Greetings, dear brothers and sisters, the Orthodox radio station Radonezh is on the air. Today, the founder and confessor of the Vvedensky Convent in the city of Ivanovo, Archimandrite Ambrosy Yurasov, answers your questions. The program is hosted by Hierodeacon Eleazar Titov. You can ask your questions over the live phone number or send them via SMS.

Father, bless.

God bless.

Now before the broadcast we listened to the chants of the Greek church, and they brought back memories of Athos. You and I were on Mount Athos, we saw how the fathers prayed there. And so the topic of today’s program was born. Monks, especially on Mount Athos, try to restrain their feelings, not to say too much, not to watch too much. I'm not even talking about raw passions.

Why do they do this? Because it is necessary for salvation. An absent-minded person cannot pray with concentration. A person who is overwhelmed by many conversations also cannot pray with concentration. He will constantly be confused by thoughts and all the painting of different images. But an Orthodox person living in the world also needs to be saved. And the conditions are the same for him. And prayer is needed not scattered.

How to achieve in the world what monks achieve in monasteries? Is this even possible?

The Optina elders say that if you live in the world, it is more difficult to be saved. Although in the sacrament of baptism we made a promise to God to follow His will in everything, but monks only in one thing: they do not marry. Everyone has responsibilities: both monks and lay people. Of course, if someone gets married, then it is said that the wife is saved through childbearing if she continues in faith and love. So the Optina elders say: here, imagine the abyss that everyone must cross. And in this abyss there are such monsters as crocodiles. And a plank-perch. We need to walk along this perch.

Or you may feel dizzy and lose your balance. It's hard to walk. But there is a bridge nearby, two or three steps away. It's easier to walk across the bridge. So, walking across the bridge is monastic life. But to walk along a block, along a perch, is worldly life. But in order to get through and be saved, a person must always remember: everything that we do, say, think does not disappear.

All this is imprinted in eternity for all time. If a person in this life has accustomed himself to live according to the Gospel, according to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, and has accustomed himself since childhood, this is good. He will learn to live correctly. Because, moving into that world, all the baggage: goodness, prayers, and morality - he will take all this with him. And for this he will have a great reward: a new heaven, a new earth.

The person who does not live according to the Gospel, does not live according to his conscience, drowns in vices and passions, lives in pride, he has no sense of repentance. And repentance is correction. And in his life he did a lot of bad things, all of this goes with him to the next world. And for this he will not receive a reward. And he will receive what he has acquired. That is, it all goes with him.

Therefore, since the Lord gave us time for repentance, for correction, we must control every word. We must accustom ourselves to everything good and kind. You can train yourself never to get irritated, not to be indignant, not to shout, not to make noise, not to raise your voice. You can learn to never cheat. Just tell the truth. You can train yourself not to talk much. Only concisely, briefly, precisely.

How does that happen? If the husband said something, perhaps a little with anger, then we try not to add water, but gasoline. To make the flame higher. And we can create such a scandal! And we ourselves and the whole family go to pieces. And then they ask: why are our children so ill-mannered? Yes, because we ourselves are ill-mannered. We once said that a child should not be forced to eat. Let your child get hungry. When he gets hungry, he will eat many times more and be healthier. Otherwise, let’s go for dad, for mom, for grandma. He doesn't want to, so let's force feed him.

This is wrong. How wrong it is to force a husband or daughter to go to church to receive communion if they are already adults. Come on, go to church to take communion. You can't do that. Only believers receive communion. They accept Christ into themselves. If, for example, a daughter or husband felt that they needed to repent, then there is an opportunity. Let him go and repent. But you can remind them that you need to repent. You will feel good and easy. And so the demons will drag on. Now he didn’t repent, then he didn’t repent. And lower, lower, lower. And then the soul is empty, evil spirits move into it, and then evil comes out of us. When the Holy Spirit lives in a person, then there is no evil in that person. He tries to spread this peace around him, and all people become happy, and when he throws hysterics, screaming and noise, he himself is all wound up and everyone around him is wound up. And all this is imprinted in eternity for all time. And we are sick at heart.

Father, I would like to distract myself a little. Now we remembered about Athos. It will probably be interesting for listeners to listen to your experience about Mount Athos. I know that although you were not an inhabitant of the Holy Mountain, you even wrote a petition at one time to go to Athos and become a monk there. But your children are now monks there. Already 25 years.

