Smoking is a sin in Orthodoxy. Orthodox Church on smoking: attitude and opinion

Hello, Kirill Ilyich! The attitude of the Orthodox Church towards smoking can be understood from the statements of some people related to it:

Archpriest Boris Danilenko: At the theological level, the opinion of the Orthodox Church on this issue has not been expressed, but many prominent clergy, monks, elders, and spiritual writers had a purely negative attitude towards smoking. This is a sinful skill that interferes with a person’s spiritual development. And what we call ascetic culture - this very concept excludes a person’s attachment, in particular, to the destruction of his own body.

But the fact is that some people, people of high Christian life, really, unfortunately, smoked. Many admirers of Emperor Nicholas know that his addiction to smoking is one of the points that, for some of their opponents, seems to be an argument against his possible canonization. Attachment to smoking is often a direct obstacle for a person, for example, to receiving Communion.

Priest Alexy Uminsky: Yes, smoking is a sin. But you and I must understand that there is a sin leading to death, and there is a sin not leading to death, not a mortal sin... Smoking is a sin that, in general, does not lead to death. It may not be an obstacle to salvation. We know saints who smoked. And now, probably, many priests and monks in Greece smoke: smoking there is not something so surprising.

In the Orthodox tradition, and this is very correct, such an attitude has developed towards smoking as a sin, because every addiction, every habit that in some way introduces impurity, even physical, into a person, it, of course, is not useful, nor saving, especially when a person cannot refuse it.

But here you shouldn’t take some kind of pharisaical position: if a person smokes, it means he’s already done. Drinking tea can also be a sin. After all, you can drink tea so much and enjoy drinking tea so much that this too can become a sinful habit. Or coffee, for example. So you can make an addiction out of any matter.

Deacon Andrey Kuraev: You know, if a person just can’t get rid of smoking, let him at least try to derive some benefit from his sin. Which one? A person who smokes becomes quite clearly convinced of his helplessness, of his lack of freedom. It would seem like some little thing - a smoking stick, smoking, stinking, but come on, it has such power over me!

And one day a person will wake up, be horrified by his bondage and think: who am I? Am I free, or am I a slave to some wild things, some strange habits?.. If this feeling awakens in a person one day when he takes a cigarette out of a pack, then I think that this horror may be the first step on the path to Christian repentance.

If a Christian at least once realized that he was the son of God and saw his body as a temple, then with every puff he will feel that he has lost his sonship of God, lost his freedom... And for what?! For this stinker?! And the awareness of one’s lack of freedom and unreality is already a step towards the struggle for freedom and authenticity.

As for Catholics, it appears that smoking and drinking alcohol are not prohibited as such in the Catholic Church. The only sin is the abuse of smoking and alcohol.

Additionally

How does the passion of smoking harm the soul? What happens to the soul while smoking? The Holy Fathers define various illnesses of the soul by the concept of passion. There are different classifications of passions. Man combines the carnal and spiritual principles. Therefore, in accordance with this, passions are divided into physical and mental. The former have their basis in bodily needs, the latter in mental needs. It is difficult to draw a clear line between them, since the “epicenter” of all passions is in the soul. The most common bodily passions: “gluttony, gluttony, luxury, drunkenness, various kinds of voluptuousness, adultery, debauchery, uncleanness, incest, child molestation, bestiality, evil desires and all sorts of unnatural and shameful passions...” (Philokalia. Vol. 2, Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1993, p. 371). The sin of smoking refers to an unnatural passion, because chronic poisoning of oneself with poison is not rooted in the area of natural needs of the body.

All passions are stumbling blocks on our path to salvation. By its origin, human nature, as the creation of the Wise God, as His image and likeness, has perfection. The goal of our entire Christian life is to unite with God and only in Him alone to find the bliss of eternal life. In carrying out the work of salvation, we must restore in ourselves the image of God, distorted by many different sins, and acquire the likeness of our Heavenly Parent.

While a person is in captivity of passion, his soul cannot restore the distorted image and return to the primordial likeness of God. The sin of smoking is real captivity. If a person is overcome by passions, then his soul becomes defiled, his mind becomes dead, his will turns out to be powerless. The Holy Fathers call this state the second idolatry. Man worships his passions like idols. An idolater cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (Eph. 5:5). “Without purity from passions, the soul is not cured of sinful ailments, and does not acquire glory lost by crime” (St. Isaac the Syrian).

Any passion, being a disease of the soul, is linked by invisible links to other illnesses. There are no impenetrable walls in the soul. Ingrown passion contributes to the formation of other vices. Egoism manifests itself rudely. It’s scary when the sin of smoking captivates a woman who has become a mother. A mother who smokes while walking over the stroller in which the baby is sleeping puts satisfaction of passion above the health of her child. Parents who smoke usually teach this to their children. Children are not their property. When they infect them for the rest of their lives with this destructive habit, they act not only against Christian conscience, but also contrary to universal morality.

