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The Holy Church reads the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Chapter 13, art. 4-13; chapter 14, art. 1-5.

13:4. Love is patient and kind, love does not envy, love does not boast, it is not proud,

13:5. does not act outrageously, does not seek his own, is not irritated, does not think evil,

13:6. does not rejoice in untruth, but rejoices in the truth;

13:7. covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13:8. Love never fails, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished.

13:9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;

13:10. But when that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will cease.

13:11. When I was a baby, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child; and when he became a husband, he left behind his children.

13:12. Now we see as if through a dark glass, fortune-telling, but then face to face; Now I know in part, but then I will know, even as I am known.

13:13. And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but love is the greatest of them all.

14:1. Achieve love; be zealous for spiritual gifts, especially to prophesy.

14:2. For whoever speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men, but to God; because no one understands him, he speaks secrets in the spirit;

14:3. and whoever prophesies speaks to people for edification, admonition and comfort.

14:4. He who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself; and whoever prophesies edifies the church.

14:5. I wish that you all spoke in tongues; but it is better that you prophesy; For he who prophesies is superior to him who speaks in tongues, unless he also speaks, so that the church may receive edification.

(1 Cor. 13, 4 – 14, 5)

Let me remind you that the 12th, 13th and 14th chapters are devoted to the Apostle Paul’s discussions about spiritual gifts. The problem was that the Corinthians considered themselves especially gifted, they valued some gifts above others, thereby giving them a reason to exalt themselves. The Apostle Paul, as usual, tries to sober them up. When reading the 12th chapter, we reasoned that the Church is the Body of Christ and every part of it, every member is important and necessary in this body. Accordingly, each person is filled with the Spirit, like all other Christians, therefore his role in this Body, the Church, is unique, and there is no point in being exalted. On the contrary, one should always take more care of the one who requires care, and rejoice even more if the weak member shows itself positively. The most important thought of the Apostle Paul appears in the 13th chapter. Today we started reading the 14th chapter, which will talk about speaking in tongues, this is a separate serious topic. Perhaps we will start it today, or maybe we will talk next time, because today we read almost the entire chapter 13, known to many people, Christians and others, which is often quoted in literary texts and even films. In biblical studies and New Testament theology, this passage is called a “hymn of love.” Here the Apostle Paul says that all spiritual gifts, whatever they may be: knowledge, prophecy, speaking in tongues, etc., are nothing if they are not permeated with love.

We didn't read the first three verses of chapter 13 today, but I recommend looking at them today too. In them the Apostle Paul says that whatever he possesses: I speak in the tongues of men and angels(1 Cor. 13:1), I have the gift of prophecy, and I know all mysteries, and I have all knowledge(1 Cor. 13:2) or I will distribute all my property and give my body to be burned(1 Cor. 13:3), if all this is without love, then it means nothing. Remember almost the same idea in the Epistle to the Romans: love is the fulfillment of the law. On Saturday we read a passage from Romans 13, verses 1 through 10, and I paid special attention to verses 8, 9, and 10. Love does not harm one's neighbor (Rom. 13:10); he who loves another has fulfilled the law (Rom. 13:8). If a person lives in love, if the love of God abides in him, then no matter what he does, he will not do harm to his neighbor, he will fulfill the will of God, that is, the law. If a person is in love, then fulfilling the will of God becomes the natural norm of his life, and vice versa. Today's text tells us that no matter how outwardly a person is virtuous, selfless, even ready to be burned, to give away all his property, who knows all the secrets, has various gifts, is respected in society, and so on - if he does not have love, does not live in love, and all this is just an external form, then there will be no benefit. Therefore, the only thing a Christian is called to strive for is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, as Seraphim of Sarov said, that is, the love of God, its energy, which a Christian is called to pass through himself. To do this, you need to open your heart and not put obstacles between yourself and God. God always comes to meet man halfway, but man resists, so you need to remove this obstacle: cleanse your consciousness so that the mind, as our ascetic ascetics say, sinks into the heart. There, in the heart, a person meets God, cognizes Divine love, lets it into himself and further spreads it to the rest of the universe: people and other creation - this is actually the goal of man.

Further, the Apostle Paul characterizes love. Of course, here are characteristics that are not exhaustive, but fundamental and important, which speak about what Christian love is. These are not emotions, not feelings, not delight and not euphoria, but precisely love, which in Greek sounds like αγάπη [agapi] (we recently mentioned this word), that is, a certain position in life. It manifests itself in action, deeds, perseverance, and good deeds. It is truly more than just something sensual, fleeting, transient, determined only by biology or chemistry. Now there are discussions, articles, programs on the topic “The Chemistry of Love”, which say why a person falls in love, why he gets irritated, and does something else. It also says that Christian love is something fundamental, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, so it will not just evaporate anywhere, like falling in love or other feelings can evaporate.

4. Love is patient and kind, love does not envy, love does not boast, it is not proud,

5. does not act outrageously, does not seek his own, is not irritated, does not think evil...

Russian translation thinks no evil does not quite accurately reflect the meaning of the original. Love does not think evil, not in the sense that it does not think about evil, but in the sense that it does not remember evil. If someone offends, then a loving person misses it, this evil does not touch his heart and does not leave a trace of resentment; a person still remains in love: resentment does not shake his love.

6. does not rejoice in untruth, but rejoices in the truth;

7. covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8. Love never fails, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished.

Everything that the Apostle Paul speaks about at the beginning of the 13th chapter will pass, and the knowledge of this world, with which one can boast, boast, and be arrogant, will be meaningless. We will see God “face to face” (as will be written later), therefore that knowledge will be abolished, tongues and prophecies will have no meaning there, and love will always be relevant, because this is the essence of Divine energy, Divine nature. By and large, the main manifestation of God, at least known and revealed to us, is love.

I remind you of the need for you and me to read the word of God every day, because it contains great joy, consolation and instruction. God bless you all!

Priest Mikhail Romadov

We hear the word “love” all the time these days. Some people call this concept physical intimacy, others - ardent passion, but for Christians it is important to know what the apostles said about love, and how much their understanding of this virtue differs from what is common now.

The most famous text in which the apostles talk about love is chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians by the Apostle Paul. The famous “hymn of love” is 13 verses, which lists the signs of true love as the highest Christian virtue: the pursuit of Truth, resistance to untruth, patience, mercy, hope, the ability to forgive and endure any difficulties, absence of pride and desire for evil and irritation.

The Apostle Paul says that love is the main thing a Christian should strive for:

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, then I am a ringing brass or a sounding cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing.

And if I give away all my goods and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

Note that the apostolic idea of ​​love does not coincide with how many understand love in the modern world. For us, “loving” a person often means using him, “feasting on him like strawberries and cream,” as Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh said. After such a “consumption”, a person is necessarily thrown away - relationships collapse, families break up, and instead of love and happiness, the result is only suffering.

The Apostle Peter in two letters offers a recipe for true love, in which there is no place for quarrels and insults: Most of all, have fervent love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

Love, according to the Apostle Peter, is not a way to receive pleasure from another person, not a mechanism for using it, but an opportunity to forgive offenses, help one’s neighbor and overcome conflicts.

At the same time, the apostolic understanding of love is not at all similar to boring moral teachings about “how important it is to be good.” Love is a goal, not a means to achieve something.

Love is the best way to know God and the opportunity to feel like “children of God” - the Apostle John in his First Epistle says a lot about the fact that Christians are not only obliged to love their neighbor, but in fact cannot help but do so. Lack of love is a sinful distortion of human nature that can be overcome with the help of Christ: No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God abides in us, and His love is perfect in us. (1 John 4:12)

For the Apostle John, the meaning of love is also to act according to the commandments.

As we see, when speaking about love, the apostles hardly mention intimate relationships. This topic is mentioned in the New Testament either in connection with marriage and relationships between spouses, or when talking about sins. In the Holy Scriptures, physical intimacy is not something valuable in itself - in marriage it becomes one of the very significant expressions of love, deepening and expanding the love between a man and a woman. In the case of “strawberries and cream,” physical intimacy becomes what finally destroys, crushes and narrows this love.