For more than 25 years, your children have been monks on Mount Athos. You also met Elder Paisius. Please tell our radio listeners about Athos, seen through your eyes. –Before going to Athos, I read a lot about Athos, studying it. And when I graduated from the seminary, I wrote a petition to the rector, already being a hieromonk: I want to go to Athos. And at this time recruitment was underway. He read the petition, looked at me and said: Father Ambrose, you will be needed here too. I say: Vladyka, bless. Well, as we say: Lord, Thy holy will be done both in heaven and on earth.

So this is God's will. But still the Lord did not leave. I visited the holy Mount Athos three times. Although I didn’t get there myself, one person came to me, I baptized him, he became Orthodox and went to the Holy Mountain and now he is a big boss there.

Spiritual?

Spiritual, in the Synod. All twenty monasteries. Each monastery has its own person.

Representative….

Representative. Well, when did we go? We met two years ago and traveled around Mount Athos. Well, we have to thank God. Athos is the lot of the Mother of God, the Holy Mountain. And since there are seventeen Greek monasteries there, then, of course, God’s attitude towards our monastery is very pleasant. This is not in the homeland, this is abroad! The Lord especially addresses our monks, has mercy on them and saves them.

Well, if God determined for me to be in Russia, then thank God. As mothers say: Father, come, tomorrow we will congratulate you on your forty-fifth birthday. Of course, in the life that I lived, I lived dearly, there were fewer sins, but as soon as people began to confess, there was a stream of people, a stream of sorrows and everyone had troubles. Because the dark forces pay for each person, take interest. So this is God's will. This path must be endured for every person, it is a punishment.

Well, I would like to say that I try not to go beyond the limits, we have a breviary for clergy. What is said there is from the experience of spiritual fathers. We ask if the person goes to church. We say that if you rarely go to church, then there are apostolic rules. Those who have not been to church for three Sunday days are excommunicated from the church. It's like being fired from a job. Those who do not observe fasts are also excommunicated from the church on Wednesday and Friday. That is, we give direction.

And of course, it can be very interesting. So they come and let one woman down. She is forty-seven years old, so thin, and cannot put a cross on herself. I say: why? -And I have some men inside me. They give me no peace day or night. And I can’t put on a cross. Well, then I started asking: where do you live, who do you live with, do you work? It turned out that she had been selling her body for five years. I ask: how many were there? she says: and I don’t know how much. But for me the most interesting thing was this. When she repented of everything, I read a prayer of permission and a prayer for all infirmities, she raised her head from the Gospel and batted her eyes, looking around. I say: what are you talking about? How are you feeling? And she says: I was sleeping. And now I'm awake.

Asks: where am I? I say: in the temple. You confessed. Yes? What does this mean? About the fact that a person lived in passions. This was one life. And now the man has woken up. And it turns out that there is another life. In the same way, when death comes, a person wakes up again in another life. Because death is always near us; it does not go far.

That is why the Lord said: whatever I find you doing, I will judge you in that. We must always be ready. Because our whole life will be imprinted in eternity. And of course, if a person repented, made a promise to God not to do this again - the Lord forgives, has mercy, but so that we do not return to this vomit again, as the Holy Scripture says, just as demons return. Likewise, we should not return to sins.

Dear brothers and sisters, I remind you that you can ask your questions via live telephone or send them via SMS. Father, we received our first question.

Please speak, we are listening.

Hello.

Hello.

Christ is risen.

Truly risen.

I have a question for Father. Could you somehow resolve this doubt? The couple, having been married for twenty years, live separately. That is, the wife decided that she and the children would live on their own, and that the husband would also live on his own. But, naturally, they don’t forget to come for money to support their children. Is this a normal family structure? Or is this some kind of flaw, or what is it?

God bless you.

They didn't get married?

Unknown. They just lived together for twenty years, have children, but the wife does not want her husband to live with them, but wants him to pay child support. Is this normal?

It will only be normal when two people, husband and wife, are married, married and live in Christ. It is one flesh. They should be together. And since people don’t go to church, don’t keep fasts, don’t pray, what happens? If a person does not eat food or drink water, his body weakens and may even die.

In the same way, our soul requires food. If we don’t go to church, don’t read the Gospel, don’t honor the holy fathers, don’t pray, and all this is food for the soul, then the person dies spiritually and falls away from the church. And then they fall away from God and fall away from each other. Because only love, the love of Christ, the evangelical spirit can bind two people together. If, for example, they are building some kind of building, and the bricks are stacked without mortar, then no matter how much they are stacked, they will still fall apart.

So it is in family life. If two people, husband and wife, do not have communication with God, and God is love, then the souls become empty and it all falls apart. And then we look for who is to blame? Is this normal or abnormal? There is no life without God. Because God is the source of life, the source of love. If there is no communication with Him, then there will be no communication with each other.

