Christian parables about the human condition. A selection of Orthodox parables for those seeking wisdom

In the office of a young KGB officer, a Christian was subjected to brutal interrogation. After many unsuccessful attempts to persuade him to cooperate, the officer suggested a frank conversation.

Let's be honest, he said. - What did your God, whom you serve so fanatically, give you?..
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Monk price

One smuggler, fearing police raids, approached a very famous monk with a request to hide contraband goods in the monastery. He hoped that the police would not suspect the priest - he had an impeccable reputation.

The monk reacted to such a request with indignation and demanded that the person immediately leave the monastery...
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Kingdom of Chains

Once upon a time there lived in a certain kingdom a blacksmith. He learned to make such beautiful chains that he eventually began wearing them on himself. Other blacksmiths liked this innovation. Then other people, and even the king and the nobility, began to put chains on themselves. The king issued a special decree on the universal wearing of chains. Children in schools were taught how to wear chains correctly...
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Hooligan in the temple

One day, during a service, a young man of large build came into the temple, whose face showed bad intentions. He walked ahead of everyone, sat down on a bench and, lounging, began to husk seeds and swear loudly. There was a sermon, a priest stood at the pulpit...

According to St. Basil the Great, the word “Parable” comes from the word “to flow” - “to come” and means a short instructive story, a traveling saying that serves as a signpost, guides a person along the paths of life, giving him the means to prosper along these paths.

We present to our readers the delight of the sages - a selection of Christian parables that will help them understand their faith and correctly build their spiritual life:

1. Novice and elder

One day, an old monk and a young novice were returning to their monastery. Their path was crossed by a river, which, due to the rains, overflowed very heavily. On the shore stood a young woman who also needed to move to the opposite shore, but she could not do it without outside help.

The vow strictly forbade monks to touch women, and the novice pointedly turned away from her. The elder approached the woman, took her in his arms and carried her across the river.

The companions remained silent the rest of the way, but at the monastery itself the young novice, condemning, turned to his experienced brother: “How could you touch a woman!? You made a vow! Will you really be able to calmly enter the gates of our monastery after this?”

The elder replied: “It’s strange, after carrying the woman, I left her there, by the stream, but you still carry her with you - in your heart and thoughts.”

2. Mind or heart?

One elder asked another:

- In your opinion, brother, what is better to follow, the mind or the heart?

“To the heart,” he answers.

- On what basis?

- On the simple basis that the heart shows us our duty, and the mind provides reasons to shirk its fulfillment.

3. Passion

One day, two young men came to one holy elder and asked: “Tell us, father, how to properly deal with bad inclinations and eradicate bad habits?”

To this the hermit said to one of the young men: “Pull out this sprout.” The bush was tiny, and the young man pulled it out easily, with one hand.

After this, the elder said again: “My friend, now pull out this tree.” The young man did this too, but with difficulty and effort: the bush was much taller and stronger than the first.

Then the elder said for the third time: “Now try to pull out this tree.” The young man hugged his trunk and tried to fulfill the command, but in vain. He called his brother, and the two of them tried to at least shake the tree, but in vain. The tree is deeply rooted in the ground.

Then the elder said to the brothers: “My children, evil inclinations and habits are like these trees. If they are not yet deeply rooted in our hearts, then a strong will alone is enough to destroy them. But once they have grown stronger and taken root, it is almost impossible to deal with them. Eradicate the bad in yourself before it develops into something more.”

4. Different students

One elder had a student who was distinguished by obedience and at the same time was a good scribe. The elder loved him for his obedience. The elder also had eleven other disciples, and they began to grieve that the elder loved the scribe more than them.

Hearing their murmur, the other elders began to reproach the Abba. Then he led them to the cells of his disciples.

- Brother! Come here quickly! “I need you,” Abba repeated, knocking on each door in turn.

But none of the students was in a hurry to open it to him: some were singing psalms at that moment and did not want to stop, another was weaving ropes and was afraid of ruining his needlework because of his haste.

Finally, it was the scribe's turn. Ava just knocked quietly on the door and called his name. At that same moment the door swung open, and a monk appeared on the threshold with a pen in his hand.

- Tell me, fathers, where do you see my other students? - Abba asked.

Then he entered the cell, took the notebook and saw that the student had just begun to write a new letter, but ran to open it for the teacher without even finishing it.

Then the elders said:

“You love him rightly, Abba.” And we all love him, and God loves him.

5. Condemnation

One married couple moved to a new apartment. In the morning, the wife looked out the window and, seeing a neighbor hanging out the washed laundry, said to her husband:

“Look at how dirty her linen is, she probably doesn’t know how to wash.”

This happened every time the neighbor hung out the laundry, the wife was surprised at how dirty it was. One day, waking up and looking out the window, she exclaimed:

- The laundry is clean today! ...Finally, the neighbor learned how to do laundry.

“No,” said the husband, “I just got up early today and washed your glass…

6. Know how to rejoice

One woman had two sons. The older man was selling umbrellas. The younger one dyed fabrics. When the sun was shining, no one bought umbrellas from the eldest son, and when it rained, the youngest son’s fabrics did not dry. This made the woman very sad, and her life became sad.

One day she met a wise man and he gave her advice. From then on, when the sun was shining, she was happy for her youngest son, who successfully dried his fabrics, and when it rained, she was happy for the eldest, from whom everyone bought umbrellas. And life got better.

7. Heaven and hell

One Monk really wanted to know what Heaven is and what Hell is, he prayed to God to best understand this and thought for a long time.

One day, when he fell asleep during his painful thoughts, he had a dream that he was in Hell.

