Time and eternity in the teaching of the holy fathers about the incarnation of God the Word. “God is love Holy Fathers about God

ON THE DAY OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE ELIGIBILITY OF THE HONEST AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS OF THE LORD - SEPTEMBER 27. READ!!! OPEN THE WHOLE TOPIC, MY DEARS! CROSS THAT WORKS MIRACLES Ancient crucifix Jesus Christ from the village of Godenovo does not burn in fire, is not cut by an ax and is not taken by a saw. And the blasphemers who raise their hands to the shrine die a terrible death. Experts from the Russian Museum, who examined the miraculous cross, came to the conclusion that there are no analogues of such a relic in Russia. The nuns of the St. Nicholas Pereslavl Monastery cherish the Life-Giving Cross as the greatest value. The shrine is kept in a monastery seventy kilometers from the monastery, among forests and swamps. Near the place where it was first found five hundred years ago. “It’s impossible to take him away,” says Mother Evstolia, the abbess of the monastery. “Over five centuries, many have tried to do this. But they couldn’t even lift it up. The cross immediately becomes too heavy to lift, as if filled with lead. This amazing quality of the Life-giving Cross is recorded in ancient chronicles. And to move it in the temple, only two nuns are enough... THE MIRACLE OF THE APPEARANCE OF THE CROSS In the Rostov Chronicle, the date and circumstances of the appearance of the Life-Giving Cross are recorded with documentary accuracy. This miracle happened on June 11, 1423 in the Sakhota swamp, 55 versts from Rostov the Great. The shepherds saw a pillar of fire - “an indescribable light appeared from the Greek side, pouring out from heaven to earth.” Overcoming their fear, they came closer. And they saw a cross with the image of Jesus Christ. He seemed to be floating in the air. And nearby, the icon of St. Nicholas the Saint shone in the rays. The shepherds heard a voice coming from the cross: “The Grace of God and the house of God will be in that place. And whoever comes with faith to pray, there will be many healings and miracles from the Life-giving Cross, prayers for the sake of the Wonderworker Nicholas.” The news of the miracle reached the church authorities. The bishop sent craftsmen from Rostov the Great with instructions to sculpt a temple at the site of the appearance of the cross. But the architects did not dare to build on the swamp. They laid the oak crowns of the church in a dry place, to the side. At night, a new miracle happened: the log house found itself in the middle of a swamp. It was where the cross first appeared to the shepherds. And again the crucifix shone in the rays of light. The carpenters heard a voice coming from the cross: “In this place build my church, and the mountain will be great and many miracles will happen to those who come to pray in faith, and there will be many healings.” That same night, a stream formed in the middle of the swamp and washed over a sandy hill. A church was erected on it, in which a crucifix was placed. People came from all over Rus' to venerate the Life-Giving Cross. There were so many healings that a chronicle of miracles began to be kept at the temple. Eighty years after the discovery of the Cross, there was a fire that engulfed the entire temple. They managed to take out the icons, but they could not move the crucifix from its place. The church burned to the ground. People came to the fire to collect the surviving metal utensils. And in the ashes they found the Life-Giving Cross - unharmed! At the beginning of the 16th century, a new church was erected at the fire site, in which a cross was placed. In 1776 it was replaced with a stone temple. THE CROSS DURING THE YEARS OF PERSECUTION They could not destroy the Life-Giving Cross even during the years of persecution of the faith. “Whatever the blasphemers did with the crucifix,” says nun Feofania, “When they couldn’t take it out of the church, they flew into a rage. They burned with acid, chopped with an ax, and cut with a saw. But hydrochloric acid was like water to the cross. And the ax bounced off the wood, leaving barely noticeable scars. The teeth stuck and broke. A local resident named Sorokin was an ardent atheist. He showed up at the temple with an axe. There were only a few old women in the church. They tried to stop the blasphemer. But Sorokin easily pushed the women aside. He shouted: “Why are you bowing before the idol!” He swung and hit the crucifix. The ax bounced off. He hit again and again. But the sharply sharpened ax did not take the tree! The blasphemer did not understand what was happening. He, the strongest man in the village, could not do anything with the cross. Jesus Christ, carved from wood, was stronger than steel. Exhausted, Sorokin looked at the cross again. The tree below seemed rotten to him. Sorokin applied the tip of the ax to the little toe of Christ’s right foot. He took aim and hit with all his might. The blade only cut off a small sliver. - Monster! The Lord will punish! - the women shouted. “There is no God,” Sorokin grinned. – Your Christ is an ordinary piece of wood. ...Dying, he cursed himself for blaspheming the Lord. “Sorokin had a bleeding wound on his right little finger,” says nun Feofania. “Gangrene set in and he died in terrible agony.” It turned out that he was not cutting according to Christ, but according to himself. THE APPEARANCE OF THE LIFE-GIVING CROSS IS NOT A LEGEND Scientists, having examined an amazing cross from the wilderness of a village, recognized it as Byzantine. And they came to a sensational conclusion - the image of the Savior is in many ways similar to the imprint of the body of Jesus Christ from the Shroud of Turin. The village of Godenovo, where the relic is kept, is lost among swamps and forests. And in 1423, the year in which the first information about the Life-Giving Cross is dated in the chronicles, that area was completely wild. The chronicles say that the shepherds saw the crucifix as if hanging in the air, from it came “an indescribable light from heaven to earth.” And that light came “from the Greek side.” It turned out that the chronicle legend about the appearance of the Life-giving Cross is not a legend. “The cross is clearly Byzantine work,” says restorer of the State Russian Museum Mikhail Bushuev. – This can be seen not only by the way the Savior is sculptured. Particles of paint pigment that cover the cross are characteristic of late Byzantium. There are no analogues of such crosses in Russia. It is created from two solid pieces of wood. It was not possible to determine which one it was from. The damage caused by the sacrileges who tried to destroy the cross was repaired by restorers with mastic. The face of the Savior was left as it is. And the feet were not touched. There were traces of liquids on them, which fighters against religion used to try to destroy the cross. When it was not possible to destroy the cross, zealous atheists smeared it with waste transformer oil (the restorers found particles of it at the bottom of the crucifix). But believers still continued to venerate the Life-Giving Cross. And a miracle happened - the crucifix began to smell. Instead of the sharp, nasty smell of industrial oil, the cross gave off a wonderful aroma of peace. It can still be felt now. LIVING CRUCIFIX We ask permission to venerate the cross. It feels like your lips are kissing not a tree, but a living body. The crucifix is warm! “Many people feel this way,” says nun Feofania. – To each according to faith is given... ___________________________________________________________________

You, who have all of God dwelling within you, take good care not to do or say anything unworthy of His holy will; otherwise He will immediately withdraw from you and you will lose the treasure hidden within you. Honor Him as much as you can, and do not bring into His dwelling anything displeasing to Him and alien to His nature, so that He does not become angry with you and run away, leaving you empty. Do not talk too much before Him and do not make requests to Him without reverent composure. Don’t think within yourself and don’t say: “Let me show Him the abundant warmth and great zeal of love, so that He may accept my good will and know how much I love and honor Him,” because before you think so, He He already knows your thoughts and nothing is hidden from Him. Don’t try to hold Him with your mental hands yet, for He is ungraspable, and as soon as you dare to grab Him or even think about holding Him, you will no longer find anything inside yourself. He will immediately move away from you and become imperceptible to you.
Then, if, lamenting, tormenting and beating yourself, you begin to repent and cry a lot, you will not receive any benefit. This is truly true: for He is joy and does not agree to enter a house where they are sad and mourning, just as the industrious bee does not tolerate a place filled with smoke. But if you arrange yourself with care and devotion to His will, then He will again be found within you. Then leave your Master to rest serenely in your soul, as on some kind of bed - and do not begin to say to yourself that if I do not cry, then He will turn away from me, as from a negligent and despiser. If God wanted you, who had reached perfection, to cry like someone who is still at the stage of repentance cries, then He would have seen you from afar or completely hidden from you, or illuminated you from afar and thus given you and irritated you. crying for the cleansing and improvement of your house. But now, after repentance and cleansing, which you received through tears, He came into you to give you peace from your labors and sighs and to fill you with joy and gladness instead of sorrow. Stand straight, not with your body, but with the movements and aspirations of your soul. Establish quiet silence within yourself, for the King of kings is coming to your house. Say sternly to all the doorkeepers of your house, that is, to your feelings: “The king is coming, stand kindly at the door, stand still and watch with great fear, so that no one comes to the door and begins to knock and so that no one’s voice passes inside.” neither from near nor from afar. Take good care so that no one deceives you and sneaks in secretly - and the King does not immediately leave us again and does not leave in a hurry.” So say and stand in the joy and joy of your soul, looking inside yourself at your Indescribable Master, who has deigned to be indescribably described in you, and contemplate His beauty, incomparable with anything. Contemplating His inconceivably holy face, unapproachable for the Angels and Archangels, and for all the Orders of Heaven, be amazed, rejoice and spiritually jump, rejoice, listening to Him with reverence, in order to hear what He commands you to say or do. Pay attention to what He tells you. He has no need to demand anything from His servants for His own rest, as earthly kings have, because He lacks nothing, and if He does not enrich His servants in advance, He does not enter their house.

Simeon the New Theologian

God... has neither beginning nor end, as well as His perfection, for He was never without them, but always was and is most good and righteous, all-wise, invincible, passionless, indescribable, limitless, unsearchable, incomprehensible, infinite, ever-present, uncreated, unchangeable, immutable, true, uncomplicated, invisible, intangible, immense, perfect, superior to all that exists, inexplicable, incomprehensible, abundantly merciful, all-generous, multi-compassionate, almighty, all-seeing. And, as the great Dionysius says, He, having virtues, does not force Himself to perform each, like virtuous people, but produces good, desiring it, and uses virtues as tools spontaneously. Angels and virtuous people received from Him, by grace, along with being, virtues, with which, imitating Him, they became righteous, good and wise. And they, as creatures, have a need for the help and condescension of the Almighty, without which they can have neither virtue nor wisdom; because creations are prone to change, and, as combined from various things, are called complex, and God is incorporeal, simple, without beginning, One God in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, worshiped and glorified by all creation.

