Patriarchal and Synodal Epistle in connection with the situation in Montenegro Патриаршее и Синодальное послание в связи с ситуацией в Черногории

Patriarchal and Synodal Epistle in connection with the situation in Montenegro Патриаршее и Синодальное послание в связи с ситуацией в Черногории print version December 30, 2019 08:30 In connection with the dangerous development of the situation around the canonical Orthodox Church in Montenegro, a remote meeting of the Holy Synod was held on Saturday December 28, 2019, whose members unanimously approved the following Patriarchal and Synodal Message on the situation in Montenegro. His Holiness, His Holiness Irenaeus, Archbishop of Pechsky, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovac, Patriarch of Serbia His Eminence, His Eminence Amphilochius, Metropolitan of Montenegro-Primorsky His Grace, His Grace, Bishop of Budymlyansk-Niksic His Grace, His Grace Athanasius, Bishop of Mileshevsky His Grace, His Grace Demetrius, Bishop of Zakhum-Herzegovina His Grace, His Grace Methodius, Bishop of Diocles The clergy, monks and all Orthodox believers of Montenegro Your Holiness, beloved fellow archpastors beloved in the Lord, venerable fathers, dear brothers and sisters! With pain and concern, we learned about the adoption by the Assembly of Montenegro of a discriminatory law against the Serbian Orthodox Church, and of the dramatic events that followed. Accept on behalf of the fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church the expression of deep, sincere and heartfelt sympathy in connection with the outrageous arbitrariness of the police, which humiliated and battered the faithful, led by His Grace Bishop Methodius of Diocles. The bitterness is caused by the legislators' disregard for the will of the majority of citizens who were and remain members of the Church of St. Basil of Ostrog and Peter Tsetinsky. It is this Church, as a caring mother, spiritually gave birth and through vigilant care for centuries brought up in love for freedom and truth the inhabitants of Montenegro. And today, its temples and monasteries, testifying to the living faith and piety of the generations who built them, faced the threat of plunder. An attempt to raise the question of the legitimacy of the rights of religious organizations to property belonging to them after many years of reign of the atheistic regime, condemning them to lawlessness, looks like a cynical blow to the Church, restoring what was lost during the years of oppression. The new Law on Freedom of Religion is an act to support the split by weakening the canonical Church and attempting to make it humiliating and dangerous depending on the state - all the more unjust because Montenegro is a secular state. Arbitrarily and illegally intruding into the field of canon law, the country's authorities deny the obvious and easily proven continuity of the canonical Church, insisting on its re-registration, which takes the Church beyond the legal framework and puts it under attack from aggressive nationalism. In the Russian Orthodox Church, they know from their own experience that schism is the greatest national tragedy. The political forces of both Montenegro and Ukraine, interested in undermining national unity, supported the schismatics for many years, seeing in them an instrument for weakening the canonical Church. The tree they brought up brought the poisonous fruits of a new “state thinking,” which assigns the split the role of the driving force for the degeneration of public consciousness. This painful transformation inflicted on Ukraine unhealed wounds of fratricidal hostility. We see with sorrow that the same consequences are now threatening your country, where parallels with the Ukrainian situation are clearly visible in what is happening. Both countries adopted discriminatory laws that laid the legal basis for the removal of churches, monasteries and lands from the Church. In Montenegro, schismatics with the support of the authorities for many years trying to capture the churches of the canonical Church - as well as in Ukraine. This is not just an external resemblance - in both countries, in fact, the same plan is being implemented, born far beyond their borders. Therefore, our brothers in Montenegro understand the suffering of the people of God of Ukraine, which they always strive to support in the trials they experience. We now appeal to all Local Orthodox Churches with an appeal to support the canonical Church in Montenegro. The danger hanging over it should not be perceived by any of us as distant or alien. What the Montenegrin believers are trying to impose today, tomorrow any of the Churches can comprehend. We appeal to the world community to prevent the violation of the rights of religious communities in Montenegro. Serious comments on the new Law on Religious Freedom were previously made by the European Commission for Democracy through Law. Obviously, this legislative act ignores the will of a significant part of the country's population. It should be noted that the principle of separation of religious communities from the state, formally enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution (Charter) of Montenegro, is in fact grossly violated by the state leadership of the country, which has openly embarked on the creation of a “new church” that would serve their political interests. We urge the leaders of Montenegro to come to their senses and instead of the mythical "great Serb chauvinists" see their Orthodox grandfathers, fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and children. It is impossible and meaningless to declare the canonical Church, uniting the majority of the citizens of its country, a conductor of foreign, hostile influence. The adopted law does not provide for freedom of religion, it is aimed at alienation from the centuries-old historical memory of the people, from the fatherly spiritual tradition inherited by them. Voting in the Assembly launched processes that could in the foreseeable future lead to such sad consequences as the massive violation of the rights of believers, the seizure of churches from their rightful owners and the redistribution of property. We have already observed all this with Ukraine as an example, where similar laws were adopted, but where the interference of politicians in matters of church life could not shake the spiritual stronghold of the canonical Church and avert the people of God from it. Moreover, this intervention led to the loss of senior public office by the person who was most anxious to turn the Church into its political instrument. Outrage at the Church of God does not go unpunished. The people will not forgive the encroachment on its shrines, and God pays for it with condemnation in eternity. We pray to the All-Merciful Lord, may He grant His omnipotent help to archpastors, pastors, and all faithful children of the canonical Orthodox Church in Montenegro, may he bring forth admonition to those who now bear the responsibility for peace and civil harmony in the country. With love about the Lord

Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich: Tomos became the spiritual "Berlin Wall" for Ukrainian Orthodoxy

Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich: Tomos became the spiritual "Berlin Wall" for Ukrainian Orthodoxy Протоиерей Николай Данилевич: Томос стал духовной «берлинской стеной» для украинского Православия print version November 30, 2019 16:44 Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, gave an exclusive interview to the Apostrof website . - I would like to start the conversation with the important event of this year, namely the recognition by the Hellas Church , and after it by the Patriarchate of Alexandria , of the autocephaly of the “Orthodox Ukrainian Church” (hereinafter PCU). What is the official position of the UOC on this issue? - The final official position will be formed by the Synod of our Church, which has not yet met since the events you mentioned. Currently, there is a statement from the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, which states that this decision was a stab in the back of the canonical UOC. After all, the churches you mentioned earlier recognized our Church as the only canonical, and now they have taken a diametrically opposite position. At the same time, we expressed gratitude to the metropolitans, priests and laity of the Church of Greece, who opposed the recognition of the PCO, and there were many of them. Ten bishops expressed their disagreement publicly, but in reality those bishops who are against the recognition of the PCO in the Greek Church, at least half. They are just silent. - Fear? Or why? - There are various reasons. Firstly, the Greek Church is half dependent on Constantinople. How? It has 80 metropolitans, of which 36 depend on Constantinople almost directly: they are administratively governed by the Synod in Athens, but the Constantinople Patriarch, whom they commemorate during the service, influences their election. This is historically the case. By the way, there was information that from Istanbul even the archbishop of Athens Jerome was threatened - if he does not recognize the PCO, then these 36 dioceses will be completely taken to Constantinople. Thus, we see that the PCUs were recognized by the satellites of the Patriarchate of Constantinople , that is, the same Greeks, only in other Churches. That is, the second reason is the pressure from Fanar itself (the district in Istanbul where the residence of the Patriarch of Constantinople is located is the “Apostrophe” ). The third reason is Greek solidarity. They are trying to support their Patriarch, even if he is not right. On October 12, 2019, many bishops of the Greek Church, when leaving the cathedral, which actually agreed with the recognition of the PCO, on the sidelines said literally like this: “We understand that it is wrong to recognize the saints and excommunicated, but we must help our Patriarch [Constantinople]”. For the Greeks, the Patriarch of Constantinople is to some extent a sacred person who reminds them of the glorious times of the Byzantine Empire, where the Greeks played a major role. It must be understood that the Greeks in Africa, namely in Alexandria and in Constantinople, are the remnants of those Greeks who remained there after the collapse of the Byzantine Empire. By the way, in Istanbul there are only 650 people living there now. The Ecumenical Patriarch, in fact, does not mean universal, but the patriarch of the empire, the Byzantine empire, which no longer exists. They just translated the title from Greek and mislead people. The fourth reason is the pressure of the Greek state, because the Greek Church has a connection with the state at the constitutional level, and, in fact, is the state Church. Bishops and priests in Greece receive salaries not from the Church, but from the state. The Greek state also finances the Alexandrian Patriarchate. And this means that they are dependent on the state. The last but very important reason is the pressure of the United States of America. This is also evident from the fact that the US ambassador to Greece, Jeffrey Payette, has recently met with the majority of the metropolitans of the Greek Church and continues to do so. Over the past year and a half, American ambassadors have begun to regularly meet with the heads and representatives of almost all the Local Orthodox Churches. The last such meetings are with the Patriarchs of Bulgaria and Serbia. This is confirmed by many official messages and photos that are easy to find on the Internet. In addition, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the PCU with the creation, and the US Senate even published a whole resolution on this subject. And the other day a cherry on the cake was the message that on the second day after the announcement by the Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilos of November 21 of the initiative for an All-Orthodox meeting in Jordan to resolve the crisis in Orthodoxy, the Ambassador Jeffrey Payette, already mentioned by us, is meeting with the Archbishop of Athens Jerome , who after the meeting declares that will not go anywhere. And he clarifies that he will not go until Patriarch Bartholomew from Istanbul tells him about this. It is surprising why no other country pays such attention to the Orthodox processes in Ukraine, and America, which is the majority of the Protestant-Catholic country where the Orthodox belong to minorities, so openly supports the PCO? Agree, this causes certain suspicions. - What is the interest of the States? - I think that for the USA, Greece and Ukraine have value, rather, as an outpost in the confrontation with Russia, but now in the spiritual sense. If before the United States fought with Russia in the political, military, information and economic spheres, now the confrontation has passed into the church sphere. We in Ukraine need to clearly understand this. Understand our real place in these confrontations. We are a battlefield. Unfortunately. This is a big problem for the Church itself. The interference of political and geopolitical factors in the church situation is becoming very noticeable. And this is understood in the Local Churches. The other day, Anastasiy, the authoritative in the Orthodox world, Archbishop of Albania, supported the Patriarch of Jerusalem regarding pan-Orthodox discussion of the Ukrainian church issue. In his statement, he, incidentally, said that "the church events of the outgoing year created a new reality, with the clear intervention of geopolitical interests." Our Church is categorically against any external or internal state influences on church life. This only complicates the life and mission of the Church. This is one of the reasons why our Church did not want and does not want to take part in these games with the Tomos, which we have observed over the past year and a half. - And then what is the role of Russia in the struggle for church influence in Ukraine? “I understand your question.” Our Ukrainian Orthodox Church is often accused of allegedly wanting to be with Moscow, supporting the interests of the Russian Federation, the “Russian world”, etc. But this is not so, this is not true. As His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry said , when he was asked a similar question, "we are not building any Russian world, we are building the peace of God." This is important to understand. The church is separated from the state, both Ukrainian and Russian, and from the American, by the way. And the Church must be out of politics. Therefore, for the UOC, it is not Moscow that matters, not political issues, but church issues, questions of preserving the canonical order in the Church. These things must be understood and separated. At the same time, I would very much like that in the future Ukraine would not be anti-Russian, just as Russia would not be anti-Ukrainian. After all, both peoples suffer from this. But this is a mutual process, efforts are needed from both sides. The church and priests should call for peace and reconciliation, and not for war and confrontation. It is written in the gospel. This is what we are trying to do. There is no tension between the church people of our countries, the conflict exists only between politicians, between states. In my opinion, reconciliation could be started from the “information world”. We must stop in the media to pump hysteria against each other. We must move away from radical views and statements on both sides. - What reaction should be expected from other patriarchates? Will the already announced decisions of the Greek and Alexandrian Churches be a signal for them? - The situation with the proclamation of autocephaly of the PCU contradicts both the canons and the traditions of the Orthodox Church. This has never happened in church history. I mean, the presence of priestly and episcopal dignity is recognized for those who do not have it at all. And this is understood in the Local Churches. Therefore, even those Churches that identify with the erroneous actions of Phanar and recognize the PCO are forced to do this not because it is correct from the church point of view, but because they are subjected to external pressure. I am very unpleasant to talk about these things for an external audience, but people need to know the truth, because it has already come out. Thus, the answer to your question depends on whether other Churches are subject to external pressure or not. But in any case, churches that do not recognize the PCO will still remain until some kind of common Orthodox decision is made. It should be said frankly, now world Orthodoxy has not just entered the zone of turbulence, it faces the threat of a split. And the reason for this is the action of Constantinople. If here, in Ukraine, everything was done according to the canons and laws of the Church, then no one in the Orthodox world would have questions. But since the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine actually created a parallel hierarchy, having founded a parallel Church, introduced people into the bosom of the Church who in reality do not have priests and episcopal ordinations - this raises, to put it mildly, many questions in other Local Churches. Now in Ukraine there are two metropolitans of Kiev. It’s like two presidents in one state. But this is wrong! Why is our UOC opposing the PCU? Because the PCU was created on the basis of the UAOC and the UOC-KP, which were once parts of our Church. Speaking in secular language, in the early 1990s, processes of church separatism took place in Ukraine. The UAOC was separated from the UOC in 1989, and then the UOC-KP in 1992, and now these units, which then left us, claim to be called the Local Church of Ukraine. Such an absurdity took place in the Ukrainian church community. But the worst part is that this absurdity is being served and promoted as the norm today. Therefore, these wrong things should be corrected. - You mentioned the initiative of the Primate of the Church of Jerusalem, who invited the First Hierarchs to Jordan to discuss the issue of “maintaining unity in the Eucharistic communion”. What will this discussion give? Will it finally help to find harmony in the relations of the Orthodox? - Yes, this is a very positive and encouraging gesture. We hope that at the present crisis moment this voice will be heard and if not all, then a significant number of Church leaders will have the will to come there. And then the Ukrainian church issue will either be resolved, or the ways to resolve it will be outlined. At least this is a chance to solve the problem. There are no other options yet. And the voice of the Albanian Archbishop Anastasius, who also speaks for the Pan-Orthodox Conference, increases the chances that it can still take place. - What issues should be raised there? - The Ukrainian question, first of all. That is, what to do with the PCU and how to solve the church schism in Ukraine, since the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople only led to even bigger problems - not only in Ukraine, they created a pan-Orthodox crisis. And also, on occasion, other issues relevant to Orthodoxy may be raised.

For the year of the existence of the schismatic "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" less than 1% of the canonical Church passed into it

For the year of the existence of the schismatic "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" less than 1% of the canonical Church passed into it За год существования раскольнической «Православной церкви Украины» в нее перешло менее 1% канонической Церкви print version December 3, 2019 2:51 p.m. Despite the efforts of state propaganda, less than 1% of all parishes of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church joined or were forcibly transferred to its ranks in the year since the formation of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”. This was announced in an interview with the Russia-24 television channel by the managing director of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovarsky . According to the bishop, since December 2018, schismatics have seized about 100 churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, illegally re-registered 220, voluntarily changed the jurisdiction of about 78 parishes. Thus, Vladyka Anthony summed up the results, of the more than 12 thousand parishes that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has, this is less than 1%, while some parishes after that have already returned to the fold of the canonical Church. “In such periods, self-cleaning takes place. After all, who left us? Those who wore various gossip, strife within the Church, who asserted themselves, who had a very high opinion of themselves, left ... There remained people who were faithful to God, Churches, faithful to their oath - both priestly and bishops, those who live for Christ and in Christ, ”said Metropolitan Anthony.

The 24th Radonezh Film Festival was held in Moscow

The 24th Radonezh Film Festival was held in Moscow XXIV кинофестиваль «Радонеж» состоялся в Москве print version November 28, 2019 17:43 November 22-25, 2019 at the Cinema House of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation in Moscow, the XXIV International Festival of Film and Television Programs "Radonezh" was held . The film festival united around 300 film and television companies from all over Russia, near and far abroad. This year, 230 films and television programs from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Abkhazia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Poland, and Lithuania were sent to the selection committee. Of these, 123 films were selected in the festival program. 54 films participated in the competition program, 50 films participated in the television competition. In addition to documentaries and television programs, 12 animated films and 12 short films were also featured in the competition. This year's jury included the chairman of the jury, film director V.I. Khotinenko, film actress V.I. Telichkina, TV journalist B.I. Kostenko, film director A.V. Bogatyrev, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation A.N. Zolotukhina, film critic T.O. Jensen, writer, Ph.D. D.M. Volodikhin, film director B.G. Krinitsyn, Archpriest Andrei Spiridonov, Archpriest Nikolai Germansky, publicist S.N. Komarov (Ukraine). The main award of the festival - the silver medal of St. Sergius of Radonezh - received seven nominees. The Grand Prix of the festival - the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and the silver medal of St. Sergius of Radonezh - by unanimous decision, the jury received the film “Andrei Tarkovsky. Cinema as a Prayer ”(script and director Andrei Tarkovsky, Jr.). The prize for the best directorial work went to the film “Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Repentance ”(scriptwriter and director Sergei Miroshnichenko). The prize for the best cinematography was given to the film “Sky” (screenwriter Aleksey Malechkin with the participation of Ilya Lozinsky; directors Aleksey Malechkin, Sergey Linnikov). The prize for the best script went to the film "The New Martyrs" (scriptwriter Elena Chavchavadze; director Galina Ogurnaya). The jury noted the best animated film, which was the work of animators from St. Petersburg "Heavenly Joy (Barefoot Joy)" (script by Ekaterina Kalikinskaya; director and artist Natalya Fedchenko). In the television competition among the paintings of regional studios, the film “The Commemoration” was awarded (the authors of the idea are Tatyana Favstriyskaya, Elena Trostnikova; script and director Lyudmila Razgon). The best television movie of the central channels is “Don't Get Out of Here” (screenwriter Marina Trush; directors Marina Trush, Vladimir Samorodov). The special prize of the president of the festival - for a documentary - received the picture "Yuri Kublanovsky. Homeland is nearby ”(script and director Aleksey Burykin). Silver medal of St. The hero of the film, poet Yuri Kublanovsky “For Contribution to the Development of Russian Literature,” also received Sergius of Radonezh. The special prize of the jury chairman - for the documentary - went to the work "The Stalingrad Gospel of Ivan Pavlov" (script and director Vladimir Shuvannikov). The special prize of the festival’s general producer awarded the film “Vasily Shukshin. I’ve come to give you free rein ... ”(script by Oksana Shaparova; director Yuri Malyugin). In addition, Special prizes and diplomas of the synodal departments of the Moscow Patriarchate and public organizations in various categories were awarded. The festival was held with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Government of Moscow, and the Union of Russian Filmmakers.

during his visit to Baku, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill performs a moleben at the site of the martyrdom of the Apostle Bartholomew Святейший Патриарх Кирилл совершил молебен на месте мученической кончины апостола Варфоломея print version November 14, 2019 20:12 On November 14, 2019, during his visit to Baku, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill served a moleben on the foundation of the chapel of the Apostle Bartholomew at the foot of the Maiden’s Tower in the Azerbaijani capital. According to legend, in 71 AD, one of the twelve disciples of the Savior, the holy apostle Bartholomew, was martyred here. Subsequently, a Christian church was erected there, and in 1892 a chapel appeared in this place in the name of St. Apostle Bartholomew, built on private donations. In the XX century, during the years of persecution of faith, it was blown up. Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Metropolitan Minsky and Zaslavsky Pavel, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan Vincent, Metropolitan of Yekaterinburg and Verkhotursky Kirill, Archbishop of Baku and Azerbaijan, prayed for the service, Archbishop Patriarch of Baku and Azerbaijan, prayed dioceses and many Orthodox residents of Baku.