The monk looked around and saw: people sitting in front of cauldrons with food. Everyone is exhausted and hungry. Everyone has a spoon with a long handle in their hands. Each person easily scoops them out of the cauldron, but cannot get them into his mouth with a spoon - the length of the handle is longer than the length of his arm.

Suddenly the picture changes and the monk finds himself in Paradise. And there everything is the same - people with spoons on long handles sit near cauldrons of stew, but their faces beam with happiness!

The monk took a closer look and understood why: the inhabitants of paradise fed each other...

8. About respect for elders

In one family there lived a very old man. His eyes were blinded, his hearing was dull, his knees trembled. He could hardly hold a spoon in his hands and while eating he often spilled soup on the tablecloth, and sometimes some of the food fell out of his mouth.

The son and his wife were very irritated by the sight of the infirmity of their elderly parent and during meals they began to sit him in a corner behind the stove, and the food was served to him in an old saucer... From there the old man sadly looked at the beautifully set rich table, and his eyes became moist.

One day he was so nervous that he could not hold the saucer with food, it fell to the floor and broke. The young housewife began to scold the elderly father of the family, and he silently endured the insults, sighing bitterly.

Later, the wife persuaded her husband to buy his father a cheap wooden bowl. Now he had to eat from it.

One day, when the parents were sitting at the table, their four-year-old son entered the room with a wooden block in his hands.

- What do you want to do? - asked the father.

“A wooden trough,” answered the kid. You will eat from it when I grow up!

The child’s answer so amazed the father and mother that they fell to their knees in front of their elderly father and apologized for their disrespect.

9. Pots

A monk once came to his mentor and said:

- Father, how many times have I come to you, repenting of my sins, how many times have you instructed me with advice, but I cannot improve. What good is it for me to come to you if after our conversations I again fall into my sins?

Ava replied:

- My son, take two clay pots - one with honey and the other empty.

The student did just that.

“Now,” said the teacher, “pour the honey several times from one pot to another.”

The student obeyed again...

“Now, son, look at the empty pot and smell it.”

The student looked, smelled and said:

- Father, the empty pot smells of honey, and there, at the bottom, there is a little thick honey left.

“That’s it,” said the teacher, “and my instructions settle in your soul.” If for the sake of Christ you learn at least part of the virtues in life, then the Lord, by His mercy, will make up for their lack and save your soul for life in paradise. For even an earthly housewife does not pour pepper into a pot that smells of honey. So God will not reject you if you retain at least the beginnings of righteousness in your soul!

10. Difficult moments

When the last picture of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. And he saw that often along his life’s path there was only one chain of traces. He also noticed that these were the most difficult and unhappy times in his life...

Then he became greatly saddened and began to murmur against the Lord:

“Didn’t You tell me: if I follow Your path, You will not leave me?” But I noticed that during the most difficult times of my life, only one chain of footprints stretched across the sand. Why did You abandon me when I needed You most?

The Lord answered:

- My son! I love you very much and will never leave you. When there were sorrows and trials in your life, only one chain of footprints stretched along the road. But this is because then I carried you in my arms...

Andrey Szegeda

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Poison in the heart

Once upon a time, a girl lived in a village. According to ancient Slavic custom, after the wedding she came to live in her husband’s house. But the young daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law felt very uncomfortable. She constantly lectured her and reproached her for everything.
One morning a young woman went to see a healer who lived on the outskirts of the forest.
-What brings you to me, beauty? Shall I bewitch a man?” asked the grandfather.
“I don’t need anyone, I love my husband, but I can’t bear to live with his mother.”
- What do you want from me?
- Please, help me. Give me poison so I can poison her.
“Will you build your happiness on this, young girl?” Anyway. I feel sorry for you. I'll give you a potion. Every morning you will brew it and give this tea to your husband’s mother. Yes, I only have advice for you.
- Which? Tell me, I will do everything, just to get rid of this snake as soon as possible.
“In our village, rumors quickly spread.” They will suspect you. So, to prevent this from happening, change your attitude towards your mother-in-law.
Become affectionate, friendly, smile. You won't have to suffer for long. That's what the woman did. The roosters have barely crowed, and she gets up, kneads the bread, stokes the oven, prepares porridge, and brews her mother-in-law’s poisonous potion. And he kindly invites her to taste the miracle tea. She calls you mom and obeys you in everything. The husband couldn’t be happier: how close the mother and wife became. The mother-in-law dotes on her daughter-in-law. And she responds with love, but sincerely. She hurries again to the healer and throws herself at his feet with tears:
- Grandfather, I beg you. You can do anything. Give me the antidote. I made too much tea for my mother-in-law. He will die. But she became a caring mother to me.
- My dear, calm down. I gave you aromatic herbs, from which you made delicious and healthy tea for your mother-in-law. There was poison in your heart, but with God’s help you got rid of it.

Footprints in the sand

One day a man had a dream. He dreamed that he was walking along a sandy shore, and next to him was the Lord. Pictures from his life flashed in the sky, and after each of them he noticed two chains of footprints in the sand: one from his feet, the other from the feet of the Lord.
When the last picture of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. And he saw that often along his life’s path there was only one chain of traces. He also noticed that these were the most difficult and unhappy times in his life.
He became very sad and began to ask the Lord:
“Didn’t you tell me: if I follow your path, you will not leave me.” But I noticed that during the most difficult times of my life, only one chain of footprints stretched across the sand. Why did you leave me when I needed you most?
The Lord answered:
- My dear, dear child. I love you and will never leave you. When there were sorrows and trials in your life, only one chain of footprints stretched along the road. Because in those days I carried you in my arms.