Peter Damascene

In the formation of a worm and midge one can see incomparably more art than in best works human mind. Many construct magnificent buildings, invent amazing machines, build huge ships; But can the strongest and most witty of them create a creeping insect, a flying bird, green grass, or even a grain of sand? God is truly great! And He alone is great in both the great and the small of the earth.

Filaret of Moscow (Drozdov)

The Great God and Almighty was not content with creating you in His image and likeness; nor by the fact that when you sinned and offended Him, and fell from your dignity, He sent His Only Begotten Son to live thirty-three years on earth in order to seek you and, having accepted terrible suffering and painful death on the cross, to redeem you and save you from the hands of the devil, to whom you have enslaved yourself through sin, and to exalt you again in dignity. But, in addition, He instituted the sacrament of Body and Blood as food for you to unite with your nature all the power of Christ. Make this manifestation of God’s ultimate love for you an object of constant contemplation and deepening in order to see its immortality, in order to ignite your aspiration and love for God all the more. Think about when He began to love you, and you will see that there is no beginning. He Himself is eternal according to His Divine nature, and His love for you is also eternal, according to which He, before all ages, decided in His counsel to give you His Son in some wondrous and incomprehensible way. Consider also that every mutual human love, no matter how great it is, has a measure and a limit. Divine love for us alone has no limit. For the sake of this love, He gave His Son, consubstantial and equal to Him in greatness and infinity. His love is such as the Gift is, and, conversely, such is His Gift as love is. Both are so great that it is impossible to imagine a greater measure. Repay for this immeasurable love, at least as much as is possible for you. Think also that God did not love us out of any necessity, but only out of His natural goodness, he loved us regardless of anything, by Himself, with a love as immeasurable as it is incomprehensible. Think that on our part there could be no worthy reward for this love... Think that this love, in its purity, is not mixed, like our love, with the expectation of any good from us, for All is the blessed God has needs for it. And if He poured out ineffable goodness and love on us, it was not for His good, but only for our good.

Nikodim Svyatogorets

Even if with carnal eyes we cannot<Господа>see, but - under the condition of abstinent life - we can constantly contemplate Him with the eyes of thought and not only contemplate Him with the eyes of thought, and not only contemplate, but also gather great fruit from there, because the very contemplation of God is the elimination of all sin, the cleansing of all wickedness , alienation from all evil. Such contemplation is the creative beginning of all virtue, the parent of purity and dispassion, the giver of Eternal Life and the endless Kingdom. Having concern for such sweet contemplation and fixing our mental gaze on Christ, as if present with us, each of us says, as David said: If an army arrays itself against me, my heart will not fear; if it rises up to fight against me, I will trust in Him (Ps. 26, 3).

Gregory Palamas

If this temporary world, called the place of exile and condemnation of those who transgressed the commandment of God, is so beautiful, how many times more are the eternal and incomprehensible blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him! And if those blessings are incomprehensible in their superiority, how much more so is God, who created everything out of nothing!

Peter Damascene

Abba Anastasius told us a story about the recluse Abba George. “One night I got up to hit the beater, and I heard the old man crying. Approaching him, I asked: “What are you crying about, Abba?” The old man was silent. I kept asking. “How can I not cry,” said the elder, sighing from the depths of his soul, “when the Lord was angry with us! I saw that I was standing in front of Someone sitting on a high throne. Many, many thousands stand around the throne, begging Him for something, but He is adamant. A certain Woman, dressed in purple, approached and, falling towards Him, exclaimed: “Be merciful at least for My sake!” But even then He remained adamant. That is why I cry and sob in fear of what threatens us.” He told me about this on Thursday morning, and the next day, Friday, a terrible earthquake occurred that destroyed the cities of coastal Phenicia.”

John Moschus

Here we see the reasons for Christ’s tears: He does not cry for Himself, seeing His cross and tomb, - He cries for human misfortune, seeing the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. What should we think about the tears of Christ in His infancy? What is He crying about in swaddling clothes and in a manger? At His Nativity, He also sees - like the All-Seer - His cross, cane, nails, spear, coffin and cries about it. But St. Augustine says: “He grieves more in His heart for our misdeeds than for His wounds; He is more worried about the hellish disasters to which we voluntarily expose ourselves through our sins than His own sufferings.” As soon as He looked at the world, as if into some kind of smoky dwelling, he immediately saw human sins, like a pile of firewood, prepared for burning and already smoking with sinful fuses. He sees rising from there, like smoke, the sorrows, troubles, and vengeance of God, caused by His righteous anger. He sees, in addition, the ingratitude and inertia of sinners, he sees that His work will be in vain<труд от юности>and His suffering, He will shed blood in vain - all this will be trampled by an ungrateful sinner. This is what He is crying about: it is our smoke that eats His eyes. Once the Lord, through the mouth of Moses, frightened him thus: “And I will break your proud stubbornness, and will make your heavens like iron, and your land like copper” (Lev. 26:19), which was the case for five thousand years and more: God was hard like copper and iron. But now he has softened: He, having clothed himself with baby flesh and shed tears over the earth, - in this there is already good hope that the earth will give its fruit (Ps. 66: 7). God says: “Just as rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth and make it capable of giving birth and growing... - so is My word that comes out of My mouth, it does not return to Me void” ( Isaiah 55:10–11). The rain of tears from the eyes of Christ will water the parched soil of our heart. From this rain, the publican in the church, the sinner at His feet, Peter outside the court of Caiaphas, and the thief on the cross were drunk with tenderness. Tears are a sign of love: Christ shed tears upon learning of the death of Lazarus, and the Jews said: “Look how he loved him” (John 11:36). Jesus Christ is crying! - look and know how He loves us: “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

Dimitry Rostovsky

God created the whole world out of nothing with one word. He can do whatever he wants.

God is the highest being. He has no equal anywhere - neither on earth nor in heaven. We humans cannot fully comprehend Him with our minds.

God is above all not only human, but even angelic comprehension. And we ourselves could not know anything about Him if God Himself had not revealed Himself to us. Everything we know about God is revealed to us by Him Himself.

When God created the first people - Adam and Eve, He appeared to them in paradise and revealed to them about Himself: how He created the world, how to believe in the One True God and how to do His will.

This teaching of God was first passed down orally from generation to generation, and then, at the inspiration of God, it was written down by Moses and other prophets in holy books.

Finally, the Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ, appeared on earth and completed everything that people need to know about God. He revealed to people the great secret that God is one, but three in persons. .

The first Person is God the Father, the second Person is God the Son, the third Person is God the Holy Spirit.

These are not three Gods, but one God in three Persons, the Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible. All three Persons have the same Divine dignity, there is neither elder nor younger between them; Just as God the Father is true God, so God the Son is true God, so the Holy Spirit is true God.

They differ only in that God the Father is not born from anyone and does not come from anyone; The Son of God is born from God the Father, and the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father.

Jesus Christ, through the revelation of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, taught us not only to truly worship God, but also to love God, since all three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - eternally abide with each other in continuous love and constitute one Being. .

God is the most perfect Love.

God is love.

The great secret that God revealed to us about Himself - the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the human mind cannot contain and understand.

Saint Cyril, the teacher of the Slavs, tried to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity in this way: he said: “Do you see a brilliant circle in the sky (the sun), and from it light is born and heat emanates?

God the Father, how solar circle, without beginning and end. From Him the Son of God is eternally born, just as light is born from the sun; and just as warmth comes from the sun along with the bright rays, the Holy Spirit emanates.

Everyone distinguishes separately the solar circle, and light, and heat (but these are not three suns), but one sun in the sky. So is the Holy Trinity: there are three Persons in It, and God is one and indivisible."

For three bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
The First Council Epistle of St. Apostle John ch. 5 art. 7

St. Augustine says, “You see the Trinity if you see love.” This means that the mystery of the Holy Trinity can rather be understood with the heart, that is, with love, than with our human mind.

The teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, were written down by His disciples in a sacred book called the Gospel.

The word "Gospel" means "good news."

And all the sacred books, combined together into one book, are called the Bible. This word is Greek, in Russian it means “book”.

Scripture makes it clear that God exists outside of time. Time in human understanding was created by God, like the entire universe. In the article, the author discusses whether the category of time can be applied to the Persons of the Holy Trinity, and also analyzes the hypothesis of the pre-existence of Christ.

Christian theology has developed axiomatic ideas about God, which can be briefly formulated as follows: God and only God is Originless, Unchangeable and Almighty. Immutability - the constancy of God in time, is associated with eternity. God Himself is eternal. Divine eternity excludes all time. God is outside of time and cannot be subject to any change, corruption or emergence. God cannot be thought of in space or time. St. Gregory the Theologian taught: “The perfect unity of intra-Divine life is expressed first of all in the unconditional timelessness of Divine existence. God is eternal by nature and above all consistency and division. And it is not enough to say: “God has always been, is and will be,” it is better to say: “He exists, for He concentrates in Himself the whole being, which did not begin and will not cease.” And therefore, “if One was from the beginning, then there were Three.” In the Divinity and in the Divine life one cannot think or imagine any there were changes, any "divisions of time". This applies not only to the Triune God, but also to each hypostatic person of the Holy Trinity. St. Athanasius emphasized: "From the relationship of the Father and the Son, every sequence, every "duration" must be excluded " or the distance between them. Any “once” and “when” are excluded here.

However, we know that the Son of God, unlike the other Persons of the Holy Trinity, is incarnated - born from the Virgin Mary and thereby enters our world, cosmologically connected with space and time. He wanders through the lands of ancient Palestine, preaches in different cities, and this earthly life of the Son of God takes place in time and space. And here an aporia arises, which brought the ancient Church to the brink of schism. How to unite God the Father with the Logos, the Logos with Christ and Christ with man, while maintaining their hypostatic difference, but without dividing the Holy Trinity as the One God, who is above all perfection, above all essence and time. The novelty and complexity of the problem was aggravated by the fact that in it theology was implicitly intertwined with the metaphysics of time. In defending the divinity of Jesus Christ, it was necessary to combine the timeless eternity of the Triune God and the time of the created world.