Barbarians and wise men

Barbarians and wise men https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/print/5537207.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhis9cpf1hwxpaSHd2n9GYIL9DYfMQprint version November 25, 2019 17:02 https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/4305415.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhjHacetxdNg1Od_u4vVhNL-kK76Zghttps://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/632651.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhiQgZJ-o8VRKMUJ6tk5mSaZeu--DQInterview with the Chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations of the Church with Society and the Media V.R. https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/632651.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhiQgZJ-o8VRKMUJ6tk5mSaZeu--DQhttps://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://rg.ru/&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhgVuTVlAPyuS3SbGU8SLmO39D5kswLegends of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta (No. 265 (8023)). it will be easy for them, and it will be useful for you. And I chose four biographies for the special course “Spiritual and Intellectual Foundations of Western Culture” - Augustine, Francis, Thomas Aquinas and Luther. This was optional for third-year students. I remember Vyazemsky asked me after the first lesson: how many people were and who? Nine, I answer, I give names (including Zara Migranyan, daughter of Andranik Movsesovich). Oh says the elite! To me, yes, excellent students came. Then the elective ended, but the course remained. Around the same time, culturology appeared as an obligatory and fashionable subject at that Faith and culture - mother and daughter? - You teach culturology at MGIMO. Why did you take it? - It all started with a special course. I was then a fourth-year student and ... eager to teach. And Yuri Pavlovich Vyazemsky, head. Department of World Literature and Culture and my dear teacher, agreed. I prepared my author's special course and went to consult with my good friend, a brilliant philosopher, professor Vladimir Kirillovich Shokhin. He looked at my notes and said: You know, students really like biographies. Choose a few - and time. So there was no particular choice. Yuri Pavlovich said: let's teach. - Does cultural science exist as a scientific subject? I have not seen a single good textbook on cultural studies. The famous philosopher Alexander Pyatigorsky taunted political science at lectures. He said that even sexology is a science, but political science is not. Culturology is not one of the same fictitious sciences? - Yes, at one time there was debate about this. But my current course of authors, it is rather - in terms of the wonderful and recently departed from us Vadim Mikhailovich Mezhuyev - is a philosophy of culture. - Do you have your own culture philosophy? - Rather, this is my interpretation of the theory of culture of Vyazemsky. In the classroom, we talk with students about three ways of knowing the world - scientific, religious, artistic - we understand how they differ and how they create a holistic picture of the world for a person. Which is invariable: religion, science, art - always cause interest. Even in the form of disagreement. - Science, art and religion in your classes do not conflict with each other? - One of the most interesting tasks for me is to show that no. I explain to students that the tenacious idea of ​​their conflict is just a stereotype. Sometimes based on funny and helpless things. In our country, many anti-religious passages are self-revealing, like the Divine Comedy at the Obraztsov Theater. The God who sculpts a man on the stage is a caricature not so much of Christianity as of one who understands him that way. Well, what conflict does Galileo Galileo have with the Church? Galileo understood that the Bible was not given to us in order to tell how the sky was arranged, but in order to ascend to it. But Pope Urban VIII for some reason believed that it was one and the same. Apparently, Galileo was smarter than Urban VIII. In this matter, at least. Why Galileo turned out to be smarter than the Pope “I’m always curious that you, being a church speaker, easily recognize that Galileo was smarter than Urban VIII.” And people of culture can be stronger, smarter, or rather, than people of religion. But this is a rare position. In our Church, snobbery towards culture is more common. The brilliantly educated brothers-monks Zinkovsky quoted me recently transferred to St. Makari Optinsky review of St. Ignatius Brianchaninova on “Gogol's Selected Places from Correspondence with Friends”: it is important not to wipe the glass, but to light the light. “Selected places ...” - Nabokov, Belinsky, and St. Ignatius is more like “rubbing glass.” But in general, is culture not the birth of light? Why is it so often, even from Mother Superior, Doctor of Science, that one can hear that science is vanity? This contempt - why write novels? to do scientific experiments? - Berdyaev in the "Russian Idea" called obscurantism characteristic of our Church in the 19th century. - A man consists of spirit, soul and body, and art, of course, is the area of ​​the soul. And therefore, yes, it’s stupid to start reading “Philosophy of Love”, and then by all means stop reading Dostoevsky. So you stop nourishing the soul, nourishing only the spirit. Some people in the Church do have a similar neglect of the soul. Many regard as austerity about. Seraphim Rose, but few people know that he, for example, was very fond of Bach's music. And he thought that before he got deified, he had to humanize himself. The philosopher Sergei Askoldov has an interesting answer to the question why Russian Orthodoxy is not so focused on social service, as, for example, Western Christianity. In his opinion, because of the three principles in man — beast, human, and angelic — we tend to slip through the “human”. This is a very interesting and largely correct observation. Our culture, like any other, arose in the religious sphere, but often remains in it. All our philosophy and high humanitarian thought are religious. All Russian literature arose under the influence of Orthodoxy. - This is some key topic for us - the completion of the "human". - I think that now we are simply doomed to complete the human. And the Church should proceed from the fact that in the 21st century we can no longer jump over this stage. I think that focusing on the spiritual, with contempt for culture, is still a consequence of neophytism. Someone (like I once) in a neophyte impulse seriously wondered if he could stand on a stone for a thousand nights, like Seraphim of Sarov, someone threw Dostoevsky to read for the books of the holy fathers. But those who quit reading Dostoevsky usually soon return to him. Building the "human" is very important. But there is one “but.” You must understand that not everyone can become a scientist or writer. And saints - everyone. Because there is no person incapable of religion, of faith. By the way, I cannot but mention here the last film of A.S. Konchalovsky's “Sin,” in which Michelangelo concludes that he went all his life to God, and came only to man: he is admired for his masterpieces, but they cannot be prayed for. Very deep thought of the director. I once had a polemic with a church journalist who wrote in a review of Dan Brown's book “The Da Vinci Code” that the book is stupid, those who are passionate about it are fools, and the Church is not fools. I replied that in principle I could not agree with the author: it’s the university that doesn’t need fools, but everyone in the church needs it. There is no intellectual qualification. The Christian's goal is salvation, but it is not accomplished by cultural means. The academician is no closer to salvation than Aunt Masha with three classes of education. “Yes, everyone is needed in the temple, and fools, too.” But it would be good if they did not get the upper hand. - Of course. No wonder the Patriarch, the hierarchy insist on compulsory higher theological education of the priest. Recently I spoke with the Metropolitan, who is simply happy that there is this condition. Farewell to secularization. Religion is back - But just as the Church dismisses culture, people of culture even more energetically dismiss the Church. - Chesterton has a wonderful idea that faith and religion cannot be dismissed, because it includes everything in the world. Faith cannot and should not be in the gap, hostility or clash with culture. Religion is both the mother and the living heart of any culture. A culture with religion, like a child with parents, then leaves, then returns, then denies, then honors, then it becomes a parent. “But the emancipation did happen.” - Yes, as a student of Yuri Vyazemsky, I believe that science, art and religion today are three independent ways of knowing the world. Science knows the environment. Art is self-knowledge in art form. And religion, as Aleksei Fedorovich Losev believed, is the self-realization of personality in eternity. Not in everyday life, family, profession, but in eternity. But religion - this is a generally accepted place in modern humanities - is the main culture-forming phenomenon. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about the Orthodox culture of the Slavs, about the Confucian or Taoist culture of the Chinese, about the Protestant culture of the Germans or Americans. - But there was also a secularization of culture. - Still, European and American. Well, what kind of separation of religious from cultural or political can be talked about in a number of Islamic countries ?! And today, when religion is at the center of world political processes, international relations, we seem to be witnessing its movement from the periphery to the center of social and political life. This movement is rather the opposite of secularization. Recently, by the way, they talked about this at the Valdai Forum in a session with Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov. There is a serious, non-facade and cosmetic (as in Soviet times in the theme of "struggle for world peace") return of the Church to the life of modern society. It is clear that the temple today will not, as in medieval society, become the architectural dominant of every city. In general, this path is not strewn with roses. This difficult return is not always, by the way, positively affecting life, politics and religion itself. An increase in tension and quasi-religious extremism is associated with it. And the genocide of Christians. The persecution of Christians, by the way, is precisely because they are Christians. Well, Ukraine is an example of what happens when politics grossly intervenes in the sphere of religious life. Barbarians are a greater challenge to the Church than wiseacres - Sometimes it seems that people of culture today are the main duelists with religious people. Because barbarians or mockers like Nevzorov are not a challenge. A wise guy who does not agree to believe is a challenge. You are conducting deep conversations on TV with Artemy Lebedev, Vladimir Pozner ... - No, people of culture still know history well and understand what Christianity is. They usually raise questions about the specific steps of the Church, but being an anti-Christian is still strange for them. So what’s the challenge of them? They can tell us: “there were people in our time, the heroes are not you,” but show us the modern Theophan the Recluse or Filaret of Moscow. But here we have something to answer. We have a Patriarch with an incredible (according to Yevgeny Vodolazkin) gift of speech and the best modern rhetoric. https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/52666.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhhMVwM1Z1mEhl1oaTYawbFAKWX-zAhttps://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/60784.html&xid=17259,15700021,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265,15700271,15700283&usg=ALkJrhhvA_NR7Kze1FTE3xYP0dvtqidWFAThere is Metropolitan Hilarion , who writes wonderful music, the most talented Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) and many others ... No, we can speak the same language with people of culture, even those who are hard-minded. But the “barbarians”, in my opinion, are a greater challenge for the Church. The same neopaganism. Even without being an expert on it, I can easily prove that it is a pseudo-stylization. Does this excite the guys who go to the “rocking chair”? The father of one such guy says to me: as if the toggle switch was switched, after the new year, many came with axes instead of body crosses. They have a sectarian consciousness, and our arguments are not interesting to them. And we, according to the Apostle Paul, forever, forever, exhaustively saying: “For all I have become everything”, we need to become someone for these guys “with axes”. Therefore, in our Church, a sport commission arose, etc. I am not always satisfied with the quality and quantity of dialogs with people of science and art, but I understand that here we have something to say. And what can neopagans say? “But here are just great masters - simple priests who are incapable of dialogue with people of culture.” And with these guys - they are sages, and they have their own life hacks. And how, by the way, are sheep and shepherds found? It is clear that the task of catching in the network should not be ... “Why not?” The task of catching on the network, understood, of course, exclusively in the gospel sense, is before us. I come to the students and try my best to teach their profession. I brake more than 130 people (thanks to the technique) through the Telegram Channel, throw off links to them, discuss, advise you to watch something, read the same Losev. I’m sending a long video marked “only for smart people, please do not worry the rest”. I "catch" them in the network of science and profession. And I study with them, answering their questions and objections. And where the Church is trying to catch is much more important. - What is the name of the flock to the Church, including the cultural, sophisticated? Why - to the contact of thoughts, feelings and experience? Or a call is not needed and they will come? - This may be the most important issue today. I recently spoke with my colleagues on the Vera radio, and one interlocutor, in my opinion, rightly noticed that the early Christians had a challenge to paganism, and they answered it. In Soviet times, there was a powerful challenge to atheism, and it was also answered. And now, in her opinion, there is a cotton wall around, a jelly of opinions, and the feeling is that the Church has nothing to say. I am convinced that the Church has something to say. And we have to talk. But the times are, indeed, such that Voltaire’s phrase about respecting the opinion that you hate (which they say he never uttered) you will involuntarily begin to appreciate. Because if a person hates someone’s point of view, then the world for him is divided into right and wrong things. And in the jelly of modern ideas, there are not even right and wrong points of view. What to do in a situation where a person says everything: a, well, good. Are you Christian? Good. Satanist? Perfectly. Isn't this the modern world? When we discussed the history of the temple in Yekaterinburg with the students, one girl wrote to me what religion they would vote for in Russia, let it be. For her it’s in the same row as - I drink energy, you are Coca-Cola, and he is “Bon Aqua”. What is the difference whether faith is true or not, once it is chosen. - Probably, as there is barbarism of neopagans, so there is barbarism of students. “But this is some new barbarism.” I do not yet fully understand what to do with it. - Continue work, engage in dialogue. - Listen, our European brothers are working out, and the results? Temples are selling. - Huge Catholic cathedrals are expensive to maintain. They are rented out under pressure (disgracefully harsh under capitalism) financial circumstances. But the royal families do not leave the temple, and services are given in the cathedrals given for exhibitions. - I agree that many of our ideas about a spiritless Europe are primitive. But I can’t see the trends of indifference. Personal experience “Why did they burn Gordano Bruno?” - To understand the real relationship between science and religion, we must remember that modern science arose largely thanks to Christianity. It is clear that its appearance was not the goal of the Christian religion, but it was the Christian demythologization of the cosmos, the theological and philosophical thesis that the world does not have a divine nature, but is a creation, created the worldview conditions for modern scientific research. The image of a scientist in the form of Bazarov, cutting frogs, was impossible in the ancient pagan world. You can not explore (especially with a scalpel) that which is sacred. Because some demon frog will give you in your ear. You and I briefly discussed the history of Galileo Galilei, which does not contain any essentially religious or scientific struggle. Well, what is the conflict of faith and science in it? A remarkable mind is a man whose position on the demarcation of religion and science as ways of understanding the world, the Catholics for some reason perceived as a challenge. I have to spend all my time with students on educational stories with “martyrs from science”. We analyze why Giordano Bruno was not a scientist - even by the standards of his time, and Galileo, who knew his works, never quoted them until we realized that he was burned for ancient magic teachings, and not for science. This does not justify those who burned him, but burned him for heresy. And before that, the Inquisition was kept in the casemates for 8 years, according to some researchers, in the hope of convincing. I really like to ask a student at the standings or exam: why did they burn Galileo (and today they often say that)? One boy recently answered without hesitation: nevertheless, they did not burn him. So, there is the result of our meetings.

