The Beatitudes: interpretation, meaning and meaning. Interpretation of the Beatitudes

NINE Beatitudes

To be established in eternal hopesalvation, you need to join prayertake on your own feat to achieve bliss. The leadership in thisfeat may be the teaching of the Lordour Jesus Christ, for shortproposed in His commandments about goodwomanhood. There are nine such commandments.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for there are those Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will console Xia.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are they of mercy, for they will be pardoned.

Blessed are those who are pure in heart, as they are They will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for these shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are the expulsion of truth for the sake of those is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you when they revile you and they are destroyed, and they say all kinds of evil things against you are lying for my sake. Rejoice and Have fun, for your reward is great Heavens

( Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 3-12).

poor in spirit . To be poor in spiritmeans to have a spiritual conviction: everything,what we have is given by God, and nothingwe can't do anything good without Boliving help and grace; and so aboutat once to believe that we are nothing and ineveryone should resort to God's mercy. Briefly, spiritual poverty is humility wisdom.

Those who desire bliss must be crying . Those who cry are those who co-collapse and cry in repentance abouttheir sins, that is, they lament thatthat they serve unworthily before Godgod and insult Him with their sinsgreatness and deserve His wrath. Pla-those who feel will be comforted, that is, they will receive easierremission of sins and peace of conscience.

Those who desire bliss must be meek . The meek are the kind of peoplewho try not to let anyoneto irritate and not to be irritated by anything.They are kind-hearted, patient intowards each other, not complaining aboutGod's people. The meek will inherit the earthi.e. the Kingdom of Heaven.

Those who desire bliss must be hungry and thirsty for truth . I'm hungrythose who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness are those whowhich, like food and drink for the body,wish salvation for the soul - justification -through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied, that is, they will receive the justification they desire. and salvation.

Those who desire bliss must be merciful . The merciful are those whowho show mercy and compassionto one's neighbor, or, in other words, whosome do works of mercy. Things to dothe following bodily deprivations: hungryto feed, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothenaked or lacking in non-suitable and decent clothing, to help someone in prison, to visit the sick, to minister to him and to help himrecovery or Christian commitmentpreparation for death, a wanderertake into the house and provide rest,row the dead in squalor (in misery)ity, poverty). Works of mercy of the spirits-noah the following: exhortation to turnsinner from his false path,who wants to teach truth and goodness,give your neighbor good and good timesadvice in case of difficulty or, in casedanger unnoticed by him, prayabout him to God, to console the sad, notrepay the evil done to usothers, forgive offenses with all their hearts. The Lord promises the merciful that theywill be pardoned. Here we mean-there is pardon from the eternal for sinscondemnation at the Judgment of God.

Those who desire bliss must be pure in heart . Purity of heart isnot quite the same as sincerity.Sincerity, or sincerity,according to which the person does not showhypocritically good dispositions, nothaving them in the heart, but good dispositions manifests the desires of the heart in good ways mortars, there is only a lower degree purity of heart. A man of this purityreaches constant and unrelentinga feat of vigilance over oneself, because driving out of your heart every illegal thing new desire and thought and everythingpredilection for earthly objects and notconstantly keeping in mind the memoryknowledge about God and the Lord Jesus Christwith faith and love for Him. Cleanthey will see God in their hearts, that is, they will receivethe highest degree of Eternal Bliss va.

Those who desire bliss must be peacemakers . Peacekeepers are thosepeople who live in peace with everyoneand harmony, insults are forgiven to everyone andstrive, if possible, to reconcile and others quarreling among themselves, andif impossible, pray to God fortheir reconciliation. Peacekeepers promise -this is the gracious name of the sons of God,how much they imitate with their featshelter to the Only Begotten Son of God,who came to earth to reconcile the warmsewed a man with justice Bo alive

Those who desire blessedness must be prepared to suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness. . This commandment requires the followingqualities: love of truth, constancy andfirmness in virtue, courage andpatience. For being patient and uncomplainingthey are promised to endure persecutionKingdom of heaven.

Those who desire bliss must be ready to endure all sorts of punishments sewing , disasters, death itself for the nameChrist's. A feat, according to this commandmentlead, is called the feat of martyrdom skim. The Lord promises for this feata great reward in Heaven, i.e. a preferential and high degree bliss.

The nine beatitudes given to us by the Savior do not in the least violate the ten commandments of the Law of God. On the contrary, these commandments complement each other. The Beatitudes received their name from the assumption that following them during earthly life leads to eternal bliss in the subsequent eternal life.
First, the Lord indicated what His disciples, that is, all Christians, should be like: how they should fulfill the law of God in order to receive blessed (extremely joyful, happy), eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. To do this, He gave the nine beatitudes, the teaching about those qualities and properties of man that correspond to the Kingdom of God as the Kingdom of Love.
To all who will fulfill His instructions or commandments, Christ promises, as the King of heaven and earth, eternal bliss in the future, Eternal life. Therefore, He calls such people blessed, that is, the happiest.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Those who desire bliss, that is, to be extremely happy and pleasing to God, must be poor in spirit (humble, aware of their imperfection and unworthiness before God and never thinking that they are better or holier than others).

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

The crying spoken of here is, first of all, true sorrow of the heart and tears of repentance for sins committed. Both sorrow and tears caused by the misfortunes that befall us can be spiritually beneficial. If only these tears and sorrow are imbued with faith, hope, patience and devotion to the will of God.

3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Those who desire bliss must be meek. Meek people are those who try never to irritate or be irritated by anything. These are gentle people who are patient with each other and do not murmur against God. The meek shall inherit the earth, i.e. Kingdom of heaven.

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who, like food and drink for the body, desire salvation for the soul - justification through faith in Jesus Christ, and they will receive the justification and salvation they desire. By saturation here we mean spiritual saturation, consisting in inner, spiritual peace, peace of conscience, justification and pardon. Saturation in earthly life occurs only partially.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

The merciful are those who do merciful deeds and know true compassion for their neighbor. The Lord promises the merciful as a reward that they themselves will be pardoned at the future Judgment of Christ.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Candor or sincerity, according to which a person does not hypocritically show good dispositions without having them in his heart, but shows good dispositions of the heart in good deeds, is only the lowest degree of purity of heart. The highest degree of purity of the heart is achieved by the constant and unrelenting feat of vigilance over oneself, expelling from one’s heart every unlawful desire and thought and every attachment to earthly objects and constantly preserving in the heart the remembrance of God and the Lord Jesus Christ with faith and love for Him. The pure in heart will see God, i.e. will receive the highest degree of Eternal Bliss.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Peacemakers are people who live with everyone in peace and harmony, forgive everyone’s offenses and try, if possible, to reconcile others who quarrel with each other, and if impossible, pray to God for their reconciliation. Peacemakers are promised the gracious name of the sons of God, since by their deed they imitate the Only Begotten Son of God, who came to earth to reconcile sinners with the justice of God.

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Those who desire blessedness must be ready to endure persecution for the sake of righteousness. This commandment requires the following qualities: love of truth, constancy and firmness in virtue, courage and patience.
Persecution is inevitable for Christians who live according to the truth of the Gospel because evil people hate the truth. Jesus Christ Himself was crucified on the cross by haters of God's righteousness, and He predicted to His followers: “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also...” (John 15:20).

9. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in Heaven.

According to this commandment, Jesus Christ promises those who are ready to endure all kinds of reproach, disasters, even death itself for the name of Christ - a great reward in Heaven - a preferential and high degree of bliss.

In order to be confirmed in the hope of salvation and bliss, one should add one’s own effort to achieve bliss to prayer. The Lord Himself speaks about this: Why do you call Me: “Lord! God!" and do not do what I say (Luke 6:46). Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21).
The teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, briefly set out in His Beatitudes, can be a guide in our feat.
There are nine beatitudes:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven. (Matt. 5:3-12).

For a correct understanding of the Beatitudes, we should remember that the Lord handed them to us as the Gospel says: He opened His mouth and taught. Being meek and humble in heart, He offered His teaching, not commanding, but pleasing those who would freely accept and implement it. Therefore, in each saying about beatitude one should consider: a teaching or commandment; gratification, or promise of reward.

About the first beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be poor in spirit.
To be poor in spirit means to have the spiritual conviction that we have nothing of our own, but have only what God gives, and that we cannot do anything good without God’s help and grace; and thus, we must consider that we are nothing and resort to God’s mercy in everything. Briefly, according to the explanation of St. John Chrysostom, spiritual poverty is humility (Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, conversation 15).
Even the rich can be poor in spirit if they come to the conclusion that visible wealth is perishable and impermanent and that it does not replace the lack of spiritual goods. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what ransom will a man give for his soul? (Matthew 16:26).
Physical poverty can serve to perfect spiritual poverty if a Christian chooses it voluntarily, for God. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said this to the rich man: If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give it to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me (Matthew 19:21).
The Lord promises the Kingdom of Heaven to the poor in spirit.
In the present life, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such people internally and initially, thanks to their faith and hope, and in the future - completely, through participation in eternal bliss.

About the Second Beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be weepers.
In this commandment, the name crying should be understood as sadness and contrition of the heart and actual tears because we serve the Lord imperfectly and unworthily and deserve His wrath through our sins. Sorrow for God's sake produces unchangeable repentance leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow produces death (2 Cor 7:10).
The Lord promises those who mourn that they will be comforted.
Here we understand the consolation of grace, consisting in the forgiveness of sins and a pacified conscience.
Sadness over sins should not reach the point of despair.

