Interpretation of the Beatitudes

“Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in which you are being built into a dwelling place of God through the Spirit.” ().

Introduction

In the old, old times, Egyptian pharaohs built pyramids of stone. Some of those pyramids were fifty meters high, others a hundred, and some even higher than a hundred meters. There are also those that are twice as tall as the Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, the most majestic church in the Orthodox East. Truly, it is a mystery why the pharaohs built such gigantic pyramids, however, everything in ancient pagan Egypt is mysterious, everything is a fairy tale, everything is a premonition. Most likely, the pharaohs erected these gigantic stone structures, dreaming of their immortality. They dreamed of the immortality of the body, although they also guessed about the immortality of the soul. In any case, another motive for such construction was vanity and mutual rivalry. Each of them wanted to immortalize themselves with such a monument that could withstand time and would stand as long as the earth stands. The Egyptian “Book of the Dead” contains a prediction about the coming judgment of the god Osiris and the immortality of man, but all this is expressed in vague guesses and is based on a premonition. The ancient Egyptian guess about the immortality of man is declared a reality in Christianity. Only in Christianity the concept of immortality is cleared of the delusions of the pharaohs, separated from vague pagan visions and from fantastic guesses and arbitrary fortune-telling. The concept of immortality in the Christian era is based on the existence of a single living God and is associated with the saving sacrifice of Christ, with His Resurrection and victory over death. And, in turn, prompted people to build “pyramids”. It prompted to such work not only kings and prominent people, but also all others who believe in Christ and follow Him, for all Christians, according to the word of the Seer of Mysteries, are called kings: “To him, who loved us and washed us from our sins in His blood and made us kings and priests to His God and Father, be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.”().According to this, it is the honorable duty of every Christian to build one “pyramid” for himself. Therefore, as many Christians as there are in the world, there should be as many “pyramids.” These Christian "pyramids" are much taller than any Pharaonic pyramid. But they cannot be measured with a regular meter. They rise above the Sun and Moon and the entire material universe. They ascend to heaven and are only visible there in all their grandeur and beauty. They are not afraid of time, rain, wind, frost, bombs, grenades, or any blind destructive force. The whole world is weak before these Christian pyramids. They stand beyond destruction and beyond death. They are guaranteed immortality in a world where the name of death is not mentioned and the sting of death is powerless. For these pyramids are spiritual, more real than any material thing. They are based on a spiritual foundation, built by the spirit, adorned by the spirit, strengthened by the spirit and destined for the spiritual kingdom. The need for these pyramids and the construction plan were announced by the Lord Himself. And the builders must be all baptized people, inspired by the almighty assistance of the Holy Spirit. Every such pyramid has nine main levels, and the tenth level is the tower of joy, with which the Lord Himself crowns the entire structure. Each level has several of its own special sublevels and many departments. All upper levels rest on those below them, which is natural in conventional construction on the ground. And the entire pyramid is so beautiful and slender that you can’t take your eyes off it. As you know, the pharaohs built their pyramids on sand, bringing stone from afar. Christian pyramids, heavenly pyramids, are based on the hardest Stone, and that stone is Christ, about which the great Apostle says this: “You are no longer strangers and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in which you also you are being built into a dwelling place of God through the Spirit.”().So, let's take a close look at the wonderful plan of the heavenly pyramid, studying level by level.

First level

On the low shore of the blue Lake of Gennesaret, the Divine Builder sat down on the green grass and began to sketch out a plan for a new building. However, He did not draw it on parchment, but imprinted His fiery word into the souls of His disciples, as if putting a diamond seal on the pliable wax of human souls. His first words reveal where the creation of the heavenly pyramid begins and how the first level is laid.

. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Only these words were spoken by the Divine Builder about the laying of the first, most spacious and most durable level, the foundation that should support the rest of the building. And these words are enough for you, O Christian, if you sincerely want to build a royal pyramid, which you will enjoy in the Paradise of eternity. You yourself know: the deeper the foundation of a building is in the ground, the more reliable the building. Our human poverty is very deep and hidden, so that many do not reach its bottom. But it is good for those who descend to the very bottom. Poverty of spirit is not some gift received from the outside, but it is a real state of a person that only needs to be realized. And they come to the realization of their spiritual poverty by severely testing themselves. Whoever decides to do this comes to understand threefold poverty: - poverty from the point of view of his knowledge, - poverty from the point of view of his kindness, - poverty from the point of view of his deeds. Poverty is the highest degree of poverty. When a person thinks about the possibilities of his mind, or about his moral qualities, or about his activities, he is always convinced of his great poverty, downright beggary. A person would like to know his fate, would like to understand who he is, where he comes from and how he needs act, weaving threads in the fabric of life. However, he sees, even if he is the most learned, that all his knowledge compared to his ignorance is like a cup of water next to the open sea. He would like to surpass all other creatures in the world with kindness, but he sees how at every step he falls into a dirty puddle of evil and cruelty. He would like to always do the greatest and grandest things, but he sees that he can’t do anything without outside help. Thus, wherever you look, a person is convinced of his weakness and his insignificance. Other people cannot help him, because they are insignificant and weak, like himself. Then a person turns to his Creator, falls into the dust before Him, surrenders to His will and cries out for help. Such awareness of one’s weakness and understanding of one’s complete insignificance is called poverty of spirit. And poverty of spirit opposes spiritual pride. Meanwhile, spiritual pride is a much greater insignificance than poverty of spirit. To recognize and feel your insignificance is much less insignificance than pride, for pride is not only ignorance, but also stupidity. Pride is the mother of all stupidity and all evil deeds of men. To know yourself means to be able to see your weakness and your insignificance, then achieve contrition of heart and, finally, cry out to the Lord for mercy, begging for help. Contrition of the heart, or humility, resulting from a correct understanding of one’s weakness, is the basis of all virtues, the basis of spiritual The life of every Christian is the basis of the heavenly pyramid. One day, an evil spirit argued with Saint Macarius and finally exclaimed: “I can do everything, Macarius, that you can, and only in one thing do you defeat me - in humility!” The holy fathers of the Church say about humility: “Humility has no tongue to speak evil about others, has no eyes to see the evil of others, has no ears to hear the slander of others.” “Humility is the gateway to God.” Whoever realized that in his insignificance he could not do anything without God’s help, laid a reliable foundation at the base of his heavenly pyramid. "Without Me you can do nothing"(), said the Lord. At every step, from morning to night, a reasonable person recognizes the truth of these words. And the awareness of this makes him great before God. When a person gets rid of the evil wind of pride, then silence comes in his soul, and the Holy Spirit enters his soul. And when the Holy Spirit enters and dwells in the soul, He builds the heavenly pyramid entirely according to His understanding and His will, only under the sign of man. Oh, my brother in Christ, the main thing is not to interfere with the Spirit of God to move in and create. The main thing is to despise in yourself everything that is in you from you, and not from God, and it does not matter where: in the area of ​​knowledge, feelings or desires. Do not say, proud one: “Why should I humiliate and humiliate myself!” No one demands that you humiliate yourself, but you must only admit that you are lower than the Lord. Nobody demands from you that you make yourself into a nonentity, just admit your already existing insignificance, which is indisputable. And when you recognize and confess what already exists, only then can you lay the first stone in the foundation of the spiritual building of your soul. After this, you will be able to build the entire first level of your paradise pyramid, which will all be as if made of iron: both strong, like iron, and will shine with a dark shine, like iron.

Second level

When the first level is securely laid, then, my brother in Christ, quickly hasten to build the second. The first level is not very pleasing to the eye with its beauty, just as iron does not attract the eye, but it is strong and reliable, like the iron that is used in the construction of buildings. The first level is more in the ground than above the ground; it is almost invisible, like any foundation. Humility is not one of the shining virtues. The first level is entirely composed of thoughts about one’s personal insignificance and feelings of one’s weakness and insignificance. The second level is all about tears.

. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted

Tears are a wonderful material! So gentle, but so reliable! It shimmers like an opal stone. And indeed, the entire second level, the level of tears, looks as if it was built from an opal gemstone. The proud have no tears. He boasts that he never cries and has never cried. He doesn't understand that this is his weakness, not his strength. His gaze burns with a dry fire that dries up human hearts. Pride grew on the thinnest dry layer of earth on top of the stone. Meanwhile, moisture lurks in the depths. Brokenness before the Lord resembles deep plowing, when wet layers of earth are lifted. The broken, or humble in spirit, weeps. His soul is always full of tears, as evidenced by his eyes. One of the holy fathers of the Church mentioned two baptisms: one with water, and the other with tears. Another teacher repeated: “Cry day and night and never know the satiety of crying!” You may think that tears are a sign of weakness. Don’t think so! Christians who cried the most went to death singing. “Tears are the oil of the eyes.” ", - said. The greatest sinners - Mary of Egypt, Taisia ​​and Pelagia - washed their souls with tears and became saints. This happened with thousands of others. You, a Christian, can do the same. It is known that whoever laughs a lot will have to repent, but even for one shed tear - never. “Woe to you who laugh now! For you will weep and wail."(), - these are the holy words from the most holy lips. Never has evil arisen from the seed of tears, but from the seed of laughter has truly arisen much evil. And yet, not all tears are gospel tears. To create a heavenly pyramid, tears of furious anger and tears of regret for lost or not received earthly wealth are not needed. Gospel tears are those that flow from a contrite and repentant heart. Gospel tears are those tears that grieve for the lost Paradise. Gospel tears - these are the tears that mix with the tears of children and sufferers. Gospel tears are those tears that wash away the harm that we have done to heavenly Love. Just as dew arises from the meeting of cold air with warm air, so tears flow naturally and easily from the eye of a man who has encountered the warmth of the love of the Heavenly Father. “My tears were bread for me day and night”(), - confesses the repentant King David, when his cold heart met the warmth of the spiritual Sun. Those who never cry will never feel consolation. Only a child who has burst into tears can be comforted when his mother caresses him. It is not for nothing that this light is called the “valley of tears” (). And the Lord Himself, when He appeared in our world, shed tears. Man, you have a choice only between crying and crying, but not between crying and not crying. Either you will cry desperately and hopelessly in front of the blind and deaf nirvana, or in front of the living Comforter. If you cry before the living Comforter, you will receive consolation. The Lord Himself will appear to you as your consolation. And in the silence of your comforted soul, He Himself will continue to build your heavenly pyramid.