About the strange will of the Father

One believer had an unbelieving son. The father was very worried, but could not instill religiosity in the young man. Feeling the approach of death, he called his son:
- Fulfill one of my requests.
- Which one, dad?
- When I die, you come to this room for about fifteen minutes for forty days.
- What should I do about this?
- You don't need to do anything. Just sit. But every day for at least fifteen minutes.

The son buried his father and fulfilled his request exactly: he came into the room every day and just sat. So forty days passed, after which the young man himself came to church and became a deep believer.

Only many years later did he realize how wise his father's will was. The father realized that young people have too fast a pace of life, a lot of vanity and no time to think about the eternal: about the meaning of life, about their soul, about immortality, about God. But you just have to stop, be in silence - and the Lord will knock on your heart.

Two cherries. Parable of St. Nicholas of Serbia

One man had two cherry trees in front of his house. One was evil and the other was good. Whenever he left the house, they called him and asked him for something. The evil cherry asked for different things every time: either “dig me in,” then “whiten me,” then “give me something to drink,” then “take away excess moisture from me,” then “shade me from the hot sun,” then “give me more light.” . And the good cherry tree always repeated the same request: “My lord, help me bring a good harvest!”
The owner was equally merciful to both, looked after them, listened carefully to their requests and fulfilled all their desires. He did what both one and the other asked, in other words, he gave the evil cherry everything that it demanded, and the good one only what he considered necessary, with the ultimate goal being a wonderful, abundant harvest.
And then what happened? The evil cherry tree had grown greatly, the trunk and branches glistened as if smeared with oil, and the abundant foliage was dark green, spreading, like a thick tent. In contrast, the kind cherry tree did not attract anyone’s attention with its appearance.
When the harvest time came, the evil cherry produced small, rare fruits, which, due to the dense foliage, could not ripen, but the good one brought many, many very tasty berries. The evil cherry tree felt ashamed that it could not produce such a harvest as its neighbor, and it began to grumble at the owner, reproaching him for this. The owner got angry and replied: “Is it my fault?” Wasn’t it me who fulfilled all your desires for a whole year? If you thought only about the harvest, I would help you bring the same abundant fruits as hers. But you pretended to be smarter than me, who imprisoned you, and that’s why you remained barren.
The evil cherry tree bitterly repented and promised the owner that next year she would think only about the harvest, and would ask him only for this, and would leave everything else to him to take care of. As she promised, she did so - she began to behave like a kind cherry. And the next year, both cherries brought an equally good harvest, and their joy, like that of the owner, was great.
***
The moral of this simple parable is clear to all who pray to God.
The owner of the garden is the God of this light, and people are His seedlings. Like any owner, God requires a harvest from His plants. “Every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!” - says the Gospel. Therefore, first of all and most of all, you need to take care of the harvest. And we must pray to the Owner - God, the “Lord of the Harvest”, for a good harvest. There is no need to ask the Lord for small things. Look, no one goes to the king of the earth to ask him for some little thing that can easily be obtained elsewhere.
“Our Lord is the Lord the Giver,” says Saint John Chrysostom. He loves when His children ask Him for something great, worthy of a prince. And the greatest gift that God can give to people is the Kingdom of Heaven, where He Himself reigns. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ commands: “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and the rest will be added to you.” And He also commands: “Do not worry about what you will eat, or what you will drink, or what you will wear. Your Heavenly Father knows that you need all this.” And He also says: “Even before you pray, your Father knows what you need!”
So what should you ask God for? First of all, what is the best, the greatest and the most infinite. And these will be those spiritual riches that are called by one name - the Kingdom of Heaven. When first of all we ask God for this, He gives, along with this wealth, everything else that we need in this world. Of course, it is not forbidden to ask God for the rest of what we need, but this can only be asked at the same time as the main thing.
The Lord Himself teaches us to pray for bread every day: “Give us this day our daily bread!” But this prayer in “Our Father” is not in first place, but only after the prayer for the holy name of God, for the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven and for the dominion of the will of God on earth as it is in Heaven.
So, first spiritual benefits, and only then material ones. All material goods are from dust, and the Lord easily creates them and easily gives them. He gives them according to His mercy even to those who do not ask for it. He gives them to animals as well as people. However, He never gives spiritual benefits either without human will or without seeking. The most precious riches, that is, spiritual ones, such as peace, joy, kindness, mercy, patience, faith, hope, love, wisdom and others, God can give as easily as he gives material wealth, but only to those who love these spiritual treasures and who will ask God for them.

About the sin of drunkenness

In Egypt there lived a hermit monk. And so the demon, after many years of struggle with him, promised him that he would no longer oppress him with any temptations, as long as he committed one sin out of three. He suggested the following three sins: murder, fornication and drunkenness.

Do, he said, one of them: either kill a person, or commit fornication, or get drunk once - and then you will remain in peace, and after that I will no longer tempt you with any temptations.

The hermit thought to himself this way: “To kill a person is terrible, for this is in itself a great evil, and deserves the death penalty both by God’s court and by civil law. To commit fornication, shame, to destroy the previously preserved purity of the body is a pity, and it is disgusting to defile one who has not yet known this defilement. Getting drunk once seems to be a small sin, for a person soon sobers up with sleep. So, I will go and get drunk so that the demon no longer oppresses me, and I will live peacefully in the desert.” And so, taking his handicrafts, he went to the city and, having sold them, entered the tavern and got drunk.

By satanic action, he happened to talk with a certain shameless and adulterous woman. Being seduced, he slept with her. When he was committing a sin with her, the woman’s husband came and, finding him sinning with his wife, began to beat him, and he, having recovered, began to fight with that husband and, having overcome him, killed him.

