich, performs, according to the Serbian tradition, the rite of cutting a kolach on the grave of the Reverend.

Divine Thought of St. Gregory of Nyssa reveals to us new depths in the divine virtue of peacemaking. “All the beatitudes that were previously indicated to us on this mountain,” says the saint, “are such that each one is sacred and holy, but what is now offered in the full sense is a sanctuary and the holy of holies. For if there is no higher good than this, to see God; then to become a son of God is, without a doubt, above all well-being. God, “so powerful and great that it is impossible to see Him, or hear Him, or comprehend Him with a thought, a sane person is appropriated into nothing among creatures - this ashes, this hay, this vanity: he is accepted as a son by the God of all. What can be found worthy of thanksgiving for this mercy? Man goes beyond the limits of his nature, becomes immortal from a mortal, from a soon-perishing unchangeable-remaining, from one-day eternal, in a word from a man God; because the one who is worthy to become the son of God will undoubtedly have in himself the dignity of the Father, having become the heir of all the blessings of the father.

“Such is the reward, what a feat is this? - if you are a peacemaker. It seems to me that the work for which such a reward is promised is a new gift. For in the enjoyment of what we desire in this world, what is sweeter for the people of a peaceful life? Whatever you talk about pleasantness in this life, in order for it to be pleasant, peace is needed.

Blessed are the peacemakers. “The Scripture, in a nutshell, offers the gift of healing for many ailments. What is the world? Nothing but a loving disposition towards a fellow tribesman. So what is meant by the opposite of love? Hatred, anger, irritation, envy, rancor, hypocrisy, the scourge of war. Do you see how many and from what ailments one saying serves as a protective medicine? For the world equally opposes everything numbered, and by its presence brings evil to annihilation. Just as disease is destroyed after the return of health, and after the appearance of light there is no darkness left, so with the appearance of the world, all the passions aroused by the opposition disappear.

Whoever eradicates such a disease from human life, binds people of the same tribe with goodwill and peace, brings people into friendly harmony, does not he, truly, with divine power, do the work, destroying the evil in the human race, and in place of this introducing the communion of goods? That is why the Lord calls the peacemaker the son of God: for by granting this to human life, he becomes an imitator of the true God.

So, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of Godiimi. Who exactly? Imitators of God's philanthropy, which is characteristic of God's activity, they show the very same in their lives. The beneficent Giver of blessings and the Lord completely destroys and turns into nothing everything that is not akin to good and alien to it, and legitimizes this mode of action for you, cast out hatred, stop war, destroy envy, prevent battles, destroy hypocrisy, quench the burning heart the interior is vindictiveness, but to introduce in place of this, which is restored by the destruction of the opposite. Just as light comes with the removal of darkness, so instead of what has been enumerated above, the fruits of the spirit appear: love, joy, peace, goodness, patienceie, and all the number of blessings collected by the Apostle ( Gal. 5.22). Therefore, how can the distributor of divine gifts not be blessed, who is likened to God by gifts, who likens his good deeds to God's greatness? But, perhaps, gratification means not only the good that is delivered to others, but, as I think, in the proper sense, a peacemaker is called, who brings the rebellion of the flesh and spirit and the internecine strife of nature in himself into peaceful harmony, when the law already comes into inaction bodily, opposing1st law of the Spirit (Rom. 7:23) and, having submitted to a better kingdom, becomes a servant of the divine commandments. It would be better to say, let us hold on to the idea that the word of God advises not this, that is, it does not imagine the life of those who prosper in duality, but in that, when it is ruined in us standing in the midst of the barrier (Eph. 2:14) vice, by merging with the best, both became copulated into one. So, inasmuch as we believe that the Divine is simple, uncomplicated and indescribable, then when human nature, for such peace, becomes alien to the addition of duality, it returns exactly to the good, becoming simple, indescribable, and, as it were, in the true sense one, so that it is one and the same and the visible with the secret and the hidden with the visible; then happiness is indeed confirmed, and such in the true sense are called sons of God, having been made blessed according to the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Nine Beatitudes

To be established in the hope of the eternalsalvation, you need to join prayertake your own feat to achieve bliss. leadership in thisfeat can be the teaching of the Lordour Jesus Christ, abbreviatedoffered in His commandments of blessingwomanhood. There are nine such commandments.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they are Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who weep, for they comfort sya.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the mercies, for they will be pardoned.

