Why babies should be baptized. Should babies be baptized? We answer the question: why baptize a child? Different views
Baptism. The essence of the sacrament.
Baptism is the sacrament of a person's entry into the Church. Through the baptism of God, the grace of the Holy Spirit is transmitted to a person, helping him to grow spiritually, to strengthen in love for God and his neighbors.
Baptism is not a tribute to fashion or tradition, but the spiritual birth of a person for a mysterious life with God, which happens only once. According to Orthodox teachings, a person initially, from birth, has a predisposition to sin, for it is believed that the body was given to us from the "evil one", and after the rite of baptism, the human body becomes the Temple of God.
According to Jesus Christ ( New Testament), in water baptism a person is born again (John 3: 3 and 3: 5).
At baptism, a "seed of faith" is invested in a child, which he must then grow and develop in himself. Baptism over babies in Orthodox Church is performed according to the faith of parents and recipients - godfathers and mothers, faith is the most necessary thing that is required for baptism. They are responsible for the Christian upbringing of children, vouch for the faith of the person being baptized, and are obliged to share the work of their parents in their upbringing.
Who can be invited to be godfather.
Godparents cannot be: monastics, parents in relation to their own children, spouses at the baptism of one infant, but married people are allowed to be the recipients of different children of the same parents, provided that their baptism is performed at different times, they also cannot be godparents under 13 years of age (), since they cannot bear responsibility for the spiritual education of anyone, without being independent themselves.
What is needed for baptism. How to prepare for it.
In those churches where it is customary to conduct catechumens (that is, teaching) conversations, godparents need to visit them in advance. To baptize a baby, you need to have a christening gown, pectoral cross, a towel, a few candles. All this can be prepared in advance by yourself, or purchased at the church shop. Traditionally, the godparents give the baby a cross and an icon of his heavenly patron. Before the baptism of a child, it is advisable for Orthodox Christians to confess and receive communion, since on the day of baptism, for the first time, their baby will also take communion with them.
The rite of baptism.
A sample of the rite of baptism is taken from the Gospel in the episode about the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist. The rite consists either in three-fold immersion of a person in water, or in pouring over the baptized person in the absence of the possibility of immersion, with the pronunciation of the established prayers by the priest.
In ancient times, babies were baptized on the 8th day. This is not necessary now. But if they still baptize an 8-day-old baby, then it is worth considering a certain "rule", until the 40th day, even an Orthodox woman in labor is undesirable to enter the church (following the example of the Virgin Mary) and his mother usually stands in the vestibule, and the child is in her arms godparents (in extreme cases, in the arms of his father). At churching, the boys are brought into the altar through the southern Ponomar doors, bowing to the throne with him, they are carried through the high place and taken out through the northern gates, but the girls are not brought into the altar. Both boys and girls kiss the icons of the Savior and Mother of God on the iconostasis and rely on the ambo ("elevation" is a special structure in a Christian church designed for reading Holy Scripture, singing or proclaiming some of the liturgical texts, preaching sermons.). The father must bow to the ground in front of the pulpit and the priest and take his child in his arms.
The question of choosing a name is perhaps one of the most exciting. Despite the fact that, in principle, a child can be baptized with any name, it is customary in the Russian Orthodox Church to baptize children with the name of one of the saints, which is mentioned in the Saints (list of names of saints). If the name given at birth is absent in the Holy Calendar, then, as a rule, a consonant name of one of the saints of God is given (for example, Karina - Catherine, Inga - Inna, Robert - Rodion), or the name of the saint whose memory falls on the date the birth of a child (for example, January 14 - Basil the Great, October 8 - St. Sergius of Radonezh, July 24 - Princess Olga Equal to the Apostles). With this name, a person receives Baptism, can participate in the sacraments. This name is written in memorial notes.
Until the age of 7, consent to the baptism of an infant is required only from his parents, because only they are responsible for the child before God. Up to the age of 14, baptism requires the consent of both the parents and the boy or girl himself. For those who are over 14 years old, permission for Baptism from parents is no longer required.
Baptism can be performed absolutely on any day - fast, ordinary or holiday. But each church has its own routine, therefore, when choosing a day for christening, it is necessary to consult with a priest.
Is it worth performing the Sacrament of Baptism if neither the baby himself, nor his parents, nor godparents understand why this is necessary? The confessor of the Kiev Theological Schools, Archimandrite Markel (Pavuk), answers.