Love as a Christian virtue, according to the apostles, is a much broader and more important concept than any intimacy between people.

This tradition continued subsequently. One of the most famous parables about the Christian understanding of love is told by Abba Dorotheos: “Imagine a circle drawn on the ground, the middle of which is called the center, and the straight lines going from the center to the circumference are called radii. Now delve into it: suppose that this circle is the world, and the very center of the circle is God; the radii, i.e. straight lines running from the circle to the center are the paths of human life.

So, to the extent that the saints enter inside the circle, wanting to get closer to God, as they enter, they become closer to both God and each other; and as much as they draw closer to God, they draw closer to each other; and as they draw closer to each other, they draw closer to God.

Think about removal in the same way. When they move away from God and return to the external, it is obvious that to the extent that they come from the center and move away from God, to the same extent they move away from each other; and the more they move away from each other, the more they move away from God.

This is the nature of love: to the extent that we are outside and do not love God, to the extent that everyone is removed from his neighbor. If we love God, then as much as we draw closer to God through love for Him, we are united through love with our loved ones; and as much as we unite with our neighbor, as much we unite with God.”

TWELVE STORIES ABOUT LOVE
or SELECTED REFLECTIONS ON THE EPISTLE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, then I am a ringing brass or a sounding cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing.
And if I give away all my property and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good.
Love is patient and kind, love does not envy, love does not boast, it is not proud,
does not act outrageously, does not seek his own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in untruth, but rejoices with the truth;
covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ceases, although prophecies will cease,
and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished.
First Letter to the Corinthians by the Apostle Paul

The theme of this issue is unusual both in content and form. There are no interviews or articles, no references or information inserts. The techniques of traditional journalism are hardly suitable for talking about the Christian perception of love. And therefore our topic consists of twelve stories that happened at different times: some several centuries and even millennia ago, and some literally “yesterday”. They are separated not only by time, but also by authorship and plot. And the very breadth of perception of the word “love”, which is often identified with the relationship between a man and a woman. Not all the short stories written for this topic by five Orthodox people as original illustrations to the stunningly powerful Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul are similar to lives and icons. And of course, the stories we have chosen contain more manifestations of love than their names. Love is always deep and spacious. But it is precisely in this spacious and at the same time deep perception of love; Understanding how God is present in our relationships in different ways is a joyful and extraordinarily important discovery for Orthodoxy.
What brings us so close to God.
What Christ, who came to earth, witnessed with his life, death and Resurrection.
It is no coincidence that it becomes the most important thing for people - regardless of whether they are believers or not.
That God is Love. This means that when and while we love, we are God’s, no matter how difficult the path from doubt to faith may be for us.

Editorial

Love is patient

My godmother Tatyana had a sick husband: he got drunk every day, and if he didn’t drink, he swallowed Nembutal, and if he didn’t swallow Nembutal, then he took mastyrka. At the same time, he was a most talented, intelligent and witty person, a writer, a classic of children's literature G.S. In his medical history it was written: “Schizophrenia in paranoid form, alcoholism, polydrug addiction, published in Murzilka, broadcast on the radio, member of the Union writers." S. commented on it like this:
- I myself am crazy, and my wife is “the writer’s wife.”
And he also said:
- To be crazy in this country, you need to have a strong psyche and nerves of iron.
If he got out of the house, he would certainly end up in some kind of story, and therefore they talked about him, like Gogol’s Nozdryov, that he was a historical man. “Mother Tatyana” looked after him like a small child, always assigning “bodyguards” to him from among her friends. But she was especially worried about this daily high in which her husband was, and most of all she was afraid that he would not be saved.
“Genka,” she said, “the Apostle Paul himself wrote that drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God!”
She tried everything - and treated him, sending him to the hospital, but there he talked the orderlies, nannies and even nurses into account, and they regularly supplied him with alcohol and pills; she prayed for him and even bought him a hut in the village so that he could experience the beneficial effects of his native nature, inhale the sweet and pleasant smoke of the fatherland and lie down on the stove. But the hut was burned down by drunken fishermen. She tried to invite faithful friends to the house so that they would help S. destroy his stocks of alcohol and he would “get less.” She herself almost became a victim of the “Neuhaus wife syndrome”: Neuhaus’s wife, as soon as she saw her husband’s vodka, immediately selflessly tried to drink as much as possible so that it would dry out quickly. And so, the poor thing, she drank herself to death, but he ended his days quite happily.
So Tatyana courageously applied the same method, that is, in essence, she “laid down her soul for her friends,” only she managed to stop in time. And in general, she created an atmosphere of normal life in the house, where everything went on as usual: editors came, to whom S. dictated his wonderful stories about travels and animals; friends gathered, someone was always celebrating their birthday, wedding anniversary, dissertation defense, opening of an exhibition, publication of a new book; then the neighbor ran in for a minute on some business, but remained there, listening and watching; then a certain out-of-town acquaintance stopped for the night; then the wandering monk received shelter. A strange situation was created when people rushed here, to this warm, hospitable house, where Tatyana literally treated everyone from the heart, outwardly seemingly much more comfortable and prosperous than the owners themselves, to receive comfort and love here, to come to terms with life. After libations, S. reclined on the sofa, like an ancient patrician, guests sat around him, sometimes they were people who seemed to be completely incompatible with each other, if they were somewhere else, and he told such amazing stories that were then passed down from his lips into the mouth, gradually losing its authorship and already being perceived as the fruit of wise folk art. S. was a master of storytelling, a virtuoso of paradox.
There was a time when Tatyana secretly diluted vodka with water, and the proportions of the latter increased and increased until S.’s glass contained pure water. He drank and said in surprise:
- Well, what has it come to - I drink and don’t get drunk!
Then Tatyana found out that in the Belgorod region, in the village of Rakitnoye, there lives an amazing Orthodox elder, through whose prayers miracles are performed. And she took S. to the elder.
He received him with love, hugged him and said:
- Why, my dear, haven’t come to me for so long!
And he blessed them to live with a local old woman, inviting them to a meal in his priestly house every day.
For weeks, and sometimes even months, my friends lived near the elder. S. communicated with the priests and monks who came here and began to look so handsome that sometimes in the church yard he was mistaken for a priest and asked for a blessing.
But she herself was sick and needed surgery. However, she could not even imagine how she would suddenly take care of herself and go to the hospital, leaving her “non-heat” unattended. But the main thing, it seems, was not even this: in the end, it was possible to place a faithful person with S. who would take care of him and feed him. The point is that she was so absorbed in love for her husband, so preoccupied with the idea of ​​saving him, that psychologically she could not switch her energy and attention from him to herself. Therefore, she kept delaying the operation, postponing, delaying, delaying... And she lost time.
He outlived her by two years. All this time he was very sad, almost didn’t drink - he kept lying on his sofa, remembering life. He was practically blind and perceived it somehow symbolically: they say, the earthly vale has gone out, but what pictures he is now viewing with his spiritual eye! My husband, a priest, often visited him, confessed and gave him communion until our friend passed away into eternity.
...And I saw Tatyana immediately after her funeral in a dream. She looked joyful and cheerful. We came to some luxurious refectory, to put it in secular language - as if to some luxurious restaurant, but very tall and spacious, and she said, laughing:
- Well, Oleska, now you will treat me!
When I woke up, I imagined long church funeral tables with burning candles and thought that this was exactly the kind of treat that was discussed in my dream. And I also remembered how in her earthly life she always treated everyone, gave out to everyone from her generosity, from the abundance of her heart, from the riches of love - no one left her empty: without consolation, without a gift, without a gift, without a kind word, smiles and jokes.