Interconfessional Advisory Committee 6th Plenary Session in Moscow on 30th October 2019

30 October 2019 year 19:02 The Christian Interconfessional Advisory Committee held its 6th Plenary Session in Moscow on 30th October 2019, bringing together representatives of Christian communities from fifteen Eurasian countries. As the result of the meeting, an appeal was adopted. Its unabridged text is given below: We, representatives of Christian communities from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, assembled in Moscow to take part in the 6th Plenary Session of the Christian Interconfessional Advisory Committee on “Intransient Power of the Gospel and Its Importance for Today’s Society.” 1.The world around us is undergoing unprecedented changes. On the one hand, technological progress and Internet development bring people closer together; on the other hand, the wide-spread ideology of consumption and erosion of traditional social and family ties make people ever more reserved, lonely and isolated. While striving to satisfy their personal and social material needs, people continue to ask themselves questions of existential and spiritual nature, such as: “What is the purpose of human life? Is there the higher truth?” Answers to these and other perennial questions are given by the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb 13:8). On numerous occasions in history the message of salvation proclaimed by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel granted by Him transformed humanity. With its help society can be changed once again. Christian faith implies personal encounter with the Saviour and unites otherwise isolated people, making their life meaningful and enabling them to feel that they belong to the community consisting of great many members (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-14). We acknowledge the value of every Christian confession’s experience in preaching the Gospel and draw attention to the necessity to bear witness through personal righteousness and chastity. Mindful of our unworthiness, we call upon our compatriots to fasten their eyes on the Lord the Lover of mankind, “the fountain of living waters” (Jer 17:13), and His salvific teaching enlightening the peoples and transfiguring the world. 2.The world today is facing a wide range of political, social and economic difficulties. The tension between the states aggravates geopolitical confrontations of the 20th century. Societies are divided in many countries, where political and social discords lead to the polarization of the sides. Having fallen away from God, “they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom” (Is 19:2). The Christians who have found themselves on opposite sides of the conflicts are called to bring peace to the divided society, just like at the time of the Cold War believers established relations between the nations, cherishing in their heart the words of the Lord: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Mt 5:9). As the Saviour said, Christians are “the salt of the earth” (Mt 5:13). Just like the salt which has lost its taste becomes useless, the Christians who do not help strengthen peace in society but accept political and ideological divisions, transgress the commandment of God. Aware of our spiritual responsibility, we, representatives of the Christian communities from the fifteen countries, call upon all the people following in the footsteps of Christ to contribute through their good deeds to the resolution of conflicts and reconciliation of peoples. Verily, the reward of peacemakers is “joy” (Pr 12:20), and the true peace is only given by the Saviour (cf. Jn 14:27). 3.Christian morals and traditional Gospel values lie at the core of our cultures. The life of society, including its laws, directly depends on the sources used to substantiate the proclaimed morality. It is the Biblical principles that are the foundation (cf. Mt 7:25), upon which the life of society should be built up. “Without me ye can do nothing” (Jn 15:5) – Christ says in the Gospel, emphasizing the emptiness of human life without God. Tendencies to oust Christian values from the present-day life are increasing in the world. It leads to the loss of moral guidelines, social and cultural degradation and spiritual crisis of society. Deviation from the Gospel and Christian commandments results in the erosion of the institution of family, permit for suicide (euthanasia), and spread of the practice of killing babies in the mother’s womb (abortions). Deviation from God and His law leads to the increase in crime and destruction of the life of society. We call upon to prevent moral degradation, which is becoming an ever more serious threat to our common future. 4.Christians are called to “serve one another by love” (Gal 5:13). Therefore, our duty to God and to our neighbours is diakonia. By rendering aid to the needy, destitute and those deprived of shelter and food, we bring to the world the Glad Tidings about the Saviour Who “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45). The person who has learned that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8), will be ready to show active love for his/her neighbour. “Be ye followers of me” (1 Cor 4:16) – St. Paul writes in his epistle, teaching us the Christ-like self-sacrifice which is the essence of Christian diakonia. Throughout its history the Christian communities have been helping the needy, seeing in each of them the Lord Himself (cf. Mt 25:31-46). We call upon representatives of state authorities, non-governmental organizations and the mass media to endorse initiatives and projects of the Christian communities in the sphere of alms-deeds, charity, social ministry and diakonia. We are convinced that cooperation in this important sphere will bring forth many good fruits. Appealing to the modern society, we bear witness that the Gospel is not just a work of literature, but the Glad Tidings about the Incarnate Son of God, Whose earthly birth, death on the cross and Resurrection changed the world for good. The Power of God that acted at the time of prophets and apostles, continues to transfigure human lives, inducing people to turn away from darkness – towards light, from sin – towards righteousness. We call upon people to turn towards the Gospel which transfigures our life and the world around us, so that the truth of God (cf. Ps 119:142) would reign forever!