It is no secret that nowadays many do not understand the meaning of what was done to them in infancy. Why is the Sacrament of Baptism performed?
The Holy Apostle Peter explains this in his Epistle. He writes that baptism “is not a washing of the fleshly uncleanness, but the promise of a good conscience to God” (1 Pet. 3:21). Conscience is the voice of God that is present in every person. However, often under the influence of passions living within us or under the influence of the people around us, it is barely audible. Many, like the fallen forefathers Adam and Eve, justify themselves in every possible way, but the Christian, denying before Baptism of Satan and all his deeds, and all his pride and three times confessing faith in the Holy Trinity, tries not to violate the Law of God. It happens that because of his cowardice and lack of faith, he allows compromises, but he is in a hurry to repent of this and, with God's help, overcome sin, even if it does not happen overnight and it takes a whole life.
- How was the Sacrament of Baptism performed in antiquity?
In ancient times, preparations for this Sacrament took quite a long time. Those who wanted to become members of the Church could not immediately witness all the Sacraments. There was a so-called disciplina sacrana, when those preparing for Baptism could be in the temple only until the exclamation: "Announcement, go out." Before that, they listened to public talks, during which they explained the symbolism of the Sacrament of Baptism, why one should be baptized, in Whom we believe, the main meaning of other Sacraments of the Church. Also in the temple, those wishing to become members of the Church listened to the singing of psalms, reading and explaining the Gospel and the Apostle. The texts of public discourses conducted by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. John Chrysostom and other holy fathers have come down to our time. Most often, Baptism was performed on Holy Saturday during the reading of the paremias through triple immersion in the font. Further, the baptized, in white robes, with candles, stood at the Liturgy already as members of the Church of Christ and for the first time received the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
- Is it possible in modern conditions to restore the institution of the catechumens?
At the current pace of life, it is unrealistic to restore it in full. In some dioceses they try, but in the end everything is reduced to a minimum: they hold one public conversation, in which it is hardly possible to cover, even superficially, all the diversity of Christian experience. In addition, since baptism in most cases is now performed on infants, for usually very busy godfathers even one such conversation is a heavy duty, which they try to skip in various ways. The same story is with the parents of the child.
Is it worth performing the Sacrament of Baptism if neither the baby himself, nor his parents, nor godparents understand why this is necessary?
This question stood in the IV century before St. Cyril of Jerusalem. He saw that many come to be baptized because they are forced to do so by their parents, husbands are forced by their wives, some resorted to the Sacrament only in order to get rid of everyday problems or some kind of illness, others simply following an established tradition or because of idleness. interest. Very few came with the thought of saving the soul. Saint Cyril accepted everyone, did not reject anyone. Once they came to the temple, he set himself a difficult task to tune all these people to a serious perception of what would be happening over them. He said that even if someone came with bad thoughts, and such is not hopeless, because he, like a fisherman, catches him with church nets not to kill, but on the contrary - to revive. Saint Cyril, like Saint John Chrysostom, spoke of the high royal dignity of a Christian and urged the packs to take seriously what would be performed over them during Baptism. For if a person takes the sacrament lightly, then "I baptize you, but the Holy Spirit does not baptize."
- What about the announcement in modern conditions?
If it is difficult for us to organize preliminary public talks, then at least during the baptism itself, the priests are obliged to comment on everything they do. But the most important thing is that, like St. Cyril, you need to try to set everyone present to a serious and meaningful perception of what is happening. It's okay to practice your homework. If it turns out that neither the parents nor the godparents know the Symbol of Faith, then give them a month so that they can meaningfully learn it. To facilitate the task, the temple should have printed sheets of this prayer and a short explanation. In the age of the Internet, you can point to specific sites with information about what a Christian needs to know. In Kiev, at the Theological Academy and in some city parishes, there are year-round catechism courses, where those who wish can receive detailed information from the history of the Church, study the Holy Scriptures, dogmatics, liturgy and other subjects.
- Maybe then it is not worth baptizing babies, but wait until the conscious age?