Blessed are the pure in heart, as God will be seen.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are the exiles of righteousness, for those is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you, when they reproach you and Izhdenut, and they say every evil verb, on you lie for me. Rejoice and you are merry, as your bribe is much on Heaven

( Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, verses 3-12).

poor in spirit . Be poor in spiritmeans to have a spiritual conviction: everything,what we have, God grants, and nothinggood we can't do without Boliving help and grace; and so aboutconsider at once that we are nothing and inall seek the mercy of God. Briefly, spiritual poverty is humble no-wisdom.

Those who desire happiness must be crying . Crying are those who co-crumble and cry in remorse fortheir sins, that is, they lament overthat they serve unworthily before Godgom and offend Him with their sinsgreatness and deserve His wrath. Pla-those who feel will be comforted, that is, they will receive easierremission of sins and peace of mind.

Those who desire happiness must be meek . The meek are such peoplewho try not to let anyoneannoy and not be annoyed.These are gentle, patient in relation toto each other, not grumbling atGod's people. The meek shall inherit the earth,i.e. the Kingdom of Heaven.

Those who desire happiness must be hungry and thirsty for the truth . Alchu-hungry and thirsty, truths are those whowhich, like writing and drinking for the body,wish salvation for the soul - justification -through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied, that is, they will receive the justification they desire and salvation.

Those who desire happiness must be merciful . The merciful are those whowho show mercy and compassionneighbor, or, in other words, someonewho do works of mercy. Mi-deedsbodily loins are as follows: the hungryto feed, thirsty to drink, clothenaked or lacking in non-walkable and decent clothes, visit to visit the sick in prison, to serve him and help himrecovery or Christianpreparation for death, a wanderertake into the house and provide rest,row the dead in squalor (in povertyness, poverty). Deeds of mercy of the spiritsnoah the following: by exhortation to turnsinner from his false way, neveblowing to teach truth and goodness,give your neighbor kind and well-timedadvice in difficulty or, in case ofunnoticed danger to them, to prayabout him to God, to console the sad, notto repay the evil that they have done to usothers, wholeheartedly forgive insults. The Lord promises the merciful that theywill be pardoned. Here it meansthere is pardon from the eternal for sinscondemnation at the Judgment Seat of God.

Those who desire happiness must be pure in heart . Purity of heart isnot quite the same as sincerity.Sincerity or sincerityaccording to which a person does not showhypocritically good dispositions, nothaving them in the heart, but good dispositions shows the affection of the heart in good mortars, there is only the lowest degree purity of heart. This purity manachieves constant and unrelentingthe feat of vigil over oneself, driving every unlawful thing out of your heart, any desire and thought, and everypredilection for earthly things and notconstantly keeping in mind the memoryabout God and the Lord Jesus Christwith faith and love for Him. Purethey will see God with their hearts, i.e., you will receivethe highest degree of eternal bliss va.

Those who desire happiness must be peacekeepers . Peacekeepers are thosepeople who live with everyone in the worldand consent, forgive insults to everyone and becometry to reconcile as much as possible and others who quarrel among themselves, andwhen impossible, pray to God fortheir reconciliation. Promises to peacekeepers -the blessed name of the sons of God,how much they imitate their featthey give to the Only Begotten Son of God,who went to earth to reconcile warmsewing man with justice bo live.

Those who desire happiness must be prepared to endure persecution for righteousness. . This command requires the followingqualities: truthfulness, constancy andfirmness in virtue, courage andpatience. For patient and uncomplainingthey are promised to endure persecutionKingdom of heaven.

Those who desire happiness must be ready to endure all sorts of solutions , disaster, the very death for the nameChrist. A feat, according to this orderlead, is called the feat of martyr- skim. The Lord promises for this featgreat reward in Heaven, i.e., a pre-property and high degree bliss.