Sunday sermon on the rich man and Lazarus St. Nikolai of Ochrid

Sunday sermon on the rich man and Lazarus  Orthodox life People on earth argue about property, and there is no end to this tiresome and fruitless dispute. O people, and whose property are you yourself? The rich man and Lazarus The rich man and Lazarus The herd is fighting for a place in the pasture, and the owner of the pasture and the herd is standing and looking, wondering: why does his herd fight for his pasture so much, since he cares about both the herd and the pasture? A person remembers many things, but cannot remember one thing at all, no matter how much he repeats: that he comes into this world without property and leaves it without property . People share this damp earth, and they won’t share everything! With life, they pay the boundaries of their property, but the boundaries still remain mobile. Incomparably more expensive people pay for incomparably cheaper; and this does not disturb them too much, and they call such a terrible price law, patriotism, or some other comforting word. They don’t just say that it’s crazy - when a sheep gives his life for a bunch of grass, since the grass is needed for life, and not for itself. The question of property is, after all, the question of grass, for everything that people eat and dress in is grass — or something even more dead than grass. At the very beginning of the Holy Scriptures it is said that God gave greens and grass for food to people and beasts (Genesis 1: 29-30; 9: 3). If you ask people the question: “What is more important - grass or people?” - you will get a unanimous answer that people are more important. But in reality, people recognize that grass is more important, because they sacrifice their own and others' lives for the sake of grass. Although the issue of property is a matter of grass, it is still the main stumbling block in the life of people on earth. Only the one who, by his spirit, is most likened to God, circumvents him, leaving him behind with neglect . For others, this stone of temptation is the subject of debate, the subject of talk, the subject of incredible labor and sweat, the subject and content of all life, and, finally, their tombstone. Where is the wealth of Croesus? Where are the feasts of Lucullus? Where is the power of Caesar? Where is the power of Napoleon? Traces of all this, in one form or another, can still be found, but such questions are not as important as: where is rich Croesus now? Where is the insatiable Lucullus? Where is the power loving Caesar? And where is the mighty Napoleon? The most important thing is to know where people are, and not where their property is. But we cannot know this before we find out: whose property is the people themselves? So, whose property are the people themselves ? It will be easy for those who solve this issue to solve the question of human property - as for travelers, when they remove the largest stone from the road, it is easy to clear up gravel and leaves later. When people decide this question themselves, without the Lord Jesus Christ, as they have been solving it for millennia, they come to two answers. First - man is the property of evil spiritual forces that hide behind nature and under the guise of nature; second, man is the property of nature itself, which created it, holds it for some time as furniture among his other furniture, and ultimately breaks and kills. Since the creation of the world, all human philosophies that have not borrowed a single drop of the mind of Christ have only two solutions to the question of whose property man is. And Christ's answer to this question says: man is the property of the all-good God. And he is not a property, just as things are someone else’s property, but as a free and intelligent being, as the son of God . This is not the decision of any philosopher, for in that case we would not have believed him; but this is the answer of the Witness, who came to people from the most triune core of being and life, spreading life throughout the worlds. Therefore, we believe this answer, and only we believe it is true and saving. More precisely, it should not be called an answer, but a witness testimony. This evidence resolved all issues of human property, all economic, economic and political issues on earth. People are God's property, which means that nature is even more God's property. And this, in turn, means: everything that a person calls his property, in fact, is the property of God, God's loan to people . The Lord distributed the loan unevenly between people. Why uneven? Because people are free and intelligent beings. God distributed everything to dead objects equally. And to the half-living, that is, not free and unreasonable, creations, God distributed everything equally. And to His free and rational creations, God distributed everything unequally, so that their mind and their freedom would manifest; so that people see their fraternal dependence on each other; and that they, wisely disposing of God's loan, provide salvation for both themselves and their brothers . Thus, God's loan - or what people mistakenly call their property - is only a means of saving a person. Today’s Gospel speaks of a richer man who understood property in a different way - in the absolute sense of the word, and thereby condemned himself to such torments that his heart grows colder and his hair stands on end from one description. The Lord said: a certain person was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and every day he feasted brilliantly. There was also a beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gates in scabs and wanted to be fed with crumbs falling from the rich man's table, and the dogs, when they arrived, licked his scabs . Before us is a terrible picture of earthly inequality. But wait, later we will see an even more terrible picture of the inequality of heaven. What is the opposite: on the one hand, a rich man dressed in porphyry and fine linen, on the other, a beggar dressed in scabs and pus! On the one hand - a man surrounded by people like him: rich, well-fed, discharged, cheerful; on the other - a man whom only dogs surround! On the one hand, wealth, health, and satiety to the point of satiety; on the other - bitter poverty, disease and hunger! On the one hand - deafening songs, dances and laughter; on the other, a silent expectation of bread crumbs, and a silent look at the pus flowing from one's own body, and a silent expectation of death! Silent and patient - because it does not say that Lazarus asked for help or screamed like other beggars. Feeling hunger, he only wanted to be fed crumbs from the rich man's table and was silent. He spoke heartily with Someone, but his tongue - with no one. But why talk to him about his misfortune with his tongue, when his body, surrounded by dogs, spoke about it more clearly than all the languages ​​of the world? However, pay attention to a very important thing: the Lord does not mention the name of the rich man, but mentions the name of the wretched. And throughout the parable, the name of the rich man remains unnamed, while the name of Lazarus is mentioned both on earth and in heaven. What does it mean? Is it not completely contrary to the human custom to remember and mention the names of the rich, and not to remember the names of the poor, or, if they are known, not to mention them? Like nameless shadows, beggars walk or crawl along the earth between people, all under one common name - a beggar , while the names of the rich are heard in palaces, chanted in verses, written in history textbooks and in newspapers, cut out on monuments. Lazarus at the house of the rich Lazarus at the house of the rich That is why the Lord does not mention the name of the rich man, so as not to show unnecessary honor to those whom people have already excessively honored, and to show that the judgments of God are different than the judgments of men, and often completely opposite to them . He did not come to earth in order to do things to people as they do to each other, but to show how Heaven will do to people. And by this very pass of the name of the rich man, He reveals one of the heavenly secrets. The names of such rich men in heaven would not be known at all; they will not be remembered either among angels or among saints. They will be erased from the Book of Life. Of course, the Lord knew the name of the rich man, as He knew the name of the poor man. But He deliberately did not want to pronounce it with His life-giving lips, so as not to renew and revive it - for it had already been erased from the Book of Life. Please note that the Lord, as it were, deliberately avoids pronouncing the names of Herod, Pilate, and Caiaphas with His mouth. Go tell this fox (Luke 13: 32)! - He says about Herod, not calling him by name. Even earlier, God said: I will not remember the names of their word of Moy (Psalm 15: 4). The righteous, our Lord Jesus Christ said: rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20); and this rejoicing He commands them first of all else, even before rejoicing that demons obey them. But what evil did this rich man do that the Lord did not even want to pronounce his name? Look: the Lord does not accuse him of stealing, or of lying, of fornication, of murder, of disbelief in God, or even of dishonestly obtained wealth. After all, it seems that he himself did not obtain this wealth either honestly or dishonestly, but inherited it, because it says: he was rich , and not “became rich” or “got rich”. But why would the Lord blame him when there was a living charge at his gate, written against him, not with ink on paper, but with scabs and pus on the skin of a living person? Undoubtedly, the rich man had all those vices that wealth inevitably brings with it to every frivolous person. For the one who every day dressed luxuriously, ate luxuriously and drank and had fun, could not have the fear of God in himself, could not keep his tongue from multilingualism, his womb from unification, his heart from pride and vanity, from contempt for others people, from ridicule of the shrine of God. Nevertheless, this inevitably and irresistibly pushes a person to fornication, and to deception, and to revenge, to murder, to apostasy . But the Lord does not list all these sins and vices of the rich man. From His parable, only one rich man’s fault becomes apparent, namely, extreme contempt for the man Lazarus, and not because of anything else, but only because of his poverty and illness. If Lazarus appeared at