In ancient times, as we learn from the lives of St. Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian, etc., there was such a practice. Usually they were baptized at the age of 20-30, when youthful frivolity and self-indulgence passed and a person could already meaningfully be responsible for his actions. Nowadays, in most cases, babies are baptized in order to enlighten them from an early age and spiritually nourish them with the grace of God. And this also bears fruit. I can say from my own observation that most of such children, with rare exceptions, are spiritually, intellectually and even physically more developed than ordinary children, and most importantly, they know how to truly love, rejoice and compassion, sacrifice themselves for the well-being of others. , are not so easily infected with the temptations of the world around them, have immunity to them and can support others and warn against temptations.
- Does such a good change happen to everyone?
Unfortunately no. Many are baptized, but not enlightened, because parents and recipients (sometimes priests) approach the perception of this Sacrament purely formally. And it turns out that the priests baptize them, but the Holy Spirit does not baptize them. People do not go to the temple, do not participate in the Sacraments. That is, when they are baptized, only a form is created, which is never filled with content. Such "baptized" children, like unbaptized children, are usually spiritually completely defenseless. The world binds them tightly with its chains. They strive for freedom from parental care, from the system in which they live, but it turns out that, like the gospel prodigal son, they lose the remnants of freedom, not only spiritual, mental, but also physical, if they end up in prison.
- Who can be the godfather (successor)?
The ideal option is a believing practicing Orthodox Christian who is able to actively influence the spiritual growth of a child. If parents cannot find this, then at least a respectable person should be looked for. For a boy, it is imperative to look for a godmother, and for a girl, a woman. In Ukraine, in some regions there is a practice of taking several pairs of godparents. This has its own positive side, but the main thing is that none of them should be indifferent and take part in the spiritual education of the child not only with gifts for the birthday, but also with good instruction.
What is the minimum knowledge of church life that an adult baptized person or child baptismal recipient should have?
He should meaningfully know the Symbol of Faith, which clearly states in Whom we Christians believe and how to believe correctly, the prayers of Our Father, Virgin Mary, rejoice, Guardian Angel - at least. You also need to read at least one Gospel. Unfortunately, many, having higher education, even this is not able to fulfill. This suggests that they do not understand why they need to pray, go to church, because no one in the family or at school has ever explained this to them.
- What should a Christian who regularly attends the temple of God know?
So why baptize children in reality? And why do some parents consider it obligatory to baptize their baby no later than the fortieth day after his birth, and some postpone the baptism ceremony for a long time?
As for the fortieth day, then of course, the child can be baptized immediately after birth, especially if he is weak and painful. But if the child is healthy and strong, then it is best to baptize him on the fortieth day, when the period of purification of the mother passes and she can already, after a special prayer read over her by the priest, enter the temple and be present during the ceremony. By the way, a woman's forty-day isolation is needed in order to give the young mother the opportunity to rest. After giving birth, it may be difficult for a woman to get to the temple and defend the church service, so she is given relief.
Let's return to the question of whether to baptize a baby? Here the parents have only two decisions: they need to baptize so that he grows up according to the laws of God and thereby protect him, or leave everything as it is, hoping that when the child grows up, he will independently decide whether he needs it. does not arise, but as for those who doubt, we will try to clarify this need.
Baptism is one of the seven sacraments of the Orthodox Church, in which the believer, when the body is immersed in water three times with the invocation of the name Holy Trinity- Father and Son and Holy Spirit, dies to sinful life, and is reborn by the Holy Spirit for Eternal Life. Of course, there is a basis for this action in the Holy Scriptures:
"He who is not born of water and the Spirit cannot enter the Kingdom of God"
Christ says in the Gospel:
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; and whoever does not believe will be condemned "
So, baptism is necessary for a person to be saved. Baptism is a new birth for spiritual life in which a person can attain the Kingdom of Heaven. And it is called a sacrament because through it the invisible saving power of God - grace - acts on the baptized person in a mysterious, incomprehensible way for us. A child must be given the name of a saint, who will be his guardian angel throughout his life, protecting a person on Earth constantly. Like other sacraments, baptism is ordained by God. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, sending the apostles to preach the gospel, taught them to baptize people:
"Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit"
Of course, young children do not have independent, conscious faith. But do not her parents, who brought their child to be baptized in the temple of God, have her? Will they not instill in their child faith in God from childhood? Obviously, parents have this kind of faith and are more likely to instill it in their child. In addition, the child will have godparents - recipients from the baptismal font, who vouch for him and undertake to raise their godfather in Orthodox faith... Thus, babies are baptized not according to their own faith, but according to the faith of their parents and godparents who brought the child for baptism. This is where the question usually arises:
“Wouldn't it be better to let the child make his own choice when he grows up?”