Okay father, let's get back to our main topic. How can a person be saved in the world? Well, I can speak for myself, perhaps. For 27 years before seminary, I lived in the world and worked. But good people told me that I have been going to church since childhood. We lived poorly, there was no Gospel. But there was faith. I didn’t pay attention to who lived how. They taught me to smoke and drink, so God saved me. They’ll give me a coal from the stove: light it, I’ll take the fire, I’ll give it to them, they pull, they pull. Then they tell me: take a drag. I say: take a drag yourself.

So God saved. I didn't even have smoke in my mouth. True, they taught us to drink. We were young after all. We went to the collective farm to collect the harvest. We collected two or three string bags of vodka, a lot of bottles. And we're on the train, it takes half a day to go there. They pour me a glass, I drink it. The second one is poured. And I don’t drink for the second time. I only drink once. Glass or shot glass. Yes, have a drink, they say, it will be more fun. “Yes, I’m already having fun,” I tell them. I won't drink. And they didn’t offer me anything else, and I didn’t buy anything. And this is how the Lord preserved me.

I read the Jesus Prayer, “O Virgin Mary, Rejoice.” I knew so many prayers, I read them all. Even in the army for three years, even under a blanket, I read “Our Father” and “Virgin, Mother of God, Rejoice.” Even when I came to Moscow for the first time, I didn’t look at the mass of people, I just read the Jesus Prayer and looked at their feet. It turns out that it is possible, everything depends on us. I tried not to look around, because it was all empty for me.

And so, to this day, I live a monastic life. He lived in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra for ten years, in the Pochaev Lavra for five years, and here in the Ivanovo region and in Ivanovo - for a total of thirty years. That makes forty-five years. And this is all the grace of God.

And it is still unknown how he could have lived these forty-five years before God. Don't know.

Father, we were asked this question. I have no family, no husband, no child. How to deal with this?

Well, if a person in his life sought, well, let’s say, to get married, and such an opportunity did not present itself to him, thank God for everything. And if a person aspired to a monastery and could not get there, thank God for everything. So this is his path. Because there are no big or small cases for little things. God's providence is everywhere. You just need to learn to thank God for everything. This will be very good.

Father, here we go again to our main topic, about salvation in the world. Some people, as you said, in the world prayed the Jesus Prayer. And other people, I have heard, say this: this unceasing prayer is only for monks. Worldly people don't need it. They simply cannot handle it in the world. So is it possible or not?

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov addressed the Orthodox workers, who read the Jesus Prayer before lunch, and after lunch they read “Mother of God, save us.” We read all day, from morning to evening. And so he told them, so as not to forget the “Creed”, “Our Father” should be read, “Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice.” And now it’s usually like this: I, they say, follow the Seraphim rule, “Creed”, “Virgin Mary” - and go to bed.

They used to read the Jesus Prayer, especially in the early times of Christianity, although the prayer was written differently. They read:

"Lord Jesus Christ,

Holy Trinity and Mother of God,

Have mercy on us."

Mother of God, have mercy on us,

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,

Have mercy on me, a sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Have mercy on me, a sinner.

And soon, they will probably even say:

Father, well, okay. Now, please tell me, the fathers say that it is not a place that saves a person, but God that saves. But still the soul is drawn to Athos. If someone wants to be a monk, the soul is drawn to Athos or Jerusalem. Is there a difference for salvation whether to pray at home or on the Holy Mountain?

If a person comes...

Sorry, father, I didn’t finish. Or to be a monk in Russia, or on Holy Mount Athos? Is there a difference in this?

I think so. God is in every place, and God will determine who and where. For beginners, it is very useful to devote yourself to holy places. Be there, see how people live there. I also didn’t go anywhere when I started my monastic life. Over the course of twenty years, I began to travel to the Pochaev Lavra. For me it was being born again. And he was in both Kyiv and Vilnius. Where were some monasteries? I was in Estonia. And this strengthened me.

Well, is there a difference between being a monk in Russia and being a monk on Mount Athos? Does the location itself have an impact?

Yes, the location has an effect. Holy Mount Athos contains Orthodoxy. There is service there every day and at night. It makes you break yourself. And then get used to it after three or four years, praying at night.

Yes, as one monk on Mount Athos told us that it was difficult to get used to for the first three years, but then when I entered into this rhythm of monastic life, it became easy and graceful. We have another call.

Speak up, we are listening to you.

Hello! Servant of God Evgeniy.

Hello.

Here’s the question: I was in a monastery for confession, the priest imposed a penance: read the canon of repentance to Christ for forty days. But I ignored it, didn’t read it, and again committed the same sins. And now, before going to confession again, do I need to do what I was told? Or do I need to go to confession again?