The views of Christian writers of the first centuries are characterized by the idea of time as a certain sphere of existence, one for God and man. Time exists as if on its own, independent of God and creation. It is beginningless, endless, not limited by any limit either in the past or in the future. Eternity was perceived by them as a continuously and constantly lasting process in time, for example, as “eternal life” or as something transcendental, located outside of endless and beginningless time - “before all ages.” The emerging contradictions could be resolved in two ways: by remaining faithful to the teaching and tradition of the Holy Church about the divine nature of Jesus Christ, abandoning the traditional sensory perception of time and eternity, or, preserving established ideas about time, sacrificing the divine nature of the Holy Trinity. If the first path revealed to us the truth of the existence of the Triune God, then the second gave rise to heresies of various interpretations. It took almost four centuries of persecution, persecution and struggle with both external and internal opponents until the Divine Truth crystallized in the depths of the Church, which found its expression in the Nicene Creed. By defending the divine nature of Jesus Christ and the unity of God the Trinity, the holy fathers implicitly formed new ideas about time and eternity.

The contradiction between the timeless existence of the Holy Trinity and the descent of the Son of God into the world is an aporia of time, and the roots of its solution are in the metaphysics of time. It was solved within the framework of the concept of God's timeless knowledge of earthly history. God is outside of time, therefore, between any two events on earth there can be no time extension for Him. All events in our world are simultaneous and instantaneous for God. According to Gregory the Theologian, when we bring the beginning and end of time into unity, we come to eternity (!): “Eternity is neither time nor a part of time; because it is immeasurable.” And what else, if not an instant, can be implied by the holy father, when the beginning of an event coincides with its end? In this case, the beginning and the end are simultaneous, and all intermediate events lying between the beginning and the end are contained in this single instant. The blessed one taught about this. Augustine: “O man! What My Scripture says, I say. Only it speaks in time, but My word is not subject to time, for it abides with Me equally eternally. What you see with My Spirit, I see; then "What you say by My Spirit, I speak. But you see in time, but I see not in time, and in the same way you speak in time, but I speak not in time." “What has been said does not disappear; in order to say everything, one does not have to say one thing after another: everything is eternal and at the same time.” Many saints held a similar point of view. fathers. Yes, St. Athanasius, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa and others believed that the world was created by God not in time, but instantly.

For the Holy Trinity, all earthly history from the creation of the world is a moment without any duration or extension. From this divine moment, the Son of God, God the Word, descends into our world, being born in time from the Virgin Mary and taking upon himself human nature. And at this same divine moment He returns after death on the cross and resurrection. But he returns as Jesus Christ, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, in a resurrected deified body, “seated at the right hand of the Father” after ascending to “heaven.” For the Holy Trinity, these events are not separated by dozens of years, as we perceive them on earth. For the Triune God, they, like all earthly history, are simultaneous and instantaneous. “At the right hand of the father” there is “neither time, nor part of time”, there are no our cause-and-effect relationships, there is no past and future, cause and effect. In this moment, God the Word is “always” Jesus Christ as “the Lamb slain from the creation of the world.” Otherwise, it would be necessary to divide God the Word into two - one in the Trinity, as descended, and the other in Jesus, as ascended, and recognize the simultaneous existence of two Words of God, that is, replace the Trinity with a quaternity. “He who descended, He also ascended above all the heavens, to fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). God the Word and Jesus Christ are indivisible, they are a single Hypostasis of the Triune God, allowing the Son of God to simultaneously be in two worlds, in the timeless world of the Triune God as God the Word and in the temporary moment of earthly history as Jesus Christ.

For us, the divine moment unfolds in time, without dividing the unity of God the Word and Jesus Christ, without destroying the Divine Trinity and leaving Them constant and unchanging - such as they were in this moment. Therefore, following the tradition of the Church and the teaching of the fathers, we worship Jesus Christ as the true God, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, the second hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, and we honor the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God.

God the Word can enter our world only through the divine moment of earthly history in which He and Jesus Christ are one. Therefore, in our created world, the Son of God, God the Word, always, at all times, reveals Himself as Jesus Christ, consisting of divine and human nature. We see that from the doctrine of the timelessness of Divine existence, the possibility of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ in the events that took place before His earthly birth necessarily follows. Indeed, if we believe in the second coming of Christ in the future, when He will reveal Himself in glory to judge “the living and the dead,” then we cannot exclude such a possibility in the past, for example, at the creation of the world and man, since “at the right hand of the Father” for God there is no past and future.

The very idea of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ in the flesh is not new and was known in the ancient Church. However, unlike the doctrine of pre-eternal birth and the pre-existence of the Son of God, God the Word, it has not become widespread. This is due to the fact that the possibility of the pre-existence of flesh, even resurrected and hypostatized by God the Word, but before its earthly birth, was perceived as an absurd fact, contrary to the sensory experience of time. Nevertheless, in the Holy Scriptures, in the teaching of St. Fathers contains not only individual statements that can be interpreted as the pre-existence of Jesus Christ in the flesh before His birth, but also direct indications of this fact, which may have taken place in biblical history.

Christ Himself repeatedly pointed out His pre-existence to His disciples: “... truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:56-58); “Now, Father, glorify Me with You, with the glory that I had with You before the world was” (John 17:5). And further: “No one has ascended into heaven except the Son of Man, who is in heaven, who came down from heaven” (John 3:13); and also: “Well, if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before” (John 6:62). The literal interpretation of these words implies the Son of Man, that is, God the Word incarnate. These words may indicate that “at the right hand of the father,” the Son of God, God the Word, and the resurrected Jesus Christ in the flesh are one.

The Apostle Paul taught: “...in whom we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the first begotten of all creation; for by Him were all things created that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether principalities or dominions, authority, all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist" (Col. 1:14-1). Here we are clearly talking about Jesus Christ as God the Word incarnate, otherwise whose blood the apostle is talking about. If He, according to the Apostle, is “first of all,” then He was also before His birth from the Virgin Mary. Moreover, from these words it follows that “all things were created” by Jesus Christ “by Him and for Him” and “all things stand by Him”; and further, in another place St. Paul writes: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). The apostolic “yesterday, today and forever” points to the “fullness of times” from the creation of the world, to the unity of the Son of God, God the Word, and the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, at all times. It is thanks to this indivisible unity that the time of our world is available to God the Word in its entirety. The Son of God, God the Word, can reveal Himself at any point in time in our history as Jesus Christ in the flesh. “Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever” (Rom. 9:5).

***

Origen wrote about the possibility of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ in his works “Against Celsus” and in “Commentary on the Gospel of John”, pointing out that in some way the Word of God must always be recognized by man (i.e. in our created temporary world) and that "The human nature of the Son of God, which was united with His divinity, precedes the birth of Mary." It is not clear how he could come to this idea, but it can hardly follow from his doctrine of the pre-existence of souls.

The following example is indicative: the main accusation against Paul of Samosata (according to the “Ecclesiastical History” of Eusebius of Caesarea), which was voiced by the authors of the 4th century. in connection with the Trinitarian disputes of that time, was that he denied the “pre-existence of Christ” or otherwise denied the substantial existence of the Word as the Son of God, including before His birth from the Virgin Mary. Thus, in the Epistle of the First Council of Antioch, even before the overthrow of Paul of Samosata, it is said: “Therefore, the body, borrowed from the Virgin and containing the entire fullness of the Divinity bodily, invariably united with the Divinity and was deified. For this reason, one and the same Jesus Christ was foretold in the Law and the Prophets, both God and man... Thus, the Divine Scriptures speak of Christ as One, even before His incarnation." And St. Gregory of Neocaesarea in his “Detailed Statement of Faith” indicated: “There is one Son, one and the same both before the incarnation and after the incarnation, man and God, both are one.”

The idea of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ is reflected in the theology of St. fathers in confessing the Son of God as Jesus Christ when interpreting the events preceding the birth of Jesus, such as the creation of the world and man. It is unlikely that this can simply be a consequence of the terminology characteristic of the ancient Church. St. Athanasius, in the Fourth Discourse on the Arians, makes a clear distinction between the Son of God, God the Word, His eternal timeless birth, and Jesus Christ. He writes: “Therefore, by the name of Christ we mean both together, that is, the Word of God united in Mary with Him who is from Mary.” It seems more likely that it is characteristic of St. fathers a new, supersensible perception of time, based on divinely inspired revelation, different from empirical experience.

The idea of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ is most clearly reflected in the theology of St. Irenaeus of Lyon. He wrote: “Both of the Testaments (Old and New) were produced by one and the same householder - the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ." They (Old Testament patriarchs and prophets) saw the Son of God as a man who treated people as they predicted the future, saying that He who had not yet come was already present." Under the God of the Old Testament St. the father meant the resurrected Jesus Christ in the flesh: “This is His Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, who in recent times became man among men, in order to unite the end with the beginning, that is, man with God.” And further he explains: “For the end of the Law is Christ, for the righteousness of everyone who believes (Rom. 10: 3-4). And how is Christ (the) end of the Law, if He is not the beginning of It? For Who brought (with Him) the end, He made the beginning;<…>because the Word of God is accustomed to ascend and descend for the sake of saving those in need.” Here St. Irenaeus points out that “the Word of God can ascend and descend” into our world through Jesus Christ, in whom, as the Holy Fathers taught, human nature is hypostasized.

Regarding the creation of man, St. Irenaeus writes: “...we could not possibly have received incorruptibility and immortality if we had not been united with incorruption and immortality. But how could we have been united with incorruptibility and immortality if incorruptibility and immortality had not first become what we are?” , that is, before the creation of man, the Son of God, God the Word, was already united with the incorruptible resurrected human nature. Not only are the soul and spirit created in the image of God, but also the flesh of man is the image of God: “The perfect man is the union and union of the soul, which receives the Spirit of the Father, with the flesh, which is created in the image of God.” Here it is clearly St. the father implies Jesus Christ as God incarnate and resurrected in the flesh. For how else can God have flesh? The deified flesh of the resurrected Christ served as a prototype for the flesh of the first man. In the light of the teachings of the Holy Fathers about time and eternity, the anthropomorphisms of the Old Testament (Genesis 3:8) do not seem such naive inventions of the simpletons.