About the third beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be meek.
Meekness is a quiet disposition of spirit, combined with caution not to irritate anyone or to be irritated by anything.
Special actions of Christian meekness: do not grumble not only at God, but also at people, and when something happens against our desires, do not indulge in anger, do not become arrogant.
The Lord promises the meek that they will inherit the earth.
In relation to the followers of Christ, the prediction of inheriting the earth was fulfilled literally, i.e. the ever meek Christians, instead of being destroyed by the fury of the pagans, inherited the universe which the pagans had formerly possessed.
The meaning of this promise in relation to Christians in general and to everyone in particular is that they will receive an inheritance, as the Psalmist puts it, in the land of the living, where they live and do not die, i.e. will receive eternal bliss (see Ps. 26:13).

About the Fourth Beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be hungry and thirsty for righteousness.
Although we should understand by the name of truth every virtue that a Christian should desire as food and drink, we should primarily mean that truth about which in the prophecy of Daniel it is said that eternal truth will be brought (Dan 9:24), i.e. the justification of a person guilty before God will be accomplished - justification through grace and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul speaks of this truth: The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ in all and on all who believe: for there is no difference, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth. as a propitiation in His blood through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness in the forgiveness of sins previously committed (Rom. 3:22-25).
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who do good, but do not consider themselves righteous; not relying on their good deeds, they admit themselves to be sinners and guilty before God. Those who desire and pray faith, like true food and drink, hunger and thirst for grace-filled justification through Jesus Christ.
The Lord promises those who hunger and thirst for righteousness that they will be satisfied.
Just like bodily saturation, which brings, firstly, the cessation of feelings of hunger and thirst, and secondly, the reinforcement of the body with food, spiritual saturation means: the inner peace of a pardoned sinner; the acquisition of power to do good, and this power is supplied by justifying grace. However, the complete satiation of the soul, created for the enjoyment of infinite good, will follow in eternal life, according to the word of the Psalmist: I will be satisfied when Your glory is revealed (see Ps. 16:15).

About the Fifth Beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be merciful.
This commandment must be fulfilled through physical and spiritual works of mercy. St. John Chrysostom notes that there are different types of mercy and this commandment is broad (Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, conversation 15).
The physical works of mercy are as follows: to feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked (lack of necessary and decent clothing); visit someone in prison; visit the sick person, serve him and help him recover or Christian preparation for death; accept the wanderer into the house and provide rest; bury the dead in poverty and misery.
The works of spiritual mercy are as follows: exhortation to turn a sinner from his false path (James 5:20); teach the ignorant truth and goodness; to give good and timely advice to your neighbor in difficulty or in case of danger that he does not notice; pray to God for your neighbor; comfort the sad; not to repay the evil done to us by others; forgive offenses with all your heart.
Punishing a defendant does not contradict the commandment of mercy if done out of duty and with good intention, that is, to correct the guilty or protect the innocent from his crimes.
The Lord promises the merciful that they will receive mercy.
This implies pardon from eternal condemnation for sins at the Judgment of God.

About the Sixth Beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be pure in heart.
Purity of heart is not quite the same as sincerity. Candor (sincerity) - when a person does not demonstrate his good dispositions, which in reality do not exist in his heart, but embodies the existing good dispositions with modesty in deeds - is only the initial degree of purity of heart. True purity of the heart is achieved by constant and unflagging feat of vigilance over oneself, expelling from the heart every unlawful desire and thought, attachment to earthly objects, with faith and love, constantly preserving in it the memory of the Lord God Jesus Christ.
The Lord promises those with a pure heart that they will see God.
The Word of God allegorically endows the human heart with vision and calls Christians to make the eyes of the heart see (Eph. 1:18). Just as a healthy eye is able to see light, so a pure heart is able to contemplate God. Since the sight of God is the source of eternal bliss, the promise to see Him is a promise of a high degree of eternal bliss.

About the Seventh Beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be peacemakers.
To be a peacemaker means to act in a friendly manner and not give rise to disagreement; stop the disagreement that has arisen by all means, even sacrificing one’s interests, unless this contradicts duty and does not harm anyone; try to reconcile those at war with each other, and if this is not possible, then pray to God for their reconciliation.
The Lord promises the peacemakers that they will be called sons of God.
This promise signifies the height of the peacekeepers’ feat and the reward prepared for them. Since by their deed they imitate the Only Begotten Son of God, who came to earth to reconcile sinful man with the justice of God, they are promised the gracious name of the sons of God and, without a doubt, a degree of bliss worthy of this name.

About the Eighth Beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be ready to endure persecution for the sake of the truth, without betraying it. This commandment requires the following qualities: love of truth, constancy and firmness in virtue, courage and patience if someone is exposed to disaster or danger for not wanting to betray truth and virtue. The Lord promises those persecuted for the sake of righteousness the Kingdom of Heaven, as if in exchange for what they are deprived of through persecution, just as it was promised to the poor in spirit in replenishing the feeling of lack and poverty.

About the Ninth Beatitude

Those who desire bliss must be ready to joyfully accept reproach, persecution, disaster and death itself for the name of Christ and for the true Orthodox faith.
The feat corresponding to this commandment is called martyrdom.
The Lord promises a great reward in Heaven for this feat, i.e. predominant and high degree of bliss.

Earlier we said that during the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments of the Moral Law, on which, as the cornerstone, the entire diversity of interhuman and social relations is based to this day. This was a certain minimum of personal and public morality, without which the stability of human life and social relations would be lost. The Lord Jesus Christ did not come at all to abolish this law: “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
The Savior's fulfillment of this law was required because since the time of Moses, the understanding of the law has been largely lost. Over the past centuries, the clear and concise imperatives of the Sinai commandments were buried under the layers of a huge number of various everyday and ritual instructions, the scrupulous execution of which began to be given paramount importance. And behind this purely external, ritual and decorative side, the essence and meaning of the great moral revelation was lost. Therefore, the Lord had to appear in order to renew the content of the law in the eyes of people and again put its eternal verbs into their hearts. And moreover, to give a person a means to use this law to save his soul.
Christian commandments, by fulfilling which a person can gain happiness and fullness of life, are called the Beatitudes. Bliss is synonymous with happiness.
On a hill near Capernaum in Galilee, the Lord preached a sermon that became known as the Sermon on the Mount. And He began it with a statement of the nine Beatitudes:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven..."(Matt. 5:3–12).
The first acquaintance with this moral program can confuse the spirit of modern man. For everything that is prescribed by the Beatitudes seems infinitely far from our everyday understanding of a happy and full-blooded life: poverty of spirit, crying, meekness, the search for truth, mercy, purity, peacemaking, exile and reproach... And not a hint, not a word about what would fit into the popular idea of ​​earthly bliss.
The Beatitudes are a kind of declaration of Christian moral values. It contains everything necessary for a person to enter the true fullness of life. And by the way he relates to these commandments, one can unmistakably judge his spiritual state. If they cause rejection, rejection and hatred, if there is nothing in common or consonance between the inner world of a person and these commandments, then this is an indicator of a serious spiritual illness. But if interest arises in these strange, disturbing words, if there is a desire to penetrate into their meaning, then this indicates an internal readiness to hear and understand the Word of God.
Let us consider each commandment separately.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Can such a quality as spiritual poverty be considered a virtue? Such an assumption obviously contradicts not only the experience of everyday life, but also the ideals that are instilled in us by modern culture. However, to begin with, let us keep in mind that not every spirit makes a person spiritual, much less happy.
Earlier we talked about the temptations of Jesus Christ in the desert. But there, none other than the spirit of the devil offered the Lord great temptations, which, however, have nothing to do with the fullness of human life. But what will happen to a person in whom this spirit of the devil prevails? Will he find bliss, will he be happy? No, because the unclean spirit will lead him away from the truth, confuse him and lead him astray. Fortunately, only the Spirit of God can lead a person to the fullness of life, because God is the source of life. Life with God is the fullness of existence, human happiness. This means that in order for a person to be happy, he must accept the Spirit of God into himself, freeing up the space of his soul for His presence. After all, this was the case at the dawn of human history, when God was at the center of the life of Adam and Eve, who had not yet known sin. Their refusal of God became a sin. Sin drove God out of people’s lives, and their own “I” reigned in the central place of their spiritual life that belonged to Him.
There has been a mutation of life values, a change in all guidelines. Instead of ascending to God, serving Him and being in saving communion with Him, man directed all his strength to satisfy the needs of his own egoism. This state when a person lives for himself and has his own “I” as the center of his inner universe is called pride. And the state opposite to pride, when a person pushes his “I” to the side and puts God at the center of life, is called humility, or spiritual poverty. In contrast to the devil’s gold, which turns into clay shards, spiritual poverty turns into great wealth, for in this case, in the place of the spirit of malice, selfishness and rebellion, the Spirit of God takes up residence in a person and gives life.
So, what is spiritual poverty? “I believe,” writes Saint Gregory of Nyssa, “that spiritual poverty is humility.” What, then, should be understood by humility? Sometimes humility is falsely identified with weakness, wretchedness, downtroddenness, and worthlessness. Oh, this is far from true... Humility is generated by great inner strength, and anyone who doubts this, let him try to slightly move his own “I” to the periphery of his concerns and interests. And put God or another person in the main place in your life. And then it will become clear how difficult this work is and what remarkable inner strength is required for it.
“Pride,” according to St. John Chrysostom, “is the beginning of sin. Every sin begins with it and finds its support in it.” That's why it is said:
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5).
In the Old Testament we find amazing words: “The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God will not despise a broken and humble heart.”(Ps. 50:19).
That is, He will not destroy or destroy the personality of a person who frees himself in order to accept God. And then the Spirit of God dwells in such a person as in a chosen vessel. And the person himself gains the ability to be in communion with God, and therefore to taste the fullness of life and happiness.
So, spiritual poverty and humility are not weakness, but great strength. This is a person’s victory over himself, over the demon of egoism and the omnipotence of passions. This is the ability to open your heart to God, so that He reigns in it, sanctifying and transforming our lives with His grace.