Love is kind

I remembered one story that is impossible to forget - well, tell me, what made a six-year-old girl, secretly from her parents, run away at night to feed a dog with broken paws that had been hit by a train, lying under the platform (someone, taking pity, threw her there to die), look after her? A well-off child, a rich house, any hobbies - just you want, her own devoted dog - were bought for her for a lot of money, and now she drags some shabby half-dead mongrel cheese, cookies, meat from the refrigerator, her things to the litter. The dog licked her hands, trying not to howl too loudly... And what did she, the girl, have to do for this... For this love! A prestigious country house in a protected area - I had to negotiate with the security, or simply, pay for silence. But in order to pay, it means that you have to somehow extract money from your parents, that is, lie and lie every time about some gifts for girlfriends or something else, and when this did not help, you had to steal - she knew, I spied where the money was. Not to mention what it’s like to make your way to the platform at night, to sit under it, cowering from the roar of a freight train... Why, you say, at night? Why secretly? Yes, because I knew that they wouldn’t let me in, they wouldn’t allow me. That’s basically what happened: when they found out where their child ran at night, they were indescribably horrified: the child risked getting hit by a train every day, and could turn into such a dog himself! They sent servants to the station. And they found that dog and killed it - they eliminated, so to speak, the very cause... And how did it all end? And it ended with the girl’s severe nervous breakdown. She lay there, withdrawn into herself, then suddenly cried for no reason... And nothing could distract her or console her. One day in March she asked to go for a walk. There was a lot of sun, a fresh, summer-smelling wind... Then lobar pneumonia - fleeting, like the life of a moth. And the little man was gone.
I couldn’t help but think about this fate: what brought her to this life? What was this lived for? Is it really for the love of mercy for this poor stray dog? Really...
So little has been lived and so much has been given.

Love doesn't envy

My old friend, the prose writer V., lived a stormy bohemian life. He changed several cities and even countries, as well as several wives, one of whom he severely beat with a whip out of jealousy, and knocked out the front tooth of an opponent, so that he almost ended up in court, but it turned out okay, he paid off. And finally, at the end of his days, he “returned to square one,” settled down and adopted the image of a “repentant sinner.” From his previous life he has a wonderful son, Kolenka, whom V. himself calls “a gift from heaven,” a meek, fair-faced young man. Kolenka served in the church from adolescence, and then entered the Moscow Theological Seminary and studied there very successfully. At the sight of him, the heart itself began to sing to him: “Axios! Axios!”* And in general, everything said that he was about to take holy orders and would pray with a pure heart for us at the Throne. Moreover, his girlfriend was a match for him - joyful, pretty, all like a rosy apple.
He referred to her as “my girl”:
- Can I come to you with my girlfriend? Can't you give my girlfriend your book?
He introduced her to her father, to her relatives, to her father’s friends - therefore, the wedding was not far off, and then ordination was just a stone’s throw away...
So a month passes, then another, six months, a year...
I meet him on the street - he comes, shining:
- Kolenka, how is life?
- God bless! So I entered the Theological Academy...
- How’s your girlfriend?
- And she’s beautifully simple! She's so lucky! She got married - very happily, very well. For my friend, former classmate. A wonderful person, very spiritual and how he sings! He has already been ordained as a deacon. He took her with him on a pilgrimage to holy places - they had just returned from Greece, full of impressions: they visited the relics of St. Spyridon, and St. Andrew the First-Called, and St. John the Russian. All my life I dreamed of going there, but they described everything to me so accurately, so vividly, that it was as if I had been there myself, seen everything with my own eyes and touched the shrines. I still have this blissful feeling.
...My friend V., commenting on this, says: “God is free to grow grapes on thornbushes, and figs on thistles!”
I still asked him:
- Or maybe Kolya didn’t really need that girl of his? Well, maybe he didn’t love her that much, he was just friends?
- What, didn’t you understand anything? He loved her, of course, he even bought her an engagement ring, he consulted with me, he was afraid - what if he didn’t like it? But I didn’t have time to give it: then he kept whispering, shocked: “Not fate, not fate!” Well, he just brought this ring to the Mother of God: either he gave her some kind of vow, or he simply asked for consolation...

Love doesn't go wild

Andrey Desnitsky:

The New Testament contains one very unusual epistle of Paul. Readers, as a rule, do not remember it at all: it is the smallest, it speaks about some private and long-past things... but it very well illustrates the words of another Message: “love does not go wild.” However, before starting the story, it is perhaps necessary to clarify one of the meanings of this word - “outrage.” To be outrageous does not necessarily mean to be a hooligan; it means, first of all, to disrupt the existing social order (order), to turn it into chaos.
So, the message to Philemon. This was the name of one of the apostle Paul’s acquaintances, whom he converted to faith. And Philemon had a slave, Onesimus, who ran away from him - we don’t know under what circumstances, before or after his conversion, but he ran away, perhaps taking something with him. And then Onesimus met Paul, also converted to Christianity and helped him in his ministry when he was in prison. Paul wrote this letter to Philemon, asking him to accept Onesimus back and forgive him.
And why, it would seem, include such correspondence in the New Testament? What is so important and significant about it? People, living people. This letter shows us how relationships developed between people in the early Christian community and how they related to the then accepted structure of society. Sometimes you can hear bewilderment: why did the first Christians not protest against the cruel customs of their time, for example, slavery? The answer is simple: they lived in a world where it simply never occurred to anyone that it was possible to do without them. But they tried to change themselves, their attitude towards these customs.
The runaway slave Onesimus... According to the laws of that time, Paul had to send him in chains to his owner, and he had the right to punish him at his discretion, and often such a punishment was a painful death penalty. The Romans used crucifixion just for runaway slaves, so that no one would dare think about such a thing in the future.
And Paul does not break the law at all - he sends Onesimus to the master, giving him a covering letter: “I ask you about my son Onesimus, whom I gave birth to in my bonds: he was once unfit for you, but now he is fit for you and me; I return it; You accept it as my heart. For, perhaps, he went away for a while so that you could accept him forever, not as a slave, but above a slave, a beloved brother.” Moreover, he gives official guarantees to personally pay for any possible damage once caused by Onesimus!
Unless Philemon was a completely unscrupulous and ungrateful man, he certainly fulfilled the request of Paul, his mentor. It can be assumed that he even released Onesimus as a free man back to Paul - after all, he wrote that he needed Onesimus there in prison, but he sent him back to the owner so that everything would take place in the spirit of peace, love and the free choice of man.
Paul could have raised a slave rebellion, as Spartacus did, and shed rivers of blood. He could hide runaway slaves at home and send them to places where no one would find them, as American abolitionists would later do. He could have been preparing a social revolution, of which there have been many in our history, but he preferred revolution in human hearts to outrage.
This is probably how the first and most important step towards the abolition of slavery was taken: the master accepted the runaway slave as a brother in the Lord.

Love doesn't get annoyed

Love thinks no evil

Andrey Desnitsky:

Many probably remember the strange epigraph to the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov’s “Mtsyri”: “Tasting, I taste little honey and now I’m dying.” But few know about whom this was said for the first time. The 1st Book of Kings put these words into the mouth of Jonathan, no less a tragic character than Lermontov’s Mtsyri.
He was the son of King Saul and a real hero - once it was his bold foray, during which he and his armor bearer killed about twenty enemies, that brought the Israelites victory over the Philistines. He would probably have been a more worthy king than his father Saul. And, of course, Saul was quite ready to hand over his throne to him. But it turned out differently...
God rejected King Saul, choosing another, more worthy king - a young shepherd boy named David, unknown to anyone at that time. It turned out that he ended up in Saul’s palace and became his favorite servant. However, Saul gradually began to realize that there was something in this boy that was not in himself, which meant that he was a rival and a threat. The suspicious king even tried to kill his faithful servant by throwing a spear at him, and another time he sent assassins to him at night. It was quite possible to expect that Jonathan, if he did not help his father in eliminating his competitor, then at least would not interfere. After all, he would have ascended the throne after Saul!
But it turned out completely differently. “Jonathan made an alliance with David, for he loved him as his own soul” - the Bible sparingly describes human feelings; it prefers to talk about words and actions. So these words are one of the very few references to friendship in the biblical text. But Jonathan’s actions are described in quite detail.
He saved David from his father's revenge. David was in mortal danger, but he could not yet understand whether the king really decided to destroy him, or whether all his actions were dictated by momentary outbursts of anger. David fled from the royal camp, but did not go far yet, but remained nearby to wait for news and decide everything for sure.
It was Jonathan who helped him in this, who started a special conversation with his father about David. Unfortunately, reconciliation was no longer possible, and all that remained was to give David a predetermined sign. Jonathan went out into the field to practice archery, and only he knew that David was closely watching these exercises from hiding. The released arrows were picked up by a servant boy, and the king's son, giving him commands, thereby warned David: “Run, run faster!”
He probably really wanted his father and best friend to reconcile, but this did not happen. Then he could make a choice: go with his father against a competitor and secure the throne for himself - or openly oppose his father, as princes in the East did more than once. Then, having transferred the throne to David, he could count on second place after him... After all, he himself told him so at parting: “Do not be afraid, for the hand of my father Saul will not find you, and you will reign over Israel, and I will be second in command.” you; and Saul my father knows it.”
He loved David, but he also loved his father, and did not leave him even in the years of turmoil and defeat. As a result, Saul and Jonathan died together in battle with the Philistines. And David, who was informed of the death of Saul and all his sons, was not at all happy that now he could finally take the Israeli throne. No, first of all, he composed a funeral lament for the dead king Saul and for his faithful friend Jonathan:
From the blood of the wounded, from the bodies of heroes
Jonathan's bow did not retreat,
Saul's sword was not wasted.
Saul and Jonathan lived in love and harmony,
They were not separated even in their death;
They were faster than eagles, stronger than lions...
I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan,
how dear you were to me!
Your love was higher than a woman's love.
How the mighty have fallen, the weapons have perished!

Love does not rejoice in untruth

Andrey Desnitsky:

Today we know about the miracle of the Resurrection - but when Christ was crucified, no one knew about it. All His disciples were amazed; death on the Cross seemed to be the end of all hopes. The apostles fled, and the faithful and ardent Peter denied him three times out of fear of his persecutors... And only the Pharisees could celebrate the victory: they said that this preacher from Nazareth was not the Messiah! His shameful and terrible death proved this as well as possible.
But at this terrible moment, there were two people from the “camp” of the Pharisees who did not triumph with their comrades and even risked their high social position in order to give Jesus the last honor - to bury His wounded body with dignity. All four evangelists name one of them: Joseph of Arimathea, and John adds a second one, Nicodemus.
Who were they?
Joseph was a member of the supreme council, the same Sanhedrin that condemned Christ. True, he did not participate in that very meeting - perhaps, anticipating its outcome, he simply did not dare to come. The evangelists do not skimp on kind words towards him: “a disciple of Jesus, but secret out of fear from the Jews; a famous member of the council who himself expected the Kingdom of God; a kind and truthful person."
John calls Nicodemus a Pharisee and “one of the leaders of the Jews”; he describes how he came to Jesus at night, secretly so that no one would know. Nicodemus knew for sure: this strange Preacher, no matter what his colleagues said about him, was from God, because no one could do such miracles if God was not with him.
But Nicodemus and Joseph had something to lose, and therefore had to hide. They could not, like simple fishermen, drop everything and follow Him - they would have had to give up too much. Position, wealth, respect, the opportunity to calmly study the Scriptures - they would have lost all this by following him, and they would not have gotten away with it, as the fishermen did.
True, Nicodemus once tried to intercede for Jesus. When the Pharisees were already beginning to deliberate on how to execute Jesus, Nicodemus asked his comrades: “Does our law judge a man unless they first listen to him and find out what he is doing?” But the answer was brief: “Are you not from Galilee yourself? Look and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee.” It was useless to argue further, and even unsafe.
But now... Their hopes did not come true, but there was nothing to be afraid of, all the worst things had now happened on the Cross, and they saw it. What did all their reputation, honor, peace of mind now mean in front of this exhausted and dead body? And just then, when everyone else fled, the Pharisees Joseph and Nicodemus went to Pilate to be given the body of the executed criminal - no small audacity. But Pilate agreed, and Christ was buried in Joseph’s family tomb.
Thus, another prophecy about the death of the Savior, from the book of Isaiah, was fulfilled: “He was assigned a grave with evildoers, but He was buried with a rich man, because He committed no sin, and no lie was in His mouth.” Did Joseph and Nicodemus think about this? Who knows, maybe yes, maybe no. But in any case: they could not rejoice at the murder of the Guilty One, they paid their last debt to their beloved Teacher - and so their names were forever preserved in the Gospel, and the ancestral tomb of Joseph of Arimathea became the main shrine of the Christian world, to which pilgrims go and go from all over the world.
Sometimes, to go down in history, you just need to remain human.

Love rejoices in truth

Vladimir Gurbolikov:

As a child, I knew only one “Thomas” - from a wild children’s poem. He was stubborn, and died in the waters of an African river, eaten by a crocodile. But even from the crocodile’s mouth one could hear: “It’s not true... I don’t believe it”... That is, it’s not true, I don’t believe it. This is Thomas the unbeliever. And why this boy was called Thomas, I didn’t know then: the Gospel in the early seventies was a rarity in Soviet families. And the one for whom the proverb about Thomas the Unbeliever went down in history had to endure a test perhaps more terrible than death in the teeth of a crocodile.
He lived in ancient Judea, at a time when people were awaiting the coming of the Messiah. And Thomas was lucky enough to meet Jesus of Nazareth, become His disciple and - listening to the words of the Teacher and seeing the great miracles He created - he believed that he was following Christ, the Savior of the world. But Thomas's faith was subjected to a terrible test. One night, his beloved Teacher was captured, convicted by a quick and unjust trial and executed by the most terrible execution of those used in the Roman Empire - crucifixion. Christ more than once told Thomas and other disciples that this should happen, but the horror of what happened and the bitterness of loss overshadowed the memory of His words for the apostles. The One Who was revered as God did not perform a miracle, did not destroy his persecutors, did not come down from the cross. And the only thing that was done was to persuade the prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate, to allow the wounded dead Body to be buried in the grave cave.
Perhaps Thomas experienced this grief and collapse of hopes more acutely and deeply than others. Because when on the morning of the day following Saturday (now we call this day Sunday), first the women who went to the grave, and then the apostles themselves began to talk about the Resurrection of Christ, the only one who refused to believe the joyful miracle was he. It would be wild to think that Thomas did not want this Resurrection. He left everything he had to follow Him; He alone among the apostles, knowing that the Jews were threatening the Teacher with death, exclaimed just ten days before the Crucifixion: “Come and we will die with Him”! He was probably afraid to believe in a false resurrection, afraid that it was not the Living Jesus who appeared to his friends, but a ghost. That they rejoice in a mirage and not in the Truth. “If I do not see in His hands the wounds from the nails, and I do not put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and I do not put my hand into His side (there Christ should have had a huge wound from the blow of a Roman spear - V.G.), I will not I will believe,” he said to the other apostles.
And a miracle happened: Christ appeared to Thomas. This was the moment when all the apostles gathered together, in one house, behind locked doors. “Jesus came when the doors were locked,” writes the apostle and evangelist John the Theologian, “he stood in the midst of them and said: peace be with you!” Then he says to Thomas: put your finger here and see my hands; reach out your hand and place it in My side, and do not be an unbeliever, but a believer.” And then, finally, Thomas exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!” Then he was finally convinced of the Truth of the Resurrection and was able to share the joy of the Meeting. This joy never left him throughout his life. He set off on a journey, preaching Christianity everywhere. He reached distant India, where through all subsequent centuries, despite everything, the News of Christ and the memory of the Holy Apostle Thomas were preserved. He was not afraid of persecution and death, which overtook him in a distant land. His love, which demanded assurance of the truth of the Resurrection, forever became joyful and fearless. And remembering him, I, who have not seen Christ with my own eyes, hear the words that God said to his distrustful but loving disciple. Words addressed to me: “You believed because you saw Me; Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And a piece of Fomina’s joy and hope fills my heart, and I live by it...