Responsible parents from the moment a child is born decide EVERYTHING for him: what he has, where to live, what clothes to wear, in what Kindergarten go, what school to go to, and so on and so forth. When it comes to the most important thing, some kind of far-fetched democracy suddenly appears: he will grow up and decide for himself. If you think about it, maybe then the kid himself can decide to eat him carrot cutlets, which are good for his health, or some chocolates! Or go for a walk without a hat and mittens in cold weather. Well, he'll catch a cold, get some treatment, wipe your nose, nothing.
All those religious denominations that in one way or another go back to the Ancient Church, say, Catholics, ancient Eastern Christians - Armenians, Copts, Syrians - believe that a person is not saved by himself, not as an individual who alone decides how he should be and to act in this life, but as a member of the Church, a community in which everyone is responsible for each other. Therefore, an adult can vouch for a baby and say: I will try to make him grow up as a good Orthodox Christian. And while he cannot answer for himself, his godfather and godmother give their faith for him as a pledge.
Having been baptized, a person becomes a member of the Church of Christ and from now on can proceed to the rest of the church sacraments. A child who is not baptized cannot start the sacraments, you cannot write a note for health for him, order a church prayer service, commune, etc. Why deprive them of protection and grace?
Every priest knows how difficult it is for a priest to leave the church after Sunday liturgy. Many faces, meetings, questions, and with them - tears, smiles, hugs and blessings. We have to go “through the ranks,” but this is a common and very important work of a shepherd.
Once, having passed "through the line", having escaped into the street, I experienced a real shock from a meeting with one little man. From behind the apple tree, five-year-old Alyosha, the son of our driver, a kind and gentle boy, ran out to meet me. He saw me and ran, shouting at the top of his throat: "Father!" Children do not hesitate to exclaim and admire. They still have too much strength to live and an unspent ability to wonder, especially if they live in love and security.
Of course, I am a father. Everyone calls me that - "Father Savva". But when I heard this name from the kid, who rushed to hug, my heart sank. After all, I am just a monk, and I cannot have children, and only monks know that this is the greatest sacrifice that we make. But for a moment, I seem to have experienced that complex feeling of horror and awe that real parents experience, because the appearance of a child is greatest miracle, and to be the parent of someone who has never been in the world, and to be involved in this - how not to rejoice in the face of God, not to thank Him for this gift!
This feeling of awe of new life accessible to every person: both a believer and an unbeliever. But man is a religious being, which means that in any of us there is an unavoidable need for every truly deep human experience to be religiously or ritually formalized. Therefore, in any culture you will surely find ceremonies associated with the birth of a child, marriage, initiation, and burial. Where human experience "splashes out" beyond the boundaries of this world, a person plunges into the element of symbol and ceremony.
My grandfather was born in 1924 in a remote Siberian village. Even before the revolution there was no church there, and in Soviet times it was impossible to baptize a child. Instead, my grandfather was "Octobrised": the newborn was carried around the village with red flags accompanied by the singing of proletarian hymns. A child was born - it had to be somehow experienced, accepted, rejected, noted, signified.
People cannot live without religion, without the cultic formulation of their truly human experience. Of course, this is not a thesis for the baptism of young children. But it makes you think. Yes, most of those who bring us to baptize babies are non-church people. They baptize out of habit, according to custom, because "this is how it should be." We - the people of the Church - know why we baptize. Rather, we think we know. We read in the "Law of God", in the "Catechism" or " Dogmatic theology", At its best, is in the Scriptures. It is very good. We read, study, study. Without such a theological effort, we Christians cannot. This is a kind of spiritual exercise.
But in my priestly life, I quite often met people who "felt with their skin" that they needed, very much needed to be baptized. How can I refuse these people? What they felt and experienced was greater than what they knew and comprehended rationally.
There is a wonderful Italian film " Small world Don Camillo. " Main character- a simple Italian father. He tries with all his might to fight the local communist mayor, but when he comes to baptize his baby, Don Camillo does not refuse him. Life is more complicated than it is written in books, and very often people who are unbelievers, even those who are anti-churchly, still, somewhere in the depths, realize that they are children of God, and they can remember their real Father only when they meet the consoling and encouraging glance of a priest.