If a person has realized the harmfulness of smoking, he often becomes despondent, seeing that he has become a prisoner of this habit and has no freedom. The sin of smoking is also closely related to the sin of self-justification. Having come to terms with this passion, a person forgives himself other weaknesses, for the power of precedent is great.

The passion of smoking is also a sin because it destroys health. According to the general teaching of the holy fathers, life and health are given to us by God as a gift. Shortening your life with addictions and an unhealthy lifestyle is a serious sin. A person exposed to the passion of smoking harms his health and the health of those present. There is probably not a single vice or perversion that they would not try to justify. Attempts to talk about the “positive” sides of smoking look pathetic in comparison with the data available to medicine.

Tobacco contains nicotine (up to 2%) - a strong poison. Nicotine sulfate is used to destroy agricultural pests. plants. When smoking tobacco, nicotine is absorbed into the body and soon penetrates the brain. A person smokes every day for many years. The average smoker takes about 200 puffs a day. This equates to approximately 6,000 per month, 72,000 per year and over 2 million puffs for a 45-year-old smoker who started smoking at age 15. Such a prolonged nicotine attack leads to the fact that the poison eventually finds a weak link in the body and causes a serious illness. Over the course of 30 years, a smoker smokes approximately 20,000 cigarettes, or about 160 kg of tobacco, absorbing an average of 800 g of nicotine. One cigarette contains approximately 6-8 mg of nicotine, of which 3-4 mg enters the blood. For humans, the lethal dose of nicotine ranges from 50-100 mg (2-3 drops).

A number of carcinogens that cause cancer have been found in tobacco smoke. There is a huge amount of radioactive substances in tobacco. When smoking one pack of cigarettes a day, a person receives a dose of radiation that is 7 times higher than the dose recognized as the maximum permissible by the International Agreement on Radiation Protection. Smoking is a terrible problem. It has been proven that radiation from tobacco is the main cause of cancer.

The passion for smoking is the result of the combination of human sinful will and the activity of demonic forces, although invisible, but very real. Demonic forces carefully try to hide their complicity in the fall of people. However, there are types of destructive vice in which the special role of the devil is obvious. The most striking illustration is provided by the history of tobacco smoking. The Spaniard Roman Pano in 1496, after the second voyage of H. Columbus, brought tobacco seeds from America to Spain.

From there, tobacco penetrates into Portugal. The French ambassador in Lisbon, Jean Nicot (nicotine got its name from his surname), in 1560 presented tobacco plants as a medicine to Queen Catherine de Medici (1519 - 1589), who suffered from migraines. The passion for tobacco quickly began to spread, first in Paris, and then throughout France. Then the victorious march of tobacco began throughout Europe. The devil strives to impose everything that is destructive for people under the guise of “useful”. Among 16th-century physicians, many considered tobacco to be a medicine. When evidence of the harmful effects of smoking appeared, the hobby went so far that it was no longer possible to stop the infection. At first, smoking was persecuted and smokers were severely punished. In England, smokers were led through the streets with a noose around their necks, and stubborn smokers were even executed.

The English king James I in 1604 wrote a work “On the dangers of tobacco”, in which he wrote: “Smoking is disgusting to the eyes, disgusting to the smell, harmful to the brain and dangerous to the lungs.” Pope Urban VII excommunicated believers. Other measures were also taken. However, each time the winners were people who were addicted to the passion of smoking, tobacco producers, tobacco dealers - all those who made the spread of destructive vice their profession. The whip and executions were powerless in the face of this destructive passion, the rapid spread of which strongly resembles an epidemic (more precisely, a pandemic). Some power superior to human makes people slaves to a most harmful habit, from which the vast majority do not give up until their death.

In Russia, the passion for smoking appeared at the beginning of the 17th century during the Time of Troubles. It was brought by the Poles and Lithuanians. Tsar Mikhail Romanov severely persecuted lovers of the devil's potion. In 1634, it was published, according to which smokers received sixty stick blows on the soles. The second time my nose was cut off. According to the Code of 1649 Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich provided for punishment for the one who was found with tobacco: to beat him with a whip until he confessed where he got the tobacco from. Severe measures were envisaged against traders: cutting their noses and exiling them to distant cities.

The import of tobacco into the country was prohibited. Efforts to stop were unsuccessful. Tsar Peter I was a lover of smoking. In 1697, all prohibitions were lifted. Peter I granted the British a monopoly on the tobacco trade in Russia. The rapidity with which this destructive vice began to spread among the people gives rise to the saddest thoughts. Now about 250 billion cigarettes are produced in Russia every year and another 50 billion are imported. Thus, the country consumes 300 billion. Russia currently ranks first in the world in terms of smoking growth. A significant number of smokers are teenagers.

And another sad feature of our country is the feminization of smoking. According to the World Health Organization, 70% of men and 30% of women in Russia smoke. The sin of smoking has a particularly destructive effect on the female body. According to the materials of the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America, women who smoke, all other things being equal (researchers took into account the age of the patients, smoking history, type of tobacco products used and other factors) develop lung cancer approximately twice as often as men.