Third level

. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth

So, the third level of the heavenly pyramid is created by meekness. Meekness is the daughter of weeping and the granddaughter of humility. The greatest personalities of the preparatory Testament - Samuel, John the Baptist and the Ever-Virgin Mary - were begged with tears from the Lord. And meekness itself is a virtue cried out and begged for. That is why meekness is completely inseparable from the mentioned personalities, like tears from the heart. Meekness can only be in third place, because the third level is built after the first and second. After the clouds begin to rain, peace and quiet comes, just as any meekness comes after crying. Meekness also existed in Old Testament times. For example, about Moses it is said that he was “the gentlest man of all people on earth”(). The same is said about the meekness of the forefather Jacob and King David: “Remember, O Lord, David and all his contrition.”(). But only from Christ is meekness included among the virtues necessary for building a person’s soul. "I am meek and lowly in heart", - the Son of God said about Himself (). And as He is, so must His followers be. Meekness is the first virtue of Christ to which people paid attention. “Behold the Lamb of God!”() - Saint John the Baptist exclaimed when he saw the Messiah on the banks of the Jordan. Others at this time, pushing and arguing, hurried to him, to the Prophet, to listen to his speeches and to be baptized. But Jesus was in no hurry, but walked meekly, bypassing others, like a lamb that does not touch or offend anyone. He walked like a lamb that bypasses everyone and avoids collisions. Meekness is manifested primarily in not striving to occupy the front rows. And this comes from absolute trust in the will of God. The meek knows that the Creator puts people where He wants, and is ready to submit to the will of God both in the first and last ranks. It doesn’t matter to him where the Lord places him; the main thing for him is to do the will of God, wherever he is. The meek know that the latter, if they surrender to the will of God, will achieve a more glorious crown than those who made their way to the front ranks to do their will. Meekness can also be expressed this way: not to offend anyone and patiently endure any insults. Verily, the lamb is the image of meekness. Imagine Christ before the brutal judges. While they shouted, reviled Him, spat on Him and tore their clothes, He stood silent and was “like a lamb... mute”(). The peaceful silence of His soul was like the radiance of peace over a storm-churned sea. This silence was so wonderful and incomprehensible that the Apostle conjures Christians with it, saying: “But I, Paul... persuade you through the meekness and forbearance of Christ.”().And the Apostles were completely similar in meekness to their Teacher. He sent them like lambs into a pack of wolves, that is, he commanded them to be meek among the arrogant and patient among the vengeful. He taught them to be patient, like nursing mothers who suffer from their children, but patiently endure this torment: “We could appear with importance, like the Apostles of Christ, but we were quiet among you, like a nurse tenderly treats her children.”().Some visitors who visited one desert dweller were surprised at how this holy man tolerated the abuse of a shepherd scolding near his shack. And he answered: “By this I learn to endure evil, saying to myself: how can I bear greater evil when it comes?” Another elder was constantly robbed by a neighbor who served him. Whenever he entered the elder’s cell, he would certainly grabbed something and carried it away. The elder noticed all this, but did not say anything to him. When the elder’s hour of death came, and all the neighbors gathered around his deathbed, the elder kissed the hands of the one who served him with the words: “To these hands I owe the fact that Now I am leaving for the Kingdom of Heaven." Oh, meek ones, you will receive the whole earth as an inheritance. Are you wondering how this is? And so are the Apostles. Whose names are known today throughout the entire earth more than their names? The speeches of which ruler are now heard everywhere louder than the words of the Apostles? Those without meekness will not inherit an inch of earth, either here or in Paradise. And you, Christian, create the third level of your heavenly pyramid with the help of meekness. Meekness is like an amethyst gemstone, which shimmers with beautiful gentle shades.

Fourth level

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

Here is the plan for creating the fourth level of the heavenly pyramid. Here the building material is the desire of all the forces of the soul for truth, the thirst for truth. Here a need for truth is created, based on a passionate desire for truth, similar to hunger and thirst. Hunger and thirst have always been the motivating motive for construction. However, what we are talking about here is not that carnal hunger and carnal thirst that are satisfied by bread and water. Here we will talk about the greatest hunger and the most majestic thirst, about that hunger and that thirst that the soul of a meek person carries within itself and which the whole earth with all its food and drinks cannot quench. A meek man, a lamb-man, always says that he is full and satisfied, because he is silent and patient. In fact, a great thirst for truth lies in the depths of his soul, like a sleeping volcano. It is easy to satiate the proud, that is, the one who uses all his days on earth to destroy his soul. He feeds on all dirt of the earth; just push him forward and put him at the head of the human caravan - and he will be well-fed and satisfied. However, for the one who has erected the first three levels of the heavenly pyramid of his soul, nothing earthly, transitory and perishable can satisfy. Such a person looks at the world with God's eyes, thinks with God's mind and seeks God's truth. By truth here we mean truth and order, such as was revealed and bequeathed by the Lord: the truth about the Creator, the truth about the world, the truth about man, the truth about the goal, the truth about the path. means order inside and order outside, order in the soul, order in the body, in society, in the whole world, in everything, order is truth. More precisely, truth consists of two parts: knowledge of the truth and application of the truth. Everything that a person needs to know and do in order to get closer to the Lord God and please Him is called in one word - truth. The Pharisees were not thirsty for righteousness, for they claimed to have the truth. And Pilate was not thirsty for truth, despite the fact that he asked Jesus: "What is truth?"(). Hungering and thirsting for righteousness were all those who from the very beginning followed Christ and did not leave Him until death. And today those who thirst for righteousness will be those who thirst for Christ, for there is all the fullness of righteousness, all Truth and all order, as He Himself said about Himself: "I am the way and the truth"().Those who hunger and thirst for Christ as the perfection of righteousness are promised that they will be satisfied. Believing in this promise, many Christians despised carnal hunger and worldly thirst and went to seek quenching of their spiritual thirst. Many of them left everything worldly, went as hermits to the desert, secluded themselves in caves, became silent, climbed onto pillars in order to cultivate a spiritual thirst in themselves and to satiate this nurtured thirst with the heavenly truth, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ. They thirsted for Heaven, and the world craved them. Emperor Constantine the Great summoned Saint Anthony from the desert just to look at him. The Emperor of Theodosius begged Elder Zinovy ​​to come from Egypt to Constantinople, just to see and listen to him. Emperor Leo went into the desert just to see Moses Murin, a holy man. You see, the almighty rulers of the earth, in whose souls a spiritual thirst was awakened, descended from their thrones and sought meetings with those who felt themselves the most thirsty and passionately strived day and night to be satisfied with the truth of God at the heavenly table. And although they felt a nurturing sublime thirst until the end of their lives, the world considered them well-fed and satisfied. They considered worldly satiety to be hunger, and the world considered their thirst to be satiation. Truly, choosing thirst was an art. Of these two thirsts, the servants of God chose the thirst for heaven, and with this thirst they created the fourth level of their heavenly pyramid, durable and magnificent, like an emerald gemstone. Just think, only their hunger will be satisfied. And the deceptive thirst for worldly pleasures can never be quenched either in this world or in the next. Remember what the Creator said through the mouth of the Prophet: “Behold, My servants will eat, but you will hunger; My servants will drink, and you will be thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be ashamed." ().