Love covers everything

In that old house on Maroseyka where they lived before, everyone knew their family. Although it was difficult to call it a family in the full sense. Zhorka, husband, famous reveler. Wife Tatyana or Tanka, as her neighbors spoke of her. And their two children: Lenka and Lyudochka. Zhorka often made scandals, they tried not to mess with him. Having no limits in his passion for the bottle and women's charms, one day he completely stepped on his conscience and began to bring women to him - one more “beautiful” than the other - where he only took them from. Everyone knew that Zhorka honestly told his wife, his Tanka: here, I will live with another woman, so that you know in advance, and tell the children, if you want, that this is like a relative. There will be countless of these “relatives”, and everyone will get used to it, and in all the gossip, Zhorka and the women will grind him down with their tongues quite kindly, but Tanka will get all the evil rumors.
And there was a reason for it. Not only could she not keep a man and her husband, not only does she tolerate his mistresses, wash and cook for them, but she also justifies such a father in front of the children!
This was the true truth: when the children saw their father falling into a puddle, she ran to him, dragged him on her, explaining to them that their dad was very tired, that he was very bad now, that they needed to help him and then he would feel better... When the children trembling from their father’s violence and abuse, she took them to the back room, because “dad is very upset about something, he’s not succeeding in everything in life, and God forbid you experience when your soul is sick”... It got to the point that she I felt sorry for his mistresses when he beat them. She bandaged her, consoled her, gave her tea. We sat in the kitchen, hugging each other, crying...
Time passed, the children grew up. Lenka entered the school. Lyudochka moved to the sixth grade. Zhorka continued to live as before, as he pleased, although now not with the same strength. Decreased a little. Only Tanka has not changed, she is still the same; and as soon as we started talking about their ninth apartment, it immediately burst out: “That’s all Tanka! all Tanka! she’s everything!..”
How she died, why, no one knew. There was and there is no. Lenka was in the army. Lyudochka went to Crimea on a travel package. Zhorka didn’t spend the night at home for a week. He returned and saw her - all clean, lying there as if she had dreamed of something good...
That's how they buried him.
Only one day, on an autumn day, did they see Georgy standing in the middle of the yard. Unusually quiet, sober; He stands and keeps looking for something, as if for the first time here, looking at the windows, at the roof, at the sky... He stands there for an hour or two, in the rain. Doesn't go away. They came up and called him. Doesn't work. Well, Lyudochka came from class and took him away. And he says, says something to her... For a long time they couldn’t understand, then they made it out: “I’ve lost everything... I’ve lost everything!” - speaks. He became a different person. I quit drinking, no scandals, no mistresses...
Lenka grew up and moved to Mitino. Lyudochka married an officer. And their father lives out his life here. He has only one concern now: going to Tanka’s grave.
The children help, they come often, and no one reproached him for anything, never said a bad word to him.

Love hopes everything

A person with a pure heart can receive such an immutable message about his path that no doubt about its apparent irrationality can shake it. And only then, when the assurances of the heart come true, we joyfully celebrate the victory of God’s Providence in our lives.
This is the story of my parents. In December of '41, sixteen-year-old dad was traveling by train from Moscow with cadets like him to the artillery school in Omsk. In the same carriage, my grandmother took her daughters - my eleven-year-old mother and my nine-year-old aunt Lena - to evacuation. It was cold and scary. But the young cadets who occupied the same compartment sang, joked and smoked. We talked about poetry. We read poetry. Mom, too, a smart girl, read something. Then she receives a note from one of these young men. Scratched in pencil on a piece of newspaper: “I will return with victory - you will be my wife.” Mom also took a pencil and wrote in block letters: “Fool.” With that, I gave the piece of paper to the cadet.
Meanwhile it was time to go to bed. It was cold in the reserved seat car, there were a lot of people, there was nowhere for an apple to fall. In short, the grandmother laid Lena right in her felt boots, with her feet facing the aisle. And when they woke up, it turned out that someone had stolen the girl’s felt boots during the night. Then the grandmother cut off the sleeves of her fur coat, sewed them up and put them on Lena’s feet.
...After 14 years, dad, a front-line soldier, a disabled war veteran, a young poet, a student at the Literary Institute, was sitting calmly at home with his wife and mother-in-law. They had dinner and told all sorts of stories related to the war. And dad remembered how he was going to school and in the carriage they took off the felt boots from the sleeping girl, and then, in order to put shoes on her bare feet, her mother cut off the sleeves from her fur coat... Grandmother changed in her face, looked at him with some new look and gasped. And she began to describe these cadets who were joking and reading poetry... Then dad looked at her strangely, stood up silently, rummaged around somewhere and pulled out a tiny piece of paper - a section of newspaper. He unfolded it and handed it to his young wife. She read “I will return with victory - and you will be my wife.” And a little lower - with shame I sorted out my own pencil printed letters...

Love endures everything

Vladimir Gurbolikov:

My great-grandmother Seraphima lived to be almost ninety years old, and it seemed to me that she would live forever. I could not imagine anything else: an old woman with sky-blue eyes accompanied my childhood, and there was nothing more eternal in the world than her gray hair and our long conversations. And therefore, when she got sick, I did not immediately understand what was happening. I had already finished first grade, played the violin and read thick books myself, but neither the painful yellowness nor any special, new sadness in her gaze alarmed me. My great-grandmother managed to “deceive” me for a long time so that my first grade would end without worry. She endured the pain, secretly took her sister and took painkillers. She did not allow herself to lie down. She acted as if everything was the same. And only one thing was special in the last weeks of that May: pancakes.
Every time, returning from school, I followed her into our kitchen, and there a stack of hot, sunny pancakes was waiting for me, which I ate, pouring condensed milk on top. I ate until I was full, and my great-grandmother and I, laughing, kept count of what we had eaten: twelve, thirteen, fourteen... And then we always drank tea. As before, as always, throughout May.
She went to bed immediately after I brought my yearly notebook home from school. And again I didn’t understand anything, waiting for her recovery, sitting day after day reading a book somewhere nearby. Until it was time to go out of town, to a holiday home with my mother. And in the last minutes of parting, great-grandmother Seraphima, who had been lying there all day and night, suddenly got ready, sat up, and extended her hands to me to say goodbye. And I saw that something was happening in her, although she did not cry, but I myself began to cry. But again I did not believe in the separation for which my great-grandmother Seraphima was preparing, smiling through the pain and persuading me to go.
She loved me very much. If I were an adult, maybe she would have expressed it differently. Although thirty-five years later, those very pancakes of hers - a month before her death - are remembered as if it were yesterday: twelve, thirteen, fourteen...
If only I could love like she does!

Love never stops
although the prophecies will cease,
and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished

My eldest son, nineteen-year-old Petya, a student at the Moscow Aviation Institute, who was surprisingly similar to his father who died seven years earlier, died. Of all the losses that have already occurred: husband, mother, beloved aunt - this is the hardest. After passing the exam, Petya went with the guys to sunbathe in Serebryany Bor, left his family and disappeared. They searched for Petya for four days, calling hospitals, morgues, and the police. On the fifth day they found him, beaten, in the river. For what, who? It’s so unclear: from my pure, childishly open Petya, who besides his physics and mathematics, naive youthful poems and guitar, did not know anything yet, and there was nothing to take. When they found him, beaten, he was wearing only panties and a cross... I remember, here I am standing near the morgue where my child lies, I have to go, do something, sign some papers, but I can’t move, and life itself is flowing out of me, and you don’t even resist it anymore, because this life itself is devalued by what happened.
And I still remember the funeral service. Petya was a believing boy, he had been going to church for a long time on his own, without me, obeying his inner impulses, and a week before that ill-fated day he confessed and took communion. Then the guys told me that Petya’s only fight happened when he attacked a group of some young idiots with his fists, who began to say something impudent and stupid against God. Someone remained silent, someone began to argue, and Petya started to fight. I remembered that bruise, he never told me about the reason for it, and I, leaning against his firm no, decided that, incorrectly, some secrets had begun related to the girls... Either because Petya was loved, or because they knew that he was a believer, a lot of his friends came to the funeral service, I didn’t even suspect that he had so many of them. Of course, because so many people have come to share your pain with you, it becomes easier. But all the same, it is very difficult, even just physically, to stand at the coffin of your child, and only the fact that the hand of your youngest son is in your hand, and your parents are behind your back, makes you hold on. And here, in the temple, at some point, when I was not so much praying as trying to pray, I suddenly realized with distinct clarity that my love for Petya, just like his for me, had not gone away. That I feel it, and with that primordial strength that we are rarely given the opportunity to experience in ordinary life. And it suddenly became obvious that for this love there are no boundaries that exist between our world and that world. It seems to me that it was from that moment, in the temple, that life began to return to me.
Many who have gone through similar losses calm down when they see loved ones in a dream; believers know the story about the widow Cleopatra, who turned to the martyr Huar when her only son died. I didn’t see or expect any dreams. I don’t dare ask questions: “Why and why do the best children leave?” In general, I think that it is wrong to try to look beyond this line - there is amazing depth in the cruel truth of the capacious Russian proverb: “God gave - God took.” To be honest, I am embarrassed when I hear discussions about who is destined for the Kingdom of Heaven and who is not: if we are not talking about saints, then it is not given to us to know this.
But what I know for sure is that when I pray for my Petya, I can touch that enormous love that has no boundaries, I feel it. And this obviousness of what is happening for me easily cancels out both the death certificates and the monumentality of the cemetery fences.
Authors: Andrey DESNITSKY, Maria GORODOVA, Maxim YAKOVLEV, Vladimir GURBOLIKOV, Olesya NIKOLAEVA

I do not know stronger and deeper words about love than those that the Apostle Paul said in chapter 13 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. These words are called “Hymns of Love.” “If I speak in the tongues of men and the tongues of angels, but do not have love, then I am a sounding gossamer, or a sounding cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, if I know mysteries, and if I have all knowledge and all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, it is nothing. And if I give away all my property and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it will be of no benefit to me. Love is patient, merciful, love does not envy, love is not arrogant, is not proud, is not rude, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; But when that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will cease. When I was a baby, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child; and when he became a husband, he left behind his children. Now we see as if through a dark glass, fortune-telling, but then face to face; Now I know in part, but then I will know, even as I am known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13).

Love is above all, it is above all spiritual gifts, says the Apostle Paul. The path of love is the most excellent path, that is, the path that surpasses the action of all spiritual gifts if we use these gifts without love, which is called upon to coordinate and harmonize the use of gifts.

In our everyday life, the word “love” usually denotes a feeling (emotion). When, for example, they say that Ivan loves Marya, they mean a certain more or less deep feeling that Ivan experiences for Marya. The apostle describes love not as a feeling, not as an emotion. He shows its manifestation in action, talks about how those who love act. Essentially, the word “love” is used by the apostle to describe the holy life that the fullness of the Holy Spirit produces in us.

Genuine love in us is always from the Holy Spirit. Genuine love dictates the motives of our actions and explains them. Being in a state of true love is the most important characteristic of a mature Christian, the characteristic of a saint. And we are all called to holiness, that is, we are all called to love.

Paul tells us that love is long-suffering, merciful, selfless, truthful, hopeful, enduring, not envious, not proud, not self-centered, that is, it does not place a specific person at the center of worries and worries.

But what time in the future does the apostle mean when he says that then prophecy will be abolished, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished? Of course, the time after the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Love is the living dynamic center that gathers, coordinates, organizes and regulates spiritual gifts. Love directs the action of spiritual gifts, orients their action towards serving others for the glory of the Lord. We can say that love is a necessary and sufficient condition for the correct use of spiritual gifts. Gifts are useless if they are used without love.

The highest type of love is love for God, which manifests itself primarily in our love for our neighbor. Without love for God, true love for one's neighbor is also impossible. The Apostle John stated: “Whoever says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, is a liar; For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). Any true love is ultimately love for God.

If love for God guides us, our heart, then we will be saints and will not be able to commit a sinful, that is, wrong act. That is why St. Augustine gives this recommendation for everyday life: “Love God and do what you want.”

Why is love above all spiritual gifts? Because she is the image of God, the likeness of our Creator, for “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

Spiritual gifts are temporary, they operate only in the earthly, temporary world and retain their significance only until the second coming of Jesus Christ. When Jesus returns to us, believers will receive other gifts that, apparently, will be infinitely superior to the spiritual gifts we know about, which the Apostle Paul writes about in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: the word of wisdom, knowledge, faith, the gift of healings, the gift of miracles, the gift of prophecy, the gift of discerning spirits, etc.

About the gifts that believers will receive after the second coming of Jesus, the apostle wrote the following words: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

Both prophecies and knowledge allow only partial insight into the truth, so they will lose all meaning when the truth is revealed to us in its entirety and absolute integrity.

Love by its nature is all-encompassing and all-pervasive, therefore it will survive everything earthly and will endure forever.

In conclusion, I will say a little about the meaning of verse 12 from chapter 13 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians: “Now we see through a dark glass, but then face to face; Now I know in part, but then I will know, even as I am known.” The Apostle says: even in this life we ​​see heavenly things as if in a dim mirror reflection, vaguely and vaguely, but in the life of the next century we will be given the opportunity to see God “face to face.”

By the way, what in the Russian Bible is translated from the original Greek text of the Epistle with the words: “we see as if through a glass darkly” would be more accurately translated with the words: “we see as if in a foggy mirror.”

Priest Alexander Asonov, clergyman of the Church of the Holy Trinity at the courtyard of the Cheremenets Monastery, answers questions from viewers. Broadcast from St. Petersburg. Broadcast July 26, 2013

Good evening, dear TV viewers. The program “Conversations with Father” is broadcast on the Soyuz TV channel. Presenter - Mikhail Kudryavtsev.

Today our guest is the cleric of the Church of the Holy Trinity at the courtyard of the Cheremenets Monastery, Priest Alexander Asonov.

Hello, father. As per tradition, please bless our viewers.

I am glad to greet all TV viewers of the Soyuz TV channel, I wish that the Lord will protect, protect and guide everyone with the power of the Holy Spirit.

- The topic of our today's program is “The Concept of Love in the Holy Apostle Paul.”

Father Alexander, please tell me, by what sources can we judge the concept of love in the Holy Apostle Paul?

There are many sources, but the most outstanding and striking to anyone who has even begun to read the Holy Scriptures is the 13th chapter of the First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. This is the place that is devoted to the question of love in the Christian sense of the word. Passages from this chapter are often quoted in classical works and various films. I’ll read a short excerpt from it to remind TV viewers what we’re talking about:

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, then I am a ringing gossamer or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing.”

Already these first verses allow us to remember which chapter we are talking about. In chapter 13 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the holy Apostle Paul describes the qualities of love, what it is. These words were even heard in the film of the Soviet period - “Andrei Rublev” by Andrei Tarkovsky. The episode where the famous icon painter Andrei Rublev communicates with the prince’s daughter, a girl, quotes from memory this particular chapter about love.

There are many interesting aspects in this chapter that are worth talking about in detail today, because they have not lost their relevance today, although the Message was written more than two thousand years ago. I recommend everyone to re-read chapter thirteen, and it will reveal a lot.

Father Alexander, probably in modern society we are accustomed to definitions, for example, the Apostle John the Theologian in his Epistle gives the definition that God is love. But the Apostle Paul does not give such a direct definition. What do you think love is according to the Apostle Paul?

Undoubtedly, for the holy Apostle Paul, love is the beginning of beginnings. And there is no doubt that love for him is completely associated with the concept of God. He just interprets his vision differently. Because the holy Apostle John the Theologian and the holy Apostle Paul are different people, but they have one conviction: love will never cease, everything will cease, everything will pass away, tongues will be silent, states will collapse, knowledge will be abolished, but love will endure forever. Because love is God.

Love is a concept that is understood differently in different languages, and is interpreted differently in different contexts.

The Bible ascribes many different qualities to God. In particular, the Old Testament attributes to Him quite formidable qualities; is this really love?