Canadian doctors, based on statistical data collected in Vancouver and Quebec, claim that in women who began smoking before the age of 25, the chances of developing a malignant breast tumor increase by 70%. Specialists in the field of social psychology are well aware of the power of influence of the environment on a person. Nowadays, a significant part of our urban environment is made up of huge billboards advertising poison that is destructive to health. At least for a second, at least for one moment, do the people involved in the mass poisoning of people think that at the Last Judgment they will have to answer for everything.

Is it possible to quit smoking? Can. In England, about 10 million people have stopped smoking over the past 10-15 years. Almost 2,000 people quit smoking every day! Smoking passion is not easy to fight, but it is possible and 99% achieve success. According to the general teaching of the Holy Fathers, man, with the help of God, can overcome any passion. The great elder Ambrose of Optina gives advice in the fight against the disease of smoking: “ You write that you cannot stop smoking tobacco. What is impossible with man is possible with the help of God; You just have to firmly decide to quit, realizing the harm it causes to the soul and body, since tobacco relaxes the soul, multiplies and intensifies passions, darkens the mind and destroys bodily health with a slow death. - Irritability and melancholy are consequences of the pain of the soul from smoking. I advise you to use spiritual healing against this passion: confess in detail all your sins, from the age of seven and throughout your entire life, and partake of the Holy Mysteries, and read the Gospel daily, standing, a chapter or more; and when melancholy strikes, then read again until the melancholy passes; will attack again and read the Gospel again. - Or instead, place, in private, 33 large bows, in memory of the earthly life of the Savior and in honor of the Holy Trinity«.

Why do so few people give up the sin of smoking, this “gift of the devil”? Because most smokers do not want to give up the passion of smoking. And those who want to quit smoking and take steps towards this, in reality, do not have the inner determination. Despite impulsive efforts, people who repeatedly quit smoking have become close to this passion deep down in their souls. God is always ready to help a person in this saving task, but expects heroism from him. " When, out of love for God, you want to accomplish some deed, set death as the limit of your desire; and thus, in fact, you will be worthy of ascending to the level of martyrdom in the struggle with every passion, and you will not suffer any harm from what meets you within this limit, if you endure to the end and do not relax. The thinking of a weak mind makes the power of patience weak; and a strong mind even imparts strength to the one who follows his thoughts, which nature does not have"(Venerable Isaac the Syrian).

Father Afanasy Gumerov

What is the Christian position on smoking? Is smoking considered a sin?

The Bible never explicitly mentioned smoking. But still, there are several chapters that clearly relate to smoking. First, the Bible instructs us not to allow our bodies to be subject to anything.

There is no doubt that smoking is a serious addiction. Further, the same passage says:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?For you are bought dear at a price. Therefore glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's.

Smoking is undoubtedly harmful to our health. Smoking has been proven to damage the lungs and often the heart.

Is smoking considered “healthy” (1 Corinthians 6:12)? Can we say that smoking is “glorifying God in your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:20)? Can a person smoke “for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31)? We believe that the answer to all three of these questions is “no.” As a result, we believe that smoking is a sin and therefore should not be practiced by followers of Christ.

Some counter this opinion by appealing to the fact that many people eat unhealthy food, and it is just as addictive and it also has a harmful effect on their body. For example, many people are so hopelessly addicted to caffeine that they simply cannot function without their morning cup of coffee. Even if this is true, how does this justify smoking? Our point is that Christians should avoid gluttony and excessive junk food. Yes, Christians are often hypocritical, condemning one sin, and, at the same time, allowing themselves another... but, again, this does not contribute to the glorification of the Lord through smoking?

Another argument that contradicts this opinion is the fact that many devout people smoke, such as the famous British preacher Spurgeon. Again, we do not believe this argument has any force. We believe Spurgeon was wrong about smoking. Was he otherwise a godly man and an excellent teacher of God's Word? Definitely! Does this make all his actions and habits glorifying the Lord? No!

By saying that smoking is a sin, we are not saying that smokers will not be saved. Many believers in Jesus Christ smoke. Smoking does not prevent a person from subsequently being saved. Smoking is forgiven in the same way as any other sins, and this does not depend on whether a person is just planning to become a Christian or whether a Christian has already admitted his sin before God.

At the same time, we firmly believe that smoking is a sin that we must get rid of and, with God's help, overcome.

Everyone, without exception, knows that smoking is a bad habit that negatively affects human health. However, few people have thought about whether using tobacco is a sin. Many people believe that smoking is ok because the Bible does not specifically prohibit it. As for Christianity, any church, no matter what denomination it belongs to, speaks negatively about smoking. For example, priest John of Kronstadt argued that a burning cigarette symbolizes eternal torment in hell that awaits all smokers who have not given up their sinful addiction. Another famous minister said that when a person smokes, tobacco smoke takes up a place in his heart that is intended for God's grace.