Well, you can say this: the cat cried, and not penance.

Well, nevertheless, it must be done?

Definitely a must do.

Necessarily. Well, you actually need to read the canon of repentance every day, both to the Mother of God and to the Guardian Angel. Then the Lord, the Mother of God and the guardian angel will especially protect this person. And plus to this there is also an akathist to the Mother of God and the Savior. Gospel, two messages...

Bows.

Fifty fans.

But should this person first perform penance for forty days, and only then go to confession?

No, you have to go and tell about your sins.

Regardless...

Regardless. I must say that I didn’t do it, father, forgive me, but I will do it.

Father, they asked again about Father David. How to pray for him?

For everyone.

But he was an abbot. He passed away. The deceased abbot David.

We still have one more call. We are listening to you, speak up.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

I would like to ask a question about the Apostle Paul, his letter to Timothy. Here he writes in chapter 2, starting with verse 12: but... I do not allow anyone to rule over a man, but to be in silence. And so Adam was created first, and then Eve, and it was not Adam who was deceived, but the wife, being deceived, committed a crime. But she will be forgiven if she continues in faith, and love, and the holiness of chastity. Now, the question is: what does it mean: if he continues in faith, and love, and the holiness of chastity? What is the sanctity of chastity?

When a person is a believer, he confesses and cleanses his soul from his sins. And chastity is when the mind is whole and the body is whole. This is considered to be a chaste person. And since you got married, you can behave chastely in marriage. Do everything before God. Do not allow any liberties, any perversion. This is how it will be.

I even remember, father, how Alexey Ilyich Osipov said that he met one family, and the husband confessed to him - they had already lived to old age - he said: but I have never seen my wife in the nude, although she is her husband. And they have children...

One disciple of the elder asked: Father, what are the signs of the end of the world? He said: pray. There are signs and look, now you see - the man is wearing a shirt over his trousers. This means piety covers wickedness. And a belt. And the time will come when the shirt will be tucked into the trousers. This means that wickedness will cover piety.

Nowadays a man with a beard puts on a woman’s dress and is not ashamed to show himself like that to the whole world.

Yes. It’s interesting when the global flood happened, 2262 years before the flood. This is from the first Adam to the flood. And so righteous Noah preached for 120 years, when he was building the ark, that there would be a flood. And what’s interesting is that at that time people walked around with jugs and offered water to their friend when they met. Here, our water is good, and our water is also good. And they poured it. We went with jugs. Whether they wanted it or not, this meant that they would all die from the flood. Further in the Holy Scripture it is said: the first world was destroyed by water for its sins, and the second world by fire.

Nowadays people walk around with lighters and smoke cigarettes. They know that it is harmful, and if it is harmful, then it is a sin, but they still smoke. And this last world will be destroyed by fire.

We received another call. We are listening to you. Speak.

Hello, fathers. Bless, Father Ambrose, God's servant Galina

God bless you.

I have a question. I don't know if I will get comfort or not. I have the following situation: a close relative committed suicide due to drunkenness, so to speak. And he had a very hard life. His father was a drunkard and treated him very cruelly. And my mother was the kindest person, she helped everything. But she didn’t know God, because she was brought up in an orphanage since the revolution. That is, no one could tell her about it. He committed suicide in the late 90s. Well, I suffered all these years. You see, he was unbaptized. I have a little book: a prayer for suicides. She doesn't fit. There is a canon about the unbaptized, which is also not suitable. Well, why shouldn’t I remember him at all now?

Okay, mother, thank you. There are apostolic rules. It says this: if a person was clinically ill and committed suicide, he was beside himself and did not understand what he was doing. This happens. Then you can have a funeral service for him and pray for him. One woman came to me and said in confession: Father, I want to commit suicide. I walked up, opened the balcony on the 9th floor, grabbed the railing, looked down and thought: where will I fly? As soon as the desire appeared, I saw my legs rise, already at the level of the railing. I just say: Lord! And then my legs dropped.

You can't even think about it. If he was clinically registered and deliberately committed suicide, then the church does not hold a funeral service or pray. And since your person was, in addition, not yet baptized...

And while drunk...

And while drunk..... But you need to pray. They still need our prayers as much as possible. Give alms, especially near the temple to the poor - those who can pray for him. And there the future will be provided by the will of God. You can, I think, read the Gospel at home. On the chapters remember him with repentance. You can read the Psalter at home and commemorate it at kathisma. If it gets terribly bad, then you need to leave it. But you still need to pray as much as possible.