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The Seventh Beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Those who wish to receive eternal bliss must be peacemakers, that is, firstly, restore the broken peace, try to stop the disagreements that have occurred. But only the one who has acquired a peaceful dispensation of his heart can be a peacemaker. Only he who himself comes into a peaceful dispensation can pour out peace on others. And therefore, we Christians must do our best to preserve peace of mind. What disturbs the peace of the heart? The peace of the heart is disturbed by passions! First of all, such as anger and rage. We have already spoken about them when we repented of our lack of meekness and humility.

However, we repeat: in order to preserve peace of mind, we must bring ourselves into such a state that our spirit is not indignant at anything. One must be like the dead or completely deaf and blind in the midst of all the sorrows, slanders, reproach, deprivations that inevitably happen to everyone who wants to follow the saving paths of Christ.

If it is impossible not to be indignant, then at least you need to hold your tongue, according to the psalmist's verb: "... I was confused and did not speak" (Ps. 76, 5). In order to preserve spiritual peace, one must drive away despondency and try to have a joyful spirit, according to the words of the wise son of Sirach: "... kill many sorrows, and there is no use in it" (Sir. 30, 25).

To preserve peace of mind, it is necessary to avoid condemning others in every possible way. Condescension and silence preserve the peace of the soul.

Perhaps some of you who have a hot temper, like the Apostle Peter, who instantly, in the ardor of his heart, took out a knife and cut off the ear of a slave, it will seem that such a dispensation is similar to indifference! Not! Indifference is a coldness of heart and mind, it is a manifestation of extreme selfishness, it is a sin against the commandment to love one's neighbor. And the true, grace-filled peace and silence of the heart are the fruit of fiery and pure love, the crown of all exploits and struggle with passions! Those who have acquired true peace of soul forgive insults not out of indifference, but for the sake of Christ. They are not indignant, enduring slander and reproach, because they have acquired true humility. For there is no other entrance to the peaceful dispensation of the heart. “My brother, if you love the peace of your heart, try to enter it through the door of humility. There is no other entrance to it except humility” (St. Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer).

The same elder Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer described a whole system of virtues for acquiring inner peace: humility, conscientiousness, abstinence from passions, patience, love, etc. And we, standing here today at confession and repentance, what can we say to the Lord? Have we sought by these virtues to strengthen and preserve our hearts from disorderly confusion! Not!

We didn't even think about it. And we live as we live at the behest of unbridled nature, according to the precepts of evil power, and we also make excuses that we have such a character, such a temperament that we cannot do otherwise, we are such. We did not even for a moment think about our deplorable fate, did not stop our attention on the words of the Apostle: without peace, no one will see the Lord (cf.: Heb. 12, 14). For us, leading a disorderly life, these are terrible words! The Holy Fathers, directing their lives towards salvation and out of great love for their neighbors, desiring a saving path for them as well, commanded to make the preservation of the peace of the heart an unceasing feat of all life. Lord, we are so indifferent, so careless in the matter of saving our souls! Forgive us, Lord! Help us start a spiritual life!

How terrible these words sound, if life has already come to an end, and so much precious time has been lived carelessly!

Forgive us sinners, Lord! At the eleventh hour of those who came to You, who did not acquire the good fruits of their lived years, but who could only bring repentance.

Pacifying ourselves, we must be peacemakers with respect to our neighbors. Discord within a person, discord and alienation from each other, hostility, suspicion - these are all the results of a violation of the grace-filled peaceful connection with God by the fall of the forefathers Adam and Eve. Without the restoration of this connection, without reconciliation with God, salvation became impossible. The Apostle Paul speaks of this in this way: "For it was pleasing to the Father ... that by means of Him [His Son] he might reconcile everything to Himself, making peace through Him through the blood of His cross, both earthly and heavenly" (Col. 1, 19-20).

If we turn to our time, it is especially characterized by the alienation of people, the loss of cordial connection, mutual trust and sincere, benevolent attraction of one to another. Even among members of the same family, desires to separate, to fence themselves off with partitions, in order to have their own, special corner, are noticeable. This happens because harmony has not been created for each member of the family within themselves, in order to seek and create peace on the basis of this inner world with both loved ones and with all other people. Only when inner peace is restored in the human heart in Jesus Christ, then the connection of this heart with its neighbors is restored. This connection is expressed in the unity of the word, spirit and thought. “I beseech you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak one thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in one spirit and in one mind” (1 Cor. 1:10).