Fifth level

. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy

Whoever hungers and thirsts for the highest wealth, will he be stingy and be satisfied with cheaper ones? Whoever thirsts for the eternal truth of God, will he begin to rake up the corruptible dust of the earth? Whoever dreams of the immortal robe of the spirit, will he cry and be killed over a dress made of grass? Therefore, alms for such a person it is as natural as for a traveler who sets out on a long journey and distributes to his neighbors everything that will only make his burden heavier on the way. Distributing material items is the smallest sacrifice, but a necessary one. Concern for one’s soul is a much greater concern. Confirming your neighbors in the truth, guiding them on the path of righteousness and praying for them is a huge sacrifice, but still it is not the greatest sacrifice. The greatest sacrifice is to give your life for your neighbors. Christ showed this mercy to the entire human race. This mercy is so enormous that it is no longer called mercy, but changes its name and is called love. Almsgiving can flow from various sources - both pure and muddy. The purest source of mercy is compassion. Compassion is a merciful heart. When someone has compassion at heart for a prisoner and helps him in the name of the merciful Lord, then his mercy flows from a pure source and has a high price in the angelic heavens. Remember the wonderful stories about people called merciful: about St. John the Merciful and about Philaret the Merciful. He who values ​​earthly goods more than the soul cannot be merciful. When Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov was elected Bishop of Rome, he was very afraid of losing his poverty. It is said that he was more afraid of losing his poverty than a certain rich man is afraid of losing his wealth. The Holy Scripture says: “A merciful man does good to his own soul”(). When you do something to someone else, you do it twice or a hundred times more for yourself, for the Lord sees everything and will reward it. Reverend Mother Sarah said that compassion can be cultivated. “Do alms first, at least out of love for mankind,” she said, “for one day you will get used to doing alms out of fear of God.” Seraphim of Sarov, in turn, advised: “If you do not have anything with you that you could give to a beggar, pray to the Lord for him.” The Lord said to one merciless people: “I want mercy, not sacrifice”(), that is, it is better to be merciful to one another than to make sacrifices to Me. This is how the Lord loves people! He considers our almsgiving to other people as our sacrifice to Himself. Without Him we cannot be merciful to others. Our right idea of ​​men as brothers is based on our right idea of ​​God as Father. Thus, every circle of our good deeds towards someone always has its center in God. However, as clear as God’s commandment about mercy is, so clear is His threat to the unmerciful. The Apostle James expressed it this way: there will be “judgment without mercy to those who show no mercy”(). And the merciful will be pardoned at the Last Judgment of the Lord. The merciful will be shown mercy in the immortal kingdom of Christ. The merciful will be merciful and will be forever loved by the angels and the righteous. Thus, this level of the heavenly pyramid is created by mercy. Each stone on this level is created out of mercy either towards one’s soul, or towards other people, animals or any creature of God. And this entire level shines with heavenly blue, as if created from a sapphire gemstone. This is the fifth level of the heavenly pyramid.

Sixth level

. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God

Purity of heart is based on mercy. This is as natural as the fact that the sixth level rests on the fifth. An egoist and a miser will never feel that bliss that is called purity of heart. They will never be able to build the sixth level of their heavenly pyramid because they could not build the fifth. Abraham was full of mercy, and mercy helped him cleanse his heart, and with a pure heart he saw the Lord. Why don’t they talk about the purity of the soul, but talk about the purity of the heart? Yes, because the heart is the center of the soul. Thoughts come from the heart, desires are hidden in the heart, all passions nest in the heart. This is why the advice was given: “My son!.. Guard your heart above all else, for from it are the sources of life.” ().As long as the core of the tree is healthy, the branches can whip along the trunk without fear, but slender branches and an abundance of foliage are of no use if the core is being undermined by worms. Simeon the New Theologian called sins worms. Sins are to man what worms are to wood. And no sins corrode a person’s heart as much as secret sins. Take worms out into the sun and they will dry out. Tell about your sins to at least one single person - and they will be forgiven you, there will be no more of them. Both worms and sins are strong only in darkness, only in darkness. While David strictly adhered to the law of God, he spoke with the Lord and easily obeyed the will God's. And as soon as he violated the law of God, the Lord stopped speaking to him and addressed him through other prophets. A pure heart is a mirror in which the Lord loves to look. The Lord God wrote His great and terrible name everywhere, and His presence is discerned in any mystery of nature, but directly, without mystery, He shows Himself in the pure heart of man. This is how a person can rise above his nature! How glorious and joyful it is for people that they are given the honor of receiving the Creator as a Guest in the narrowness of their hearts! This is such a great happiness for people that those who have not looked into the manger of Bethlehem and have not seen to what depths God's Love can descend can hardly believe it. Man can rise and fall, but the Lord cannot rise, He can only come down. The Lord God has no place to rise above Himself, but man is given the opportunity to soar above himself and rise to the heights of the Divine. Because of his weakness, a person falls down, but by the power of God he rises. A person must only prepare his heart, cleanse it of the rubbish of small sins and the dirt of major sins, and the Love of the Lord God will do the rest. The heart is cleansed by faith, hope and love, the fear of God and the expectation of death and the Last Judgment of God, amazement at the creatures created the greatness and power of the Almighty, the test of God's Providence, patience and meekness, and many others. But even if a person’s heart is cleansed by all these means, the smell of earth, sin and death still remains in it, and is present until the Holy Spirit, like the wind from the heavenly heights, ventilates it and, like lightning, fills it with His ozone . It is not for nothing that the Church Fathers say: “When the memories of the sin committed disappear, only then can we say that the heart has been cleansed.” The purity of the heart is like rock crystal, and the sixth level of the heavenly pyramid is built from it. The light of heaven passes through these transparent walls and finds no obstacles. There is not the slightest trace of the dirt of sins left there, and nothing prevents heaven from illuminating all the nooks and crannies of the soul at this level. Oh, Christian, when you enter the Kingdom of God, the building of your soul will delight the most pure angels of the Lord, the babies whom the Lord early took to Himself, and virgins who, in their maidenhood, crossed the bridge of death into Paradise. At your sixth level, at the level of purity, you will meet all of them and together with them you will enjoy contemplating the face of the Lord.

Seventh level

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

Purity of heart is the basis of peace, silence and peace. On this basis rests the level of the world, the seventh level of the heavenly pyramid, which ascends to heaven. A heart that is filled with false thoughts, crazy desires of our corruptible light and bad passions cannot be peaceful, for all this causes disturbance of the waters and raises dark storms in the vastness of the human sea of ​​life. At the heights, even muddy water from stagnant puddles is purified. Raise your heart, too, man, and the heavens will purify it. Peace will come into your pure heart, and the Lord will look into the calm mirror of your soul. Peace and tranquility are spiritual delights. Likewise, purity of heart is also a spiritual delight. He who has peace within himself has great pleasure within his soul. And no one can take this pleasure away from him. He who has peace in his soul has Christ, for it is said that "He is our peace"().Whoever adheres to the Prince of Peace will certainly achieve peace in his soul, for Christ is called the Prince of Peace ().Whoever during a storm comes to the shore of the Giver of Peace will receive peace and will cease to be afraid, because Christ is the Giver of Peace, for He said: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” ().Whoever says that he has Christ in himself, thereby claims that he has peace in his soul. Only with Christ can we achieve peace in our soul, but without Him we will never achieve it. The Apostle Paul speaks a lot about reconciliation with the Lord. However, this reconciliation does not mean a bargain between our will and the will of God, but a complete and joyful submission of our will to the will of God. The Apostle Paul also speaks about our reconciliation with other people. This reconciliation means agreement between our will and the will of other people. People have been trying to agree and come to an agreement among themselves for thousands of years, but they have not been reconciled. Therefore, the Apostle Paul argues that peace between people can be achieved only through universal recognition of the will of God. “As it comes around, so it will respond.” He who hears the peace of God in himself responds to it and radiates it around himself, and without much effort, at all easily, with the ease of breathing. Hence, creating peace means receiving and giving. Receiving peace from the Lord and transmitting it to people (and animals) around you. Yes, and animals! Remember, the holy people of God lived in peace even with wild animals and stroked them, like meek lambs. Consequently, to create peace means to bring peace to animals, and in general to the entire surrounding nature, for nothing disturbs nature more than the sinful restlessness of man. It is not nature that brings peace to people, but on the contrary, people give peace to nature. As soon as between people peace comes, so nature enjoys peace. The peacemaker will be called the son of God. He will be called by the same name as Christ from century to century. The peacemaker carries out the work of Christ. In the name of the Heavenly Father, he appeals to the brotherhood of man and in the name of the love of God calls for brotherly love. To bring peace between people, he reminds them of their royal origin and raises them to a higher level of kinship. And only at this higher level can real peace, unshakable peace be achieved. Civil peace is fragile, only fraternal peace is durable. Not fellow citizens, but only brothers can accept and have Divine peace, real peace. The peacemaker inevitably preaches the great and close kinship of the family of God; he is a preacher of heavenly fatherhood and the brotherhood of man. “You are brothers, for you have one Father in heaven!” This is his infallible argument for peace, which no reasonable person can contradict. This is the most sublime and inspiring argument for achieving peace among people. Because of this, the peacemaker constantly turns to the offended God with a prayer: “Forgive them, Lord, for they do not know what they are doing; forgive them, these are Your children, and You are their Father! “, and the Father listens to his peacemaker son, and through him gives people His Holy Spirit, Who brings the heavenly gift of peace to embittered people. And peace is health. This is how peacemaking activities create the seventh level of the heavenly pyramid. This level is built as if from pure gold and flickers nobly in silence.