Thus, that hermit committed all three sins: fornication and murder, starting with drunkenness. Whatever sins he feared and abhorred when sober, he boldly committed while drunk and through this ruined his many years of work.

Parables are not just stories, entertaining stories about everything in the world, they contain the wisdom of the ages. This is a game of the mind, imagination, penetration into the secret labyrinths of consciousness. This is a practical guide to spiritual self-improvement, to revealing the spiritual power of man, to revealing the purpose of civilization as a particle of the universal Mind. Parables are great relaxation and entertainment for the soul. The book is designed as a rich souvenir and will serve as a wonderful and rare gift. The publication includes pearls of Christian, Eastern and Sufi parables.

A series: Pearls of wisdom (Exmo)

* * *

The given introductory fragment of the book Parables of the peoples of the world (O. Kapralova, 2013) provided by our book partner - the company liters.

Christian parables

God and the hairdresser

One hairdresser, while cutting a client's hair, started talking to him about God.

– If God exists, why are there so many sick people? Where do street children and unjust wars come from? If he really existed, there would be no suffering or pain. It is difficult to imagine a loving God who allows all this.

That's why I don't believe in its existence.

Then the client said to the hairdresser:

– Do you know what I’ll tell you? Hairdressers don't exist.

- How come? – the hairdresser was surprised. - One of them is in front of you.

- No! – exclaimed the client. “They don’t exist, otherwise there wouldn’t be overgrown and unshaven people like that man walking down the street.”

- Well, dear man, it’s not about the hairdressers. People just don’t come to me on their own.

- In fact of the matter! – the client confirmed. – And I mean the same thing: God exists. People just don't look for him and don't come to him. This is why there is so much pain and suffering in the world.

The only person who survived the shipwreck was washed up on a small uninhabited island.

He prayed feverishly for God to save him. Every day he scanned the horizon for approaching help. Finally exhausted, he decided to build a small hut from floating logs to protect himself from the elements and preserve his possessions. But one day, returning home after a hike in search of food, he found his hut shrouded in flames, the smoke rising to the sky. The worst thing was that everything was lost. He was overcome with grief and anger.

- God, how could you do this to me! - he shouted, sobbing.

Early the next morning he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the shore. The ship came to save him.

- How did you know I was here? – the tired man asked his saviors.

“We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

It's very easy to get discouraged when everything around you is bad. But we should not lose faith, because God remembers us, no matter how bad it is for us. Know that the next time your little hut burns down, it could be a smoke signal for God's mercy.

Two shovels

Two shovels were repaired at the forge. They looked the same. One of them remained standing in the corner of the barn. Her life was easier than the life of the other shovel, which the peasant loaded onto a cart the next morning and brought to the field. There she became beautiful and shiny. When both shovels met again in the barn, they looked at each other in surprise. The one that was not used was covered with rust. She looked at her brilliant friend with envy:

- Tell me, how did you become so beautiful? After all, it was so good for me to stand in my corner in the silence of the barn.

“This idleness mutilated you, but I became beautiful from work.”

Vice and Holiness

They say about the holy Bishop Ammon that they brought to him for trial a woman who was accused of the sin of adultery (in those days the bishop also served as a judge). Looking at the unfortunate woman, the holy bishop said:

– You have conceived a child, your birth will be difficult.

Then he turned to his servants:

- Give her ten arshins of linen: if she dies during childbirth, then it will be her shroud, and if a child is born, then it will be useful for him.

And he released the woman without punishing her or giving her any penance. Then one virgin, who was present at the trial and longed for the vice to be punished, shouted:

- This bishop must be crazy!

To this the saint answered her:

– For many years I prayed in silence in the desert in order to acquire this madness, and now I do not want to part with it, I will not exchange it for any worldly wisdom.

To the disciple who was constantly praying, the Master said:

– When will you stop leaning on the Lord and stand on your own feet?

The student was surprised:

“But you yourself taught us to see God as a father!”

- When will you learn that your father is not the one you can rely on, but the one who saves you from this habit.

Ability to see

At one lecture the Master said:

– The genius of the composer is manifested in the music he writes, but when you look at the notes, you won’t see the genius. God manifests himself in the Universe, but the most careful study of the Universe will not reveal God, just as a diligent examination of the body will not reveal the soul.

After the lecture someone asked:

– How then to comprehend God?

– Look at the world without analyzing anything.

– How should you look?

– A peasant who seeks to find beauty in the sunset will see only the sun, clouds, sky and horizon line until he realizes that beauty does not exist in itself. Beauty is the ability to see. Attempts to know God will be in vain until you understand that God cannot be seen as a certain entity, this requires a special ability to see, characteristic only of small children - not distorted by far-fetched doctrines and beliefs.

Two neighbors

Once upon a time there lived two neighbors. One is very devout, and the second is also a believer, but always bowed to the depth of faith of the first.

So it was that one of them did everything to bring the truths of faith into life, while the second, seeing this, only marveled at the energy of the first and his unbending faith. Many different things happened in life, but one of them was always adamant in his decisions and actions, always showed a keen mind in solving problems and always directed the light of his mind to prove matters of faith. The second, seeing that it was beyond his reach to ever become like that, solved his affairs in an everyday way and only calmed himself down, saying that perhaps he would someday be as smart and strong as his more religious neighbor. Either from his powerlessness in solving global problems, or from the fact that each problem took him much longer than the first, he learned to rejoice even when he encountered a problem. He simply had no choice but to rejoice.

Then fate separated the neighbors, and the second was forced to leave for distant places. He left and eventually forgot the first one. I still solved my problems with my calm methods. Only every year he took life easier and easier, and a quiet joy settled in him.