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted
It would seem that what is common between bliss and crying? In the ordinary mind, tears are an indispensable sign of human grief, pain, resentment, and hopelessness. If you take a healthy person and see in what cases he is capable of crying, then by analyzing the connection between tears and the reasons that gave rise to them, you can say a lot about the person’s state of mind. Let's ask ourselves: are we capable of crying with compassion when we see someone else's misfortune? Every day, television brings tragic pictures of human misfortune, death, hardship, and deprivation to our homes from all over the world. How many have they touched to such an extent that they have made them sad, let alone cry? How many times have we walked along the streets of our cities past people lying on the sidewalks? But how many of us have the sight of a man stretched out on the ground made us think or shed a tear?
It is impossible not to recall here the words of St. Isaac the Syrian: “And what is a merciful heart? The burning of a person’s heart about all creation, about people, about birds, about animals, about demons and about every creature. When remembering them and looking at them, a person’s eyes shed tears from the great and strong pity that envelops the heart. And because of his great patience, his heart is weakened, and it cannot bear, or hear, or see any harm or small sorrow endured by the creature. And therefore, for the dumb, and for the enemies of the truth, and for those who harm him, he offers prayer every hour with tears, so that they may be preserved and purified; and also prays for the nature of reptiles with great pity, which is aroused in his heart until he becomes like God in this.”
So let us ask ourselves: which of us has such a “merciful heart”? Human grief has ceased to confuse and excite our souls, to give rise to pain and tears of compassion in us, and to move us to good deeds. But if a person is able to cry out of compassion for his brother, then this indicates a very special state of his soul. The heart of such a person is alive, and therefore responsive to the pain of his neighbor, and, therefore, capable of deeds of kindness and compassion. But aren’t mercy and the willingness to help others the most important components of human happiness? For a person cannot be happy when someone nearby is suffering, just as there is no joy in the midst of ashes, victims and human grief. Therefore, our tears are a direct and morally healthy response to the grief of another person.
Not a single philosophical doctrine, except Christian, has been able to cope with the issue of human suffering. Marxist theory, which claimed to be a universal master key to all the “damned questions” of humanity, from the origin of the Universe to the establishment of a social paradise on earth, tried to avoid the problem of human suffering. Whether there will be a place for suffering under communism, what factors will give rise to it and how a person will cope with it remains unknown. And on the path of other capital philosophical systems, this problem turned out to be a stumbling block. Christianity does not shy away from answering.
“Blessed are those who mourn” means that suffering is a reality of our world, and even more - a component of the fullness of human life. There is no life without suffering, because such a life would no longer be human, but something else. And therefore suffering should be taken for granted, as one of the hypostases of the human lot. Suffering can be beneficial if it mobilizes a person’s inner strength, and then it becomes a source of human courage and spiritual growth.
A person grows internally, overcoming the torment and trials that befall him. Let's remember F.M. Dostoevsky: his entire philosophy of spiritual resistance to circumstances hostile to man is based precisely on the second Commandment of the Beatitudes. A thinker and Christian, he teaches us that by going through the crucible of moral and physical suffering, a person is cleansed, renewed, and transformed. These motifs permeate The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot, and Crime and Punishment. However, suffering can not only purify and elevate a person, increase his internal strength tenfold, elevate him to the highest level of knowledge of himself and the world, but it can also embitter a person, drive him into a corner, force him to withdraw into himself and make him dangerous for other people. We know how many, going through the close field of suffering and inner struggle, could not stand the test and fell.
In what cases does suffering elevate a person, and when can it turn him into a beast? The Apostle Paul said this about it: “Godly sorrow produces constant repentance leading to salvation, but worldly sorrow produces death.”(2 Cor. 7:10).
So, the Christian attitude to suffering presupposes the perception of the disasters that befall us as God’s permission, as a kind of Divine temptation. Religiously aware of our adversity as a test sent down to us, through which God takes us for the sake of our salvation and purification, we inevitably think about why the trouble visited us and what is our fault. And if suffering is accompanied by inner work and honest introspection, then the surging tears of repentance give a person consolation, bliss and spiritual growth.
By responding to sorrows and pain with a pure, living and clear religious feeling, we are able to conquer ourselves, and therefore conquer suffering.

3. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth
It is not difficult to imagine that this commandment can cause a very negative reaction. After all, meekness is, apparently, nothing more than another name for humility, resignation, humiliation? Is it really possible with such qualities to survive in our world, and even to protect someone?
But meekness is not at all what it is unknowingly accused of. Meekness is a person’s great ability to understand and forgive another. It is the result of humility. And humility, as we said earlier, is characterized by the ability to put God or another person at the center of one’s life. A humble person, poor in spirit, is ready to understand and forgive. AND meekness is also patience and generosity. Now let's imagine what our lives could become if we were all able to accept, understand and forgive other people! Even a simple trip on public transport would turn into something completely different. And relationships with colleagues, with family, with neighbors, with acquaintances and strangers who meet on our way... After all, a meek person shifts a heavy burden from another to himself. He first of all judges himself, demands from himself, questions from himself, and forgives others. Or if he cannot forgive, then at least he tries to understand the other person.
Nowadays, our society, which has gone through the trials of general confrontation, through the crucible of internal hostility, is gradually realizing the need to develop a culture of tolerance in social relations. Political leaders, writers, scientists, and the media unanimously call on us to be tolerant, to be able to reconcile interests and take into account different points of view. But is this possible for a person who is not endowed with high poverty of spirit, for a person in whose life the dominant position is occupied not by God, not by another person, but by himself? Indeed, in this case it is very difficult to accept the truth of another, especially if this truth does not correspond to your own views. A person who is unable to understand and forgive another, who is devoid of patience and generosity, will never be able to humble his pride. Therefore, the tolerance to which society is now called, external tolerance, not rooted in internal meekness, is an empty phrase and another chimera.
We can become tolerant of each other and build a calm, peaceful and prosperous society only if we acquire true meekness, gentleness, and the ability to understand and forgive.
Meekness, perceived by many as weakness, turns into a great strength that can not only help a person in solving the tasks facing him, but also lead him into inheriting the land, that is, ensuring the achievement of the main goal - the Kingdom of God, the symbol of which here is the Promised Land.