So why do we baptize children? At the very initial level of our natural-religious outlook, we need a ritual-symbolic formulation of the miracle of the birth of a child. At this primitive level, a person does not care what religion or ideology he belongs to. However, I urge even this primitive approach to be treated with respect and understanding.
Let me remind you that a Christian should always proceed from the presumption of kindness and effort of understanding. Even in this view of religion, we should learn to discern the seeds of good, the seeds of faith, which can suddenly sprout into a large flowering tree of the Christian faith.
The next level is fear. Firstly, for the child's health, and secondly, and this is almost a church experience - for his salvation. My atheist grandfather categorically forbade the baptism of my mother, who had been ill with pneumonia several times as a girl. Great-grandmother, powerlessly looking at all this disgrace, kidnapped my little and sick mother, secretly took her to church and christened her, "as it should be." Mom was healed the same day. Coincidence? Are coincidences meaningless?
Great-grandmother was a simple woman. She thought that the girl was sick because she was not baptized. In general, it can be very difficult for us to understand what ordinary people really think, what their motives are, but what exactly we can afford is to curb our own theological snobbery. Again, an ascetic effort - to try to see the seeds of good here, to try to understand, while clearly understanding what the church norm really is.
Another kind of fear - what if the child dies unbaptized, and - that's all! - it is impossible to remember, it means - hell! But are we kinder than God? If pity lives in me even for animals, kindness and love for all living things - these are all borrowed things. I am kind and compassionate only with the kindness, pity and love of God, and if the kindness in me is agitated and indignant, it is God Himself who raises His voice in my kindness, and does the Creator of children send unbaptized children to hell? All this is nonsense. But in this motivation for baptism, we already hear an echo of church experience and gospel teaching.
Baptism of children occurs when the life of the Christian community enters a calm channel. We are already facing the third or fourth generation of Christians living as a single family - the Eucharistic community, and it is quite natural for such a community to include their children in the mystical life in the Body of Christ.
Opponents of baptism of children demand to wait for the time when the children begin to understand something. But after all, understanding is a miracle, we do not know how we understand what is happening in us, it is only clear that it is impossible to understand for another. The mystery of understanding is also the mystery of a personal meeting with Christ, and a child will certainly meet with Him, but not when we plan it. Why is it necessary to wait for the children to understand something? Shouldn't parents decide what is best for the child?
Saint Gregory the Theologian believes that it is better to baptize at the age of three, but this is the most harmful childhood age, and the saint did not have children of his own, therefore he may not have been able to observe these “little monsters”. The saint writes that at this age they already understand something. Do they understand? And there is some kind of lie in all this: if I, a Christian, know and believe for sure that the truth is in Christ, why should I wait until the child begins to think about something, look for something. These are natural things - to doubt and go their own way of faith, but why should I not immediately put him on this path?
Does the child have to choose? But who will teach him to choose, if not his parents? Should the child's freedom be respected? And who will teach him to be free? If the parents are Christians, they, of course, will teach him to make choices in a Christian way, guided by the Gospel, and this, in fact, is violence against the child. The same violence, as to impose our native language on him, the same compulsion as to educate him, to instill rules of behavior, norms of decency, respect for elders, responsibility for parents and the Motherland.
Where did this problem come from - to baptize or not baptize children? They say she has Protestant roots. May be. I can only assume that the Protestant roots are in the very process of the emancipation of children from their parents, which we are now observing. Imperceptibly, a certain cultural revolution took place: we began to think of children separately from their parents. This view was not known to traditional culture.
Look at the icon of the Mother of God. We, the Orthodox, are often reproached that it is impossible to find icons of Christ in our homes - there are only images of the Mother of God around. But for our ancestors, the icon of the Mother of God is the icon of Christ. Ancient Christians - absolutely normal people - could not think of a child in isolation from his parents. If we depict the Infant Christ, we cannot do without the figure of His Mother.
It is impossible to think of a child without his parent, a child without a mother and father is an abstraction. As soon as we have thought of a child, a father or mother must appear on the mental horizon, otherwise we are not facing a child. Children must certainly cast their "parental shadow". As Hollywood teaches us, only vampires cast no shadows, and if you think of a child without a “parental shadow,” you have vision problems.