the gate healthy and dressed in fine linen, the rich man would undoubtedly turn to him with an invitation to his meal - he would turn to him as a man and recognize him as a man. However, in a poor and scabby Lazar, he did not see or recognize a person. He despised the creation of God, as if he did not exist. He turned away from him, so as not to blur his eyes. He believed that he belonged to himself, and considered his wealth not a loan of God, but exclusively his property. The talent given from God, he buried in the earth of his body and did not give use to those who needed it. His heart was weakened by congestion and drunkenness (Luke 21 : 34) and became completely blind to the spiritual world and spiritual values. He looked only with carnal eyes, listened with carnal ears, lived a carnal life. His soul was in the same scabs as the body of Lazarus. His soul was a real reflection of Lazarus’s body, and Lazarus’s body was a real reflection of his soul. Thus, God placed two people on earth to be mirrors to each other: one at the gate, the other at the gate . The external brilliance of the rich man was a mirror of the soul of Lazarus, and the external scabs of Lazarus was a mirror of the inner world of the rich man. Why was the Lord listing all the sins of the rich man? All of them are revealed in one stroke, all to one. Cruelty to Lazarus tore the veil from the pus of the rich man’s soul, and instantly the whole abomination of this pus — for the eyes, for the ears, for the nose, and for the tongue, became apparent. Here is an image of two unequal people on earth: one whose name was very well known to people and readily pronounced by them, and the other, whose name people did not want to know. Now let's see how the stay of these two unequal people in another world is depicted. The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man died, and buried him. And in hell, being in agony, he raised his eyes, saw in the distance Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom . The rich die, just as the poor die. No one is born into this world to live forever in it, for this light itself is mortal and awaits its end. The rich die, sighing about this world, and the poor die sighing about it . Having left this world, the rich man left a splendor, luxury and pleasure; and Lazarus, having left this world, left hunger, scabs and dogs. But look now at the harvest of God! When the poor man died, the angels took his soul and carried it to paradise; and when the rich man died, the angels returned from his deathbed empty-handed. On one, outside rotten tree, angels found and gathered marvelous and ripe fruits; and on the other, leafy and green outside, they found no fruit. And every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Luke 3: 9). These prophetic words literally came true on the merciless richer. Both his body and soul were cut down; the body is thrown into the grave - to burn in the earth, and the soul to hell - to burn in hell. The angels did not even come close to his deathbed, for they knew that for them there was nothing; demons and people approached him. Both of them wanted to bury him: demons buried his soul in hell, and people - a body in the earth. Of course, people treated the dead bodies of the rich man and Lazarus differently, how differently the living bodies treated them. The news of the death of the rich man was spread in all directions, and the whole city was excited and came to his funeral. The cold body (which must have looked serious for the first time since it was born) was again dressed in new porphyry and new fine linen, placed in a coffin made of rare wood and rare metal, and transported around the city in a sheathed chariot horses covered with black blankets - so weary, as if they had put on mourning for the one who had lost the mercy of Heaven with his life. Crowds of friends, relatives and servants in mourning robes marched behind the chariot. Who was this mourning for? According to the one who did not even want to give leftovers from his table to a hungry beggar. The whole city gathered at his grave to listen to speeches about his merits and merits before the city, people and humanity - beautiful, like porphyry, and smooth, like fine linen on the body of a dead man, who no longer needed even crumbs from the meal of this life; false speech, like the whole life of this person; His speeches are empty, just as his soul was empty of good deeds. Finally, the body with porphyry and fine linen was laid in the ground - so that it was not licked by dogs, but worms ate. Wreaths of greenery and flowers were planted on the grave - the one who lost the crown of heavenly glory. And they erected to him above human growth an expensive monument with a gold written name, which was not in the Book of Life. But not one of the thousands gathered for this useless parade had the idea that at that very time the rich man’s soul was in hell. And how was poor Lazarus buried? Like a dead dog found on the street. Someone probably informed the city authorities that the corpse of some beggar lies on the street. So the authorities had to bother to bury him, for many reasons, but first of all for two: the first - so that his dogs would not be torn apart and not taken around the city; and the second - so that he, decomposing, does not spread the infection in the city. In addition, it is necessary to pull it out of the city as soon as possible and bury it also because the dead body, crouched, covered with scabs and dressed in tattered clothes, offends the eyes of passers-by. So, not one of the reasons was for Lazarus, but all for the sake of the townspeople themselves. He, the poor man, annoyed people with his life, and annoyed him with death. The authorities must have frowned upon hearing this unpleasant news, and were looking for people who would do this unpleasant job, and were worried how to pay these people for their work! And word of mouth passed: some beggar died! Who will bury a beggar? Where, and at whose expense? “Who is this beggar?” - perhaps inquisitive children asked. Funny question. Who will recognize and remember the names of the poor! What a huge difference there was between these two people in the evaluating eyes of men! But in heaven they do not rely too much on human evaluations: neither on their praise, nor on spit, nor on orders, nor on condemnation. Human evaluations extend only to the grave, and then Heaven accepts the souls of the dead and gives evaluations of Itself . And according to heavenly estimates, the rich man dressed in fine linen went to hell, and the scabby Lazarus went up to heaven. And in hell, in great torment, the rich man raised his eyes and saw in the distance Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom . Probably, for the first time in his entire existence, the rich man now raises his eyes to the mountains. On earth, he looked only at himself and at the world around him, and his gaze, not clouded by any suffering, never rushed up. And today it is happening to many of us, which is why the proverb arose: "Like anxiety, so much to God!" May the suffering that we encounter in this life and compel us to raise our eyes and our hearts to the Lord be blessed a thousand times ! If this unfortunate rich man did not curse earthly torment, did not run away from them, looking only for laughter and fun, he would still raise his eyes to the heavens on earth and probably would have avoided the torment of hell, from which it is useless to raise his eyes up. Another wise king said: lamentation is better than laughter; because with sorrow of the face the heart is made better (Eccl. 7: 3). This rich man laughed and had fun all his life, and laughter and fun completely cast out from his heart the fear of God. So, when he looked from grief out of hell, he saw in the distance Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom. It is said in the distance to show how hell is removed from the heavenly abodes of the righteous. Abraham is the forefather of the Jewish people in the flesh, but in his piety, he is the forefather of all the righteous, who by faith, obedience and humility pleased God, fulfilling His will. And Lazarus was in the bosom of Abraham. What is the bosom of Abraham? It is a quiet haven of all the righteous, rested by God after the storms of life on earth . Before the coming of the Savior, Jews considered Abraham the first among the righteous, and the Lord spoke this parable to the Jews. Of course, with the advent of Christ into the world, many became and more than Abraham in the kingdom of God. Not to Abraham, but to His apostles, the Lord promised that they would sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. But of the tribe of Shem, Abraham was the first to be granted the kingdom of God (Luke 13:28), in which, besides him, are the rest of the righteous, tormented and battered prophets, pious kings and other saints of God. In these abodes of the greatest righteous, in the abodes of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the prophets Elijah and Elisha, righteous Job and glorious David, Lazarus also entered, this miserable poor man who patiently endured hunger, nakedness, and contempt, and disease and scabs. None of them were honored to come to this place of light, peace and indescribable joy for their earthly wealth and merriment, for their scholarship and power, for their Tsarist crown and power; but for his firm faith and trust in the Lord, for his submission to the will of God, or for his patience and timely repentance. For God does not look at the place of man on earth, but looks at his heart. Owners of the king’s crown, but of the royal soul, will enter His kingdom; and the rich will come in with mercy and faith, and not with money and lands; and scholars will come in, whom not peace and flesh taught, but the wisdom of God; and rejoicing and merry ones will enter, but not those whose hearts were entertained only by musicians and dancers, but those who filled him with joy and joy about the Lord , as the psalmist says: my heart and my flesh will rejoice over the living Bose (Ps. 83: 3) ! The rich man and Lazarus. 1873, Surikov V.I. The rich man and Lazarus. 