Another question came up. We are in a difficult situation. My nephew is two and a half years old. His father was intensely interested in yoga and on Halloween, a Western, demonic holiday - when everyone dresses up in clothes, for example, demons, witches and other evil spirits - on this day he committed suicide. Now we notice that the child seems to be living a double life. Either he is gentle and affectionate, then it is as if a demon is possessing him, and he becomes aggressive and cruel. Is it possible to take a baby to detention? Or is there something else that can be done?

First: parents repent of all sins. And to all relatives. And since this is a baby, he has no serious sins, then give him communion more often so that all uncleanness comes out of him.

Would you like to know whether he was baptized or not? Or maybe he’s not baptized.

Well, of course, if they asked such a question, it means he was baptized. I have a girl I know, she’s already about thirty years old. And often she is hysterical, despondent, and despair. And when they tried to find out why all this was happening and why. I told her: did you go through the war? You have seven children, and your husband was killed? You have everything - shelter, food, a temple, and a priest. Well, everything is there. Well, what are you missing?

She answered: But I lack inner peace. Why is it missing? It turns out that since childhood, when she was little, her parents fulfilled all her whims. She will ask for something, and begins to fall if she is not given it, screaming, crying, and so on until she gets what she wants. And that means she achieved her goal, and now it’s all backfiring on her. Suddenly something is wrong - immediately hysterical.

Father, let's remind you of the phone number for the live broadcast. You can ask your questions over the live phone number, or send them via SMS.

Father, please tell me how to find my spiritual father? Servant of God Boris.

Our source is God. Everyone turns to him, he helps everyone. If we asked, and suddenly not immediately, but for someone immediately, the Lord will send a confessor.

The main thing is not to forget to thank him later. Otherwise, very often people, having received a blessing from God, immediately forget that they need to give thanks.

For example, in the Protestant church they say this: why turn to the saints? One mediator between God and man is Christ. Why do you need saints? But what a secret there is here. God is the source of life. All the saints are around God. They all live in God. If we turn, for example, to St. Nicholas, then this prayer goes to God. And all saints perceive God. So there are no intermediaries here. I say this. And when I was writing my PhD thesis, for example, in an apartment, my friends live behind the wall. I'm calling them. I don’t get to them right away.

I end up at a telephone exchange, where the block is activated and then the call rings. There is a central block where the signal is received. So it is here. The center is God, and in God all saints live. There is one God for all saints. God of Israel.

Father, well, really, how to find a spiritual father? Is it possible to say this: I’ll go to church, and whatever priest I meet will be my spiritual father? We know there were such examples. And here is your personal example too.

Yes, it happened to me too. Well, you still need to look for a spiritual father like this: if a person lives in a certain area, then the church should be in this area, and the priest too. This is his spiritual father. Either you live somewhere in a village, or there is only one church in the city. And that priest is your spiritual father.

Well, what if, say, he doesn’t suit you for some reason?

Well, if you are not satisfied, then you need to come to some monastery and find some confessor there. Well, for example, Moscow. I went to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, took a closer look at who I could trust and confess.

By the way, I heard that the late Father David, who was remembered today, was once asked by a man: Father, how can I find my spiritual father? And he answered him: how would you look for a wife? After all, any one would not suit you? Have you been looking closely? Look for your spiritual father in the same way. That is, for this you need to make some kind of independent effort. That is, to study whether he is suitable or not suitable as a spiritual father.

Here's the mistake: we touched on this topic a little yesterday. After all, everyone is looking at the priest. Doesn't he smoke? Doesn't he swear? Doesn't he drink? If he somehow behaved inappropriately, maybe he scolded someone and said: get out of here, you are not ready. So immediately I’m so offended, I won’t go to church, as if there is no God. I gave an example like this. A man gets sick and calls an ambulance. He doesn’t ask the doctor: do you smoke? Are you swearing? Do you drink? This doesn't interest him. He is only interested in him giving him first aid.

Likewise, when a person is spiritually sick, he must find a priest, at least in the place where he lives. And he no longer repents to the priest, but in the presence of the priest he repents to God. And when you sincerely repent, and you always need to repent as if it were the last time, the time will come when it will really be the last time. He repented, reconciled with God, the priest read a prayer, the Lord forgave his sins, if he did not hide the sins from Him. The most important thing is to make peace with God.

Father, tell me. A person lives in the world, searches for a spiritual father, and believes that he has found it. Well, indeed, maybe I found it. And he tries to try on the same relationship with his spiritual father, like that of a novice living in a monastery with his spiritual father. In general, is it possible in the world to have such obedience to one’s spiritual father as novices in a monastery have?