Writers love orphan heroes so much precisely because they are easier to work with: they do not pull the trail of their parents along with them. Oliver Twist is a very convenient character, and in order to properly reveal and examine the child, parents should be removed. But in this case, the child also disappears, there remains a pretty and very unhappy man, causing everyone normal people sympathy precisely by its organic incompleteness. It even seems to me that such a spread, excuse me, of pedophilia is somehow connected with this cultural transformation of the natural-generic consciousness - they do not see the child's parents, he is alone.
“It’s not good for a person to be alone” is a very deep truth, but regarding children it requires more strengthening: a child cannot be alone at all, he is born for a long time, he is born for a long time, at least twelve years he “comes out of the womb”. The bond between mother and child is more organic than between husband and wife, and it is not in vain that men feel abandoned and abandoned after the birth of a baby. A child is not just an extension of parents and a bearer of generic properties. Until a certain age, he is their organic part. It would be foolish to talk about my left side while completely ignoring the right side. And therefore - to baptize or not to baptize - it is up to the parents to decide.
If I have given birth to a child, support him and raise him, I want very simple and selfish things: the child must grow up as a person, as I understand it, and this is important for me, because every year I am older and weaker, and he is stronger, to him to inspect my old age, to him to close my eyes, and I do not care who to entrust my weakened life.
These are very understandable thoughts, and I deliberately do not want to indulge in a detailed theological conversation - a lot has been written on this topic. But for a Christian, baptism of a child is a gesture of gratitude to God for the trust to receive and raise this new person. And even though a completely non-church person, an unbelieving parent, stands in front of the priest, we still must not deny these God's children, albeit so awkwardly, clumsily, but thank the Child Giver.
We don't like theology
With regret, it must be admitted that modern man does not like theology, and often considers it to have no influence on life and therefore superfluous. The disputes about the consubstantiation of the Father and the Son, which captured the broad masses in the Roman Empire of the 4th century, seem to us simply fantastic. Nowadays, conversations in the market, in the bathhouse, in transport, for example, about pensions, salaries, prices for food and gasoline, will surely find the sympathy and support of others. But it is difficult even to imagine a conversation in the same environment about dogmas. Dogma in representation modern man- this is such an archaic that it is strange to mention today.
It is sad that indifference to theological issues is in many respects characteristic of church people. Once I had to replace a teacher in the history of the Russian Church in catechism courses. One of the students later complained "on the sidelines": "Andrei Alexandrovich will find dogma everywhere!" Of course, my lack of training in historical discipline... But the fact of dissatisfaction with the very existence of theological issues in this case is indicative.
Ironically, a similar disinterest in dogma can be seen at higher levels. More than two years ago in Moscow, the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis held 25 different sections within the framework of the Christmas Readings. Of these, 24 were devoted to teaching the basics of Orthodox culture at school, and only one was devoted to catechesis. It is also interesting that at the meetings of catechists from all over Russia themselves, almost all attention falls on the methods of catechesis. It is understood that the content of publicity and educational conversations is a common place for everyone, which in fact does not always correspond to reality.
With all this, even if any theological discussions, as they say, break the pattern of almost continuous reports, they do not receive the support of the participants and especially the leaders of the event (regulations!).
If we talk about the common people, then in their midst the immunity even to the elementary issues of faith sometimes reaches some transcendental level.
Why do we baptize children?
There were many christenings one weekend. Parents and godparents of ten or fifteen babies filled the Sunday school premises. Someone is sitting, someone, due to lack of space, listens while standing. I ask the usual question:
- Please tell me why we baptize children?
Pause.
- Good. Let me help you, and you will add if I forget something: "because our ancestors were Orthodox", "so that the child has a Guardian Angel", "so that God will protect him from all troubles", "from the evil eye and from spoilage "," so that he does not get sick "," so that one can remember about health, "and, in short," so that everything in his life would be good. "
I look around at the listeners. General approval! Someone smiles, someone nods happily. I am cautiously interested in:
- Maybe I forgot something? Maybe someone wants to add?
On their faces - anxiety and bewilderment. After a short pause, the woman standing to my right firmly declares:
- No, you have listed everything.