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied
In this commandment, Christ combines the concepts of beatitude and truth. and truth acts as a condition for human happiness.
Let us again turn to the history of the Fall, which occurred at the dawn of human history. Sin became the result of an unrejected temptation, a response to the lie with which the devil addressed the first people, inviting them to eat the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in order to become “like gods.”
It was a deliberate lie, but the man believed it, violated the law given by God, succumbed to sinful temptation and plunged himself and all subsequent generations of people into dependence on evil and sin.
Man sinned at the instigation of the devil, he committed a sin under the influence of lies. The Holy Scripture definitely testifies to the nature of the devil: “When he speaks a lie, he speaks his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
And every time we multiply lies, speak untruths or commit unrighteous deeds, we expand the domain of the devil, we work for him and strengthen him.
In other words, a person cannot be happy living in a lie. For the devil is not the source of happiness. Committing untruth connects us with a dark force; through untruth we enter the sphere of evil, and evil and happiness are incompatible. When we commit untruths, we endanger our spiritual life.
What is a lie? This is a situation in which our words do not correspond to our thoughts, knowledge or actions. Untruth is always associated with double-mindedness or hypocrisy; it expresses a fundamental discrepancy between the external and internal aspects of our life. This spiritual fracture is a type of moral schizophrenia (in Greek, “schizophrenia” precisely means “split brain”), that is, a disease. And illness and happiness are incompatible concepts. In fact, by telling a lie, we seem to be divided in two, we begin to live two lives, and this leads to the loss of the integrity of our personality. The Holy Scripture says: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand; and if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:24–25).
A person who commits untruths and sows lies around himself is divided within himself, like a doomed kingdom, and loses the unity of his nature.
The destructive effect of untruth on our lives can be likened to cracks in a building. They disfigure the appearance of the house, but the house continues to stand. However, if an earthquake occurs or a storm hits, the house covered with cracks will not stand and will collapse. Likewise, a person who denies the law of Divine truth and acts according to the teachings of the father of lies, leading a double life and internally divided, can easily live a long century in peace. But if trials suddenly befall him, if circumstances require him to demonstrate the best human qualities and inner strength, then a life lived in a lie will result in an inability to withstand the blows of fate.
A lie destroys the integrity of not only the human personality, it leads to the fact that the family is divided within itself. For it is lies that are the most common cause of family breakdown. When a husband deceives his wife, and a wife deceives her husband, when lies erect barriers between parents and children, the family hearth turns into a pile of cold stones. But lies divide the human community. Let us remember the events of 1917, when the people were divided among themselves, and the Fatherland was plunged into the abyss of disasters and suffering. Was it not by false teaching that we were seduced, was it not by envy and untruth that one part of society was set against another? Lies lay at the heart of the demagoguery and propaganda that split, reared Russia and finally destroyed it.
And the division of our Fatherland at the end of the 20th century - did it happen without lies? Has it not been the interpretation of history that is contrary to the truth that has aroused passions, leading people to enmity and confrontation with their brothers? But lies in the interpretation and application of rights and freedoms, lies in economic relations and business partnerships - doesn’t it lead to alienation, suspicion and conflicts? The same is true in interstate relations, where lies and provocations create conflicts that plunge peoples and states into the abyss of misfortune and war.
Where there is a lie, there are its eternal companions: unbrotherly love, double-mindedness, hypocrisy, division. But where the disease has taken root, there is no place for harmony and happiness. Having stopped lying to himself and deceiving others, a person will definitely feel a surge of enormous inner strength emanating from the restored integrity of his being. Isn’t it possible that the entire society, exhausted by lies, can experience the same renewal? We are talking here primarily about politicians, the masters of the economy and the media, who often communicate with their fellow citizens in the language of disinformation and malicious lies. This is the reason for many disorders, illnesses and sorrows that destroy the social organism. And until we free our personal, family, social and state lives from the harmful effects of lies, we will not be healed.
The Lord not only connects truth with human happiness, but also testifies that the very search for truth gives a person happiness. Blessed is the one who hungers for truth and strives for it, like a thirsty person for a source of spring water. This pursuit of truth can sometimes be fraught with danger. After all, behind lies is the devil himself, its father, patron and protector. From this it follows that he who seeks truth accomplishes the will of God, and he who multiplies lies serves the devil and seeks to seduce a person, to trap him in the snare of untruth.
Therefore, for a champion of lies, it is so important to know how strong the gracious desire for truth is within us. For he himself will stand for lies to the last, not stopping to use power and violence in its name. We have an idea of ​​the price paid to preserve secrets that threaten to expose lies. But we also know about the great sacrifices made by those who seek truth in the world. For the path of a person who rejects existence according to the laws of lies is thorny. Is it not about them that the Lord says: ?
While enduring reproaches and other troubles for striving to possess the truth and testify to it, we must clearly realize that our adversary is the devil himself. And therefore, he who destroys his wiles and testifies to the truth will inherit the Kingdom of God.
We can thirst for truth, or lay down our souls for its triumph, or be driven out for the sake of truth. However, we will not find the absolute fullness of truth in this world, where powerful evil is present and where the prince of darkness skillfully mixes lies with the truth. Therefore, in the great and ongoing battle in the name of truth, we must learn to distinguish between good and evil, between truth and lies.
King David in his 16th Psalm says amazing words that sound like this in Slavic: “But I will appear before Your face in righteousness, I will be satisfied, sometimes I will appear before Your glory” (Ps. 16.15).
In Russian this means: “And I will look upon Your face in righteousness; Having awakened, I will be satisfied with Your image.” A person who hungers and thirsts for truth will be completely satisfied with it and taste the fullness of the truth only when he appears in the face of the Glory of God. This will happen in another world. It is there, at the Throne of the Lord, that the whole truth is revealed and the Truth appears.
So, the Beatitudes testify: there can be no happiness without truth, just as there can be no happiness with lies. Therefore, any attempt to organize personal, family, social or state life on the basis of lies inevitably leads to defeat, separation, illness and suffering. May the All-Merciful God strengthen us in our desire to build a peaceful and happy life on the cornerstone of truth, which serves as the promise of bliss.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy
What is mercy that the Lord speaks of as a condition of bliss? Grace, or mercy, is, first of all, a person’s ability to effectively respond to someone else’s misfortune. You can respond with a kind word, extend your hand to a person, and support him in grief. We can do more: come to someone in need of our assistance, help him by giving our time and energy. We can also share with the unfortunate what we ourselves own. “Let the healthy and rich comfort the sick and poor; who did not fall - fell and crashed; cheerful - despondent; enjoying happiness - tired of misfortunes,” says St. Gregory the Theologian. It is precisely this kind of action that the Lord closely connects with the idea of ​​justification.
In the Gospel narrative we find a whole list of good deeds, the fulfillment of which is recognized as necessary for the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven and justification at the judgment of the Lord. All of these are deeds of compassion: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, receive the stranger, visit the sick and the prisoner (See Matt. 25:31–36, 41–43). Those who do not fulfill the law of mercy will receive their punishment on the Day of Judgment. For, according to the word of the Lord, “Because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.”(Matthew 25:45).
And we can no longer guess about the future that awaits us in eternity. Everyone, still in this life, is able to foresee what kind of judgment is prepared for him in heaven.
Let us remember how many we fed and watered, how many we invited under our roof, how many we visited and supported in friendship. Each of us can and must, having examined our affairs in the light of conscience, express a judgment about ourselves that precedes the Judgment of God. For we ourselves know ourselves and our lives better than others. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy”- this is how the law of mercy and retribution is read. And since in the grammatical construction of the Beatitudes, God, who is merciful and punishing, is definitely implied here, without being, however, directly named, do we not have the right to expect leniency from people even in this life?
By doing good deeds and helping our neighbors, we discover that the person in whose fate we took part ceases to be a stranger to us, that he enters our lives. After all, people are designed in such a way that they love those to whom they have done good, and hate those to whom they have done harm. Answering the question about who our neighbor is, the Lord says: this is the one to whom we do good. Such a person ceases to be a stranger and distant to us, becoming truly a neighbor, for from now on he owns a part of our heart and a place in our memory.
But if we, living in a family, do not help each other, it means that the people closest to us cease to be our neighbors. When a husband does not support his wife, and a wife does not support her husband, when children do not serve as support for elderly parents, when enmity pits relatives against each other, then the internal bonds that connect man to man are destroyed, and our loved ones, in violation of God’s commandments, become further away from us than those who are distant.
Responsiveness, compassion and kindness that we address to other people connect us with them. This means that their kindness will be our answer, and we will receive mercy from people. A special relationship will be established between us and those to whom we have shown concern. Thus, mercy is like a fabric in which the threads of human destinies are tightly intertwined.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
This commandment is about the knowledge of God. From the cultural monuments that have reached us, we can judge that the entire history of human civilization is marked by a dramatic search for God. Ancient Egyptian temples and pyramids, ancient Greek and Roman pagan temples, oriental places of worship are the focus of the spiritual efforts of each national culture. All this is a reflection of the feat of God-seeking that humanity had to go through. Among philosophers, outstanding thinkers and sages, there was also not a single one who remained indifferent to the topic of God. But, despite the fact that it is present in any significant philosophical system, not everyone was destined to reach the heights of the knowledge of God. Sometimes even the most sophisticated and insightful minds turned out to be incapable of real, experienced knowledge of God. The understanding of God by such philosophers, which remained rationally cold, was powerless to take possession of their entire being, to spiritualize and draw them into a truly religious relationship with the Creator.
What can help a person personally feel and know God? This question is especially important for us right now, when, having become disillusioned with fruitless atheism, most of our people have turned to the search for the spiritual and religious foundations of existence. The desire of these people to find and know God is great. However, the paths leading to the knowledge of God are intertwined with many false paths that lead away from the goal or end in dead ends. It is enough to mention the widespread attitude towards unknown and unstudied natural phenomena. Often people fall into the temptation of deifying the unknown, imbued with a pseudo-religious feeling towards an unknown force. And just as the savages worshiped thunder, lightning, fire or strong winds that were incomprehensible to them, our enlightened contemporaries fetishize UFOs, fall under the magic of psychics and sorcerers, and revere false idols.
So how is it possible to find God by rejecting atheism? How not to stray from the path leading to Him? How not to lose yourself and your attraction to the true God among the dangerously multiplying temptations of false spirituality? The Lord tells us about this in the words of the sixth Commandment of Beatitudes:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”.
For God does not reveal himself to an impure heart. The moral state of the individual is an indispensable condition for the knowledge of God. This means that a person who lives according to the law of lies, who does untruth and adds sin to sin, who sows evil and commits lawlessness - such a person will never be given the opportunity to accept the All-Good God into his petrified heart. That is, to put it technically, his heart is not able to connect to the source of Divine energy. Our heart and our consciousness can be likened to a receiving device, which must be tuned to the same frequency at which Divine grace is transmitted to the world. This frequency is the purity of our heart. Isn’t this what the Word of God teaches us: “Wisdom does not enter into an evil soul. She does not dwell in a body guilty of sin” (Wis. 1:4).
So, purity of thoughts and feelings is an indispensable condition for the knowledge of God. For you can re-read libraries of books, listen to countless lectures, torture your brain in search of an answer to the question of whether God exists, but never get closer to Him, not recognize Him, or accept for God that which is not Him - the devil, the power of darkness.
If our heart is not tuned to the wave of Divine grace, then we will not be able to know and see God. And to see God, to accept and feel Him, to enter into communication with Him means to gain Truth, fullness of life and bliss.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God
As St. John Chrysostom emphasizes, with this Commandment of the Beatitudes Christ “not only condemns the mutual disagreement and hatred of people among themselves, but demands more, namely, that we reconcile the disagreements and discords of others.” According to the commandment of Christ, we must become peacemakers, that is, those who create peace on earth. In this case, we will become sons of God by grace, because, in the words of the same Chrysostom, “and the work of the Only Begotten Son of God was to unite what was divided and to reconcile what was at war.”
It is often believed that the absence of war or the cessation of conflict is peace. The spouses quarreled, then went to different corners, the shouting and mutual insults stopped - and it was as if peace had come. But in the soul there is no trace of peace or peace, only irritation, annoyance, malice and anger. It turns out that the cessation of hostile actions and open confrontation between the parties is not yet evidence of genuine peace. For peace is not a negative concept, that is, characterized by a simple absence of signs of confrontation, but a deeply positive state: a kind of gracious reality that displaces the idea of ​​enmity and fills the space of the human heart or social relations. A sign of true peace is peace of mind, when anger and irritation are replaced by harmony and peace.
The Old Testament Jews called this state with the word “Sholom”, meaning by it God's blessing, for peace is from God. And in the New Testament the Lord speaks about the same thing: peace as peace and satisfaction is the blessing of God. The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians testifies about the Lord: “He is our peace” (Eph. 2:14).
And St. Seraphim of Sarov describes the state of the world as follows: “The gift and grace of the Holy Spirit is the peace of God. Peace is a sign of the presence of God's grace in human life" And therefore, at the moment of the Nativity of Christ, the angels preached the gospel to the shepherds with the words: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace...” For the Lord, the Source and Giver of peace, brought it to people with His birth.
What choice then should a person make and what will his peacemaking work consist of? “The Lord has called us to peace”- says the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 7.15), and the first words of the Risen Lord after His appearance to the apostles were "Peace to you". This is God's call to which man responds. The answer can be twofold: we either open our souls to receive the world of God, or we erect insurmountable barriers to the action of Divine grace in us. If a son not only adopts his father’s family name, but also becomes the successor of his work, then a special successive connection is established between them. Isn’t it in this sense that we should understand the words of the Lord that those who will continue the work of the Father, who organizes the world, will be called sons of God?
Peace is peace, and peace is balance. From physics we know that only a stable equilibrium system is at rest, and, therefore, equilibrium, balance are an indispensable condition for rest.
Under what circumstances does peace reign in a person’s soul? When the various properties of his spiritual nature are balanced, when his inner aspirations are harmonized, when a balance is achieved between the spiritual and physical principles, between the mind and feelings, between needs and capabilities, between beliefs and actions. But such a system will experience a loss of stability whenever the balance between these principles of a person’s inner life begins to be disturbed. As for the external world, it will be achieved only when the interests of the individual, family, society and state come into balance. For stability here is achieved through a fair distribution of rights, duties and responsibilities: it is not without reason that the symbol of fair trial and legal measure are scales in the hands of Themis. In other words, there are deep internal relationships between peace, balance, tranquility and justice.Justice is balanced, therefore it is an indispensable condition for peace. For there can be no peace without justice.
Life constantly puts a person in a situation where he needs to restore balance between conflicting internal aspirations. The simplest example is a mismatch between needs and capabilities: you want to have an expensive car, but you don’t have the means to do so. There are two ways out of this state: either bring your desires and capabilities into balance, or, stopping at nothing, strive with all your might to satisfy your needs. When a person’s capabilities and needs do not achieve harmony, he suffers, and his suffering is further fueled by a feeling of envy. Inner peace will come only if the scales, on the scales of which lie our needs and opportunities, fix the balance.
Another example is from the public sphere: about the relationship between peace and justice. In apartheid South Africa, the black majority fought a bitter struggle for equal rights with the ruling white minority. Once, in a conversation with one of the leaders of the African liberation movement, I asked: “In the difficult life of your people there is already too much violence, so wouldn’t it be better for you to make peace with your opponents?” And he answered me: “But what kind of world will it be without justice? It would be based on a constantly smoldering conflict, fraught with explosion and multiplying human suffering. For there to be genuine peace, there must be a just solution to the problem underlying the conflict.”
The idea of ​​peace and the idea of ​​justice grow from the same root. Internal proportionality and harmony of interests in the family, society and state, as well as in interstate relations, are achieved when everyone is ready to sacrifice their interests. That is why peacekeeping always requires sacrifice and dedication. In fact, if a person is not ready to sacrifice part of his own interests to another, how can he participate in the creation of an equilibrium system? And is someone who is accustomed to putting only himself and his own benefit at the forefront of things capable of doing this? Such a person poses a potential threat to the world; he is dangerous for family and social life. Being unable to bring the forces acting in him to balance, such a person finds himself in the role of a carrier of constant internal conflict, which most often is not limited to personal life, but is projected onto interpersonal and even social relationships.
However, if God occupies a central place in life, then a person becomes able to give up his claims in the name of the good of his neighbor, for God calls us to love. When people who are in enmity demonstrate an inability to self-sacrifice, and therefore to reconciliation, and the conflict in which they participate begins to affect many, gathering a bloody harvest, then they turn to mediators to achieve peace. Performing this function in a peacekeeping mission is a spiritually dangerous task, because the mediator is obliged to demand self-restraint from the warring parties. As a result, their anger and discontent may well be directed at the messenger of peace.
Peacemaking ministry is the duty and calling of the Church. To talk about this conclusively, you don’t need to go deep into history. Suffice it to recall the civil conflict in Russia in the fall of 1993, when the Church initiated the peacemaking process, acting as a mediator between the opposing forces. At the same time, she was fully aware that her mission would cause discontent on both sides. And so it happened, because her call to show dignified self-restraint, moderate political ambitions and curb the demon of enmity was not accepted by either one or the other. Newspaper publications that followed these peace initiatives also indicated a lack of understanding of the mission of the Church and dissatisfaction with its position.
But this is the dignity and power of peacemaking ministry: in the name of achieving a fair balance, to directly follow the God-given good goal, affirming the spirit of brotherly love and not being tempted by possible misunderstanding and condemnation. Unfortunately, peacekeeping ministry is often used to their advantage by forces speculating on the tragedy of their neighbor or seeking to earn political capital. But peacekeeping is a sacrifice, but not at all a means to cheaply buy public recognition or effectively crown oneself with the laurels of a benefactor of humanity. True peacemaking implies, first of all, a willingness to experience blasphemy and reproach from those to whom you came with an olive branch in your hands. This sometimes happens when resolving interstate, social or political conflicts; the same model is reproduced in our private life.
God is the Creator of the world and life. And peace is an indispensable condition for the preservation of life. Those who serve this purpose show loyalty to the covenant of the Lord and continue His work, which is why they are called the sons of God.