The answer to the question of whether smoking is a sin or not will be given by a story from the life of St. Silouan. The minister was traveling by train. A merchant entered the carriage with a cigarette in his mouth and offered tobacco to Silouan, but the priest refused. The sinner began to wonder why his fellow traveler did not want to smoke, and began to tell how smoking helps in business matters. With a cigarette it is easier to solve problems, easier to relax and more fun to communicate with friends. In response to such statements, the minister suggested that the merchant read “Our Father” before each “puff.” The man thought and said that prayer and smoking are incompatible. Then Silouan concluded that one must abandon any activities that are not combined with prayer.

According to all church canons, smoking is a terrible sin, since, first of all, it is a passion that will not allow a person to follow God’s path, depriving him of forgiveness, salvation and the most important thing - eternal life.

According to clergy, smoking is the same destructive passion that leads to new mental illnesses.

For example, tobacco can cause the formation of selfishness. This is clearly expressed in smoking parents. Fathers and mothers, following their desires, poison their children with tobacco smoke. Many people allow themselves to smoke even on playgrounds, thereby poisoning themselves, their own children and other children playing. And how many women do not even try to quit smoking during pregnancy or while breastfeeding?

Another sin that provokes tobacco use is despondency. A smoker who is unable to take a puff falls into real depression. This is due to a lack of the hormone of joy and psychological dependence on nicotine. Dejection leads to mental and physical illness. A person begins to feel apathetic; all duties are performed carelessly. This is also a sin.

Hostility and anger can also result from the use of tobacco products. When a person wants to smoke, he becomes irritable and aggressive. The Orthodox Church considers these manifestations to be a sin.

Another reason why the church has a negative attitude towards smoking is that this habit leads to self-justification. Moreover, a person creates the illusion of independence, claiming that he can give up cigarettes at any time. Pride appears. Orthodoxy calls the inability to admit guilt a sin.

A Christian must give up cigarettes, since the use of tobacco products will sooner or later cease to provide the same pleasure and you will want something new.

Dependence on pleasure is a terrible sin. Christianity believes that it is this weakness that gives rise to drunkenness and gluttony. It turns out that cigarettes provoke gluttony for food, alcohol and sexual pleasures.

Body destruction

A smoking person allows himself immorality and allows other weaknesses to appear, but most importantly, he does not care about his own health. The Bible says that anyone who destroys God's temple will face punishment from the Almighty. God created people in his own image, therefore the body is the temple of the Lord. By consuming cigarettes, a person destroys God's creation.

According to the church, harming one's own body is a great sin. Many priests in such cases even talk about possession. Orthodoxy believes that by smoking a cigarette, a person instills a demon within himself. With each puff, the monster becomes stronger, and it is more difficult to drive the monster out of the soul. The demon controls the smoker through his addiction to nicotine. The essence dictates to a person when to feed it, that is, to light a cigarette.

Smoking is considered a meaningless act, and everything that does not bring benefit is called empty and sinful in the temple. If you think about it, what benefits do cigarettes really provide? They don’t calm the nerves, they only weaken them, make them addictive, and require large financial expenses.

Distance from God

According to ministers, smoking is a terrible sin that separates a person from God. According to church canons, every believer must take part in the sacraments. This is confession and communion. The last action is performed only on an empty stomach. The parishioner must stand through the entire service and only then take the “supper,” which is the name of the church wine, symbolizing the blood of Christ and unleavened bread, personifying the body of the Messiah.

It is clear that smoking before communion is prohibited. But for a smoker who is used to starting the day with a cigarette, this is impossible to do. A person deliberately refuses the sacrament in favor of smoking.

The Church banned tobacco also because God commanded man to preserve holiness, purity of soul, conscience and body. A cigarette does not allow you to comply with this prescription. On a physical level, cigarettes pollute the lungs, liver, and stomach. Toxic resins settle on the walls of blood vessels. At the energetic level, smoking destroys the soul and gives rise to a bunch of spiritual diseases.

Basic explanations for the sinfulness of smoking

The Orthodox Church has an extremely negative attitude towards smoking. According to the priests, the sinfulness of this act lies in the fact that:

a smoker deliberately destroys himself and undermines the health of others;
the will and spirit of man are subject to nicotine addiction;
personality degradation occurs;
After death, the smoker's soul continues to suffer.

Priests about tobacco addiction

The sin of smoking is strongly condemned in Orthodoxy; priests unanimously call this addiction a pernicious weakness and lewdness, and tobacco itself is often called the “gift of the devil.”

Here are the main points that reflect the church’s attitude towards smoking:

Every passion is generated by the sinful essence of man and the influence of the devil;
Habit brings a person to spiritual decline and brings physical death closer;
Smoking weakens the soul;
A smoker will be able to cope with sin only when he understands that the habit is destroying him;
You can only get rid of sin with the help of God, which is why, having decided to give up cigarettes, you need to confess and take communion. In addition, a person should pray every day and ask God to help him get rid of addiction.

Has smoking always been a sin?