1873, Surikov V.I. What does the sinful rich man say when he looks at this shining chamber above himself and sees next to Abraham and Lazarus, that same Lazarus, whose name he did not want to dirty his lips on earth? And crying, he said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to soak the end of his finger in the water and cool my tongue, for I suffer in this flame . Verily, there are no words that could better express the horror of the torment of sinners in hell! If someone is slightly hungry, he asks for meat and fish to appease his womb; if someone is very hungry, he asks for a crust of stale bread to get enough; but if a person dies of hunger, he rejoices, having received a handful of acorns to save his life. How indescribably scary the hellish flame in which this rich man burned is clearly seen from the fact that he does not ask for a piece of ice, or a bucket of water, or even a bowl of water, but only about the wet end of one finger! That only one drop of water at the end of the finger fell on his flaming tongue! Oh my brethren, if people would believe that our Lord Jesus Christ did not come to earth in order to increase the kingdom of unrighteousness with yet another unrighteousness; and that He could not utter a lie or exaggerate anything at all; then, truly, this gospel parable alone would be enough to save all the people who live on earth. Look how this man, who did not know mercy in earthly life, cries out for mercy from the flame of hell! And then take a look at yourself, you, not only not showing mercy, but also creating mercy more unhappy and poorer than yourself! Soon you can, like this former rich man, cry out for mercy from a place where the rays of mercy do not penetrate in eternity. But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus - evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and besides all this, a great abyss has been established between us and you, so those who want to go from here to you can’t, nor do they come to us from there . Abraham refers to the sinner burning in hell with the affectionate word: child , which shows the complete absence of all malice among the righteous in the Kingdom of Bliss. In addition, with this treatment, the forefather Abraham wants to remind his descendant that he was from his tribe that he had before him such high specimens as Abraham and other righteous ones, and that he could rid himself of hellish torments in time. But he cannot fulfill the plea of ​​the sinner for two reasons.Firstly, because heavenly justice is satisfied with this state of things; and, secondly, because between the abode of the righteous and the place of torment of sinners in the next world there is neither a bridge nor a road for people. Whether any of the sinners can, through the prayers of the earthly Church, be transferred by God from hell to paradise before the Last Judgment - this is the mystery of God, into which Abraham does not enter. He only reminds the former rich man, who is now poorer than all the poor in the world, that he received in temporary life everything he desired. And since he never wished heavenly blessings on earth, did not sacrifice a single crumb of bread for them and did not shed a single tear, he already accepted all his wages in full in earthly life. Lazarus, in this temporary life, received only flour, pain, contempt and tears, desiring the blessings of heaven, and now, he achieved these blessings. As the Lord said: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5: 4); and again: you will be sad, but your sorrow will be joy (John 16:20); and more: Woe to you, laughing now! For you will weep and cry (Luke 6:25)! Seeing that Abraham rightly answered his first request, the sinner now cries out, begging for something else: Then he said: so I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; may he testify to them that they also do not come to this place of torment . Where did he suddenly get such mercy for other people and such concern for the salvation of others? No, this is not mercy, but another wet finger, which he asks to ease with his touch his torment. By this he reveals his particular sin: the seduction of others. So, he fell into hell, not only because he was hard-hearted to Lazarus, but also because his frivolous life set an example for his brothers, and he destroyed them, paving the way for them to hell. And the temptation is a terrible sin: to slip on your own and to entrain others means to earn an incomparably more serious condemnation than a person who only slipped himself . Listen to what terrible words the Lord Himself said about through whom the temptations come. It would be better for him if the millstone were hung on his neck and thrown him into the sea, rather than that he would seduce one of these little ones (Luke 17: 1-2). And, apparently, the brothers of this rich man were younger than him. Therefore, first of all, he would like Lazarus to come to him and forgive him; and then atone for your sin before your brothers. Then his flame would cease and the torment would decrease. Thus, he makes this request to Abraham not so much for the sake of his brothers, but for his own sake. Abraham said to him: they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them. He said: No, father Abraham, but if any of the dead comes to them, they will repent. Then Abraham said to him: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then if someone had risen from the dead, they would not believe . So, Abraham also can’t fulfill another request of the rich man. He makes a compelling and convincing argument why. Why send Lazarus to earth reminding people what awaits them after death, when through Moses and the prophets they are clearly told what needs to be done for salvation? Many thousands of other people were saved not by the testimony of the dead, but by the testimony of the living. And since so many thousands have been saved by listening to Moses and the prophets, your brothers will be able to. In vain the sinful rich man insists, confirming his request with the fact that if any of the dead comes to them, they will repent . Abraham again, citing a weighty argument, finally refuses to fulfill his request. How will the testimony of Lazarus help them if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets? Didn't Moses, Isaiah, and Elijah see God, and didn't they say what they said in the name of God? And if they do not believe them, then how will they believe Lazarus, if he appears to them, having risen from the dead? First of all, who is Lazarus? Have they ever looked into his scabby face to recognize him if he now appears to them in glory, as light as an angel? Have they ever listened to his voice to recognize him by voice? Have they ever asked about his bitter life to know him from his story? Will they not say: is it a ghost? Or some ghost? Or self-deception? How did Saul benefit from the appearance of Samuel from the dead (1 Samuel 28)? Abraham’s answer did nothing to help the sinner burning in hell, but he can help many who today summon the spirits of the dead to learn the secrets of heaven and supposedly be strengthened in faith. Verily, there is no easier way to go crazy and fall into the abyss! Spiritualism is an escape from light into darkness and a search for light in darkness. Those who call the spirits to know the truth prove that they do not believe the Lord Jesus Christ. But how can rational people believe the spirits of their aunts and neighbors when there is still a question, is it really the spirits of those under whose names they are, but at the same time not believe the Almighty of truth? How can aunts and neighbors, and mediums, and fortune tellers testify to their words? And Christ testified of His words with His blood and the blood of thousands and thousands of believers in Him, who laid their stomach for these words. However, the Jews saw not only the spirit, but also the spirit and body of the resurrected Lazarus, and yet they not only did not believe, but also wanted to kill Lazarus (John 12: 10-11) so that he would not testify to the truth. And the Jews saw the daughter of Jairus returned from the dead, and the son of the Nain widow - why didn’t they believe? And they saw many dead who rose from the tombs when Jesus gave up his spirit - why didn’t they believe? And finally, they reliably learned about the Risen Lord Jesus - but, instead of believing, they bribed the guards to deny the truth and proclaim a lie. If all this is not enough for us to believe, but the testimonies of the dead are still required, here they are: Abraham, Lazarus, and the sinful rich man! These are the witnesses of both heaven and hell, and these are witnesses verified by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Although at least one of us clearly saw Paradise and hell with his own eyes and heard this conversation between Abraham and the sinner, he could not, to the smallest degree, believe in himself, his vision, his hearing as much as he can believe the testimony of the Tyranderer Jesus Christ. The Lord saw and heard everything that was told to us in this parable, and now we know the truth. If we saw this ourselves, we would doubt it, saying: maybe this is some kind of ghost, or a dream, or a hallucination. But He saw and heard, He, who could not be deceived and, moreover, whoever deceived anyone. Oh, brethren, if we would believe Him more than ourselves! He demands this from us; and this is the main requirement of His gospel - let us believe Him more than ourselves, and more than to all living and all dead . Is not it, however, in the case of any true guide and travelers whom he leads? Does he not require that travelers follow him, and do not look for ways with their inexperienced eyes, and do not follow false guides who, from some of their calculations, say that they know a shorter and easier way? Our Lord Jesus Christ is our Guide to His Kingdom, which no one can know better than Himself. We must trust Christ more than our ears and eyes, which are easily amenable to lies, and our insignificant speculations. So that we would not be deceived by various dubious spirits and ghosts, He in His presence opened heaven and hell to us and allowed the dead to declare to us the necessary for our salvation. In His presence - so that we learn the true truth about the afterlife - and just as much of this truth as we need to know, so as not to have the hard-heartedness of a rich man and have the patience of Lazarus, his faith and his hope. And so that we do not consider anything in this world to be our property, but all that we have is God's loan given to us for the salvation of ours and our neighbors. Honor and glory befitting the Lord Jesus Christ about this, with the Father and the Holy Spirit - the Trinity of the One-Essential and the Undivided, now and ever, at all times and forever and ever. Amen.