No, just what am I saying? Even some priests, it seems to me, make the mistake of demanding from worldly people the same subordination that a novice should show to his spiritual father in a monastery.

When they ask me: Father, can you be my spiritual father? I say: no. Only God arranges this. There were such cases. Well, okay, come and confess. I never saw this man again. Especially grandmothers, women say: well, I went to Pochaevo, my spiritual father is there. Everyone says: I also have a spiritual father. I also have a spiritual father in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and somewhere else there. In general, there are many spiritual fathers. And there should be only one spiritual father.

Then they come with the following questions: Father, should I change my apartment or not? One priest says: change it. She goes to someone else. Father, how should I change my apartment? No. He goes to the third, to the fourth and then looks: who said more? This is deception.

In percentage terms?

This is deception. The Orthodox don't do that. If you prayed, asked the Lord, turned to one and wait. The Lord will tell you through him whether to change or not to change. Well, if a person lives in a monastery and has a spiritual father, then he must obey. Not the way you say, I say: don’t eat. How can you not eat this? I'm eating. I say: don’t drink, but you drink. That is, what kind of novices were there before? They were told to plant cabbage with its roots up, and they planted it that way. Or take a dry grape stick, plant it at a distance of five kilometers and water it three times every day.

Did he walk a distance of five kilometers?

Yes, yes. And for obedience she bore fruit.

Okay, father. But still, I’ll finish you off with this question. Is every priest capable of being a spiritual father?

I think not. I once met with a man who was the personal secretary and adviser to Patriarch Tikhon. He was 92 years old. It happened in Siberia. He says: you graduated from the academy - this does not mean that you are already a shepherd. You need to cook in this cauldron with the people for another ten years, then you will understand something. But when he said: I read the Bible, I knew it almost all by heart. This is how good people lived.

Father, our broadcast is shorter today. Therefore, we ask our radio listeners to pray for the health and salvation of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, Archimandrite Ambrose, nun Anna, Archpriest Alexander and other Orthodox Christians. Father, we still have five minutes before the end of the broadcast for the traditional word of consolation.

And you say something.

Father, I’d better listen to you.

I wish I could say this. When living in a family, we must learn to speak calmly with each family member and not raise our voice. Better to obey. If a mother told her daughter: clear the table. - Bless. Clean the apartment. - Bless, go get some bread - Bless. That is, do everything the first time, and there will be joy in your soul. And the more we do good to everyone, the more joy there will be in our souls.

And when we are capricious, do not obey, and we always find time for chatting, for TV, for the computer - that’s bad. We need to educate ourselves here. We are learning here to get rid of anger, from evil, from irritation, from resentment, from indignation, from screaming, from noise. Because we learn here how to live correctly. All our deeds, words, thoughts - everything will be imprinted here for eternity.

And of course, blessed, many times blessed, is the person who has done a lot of good in this life. Because we need to hurry to do good. It will save us. Both words and thoughts - everything must be done only good. Then your soul will feel good. And if we did not listen, insulted someone, offended someone, then our souls are rotten. Why? But the Holy Spirit left us, and dark forces filled our soul. And this makes us feel bad at heart.

Why are we angry? Because the evil spirit lives in us. And we see the fruits. Bitter and sweet water cannot flow from the same source. What the soul is filled with is what it pours out of it. And so, there is no need to justify myself that my husband is bad, such an evil one. Well, since there is time, I will say: you can’t go to your grandmothers, but one woman came to her grandmother and said: my husband has become so angry, terribly angry. I don’t know how to get rid of him without him being evil.

And that one: very simple. Here are two bottles of water on you, and as soon as you feel angry against your husband, fill your mouth with water and hold it. When the water runs out, come back, I'll give you more. Well, we ran out of water, two bottles. Well, how? - asks. To her: I’ve already stopped screaming halfway. -Well, here’s two more bottles for you, and it’ll stop completely.

And there was another case when one woman came to the priest and said: my husband is so angry, I don’t know how to get rid of him. And at that time the dog was breaking from its chain. He says: look, I locked the dog in a kennel on a turntable. She growled there and stopped. So the Lord gave two constipations for our tongue: lips and teeth. Keep quiet and don't say anything to anyone. And you will quickly get rid of this anger.

God bless you, father. Dear brothers and sisters, our program has come to an end. The founder and confessor of the Vvedensky Convent in the city of Ivanovo, Archimandrite Ambrosy Yurasov, answered your questions. The program was hosted by Hierodeacon Eleazar Titov.

We ask for your holy prayers.