An indication of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ can be seen in the works of St. Athanasius the Great: “He (God the Father), as the best helmsman, with His own Wisdom and His Own Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, savesly governs and disposes of the whole world and creates as He Himself recognizes as best.” And further: “Therefore, not envying anyone in existence, He created everything out of nothing with His Word, our Lord Jesus Christ.” According to the teachings of St. Athanasius, the human race was created by the Lord Jesus Christ: “Creator of the world and King God of kings, surpassing all essence and human industry, as good and surpassing everything in kindness, created the human race in His image, our Savior Jesus Christ, and through likening Himself made it a contemplator and knower of things." According to the teaching of St. Athanasius, not only the flesh, but also the soul was created by Jesus Christ: “And the life of it (the soul) will not cease, because God created it in this way with His Word, our Lord Jesus Christ.” By the name of Christ, St. Athanasius (see above) meant the God-man, in whom the divine and human are revealed nature.

The doctrine of the creation of man by the Lord Jesus Christ was further developed in the theology of St. Nicholas Cabasilas. Following the Apostle, he taught that Jesus has always been, at all times since the creation of the world: “... there is one Jesus, who in particular and in general was for people in showing the true truth and the first, and the middle, and the last.” And further: “For human nature from the beginning was prepared for the new man, and the mind and desire were prepared for him, and we received the mind in order to know Christ, and the desire to strive for him, we have memory in order to keep Him in her, because He was also a prototype for those who were created. For it is not the old who is for the New, but the New Adam who serves as an example for the old." At the same time, Rev. Nicholas Cabasilas emphasized that nothing is impossible in the works of God, therefore one should not be surprised at the pre-existence in the past of events that have a reason for their occurrence in the future: “It is most inappropriate to think that the most perfect of all is built in the image of the imperfect, and that the worst serves as an example for the best, and the blind guide those who see. For one should not be surprised that it is earlier in time, but one should believe that what is perfect serves as the beginning of what is imperfect, thinking that at first, for the needs of man, much was prepared in advance, and man, the measure of everything, has already came to earth last of all."

St. Dionysius the Areopagite taught that the Divinity “in one of its hypostases joined our nature, thereby calling to Himself and exalting human remoteness, from which the one Jesus was ineffably composed, and thereby the Eternal One took on the extension of time and within our nature was found the super-essentially Transcendent One every order of every nature, preserving the abode of His properties unchanged and unfused." Etc. Maximus the Confessor, following the Apostle Paul and St. Irenaeus, asserted: “Christ the God-Man is the beginning and end of the entire economy, the middle and focus of all ages and all existence...” ; and further: “For through Christ, or through the sacrament according to Christ, all ages and what is in these ages have received both the beginning and the end of their existence.”

Based on the timelessness of Divine existence, from which follows the possibility of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ and the teaching of St. fathers stated above, one can come to a conclusion that is paradoxical at first glance, but quite important in relation to the Christian tradition of perception of time. It can be argued that the creation of our world and man in it depend not on what happened in the past, but on what should happen in the future, on the incarnation of the Son of God, God the Word. It was precisely thanks to his birth from the Virgin Mary, death on the cross, resurrection and ascension to the Father in the divine moment of earthly history that Jesus Christ fulfilled the “fullness of times” and could reveal himself in the “beginning”, in the resurrected deified body, at the creation of “heaven and earth” and man. For if He had not become incarnate, He would not have been resurrected, and would not have ascended to the Father, would not have revealed Himself “in the beginning,” and would not have created our world and you and me. “It should also be attributed to the Blessed Virgin that people remained alive and remain people in general. And not only they, but also the sky, the earth, the sun, and the universe through the Blessed Virgin - like a plant through its fruit - found well-being and being in general ".

Thus the mystery of the Incarnation can be considered as the central event world history, which has cosmological significance for the creation of the world and man. The entire Christian cosmology rests on it, as on the foundation. The Apostle Paul writes: “Christ died for all, so that those who live should not live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15). Christ died and rose again so that "people would remain alive,<…>heaven and earth, sun and universe<…>found well-being and existence in general." For this, He revealed Himself at the beginning and created our world and man in His image and likeness. And people had to live not for themselves, but “for the one who died and rose again,” so that that one would manifest itself in the human race the only one worthy to become the mother of the Son of God, so that the Son of God could become human, fulfill the “fullness of times” and “lead his creation.” Similar cosmological motives are heard in the theology of the Holy Fathers: in St. Nicholas Cabasilas: “He created it (human nature) with from the very beginning, such that when the time comes for Him to be born (according to humanity), He will borrow the Mother from her for Himself. Having first established such an application as a certain norm, in accordance with it He then forms man." "No other ultimate goal of the creation of man can be preferred to this, which is the highest of all and gives the Creator the greatest honor and glory"; and by St. Maximus the Confessor : “This (the incarnation of God the Word) is the Divine end, for the sake of which everything [created existence] arose.<…>the end for the sake of which all [created things] exist... This is, in the true sense of the word, the limit of Providence,<…>according to which there is a headship in God [of all creatures] created by Him...".

The reason for the seeming paradoxical nature of St. fathers can be explained by the inversion of cause-and-effect relationships in the timeless Divine being, which is incompatible with our sensory empirical experience of time perception. We must admit that the reversibility of the past and the future, that is, the existence in the past of events whose cause lies in the future, may be a characteristic property of our time, created by God. Many holy fathers pointed out the possibility of time reversibility. Thus, the Monk Maximus the Confessor noted that “In the [Holy] Scripture there is a custom of changing tenses and putting one in place of the other, taking the future for the past and the past for the future, using the present tense instead of the one before or after it.” And the Monk John of Damascus taught: “You should know that Divine Scripture often uses the past tense instead of the future. What is (for example) this saying: “Let us sow on the earth appear and live with men (Bar. 3:38).” For when this was said, God had not yet revealed and entered into union with people." St. Gregory the Theologian also wrote about this feature of time: "But everyone can see that in sayings expressing time, times are often put one instead of another, This is especially used in Divine Scripture, and not only in discussions about the time of the past or present, but also the future." Likewise, John Chrysostom pointed out: "It was the custom of the ancient prophets to speak about future events as if they had already happened. So Isaiah, speaking about the killing of Him (Jesus), did not say that He would be led like a sheep to the slaughter - in the future tense - but: “like a sheep was led to the slaughter” (Is. 53:7).

The Holy Fathers did not try to “squeeze” their theology into the narrow framework of the concepts of sensory time, formed at the everyday level. For them, time receded into the background, did not “dictate” its own laws and rules of house-building, did not dominate God, but was conformed in accordance with His Providence. As St. aptly noted more than one and a half thousand years ago. Gregory of Nyssa: “For He who had the power to lay down His soul on Himself and to take it up again when He wanted, as the Creator of centuries, had the power in His affairs not to be subject to time, but to arrange time in accordance with deeds.” Time is God's creation. The world has existence in time, but God is outside of time, outside of the cause-and-effect relationships imposed on us by time. We must think of the mystery of the incarnation, the creation of the world and man, not in the categories of sensory time, “adapting” God’s providence to our ideas about time, but, on the contrary, we must think of time in the categories of Divine economy, conforming time itself with the affairs of God.

Of course, the doctrine of the pre-eternal birth and pre-existence of the Son of God, God the Word, and even more so the idea of the pre-existence in the flesh of Jesus Christ, met with fierce resistance from supporters of various heresies, especially among the Arians. The so-called common sense of man stood in the way of the teachings of the holy fathers as an “unshakable” wall. It took several centuries until this wall of misunderstanding was destroyed by faith based on the Tradition of the Church and the Holy Scriptures. The reason for such heresies was the inability to renounce the sensory perception of time and to think of God outside of time. God, like creatures, was attributed existence in time. Why St. Gregory the Theologian wittily remarked: “What kind of excessive wisdom is it to introduce non-temporal time?” .

Perhaps the teaching of the holy fathers, even in our time, will seem to many to be contrary to the laws of logic and common sense. However, it should be noted that from the point of view modern science the very idea of the pre-existence in the past of events that have a cause for their occurrence in the future does not look as fantastic as it might seem at first glance. This problem, more than one and a half thousand years later, is being discussed at a fairly high scientific level, however, so far in application to the problems of astrophysics and cosmology, and not theology.

References and notes

1. Prot. Georgy Florovsky. Eastern fathers of the 4th century. Gregory the Theologian. Ed. Belarusian Exarchate, 2006, p.136.

2. Prot. Georgy Florovsky. Eastern fathers of the 4th century. Athanasius the Great. Ed. Belarusian Exarchate, 2006, p. p. 45.

3. L.P. Karsavin. Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church. Moscow State University, 1994.

4. St. Gregory the Theologian. Selected creations. Homily 38. On Epiphany. Ed. Sretensky Monastery, 2014. p.169.

5. Blessed Augustine of Hippo. Confession, Ed. Sretensky Monastery, 2010. pp. 517-518.

6. Quote. according to the book: Priest John Ber. The formation of Christian theology. The road to Nicaea. Publisher: "Hermeneutics", 2006. pp. 145, 217.

7. Ibid., p. 172.

8. Quote. according to the "Epistle of the Orthodox Bishops of the First Council of Antioch to Paul of Samosata, written before his overthrow", c. 266

9. St. Gregory of Neocaesarea. "A Detailed Statement of Faith." paragraph 36.

10. St. Athanasius the Great. The fourth word in Arian. paragraph 34.

11. St. Irenaeus of Lyons. Against heresies. Ed. Oleg Abyshko, S-P. 2010, p. 342.

12. Ibid., p. 380.

13. Ibid., p. 376.

14. Ibid., p. 351.

15. Ibid., p. 296.

16. Ibid., p. 462.

17. St. Athanasius the Great. Selected creations. Word to the Gentiles. "Published by the Temple of Cosmas and Damian", 2006, p. 93.

18. St. Athanasius the Great. Word on the Incarnation of God the Word, p. 103.

19. St. Athanasius the Great. Selected creations. Word to the Gentiles. "Published by the Temple of Cosmas and Damian", 2006, p. 56.