And then one day he died. He ended up in heaven, and the angels said that he was destined for heaven. He was surprised at first, but then joyfully accepted this news. After some time, he asked the angels if they could fulfill one of his wishes. The angels replied that they would do this with joy. He asked about his neighbor, he wanted to know what happened to him, because he had never seen a more religious person. Then the angels picked him up and carried him to the high mountain where the statue stood.

“He has crystallized faith in himself all his life,” said the angels. - Now he is motionless. He strove for perfection and became it, and now he is completely unaware of ordinary joys.

-Has he turned to stone? – asked the former neighbor.

“No, this is not a stone, this is a huge crystal, a soul,” answered the angels, “and we can all admire it.”

Chapter Seventeen

Having finished the service, the priest announced:

– Next Sunday I will talk to you about lies. To make it easier for you to understand what will be discussed, read the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark at home before doing this.

The following Sunday the priest announced before his sermon:

– I ask those who completed the task and read the seventeenth chapter to raise their hands.

Almost everyone present raised their hands.

“It’s with you that I wanted to talk about lies,” said the priest. – Mark doesn’t have a seventeenth chapter.

Forgiveness for sinners

One person once asked the elder whether God grants forgiveness to sinners. And the elder answered:

- Tell me, if you cut your arm or break your leg, will you cut them off and throw them away as unusable?

The man replied:

- No. I will treat them until I get better.

The elder concluded:

– If you take care of your body, won’t God be merciful to his own image?

True Prayer

One day, Brother Bruno's night prayer was interrupted by the loud croaking of a giant frog. All his attempts to ignore these sounds were unsuccessful, so he shouted from the window:

- Well, be quiet! I need to pray.

Brother Bruno was a saint, and his request was carried out immediately. All living beings fell silent so that nothing would interfere with the prayer.

But then another sound was heard that prevented Bruno from praising God. The inner voice said:

“Perhaps God finds the croaking of this frog no less pleasant to hear than the singing of your psalms.”

“How can the croaking of a frog please the ears of the Lord?” – Bruno objected mockingly.

– Why do you think God invented sound?

Bruno decided to find out. He leaned out of the window and ordered: “Sing!” The air was filled with the uniform croaking of a frog to the crazy accompaniment of relatives from all nearby bodies of water. Bruno listened to the sounds, and the voices stopped annoying him; he discovered that if he did not resist them, they only enriched the silence of the night. With this discovery, Bruno's heart felt one vibration with the entire Universe, and for the first time in his life he understood what true prayer meant.

Your prayer

There lived on one island three hermits who had an icon of three saints. And since they were simple, uneducated people, they prayed in front of this icon with nothing other than a simple, unique prayer: “There are three of you, and three of us, have mercy on us.” So they constantly repeated the same prayer.

So travelers landed on this island, and the elders asked them to teach them to pray. The travelers began to teach them the “Our Father” prayer, and having learned it, they sailed further by sea on their ship. But, having sailed not far from the shore, they suddenly saw that the elders were running after them across the waters and shouting:

- Wait, we forgot your prayer.

Seeing them walking on the waters, the travelers were amazed and, without stopping, only said to them:

– Pray as best you can.

The elders returned and remained at their prayer.

Joseph and two monks

Once two monks came to Joseph with a request to explain to them whether it was better for them to joyfully receive the brothers visiting them or not to express this joy. Before they had time to open their mouths to express their difficulty to him, he forestalled their question and entered his cell. There he covered himself with old rags and walked among them in such attire, without saying a word.

Then he took off his rags, put on the good clothes that he wore on holidays, and walked between them again. Finally he dressed as he always dressed and sat down with them.

The monks looked at him in surprise, not understanding anything of what he presented.

Then he told them:

-Did you notice what I did?

“Yes,” they answered.

“But,” added Joseph, “did you notice that the change in dress changed anything in me?” Have I become worse by wearing rags? Am I a better person by wearing better clothes?

- Of course not!

– Remember that everything created, even people, should not change anything by their appearance in our inner world. Receive with joy and innocence, and with Christian love, the brothers who visit you. And if no one comes to you, keep yourself focused in spirit.

Prayer for vanity

Once upon a time there lived a man, lonely and unhappy. And he prayed:

- Lord, send me a beautiful woman: I am very lonely, I need a wife.

God laughed:

- Why not a cross?

The man got angry:

- Cross?! Am I tired of life? I only want a beautiful woman.

Well, he got a beautiful woman, but soon he became even more unhappy than before: his wife became a pain in his heart and a stone on his neck. He pleaded again:

- Lord, send me a sword.

He was going to kill the woman and free himself from her, he dreamed of returning to the good old days.

And again God laughed:

– Should I send you a cross?

The man got angry:

“Don’t you think that this woman is worse than any cross?” Send me a sword!

A sword appeared. A man tried to kill a woman, but was captured and sentenced to crucifixion. And on the cross, praying to God, he laughed loudly:

- Forgive me, Lord! I didn’t listen to You, but You asked whether to send me a cross from the very beginning. If I had listened, I would have gotten rid of all this unnecessary fuss.

The priest and the wolf

Once upon a time there lived a wolf; he tore to pieces many sheep and plunged many people into confusion and tears.

One day he suddenly felt remorse and began to repent of his life. He decided to change and no longer kill sheep. To ensure that everything was in accordance with the rules, he went to the priest and asked him to serve a thanksgiving prayer service. The priest began the service, and the wolf stood and cried in the church. The service was long. The wolf happened to kill many of the priest’s sheep, so the priest prayed with all seriousness that the wolf would change. But suddenly the wolf looked out the window and saw that the sheep were being driven home. He began to shift from foot to foot; and the priest keeps praying, and there is no end in sight to the prayer.