If we abandon our desires and understandings and try to fulfill the desires and understandings of God, then we will be saved in every place and in every state. And if we adhere to our desires and understandings, then no place, no state will help us. Even in paradise, Eve transgressed the commandment of God, and for the unfortunate Judas, life under the Savior himself did not bring any benefit. Everywhere patience and compulsion to a pious life are needed, as we read in the Holy Gospel.

... In vain we will accuse that those who live with us and those around us interfere and hinder our salvation or spiritual perfection ... our mental and spiritual unsatisfactoriness comes from ourselves, from our lack of art and from an incorrectly formed opinion, which we do not want to part with. And it is this that brings upon us confusion, doubt, and various bewilderments; and all this torments us and burdens us, and leads us to a desolate state. It would be good if we could understand the simple patristic word: If we reconcile ourselves, then we will find peace in every place, without bypassing with our minds many other places where the same, if not worse, may happen to us.

The main means to salvation is the patience of many different sorrows, which are suitable for whom, according to what was said in the “Acts of the Apostles”: “Through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”...

Anyone who wants to be saved must remember and not forget the apostolic commandment: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the Law of Christ.” There are many other commandments, but not a single one has such an addition, that is, “so fulfill the Law of Christ.” This commandment is of great importance, and before others we must take care of its fulfillment.

...Many wish for a good spiritual life in the simplest form, but only a few and rare actually fulfill their good wishes - namely those who firmly adhere to the words of the Holy Scriptures, that “through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven,” and, calling God's help, they try to meekly endure the sorrows and illnesses and various inconveniences that befall them, always keeping in mind the words of the Lord Himself: “if you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments.”

And the main commandments of the Lord: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, lest you be condemned; release and it will be forgiven to you.” In addition, those who wish to be saved should always keep in mind the words of St. Peter of Damascus, that creation takes place between fear and hope.

The work of our salvation requires, in every place, wherever a person lives, the fulfillment of God’s commandments and submission to the will of God. This is the only way to gain peace of mind, and nothing else, as it is said in the psalms: “There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them.” And you are still looking for inner peace and peace of mind from external circumstances. Everything seems to you that you live in the wrong place, that you have settled with the wrong people, that you yourself have made the wrong decisions, and that others seem to have acted in the wrong way. The Holy Scripture says: “His dominion is in every place,” that is, God’s, and that for God the salvation of one Christian soul is more valuable than all the things of the whole world.

The Lord is ready to help a person acquire humility, as in all good things, but it is necessary for the person himself to take care of himself. Said by St. Fathers: “Give blood and receive spirit.” This means - work until blood is shed and you will receive a spiritual gift. And you are looking for spiritual gifts and asking, but you are sorry to shed blood, that is, you want everything so that no one touches you, does not bother you. Is it possible to acquire humility in a quiet life? After all, humility consists in when a person sees himself as the worst of all, not only people, but also dumb animals and even the spirits of evil themselves. And so, when people disturb you, you see that you cannot tolerate this and are angry with people, then you will inevitably consider yourself bad... If at the same time you regret your badness and reproach yourself for the malfunction, and sincerely repent of this before God and the spiritual father, then you are already on the path of humility... And if no one touched you, and you remained alone, how could you recognize your thinness? How could you see your vices?.. If they try to humiliate you, it means they want to humble you; and you yourself ask God for humility. Why then grieve for people?

To the question: “How to pay attention to yourself, where to start?”, the following answer followed: “You must first write down: how you go to church, how you stand, how you look, how proud you are, how vain you are, how angry you are, etc.”

Anyone who has a bad heart should not despair, because with God's help a person can correct his heart. You just need to carefully monitor yourself and not miss the opportunity to be useful to your neighbors, often open up to the elder and give alms within your power. This, of course, cannot be done suddenly, but the Lord endures for a long time. He only ends a person’s life when he sees him ready for the transition to eternity or when he sees no hope for his correction.

Teaching that in spiritual life one cannot neglect even unimportant circumstances, the elder sometimes said: “Moscow burned down from a penny candle.”

Regarding judging and noticing other people’s sins and shortcomings, the priest said: “You need to pay attention to your inner life so as not to notice what is happening around you. Then you won’t judge.”

Pointing out that a person has nothing to be proud of, the elder added: “And why should a person really be proud here? The ragged, plucked man asks for alms: have mercy, have mercy! But whether mercy will come, who knows.”

When pride attacks, tell yourself: “There’s a weirdo walking around.”

They asked the priest: “So-and-so doesn’t die for a long time, she always imagines cats and so on. Why is that?” Answer: “Every sin, no matter how small, must be written down as soon as you remember it, and then repented. That’s why some people don’t die for a long time, because some unrepentant sin is holding them back, but as soon as they repent, they are relieved... You definitely need to write down your sins as soon as you remember, otherwise we put it off: it’s a small sin, then it’s a shame to say it, or I’ll say it later, but we’ll come to repent and there’s nothing to do say".