20. Ibid., p. 86.

21. Rev. Nicholas Kavasila, Christ, Church, Mother of God, Seven words about life in Christ; Word six. Ed. Moscow State University, 2007. p. 158.

22. Ibid., p. 158.

23. Ibid., p. 160.

24. St. Dionysius the Areopagite. On the divine names, ch. 1, Ed. "Oleg Obyshko", S-P., 2013, p. 129.

25. Quote. from: Prot. Georgy Florovsky. Byzantine Fathers of the V-VIII centuries, Maximus the Confessor.

26. Rev. Maxim the Confessor. "Questions and answers to Fallasius." Question LX.

27. Rev. Nikolai Kavasila. "Christ, Church, Mother of God." Word on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Ed. Moscow State University, 2007, p. 362.

28. Rev. Nikolai Kavasila. Christ, Church, Mother of God. Word on the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. Ed. Moscow State University, 2007, pp. 356-357.

29. Rev. Maxim the Confessor. "Questions and answers to Fallasius." Question LX.

30. Rev. Maxim the Confessor. "Questions to Thalassia." Question 7.

31. Rev. John of Damascus. An accurate exposition of the Orthodox faith. Ed. "Father's House", 2011, p. 221.

32. St. Gregory the Theologian. Selected creations. Word 29. Ed. Sretensky Monastery, M., 2014, p. 75.

33. St. John Chrysostom. Conversations on the Gospel of John the Theologian, volume 1, Ed. Moscow Patriarchate, 1993, p. 87.

34. St. Gregory of Nyssa. Selected Creations, Homily for Holy Easter, ed. Sretensky Monastery, 2010. p. 320.

35. St. Gregory the Theologian. Selected works, Word 29. Ed. Sretensky Monastery, M., 2014, p. 80.

36. see, for example: A.M. Cherepashchuk, A.D. Chernin, Universe, life, black holes. "Vek2" 2003; R. Penrose. The New Mind of the King, URSS, M.2011; S. Hawking, Short story time, "Amphora", 2008.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:

Thanking God is an inner, heartfelt and joyful feeling of His goodness and mercy, which He has shown and continues to show to us, unworthy, - and a testimony with the heart and lips. The image of this heartfelt thanksgiving was shown to us by Christ Himself, the Son of God, when “he rejoiced in spirit and said: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth!” - and so on (Luke 10:21); showed His Most Holy Mother, the Most Pure Virgin Mary, when she sang this song with a joyful spirit: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, because He has looked upon the humility of His Servant,” and so on (Luke 1:46 -55). Saint David, in many psalms, with a joyful spirit and a grateful heart and lips, sings of the goodness of God and calls others to this sweet jubilation: “Magnify the Lord with me, and together let us exalt His name.” And again: “Taste and see how good the Lord is” (Ps. 33:4,9). For the property of a grateful heart is not only to glorify its own benefactor, but to try to get others to glorify him.

This feeling is born from thinking about the blessings of God that He has shown and continues to show us. God's blessings to us are not only innumerable, but also incomprehensible to the mind.

1) He brought us from non-existence into being, for which no one can properly thank.

2) He honored us with His rational soul and His Divine image.

3) He gave us the fruit of the earth for food.

4) He assigned every animal to serve us.

5) He placed the sun, moon and stars in the sky to illuminate us.

6) Air was shed to preserve our lives.

7) He commanded the clouds to irrigate the air so that we would have coolness, and the earth - for vegetation and fruitfulness, so that we and our livestock would have food.

8) I planted various trees and herbs for our various needs and needs.

9) He produced various birds, like sweet music that amuses us.

10) He gave us fire for warmth and illumination at night.

11) He shed waters, seas, lakes, springs and rivers with various fish and other animals for our benefit and need.

12) He showed the way of sailing across the seas, so that one country with another, east with west, north with south, would have the most convenient communication, and exchange His benefits among themselves.

13) He created day and night, winter and summer, spring and autumn for our sake.

14) He commanded His angels to encamp around us and, like guards, to guard us (see Ps. 33:8).

15) He does not immediately execute those who sin, but expects, calls and exhorts us to conversion and repentance.

16) Warns and preserves us from the slander and intrigues of our enemy the devil.

17) But the top of all good deeds is that through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, He has arranged for us the path to eternal bliss. “He, being the image of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; He humbled himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross,” as the apostle teaches (Phil. 2:6-8). And He who contains the universe with his hand was “swaddled in a manger” (Luke 2:7). And He who measured the sky with a span, “had no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). And the Rich One “made Himself poor, so that through His poverty we might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). And He who wanted to come on the clouds to judge the living and the dead, “was judged unjustly by the wicked” (Luke 23:1-24). And He, on whom the ranks of angels do not dare to look, was “buttered and spat on” (Matthew 26:27). And He who clothed the sky with clouds was “clothed in the garment of reproach” (Luke 23:11; Mark 15:17). And He who was clothed with light as with a robe was “naked” (Matthew 27:27, 31). And He, Whom the Cherubim and Seraphim serve, “has deigned to serve men” (John 13:5). And he allowed the hands with which he performed miracles to be nailed to the cross (see Luke 23:33). And the One who did no harm to anyone was “beaten” (Mark 15:19). And He who raised the dead with a wave, “by His will endured the death of the cross” (John 19:30; 10:18). Yet our Good Lord endured these sufferings for the sake of our eternal salvation.

But when he showed us so many and great benefits, he does not require anything else from us other than one grateful heart. For as a gift, from love alone for us, unworthy, our Benefactor created these good deeds. For He is Good by nature and cannot help but do good. The property of goodness is to communicate and give oneself to others. So, all these blessings of God: our existence, which we received from Him; the rational soul, by which we are honored by Him; the earth that holds and nourishes us; the water that drinks and washes us; cattle, animals, fish, trees and herbs that serve our needs; birds that amuse us; the sun, moon and stars that illuminate us; the air that preserves our life; the fire that warms us; the clouds that rain on us and on our fields; the day that shines for us for our work; the night, which was arranged for us for the sake of the repose of our weak flesh; sure hope future life, so miraculously constructed, the hope - all good things have been taken away and the end, which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord - all this, I say, and His other unknown benefits prompt and, as it were, compel us with the zeal of God, the Benefactor, to give thanks and To be grateful to him.

God's ineffable blessings make us obligated to God the Benefactor and require a very grateful heart from us: “but what shall we repay the Lord for all that He has given us” (Ps. 115:3)? For the one thing that we were created by Him, brought from non-existence into being and honored by our rational soul, created in the image and likeness, we must give all of ourselves, that is, soul and body, to Him. And what can we give for the fact that those who have sinned have been pardoned, those who have perished have been recovered, and those who have fallen have been restored in such a miraculous way? What - for the fact that for our sake he took on the image of a slave, lived on earth, hungered, thirsted, worked, cried, was sick, was sad, received dishonor, reproach, slander, condemnation, spitting, strangulation, beating, wounds, crucifixion and shameful death? What, I say, will we repay for this such wonderful love? We can't find anything! What - for the fact that “he gave power to those who believe in His name to become children of God” (John 1:12), to be citizens of the Jerusalem above, to be counted among the holy Angels, eternal and heavenly kingdom be participants? Nothing!

Remember, Christian, how much you owe the Lord God on top of that! Consider how many times since your youth you have sinned before the Lord God; how many times after Baptism did you break His holy law; how many times have you broken the vows that you made upon entering Christianity; How many times have you turned away from your Lord in your heart! You committed every crime in the face of God; His all-seeing eye looked at your crimes. God is everywhere, and whatever we do, we do it before God. You sinned, and God looked at you; He looked and saw, but endured you “according to the riches of His goodness” (Rom. 2:4). What King could be so good, so meek, so merciful; who would see his servant transgressing his law before his eyes and meekly endure it? Soon human meekness turns into anger, and patience turns into indignation. But the Tsar is the same person as his subjects; he often breaks the law itself, like a person, but does not tolerate it when he sees his law being violated by his subjects. But not so God, the one Sinless, God, the King of heaven and earth, the one Just and eternal Truth. Although he sees a person’s sin, he, out of the richness of His goodness, endures it, does not execute him, and does not reward him then according to his deeds; and not only endures, but also protects the sinner, so that he does not perish while waiting for his repentance.

Remember the apostolic word that “our adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). This enemy of ours, how many times have you sinned since your youth, so many times was he ready to destroy you; so many times, like a giant, he rushed at you, “like a lion rushing at his prey” (Ps. 16:12), he wanted to steal your soul and take you to hell. But the goodness of God forbade him to do this. You destroyed God’s commandment, but God did not destroy His mercy from you. You angered God, but the goodness of God protected you from your enemy, who stood with you as you sinned and wanted to destroy you. You have retreated from God in your heart and approached your enemy; but the goodness of God forbade him and forbade him, lest he snatch away your soul.

For how long, having sinned, you remained in unrepentance, all this time he laid snares under your feet, looking for a way to kill you and betray your soul to eternal destruction; but the goodness of God stopped his evil intentions. Remember how many there are who are immersed in fornication, robbery, embezzlement, larceny, drunkenness and sleep, kidnapped without repentance; but the goodness of God saved you from this. Oh, how much in this part of God's goodness you owe! That you live, that you have not yet perished, that you will not be cast into hell, that you can repent and be saved—all this you must gratefully attribute to the goodness of God.

Have you come to your senses and are you in true repentance? This is a work of God's grace. Are you unrepentant and unrepentant? It is the goodness of God that you have not yet perished. Satan watches all your paths, your entrances and exits, he wants to put an obstacle in front of you and steal your faulty soul from you and take you to hell, but the goodness of God does not yet allow him to destroy you, he still endures you, still awaits your conversion, leads you to repentance. you. But listen to what the apostle says to the careless and faulty: “Or do you neglect the riches of the goodness, meekness and long-suffering of God, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and the revelation of righteous Judgment from God” (Rom 2:4-5).