"Priests on" Gelendvagens ""
No matter how much we say that a person in the Church should not look for a person, but for God, a person, even when he is looking for God, comes to Him most often through a person. But here situations are very diverse, and if someone is seduced by the ministers of the Church, then the reason for this temptation may be real, or it may be completely far-fetched, based only on a person's desire to be seduced. One of the favorite seduction topics is priestly cars. I myself, having been ill with similar topics in my time, have long been indifferent to her. If a priest is active, loving his service and people, sincerely striving to serve the Church, then, for me, let him even fly by helicopter. But many think differently.
At one of the public talks, the godfather responded very vividly to my speech, but at the same time, unable to refrain from commenting, he periodically interrupted the speaker, obviously trying to show himself knowledgeable in church matters. But his comments were mostly negative character... Either he recently returned from a trip to St. Petersburg, or lived there, but for some reason he spoke exclusively about St. Petersburg churches:
- Earlier: you go to the temple and you feel something special, that this is really a holy place. Now there is no such thing in churches. I went to Kazansky - and as if somewhere in a store or at a train station.
I try to influence the interlocutor with leading questions:
- Are you sure that the temples are to blame for your feeling? Or maybe the reason is that something has changed in your soul?
My interlocutor is unbending:
- No, what has changed there ?! Of course, something with the temples. Grace is leaving.
My interlocutor is unbending:“Has something changed in my soul ?! Well no! This is something wrong with the temples ... "
I refer to the holy fathers, I remember a piece of a mirror that fell in Kai's eye. No effect.
I continue the conversation. Our godfather suddenly spreads from the temples to the clergy:
- The priests have completely lost their shame. Here in St. Isaac's Cathedral, right in front of everyone, the priest leaves the church, sits in the Gelendvagen and leaves.
I have been indifferent to cars since my youth, so I ask again:
- And what is "Gelendvagen"?
My interlocutor is confused. He could not imagine that there are men who do not know the answer to such a simple question.
- "Mercedes" ... - he replies with a shrug.
Such a one-sided conversation about churches and priests begins to tire me. Therefore, I decide to resort to reasoning "by contradiction":
- Do you think that if the priest went on a cart, then everyone would run straight to the temple?
The baby's mother laughed out of surprise, and my opponent was embarrassed and frowned, but did not interrupt the conversation anymore.
In this dispute, I seemed to be the winner, but still the problem exists. For many, the expensive cars of priests remain a temptation. It is no coincidence that, for example, Vladyka Panteleimon (Shatov) drove the Volga until recently. And the late abbot of the Optina Pustyn monastery, Archimandrite Benedict (Penkov), traveled most of his vicegerency in the three-door "Niva". I think that he just could afford a helicopter if he wanted to. But at the same time, he did not even buy a foreign car for his trips. “The people are tempted,” was his main argument. Only in last years the governor Optina moved to another "Niva", but only "Chevrolet".
Such a caring attitude to the flock inspires respect, but for me questions remain: how important is the make of the car on which the priest drives, and is it true that expensive cars of priests are a serious obstacle for those who come to church? From my experience, I concluded that in most cases, the topic of foreign cars is just an excuse for self-justification for those who simply do not want to live church life.
"We cannot predict how our word will respond"
A priest I know told me the following story. One day two adult women came to him for a catechist conversation. The fact that they perceived the words of the priest in different ways could be seen with the naked eye. One was all hearing, all attention. It seemed that not only her mind, but also her heart was entangled in the speaker's speech, as in the words of the most sincere prayer. The listener did not take her eyes off him, looked into her mouth, with facial expressions, gestures, nodding her head, with all her appearance she showed the most lively sympathy for the Christian truths of faith and life. The feeling of joy grew in the soul of the preacher. The seed of the gospel was clearly laying in the most fertile ground.
The opposite picture was the appearance of another listener. With a somewhat embarrassed, but mostly indifferent air, she listened to the Orthodox pastor. I looked more to the sides or to the floor. It seemed that her only desire at the moment was to wait for the end of the conversation and return to her usual business and conversations.
The priest finished, as usual, with a detailed story about the need for Confession and Communion, and also about the preparation for these Sacraments.
Imagine the priest's surprise when soon his indifferent listener came to him with additional questions, after which she prepared and proceeded to the sacraments of Confession and Communion. Subsequently, she became a permanent parishioner of the temple. The priest's surprise was aggravated by the fact that he never saw another - an enthusiastic - listener.