Smoking began to be considered a sin not so long ago. In tsarist times, especially during the reign of Peter I, this tradition was supported by the church. That is why many people now ask the question why it was possible before, but now it is not. After all, even those who are revered as saints, such as Nicholas II, smoked.

The fact is that science does not stand still. Knowledge becomes accessible to everyone. Nowadays there is not a single person who does not know the harm tobacco causes to health. This was not known 100 years ago.

Modern scientists have completely dispelled the myth about the benefits of tobacco. As for the saints who smoke, Orthodox leaders explain this by saying that every person can have weaknesses. Do not forget that Nicholas II was canonized for his patience for the sake of the Lord.

Another stumbling block is Greece. In this country, almost everyone smokes, including church ministers. Such a massive spread of a bad habit is associated with the influence of Muslim culture, where there is no ban on smoking.

Catholics have a fairly loyal attitude towards nicotine addiction. Catholicism considers this problem not a sin, but a disease that should be treated by a doctor. That is, the hope is not in God’s help, but in a specialist and medicines.

This is how one Catholic priest answered the question of whether it is possible to smoke: “If a doctor tells a person that cigarettes are harmful to health, then the habit must be given up, since the destruction of the body is a sin. If there are no problems with your health, then you can continue to use tobacco products. It’s just necessary to mention this during every confession.”

Video on topic

About the spiritual and physical harm of smoking...

Articles under the heading “Spiritual Space of Siberia” often receive responses from readers. Some of these responses are published in the “Feedback” section, others often become the basis for subsequent articles. Moreover, sometimes articles on topics that journalists had never even thought about...

Sacrifice. You could be the next victim!

Dear editors! I have heard the words “the sin of smoking” several times. I agree that smoking in itself is not a good thing. But why is this a sin?

Smoking does not violate any commandments of God. Nothing is said about the sinfulness of smoking in the Holy Scriptures or in the writings of the Church Fathers. Smoking does not harm another person (subject to basic rules of politeness). I repeat: of course, smoking is a very bad habit, but it’s probably still wrong to call it a “sin.” When I shared these thoughts with my friend, he said that in the Bible there are actually words: “smoking makes the heart glad.” I checked this with a special computer program "Bible Quote", and was convinced that this phrase is indeed present in the book of Proverbs (27:9)!

A. Yu. Vorontsov, Biysk.

Here's a letter. We can safely assume that in a society where the vast majority of men and about half of women smoke, many will agree with the point of view of the author of the letter. Moreover, these same “many” (according to sociological surveys) consider themselves Orthodox Christians. And who wants to count an “extra” sin? Moreover, in some ways the reader seems to be right.

The Holy Scriptures really say nothing about the dangers of smoking. Tobacco appeared in our world many centuries after the creation of the Bible. The date of the “discovery” of smoking is known very precisely. “On October 12, 1492, the expedition of Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador,” wrote Bishop Barnabas (Belyaev). “The sailors were amazed by an unprecedented sight: the red-skinned inhabitants of the island were releasing clouds of smoke from their mouths and noses! The Indians celebrated their sacred holiday, where they smoked a special herb whose dried and rolled leaf, like today's cigar, was called "tobacco", which is where the current name for tobacco comes from.

The natives smoked "tobacco" until they were completely stupefied. In this state, they entered into communication with certain “demons”, and then told about what the “Great Spirit” had told them. Smoking was part of the rituals of worship of the pagan gods of the Aztecs, to whom, among others, human sacrifices were made.

Columbus's sailors took the mysterious herb with them to Europe. And very quickly the new “pleasure” became widespread. As Bishop Barnabas wrote: “And so, with the favorable participation and secret encouragement from demons, a literally rampant smoking fever began throughout Europe and even Asia. Whatever the government and clergy did to stop this evil, nothing helped!”

Not only Christians, but also Muslims tried to actively fight smoking. In 1625, in Turkey, Amurat IV executed smokers and displayed severed heads with pipes in their mouths. In Persia, Shah Abbas the Great ordered that lips and noses be cut off as punishment for smoking, and that tobacco dealers be burned along with their goods. Even in the always free Switzerland in 1661, the Appenzell magistrate considered the tobacco trade as a sin tantamount to murder!

In Russia, smoking has become a custom since Peter I, who himself smoked and even dared to fold smoking pipes in the manner of the bishop’s dikiriy (two-candlestick) and trikyriy (three-candlestick) and “blessed” the people with them during his drunken “assemblies.” But this is Peter, and before him, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1634 ordered “smokers to be executed by death.” In 1649, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered smokers to “smash their nostrils and cut their noses,” and then “exile them to distant cities.”

We will talk about the assessment of the patristic spiritual thought of the sin of smoking later, but for now we note that in fact the Holy Scripture does speak indirectly about the sin of smoking. God created the first people healthy and took care of their physical and mental perfection. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” says one of Christ’s commandments. It follows from this that before loving your neighbor, you should “love yourself.” To love and take care of the gift of life that is given to all of us from God. And what kind of “careful attitude” does a smoker have to his health if everyone knows that tobacco contains more than 30 harmful substances. The most dangerous of them is considered to be nicotine alkaloid. Among smokers, there are especially many patients with bronchopulmonary diseases. And the most dangerous consequence of smoking is cancer of the larynx and lungs. The fact is that tobacco smoke contains carcinogens that cause cancer. These are benzopyrene and its derivatives.