You see, beloved Christian, how amazing is the goodness of God towards us, which not only created us, and created us not like other things, senseless and insensitive, but honored us with feelings and reason, nourishes, clothes, warms, preserves and illuminates the created ones; not only did she have mercy on us who sinned, but she also tolerated us who sinned; and not only endures, but also preserves us from the machinations of our enemy, who seeks our destruction, as you saw above. But how great is God’s goodness towards us, how great is His love for us, how much we owe to Him. Our mind is not able to comprehend this love of God for us, O people, or to invent how to repay it. We can know this one thing and admit from our hearts that we cannot repay anything, no matter what we do for His sake. “What shall we repay the Lord for all that he has repaid us” (Ps. 115:3)? This is how one should always confess with a prophet with humility. Everything that our Lord did or does not do to us, he does for free, out of love alone. But although we lack the strength for worthy thanksgiving, we must, however much we have, try to always be grateful to Him with our hearts and lips.

The debt of love is repaid by nothing other than love. For love is satisfied with nothing other than mutual love. For nothing pleases a lover, no matter what he does, no matter what his beloved brings him, if he does not see mutual love from him. All the more so to God, who loves us and is our Benefactor, our Lord, who “has no need of our goods” (Ps. 15:2), because whatever blessings we have are His, nothing is pleasant, no matter what we bring, if We will not bring a loving and grateful heart. So, for the debt of God’s love, which we indescribably owe to Him, we cannot bring anything except mutual love and a grateful heart. We must always pay this debt in every possible way, but we cannot pay it in any way. This duty requires from us that we show all obedience to Him and fulfill not our own, but His will. This duty requires of us that, if we cannot give Him anything, we give to His servants who demand for the sake of His name, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bring the bloodless into our homes, comfort the sad, comfort the wandering, visit the sick and those in prison. , and served them with other requirements and needs (Matthew 25:35-36). This duty requires us to “forgive their sins” from our hearts to our sinners (Matthew 6:14-15). This duty requires us to “love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who despitefully use us and persecute us” (Matthew 5:44). This duty requires us to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1); “We put to death our members on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5). This duty requires that we write this goodness of God on our hearts, testify with our lips, talk with our friends, and not remain silent about it before our enemies. This duty requires that we not spare our souls, where the honor of His name requires it - in a word, we do not refuse to do everything that His holy will desires with zeal and joy (see Eph. 5:10).

And in the opposite that is sent to us, we must thank God even more, for which the following reasons encourage:

1) From the Good God nothing but good can come to us, although it seems to us the other way around. For often, due to our foolishness and blindness, we consider something good that is evil for us; and we consider what is truly good for us to be evil. But the Most Good and All-Wise Heavenly Father sees differently, and “instead of bread, a stone, and instead of a fish, a snake does not want to give to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13; Matt. 7:11).

2) By taking away goods, we learn to know goods and the Giver of goods - God. For while we have good and are filled with good, we do not know good, and so we forget God, the Giver of all good, but then we truly know good when we are deprived of it. How great a good is health, we know in illness; What a great gift of God is bread, we notice during times of famine; We will learn the benefits of light in darkness or blindness, the benefits of peace and tranquility during the invasion of enemies, the benefits of rain during drought, the benefits of sunlight during bad weather, the benefits of freedom in captivity, the benefits of water during thirst, the benefits of fire during cold and winter. And having learned good, we partly taste and see “how good the Lord is” (Ps. 33:9), who gives us good things.

3) When God takes away physical good from us, He wants to give spiritual good. When he takes away bodily wealth, he wants to give spiritual wealth; when it takes away physical health, it wants to give mental health; when he takes away temporary glory, he wants to give eternal glory. And he does this because, you know, he saw that the good of the body and the soul cannot fit in us. And therefore he acts like a skilled doctor who cuts off one part of the body in order to preserve the whole body. Likewise, the all-wise Physician of our souls, the Lord, cuts off bodily goods so that both—the soul and the body—are preserved in eternal life. We are not angry with the doctor when he shows such concern for us, but we even thank him, love him and give him payment. Much more than God, who provides for us so mercifully and lovingly, we must give thanks. For “the Lord punishes whomever he loves” (Heb. 12:6). For when the Most Good God gives us well-being and thereby attracts us to Himself, then our corrupted nature is exalted by this more than it is stimulated to the love of God. Therefore, the Fatherly Providence of God, by allowing troubles, humbles us and thereby corrects us. So, what seems to us to be unwell is for us true, direct and what well-being should desire. Our flesh is in trouble, but our spirit is happy; the flesh is exhausted, but the spirit is strengthened; the flesh fades, but the spirit flourishes. Troubles and punishments are like messengers of God, who announce to us, who gratefully endure them, the subsequent grace of God. For troubles bring us to God. “In their sorrow, from early morning they will cry out to Me, saying: “Let us go and return to the Lord our God, for He has struck us and will heal us, will wound us and heal us,” says the prophet (Hos. 6:1-2) .

4) When God takes away bodily goods, he does not take away everything, but leaves some, depending on the strength of our spirit. For the All-Wise and Most Good Creator knows our weakness, and therefore when He deprives us of one, He leaves us with another, so that we can bear the temptation without exhaustion; and at the same time gives a helping hand to those who are tempted. Thus, when wealth is taken away, health is left behind; taking away health, it leaves behind some other consolation. So, if you suffer poverty, but are healthy, give thanks that you have health and can earn bread through your labors. If you are poor and unhealthy, thank that the name of Christ feeds you. If you suffer illness and have wealth, give thanks that you have the consolation of contentment. If your belongings are stolen, be grateful that the house is intact and there is somewhere to have peace. If the estate and house burned down, give thanks that you yourself remained intact, for many themselves, with their houses and estate, are burned down. If you tolerate slander and slander, thank them for not beating you, sending you into exile, or putting you in prison. If you are simply sitting in prison, thank you for not being shackled. If you are chained, give thanks that you see the light, have food, and so on. If you have lost honor, thank you that you have freed yourself from many troubles, vanities, envy, curses, slander, indignation, malice, slander and other evils surrounding honor and that you have not yet lost your property. If you are deprived of honor and property, thank you for not being sent to prison. If you are sent to prison, give thanks that you are not put to death. “If condemned to death,” says St. Basil the Great, - and unrighteously, thank you that for this a glorious crown in heaven is prepared for you. If it is righteous, says the same saint. father, thank you that by temporary death you will be delivered from eternal death” (In the Sermon on Julitta the Martyr). So follow this example in other things. And besides, know that we have not deserved any good from God, but, on the contrary, we are worthy of any punishment; and whatever the punishment, our sins deserve even more.

Here it is presented how we should thank the Most Good God, our Benefactor and Provider, for all His benefits to us. Wherever we look, wherever we turn our eyes and mind, everywhere we have enough opportunities to glorify the goodness of God. At night you look at the clear sky, decorated with stars like beads, and between the stars you see the shining moon - they serve you. Give thanks to “He who made the moon and the stars to rule the night” (Ps. 135:9). The day has dawned; The sun has spread its rays throughout the universe; its light shines on you. Give thanks to “He who made the sun to rule the day” (Ps. 135:8). The clouds sprinkle rain - they sprinkle it on you. Give thanks to “He who covers the sky with clouds and prepares rain for the earth” (Ps. 146:8).

The wind rose and began to drive away the clouds and clear the sky - it serves you. Give thanks to “He who brings up the winds from His treasures” (Ps. 134:7). You see fields filled with various fruits, green meadows and forests, garden trees abounding in fruits - this is a work of God’s goodness, this is sent to you by God. Give thanks to the Giver, saying: “Bless the Lord, my soul” (Ps. 103:1).

Winter came, the earth was covered with snow, frost bound the lakes, rivers and swamps, and so everywhere the path turned out to be free, there was no need for bridges and other necessities for crossing - this is God’s blessing; your needs are served by this. Bless “He who spreads out His snow like a wave” (Ps. 147:5). Winter passes and spring comes - thus, as it were, the approaching resurrection of all creation, which died from the frost, is announced to you - bless the Favored One in this way.

Spring has come; here a new treasure of God’s gifts is revealed: the sun shines favorably and warms, one can feel the well-dissolved air, the earth produces its treasures from its depths, fruits appear from seeds and roots, and are served for everyone to use; meadows, fields, fields, forests become clothed and green, decorated with flowers and emit all sorts of fragrances, springs and river streams flow from them and not only the sight, but also the ear amuses; various voices of various birds are heard everywhere, like some kind of sweet music; cattle disperse across the fields and steppes, do not require food from us, they feed and are satisfied with what the hand of God has opened for them, they are content, eat and play, and so, as it were, they give thanks to the goodness of God.

In a word, the whole of heaven again takes on a beautiful and cheerful appearance. The insensitive and feeling-gifted creature is, as it were, reborn. To you, an intelligent creature, all this wealth of God’s goodness has been revealed - say gratefully: “Bless the Lord, my soul” (Ps. 103:1). The earth has brought forth various fruits for your satisfaction and comfort—give thanks to the One who arranged it this way, speaking with a joyful spirit to the prophet: “Thou hast made me glad, O Lord, in Thy creation” (Ps. 91:5).

When you eat food, give thanks to “He who gives food to all flesh” (Ps. 135:25). If you put on clothes: the goodness of God clothes you - thank the Benefactor. Whether your peace is warming or your food is being cooked on the fire, fire is God’s gift, which works and serves for you - bless the One who created it. The day has passed - sing with gratitude, for the Lord has vouchsafed you to spend it without harm or destruction; sing with your heart and lips: “I will sing songs to You, O Lord!” You fell asleep at night and, having slept, got up - say: “I will bless You, Lord!” Speak to the prophet: “I fell asleep, slept and arose, for the Lord will protect me” (Ps. 3:6). If you feel the stress of your conscience for your sins, give thanks to God, who suffered your sins and did not deliver you into the hands of your enemy; Confess gratefully to the prophet: “I will confess to You, O Lord, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever: for Your mercy is great towards me, and You have delivered my soul from the lowest hell” (Ps. 85: 12-13). If you feel the fear of God’s Judgment or the desire for God’s eternal life - then grace calls you to repentance - say: “Blessed is the Lord, who wants all people to be saved and to achieve the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4); obey the call of God’s grace while “the time is favorable and the day of salvation,” while the Lord listens and helps. For he says: “In an acceptable time I heard you and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). When sorrow, sadness, illness or some other vicissitude comes, so your Lord seeks your salvation; give thanks to the One who wishes and Seeking salvation yours; speak to the Psalmist: “It is good for me that You have humbled me, so that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:71). If you think about the saving look of the Son of God towards the human race (and you should always think about such a great and important matter), sing with joy and deep humility: “Bless the Lord, my soul, and His holy name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His rewards” (Ps. 103:1-2), and so on. Or so with the prophet Zechariah, bless the Lord: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, that He has visited His people and created deliverance for them, and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David” (Luke 1:68-69). You hear the prophetic and apostolic voices, you hear those preaching God’s Word, understand that these messengers of God serve you, “bringing good tidings of peace, good tidings of good things” (Rom. 10:15), preaching the remission of sins, the approaching kingdom of heaven, teaching the truth, instructing you on the right path. , lead to eternal bliss - say with a grateful spirit: Glory to God, our Benefactor, forever, amen!