Finally the wolf could not stand it and growled:

- Stop it, priest! Otherwise, the sheep will be driven home, and I will be left without dinner!

Forgetfulness

There was one hardworking old man who worked hard physically, but had a bad memory and was very absent-minded. He came to Abba John Kolov and asked him about forgetfulness. And he heard a word from him, and returned to his cell, but forgot what John had told him. He went to ask him again and heard a word from him. He returned to his cell and again forgot the word. And thus, leaving repeatedly, he lost what he had heard due to his forgetfulness. After this, still meeting with the elder, he said:

“You know, Abba, I forgot again what you told me.” But so as not to disturb you, I did not come.

Abba John told him:

- Go, light the lamp.

And he lit it. And Abba said to him:

- Bring other lamps and light them from it.

He did so. And Abba John said to the elder:

“Does a lamp really endure anything when other lamps are lit from it?”

He replied:

Avva said to this:

- So does John. Even if the whole monastery came to me, it would not hinder me in the grace of God. Therefore, whenever you want, come, without any reasoning.

One day an atheist was walking along a cliff, slipped and fell down. While falling, he managed to grab the branch of a small tree growing from a crevice in the rock. Hanging on a branch, swaying in the cold wind, he realized the hopelessness of his situation: there were mossy boulders below, and there was no way to climb up. His hands holding onto the branch became weak.

“Well,” he thought, “only God can save me now. I never believed in God, but I must have been wrong. What do I have to lose?

So he called:

- God! If you exist, save me and I will believe in you!

There was no answer. He called again:

- Please, God! I never believed in you, but if you save me now, I will believe in you from now on.

Suddenly a Great Voice rang out from the clouds:

- Oh no, you won't! I know people like you!

The man was so surprised that he almost let go of the branch.

- Please, God! You're wrong! I really think so! I will believe!

– Oh no, you won’t believe it! All of you say it this way.

The man begged and convinced. Finally God said:

- OK then. I will save you. Let go of the branch.

- Let go of the branch?! - the man exclaimed. - Don't you think I'm crazy?

Not the whole truth

One day, the elder and his disciple entered the gates of a big city to talk about the Christian faith.

One Christian, a resident of this city, approached him and said:

– Father, the residents of this city hardly need your sermons. These inhabitants are heavy-hearted and resist the word of truth. They don't want to study at all. Don't waste your time on them.

- You are right.

A few minutes later another Christian approached the elder and said:

“Father, have no doubt: you will be warmly received in this beautiful city.” People are waiting for you and hoping to hear the precious words of the Gospel teaching coming from your lips. They are hungry for knowledge and ready to serve. Their hearts and minds are open to you.

The elder looked at him and said:

- You are right.

The student could not stand it and asked the elder:

“Father, explain to me how you said the same words to one and the other, although they told you completely opposite things.”

The elder said to the student:

- You are right. But you probably noticed that both people spoke the truth that corresponded to their understanding of the world. The first sees only the bad in everything, the second looks for the good. Both perceive the world as they expect it to be. Each of them comes from their own experience of understanding this world. Neither of them lied. They both told the truth. Just not all of it.

Lighter cross

One day a crowd of people was walking along the road. Each one carried his own cross on his shoulder. One man felt that his cross was very heavy. He was very cunning. Lagging behind everyone else, he went into the forest and sawed off part of the cross. Satisfied that he had outwitted everyone, he caught up with them and moved on. Suddenly an abyss appeared on the way. Everyone put down their crosses and crossed over. The cunning man remained on this side, since his cross turned out to be short.

The careless monk

There lived in a certain monastery a careless monk: he was often late for services, upsetting his brothers and causing the abbot to become angry. The monks grumbled and even asked the abbot to expel him.

And this monk fell ill, the illness intensified, and he was already approaching death. The brothers were upset that the soul of the unfortunate man would perish. They gathered at his bedside to ease his dying sufferings with their prayer, but what did they see? This monk died the death of a righteous man. His face expressed calm and joy.

When he woke up a little, the brothers asked:

– What consolation did you receive from God? Who did you talk to, like your loved ones?

And the dying man, gathering his last strength, answered:

“Brothers, you know that I lived unworthily, and then I saw how demons surrounded my bed, in their hands was a sheet covered with my sins from top to bottom. They approached me, but my Guardian Angel stood in the distance and cried. And suddenly I heard a voice from heaven: “Judge not, lest ye be judged!” This monk did not condemn anyone, and I forgive him!” - and immediately the charter caught fire in the hands of the demons, and they disappeared screaming. An Angel came to me and greeted me, and I spoke to him. After accepting monasticism, I did not condemn a single person! Brothers, you condemned me and condemned me fairly, but I, a sinner, did not judge anyone.

Footprints in the sand

When the last picture of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. And he saw that often along his life’s path there was only one chain of traces. He also noted that these were the most difficult and unhappy times in his life.

He became very sad and began to ask the Lord:

“Didn’t You tell me: if I follow Your path, You will not leave me.” But I noticed that during the most difficult times of my life, only one chain of footprints stretched across the sand. Why did You abandon me when I needed You most?

The Lord answered:

- My dear, dear child. I love you and will never leave you. When there were sorrows and trials in your life, only one chain of footprints stretched along the road. Because in those days I carried you in my arms.

Higher obedience

One day Francis of Assisi was sitting among his comrades and, sighing, said:

“You can hardly find a monk in the whole world who would completely obey those in charge of him.”

Surprised, his comrades asked him:

– Explain to us, Father, what perfect and highest obedience is?