That is why we are talking about the Old and New Testaments, because the Old describes the perception of God from the position of the people of that time, their ideas about God. We understand that thanks to the coming of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, we came to know the true God. The fact that in the Old Testament people could imagine what God was like is an Old Testament image that was created in the minds of people who could not truly discover God for themselves, for the abyss separated these people from God after the Fall. In order for God to reveal himself in the fullness in which we know Him, the Incarnation occurred. Through the appearance on earth of the Son of God, we only learned that there really is God. That God is love.

In the Old Testament, people only assumed that He was the All-Knowing, All-Loving, All-Forgiving Father of all, this is constantly said. At the same time, they did not know His essence, they did not have the fullness of perception of God.

Question from a TV viewer from the Kirov region: In the Gospel of Luke, the Lord says that he brought division: a son will go against his father, a daughter against her mother, and so on. How can we understand these words if the Lord is love?

When the Savior talks about the fact that there will be division between people, He, first of all, says that someone will stand against Him, and someone will follow Him. That, one way or another, there will be disagreement between people, and division will occur even between loved ones on the issue of what the Lord wants. Not all people are ready to follow God’s call, but His call is to love your neighbor. Unfortunately, a person is not always ready to completely surrender to love for his neighbor; the selfish nature of self-love takes over.

It was probably especially difficult for the Jews to hear this, because for them family is something completely indestructible, but here the Lord says that family ties are not the most important.

Because the most important bonds are spiritual bonds. What is important is the spiritual message, spiritual intention.

Question from a TV viewer from Dmitrov, Moscow region: My husband and I lived for fifteen years, we have two children. Now that we have come to faith and the Church, we understand that we married out of passion, not love. Is it possible to “force” yourself to love a person, to cultivate love in yourself, if you are already connected to him by marriage?

In order to love your neighbor, you must love God. This is the very first and most important commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and love your neighbor.” In order to love God, one must seek God, have aspiration. The Lord says: “seek and you will find,” “knock and it will be opened to you,” and in this the human will is manifested. This is the first step that leads a person to true, genuine love. Finding God and communicating with Him, a person learns to love his neighbor, those people who surround him, what is given to him in life. Through this, a person learns from his spouse that love is, of course, work, and not just a “creature fluttering in the sky.”

Love is, first of all, internal human spiritual work. Love is a conscious act of human will under the influence of Divine grace. This is important to understand.

I remember the words of St. John Chrysostom regarding the love between a man and a woman, where he calls falling in love, this first passionate impulse, also a gift from God, the flame from which true love, the one that is already given by labor, should flare up. Often, perhaps, people lose this impulse and are faced with the smoldering embers of their relationships, which need to be rekindled.

Always talking about eros, let's call this love this Greek term, which means love-passion, we should not forget what is primary and what is secondary.

Primary is the internal human spiritual perception of the person who lives with you. When it comes to physical relationships between a man and a woman, this is not what helps build a family. Internal acceptance of the individual helps to build a family. The topic is very complex, and one can talk about it for hours. It is so complicated because everything here is very individual, that is, everyone in the family has their own situation. So many classic works have already been written on this subject, and people still continue to touch upon it. It is difficult to give a complete answer to this question right away, so we have to speak in general terms.

Question from a TV viewer from the Voronezh region: I’m ready to help a person, I’m ready to lend a shoulder, but I’m not ready to communicate, because there are no common topics. Is it pride or do you have to force yourself to communicate?

If you have no desire, don’t communicate, don’t force yourself, but help those you meet along the way and who are in need. It's very simple: in the parable of the Good Samaritan, everything is the same. You see a person who needs help, and even if he is of a different religion, help him: he is your neighbor. Many will pass by; the parable describes that those who passed by were very religious people. And a man of a completely different faith stopped and helped. He did not communicate, but helped him in need

If you see someone in need, help, and communication will come on its own. The Lord specifically sends us people who are in need, so that we learn to be merciful, provide these people with help, and thereby acquire true knowledge of His love. The Lord also sends us to someone at some point.

Just help people and don’t forget, not everyone can understand you: all people are different. There is a good saying: he who is too good a friend to everyone is a friend to no one. While loving everyone, do not forget that there are people close to you whom you understand well and who understand you, and there are people who are incapable of this, not because they are bad, but because they are different and have different life circumstances.

Let's explain to our TV viewers that philia, stergo, agape are all different Greek words that mean the same love in Russian.

Not only in Russian, but also in many European languages, there is only one term that defines the concept of love. In many ancient languages ​​there were several terms that defined the concept of love, depending on the context and what feeling was being discussed. “I love the theater” and “I love my mother” - it is clear that these are different things. This is the specificity of speech, a certain poverty of terminology.

The Greeks used more terms for the concept of love, and they all suggested different aspects to what we call love. We must always remember that our speech does not allow us to use different terms.

The love that the Holy Apostle Paul and the Holy Apostle John discuss in the Holy Scriptures is not mania, not eros, but, most likely, philia and agape.

Philia is sensual, friendly love, when you are disposed towards a person. Agape is already brotherly love. In our Christian culture there is a concept of such agape, when people can have brotherly, sisterly communication, when people feel like one family, this is very important for us. It is these concepts of love that the holy apostles speak about, it is these concepts of love that the Lord reveals to us by the power of His Holy Spirit. Under the influence of Divine grace, we gain an idea of ​​them, moreover, we do not have the fullness of their knowledge. This is a very long journey that can last a lifetime. We see all this for the time being, as if through a dark glass, but we feel that it really exists, actually happens in life and has its effect. Of course, we should remember these different definitions, definitions, love, and separate them in different contexts, in no case generalize. We must be very careful about this word and not throw it around.

Question from a TV viewer from St. Petersburg: How to understand the expression “A person can do nothing if it is not given to him from above.” And the second is “Love everyone and run from everyone.” And another expression: “If we remove white, there will be no black, if we remove black, there will be no white”?

There are several deep topics here that need to be discussed separately. Let's start with the last one. If we talk about good and evil, then in our vision these are two opposites. On the other hand, in our human culture the concept of good is very relative and depends on social, ethnic, national and cultural moral concepts. The question of good is philosophical. The same can be said about evil. And if we talk about what is white and what is black, there is also a lot of relative things here.

I will not delve too deeply into questions of dualism, that is, the existence of two principles, I will only say that for the Holy Church there is no real resistance to God from evil. In accordance with the teachings of the holy Christian Orthodox Church, evil has long been defeated, no matter how it tries to resist good. One way or another, the Lord uses all manifestations of some harmful principle in such a way that it serves good. The topic is very complex, here you need to think philosophically for a very long time, touching on many aspects.

From my subjective experience I could say this: for a person in a state of real happiness, real love, no negative internal contrast is required. In my opinion, this is an illusion - the need for evil to maintain good; when a person is happy, he does not feel the need for suffering.

Undoubtedly so. In answer to the viewer’s question, it should be noted that all of the above statements are quite indiscriminate. This is a game of sayings, they are all quite unfinished. Everyone has heard different sayings, for example, the saying “A healthy mind in a healthy body,” but its ending “is rare.” That's exactly what the ancient Greek philosopher said. Or “the drunken sea is knee-deep”, and its continuation is “and the puddle is up to the ears.” It is necessary to bring to the end what is said, to consider it in the context of what was said.

We probably need to direct our viewer to the Holy Scriptures, where in the process of reading he will receive answers to all these questions.

Without a doubt. We need to study more of the Holy Scriptures, the works of the Church Fathers, and then much will be revealed. Naturally, we need to devote more time to prayer. Through prayer, even the simplest one, the Lord reveals a lot to us in life.

Question asked via the Internet: Deacon Vladimir from Spain asks “I think that only saints possessed true love, is it a sin for us to ask the Lord to grant such love?”

We are all called to holiness, and since Christ is and will be among us, and we are all led by the power of the Holy Spirit, and this is exactly what the Holy Church teaches, there is nothing wrong with us striving for holiness. As the holy Apostle Peter said, you are all a royal priesthood, in the sense that we are all called, and the Holy Spirit dwells in all of us. Don’t forget about this, remember and follow your own path, which is different for everyone. But we are all saints and faithful children of God. There are famous saints, and there are unknown ones who sometimes could have done even more. We believe that the whole Church is holy, everyone is led by the Holy Spirit, we are all saints of God, so there is nothing wrong with striving for holiness, it is normal.