How do we violate harmony and peace? We are stubborn and capricious, persistent to the limit in our opinions and desires, uncompromising in disputes, even if we understand that we are wrong, if only our word was the last. We are vain and glorious, we consider ourselves smarter, better than others, we have no intention of yielding in anything, we have no signs of modesty, we envy absolutely everything: wealth, and happiness, and health, and abilities, and successes in the lives of others. Hence, we try in every possible way to belittle the merits of others, and even to denigrate or slander our neighbor. What kind of peace is this?

Lord, forgive us sinners!

The next reason for the violation of harmony and peace is the desire to rule, to teach others. Who among us in our circle is not sick with this sinful desire? And what discord, irritation, up to hatred, these desires lead to in our relations!

Now no one and no one wants to obey, yield, obey someone ... This applies to children in relation to their parents, and subordinates in relation to their superiors. Everywhere we show our obstinacy and deliberate pride.

Another enemy of the world is self-interest, that is, preferring one's own advantages to those of others. Who among us can say that in order to preserve peace, in the name of brotherly love, he knows how to sacrifice his own comforts and benefits? Yes, we are ready, as the people say, to cut the throat of someone who tries to oppress us in some way.

If the peace is somehow broken, then brotherly love requires that the spark of discord that has flared up be extinguished as soon as possible. If we ourselves gave rise to someone's insult, then we should rather calmly explain our intention and act, which he understood in the opposite sense. If someone really suffered an insult or harm from us, then we are obliged to humbly ask for forgiveness and satisfy for the harm. And if we ourselves are offended or offended by others, then we should be pliable to reconciliation: when those who offend us ask for forgiveness, we must immediately forgive with readiness, and sometimes for mutual benefit it is useful for the offended to seek reconciliation himself, when the one who offended by cruelty of character does not care about it. Do we do this in our relationships with others? Not!

We constantly offend someone, constantly pout at someone, get angry, fight without reconciliation. Look at you - constantly quarreling, fighting, distrusting each other! Is it not your portrait that St. Gregory of Nyssa described: “They meet sullenly and always abhor each other: their mouths are silent, their eyes are averted, and the hearing of one is closed to the words of the other. Everything that is pleasant for one of them is hateful for the other, and, on the contrary What is hateful to one, is liked by another."

Ashamed, ashamed to look at yourself from the outside. We ourselves do not even notice that, constantly being in disagreements and quarrels, strife and enmity with our neighbors, we become more and more cold, insensitive, cruel, wild, ferocious, and not human and not Christians. This applies to us the terrible warning of the Apostle: "If you bite and eat one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another" (Gal. 5, 17). Look! Someday the fruits of our earthly enmity will be revealed to us, and we will be horrified! God wants peacemakers, and we quarrel! God wants the creators of the world, and we destroy it even where it is, with our talkativeness and malicious gossip and gossip with a distortion of the truth.

"The Lord completely destroys and destroys everything that is unnatural and alien to goodness. He commands the same activity to everyone who calls himself a Christian. Each of us must extinguish hatred, stop enmity, revenge, destroy quarrels, cast out hypocrisy, quench malice in the heart, and instead introduce everything opposite: love, joy, peace, goodness, generosity, in a word, the whole collection of blessings ...

The Lord therefore calls the peacemaker the son of God, because he who brings such peace to human society becomes an imitator of the True God" (St. Gregory of Nyssa).

If bitterness and worldliness are manifested among those who believe in Christ, if people treat each other with bitterness and hostility for some reason or because of the narrowness of their views, then what a shame we put on the name of Christ! How often such conversations arise among unbelievers, they say, what's the point that they believe in God, observe fasts, do not leave the church, but look at how they live: they quarrel, and condemn, and slander, and are at enmity with each other, and we and people don't count at all!

Lord, forgive us sinners! Tease our life, Lord, soften our cruelty, give us love that overcomes everything that rises against us. May obedience to this word - seek peace and strive for it - triumph over all strife that poisons life and heart.

Have peace "and the God of love and peace will be with you" (2 Cor. 13:11).