And he represented the truly obedient in the form of a dead body:

“Take the lifeless body and put it wherever you want.” You will see that it will not object if they begin to move it, will not grumble wherever it is placed, will not cry if it is taken away. If you put it on the pulpit, it will look down, not up. If you put it in purple, it will appear doubly pale. This is the true obedient: one who does not reason why he is moved, does not care where he is placed, does not insist on being moved. Exalted to any position, he retains his usual humility. The more he is revered, the more unworthy he considers himself.

Your cross

One person felt that his life was very difficult. And one day he went to God, told about his misfortunes and asked him:

– Can I choose a different cross for myself?

God looked at the man with a smile, led him into the storage room where there were crosses, and said:

- Choose.

A man walked into the storage room, looked and was surprised: there were all kinds of crosses here: small, large, medium, heavy, and light. The man walked around the storehouse for a long time, looking for a cross according to his strength, and finally found one that completely suited him, approached God and said:

- God, can I have this one?

“It’s possible,” God answered. - This is your own.

Three monks

Once upon a time there lived three hardworking monks. One of them chose a job for himself - to reconcile people quarreling among themselves. Another is to visit the sick. The third withdrew silently into the desert. The first, laboring because of quarrels between people, could not heal everyone and, coming with sorrow to the one visiting the sick, found him also weakened and not trying to fulfill his vow. Having agreed, they both went to the hermit, told him their sorrow and asked him to tell them what good he had done in the desert. After a short silence, the hermit poured water into the cup and said:

- Look at the water.

And the water was cloudy, so nothing could be seen in it. After a while he says again:

- Look, now the water has settled.

As soon as they looked into the water, they saw their faces as if in a mirror. Then he told them:

– This happens to a person living among people. Out of embarrassment, he does not see his sins. And when he is silent, and especially in the desert, then his shortcomings are visible.

Monk and Bishop

The brothers of one monastery came to the holy Bishop Ammon and began to complain about a monk who had fallen so low that a woman came to him at night, and they began to demand from the Monk Ammon that he expel this monk by removing his monastic robes.

The bishop refused:

“I won’t believe it until I can see it for myself.”

And so the monks watched how the harlot entered the cell of this unfortunate monk, and reported this to the bishop. And he said:

- Let's go together.

They knocked on the monk's door; he, trembling with fear, came out to meet them. The bishop and the brethren entered the cell. Ammon guessed that the monk hid his night guest under a barrel standing in the cell. He sat on this barrel and said to the monks:

– Search all corners of the room.

They started searching, climbed into the cellar, but, of course, they couldn’t find anyone. None of them dared to ask: “Get up, Master, we’ll look under the barrel.” After standing, they said:

– We didn’t find anyone.

Ammon answered them:

– Do you see how you have sinned? Go and repent.

And he himself remained with that monk, approached him, without saying a word of reproach, but only, taking his hand with love, whispered to him quietly:

“Brother, brother, watch your soul, remember how short this life is,” and he left.

How to hear God?

A student once came to his teacher and asked him:

– How can I achieve a supersensible life so that I can see God, and hear, and speak with Him?

The teacher replied:

– When you are able to force yourself, even for a minute, to enter where no living creature lives, you will hear God.

– Is it close or far? - asked the student.

“It is in you, and if you can stop your thoughts and desires for a while, you will hear the inexpressible words of God,” said the teacher.

– How can I hear God speak when I neither think nor speak?

- When you neither think from yourself nor desire from yourself; when your mind and will become calm and passively surrender to the perception of the expressions of the Eternal Word and Spirit; when your soul spreads its wings and rises above what is temporary; when you lock up your imagination and external feelings with abstract thinking, then Eternal Hearing, Sight, Speech will open in you, and God will hear and see through you, because you will be the organ of His Spirit, and God will speak in you and whisper to your Spirit, and your Spirit will hear His voice. Therefore, blessed are you if you can stop the wheel of your imagination and feelings, since in reality there is nothing except your own hearing and desire that hinders you and prevents you from seeing and hearing God.

Peasant and weather

Once upon a time there was a peasant who thought that if he could make the weather, things would be much better. “The grain will ripen faster,” he thought, “and there will be more grains in the ears.”

God saw his thoughts and said to him:

- Since you think you know better when what weather is needed, control it yourself this summer.

The peasant was very happy. He immediately wished for sunny weather. When the ground dried up, he wished that it would rain at night. The grain grew like never before. Everyone could not get enough of it, but the peasant thought: “Great, everything is good this year - both the weather and the harvest. I have never seen such ears of corn in my life.”

In the autumn, when the field turned yellow, the peasant went to collect the harvest. But imagine his disappointment: the ears of corn were all empty! He collected only straw.

And again this peasant began to complain to God that the harvest was worthless.

“But you ordered the weather according to your wishes,” answered the Creator.

“I sent rain and sun in turn,” the peasant began to explain. – I did everything right. I can’t understand why the ear is empty?

- And you forgot about the wind! That's why nothing happened. Wind is needed to transfer pollen from one spikelet to another. Then the grain is fertilized and a good full ear is obtained, and without this there will be no harvest.

The peasant felt ashamed and thought: “It’s better to let the Lord himself control the weather. We will only confuse everything in nature with our “wisdom”.

Wealth

One day Jesus Christ passed through a village. A large crowd of dissatisfied people gathered, who, surrounding Christ, began to revile him. Jesus Christ stood and smiled. One person who was watching what was happening approached Jesus Christ and asked why he was behaving this way. He replied:

– Everyone gives what they have in their wallet.