...It is no coincidence, as experts have calculated, that every minute in Russia three (!) people die from diseases caused by smoking...

Everything that is given to man by God must be used for good. Bodily health is a priceless gift, and every action we take that harms our health is a real sin before the Creator. Many holy teachers of the Church point to this. Here are the words of Saint Nektarios of Aegina: “In order for a person to be blessed and worthy of his calling, it is necessary that he be healthy in both body and soul, because without the well-being of both, neither blessedness nor capacity to fulfill his calling can be acquired. A person must take care of strengthening both body and soul so that they are strong and strong."

***

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God,” said the Apostle Paul, “and the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will punish him: for the temple of God is holy; and this temple is you.” For a smoker, this temple is smoky and grimy, and Christ cannot move into this temple. It is not human nature to smoke. Breathe air, eat, drink, sleep - yes. But smoking, poisoning your body with poison, breathing in stinking smoke is a requirement of sin, not a requirement of nature.

Medicine says a lot about the dangers of smoking for physical health. But nothing mentions that the foul smell of tobacco covers the smell of spiritual decay. It has been established that negative mental states lead to changes in a person’s hormonal levels. Chemical substances formed during stress and other internal conflicts are eliminated from the body, and these secretions have a very strong odor. Tobacco use makes it impossible to recognize the spiritual state of others at the deepest biological level. Smoking is promiscuity not only of the body, but also of the soul. This is a false reassurance of your nerves. Many smokers refer to the calming of the nerves after smoking a cigarette, not realizing that the nerves are the carnal mirror of the soul. Such reassurance is self-deception, a mirage. This narcotic sedation will be a source of torment for the soul. Now, as long as there is a body, this “calm” must be regularly renewed. And then it will become a source of hellish torment. It must be remembered that after death, after the separation of the soul from the body, the passions that manifested themselves in bodily life do not leave the human soul. Without freeing itself from this or that passion, the soul will transfer it to another world, where, in the absence of a body, it will be impossible to satisfy this passion. The soul will languish and burn with an incessant thirst for sin and lust. One who is insatiable in food will suffer after his death from the inability to fill his belly. The drunkard will be incredibly tormented, not having a body that can only be calmed by alcohol. The fornicator will experience the same feeling. Self-interested too, and smoker too. If a smoker does not smoke for several days during his lifetime, what will he experience? Terrible torment, but torment softened by other aspects of life. But that’s two days, and the deceased has an eternity ahead of him. And eternal torment...

Meanwhile, the army of smokers is rapidly getting younger. The age of initiation of smoking in Russia has dropped to 10 years for boys and 12 for girls. Smoking has a particularly harmful effect on children's bodies. Among other things, adolescents who smoke develop a complex of neuropsychic disorders. As a result, attention, memory, sleep suffer, and mood “jumps.” Smoking among teenagers has an extremely destructive effect on reproductive function. It is no coincidence that today more than 70 percent of boys and girls already have serious problems in this “part” by the age of 15.

If we return to the “spiritual component” of the harm from smoking, then we should dwell on the lack of freedom of the smoker. Many smokers (especially in adulthood) would like to quit smoking. According to sociologists, 100 (!) percent of smokers after 30 years would like to give up their harmful and sinful habit. Alas... Smokers develop nicotine syndrome. This is the same addiction as alcohol and drugs, only less destructive to health. Although, how to say: lung cancer, laryngeal cancer - this is not an argument in favor of the harmlessness of such a harmful addiction as smoking.

It would be worth mentioning that in the new classification of diseases, which came into force in 1999, tobacco addiction is officially recognized as an illness. And we will add - a sinful illness. Smoking is self-indulgence, a type of self-pleasure. It is no coincidence that in Rus' there has long been a saying: “Smoking is censing for demons.”

When a person smokes, Orthodox priests say, his soul is captured by demonic forces. And he adds another heavy link to the chain of slavish affections; his will is weakened, and behind all the excuses for smoking, the voice of a weak-willed person is heard. Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote in “The Brothers Karamazov”: “I ask you: is such a person free? I knew one “fighter for the idea” who himself told me that when he was deprived of tobacco in prison, he was so exhausted by deprivation of strength ", that he almost went and betrayed his “idea” just so they would give him tobacco. But this guy says: “I’m going to fight for humanity.” Well, where will he go and what is he capable of? "

Do you smoke? Realize your sin

Medical statistics have calculated that each cigarette smoked shortens a person’s life by at least seven minutes. In general, smokers in Russia live five years less than non-smokers. Most smokers know this. And yet, he cannot give up the sinful habit. This is what the famous Orthodox writer S. A. Nilus wrote about the condition of a smoker in the first part of the book “On the Bank of God’s River.”