Eighth level

. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

He who builds a tall house from earthly material is sure to arouse the envy of his evil neighbors. And whoever builds a heavenly pyramid from spiritual material will certainly arouse the envy of demons. Most of all, demons hate those who have achieved lasting peace of mind and have the gift of reconciling quarreling brothers, for demons find special pleasure in quarrels between people. They would like people to live in constant strife and be unhappy, and therefore grumble against their Creator. Their goal from the very beginning was to make people rebel against the Lord. They loved the murderer Cain, not the meek Abel. They love Esau and hate Jacob, love Saul and hate David, love Caiaphas and hate Gamaliel, love Saul and hate Paul. That is why they tirelessly persecute the righteous. They do harm to the righteous themselves personally, but more often through people with rottenness in their souls. They gather together all those who are morally weak and direct them against the hero of God, against the hero of the Lord’s righteousness. And the Lord sees this, but allows weak people and demons to attack God’s servants. The All-Seeing One allows all this so that weakness will show itself again and again as weakness - and she will be ashamed. The All-Wise allows all this so that people can see and be convinced that truth in rags is stronger than untruth in the crown and on the throne. The All-Good One allows all this to adorn the servant of God once again with a victor’s wreath. Just as thieves and robbers attack the rich in the world, so evil demons and lost people attack the spiritual rich. Saint Neil, sharing his experience, said: “If you truly pray, be prepared for a demonic attack.” The Apostle Paul told Timothy how he endured the suffering and persecution that befell him in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra: what persecution I endured, and the Lord delivered me from all of them. And at the end he emphasized, as a rule: “And all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”().However, the Lord God foresaw all this, predicted it, and did not hide it from His disciples. The apostles were driven with stones from one place to another. Those who hated Jesus pursued Saint Athanasius like a wild beast. Melentius of Antioch was persecuted and persecuted in the same way. John Chrysostom suffered and died in exile. The same thing happened with the Venerable Olympias the Pious. The number of those who suffered for Christ is immeasurable. Saint Basil answered the judge, who threatened him with expulsion, that he could only rejoice at this, because it was impossible to drive him away to where there was no God. The wise John Chrysostom interprets the fruits of persecution in this way: “Just as a plant grows faster when it is watered, so our faith blossoms more strongly and multiplies faster when it is persecuted.” Because the Son of God was persecuted, and all the children of God who became sons of God by grace, they wanted to be persecuted. They considered this a reward and knew that they were suffering for the truth of God. And suffering for the truth of God is excellent material for the construction of a heavenly pyramid. The eighth level of their heavenly pyramid rests firmly on the seven lower levels and all marvelously glows like a topaz gemstone. When they move into the Kingdom of Christ, at this level they will converse in joy and gladness with all those who were persecuted for the truth of God from the beginning of the world.

Ninth level

. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me

And now we will talk about persecution, but a little earlier we were talking about persecution for the truth, and here – about persecution for the sake of Christ. There, truth represented the very system of Christian thinking and behavior, but here all the truth of God is embodied in Jesus Christ. These two levels of the heavenly pyramid are created from the same material - from suffering for the truth and from suffering for Christ. And these sufferings are so precious for the construction of the palace of the soul that the Lord repeats them twice and rewards them twice, as if putting two seals, confirming with them the truth of all previous virtues. The only difference is that in this latter case it speaks of suffering more painful and piercing than those mentioned above. Dishonor, persecution, lies, slander, abusive words - and all this because of Christ - fall upon the faithful as the last and most terrible temptations. Under such pressure, even the strongest stone becomes flat, and there is no way the human heart can resist. Under such a pressure of waves, even the dirtiest canvas is bleached, and where can the human soul be protected? Here we are talking about martyrdom in the name of Christ. And the one who voluntarily accepts this martyrdom acquires priceless material for the construction of the ninth level of his heavenly pyramid. Those who have managed to perfectly build the first eight levels of the palace of their soul want nothing more in the world than to give their lives for their Lord with all their hearts. Such a thirst for martyrdom has always been alive, like a living fire in the Church of Christ, from the times of the apostles to the present day. When the pagans brought the Apostle Andrew the First-Called to the cross to crucify him, the Apostle exclaimed excitedly and joyfully: “Oh, sweet cross, how long have I waited I dreamed of such a fate for you!” And Saint Anthony, full of all kinds of virtues, had in his old age one and only desire: to be tortured and killed for the faith of Christ. Because of this, he left his desert and went to Alexandria, where he started a dispute with heretics only to die at their hands. However, God's Providence was not like that, and Anthony quietly rested in his desert. Imagine the processions of Christian martyrs going to their Calvary, how they cheerfully sing spiritual hymns along the way, as if they were going not to death, but to a wedding. The world has not seen a more wonderful example in its entire history. Many of those martyrs worked for many years, building the heavenly pyramids of their souls, which now rise marvelously and shine on all nine levels. Some of the martyrs had just begun such construction and barely had time to build a level or two. Others just a day ago (and sometimes only an hour ago) called themselves Christians - and died for Christ. For their spiritual sacrifice, the Lord will reward such with a palace of the soul, built from the first level to the last, for they were like those workers whom the Lord hired in the evening and gave them the same pay as those who worked all day. Saint Adrian was a Roman officer, and, amazed at the sacrifice and patience of Christians, he himself became a Christian. “Are you probably crazy, Adrien!?” – the pagan emperor asked him. “No, sir, I have only now found the true mind,” answered the martyr for the faith of Christ. And in our time there is a place for martyrdom and is full of martyrs. Millions of martyrs in Russia have testified and reminded the whole world that the apostolic times still last, and the Lord's harvest today is as abundant as in former times. However, believers are tortured and persecuted even where there is no official persecution. For example, a neighbor was beaten by her atheist husband, cursed and kicked out into the street just because she believed in God and prayed. Does she really need the persecutor of Christians, Emperor Nero, if her own “Nero” lives in her own house, dooming her to martyrdom for Christ? One high school student returned home from school in tears because the students scolded and ridiculed him when he said that he loved Jesus Christ. One soldier received a slap in the face for crossing himself when he got into formation. And they are all honorary builders of the heavenly pyramids, and in the next world they will all be honored to stand in the vast ranks of the army of God’s saints, who for the sake of Christ endured abuse, bullying, beatings, slander and even the most shameful death. The ninth level of their pyramids will be completely lined with bloody rubies that shimmer in the wonderful radiance of the heavens. At this level, all those who suffered for Christ in this life will meet and meet. The ninth level ends with the heavenly pyramid. However, above the ninth level there is something else that looks like the tenth level or resembles a kind of beacon illuminating the entire pyramid, at the base of which is humility, and the top level is martyrdom. It is not man who is working on the construction of that lighthouse; the Lord Himself puts it up on His own behalf and out of His love. And since this light produces unspeakable joy in any soul, only the soul sees it, this lighthouse is called the Tower of Joy.

. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven

And joy, and fun, and reward! Not the joy that ends, but the joy that never ends. Not the joy of the flesh, which ends in bitterness and disappointment, but spiritual joy, which means eternal spiritual delight. And not the wages that are given to the day laborer, but the wages of the son; and not from a foreign master, but from the Father; and not for time worked, but for love. This tower of joy looks more like descending from heaven than rising from earth. With it, the Lord, as it were, goes to meet a person who is building the palace of his soul. Truly, the Creator decorates and illuminates our entire heavenly pyramid with the Tower of Joy. The entire Tower of Joy glows with unprecedented light, like one huge and priceless diamond crystal. Shining rays illuminate the entire structure from the first level to the last, gently merging all the levels of the pyramid into a living, inextricable whole. Concluding this story, it is necessary to note: let no one make a mistake and understand the construction of the heavenly pyramid as the construction of some earthly structure. This pyramid is not material. , but – spiritual. However, despite the fact that it is not material, it is real, much more real than any visible building. The Pyramid of Paradise, visible from heaven, outside the human body, resembles a person, but not any person, but the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For no one who is not like Jesus Christ can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. No one can bring into it any structure of his own that would differ from the structure prescribed, planned and given by the Lord. And when the turn comes to be separated from the earthly body, then we will clearly see - and we will see, and all the angels of the Lord - what we, as Christians, have created during our lives, what we have built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Let's remember the words of the saint of God, Apostle Paul: “Whether anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, everyone’s work will be revealed; for the day will show it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will try everyone’s work, what kind it is. Whoever's work that he built survives will receive a reward. And whoever’s business is burned will suffer loss.”().To our Lord God be eternal glory and praise. Amen.

THE HAPPINESS COMMANDMENTS

The Beatitudes are found at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, in the Holy Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 3 to 12 (Matthew 5:3-12).
The Beatitudes are sung at the Liturgy before the “Little Entrance”.

1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

2. Blessed are the weeping,
for they will be comforted.
3. Blessed are the meek ones,
as if they will inherit the earth.
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
5. Blessedness of mercy,
as if there will be pardons.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart,
that they will see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for these shall be called sons of God.
8. It is blessed to expel the truth for the sake of it,
for of them is the kingdom of heaven.
9. Blessed are you when you are reviled and destroyed,

rejoice and have fun,
for your reward is abundant in heaven.”

The Beatitudes ExplainedIntroduction

1. Who gave us the Beatitudes?
The Beatitudes were given to us by Jesus Christ Himself in His Sermon on the Mount. These commandments are found at the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, in the Holy Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 3 to 12 (Matthew 5:3-12).

2. Do the Beatitudes violate the Ten Commandments of God's Law?
The Beatitudes do not violate the Ten Commandments of God's Law, but on the contrary, they supplement them. Jesus Christ himself answered this question with these words:

"Don't think
that I came to destroy the law, or the prophets:
I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

3. What is the difference between the Commandments of the Law of God and the Beatitudes?
The Ten Commandments of God's Law forbid us to sin. The Beatitudes teach us how to achieve Christian perfection or holiness.