Three rings cling to each other: hatred from anger, anger from pride.

“Why do people sin?” - the elder sometimes asked a question and answered it himself: “Or because they don’t know what to do and what to avoid; or, if they know, they forget; if they don’t forget, then they become lazy and despondent... These are three giants - despondency or laziness, oblivion and ignorance - from which the entire human race is bound by insoluble ties. And then comes negligence with all its host of evil passions. That is why we pray to the Queen of Heaven: “My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, with Your holy and all-powerful prayers, drive away from me, Your humble and accursed servant, despondency, oblivion, foolishness, negligence and all the nasty, evil and blasphemous thoughts.”

Don’t be like a bothersome fly, which sometimes flies around uselessly, and sometimes bites, and annoys both of them; and be like the wise bee, which in the spring diligently began its work and by autumn finished the honeycomb, which is as good as correctly written notes. One is sweet, and the other is pleasant.

When they wrote to the elder that it was hard in the world, he replied: “That is why it (the earth) is called the vale of tears; but some people cry, and others jump, but the latter will not feel well.”

To the question: “What does it mean to live according to your heart?”, the priest answered: “Do not interfere in other people’s affairs and see all the good in others.”

Father said: “We must live on earth as a wheel turns, only just one point touches the ground, and the rest constantly strives upward; but we, as soon as we lie down on the ground, cannot get up.”

To the question: “How to live?”, the priest answered: “To live is not to bother, not to judge anyone, not to annoy anyone, and my respect to everyone.”

We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be true, otherwise it will turn out badly.

You need to force yourself, albeit against your will, to do some good to your enemies; and most importantly, do not take revenge on them and be careful not to somehow offend them with the appearance of contempt and humiliation.

So that people would not remain careless and would not place their hope in outside prayerful help, the elder repeated the usual folk saying: “God help me, and the man himself does not lie.” And he added: “Remember, the twelve apostles asked the Savior for a Canaanite wife, but He did not hear them; and she began to ask and begged.”

Father taught that salvation has three degrees. Said by St. John Chrysostom:

1. don't sin
2. having sinned. repent,
3. whoever repents poorly must endure the tribulations that come.

Once we started talking about sorrows, one of them said: “Better illness than sorrow.” Father answered: “No. in sorrows, you will pray to God and they will go away, but you cannot fight off the disease with a stick.”

When the blues come, do not forget to reproach yourself: remember how much you are guilty before the Lord and before yourself, and realize that you are unworthy of anything better, and you will immediately feel relief. It is said: “Many are the sorrows of the righteous,” and “Many are the wounds of sinners.” Such is our life here - all sorrows and sorrows; and it is through them that the Kingdom of Heaven is achieved. When you are restless, repeat more often: “Seek peace and get married.”

After communion, one must ask the Lord to preserve the gift with dignity and that the Lord will give help not to return back, that is, to previous sins.

When the priest was asked: “Why do you sometimes feel consolation after communion, and sometimes coldness?”, he answered: “He who seeks consolation from communion experiences coldness, but whoever considers himself unworthy, grace remains with him.”

Humility is about giving in to others and considering yourself inferior to everyone else. It will be much more peaceful.

“It’s always better to give in,” said the priest, “if you insist fairly, it’s the same as a ruble of banknotes, and if you give in, it’s a ruble in silver.”

To the question “How to acquire the fear of God?”, the priest answered: “You must always have God before you. I will foresee the Lord before me.”

When people annoy you, never ask “why” or “why.” This is not found anywhere in Scripture. It says on the contrary: “they will hit you on your right cheek, turn your left also,” and this is what it means: if they beat you for telling the truth, then do not complain and turn your left, that is, remember your wrong deeds and you will see that you are worthy of punishment. At the same time, the priest added: “I have endured the Lord, and listened to me.”

“Father! teach me patience.” - said one sister. “Learn,” the elder answered, “and start with patience when you find and encounter troubles.” “I can’t understand how you can not be indignant at insults and injustices.” The elder’s answer: “Be fair yourself and do not offend anyone.”

Father used to say: “Moses endured, Elisha endured, Elijah endured, and I will endure.”

The elder often cited a proverb: “If you run from a wolf, you will attack a bear.” There is only one thing left to do - be patient and wait, paying attention to yourself and not judging others, and praying to the Lord and the Queen of Heaven, may He arrange for you what is beneficial, as They please.