Interview with Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency

Interview with Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency Интервью митрополита Волоколамского Илариона Болгарскому телеграфному агентству print version October 11, 2019 16:19 The chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk , who is in Bulgaria with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, gave an interview to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency . - Your Eminence, welcome to Bulgaria. What is the purpose of your current visit? - I am glad, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, to visit Bulgaria again to once again witness the inviolability of the fraternal bonds that have linked our Orthodox Church Sisters for centuries. One of the goals of this trip is to participate in an international conference held by Velikotyrnovsk State University. - You met with the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Neophyte . What issues are relevant for the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches now? - Our fraternal Churches have an extensive agenda for bilateral relations. We cooperate in various fields - educational, scientific and theological, pilgrimage and many others. In addition, important issues related to inter-Orthodox relations are on the agenda. Now all the Local Orthodox Churches, first of all, are concerned about the issue of maintaining the unity of world Orthodoxy. We need to think together about how to confront the dangers of separation. - Please tell us about the conference in Veliko Tarnovo. - A forum on the topic “History of the Bulgarian and Russian Orthodox Churches as a subject of academic study in the theological educational institutions of Russia and Bulgaria at the present stage” united church scholars. Within the framework of the General Church Graduate School and Doctoral Studies (OCAD), which I have been leading for more than ten years, a number of master's and candidate works on the history of relations between the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches in 1940-1950 have been defended in recent years. In 2012, at the Department of External Church Relations and Social Sciences of the OECR, a corresponding scientific direction began to take shape. In 2016-2019, several works on the history of relations between the Russian Orthodox and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches were defended. An associate professor of the department, who was the supervisor of two candidate dissertations, as well as one of the undergraduates who successfully defended the work on the history of the Bulgarian Church, arrived with me in Bulgaria. We paid great attention to the preparation of the work of our Bulgarian applicants. In 2015, in the OCAD, the master's thesis of the Bulgarian clergyman Archimandrite Isaac (Boyadzhiysky), who studied with us since 2011, was defended. The work of Isaac's father was devoted to the topic “Patriarchate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church”. In 2017, the dissertation of the Secretary General of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bishop Gerasim of Melnisch “Compounds of Local Orthodox Churches in Moscow” was brilliantly defended; This work aroused considerable interest and received high marks from specialists. Both of our Bulgarian brothers lived the life of our theological school all the years of study, often served me in the temples of the OKAD. I am glad that Bishop Belogorodsky Sylvester , rector of the Kiev Theological Schools , came to the conference, who talked about how Bulgarian students studied at the Kiev Theological Academy before the revolution. Representatives of the faculty of the Orthodox Theological Faculty of Velikotyrnovsky University showed great interest in the forum. - What is the current situation of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine in the context of recent events and Filaret Denisenko’s statement about the rejection of the Tomos given by Patriarch Bartholomew ? - An attempt to legalize the Ukrainian schism through the creation of a new structure from schismatics and providing it with a “tomos” in 2018, as well as the collapse of this structure soon after that, has nothing to do with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and all Ukraine . As you know, the Ukrainian schism arose in the 90s under the influence of political factors and in its development followed the rules of politics, and not the logic of church life. In this regard, it is very similar to the split that occurred around the same time in the Bulgarian Patriarchate. However, in 2018, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, with the support of President Poroshenko, under the slogan “Unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy” tried to legitimize schismatics. This was done again, for political reasons: by the beginning of the election campaign, Petro Poroshenko was required to quickly and costlessly demonstrate to the voters the high-profile achievements of his presidency. On the eve of the election, the leaders of the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” traveled with Poroshenko and the “Tomos” to the regions of Ukraine, which many perceived as part of the election campaign of the President. However, this campaign ended in complete collapse: Ukrainian voters did not approve of speculation in religion and attempts to use the Church for political purposes. The violence against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church did not lead to anything. Despite the seizures of the churches with the support of the authorities, the beatings of the clergy and believers, mass searches and criminal cases against the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, she did not give up the canonical principles of her life and refused to follow the politicians' lead. Now, after the change of power and political agenda in Ukraine, the Ukrainian split is predictably breaking up. He is not even able to maintain his own unity - not to unite Ukrainian Orthodoxy. And the canonical Church of Ukraine, which experienced real persecution under Poroshenko, still unites more than 12,000 communities and remains the largest religious denomination in Ukraine, recognized by all world Orthodoxy. I think this is largely due to the wise position of her hierarchy, which refused to exchange the internal independence of church life for momentary political bonuses. And believers praised this. More and more people are coming to the annual religious procession in Kiev, held on the occasion of the Baptism of Russia: last July, up to 300 thousand people took part in the prayer procession. Let's hope that the new government of Ukraine will listen to the voice of its people. “Recently, Jehovah's Witnesses called our house early in the morning asking if we believe in God.” How to protect yourself from sects and schisms? - The best defense against sects and schisms is a deep study of Christian doctrine, as well as participation in the Sacraments of the Church. It will be much more difficult to deceive a person who regularly reads the Holy Scripture, who is versed in Orthodox dogmas and familiar with the history of the Church, than a bearer of a secular or near-Christian worldview. Often, it is precisely ignorance by people of their own faith that recruiters of various sects use. All this, of course, emphasizes the high importance of religious education, thanks to which people in a certain sense strengthen their anti-sectarian immunity. Since the revival of spiritual life in Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church has been developing religious and theological education in state and church educational institutions of the country. I can state with satisfaction that in this area we have achieved a lot. At the same time, in Russia the Church does not have access to schools, and we lose a lot because of this. It is at the level of children's consciousness that the basic value paradigms are laid, and it is at this age that it is most easy to vaccinate against sectarian false teachings. - As the head of the Scientific and Educational Theological Association, you congratulated students of theological and secular educational institutions on the beginning of the new school year, wishing them, first of all, to learn how to read the Holy Scriptures. How can the younger generation be taught to read the Bible in secular schools today? - Young people tend to be critical of any attempts to impose an authoritative opinion on them. Therefore, it makes no sense to simply encourage them to study the scriptures or to say that Bible knowledge is essential for everyone. Two things need to be said. First: The Bible provides answers to questions that concern modern people. Second: the Bible itself contains many questions and puzzles, the answer to which is expected from us. Yes, this is exactly so: God not only teaches us and answers our questions, but also awaits our answers; through scripture, He enters into dialogue with the readers of this Eternal Book. The Bible is revealed to man in a new way throughout his life. These topics I touch on in my book about Jesus Christ . It is often pretended to Christians that the Gospels contain mutual contradictions. However, if you compare these “contradictions” over and over again, then completely incredible facets of the sacred text are revealed. While working on the book, I did not hide, but rather sharpened these paradoxes precisely because I knew: each time new discoveries await me and the readers. If we can show young people that the Holy Scripture captures an attentive reader no less than a computer game, thriller or intellectual novel, I’m sure that students who turn to the Bible will find in it something that will turn their minds around. The following should be noted. Many biblical texts are quite difficult to understand, and we need specialists who can, firstly, engage in its deep scientific study, and, secondly, bring knowledge about it to a wide audience. Fortunately, the training opportunities for such specialists are growing. Since 2017, the Bachelor's program “Bible Studies and the History of Ancient Israel” has been successfully operating at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. This year, we opened the Master's program “Christian Sources” at the Church Graduate and Doctoral School named after Saints Cyril and Methodius , whose students received a unique opportunity to study the scriptures and texts of the patristic tradition in the original languages. Biblical departments exist in all leading Orthodox theological universities. I sincerely hope that all these areas of our work will bear fruit, and we will see a generation of people for whom the Bible has become a challenge and a guide. - What other parting words could you give the modern young generation? - Now, when we live in an environment extremely rich in information, many people are in the world of myths and ideas composed by someone else. I would like to urge young people not to live by stereotypes and to check how objective our opinions are. For example, it is customary to perceive the Church either as a repository of dust-covered traditions that are not relevant in our time, or as a “bureau of ritual services”, where you should go only occasionally if necessary - to baptize a newborn, to sing the deceased. A false but familiar stereotype can also be called the idea of ​​churches filled with old people, where the young have nothing to do, or the Church as an authority that prohibits all the joys of life. After all, if you take a closer look, it turns out that the "prohibitions" that scare non-church people are, in fact, simply the "rules of a healthy lifestyle" for the soul, which help not to stain it in the dirt, not to hurt with serious sins, and not overgrown with bark egoism, but to retain the ability to enjoy the peace bestowed by God and relationships with others. As for the age of those who come to the Church, it can be noted that indeed, with life experience, after various difficult situations, and sometimes tragedies associated with the loss of loved ones, a person is more inclined to think that his life is not limited to the usual bustle, that she there should be a deeper meaning than just satisfying needs. However, very often it is young people with their characteristic maximalism that pose questions of eternal life and its highest meaning. And this can be seen, for example, in the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church, where young men and women, as well as young families with children, now make up a significant part of the parishioners who are going to worship and participating in the social service of the parish community. The vocation and purpose of the Church is not just to keep traditions or “satisfy religious needs”, but to change the world and people for the better. Those people who do not touch the Church superficially, but go deep into its being, understand that the Church is able to give them happiness, to fill their life with content. At the same time, the traditions and canons that are preserved in the Church are not crutches that impede the development of life, but the standard, referring to which, you can find out that you are going the right way. I wish young people not to live by other people's stereotypes, but to find for themselves the right landmark on the road of life. And the best reference point is Jesus Christ. And the most important thing that the Church can give to a young man, and indeed to every person, is the living Christ, who is present in His Church. We teach the people of Christ not only through preaching, but above all through the sacrament. I note that in contrast to Bulgaria, where it is customary to partake of the Holy Communion, in Russia believers often receive Communion — every Sunday, and some at every Liturgy. When the incarnated God Himself enters the flesh and blood of man, this is the most complete union with God that is only possible in earthly life. And I wish the Bulgarian youth to experience first hand this amazing state of union with God, which is incomparable with any earthly pleasures or acquisitions.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk took part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the beginning of the service of St. Raphael of Brooklyn in America

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk took part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the beginning of the service of St. Raphael of Brooklyn in America Митрополит Волоколамский Иларион принял участие в торжествах по случаю 125-летия начала служения святителя Рафаила Бруклинского в Америке print version October 21, 2019 12:11 On October 19-20, 2019 in New York, celebrations took place on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the beginning of the service of St. Raphael of Brooklyn on the North American continent and the 100th anniversary of the Cathedral of the Antioch Archdiocese of North America in Brooklyn. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill and at the invitation of the head of the Antioch Archbishopric in the USA, the Archbishop of New York, Metropolitan Joseph of North America, Metropolitan Hilarion, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, took part in the festivities. On October 20, Pentecost Week 18, Metropolitan Joseph and Metropolitan Hilarion led the Divine Liturgy at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn. The bishops of the Mid-American Basil, the bishop of the Mid-Atlantic Thomas, the bishop of the New English John, the bishop of the Mid-West American Anthony and the bishop of Southeast Nikolai served the hierarchs. Among the clergymen who served together were the rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral, the general vicar of the Antioch Archdiocese, Archpriest Thomas Zayn, the chancellor of St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary of the Orthodox Church in America, Archpriest Chad Hatfield, the clergy of the St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral of New York, hegumen Nikodim Nikonov (priest) Golubov. The temple was attended by Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Vladimir Safronkov, clergy of the Antioch Archbishopric from different cities of the United States, numerous parishioners and guests of the parish. The service was performed in Syriac, Church Slavonic, Greek and English. After reading the Gospel, Metropolitan Hilarion delivered a sermon. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Joseph congratulated those present on the anniversary dates. Welcoming Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, he said, in particular: “We remember with love our visit to the Russian Orthodox Church this summer and our prayer fellowship with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and Your Eminence. A large delegation of the clergy and laity of the Archbishopric of Antioch visited many holy places of the Russian Church, which gave spiritual education, upbringing and ordination to the future Saint Brooklyn Raphael, who became archpastor for all immigrants from Antioch to the United States. For us, Saint Raphael is a great gift of the Russian Orthodox Church not only to all ethnic Antiochs, but also to all Orthodox Christians in America. A particle of the holy relics of St. Raphael of Brooklyn is in each of more than three hundred anti-minis at all the parishes of our archbishopric. ” Metropolitan Joseph asked to convey the words of pure gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and in his person the fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the leadership of Russia and the entire Russian people for the continued support of the Antiochian Orthodox Church and the entire Syrian people in the trials that have befallen them in recent years. In memory of his participation in the celebrations, Metropolitan Joseph donated to Metropolitan Hilarion a collection of the writings of St. Raphael of Brooklyn in Syriac. In response, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk noted with gratitude the history of fraternal interaction between the Antioch and Russian Churches in North America: “The spiritual mission of the Valaam monks on the North American continent, which began more than two hundred years ago, brought abundant spiritual fruit by the beginning of the 20th century, under the omophorion of the Russian Orthodox Church in The USA and Canada found a place for all Orthodox Christians of different nationalities. For spiritual feeding of the large Syrian flock, with the blessing of the Hierarchy of the Russian Church, Archimandrite Rafail (Havavini), associate and co-worker of the Archbishop of North America, was placed in the Bishop of Brooklyn. Given the peculiarity of the mission of Orthodoxy in North America among indigenous peoples and Gentiles, as well as feeling a pure responsibility for the spiritual care of an increasing number of immigrants from traditionally Orthodox countries, the future Patriarch of Moscow, St. Tikhon, made a unique proposal: to organize as part of the North American Diocese of Russia Diocese churches not on a territorial basis (“one bishop in one city”), but on an ethnic basis, thus creating for all heads of national e Archias of Corinth equal rights and opportunities. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, including in connection with the beginning of the persecution of the Russian Church in the Fatherland, this plan of St. Tikhon was not implemented. " As a gift to the head of the Archbishopric of Antioch, Metropolitan Hilarion presented a commemorative panagia cameo, skillfully executed by Russian masters. The communication of the hierarchs, clergy and believers continued at a fraternal meal in the parish hall of the cathedral.