From the above it follows that we must thank God both in prosperity and in evil. In prosperity - for we, unworthy, receive His blessings freely from Him and are comforted by them. In evil - for we are corrected by Him, we come to our senses, we recognize ourselves, our meanness, unworthiness and damnation, we learn to consider the blessings of God great and to honor the Giver of blessings.

Gratitude, since it is favorable, is rewarded with great and numerous benefits from God. And this seems to be revealed by Christ when he says: “Whoever has, to him will be given and he will have abundance” (Matthew 13:12); and again: “To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance” (Matthew 25:29). For our Most Good Master accepts gratitude as a gift to Himself, and for this gift He will reward new joys. “Gratitude,” says St. Basil the Great, - God counts it as a good deed; and He who gives you wealth asks for alms from you through the hands of the poor; and although He receives His own from you, yet, as for your own good, He rewards you with His true grace” (The Sermon on Julitta the Martyr). Christ also says the same to those on His right hand at His righteous Judgment: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40). For what do we have of our own except sins? And what can we give to Him from Whom we have everything, as said above? But with thanksgiving to God, he who gives God’s good to his neighbor gives, as it were, his own; and God imputes that gift to Himself, and therefore with a new benefit, like one rich in mercy and generosity, He rewards the giver and repays grace for grace.

Saint Basil the Great:

If the day has passed, thank Him who gave us the sun to complete the daily tasks and who gave us fire to illuminate the night and serve for other everyday needs.

If you put on a tunic, thank the One who gave; Putting on a cloak will deepen your love for God, who has given us coverings for winter and summer that preserve our lives.

God, as the Physician of human souls, determines the nature of treatment based on the properties of diseases, in order, when necessary, to cleanse deep-seated damage. Knowing this clearly, we will always thank Him, even if we experience strong healing, cleansed from different types negligence.

Our faith and love for God are manifested in the fact that, although we do not immediately receive, we are grateful to Him.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa:

By God's mercy we have many blessings of all kinds, but to repay them we have only one prayer and thanksgiving. I think that if we prolong our conversation with God throughout our entire lives, remaining in thanksgiving and prayer, our reward will be just as worthless as if we had not yet taken the trouble to begin it.

Every good thing we have and every good thing we do is God’s and from God. Therefore, we have a duty to thank Him for everything, for every benefit received from His generous right hand, explicit or implicit; for every good deed or feat, for every victory over the enemies of our salvation, as we are commanded: “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thess. 5:18). Take care to kindle in yourself feelings of gratitude to God from the moment you wake up throughout the day and go to sleep with words of gratitude on your lips, because you are immersed in God’s blessings, including sleep itself.

How can you kindle in yourself a feeling of gratitude to God and always preserve it? Consider all the blessings of God to the human race and to yourself. Remember them often. And if you have a heart, it cannot help but lift up songs of gratitude to God. You will find examples in the prayers and writings of saints.

Venerable Abba Isaiah:

Consider everything that you have received not from other people, but from God and give thanks to Him.

Venerable Ephraim the Syrian:

Bring, mortals, thanks to the Son, who delivered us from the slavery in which death for our sins kept us. He forbade death, descended into hell, and brought the dead out of their graves. Who is able to repay Him for His goodness to our mortal race?

Venerable Isidore Pelusiot:

In gratitude to God we must offer everything we have, because we do not have as much as we should. What shall we bring that is worthy to Him Who is above all reward?

Saint John Chrysostom:

If we had a thousand souls each, shouldn’t we lay down everything for the Lord? However, even in this way we will not do anything worthy of His benefits.

We are unable to adequately thank the Lord. But it is our duty to offer all possible gratitude and to constantly glorify the Lord with words and a virtuous life.

Do you want to know how to express gratitude?.. Confessing your sins means thanking God. Whoever confesses his sins shows that he is aware of his guilt in countless sins and has just not received a worthy punishment. He is the one who thanks God the most.

Every day shows us countless blessings, whether we want it or not, whether we know about them or not. God does not require anything from us except gratitude to Him for everything given to us, in order to give us even greater reward for this.

Not only the healthy, but also the sick should give thanks; not only those who prosper, but also those who suffer adversity. There is nothing surprising in thanksgiving when a fair wind helps us. But when there is a strong storm, the ship is capsized and is in danger, then gratitude is a great proof of patience and gratitude.

Did something good happen? Bless God and good things will remain. Did something bad happen? Bless God and the bad things will stop.

A thoughtful soul shows gratitude not only when things go well. If circumstances change for the worse, then she offers the same gratitude to God.

He who enjoys prosperity and feels gratitude fulfills his due, and he who suffers adversity and glorifies God prepares his reward.

If we thank God for something for which others slander and for which they fall into despair, then look at the wisdom here:

first, you have made God glad; secondly, he put the devil to shame; thirdly, he showed that what happened was nothing... If you give thanks, then the devil, as having not received any success, retreats, and God, as having accepted the honor, gives you great honor as a reward. And it cannot be that a person who gives thanks in misfortune should suffer. His soul rejoices by doing good, having a clear conscience, it delights in its praises. There is no holier man who thanks God: he is truly no different from a martyr and receives the same crown. After all, the devil is with him, forcing him to renounce God with blasphemy, tormenting him with painful thoughts, darkening his soul with sorrow. So, whoever endured grief and thanked God received the crown of martyrdom.

We do not know what is useful to us, to the extent that God knows, therefore: whether we received or did not receive, we must give thanks.

Let us thank the Lord not only for what we know, but also for what we do not know; because God benefits us not only when we desire it, but also when we do not desire it.

If you do not know exactly the works of your Lord, then especially worship Him for this, for His ineffable greatness, for His incomprehensible providence, for His varied and wise care.

Even if you don’t understand the reason for what happened, give thanks. This is what (Christian) gratitude is all about.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:

How should we thank the Most Good God, our Benefactor and Provider, for all His benefits? Wherever we look, wherever we turn our gaze and thought, everywhere we have enough opportunities to glorify the goodness of God. At night you see a clear sky, decorated with stars like beads, and between the stars the shining moon they serve you. Give thanks to Him who created “the moon and the stars to rule the night” (Ps. 135:9). The day has risen, the sun has illuminated the entire universe with its rays - its light shines for you. Give thanks to Him who created “the sun to rule the day” (Ps. 135:8). The clouds sprinkle rain - they sprinkle it on you. Give thanks to Him who covers “the sky with clouds”, Who prepares “rain for the earth” (Ps. 146:8).

Do you remember that the food you eat, the drink you drink, the clothes you wear, the houses you live in, the livestock that serves you, the fire that warms you, the water that washes and cools you, the air that preserves your life, the earth , on which you live, grass, grains that serve your needs, the sun, the moon, the stars that enlighten you, and everything else of God? “The earth is the Lord’s and what fills it” (Ps. 23:1). You taste the good things of God, but do you remember the good God? You are satisfied with good deeds, but do you thank and honor the Benefactor? Don't you see Him? But you see His gifts.

What is the most important thing Christians should thank God for? Although for all the benefits, but most of all for the following. He sent His only begotten Son into the world for the redemption and salvation of the human race and gave Him up to death. He called them “out of darkness into His wonderful light; once a people, but now the people of God; once not having received mercy, but now having obtained mercy” (1 Pet. 2:9-10). He lights the lamp of faith in them with the oil of His mercy, gives them His grace and remission of sins. He gives hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus, for which the Apostle Peter thanks and glorifies God, as he teaches Christians. He protects from the enemy the devil, who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). He warns against sin, into which we would continually fall through weakness, if His mercy did not precede and preserve. If anyone wants to be grateful to God, his Creator and Redeemer, it is not in vain to be called a Christian and at the end of temporary life to receive eternal life, let him remember and sing with a grateful heart the goodness of God. The Christian faith requires this from every Christian.

We need to give thanks to God more often than we breathe.

Thank God for everything. Glory to God for creating me in His image and likeness. Thank God that He redeemed me, the fallen one! Thank God for taking care of me, unworthy! Thank God for calling me, who had sinned, to repentance! Glory to God for giving me His holy word, like a lamp shining in a dark place (2 Pet. 1:19), and thereby guiding me on the true path! Thank God for enlightening the eyes of my heart! Glory to God for letting me know His holy Name! Thank God that the bath of Baptism washed away my sins! Thank God for showing me the path to eternal bliss! The way is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who says about Himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Glory to God that He did not destroy me when I sinned, but in His goodness He endured my sins! Thank God for showing me the beauty and vanity of this world! Thank God for helping me in various temptations and saving me from death! Thank God for protecting me from the enemy the devil! Thank God that he raised me when I was lying down! Thank God for comforting me, who was sad! Thank God for converting me, who had gone astray! Thank God for fatherly punishment! Thank God that His terrible judgment was announced to me, so that I would fear it and repent of my sins! Thank God for telling me about eternal torment and eternal bliss, so that I could avoid torment and seek bliss! Thank God that he gave me, unworthy, food with which my weak body was strengthened; gave me clothes with which to cover my naked body; gave me a house in which I found peace! Glory to God for His other blessings, which He provided for my preservation and comfort! I have received so many blessings from Him, how many times I have sighed! Thank God for everything!