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
We have already looked at the commandment addressed to those who are ready to live in truth:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”.
The Lord here speaks of a reward for people who seek truth: they will find what their souls strive for. And in the commandment about those expelled for the sake of righteousness, He warns us about the dangers that await a person on this path. For life is truly not easy and is not much like a walk in a well-kept park. Living in truth is hard work and a challenge that involves risk, because there are too many lies in the world we live in. When discussing the origin of evil, we said that the devil is evil personified, or, according to the Word of God, a liar and the father of lies. He is active in our world, spreading lies everywhere.
“Lying is a vile dishonor of a person,” says St. John Chrysostom. Great are the successes of lies. It permeates our social life, becomes a means of achieving power, disintegrates family relationships, deprives a person of internal integrity, for he who multiplies untruth splits himself into two.
If you look around, the first thing that strikes your eye is how widespread the untruth is. One gets the impression of its dynamic growth, an increase in the amount of evil and a multiplication of its positions, including in public life. There are countless examples of this.
Many still remember the campaigns to combat the so-called registrations in the Soviet economy. Postscripts were indeed a scourge and a constant feature of the economic life of those years: the volume of production not completed by an employee, enterprise, district or region was shown in documents as completed, and this led to an imbalance in the country’s economic system, causing significant damage to the entire society. In the 90s of the last century, the desire to enrich oneself by unjust means increased many times, turning into a predatory plunder of national wealth, the acquisition of personal capital by a few at the expense of the public property, created by the hard work of several generations. Before our eyes, a small and at least controllable evil has grown, turning into a threat to the national security of the country and its future.
Even during my childhood, cases of overweighting or shortchanging a customer in a store invariably caused general indignation. The current methods of enrichment have endlessly multiplied and become more sophisticated in comparison with the times of primitive weighing and shortchanging.
Something similar is happening in other countries. In European cities, where 30–40 years ago many people did not lock their homes, crime, including economic crime, has increased many times over. As for the world of politics, it is well known with what ease election promises are made here. However, promises often remain promises. In the world we live in, lying is not exotic, not a rare occurrence, but a widespread means of achieving material well-being or power. But what happens to a person who refuses to live by the law of lies and challenges it? Lies use every means at their disposal to take revenge on the rebellious. However, it does not at all follow from this that today there are no people left who do not want to live by a lie. Such people, thank God, exist.
I have to meet with scientists, designers, engineers, military personnel, factory workers, and rural workers. Many of them, despite everything, continue to live by the truth. In the mid-90s, I had to speak at Moscow University and meet with world-class scientists - mathematicians, mechanics, physicists. Looking at their clothes and appearance, which did not indicate well-being and prosperity, I thought: “What keeps these brilliant scientists on their modest salaries? Why didn’t they, like their other colleagues, disperse to prosperous countries, where well-deserved honor and a completely comfortable existence would await them?” When I asked about this, one of the professors compared himself and his comrades to sentries remaining guarding national science. And in fact, true champions of truth, patriots and devotees of science, these people remained faithful to its ideals, their research and human duty, despite the lack of state recognition and support from those in power at that time.
It is a great consolation and support for us to remember that the man who lives by truth always wins in the end. He wins because the truth is stronger than lies. This conviction lives in the wisdom of our people: “Do not lie - everything will work out in God’s way”, “Everything will pass - only the truth will remain”, “God is not in power, but in truth”... It happens, however, that an individual person does not live to see the moment of the triumph of truth, for 70–80 years of life are just a moment in the face of eternity. However, the truth always triumphs. And if not in this life, then in eternal life, a person who lived in truth will see its triumph. Therefore the Lord says: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”.
And even if the reward for the person who sacrificed himself to the truth does not have time to find him here, then the reward for the righteous will certainly await him in eternal life.
The fight for truth is what Christians are called to in this world. However, when fighting for the truth, one must not only strive for its triumph, but also be extremely sensitive to the question of the cost of victory, for not all means are acceptable for a Christian. Otherwise, the struggle for truth can degenerate into an ordinary quarrel or intrigue. It often happens that people begin by defending great ideals and fighting for a just cause, and end up pushing their neighbors aside in a battle for their place in the sun or spiritual despotism.
What means are prohibited in the fight for truth? It is impossible to affirm the truth through anger and hatred. He who stands for truth cannot harbor low feelings towards his opponents. For our strongest weapon in affirming the truth is the truth itself: the truth is both a goal and a means of struggle. They go out to fight for the truth with an open visor and an open heart in which there is no hatred. This, however, does not mean that a person has nothing to rely on in the fight for the truth.
The Holy Fathers teach us that patience and courage are helpers in this difficult task. Patience makes up for the lack of our weak strength and gives us the ability to overcome sorrow and difficulties. This is how the external enemy is overcome by the inner power of patience. We need courage because lies always try to intimidate a person, resort to insidious and base means, try to break the spirit of their opponent, move the battlefield from an open place to a cramped and dark one. And therefore, the struggle for truth is always inspired by courage and supported by patience.
The Lord does not call us to be passive spectators of evil and untruth. He blesses us to take the side of the champions of truth and justice, so that we always remember the need to maintain the purity of our souls, to protect our Christian dignity and not to stain our vestments with the dirt of lies and evil.

9. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven...
This last Beatitude sounds especially dramatic, for it is about those who accept the crown of martyrdom for confessing Christ the Savior. Why were the disciples of Jesus considered dangerous and why was it necessary to persecute and slander those who brought the word of love into the world? The question is far from idle, because the answer to it will help to understand, perhaps, one of the main conflicts of history.
The fact is that the truth of God was revealed exclusively and absolutely in the person of Jesus Christ. This truth is neither a theory, nor a conclusion, nor an abstract idea, but the most sublime and beautiful reality, which has found vivid expression in the historical personality of Jesus of Nazareth. And therefore, the enemies of God’s truth were fully aware that without fighting Christ and His followers it was impossible to defeat His truth. They saw their task as darkening the image of the Savior, shining with holiness and beauty, if it was impossible to destroy and blot it out completely.
This struggle with Christ began during the life of the Lord. “He is no Messiah,” the Jewish rulers and teachers of that time said, “but just a deceiver from Nazareth, the son of a carpenter.” “He has not risen at all,” they repeated, having learned about the great miracle. “It was the disciples who stole His body.” The rulers of the Roman Empire asserted something similar, calling Christianity a “disgusting superstition” and bringing down the full might of the state repressive apparatus on it as a socially and politically dangerous phenomenon.
Amazingly, the struggle with the Savior and the teaching He proclaimed has been declared since the emergence of Christianity, with the proclamation of the Beatitudes by Christ. In the second half of the 1st century, this struggle took the form of severe persecution. Beginning under the Roman Emperor Nero, they continued for more than 250 years. Nowadays, every day the Holy Church remembers several martyrs, passion-bearers and confessors, whose names are forever imprinted on its tablets. Hosts of martyrs testified to their fidelity to Christ with their lives and deaths. And about each of them you can tell a story full of drama. Let's focus on the story of just one family.
Many Russian women bear the names Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov and Sofia. The Holy Martyr Sophia was born in Italy, was a widow and had three daughters: twelve-year-old Vera, ten-year-old Nadezhda and nine-year-old Love. They all believed in Christ and openly shared His word with people. Someone named Antiochus, the governor of the province where they lived, reported to the Roman emperor about this Christian family. They were summoned to Rome, where they were interrogated and then tortured. There is evidence of the monstrous torture that these little girls endured. They were placed naked on a hot metal grate and poured with boiling tar, forcing them to renounce Christ and worship the pagan goddess Artemis. Not much was required: to bring flowers to the foot of her statue or to burn incense in front of her. But the girls refused, seeing this as a betrayal of their faith in Christ. Lyubov was tortured with particular cruelty: strong warriors tied her to a wheel and beat her with sticks until the girl’s body turned into a bloody mess. The mothers of the young martyrs were given a special torture: Sophia was forced to watch the suffering of her daughters. Then the girls were beheaded, and three days later Sofia died of grief at their grave.
What is striking in this story, in particular, is fanatical hatred and inhuman malice, which cannot be explained by anything other than a diabolical suggestion. For in the Roman Empire the practice of any religious cult was allowed, but war of destruction was declared only on Christianity. Another thing is amazing: how little girls had the courage to endure these unimaginable torments, and a hundredth part of which exceeds everything that even an adult man could endure. The reserve of human strength could not be enough for this. But the spiritual, religious experience of these children turned out to be so rich, so great was the happiness and joyful fullness of life they acquired through their faith, that neither red-hot grates nor boiling tar could separate the young martyrs from Christ. And the Lord strengthened these pure souls in their confession of the Truth and opposition to evil.
The ancient church writer Tertullian said: “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity.” And this is truly so, because the torment and persecution to which the followers of Jesus Christ were subjected became false evidence of the true faith and thus contributed to the spread of Christianity, so that even the persecutors themselves were often converted to the Savior by the power of the spirit of those whom they tortured.
The persecution of Christianity ended at the beginning of the 4th century, but in the broad sense of the word it never stopped. To be a Christian, to live openly in accordance with one’s convictions, almost always meant swimming against the tide, taking blows from those for whom Christianity remained a word far from their lives. But, probably, The 20th century became the worst period of persecution of Christians in history. In the post-revolutionary years, our compatriots - bishops, priests, monks, and countless believers - were subjected to sophisticated torture and torment. The people of God were exterminated only because they believed in Christ the Savior. But, as if unconsciously feeling the unrighteousness of what they were doing, the persecutors of Christians tried to present the matter as if they were persecuting believers not for their religious beliefs, but for political sins against the authorities. Such a dirty trick as defamation and discrediting of believers in the eyes of society was also widely used, which, for example, was done more than once in the process of confiscating church valuables. As a result, almost all the bishops and clergy were shot or perished in camps. A handful remained free, truly a “small flock,” who had the lot to preserve our faith in incredibly difficult conditions.
However, there are now some “history researchers” who cynically ask: “Why did these few survive? How dare they stay alive when others were destroyed?” And they immediately answer themselves: “If they were spared, it was only because they had a special relationship with the authorities.” The spiritual fathers and forerunners of these falsely wise “historians” were precisely those who were engaged in the physical extermination of the flower of Russian Orthodoxy. For the current enemies of the Church of Christ want to complete the work of the persecutors of that time and shoot our memory of those who survived the terrible years of repression and brought to us the beauty of the Orthodox faith.
Those who paid with their lives for loyalty to Christ and His Church were martyrs, and those who carried this faith through all the trials and temptations and survived became confessors. It is difficult to even imagine what would have happened to our Fatherland if the confessors of the 20s, 30s and subsequent years had not observed the Orthodox faith among our people! The consequences of this would be catastrophic for our national, spiritual and religious-cultural identity. Devastated, distrustful people, who have lost God and spiritual immunity, would today become easy prey for false teachers and pseudo-missionaries who have flown to our land from all over the world. And therefore, now, as a sign of gratitude and gratitude, we bow our heads both to the memory of those who remained faithful to Christ even to death, and to the confessional labors of those who saved and carried the spark of the Orthodox faith through decades of unheard-of persecution. Now the spark, having kindled into a flame, warms and inspires our Orthodox people, strengthens them in the fight against sin and lies, helps them overcome the temptations of false teachings and repel those who seek to tear them away from their native soil.
It is far from accidental that the final one from the set of Beatitudes is dedicated to those persecuted for Christ. For by accepting Christian teaching and comparing our lives with it, we take a completely definite position in the key conflict of all times - the struggle of God with the devil, the forces of good with the forces of evil. But warfare with the prince of darkness, with the evil inclination and powerful lies, as well as the confession of the Truth of Christ, is not at all a safe matter. For evil is not indifferent to the world and man, it is not neutral: it lies in wait and hurts those who challenge it.
The commandment about those persecuted for Christ’s sake is different from all the others. Let's compare it with the previous one: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”.
That is, blessed is the one who suffered for the truth: his reward is prepared in Heaven. The commandment about those who endured for Christ’s sake sounds differently: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you unjustly because of Me.”.
That is, blessed not in the future life, but already at the very moment when persecution is endured for Christ. But then why are they blessed? Yes, because it is precisely at the moment of greatest tension of human strength in standing for the truth of God that the fullness of this truth is revealed. It is no coincidence that Faith, Hope and Love remained faithful to Christ even in torment. Because at the moment of confession, in the terrible moment of testing, the Lord Himself was with them.
If we accept the Beatitudes, then we accept Christ Himself. And this means that our highest law and our highest truth is the moral ideal of Christianity, for which we must be ready to suffer, finding both in this ideal and in its confession the fullness of life.

“When He saw the people, He went up into the mountain; and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
And He opened His mouth and taught them..." (Matthew, V 1-2)

First the Lord indicated what His disciples should be like, that is, all Christians. How they must fulfill the law of God in order to receive blessed (that is, extremely joyful, happy), eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. For this purpose He gave the nine beatitudes. Then the Lord gave teachings about the Providence of God, about non-judgment of others, about the power of prayer, about almsgiving and much more. This sermon of Jesus Christ is called the sermon on the mount.

So, in the middle of a clear spring day, with a quiet breeze of coolness from Lake Galilee, on the slopes of a mountain covered with greenery and flowers, the Savior gives people the New Testament law of love. And no one leaves Him without consolation.

The Old Testament law is the law of strict truth, and the New Testament law of Christ is the law of Divine love and grace, which gives people the power to fulfill God's Law. Jesus Christ himself said: “I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17).