4. When were the Commandments of the Law of God and the Beatitudes given and for what purpose?
The Ten Commandments were given in Old Testament times to keep wild and rude people from evil. The Beatitudes were given to Christians to show them what spiritual disposition they should have in order to draw closer and closer to God and gain holiness.

5. Why does this difference exist?
This difference exists because in the Old Testament people were more rude, but in the New Testament they were already at a higher spiritual and moral level.

First Beatitude

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For to them is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3 cs).

1. How do you say the 1st Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed (especially happy) are the poor in spirit (humble); because the Kingdom of God will be given to them.

2. What does the 1st Beatitude mean?
Humble (calm, peaceful) people, that is, those people who are aware of their imperfection and unworthiness before God and who never think that they are better than others, are especially happy. They will receive from the Lord God eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

3. What virtue is called the main one and why?
The main virtue is humility. Without humility, turning to the Lord God is impossible and no Christian virtue is possible. Humility gives us the opportunity to correctly evaluate our actions; whether they are good or bad. It is especially important to see your mistakes, your sins.
A humble person sees them easily and can therefore correct them. Those who are not humble, that is, proud, do not see their sins and therefore do not have the opportunity to correct them.

Second Beatitude

"Blessed are the weeping,
for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4cs).

1. How will you say the 2nd Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed are those who cry, that is, regret their sins; because they will be comforted.

2. What does the 2nd Beatitude mean?
Crying people are those people who regret their sins. They are especially happy because the Lord God will comfort them.

The Third Beatitude

“Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5cs).

1. What is the 3rd Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed are the meek (kindly) because they will inherit (take possession of) the earth.

2. What does the 3rd Beatitude mean?
Meek people are gentle, calm, full of Christian love, and are especially happy. They will inherit (receive possession from the Lord God) of the land.

The Fourth Beatitude

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6cs).

1. What is the 4th Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed are those who desire righteousness; because they will be satisfied.

2. What does the 4th Beatitude mean?
People who want to live according to God's Truth, according to God's Law, are especially happy, since the Lord God promised them that they will be satisfied.

3. What does it mean to “hunger and thirst for righteousness”?
“Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” means “they desire righteousness as much as a hungry person wants to eat and a thirsty person wants to drink.”

The Fifth Beatitude

"Blesseds of mercy,
for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7 cs).

1. How do you say the 5th Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

2. What does the 5th Beatitude mean?
Gracious (merciful) people are especially happy, since at the future judgment of Christ, special mercy will be shown to them.

3. What does “merciful” mean?
Gracious (merciful) people are those people who sympathize (compassionate) with others, pity people in trouble and try in every possible way to help them.

The Sixth Beatitude

“Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8cs).

1. What is the 6th Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see the Lord God.

2. What does the 6th Beatitude mean?
People with a pure heart are especially happy, since they will see the Lord God Himself.

3. What does “pure in heart” mean?
Pure in heart are those people who not only do not sin, but also do not have bad and impure thoughts, desires and feelings in their hearts. The heart of such people is free from earthly attachments and sinful habits (passions) generated by self-love and pride.

The Seventh Beatitude

“Blessed are the peacemakers,
for these shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9 cs).

1. How will you say the 7th Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

2. What does the 7th Beatitude mean?
People who are peacemakers are especially happy, since they will be called sons of God.

3. What does peacekeepers mean?
Peacemakers are those people who live with everyone in peace and harmony and who always create peace between people.

The Eighth Beatitude

“It is blessed to expel the truth for the sake of it,
For to them is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10 cs).

1. What is the 8th Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

2. What does the 8th Beatitude mean?
People who are unloved (expelled) for the truth are especially happy, since they will receive from the Lord God eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

3. What does “exiled for the truth” mean?
Banished for truth means banished and unloved for life according to the Gospel law.

4. Who doesn’t like people who live in truth?
Enemies of truth, enemies of good, sinners, haters, evil people, bitter people and envious people, they all do not like people who live in truth.

The Ninth Beatitude

“Blessed are you when people revile you and destroy you,
and they say all sorts of evil things about you lying, for my sake.
rejoice and have fun,
for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12 cs).

1. What is the 9th Beatitude in Russian?
Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.

2. What does the 9th Beatitude mean?
If you are scolded, persecuted and slandered because of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are especially happy. Rejoice and be glad because there will be an especially great reward for you in the Kingdom of Heaven.

3. What else does the 9th Beatitude mean?
A righteous person is a deeply religious person who lives according to the Commandments of God. Things don't always go smoothly for such a person. Very often evil and bad people turn against him. There is nothing surprising in this and it was certainly to be expected. But what is especially painful is that often even people who are not bad at all, and even believers, fall into temptation and are filled with envy and anger against the righteous.
The Lord God consoles such righteous people and says that their merit is known to the Lord God and that they will be especially noted and receive the greatest reward in the Kingdom of Heaven.

God gave people the Ten Commandments back in Old Testament times. They were given in order to protect people from evil, to warn about the danger that sin brings. The Lord Jesus Christ established the New Testament, gave us the Gospel law, the basis of which is love: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.(John 13:34) and holiness: be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect(Mt 5:48). The Savior did not abolish the observance of the Ten Commandments, but elevated people to the highest level of spiritual life. In the Sermon on the Mount, talking about how a Christian should build his life, the Savior gives nine beatitudes. These commandments no longer speak of the prohibition of sin, but of Christian perfection. They tell how to achieve bliss, what virtues bring a person closer to God, for only in Him can a person find true joy. The Beatitudes not only do not cancel the Ten Commandments of the Law of God, but wisely complement them. It is not enough simply not to commit a sin or to expel it from our soul by repenting of it. No, we need to have in our souls the virtues that are opposite to sins. It is not enough not to do evil, you must do good. Sins create a wall between us and God; when the wall is destroyed, we begin to see God, but only a moral Christian life can bring us closer to Him.

Here are the nine commandments that the Savior gave us as a guide to Christian deed:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: just as they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

First commandment

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

What does it mean to be beggars spirit, and why such people are blessed? Saint John Chrysostom says: “What does it mean: poor in spirit? Humble and contrite in heart.

He called the soul and disposition of man Spirit.<...>Why didn't He say: humble, but said beggars? Because the latter is more expressive than the former; He calls here poor those who fear and tremble at the commandments of God, whom God also calls through the prophet Isaiah pleasing to Himself, saying: to whom will I look: to him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and to him who trembles at My word?(Isaiah 66:2)” (“Conversations on St. Matthew the Evangelist.” 25.2). Moral antipode poor in spirit is a proud person who considers himself spiritually rich.

Spiritual poverty means humility, seeing your true state. Just as an ordinary beggar has nothing of his own, but dresses in what is given and eats alms, so we must realize: everything we have we receive from God. This is not ours, we are only stewards of the property that the Lord has given us. He gave it so that it would serve the salvation of our soul. You can not be a poor person, but you can be poor in spirit, humbly accept what God gives us and use it to serve the Lord and people. Everything is from God. Not only material wealth, but also health, talents, abilities, life itself - all this is exclusively a gift from God, for which we must thank Him. You can't do anything without Me(John 15:5), the Lord tells us. The fight against sins and the acquisition of good deeds are impossible without humility. We do all this only with the help of God.

It is promised to the poor in spirit, to the humble in wisdom Kingdom of heaven. People who know that everything they have is not their merit, but the gift of God, which needs to be increased for the salvation of the soul, will perceive everything sent as a means of achieving the Kingdom of Heaven.

Second Commandment

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are those who mourn. Crying can be caused by completely different reasons, but not all crying is a virtue. The commandment to mourn means repentant crying for one’s sins. Repentance is so important because without it it is impossible to get closer to God. Sins prevent us from doing this. The first commandment of humility already leads us to repentance, lays the foundation for spiritual life, for only a person who feels his weakness and poverty before the Heavenly Father can realize his sins and repent of them. The Gospel prodigal son returns to the Father's house, and, of course, the Lord will accept everyone who comes to Him and wipe away every tear from his eyes. Therefore, “blessed are those who mourn (for sins), for they will be comforted(emphasis added. - Auto.)". Every person has sins, without sin there is only God, but we have been given the greatest gift from God - repentance, the opportunity to return to God, ask Him for forgiveness. It was not for nothing that the Holy Fathers called repentance the second baptism, where we wash away our sins not with water, but with tears.

Blessed tears can also be called tears of compassion, empathy for our neighbors, when we are imbued with their grief and try to help them in any way we can.

Third Commandment

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

Blessed are the meek. Meekness is a peaceful, calm, quiet spirit that a person has acquired in his heart. This is submission to the will of God and the virtue of peace in the soul and peace with others. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light(Matthew 11:29-30), the Savior teaches us. He was submissive in everything to the will of the Heavenly Father, He served people and accepted suffering with meekness. He who has taken upon himself the good yoke of Christ, who follows His path, who seeks humility, meekness, and love, will find peace and tranquility for his soul both in this earthly life and in the life of the next century. Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria writes: “Some by the word earth mean spiritual land, that is, heaven, but you also mean this earth. Since the meek are usually considered despicable and devoid of importance, He says that they primarily have everything.” Meek and humble Christians, without war, fire or sword, despite terrible persecution from the pagans, were able to convert the entire vast Roman Empire to the true faith.