Saint Demetrius of Rostov:

What a guardian of spiritual and at the same time material treasures gratitude is, we will see in the example of the beautiful Joseph. This chaste young man was gifted and enriched with many blessings by two people: God and man. God enriched him with spiritual gifts, purity, chastity and other virtues. The man, the Egyptian military leader Potiphar, enriched him with external gifts, entrusting him with his entire house and all his property. The spiritual enemy and thief, being jealous, wanted to steal all this from him. And for this purpose, he taught his mistress, Potiphar’s wife, to seduce Joseph into sin, with which he would anger God and offend his master, would lose the mercy and grace of God and man, would destroy spiritual wealth and lose material wealth. Let's see what the good young man responds to her temptations: “Behold, my master knows nothing in the house with me, and he has given everything that he has into my hands; I am no longer in this house; and he forbade me nothing except you, because you are his wife; how can I do this great evil? (Gen. 39:8-9). Saint Gregory, reflecting on these words, says: “He immediately remembered the benefits that he received, and thereby defeated the evil that oppressed him. He remembered the covenants of gratitude and broke the power of sin approaching him.” During the very struggle of sin, when the chaste Joseph, on the one hand, was carried away by a nasty wife and on the other was encouraged to sin by natural lust, when he was already standing between the nets and the captor, he thought how he could repay evil for good: “How Will I do this great evil?" By this, he immediately overcame seduction and natural inclination, drove away the spiritual thief and predator, and preserved the wealth of virtue. He did not anger God and did not offend his master. Look how gratitude is the guardian of all virtues.

The man of the Gospel was also grateful for the good deeds of the Lord, from whom the demons came out, cast out by the power of Christ, for he “asked Him that he might be with Him.” The Lord did not allow him to follow Him and let him go (Luke 8:38), but he did not forget his Benefactor: he went throughout the city, preaching about what Jesus had done for him. Truly, this man was enriched with spiritual and inexhaustible treasures: for his gratitude he was awarded the gift of preaching.

We will pay attention to the fact that, as a sign of gratitude, he wanted to always be with Christ: “He asked Him that I might be with Him” (Luke 8:38). And let us say this to ourselves: nothing else can be done to thank the Lord God, our Creator and Redeemer, who always provides us with innumerable benefits, except by diligently and according to one’s strength, trying relentlessly and always to be with Him, our Lord. For obvious, known and perfect gratitude consists in always clinging to your benefactor.

Venerable Neil of Sinai:

It is a shame for us to thank God when things are good and to remain silent when things are sad; we must give thanks even more when we suffer.

Saint Gregory the Theologian:

Everything that is given from God should be received with thanksgiving.

Abba Isaiah:

He who thanks God during temptations puts temptations to flight.

Venerable Pimen the Great:

Those who are silent correctly, those who are sick and thank God, those who are in unfeigned obedience are equal; they have one thing to do.

Venerable Neil of Sinai:

We will not demand an account from God for what is being done, but we will glorify Him for everything.

Venerable Simeon the New Theologian:

Just as it is necessary to breathe, so it is necessary to thank God in the temptations, sorrows and hardships that we are subjected to on the path of pleasing God.

The apostle testifies that thanksgiving is commanded by God Himself.

It is worthy and righteous for a creature to constantly glorify You, God, the Creator, who brought us into existence from non-existence... who adorned us with the beauty and glory of Your image and likeness, who led us into the bliss and pleasures of paradise.

The action of man, corresponding to the action of God in His incomprehensible destinies, is constant, or as frequent as possible, praise of God.

Whether you are in sorrow, or need, or oppression, or in illness and physical labor, thank God for everything that befalls you.

If sorrows for Christ are a gift of God sent by God to a true Christian, then a Christian is obliged to experimentally prove his Christianity through thanksgiving for sorrows, must confess and accept the gift of God with thanksgiving for it.

Ineffable praise and thanksgiving to God embraces the Christian amidst the hardships and sorrows with which God’s Providence removes him from sympathy and enslavement to sin, by which he is included in the host of Christ’s followers.

With reverent submission, give praise to the judgment of God and justify the instruments chosen by God for your punishment. The peace of Christ will descend upon your heart.

I thank You, Lord and my God, for everything that has happened to me! I thank You for all the sorrows and temptations that You sent me to cleanse my soul and body, defiled by sins!

God bless! Powerful words. During sorrowful circumstances, when the heart is surrounded by thoughts of doubt, cowardice, displeasure, and murmuring, one must force oneself to frequent, unhurried, attentive repetition of the words: thank God!

Kiev-Pechersk Patericon:

In the Pechersk monastery there was a monk named Arefa... He had a lot of wealth in his cell, and never gave a single coin, or even bread, to the poor. He was so stingy and unmerciful that he starved himself. And then one night thieves came and stole all his property. Arefa, out of great sorrow for his gold, wanted to destroy himself, raised suspicions on the innocent and unjustly tortured many. We all begged him to stop the search, but he didn’t want to listen. And the blessed elders consoled him, saying: “Brother, cast your sorrow on the Lord - and He will nourish you.” He annoyed everyone with cruel words. A few days later he fell into a severe illness and was already at the end, but even then he did not stop murmuring and blaspheming. But the Lord, who wants to save everyone, showed him the coming of Angels and an army of demons. And he began to cry:

“Lord, have mercy! Lord, I have sinned! All this is Yours, and I am not complaining.” Having been freed from the illness, he told us what a vision he had: “Angels came,” he said, and demons also came. And they began to compete about the stolen gold. And the demons said: “He did not praise, but blasphemed, and now ours and betrayed to us." The angels said to me: "Oh, accursed man! If you had thanked God for this, it would have been imputed to you, like Job. It is a great deed before God if anyone gives alms; but he gives of his own free will. If someone forcibly thanks God for what he has taken, this is more than alms." And so, when the Angels told me this, I began to shout: “Lord, I have sinned! This is all Yours, and I am not complaining." And immediately the demons disappeared. The angels began to rejoice and wrote down the missing gold in alms." We glorified God for letting us know about this. The blessed elders, having considered everything, said:

“Truly, it is fitting and righteous to give thanks to God on every occasion.” And we saw how the recovered Arefa always glorified and praised God, and we were surprised at the change in his mind and character. He, whom no one had previously been able to turn away from blasphemy, now constantly cried out to Job: “The Lord gave. The Lord has also taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

Gratitude brings us closer to God

Saint John Chrysostom:

Nothing pleases God more than a grateful and appreciative soul.

Gratitude does not add anything to God, but it brings us closer to Him.

If we give honor to God, we will give honor to ourselves. A person who opens his eyes to see the light of the sun benefits himself, and does not add anything to the luminary, does not make it brighter. The same thing happens, and even to a much greater extent, when we glorify God. Whoever looks at God with wonder and gives honor to Him finds salvation and receives the greatest benefit.

The Deity does not need anything. So, why does the Lord want us to praise and glorify Him? In order to make our love for Him warmer.

To those who glorify and bless God, He usually bestows even more abundant blessings.

The Lord demands gratitude from us not because he needs our glorification, but so that all the benefits turn to us and we become worthy of even greater mercies from Him.

If we try to give thanks to the Lord for previous mercies and be ready to be grateful for subsequent ones, so as not to be unworthy of His benefits, then we will be able to lead a better life and be protected from sins.

If we constantly remember the blessings of God that He poured out on our nature, then we ourselves will be grateful, and this will serve as a strong incentive for us to virtue.

If, remembering the good deeds of people, we are inflamed with greater love for them, all the more, by constantly remembering the good deeds of the Lord to us, we will be zealous for His commandments.

Gratitude is perfect when we do what serves the glory of God and avoid the sin from which we have been freed.

Let us give thanks for the benefits shown not only to us, but also to others. In this way we will destroy envy, strengthen love and make it more sincere.

Let us thank God for earthly blessings, but much more for spiritual ones. He desires this and for the sake of spiritual blessings He also grants earthly ones, attracting and teaching them to the imperfect, as people who are still strongly attached to the world.

Saint Basil the Great:

Let us always thank the Lord in order to be worthy of His eternal blessings.

Sow praise to God in order to reap crowns, honors and praises in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Venerable Nicodemus the Holy Mountain:

God does not need your thanksgiving, but you need God's blessings. The container and repository of these benefits is a grateful heart.

Venerable Peter of Damascus:

To the extent that a person thanks God and strives out of love for Him, God draws closer to him with His gifts and desires to give him peace.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:

Since gratitude is pleasing to God, it is rewarded with greater and more numerous benefits from Him. And it seems to me that Christ speaks about this: “For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance” (Matthew 13:12), and again: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance” (Matthew 25:29). Our Most Gracious Master accepts gratitude as a gift to Himself and will reward it with new gifts.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov):

Faith... leads to thanksgiving to God, and thanksgiving deepens faith.

By glorifying God, thoughts of unbelief, cowardice, murmuring, blasphemy, and despair are driven away, and holy, divine thoughts are introduced.

Thanks to gratitude, a wonderful calmness is introduced into the soul, joy is introduced, despite the fact that sorrows surround you from everywhere.

Only one who spends his earthly life as a wanderer, by way of thoughts, by heartfelt sensations, by the activity flowing from them, can constantly glorify and thank God.

From the cross we are able to confess and praise God; in prosperity we are more capable of rejecting Him.

Time and eternity in the teaching of the holy fathers about the incarnation of God the Word. “God is love Holy Fathers about God

The first Person is God the Father, the second Person is God the Son, the third Person is God the Holy Spirit.

God is love.

For three bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
The First Council Epistle of St. Apostle John ch. 5 art. 7

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Time and eternity in the teaching of the holy fathers about the incarnation of God the Word. “God is love Holy Fathers about God

The first Person is God the Father, the second Person is God the Son, the third Person is God the Holy Spirit.

God is love.

For three bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. The First Council Epistle of St. Apostle John ch. 5 art. 7

***

***

References and notes

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For three bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
The First Council Epistle of St. Apostle John ch. 5 art. 7