(according to "The Law of God". Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskaya
-http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/bible/zb/zb143.htm)

THE HAPPINESS COMMANDMENTS

" If you love Me, keep My commandments ".
GOSPEL OF JOHN, chapters 14, 15.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as a loving Father, shows us the ways or deeds through which people can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. To all who will fulfill His instructions or commandments, Christ promises, as the King of heaven and earth, eternal bliss (great joy, highest happiness) in the future, eternal life. That is why He calls such people blessed, i.e. the happiest.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for to them is the kingdom of heaven.	1. Blessed are the poor in spirit (humble): because theirs is (that is, the Kingdom of Heaven will be given to them).
	The poor in spirit are people who feel and recognize their sins and spiritual shortcomings. They remember that without God’s help they themselves cannot do anything good, and therefore they do not boast or be proud of anything, either before God or before people. These are humble people.
2.Blessed are those who cry, for they will be comforted.	2. Blessed are those who mourn (for their sins), for they will be comforted.
	Weeping people are people who grieve and cry about their sins and spiritual shortcomings. The Lord will forgive their sins. He gives them consolation here on earth, and eternal joy in heaven.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.	3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit (take possession of) the earth.
	The meek are people who patiently endure all sorts of misfortunes, without becoming upset (without grumbling) at God, and humbly endure all sorts of troubles and insults from people, without getting angry with anyone. They will receive possession of a heavenly dwelling, that is, a new (renewed) earth in the Kingdom of Heaven.
4.Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.	4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (desiring righteousness); because they will be satisfied.
	Hungering and thirsting for truth- people who diligently desire truth, like the hungry (hungry) - bread and the thirsty - water, ask God to cleanse them from sins and help them live righteously (they want to be justified before God). The desire of such people will be fulfilled, they will be satisfied, that is, they will be justified.
5. Blesseds of mercy, for there will be mercy.	5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
	Merciful - people who have a kind heart - merciful, compassionate towards everyone, always ready to help those in need in any way they can. Such people themselves will be pardoned by God, and God’s special mercy will be shown to them.
6.Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will see God.	6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
	Pure in heart are people who not only guard against bad deeds, but also try to make their soul pure, that is, they keep it from bad thoughts and desires. Here too they are close to God (they always feel Him in their souls), and in the future life, in the Kingdom of Heaven, they will forever be with God and see Him.
7.Blessed are the peacemakers, for these shall be called sons of God.	7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called (called) sons of God.
	Peacemakers are people who do not like any quarrels. They themselves try to live peacefully and amicably with everyone and to reconcile others with each other. They are likened to the Son of God, Who came to earth to reconcile sinners with the justice of God. Such people will be called sons, that is, children of God, and will be especially close to God.
8. Blessed is the expulsion of truth for the sake of them, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.	8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
	Banished for the Truth- people who so love to live according to the truth, that is, according to God's law, according to justice, that they endure and endure all sorts of persecutions, deprivations and disasters for this truth, but do not betray it in any way. For this they will receive the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you when they revile you, and ridicule you, and say all sorts of evil things about you lying, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is abundant in heaven.	Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad then, for great is your reward in heaven.
	Here the Lord says: if they revile you (mock you, scold you, dishonor you), use you and falsely say bad things about you (slander, unfairly accuse you), and you endure all this for your faith in Me, then do not be sad, but rejoice and be glad, because a great, greatest reward in heaven awaits you, that is, a particularly high degree of eternal bliss.

ABOUT GOD'S PROVIDENCE

Jesus Christ taught that God provides, that is, cares for all creatures, but especially provides for people. The Lord takes care of us more and better than the kindest and most reasonable father takes care of his children. He provides us with His help in everything that is necessary in our life and that serves for our true benefit.

“Do not worry (overly) about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear,” said the Savior. “Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into a barn, and your heavenly Father feeds them; and are you not much better than them? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. But I tell you that Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like any of these. But if God clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, then how much more you, O you of little faith! But God is the Father your Heavenly One knows that you need all this. Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

ABOUT NON-JUDGEMENT OF YOUR NEIGHBOR

Jesus Christ did not say to judge other people. He said this: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Because with the same judgment you judge, you will also be judged (i.e., if you are lenient towards the actions of other people, then God’s judgment will be merciful to you). And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye (that is, every other person), but do not feel the plank in your own eye? (This means : Why do you like to notice even minor sins and shortcomings in others, but don’t want to see big sins and vices in yourself?) Or, as you say to your brother: let me take the speck out of your eye; but behold, there is a beam in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye (try first of all to correct yourself), and then you will see how to remove the speck from your brother’s eye" (then you will be able to correct the sin in another without insulting or humiliating him).

ABOUT FORGIVING YOUR NEIGHBOR

“Forgive and you will be forgiven,” said Jesus Christ. “For if you forgive people their sins, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins.”

ABOUT LOVE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR

Jesus Christ commanded us to love not only our loved ones, but all people, even those who offended us and caused us harm, that is, our enemies. He said: “You have heard what was said (by your teachers - the scribes and Pharisees): love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. "That you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust."

If you love only those who love you; or will you do good only to those who do it to you, and will you lend only to those from whom you hope to receive it back? Why should God reward you? Don't lawless people do the same thing? Don't the pagans do the same?

Be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father is merciful, be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect?

GENERAL RULE FOR TREATING YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

How we should always treat our neighbors, in any case, Jesus Christ gave us this rule: " in everything you want people to do to you(and we, of course, want all people to love us, do good to us and forgive us), do the same to them". (Don't do to others what you don't want to do to yourself.)

ABOUT THE POWER OF PRAYER

If we earnestly pray to God and ask for His help, then God will do everything that will serve for our true benefit. Jesus Christ said this about it: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Is there a man among you who, when his son "If you ask him for bread, would you give him a stone? And when he asks for fish, would you give him a snake? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him."

ABOUT ALMS

We must do every good deed not out of boasting to people, not to show off to others, not for the sake of human reward, but for the sake of love for God and neighbor. Jesus Christ said: “See that you do not do your alms in front of people so that they will see you; otherwise you will have no reward from your Heavenly Father. So, when you do alms, do not sound a trumpet (that is, do not publicize) before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them. Truly I say to you, they are already receiving their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (i.e., to yourself) do not boast about the good that you have done, forget about it), so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret (that is, everything that is in your soul and for the sake of which you do all this), will reward you openly" - if not now, then at His last judgment.

ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF GOOD DEEDS

So that people know that to enter the Kingdom of God, good feelings and desires alone are not enough, but good deeds are necessary, Jesus Christ said: “Not everyone who says to Me: Lord! Lord! will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will (commandments) of My Heavenly Father,” that is, it is not enough to just be a believer and a pious person, but we must also do those good deeds that the Lord requires of us.

When Jesus Christ finished His preaching, the people marveled at His teaching, because He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes and Pharisees taught. When He came down from the mountain, many people followed Him, and He, in His mercy, performed great miracles.


NOTE:
See in the Gospel of Matthew chapters - 5, 6 and 7, from Luke, ch. 6, 12-41.
and "God's Law". Prot. Seraphim Slobodskaya-http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/bible/zb/zb143.htm
Prayers on the Internet.


Beatitudes
What is their meaning and difference from the Old Testament commandments
(conversation with professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexei Ilyich Osipov)

When it comes to Christian commandments, these words usually mean what everyone knows: “I am the Lord your God.”<…>May you have no other gods; do not make yourself an idol; Do not take the name of the Lord in vain...” However, these commandments through Moses were given to the people of Israel one and a half thousand years before the birth of Christ.

In Christianity, there is a different code of relations between man and God, which is usually called the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), about which modern people know much less than about the Old Testament commandments. What is their meaning?
What kind of bliss are we talking about? And what is the difference between the Old Testament and New Testament commandments?
We talked about this with a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy Alexey Ilyich Osipov.

- Today the word “bliss” for many means the highest degree of pleasure. Does the Gospel presuppose precisely this understanding of this word or does it give it some other meaning?
- In the patristic heritage there is one common thesis, found in almost all the Fathers: if a person views Christian life as a way to achieve some heavenly pleasures, ecstasies, experiences, special states of grace, then he is on the wrong path, on the path of delusion. Why are the holy fathers so unanimous on this issue? The answer is simple: if Christ is the Savior, therefore, there is some kind of great trouble from which we all need to be saved, then we are sick, we are in a state of death, damage and spiritual darkness, which does not give us the opportunity to achieve that blissful union with God, which we call the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the correct spiritual state of a person is characterized by his desire for healing from all sin, from everything that prevents him from achieving this Kingdom, and not by the desire for pleasure, even heavenly. As Macarius the Great said, if I’m not mistaken, our goal is not to receive something from God, but to unite with God Himself. And since God is Love, then union with God introduces us to that highest thing that in human language is called love. There is simply no higher state for a person.

Therefore, the very word “bliss” in this context means communion with God, who is Truth, Being, Love, the highest Good.

What is the fundamental difference between the commandments of the Old Testament and the Beatitudes?

All the Old Testament commandments are of a prohibitive nature: “Thou shalt not kill”, “Thou shalt not steal”, “Thou shalt not covet”... They were designed to keep a person from violating the Will of God. The Beatitudes have a different, positive character. But they can only conditionally be called commandments. Essentially, they are nothing more than an image of the beauty of the properties of that person whom the Apostle Paul calls new. The beatitudes show what spiritual gifts the new man will receive if he follows the way of the Lord. The Decalogue of the Old Testament and the Sermon on the Mount of the Gospel are two different levels of spiritual order. The Old Testament commandments promise a reward for their fulfillment: so that your days on earth will be prolonged. The beatitudes, without canceling these commandments, raise a person’s consciousness to the true goal of his existence: they will see God, for beatitude is God Himself. It is no coincidence that such an expert on Scripture as St. John Chrysostom says: “The Old Testament is as distant from the New as earth is from heaven.”

We can say that the commandments given through Moses are a kind of barrier, a fence on the edge of an abyss, holding back the beginning. And beatitudes are an open prospect of life in God. But without fulfilling the first, the second, of course, is impossible.