"...July 7, 1909. Tonight I had a severe attack of suffocating cough. Serves me right! - it’s all from smoking, which I can’t quit, and I’ve been smoking since the third grade of the gymnasium and now I’m so thoroughly saturated with nicotine that it’s already become, probably an integral part of my blood. It would take a miracle to tear me out of the clutches of this vice, but I don’t have enough willpower to do it. I tried to quit smoking, didn’t smoke for two days, but the result was that such melancholy came over me and embitterment that this new sin was becoming more bitter than the old one. Father Barsanuphius forbade me to even make such attempts, limiting my daily portion of smoking to fifteen cigarettes. Before, I smoked countless times..."

“Your time will come,” said Father Barsanuphius, “and the smoking will come to an end.” “Hope, don’t despair: in due time, God willing, you’ll quit,” Father Joseph told me about the same smoking, which I couldn’t get behind. And a miracle, according to the word of both elders, happened to me. And it was like that.

My friend and I, my God-given wife, live, as they say, soul to soul, in the full sense of the Gospel word, so that we are not two, but one flesh. This great mercy of God, given to us from above, according to our deep and convinced faith in the Sacrament of Marriage, which we both at one time approached with fear and trembling. And so, in June 1910, my wife fell ill with some strange illness, which neither the Optina paramedic nor the invited doctor could identify: in the morning she was almost healthy, but in the evening her temperature reached 40. And so the week, and the second, and the third! I see that my joy is melting before my eyes, like a wax candle, and is about to flare up for the last time and go out. And then my orphaned heart was filled with great, immeasurable longing and sorrow, and I fell prostrate before the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of Smolensk, which stood in the corner of my office, and I cried before Her, and was horrified, and grieved, and spoke to Her as if alive : “My Mother Queen, Most Blessed Mother of God! You, I believe, gave the wife of my angel, and you preserve her for me, and for this I make a vow to You never to smoke again. I make a vow, but I know that I cannot fulfill it on my own, and not to fulfill it is a great sin, so help me Yourself!” So it was around ten o'clock in the evening. Having prayed and calmed down somewhat, he went to his wife’s bed. He sleeps, his breathing is quiet and even. I touched my forehead: my forehead was wet, but not hot - my tender darling was fast asleep. Glory to God, glory to the Most Pure One! The next morning the temperature was 36.5, in the evening - 36.4 and the next day I woke up as if I had not been sick. And I forgot that I smoked, as I had never smoked, and I smoked for exactly thirty years and three years, and my whole body was so saturated with damned tobacco that I could not live without it not only for a day, but even for a minute.”

In this whole story, I would like to focus not so much on the miracle that occurred, but on the hero’s awareness of sin itself. Without such awareness, a miracle would be impossible. And from here follows the first rule for those who want to quit a bad habit: you must realize the sinfulness of smoking. Actually, overcoming any sin begins with such a step...

"Before you smoke, say a prayer"

Now let's stop at the place in the reader's letter where he says that the church fathers did not say anything about the dangers of smoking. It's not like that at all. Another thing you should know is that in the Russian Orthodox Church there are no boundaries to patristic instructions. They say that until some relatively long time ago these were patristic instructions, and the instructions of those who, say, have been numbered among the ranks of saints in recent years are something insufficiently authoritative. There are no such boundaries in the Russian Orthodox Church. Today's ascetics often absorb and develop the instructions of their predecessors, and every word of every holy ascetic is valuable in itself. Here are just some of the sayings of the holy fathers about the sin of smoking.

“Man has perverted the very pleasures of the senses. For the sense of smell and taste, and partly for breathing itself, he invented and almost incessantly burns sharp and odorous smoke, bringing this, as it were, a constant censer to the demon living in the flesh, and with this smoke he infects the air of his home and the outside air , and first of all, he himself is saturated with this stench - and here you have the constant coarsening of your feelings and your heart, which is constantly absorbed by the smoke, cannot but affect the subtlety of the heartfelt feeling, it imparts to it fleshiness, coarseness, insensibility.”

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt: “Tobacco relaxes the soul, multiplies and intensifies passions, darkens the mind and destroys health with a slow death. Irritability and melancholy are a consequence of the morbidity of the soul from smoking.”

Rev. Ambrose of Optina: “In 1905, the Athonite elder Silouan spent several months in Russia, often visiting monasteries. On one of these trips on the train, he took a seat opposite a merchant, who, with a friendly gesture, opened his silver cigarette case in front of him and offered him a cigarette.

Father Silouan thanked for the offer, refusing to take a cigarette. Then the merchant began to say: “Isn’t it because, father, you refuse because you consider it a sin? But smoking often helps in active life; it’s good to break the tension at work and relax for a few minutes. It’s convenient to have a business or friendly conversation while smoking, and in general during life..." And further, trying to convince Father Silouan to take a cigarette, he continued to speak in favor of smoking.