The great Russian saint, Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, said: “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.” He himself fully acquired this peaceful spirit, greeting everyone who came to him with the words: “My joy, Christ is risen!” There is an episode from his life when robbers came to his forest cell, wanting to rob the elder, thinking that the visitors were bringing him a lot of money. Saint Seraphim was chopping wood in the forest at that time and stood with an ax in his hands. Having weapons and possessing great physical strength, he did not want to offer resistance to those who came. He placed the ax on the ground and folded his arms across his chest. The villains grabbed an ax and brutally beat the old man with its butt, breaking his head and breaking his bones. Not finding the money, they fled. The Monk Seraphim barely made it to the monastery. He was ill for a long time and remained bent over until the end of his days. When the robbers were caught, he not only forgave them, but also asked to be released, saying that if this was not done, he would leave the monastery. This is how amazingly meek this man was.

Fourth Commandment

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

There are different ways to thirst and seek the truth. There are certain people who can be called truth-seekers: they are constantly indignant at the existing order, seek justice everywhere and write complaints, and come into conflict with many. But this commandment is not talking about them. This means a completely different truth.

It is said that one should desire truth as food and drink: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That is, very much like a hungry and thirsty person endures suffering until his needs are satisfied. What truth is being said here? About the highest, Divine Truth. A the highest Truth, Truth is Christ. I am the way and the truth and the life(John 14:6), He says about Himself. Therefore, a Christian must seek the true meaning of life in God. In Him alone is the true source of living water and Divine Bread, which is His Body.

The Lord left us the word of God, which sets forth the Divine teaching, the truth of God. He created the Church and put into it everything necessary for salvation. The Church is also the bearer of truth and correct knowledge about God, the world and man. This is the truth that every Christian should thirst for, reading the Holy Scriptures and being edified by the works of the Fathers of the Church.

Those who are zealous about prayer, about doing good deeds, about saturating themselves with the word of God, truly “thirst for righteousness” and, of course, will receive saturation from the ever-flowing Source - our Savior - both in this century and in the future.

Fifth Commandment

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Mercy, mercy- these are acts of love towards others. In these virtues we imitate God Himself: Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful(Luke 6:36). God sends His mercies and gifts to both righteous and unrighteous, sinful people. He rejoices about one sinner who repents, rather than about ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent(Luke 15:7).

And he teaches us all the same selfless love, so that we do acts of mercy not for the sake of reward, not expecting to receive something in return, but out of love for the person himself, fulfilling the commandment of God.

By doing good deeds to people, as creation, the image of God, we thereby bring service to God Himself. The Gospel gives an image of the Last Judgment, when the Lord will separate the righteous from the sinners and say to the righteous: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him: Lord! when did we see you hungry and feed you? or to the thirsty and gave them something to drink? when did we see you as a stranger and accept you? or naked and clothed? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King will answer them: Truly I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.(Mt 25:34-40). Therefore it is said that " gracious themselves will be pardoned" And on the contrary, those who did not do good deeds will have nothing to justify themselves at God’s judgment, as stated in the same parable about the Last Judgment.

Sixth Commandment

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the pure in heart, that is, pure in soul and mind from sinful thoughts and desires. It is important not only to avoid committing a sin in a visible way, but also to refrain from thinking about it, because any sin begins with a thought, and only then materializes into action. From the heart of man come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy.(Matthew 15:19), says the word of God. Not only bodily impurity is a sin, but first of all impurity of the soul, spiritual defilement. A person may not take anyone’s life, but burn with hatred for people and wish them death. Thus, he will destroy his own soul, and subsequently may even go as far as murder. Therefore, the Apostle John the Theologian warns: Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer(1 John 3:15). A person who has an unclean soul and unclean thoughts is a potential committer of already visible sins.

If your eye is pure, then your whole body will be bright; if your eye is evil, then your whole body will be dark(Mt 6:22-23). These words of Jesus Christ are spoken about the purity of the heart and soul. A clear eye is sincerity, purity, holiness of thoughts and intentions, and these intentions lead to good deeds. And vice versa: where the eye and heart are blinded, dark thoughts reign, which will later become dark deeds. Only a person with a pure soul and pure thoughts can approach God, see His. God is seen not with bodily eyes, but with the spiritual vision of a pure soul and heart. If this organ of spiritual vision is clouded, spoiled by sin, a person will not see the Lord. Therefore, you need to refrain from unclean, sinful, evil thoughts, drive them away as if they were coming from the enemy, and cultivate bright, kind thoughts in your soul. These thoughts are cultivated by prayer, faith and hope in God, love for Him, for people and for every creation of God.

Seventh Commandment

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

Blessed are the peacemakers... The commandment to have peace with people and to reconcile those at war is placed very highly in the Gospel. Such people are called children, sons of God. Why? We are all children of God, his creations. There is nothing more pleasant for a father and mother when he knows that his children live in peace, love and harmony among themselves: How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together!(Ps 133:1). And vice versa, how sad it is for a father and mother to see quarrels, strife and enmity between children; at the sight of all this, the parents’ hearts seem to bleed! If peace and good relationships between children please even earthly parents, all the more does our Heavenly Father need us to live in peace. And a person who keeps peace in the family, with people, reconciles those at war, is pleasing and pleasing to God. Not only does such a person receive joy, tranquility, happiness and blessing from God here on earth, he gains peace in his soul and peace with his neighbors, but he will undoubtedly receive a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Peacemakers will also be called “sons of God” because in their feat they are likened to the Son of God Himself, Christ the Savior, who reconciled people with God, restored the connection that was destroyed by sins and the falling away of humanity from God.

Eighth Commandment

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who are exiled for the sake of truth. The search for Truth, Divine Truth has already been discussed in the fourth beatitude. We remember that Truth is Christ Himself. It is also called Sun of truth. It is about oppression and persecution for the truth of God that this commandment speaks of. The path of a Christian is always the path of a warrior of Christ. The path is complex, difficult, narrow: narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life(Mt 7:14). But this is the only road leading to salvation; we are not given any other way. Of course, living in a raging world that is often very hostile to Christianity is difficult. Even if there is no persecution or oppression for faith, simply living as a Christian, fulfilling God’s commandments, working for God and others is very difficult. It is much easier to live “like everyone else” and “take everything from life.” But we know that this is the path that leads to destruction: wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction(Mt 7:13). And the fact that so many people are following in this direction should not confuse us. A Christian is always different, not like everyone else. “Try to live not as everyone else lives, but as God commands, because... the world lies in evil.” - says the Monk Barsanuphius of Optina. It doesn’t matter if we are persecuted here on earth for our life and faith, because our fatherland is not on earth, but in heaven, with God. Therefore, in this commandment the Lord promises to those persecuted for the sake of righteousness Kingdom of heaven.

Ninth Commandment

Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: just as they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The continuation of the eighth commandment, which speaks of oppression for the truth of God and Christian life, is the last commandment of beatitude. The Lord promises a blessed life to all those persecuted for their faith.

Here it is said about the highest manifestation of love for God - about the readiness to give one’s life for Christ, for one’s faith in Him. This feat is called martyrdom. This path is the highest, it has great reward. This path was indicated by the Savior Himself. He endured persecution, torment, cruel torture and painful death, thereby giving an example to all His followers and strengthening them in their readiness to suffer for Him, even to the point of blood and death, as He once suffered for all of us.

We know that the Church stands on the blood and steadfastness of the martyrs. They defeated the pagan, hostile world, giving their lives and laying them at the foundation of the Church.

But the enemy of the human race does not calm down and constantly initiates new persecutions against Christians. And when the Antichrist comes to power, he will also persecute and persecute the disciples of Christ. Therefore, every Christian must be constantly prepared for the feat of confession and martyrdom.

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

First the Lord indicated what His disciples should be like, that is, all Christians. How they must fulfill the law of God in order to receive blessed (that is, extremely joyful, happy), eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. For this purpose He gave the nine beatitudes. Then the Lord gave teachings about the Providence of God, about non-judgment of others, about the power of prayer, about almsgiving and much more. This sermon of Jesus Christ is called the sermon on the mount.

So, in the middle of a clear spring day, with a quiet breeze of coolness from Lake 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 came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17).