- What are “poor in spirit”? And is it true that the ancient texts of the New Testament simply say: “Blessed are the poor,” and the word “by the spirit” is a later insertion?
- If we take the edition of the New Testament in ancient Greek by Kurt Aland, where interlinear references are given to all the discrepancies found in the found manuscripts and fragments of the New Testament, then everywhere, with rare exceptions, the word “by the spirit” is present. And the very context of the New Testament speaks about the spiritual content of this saying. Therefore, the Slavic translation, and then the Russian one, contains precisely “poor in spirit” as an expression that corresponds to the spirit of the entire sermon of the Savior. And I must say that this full text has the deepest meaning.

All the holy ascetic fathers constantly and persistently emphasized that it is the awareness of one’s spiritual poverty that is the basis of the spiritual life of a Christian. This poverty consists in a person’s vision, firstly, of the damage to his nature by sin, and secondly, the impossibility of healing it on his own, without God’s help. And until a person sees this poverty of his, he is incapable of spiritual life. Poverty of spirit is essentially nothing more than humility. How it is acquired is briefly and clearly discussed, for example, by Rev. Simeon the New Theologian: “Careful fulfillment of the commandments of Christ teaches a person his weaknesses,” that is, reveals to him the illnesses of his soul. The saints claim that without this foundation no other virtues are possible. Moreover, the virtues themselves, without spiritual poverty, can lead a person into a very dangerous state, into vanity, pride and other sins.

If the reward for poverty of spirit is the Kingdom of Heaven, then why are the other blessings needed, since the Kingdom of Heaven already presupposes the fullness of good?

Here we are not talking about reward, but about the necessary condition under which all further virtues are possible. When we build a house, we first lay the foundation, and only then build the walls. In spiritual life, humility - spiritual poverty - is the foundation without which all good deeds and all further work on oneself becomes meaningless and useless. St. said this beautifully. Isaac the Syrian: “What salt is to all food, so is humility to all virtue. because without humility all our deeds, all virtues and all work are in vain.” But, on the other hand, spiritual poverty is a powerful incentive for correct spiritual life, the acquisition of all other god-like properties and, thus, the fullness of good.

- Then the next question is: are the Beatitudes hierarchical and are they a kind of system, or is each of them completely self-sufficient?

We can say with complete confidence that the first stage is the necessary basis for obtaining the rest. But the enumeration of others does not at all have the character of some logically connected strict system. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke themselves, they have a different order. This is also evidenced by the experience of many saints, who have different sequences of acquiring virtues. Each saint had some special virtue that set him apart from others. Someone was a peacemaker. And some are especially merciful. This depended on many reasons: on the natural properties of the individual, on the circumstances of external life, on the nature and conditions of achievement, and even on the level of spiritual perfection. But, I repeat, the acquisition of spiritual poverty, according to the teachings of the fathers, has always been considered as an unconditional requirement, since without it, the fulfillment of the remaining commandments leads to the destruction of the entire spiritual home of a Christian.

The Holy Fathers give sad examples when some ascetics who achieved great talents were able to heal, see the future, and prophesy, but then fell into the gravest sins. And the fathers directly explain: all this happened because they, without recognizing themselves, that is, their sinfulness, their weakness in the feat of cleansing the soul from the action of passions, in other words, without acquiring spiritual poverty, were easily subjected to devilish attacks, stumbled and fell.

- Blessed are those who mourn. But people cry for different reasons. What kind of crying are we talking about?
- There are many types of tears: we cry from resentment, we cry from joy, we cry from anger, we cry from some kind of sorrow, we cry from misfortune. These types of crying can be natural or even sinful.

When the holy fathers explain Christ’s blessing of those who cry, they speak not about these reasons for tears, but about tears of repentance, heartfelt contrition for their sins, about their powerlessness to cope with the evil that they see in themselves. Such crying is an appeal of both the mind and the heart to God for help in spiritual life. But God will not reject a contrite and humble heart and will certainly help such a person to overcome evil in himself and acquire goodness. Therefore, blessed are these who mourn.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. What does it mean? In the sense that all the meek will eventually kill each other, and only the meek will remain on earth?
- First of all, it is necessary to explain what meekness is. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) wrote: “The state of the soul in which anger, hatred, resentment and condemnation are eliminated from it is a new bliss, it is called meekness.” Meekness, it turns out, is not some kind of passivity, weak character, or inability to repel aggression, but generosity, the ability to forgive the offender, and not retaliate with evil for evil. This property is completely spiritual, and it is a characteristic of a Christian who has conquered his egoism, conquered the passions, especially anger, that push him to revenge. Therefore, such a person is capable of inheriting the promised land of the Kingdom of Heaven.

At the same time, the holy fathers explained that here we are not talking about this, our earth, filled with sin, suffering, blood, but about that earth, which is the abode of the eternal future life of man - the new earth and the new heaven, about which the Apostle John the Theologian writes in his Apocalypse.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. That is, it turns out that God treats the merciful differently than the unmerciful. Does He have mercy on some and not on others?

It would be a mistake to understand the word “pardoned” in a legal sense or to believe that God, having anger at man, but seeing his mercy towards people, turned His wrath into mercy. There is no judicial pardon of the sinner, no change in God's attitude towards him for his kindness. Rev. Anthony the Great explains this perfectly: “It is absurd to think that the Divine would be good or bad because of human affairs. God is good and does only good things, being always the same; and when we are good, we enter into communication with God - out of similarity with Him, and when we become evil, we separate from God - out of dissimilarity with Him. By living virtuously, we become God's people, and by becoming evil, we become rejected from Him; and this does not mean that He has anger against us, but that our sins do not allow God to shine in us, but unite us with demons tormentors. If we then gain permission from our sins through prayers and acts of kindness, this does not mean that we have pleased God and changed Him, but that through such actions and our turning to God, having healed the evil that exists in us, we again become able to taste God’s goodness; so to say: God turns away from the wicked is the same as saying: the sun is hidden from those deprived of sight.” That is, pardon here does not mean a change in God’s attitude towards man for his mercy, but this mercy towards his neighbor makes the person himself capable of perceiving the unchanging love of God. This is a logical and natural process - like is combined with like. The closer a person becomes to God through his mercy towards his neighbors, the more God’s mercy he becomes able to accommodate.

- Who are the pure in heart and how are they able to see God, who is the Spirit and about whom it is said: no one has seen God?

By “pure heart” the holy fathers understand the possibility of achieving dispassion, that is, liberation from slavery to passions, for everyone who commits sin, according to the word of Christ, is a slave of sin. So, as a person frees himself from this slavery, he truly becomes more and more a spiritual spectator of God. Just as we experience love, we see it in ourselves, so, similarly, a person can see God - not with external vision, but with the internal experience of His presence in his soul, in his life. How beautifully the Psalmist speaks about this: taste and see that the Lord is good!

- Blessed are the peacemakers - who is this said about? Who are the peacemakers and why are they promised bliss?

These words have at least two conjugate meanings. The first, more obvious, concerns our mutual relations with each other, both personal and collective, social, international. Those who unselfishly strive to establish and maintain peace are blessed, even if this is associated with any infringement of their pride, vanity, etc. This peacemaker, in whom love overcomes his often petty truth, is pleased with Christ.

The second meaning, a deeper one, applies to those who, through the feat of struggle against passions, cleansed their hearts from all evil and became able to accept into their souls that peace about which the Savior said: My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. This peace of soul is glorified by all the saints, claiming that whoever acquires it acquires true sonship with God.

- Well, the last question - expelled for the sake of truth. Isn’t there a certain danger here for a modern person - to confuse your personal problems, which caused unpleasant consequences for you, with persecution for Christ and the truth of God?

- Of course, this danger exists. After all, there is no good thing that cannot be spoiled. And in this case, all of us (each to the extent of his susceptibility to passions) are sometimes inclined to consider ourselves persecuted for that truth, which is not at all the truth of God. There is an ordinary human truth, which, as a rule, is, expressed in mathematical language, the establishment of the identity of relations: twice two is four. This truth is nothing more than the right to justice. V. Solovyov very precisely said about the moral level of this right: “Right is the lowest limit or a certain minimum of morality.” Expulsion for this truth, if we correlate this with the modern context of the struggle for freedoms and human rights, it turns out that is not the highest dignity of a person, because here, along with sincere aspirations, vanity, calculation, political considerations, and other, not always disinterested, are often manifested , motives.

What kind of truth did the Lord speak about when he promised the Kingdom of Heaven to those exiled for it? Saint Isaac the Syrian wrote about her: “Mercy and justice in one soul are the same as a person who worships God and idols in the same house. Mercy is the opposite of justice. Justice is an equalization of exact measures: because it gives everyone what they deserve... And mercy. He compassionately bows down to everyone: he who is worthy of evil is not repaid with evil, and he who is worthy of good is filled with abundance. Just as hay and fire cannot stand to be in the same house, so justice and mercy cannot be in the same soul.”

There is a good saying: “Demanding your rights is a matter of truth, sacrificing them is a matter of love.” God's truth exists only where there is love. Where there is no love, there is no truth. If I tell a person with an ugly appearance that he is a freak, then technically I will be right. But there will be no God's truth in my words. Why? Because there is no love, no compassion. That is, God's truth and human truth are often completely different things. Without love there is no truth, even if everything seems quite fair. And, on the contrary, where there is not even justice, but there is real love, condescending to the shortcomings of one’s neighbor, showing patience, true truth is present. St. Isaac the Syrian cites God Himself as an example: “Do not call God just, for His justice is not known by your deeds. Moreover, He is good and gracious. For he says, “It is good for the wicked and the wicked (Luke 6:35).” The Lord Jesus Christ, being a righteous man, suffered for the unrighteous and prayed from the Cross: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. It turns out that this is the kind of truth one can and should suffer for - for love of man, of truth, of God. Only in this case will those persecuted for the sake of righteousness inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.