Then, after all, Father Silouan decided to say: “Sir, before you light a cigarette, pray, say one thing: “Our Father.” To this the merchant replied: “Praying before lighting a cigarette somehow doesn’t work.” Father Silouan in the answer noted: “So, any task that is not preceded by unconcerned prayer is better not to do.”

Now about the Bible quote from the book of Solomon's proverbs, “smoking makes the heart glad.” Of course, we are not talking about smoking tobacco at all. In ancient times, smoking was the name given to burning aromatic substances and fragrant oil. People in all centuries loved incense, and already in ancient times incense was added to sacrifices. Fragrant plants and exotic incense were highly valued in religious rites. They were worth their weight in gold and silver. Thus, the Queen of Sheba brought aromatic substances as a gift to Solomon. The incense was kept in the royal treasury. This is exactly the kind of “smoking” that the Bible talks about. Smoking makes the heart glad, and the heartfelt advice of a friend is sweet, that's what this quote from the book of Proverbs is all about. Today, “smoking” in the temple can be called incense - when the priest walks through the temple with a censer, from which the incense is burned. “At Divine services they burn incense, how can the slaves of sin not invent some kind of incense?” said Saint Nicodemus the Holy Mountain. “The first is pleasing to God, the second should be pleasing to the enemy of God - the devil.”

Church warns: smoking harms your soul

Today, many experts say that recently the global center of cigarette sales is increasingly shifting to Russia. In the USA and Western Europe, thanks to the measures taken, the number of smokers is reduced by tens of millions of people every year.

What are these measures? Bans on smoking in public places - in restaurants, airplanes, on the street, in clubs, offices, etc. Promoting the dangers of smoking has no less effect. Posters about the dangers of tobacco are placed literally everywhere. Plus, tobacco companies are literally inundated with lawsuits against people who become ill as a result of smoking. The amounts of claims amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, and the courts very often satisfy such claims. Perhaps even more important in the West is the high price of cigarettes. A pack of cigarettes in Europe costs at least five euros, that is, 160 - 180 rubles translated into Russian rubles. If such a pricing policy existed in Russia, many would think about whether it’s worth wasting that kind of money.

In Russia it is a completely different matter. Due to extremely low excise taxes, cigarettes are quite inexpensive in our country. They are available to everyone and, unfortunately, even to children. In Russia, global tobacco companies feel like bosses. Having skillfully taken control of almost all the country's tobacco factories (there are now only two (!) domestic tobacco companies operating in Russia), foreign companies threw huge amounts of money into advertising smoking. While cigarette advertising is strictly prohibited almost everywhere in the world, here we have hundreds of billboards for tobacco products “decorating” the streets of almost all cities in the country. At the same time, Russian advertising legislation is grossly and everywhere (including in Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul). Using simple tricks, the inscription that smoking is harmful to health takes up a much smaller portion of billboards than the law provides. This is done very simply. The percentage of area is calculated based on the strip allocated for such an inscription, while the warning inscription itself is much smaller.

At the same time, foreign tobacco companies are trying in every possible way to create an image in Russia of companies that are extremely concerned about the negative impact of smoking on health. This is not possible by law abroad. There, tobacco companies are legally prohibited from participating in charity events, sponsoring sports and all other events.

...In Los Angeles, on Santa Monica Boulevard, there is a board counting the number of deaths from cigarette addiction. In Russia, there is no such board yet in any city...

It is not surprising that this situation has caused serious criticism from both Russian public organizations and government officials. In particular, they propose to bring the labels on cigarette packs warning about the dangers of smoking into line with Western standards. First of all, it is proposed to make this inscription (like abroad!) not some inconspicuous size, but half the size of a tobacco pack. And here it makes sense to return to where we started, to the fact that smoking is not just harmful to health, but is a serious sin.

Warning notices on cigarette packages can vary widely. Abroad, such inscriptions warn potential buyers that smoking is fraught with cancer. That smoking is extremely harmful for pregnant women. The fact that for young people smoking often results in impotence. It seems that the Russian Orthodox Church will strongly support the proposal of the newspaper "Honest Word" that one of the inscriptions should read: "The Russian Orthodox Church warns: smoking is a sin." The wording of such a warning can be clarified, but there is no doubt that it is appropriate (and necessary!).

On the one hand, the voice of the Church today is very significant for many, on the other hand, very few (especially among young people) are aware of how (and why) the Orthodox Church relates to smoking tobacco. And such a warning, without a doubt, will bring positive results.

Alexander Okonishnikov

Honestly – 11/01/2006.

Prayer for the passion of smoking to St. Ambrose of Optina

Reverend Father Ambrose, you, having boldness before the Lord, beg the Greatly Gifted Master to give me quick help in the fight against unclean passion.

God! Through the prayers of Your saint, the Venerable Ambrose, cleanse my lips, purify my heart and fill it with the fragrance of Your Holy Spirit, so that the evil tobacco passion will run far away from me, back to where it came from, into the belly of hell.