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

THE HAPPINESS COMMANDMENTS

" If you love Me, keep My commandments ".
GOSPEL OF JOHN, chapters 14, 15.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as a loving Father, shows us the ways or deeds 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, 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 to them is the kingdom of heaven.	1. Blessed are the poor in spirit (humble): because theirs is (that is, the Kingdom of Heaven will be given to them).
	The poor in spirit are people who feel and recognize their sins and spiritual shortcomings. They remember that without God’s help they themselves cannot do anything good, and therefore they do not boast or be proud of anything, either before God or before people. These are humble people.
2.Blessed are those who cry, for they will be comforted.	2. Blessed are those who mourn (for their sins), for they will be comforted.
	Weeping people are people who grieve and cry about their sins and spiritual shortcomings. The Lord will forgive their sins. He gives them consolation here on earth, and eternal joy in heaven.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.	3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit (take possession of) the earth.
	The meek are people who patiently endure all sorts of misfortunes, without becoming upset (without grumbling) at God, and humbly endure all sorts of troubles and insults from people, without getting angry with anyone. They will receive possession of a heavenly dwelling, that is, a new (renewed) earth in the Kingdom of Heaven.
4.Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.	4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (desiring righteousness); because they will be satisfied.
	Hungering and thirsting for truth- people who diligently desire truth, like the hungry (hungry) - bread and the thirsty - water, 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. Blesseds of mercy, for there will be mercy.	5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
	Merciful - people who have a kind heart - merciful, compassionate towards everyone, always ready to help those in need in any way they can. Such people themselves will be pardoned by God, and God’s special mercy will be shown to them.
6.Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will see God.	6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
	Pure in heart are people who not only guard against bad deeds, but also try to make their soul pure, that is, they keep it from bad thoughts and desires. Here too they are close to God (they always feel Him in their souls), and in the future life, in the Kingdom of Heaven, they will forever be with God and see Him.
7.Blessed are the peacemakers, for these shall be called sons of God.	7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called (called) sons of God.
	Peacemakers are people who do not like any quarrels. They themselves try to live peacefully and amicably with everyone and to reconcile others with each other. They are likened to the Son of God, Who came to earth to reconcile sinners 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 is the expulsion of truth for the sake of them, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.	8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
	Banished for the Truth- people who so love to live according to the truth, that is, according to God's law, according to justice, that they endure and endure all sorts of persecutions, deprivations and disasters for this truth, but do not betray it in any way. For this they will receive the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you when they revile you, and ridicule you, and say all sorts of evil things about you lying, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is abundant in heaven.	Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad then, for great is your reward in heaven.
	Here the Lord says: if they revile you (mock you, scold you, dishonor you), use you and falsely say bad things about you (slander, unfairly accuse you), and you endure all this for your faith in Me, then do not be sad, but rejoice and be glad, because a great, greatest reward in heaven awaits you, that is, a particularly high degree of eternal bliss.

ABOUT GOD'S PROVIDENCE

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

“Do not worry (overly) about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will 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; and are you not much better than them? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. But I tell you that Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like any of these. But if God clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, then how much more you, O you of little faith! But God is the Father your Heavenly One knows that you need all this. Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

ABOUT NON-JUDGEMENT OF YOUR NEIGHBOR

Jesus Christ did not say to judge other people. He said this: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Because with the same judgment you judge, you will also be judged (i.e., if you are lenient towards the actions of other people, then God’s judgment will be merciful to you). And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye (that is, every other person), but do not feel the plank in your own eye? (This means : Why do you like to notice even minor sins and shortcomings in others, but don’t 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 beam in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye (try first of all to correct yourself), and then you will see how to remove the speck from your brother’s eye" (then you will be able to correct the sin in another without insulting or humiliating him).

ABOUT FORGIVING YOUR NEIGHBOR

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

ABOUT LOVE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR

Jesus Christ commanded us to love not only our loved ones, but all people, even those who offended us and caused us harm, that is, our enemies. He said: “You have heard what was said (by your teachers - the scribes and Pharisees): love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. "That you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust."

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

Be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father is merciful, be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect?

GENERAL RULE FOR TREATING YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

How we should always treat our neighbors, 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 good to us and forgive us), do the same to them". (Don't do to others what you don't want to do to yourself.)

ABOUT THE POWER OF PRAYER

If we earnestly pray to God and ask for His help, then God will do everything that will serve for 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. Is there a man among you who, when his son "If you ask him for bread, would you give him a stone? And when he asks for fish, would you give him a snake? If you, then, being evil, 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 to people, not to show off to others, not for the sake of human reward, but for the sake of love for God and neighbor. Jesus Christ said: “See that you do not do your alms in front of people so that they will see you; otherwise you will have no reward from your Heavenly Father. So, when you do alms, do not sound a trumpet (that is, do not publicize) before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them. Truly I say to you, they are already receiving their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (i.e., to yourself) do not boast about the good that you have done, forget about it), so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in 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.

ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF GOOD DEEDS

So that people know that to enter the Kingdom of God, good feelings and desires alone are not enough, but good deeds are necessary, Jesus Christ said: “Not everyone who says to Me: Lord! Lord! will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will (commandments) of My Heavenly Father,” that is, it is not enough to just be a believer and a pious person, 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 "God's Law". Prot. Seraphim Slobodskaya-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 what everyone knows: “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 one and a half thousand 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 (Matthew 5:3-12), about which modern people know much less than about the Old Testament commandments. What is their meaning?
What kind of bliss 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 Alexey Ilyich Osipov.

- Today the word “bliss” for many means the highest degree of pleasure. Does the Gospel presuppose precisely this understanding of this word or does it give it some other meaning?
- In the patristic heritage there is one common thesis, found in almost all the Fathers: if a person views Christian life as a way to achieve some 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 kind of great trouble from which we all need to be saved, then we are sick, we are in a state of death, damage and spiritual darkness, 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 all sin, from everything that prevents him from achieving this Kingdom, and not by the desire for pleasure, even heavenly. As Macarius the Great said, if I’m not mistaken, our goal is not to receive something from God, but to unite with God Himself. And since God is Love, then union with God introduces us to that highest thing that in human language is called love. There is simply no higher state for a person.

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 designed 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. Essentially, they are nothing more than an image of the beauty of the properties of that person whom the Apostle Paul calls new. The beatitudes show what spiritual gifts the new man will receive if he follows the way 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: so that your days on earth will be prolonged. The beatitudes, without canceling these commandments, raise a person’s consciousness to the true goal of his existence: they will see God, for beatitude is God Himself. It is no coincidence that such an expert on Scripture as St. John Chrysostom says: “The Old Testament is as distant from the New as earth is from heaven.”

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

- What are “poor in spirit”? And is it true that the ancient texts of the New Testament simply say: “Blessed are the poor,” and the word “by the spirit” is a later insertion?
- If we take the edition of the New Testament in ancient Greek by Kurt Aland, where 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 “by the spirit” is present. And the very context of the New Testament speaks about the spiritual content of this saying. Therefore, the Slavic translation, and then the Russian one, contains precisely “poor in spirit” as an expression that corresponds to the spirit of the entire sermon of the Savior. And I must say that this full text has the deepest meaning.

All the holy ascetic fathers 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 on his own, without God’s help. And until a person sees this poverty of his, he is incapable of spiritual life. Poverty of spirit is essentially nothing more than humility. How it is acquired is briefly and clearly discussed, for example, by Rev. Simeon the New Theologian: “Careful fulfillment of the commandments of Christ teaches a person his weaknesses,” that is, reveals to him the illnesses of his soul. The saints claim 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 poverty of spirit is the Kingdom of Heaven, then why are the other blessings needed, since the Kingdom of Heaven already presupposes the fullness of good?

Here we are not talking about 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 build the walls. In spiritual life, humility - spiritual poverty - is the foundation without which all good deeds and all further work on oneself becomes meaningless and useless. St. said this beautifully. Isaac the Syrian: “What salt is to all food, so is humility to all virtue. because without humility all our deeds, all virtues and all work are in vain.” But, on the other hand, spiritual poverty is a powerful incentive for correct spiritual life, the acquisition of all other god-like properties and, thus, the fullness of good.

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

We can say with complete confidence that the first stage is the necessary basis for obtaining the rest. But the enumeration of others does not at all have the character of some logically connected strict system. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke themselves, they have a different order. This is also evidenced by the experience of many saints, who have different sequences of acquiring virtues. Each saint had some special virtue that set him apart from others. Someone was a peacemaker. And some are 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 considered 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 achieved great talents were able to heal, see the future, and prophesy, but then fell into the gravest sins. And the fathers directly explain: all this happened because they, without recognizing themselves, that is, their sinfulness, their weakness in the feat of cleansing the soul from the action of passions, in other words, without acquiring spiritual poverty, were easily subjected to devilish attacks, stumbled and fell.

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

When the holy fathers explain Christ’s blessing of those who cry, they speak not about these reasons for tears, but about tears of repentance, heartfelt contrition for their sins, about their powerlessness to cope with the evil that they see in themselves. Such crying is an appeal of both the mind and the heart to God for help in spiritual life. But God will not reject a contrite and humble heart and will certainly help such a person to overcome evil in himself and acquire goodness. Therefore, blessed are these who mourn.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. What does it mean? In the sense that all the meek 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 (Brianchaninov) wrote: “The state of the soul in which anger, hatred, resentment and condemnation are eliminated from it is a new bliss, it is called meekness.” Meekness, it turns out, is not some kind of passivity, weak character, or inability to repel aggression, but generosity, the ability to forgive the offender, and not retaliate with evil for evil. This property is completely spiritual, and it is a characteristic of a Christian who has conquered his egoism, conquered the passions, especially anger, that 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 the new heaven, about which the Apostle John the Theologian writes in his Apocalypse.