Still, many people nowadays associate the word “love” with the relationship between a man and a woman. Another question asked via the Internet: “What to do if there is no love, and after trying to start a family and being married for some time, people divorced, and now the woman lives alone?”

It's a tragedy, it's always sad when people make mistakes and disappointment occurs. There is no need to despair, you need to ask the Lord to help you get through this situation, to help you meet new people, those who understand you. We must move on, continue to learn to love, to do good. We must move forward with prayer, faith and hope, and love will come.

Question from a TV viewer from the Samara region: My daughter got a kitten, lived with him for three years, now she has met a young man with serious intentions, but who does not like animals, and he gave her a choice: if she marries him, she must break up with cat What should she do?

You understand that this is a very private, individual issue, and young people must decide it themselves. My personal opinion: I would, of course, choose my favorite half rather than a male cat, but this is my personal opinion. However, he and she must figure out this situation themselves, and we are not advisors here. Loving animals is, of course, right, but loving people is more important. I strongly recommend that you pray for them, about the current situation, about their future; the prayer of a Christian believer can do a lot.

Question from a TV viewer from Budennovsk: I know that I need to love my enemies, pray for them, that this makes me feel better: God helps me get through this. What does this give to my enemies?

We wanted to talk about this, in connection with which I was going to quote the words of Silouan of Athos that true Christianity is known through love for enemies.

This gives the enemies a lot, because the one who is our enemy today may be our greatest friend. The one who persecutes us today may, perhaps, protect us tomorrow. The one who today may be preparing something harmful for us, tomorrow will be the only one who will hear our voice and come to our aid. We must always remember this, never forget and never become hardened in our hearts. Our prayers for our enemies do a lot.

We may not see the fullness of what is happening, the whole picture of our life, but only its segments: we cannot see face to face. But over time everything opens up. Praying for our enemies does not mean that we should go ask them to do something more harmful to us, but it means that we do not hold any grudge against them in our hearts, we pray for these people, realizing that they are also children of God, also descendants Adam and Eve.

It has long been proven, even scientifically, that all people in the world are interconnected. Somewhere around our fortieth acquaintance we realize that we are all somehow connected to each other. If we know what love, mercy, compassion are, if we have felt it on ourselves even from strangers, through whom the Lord revealed His love to us, then we must also learn to love those people who now do not love us, but need is to have someone pray for them. That someone is us. And this does a lot for these people, even if you don’t see it now, it still happens.

The best example is the holy Apostle Paul. We know no limit to the power of the Holy Spirit: yesterday's enemy is today's friend. Saul was a cruel persecutor of Christians, convinced that they were enemies who needed to be killed, he had special documents allowing this. This is the same Apostle Paul who speaks about love like this. Here is a life example, because the persecuted early Christians prayed for him.

There is a good book “Camo Coming” by Henryk Sienkiewicz. On the Appian Way there is the Basilica of St. Peter the Apostle, on which this inscription is made in Latin. Translated into Russian, it means “Where are you going, Lord.” According to legend, the holy Apostle Peter was warned by his disciples on the night before the start of the persecution of Christians. And the disciples secretly led him out along this road at night. And suddenly, on this road, the holy Apostle Peter had a vision of the Lord, Whom no one saw except himself, but only heard that the Apostle Peter was addressing someone in Latin. Then the holy Apostle Peter said that he saw the Savior coming towards him. When he asked him “Where are you going, Lord?”, He answered him: “To Rome, since you are leaving my people.” And the Apostle Peter returned to Rome, where, as we know, he was crucified head down.

This book is based on this story, it is dedicated to the period of formation of the early Christian church, the first persecutions, and the Roman community. And there is a very negative character who hates Christians and all their beliefs, and as a result, at the end of the work, this character takes the side of Christians, and he is crucified along with everyone else. To understand what I'm talking about, I recommend finding this book and reading it. There were even films made based on this book. This is a work that shocked the world.

Of course, there are many real-life examples, and it is impossible to list them all. But all changes in people’s lives, and in the lives of those people who seem to us to be deprived of the possibility of salvation, occur thanks to the prayers of family and friends, our prayers for our enemies, and thanks to the fact that the Lord loves a person.

“It’s not for nothing that the Lord said that the last will be first.”

Undoubtedly, everything is interconnected. We can discuss this for a long time, and our entire faith is dedicated to this. First and last; prayer, love and compassion. Prayer for those who seem to be unworthy of these prayers. Forgiving those who may ask for forgiveness, but can they be forgiven? All this is the amazing depth of our faith.

If you delve into history and think about what ideas about love did those people to whom the Apostle Paul addressed his lines?

Naturally, in those days in Corinth there were a wide variety of ideas about love. This is ancient Greek culture, and it is full of pagan perceptions of love: the relationship between a man and a woman is especially interpreted, there are some free relationships between the sexes. Although there are different terms in the ancient Greek language, the culture where the Apostle Paul lived had many representatives of the worship of Greek gods.

Sorry, Father Alexander, I have to interrupt you. We have a question from a TV viewer from Yaroslavl: In the Gospel the Lord says that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. What, in your opinion, is the criterion of wealth that will not allow you to do this?

There have always been rich and poor. We must not forget that where a person’s wealth is, there is his heart. As long as your wealth does not become your idol, you are free, regardless of what exactly your wealth is. It all depends on how you feel about money, what is important to you, what your life priorities are. This is very important to understand, because the most destructive wealth is that which forces a person to be an idolater, that is, to worship his wealth.

Unfortunately, it often happens that there seems to be little wealth, but a person is completely in the power of this idol. And he is ready not even for money and prosperity, but only in order to feel superior to someone, for the sake of his own selfish satisfaction, to do something bad. The Lord speaks about such rich people and, of course, about those who do not seek truth, do not seek goodness, but live in their own specific world, which has already completely taken possession of them. The question is whether you are ready to seek the truth or are you afraid that you will lose everything you have and gain nothing more.

When talking about wealth, we must always remember that we all have the temptation to envy someone; there is always someone who lives better than us. Unfortunately, due to our sinful nature, we notice those who live better faster than those who live worse. We should notice those who live worse, because then we would remember what wealth we have and who we can help thanks to this wealth. And appreciate the good things you have.

- If wealth comes at the expense of love, it interferes with salvation.

Undoubtedly, this is what we are talking about, this degree of wealth, when a person becomes an idolater, is in the power of, even a small idol. It may not even be money, but some kind of separate idea, a fixed idea, let’s call it that. Not in the sense that a person wants to buy some kind of watch, there is nothing wrong with that, but if he can no longer live without this watch and cannot sleep at night, this is, in the end, some kind of psychiatric pathology.

There is nothing wrong with the terms “psychiatry” and “psychology”; at their root is the concept of “psyche”, that is, the soul, they are associated with the issues that we touch upon every time we read the Holy Scriptures.

The time of our program is already coming to an end. Maybe you could tell our TV viewers some parting words so that everyone would try to cultivate true love within themselves.

With your permission, I will read one of the verses of the 13th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians of the Apostle Paul. This is the definition of love given by the Holy Apostle Paul:

“Love is patient and kind, love does not envy, love does not boast, it is not proud,

He does not act outrageously, does not seek his own, is not irritated, does not think evil,

He does not rejoice in untruth, but rejoices in the truth;

He covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything.

Love never fails, although prophecies cease, and tongues are silent, and knowledge is abolished.".

Let us, brothers and sisters beloved in the Lord, remember this and strive to seek this love and find it in our lives. To ask the Lord God, Jesus Christ, that He, by the power of His Holy Spirit, would guide us on the path of truth, faith, hope and love. May God never forget that love always comes first, and may God bless us all.

Presenter: Mikhail Kudryavtsev.

Transcript: Yulia Podzolova.