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

It would be a mistake to understand the word “pardoned” in a legal sense or to believe that God, having anger at man, but seeing his mercy towards people, turned His wrath into mercy. There is no judicial pardon of the sinner, no change in God's attitude towards him for his kindness. Rev. Anthony the Great explains this perfectly: “It is absurd to think that the Divine would be good or bad because of human affairs. God is good and does only good things, being always the same; and when we are good, we enter into communication with God - out of similarity with Him, and when we become evil, we separate from God - out of dissimilarity with Him. By living virtuously, we become God's people, and by becoming evil, we become rejected from Him; and this does not mean that He has anger against us, but that our sins do not allow God to shine in us, but unite us with demons tormentors. If we then gain permission from our sins through prayers and acts of kindness, this does not mean that we have pleased God and changed Him, but that through such actions and our turning to God, having healed the evil that exists in us, we again become able to taste God’s goodness; so to say: God turns away from the wicked is the same as saying: the sun is hidden from those deprived of sight.” That is, pardon here does not mean a change in God’s attitude towards man for his mercy, but this mercy towards his neighbor makes the person himself capable of perceiving the unchanging love of God. This is a logical and natural process - like is combined with like. The closer a person becomes to God through his mercy towards 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 frees himself from this slavery, he truly becomes more and more a spiritual spectator of God. Just as we experience love, we see it in ourselves, so, similarly, a person can see God - not with external vision, but with the internal experience of His presence in his soul, in his life. How beautifully the Psalmist speaks about this: taste and see that the Lord is good!

- Blessed are the peacemakers - who is this said 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, social, international. Those who unselfishly strive to establish and maintain peace are blessed, even if this is associated with any infringement of their pride, vanity, etc. This peacemaker, in whom love overcomes his often petty truth, is pleased with Christ.

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

- Well, the last question - expelled for the sake of truth. Isn’t there a certain danger here for a modern person - to confuse your personal problems, which 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 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, expressed in mathematical language, the establishment of the identity of relations: twice two is four. This truth is nothing more than the right to justice. V. Solovyov very precisely said about the moral level of this right: “Right is the lowest limit or a certain minimum of morality.” Expulsion for this truth, if we compare this with the modern context of the struggle for freedoms and human rights, it turns out that this is not the highest dignity of a person, for here, along with sincere aspirations, vanity, calculation, political considerations, and other, not always disinterested, often appear , motives.

What kind of truth did the Lord speak about when he promised the Kingdom of Heaven to those exiled for it? Saint Isaac the Syrian wrote about her: “Mercy and justice in one soul are the same as a person who worships God and idols in the same house. Mercy is the opposite of justice. Justice is an equalization of exact measures: because it gives everyone what they deserve... And mercy. He compassionately bows down to everyone: he who is worthy of evil is not repaid with evil, and he who is worthy of good is filled with abundance. Just as hay and fire cannot stand to be in the same house, so justice and mercy cannot be 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 exists only where there is love. Where there is no love, there is no truth. If I tell a person with an ugly appearance that he is a freak, then technically I will be right. But there will be no God's truth in my words. Why? Because there is no love, no compassion. That is, God's truth and human truth are often completely different things. Without love there is no truth, even if everything seems quite fair. And, on the contrary, where there is not even justice, but there is real love, condescending to the shortcomings of one’s neighbor, showing patience, true truth is present. St. Isaac the Syrian cites God Himself as an example: “Do not call God just, for His justice is not known by your deeds. Moreover, He is good and gracious. For he says, “It is good for the wicked and the wicked (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. It turns out that this is the kind of truth one can and should suffer for - for love of man, of truth, of God. Only in this case will those persecuted for the sake of righteousness inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Sermon on the Mount of Christ is an event from the Gospel when the Lord gave His New Testament law, the main commandments of Christianity. They are the concentrate of all Christian teaching, eternal heavenly truth, timeless and relevant to people from any culture and country. Christians, as those who strive for immortality, try to learn the immutable laws of goodness, which “will not pass away” (Mark 13:31). All confessions, without exception, are convinced of the interpretation of the Beatitudes - they lead a person to heaven.

There are only nine Beatitudes, but they form only part of the Sermon on the Mount, which is of enormous importance in the teaching of Christians. The sermon is set out in detail in chapter 6 of the Gospel of Luke and, in addition to the presentation of the commandments, includes a set of succinct theses that can often be heard among the people: “first take the plank out of your own eye,” “judge not, and you will not be judged,” “with what measure will you measure, the same will be measured to you”, “every tree is known by its fruit” - all these turns of Russian speech, which have become popular, are direct quotes from the Savior from chapter 6 of the Gospel of Luke.

The Nine Beatitudes - The Commandments of Jesus Christ's Happiness

If Moses, given to him on Mount Sinai, is essentially prohibitive: they say what not to do in order to please God, these are strict commandments - then in the Sermon on the Mount, as in all of Christianity, the commandments are filled with the spirit of love and teach how to act . There is another parallel between the commandments of the Old and New Testaments: the ancient commandments are written on stone tablets (slabs), which is a symbol of external, rough perception. The new ones are written on the tablets of the heart of a believer who will voluntarily fulfill them - by the Holy Spirit. That's why people sometimes call them the moral, moral commandments of Christianity. We find the text of the Beatitudes in two Gospels:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:1-12).

The Lord in these commandments speaks about what a person must become in order to gain the fullness of life. Bliss is the totality of those qualities that make a person happy, without any deficiency. This is joy, it is unemotional and intimate, but as real as a person is able to contain it - Christians already live with it in this world, and they will take it with them into eternity.

Interpretation of the commandments

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Happy are those who do not consider anything theirs and recognize that everything belongs to the Creator, and he gives and takes from whomever he wants. Happy are those who are able to humble themselves - they know the height of God and their unworthiness before Him, they do not boast of imaginary merits, they realize the weakness of the spirit and the frailty of the body. Spiritual poverty is the ability to ask and receive what you ask for. Happy are simple people, like children, poor in dignity and high opinion of themselves, who do not require due treatment due to many merits: they think simply of themselves, strive to help sincerely, listen to those who want to say with interest, and not for the sake of decency. They do not judge and accept everything with joy and faith.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Happy are those who cry over sins - it is precisely for them that one should cry in order to acquire a repentant spirit, from which the correction of life begins. Until there is a skill in this crying - about one’s sins, vices and bad nature - there will be no active life, which Christ wants from us, who said through the Apostle that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).

Crying over sins in the church is called joyful crying - and this is indeed so. Those who were at confession felt this. After all, it is after the sacrament of Repentance that a person’s sins are forgiven, and he becomes able to hear this fragrance of joy, born from a peaceful conscience and a premonition of immortality.

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

Happy are those who have conquered anger and made it serve themselves. Inner anger is necessary if it is set up correctly: a person must angrily reject from himself everything that removes him from God. The meek are not those who never get angry, they are those who know when to get angry and when not to. The meek imitate Christ, because when He saw indecent trading in the temple, He took a whip and dispersed the traders, overturning the tables with money. He was jealous for the House of His God and did the right thing.

A meek man is not afraid to do what is right and to show reasonable anger when he is defending the interests of his neighbor or God. Meekness is a feeling of deep self-education, when, in accordance with conscience and God’s commandments, you love your enemies.

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

Those who seek the truth will find it. Christ Himself finds those who seek God - like a Shepherd His sheep. Happy are those who tirelessly in this search, those who are not satisfied with only comfort and prosperity. Who responds to the call of the heart and goes in search of his Savior. The reward for these people is great.

Happy are those who seek their salvation more than water and bread and know their need for it. Those who are happy strive to know God by doing virtues and remember that it is impossible to justify oneself from one’s own deeds.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Works of mercy are the direct path to heaven. According to the direct words of the Savior, by helping the sick, the poor, the suffering, prisoners, strangers, and the needy, we are helping Christ Himself in their person. Happy are those who have learned to give themselves to their neighbors in order to be useful and instill in people faith in goodness.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Those who practice sincerity, trust in God, and prayer acquire sincerity. These are happy people, free from evil thoughts, having power over their body and subordinating it to the spirit. Only a purified heart sees things as they are and is able to correctly perceive Scripture without prompting.

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

Happy is he who reconciles a person with God. Who shows by personal example that you can live in harmony with your conscience, and walk through life with a peaceful dispensation of spirit. A special reward will be given to the one who reconciles the warring and wicked - turning them to God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, reconciled God with people, united the world of people with the world of Angels, who now give us their intercession, protect us - whoever does so will also be called the son of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Happy are those who are not afraid to confess Christ in the face of danger. Who does not give up the paths of goodness, convictions, loyalty - when he is persecuted for this. Such people are rewarded with countless riches that cannot be lost or spoiled.

Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: just as they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Happy are those who are faithful to Christ until death. They will share His Kingdom with their God and will reign with Him - this is exactly what is promised to all martyrs and confessors for the faith. You will be happy when they slander you, call you names, torture you, kill you for the name of Christ. The highest reward, inexpressible and inexhaustible, awaits you. This is what the Creator of heaven and earth, our Creator, said himself. And we have no reason not to trust Him - this is the highest meaning, as it is said:

“For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt” (Mark 9:49).

Salt is a word of grace that a Christian must have in order for him to become a favorable sacrifice for the Lord. And fire is a cleansing test of suffering for faith, which every Christian must undergo for the sake of imitation of Christ.

Interpretation of the Beatitudes and understanding their meaning can change a person radically. Man has the power to overcome nature and habits, since on this path our Helper is God Himself. Having shared His commandments with us, the Lord listed His own qualities. The qualities of God are of an uncreated nature and are called virtues. These virtues are the character of God, and Christians are called to observe them in order to become like Christ.