Real woman

A man appeared to God and declared his boredom. God wondered: “What to make a woman out of if all the material was spent on a man?” But, not wanting to refuse the man’s request, after much thought, God began to create a woman. He needed several bright rays of the sun, all the enchanting colors of dawn, the thoughtful sadness of the moon, the beauty of a swan, the playfulness of a kitten, the grace of a dragonfly, the gentle warmth of fur, the attractive power of a magnet. When he put it all together, the result was an incredibly ideal creature, not adapted to life on Earth. To prevent cloying, he added the cold twinkling of the stars, the fickleness of the wind, the tearfulness of the clouds, the cunning of the fox, the importunity of the fly, the greed of the shark, the jealousy of the tigress, the vindictiveness of the wasp, the bloodthirstiness of the leech, the intoxication of opium and breathed life into it. The result was a real woman.

God gave this woman to the man, saying:

– Take it the way it turned out and don’t try to remake it.

King of beasts

Once upon a time, during the creation of the world, God began creating living beings. He called everyone together: Man, animals, birds and fish in the form in which they were - in the form of embryos, and said:

– Now you are all the same. I decided to give you three features, three organs, with the help of which you will fight for your place in the sun.

Some animals chose tough skin to defend themselves, some chose sharp teeth to attack, some chose fast legs to escape. This is how the creation of living beings proceeded. And last came the Man. When it was his turn, God asked:

– What organs should I give you, Man?

And the Man answered:

– I don’t need any organs. It’s not for nothing that you, God, created me this way.

And then the Lord God answered:

– You are wise, Man. It was not for nothing that I created you this way. And therefore you should be the King of beasts. Be them and rule them wisely!

Shortcut

A student once said to his teacher:

“My dear teacher, I can no longer stand being distracted by anything.” How can I find the closest path to God?

The teacher replied:

– Where the path is more difficult, go there; take what the world throws; and what the world does, you do not do. Go contrary to the world in all things, and then you will come to Him the closest way!

Sins of the Priest

God appeared to one old woman in the village.

She told about this to the priest, who, caring about the spiritual structure of his parishioner, told her:

– If God appears to you next time, ask Him to tell you about my sins, which only He knows. This will be sufficient proof that it is God, and not someone else, who appears to you.

The woman came a month later, and the priest asked if God had appeared to her again. She nodded affirmatively.

– Did you ask Him a question?

- Yes, I did.

- And what did he say?

He said:

– Tell your priest that I have forgotten his sins.

“Really, it was God,” said the priest.

Christian teaching is a very harsh Path, infinitely far from the sentimental Christianity created by modern preachers.

The center of Christian teaching is the person of Jesus Christ, born at the beginning of our era and crucified, according to legend, around 33 AD. His life, short activity and His teaching are described in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostolic Epistles and the Apocalypse. There are four canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But based on the fact that Jesus Christ had twelve close disciples, later called apostles, it can be assumed that there were twelve Gospels, of which only four ended up in the New Testament. Confirmation that there were more than four Gospels is found in Nag Hammadi (Upper Egypt) of manuscripts from the first centuries of our era. You can get acquainted with some of them thanks to their translation into Russian made by M.K. Trofimova. The same can be said about the Epistles of the Apostles. But the New Testament contains fourteen Epistles of the Apostle Paul, one of James, two of Peter, three of John and one of Jude.

The twelve apostles and the twelve gospels associated with them take place, probably, in connection with nothing other than twelve types of people. Since each type of person sees something different in the same phenomenon or event, something unnoticeable to others, but important to him, the most complete picture of what is happening can only be obtained by becoming familiar with all twelve points of view. The second important point that speaks in favor of this hypothesis is that the most complete perception of information is possible when the transmitter and the perceiver belong to the same type of people. For example:

“Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not feel the plank in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother: Let me take the speck out of your eye, but there is a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matt. 7:3-5)

“You see the speck in your brother's eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you take the plank out of your own eye, then you will see to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Thomas 31)

The difference between the two statements is only in the way a person determines “the beam in his own eye”: in the Gospel of Matthew - through feeling, and in the Gospel of Thomas - through vision; that is, the channels of perception and transmission of information are: emotional - in Matthew and mental - in Thomas.

The goal of the teachings of Jesus Christ is to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven. Moreover, it is interesting that it, the Kingdom of Heaven, belongs to a few (and not everyone), that the gates to it are narrow and the path is narrow, that only a few will be able to pass through it, thus achieving salvation, that those who do not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, - just straw that will be burned.

“Already the ax lies at the root of the trees; Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire...” (Matthew 3:10) “His fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, and will gather His wheat into the barn, and will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matt. 3:12)

What is the Kingdom of Heaven? Here are some characteristics of the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus Christ himself gave:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; Which, although smaller than all seeds, yet when it grows, is larger than all the grains and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and take refuge in its branches.” (Matt. 13: 31-32) “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.” (Matt. 13: 33)

This means that the Kingdom of Heaven is at first something small, which, beginning to act, captures everything and changes it, that is, what results from the action of this small completely changes the original.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for good pearls, who, having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matt. 13:45-46)

“Seek ye above all the kingdom of God...” (Luke 12:31)

This means that the Kingdom of Heaven does not come on its own; it requires a search.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and captured fish of all kinds, which, when it was full, they dragged ashore and sat down, collecting the good things into vessels, and throwing away the bad things.” (Matt. 13:47-48)

The Kingdom of Heaven requires choice and selection; that is, in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, a person must know what is good and what is bad for the Kingdom of Heaven. He should also be able to keep the good and throw away the bad. And since parting with something of one’s own is a sacrifice, it means that a person must be able to sacrifice.

“The Kingdom of God is like if a person throws a seed into the ground, and sleeps and gets up night and day, and how the seed sprouts and grows, he does not know; For the earth itself produces first greenery, then an ear, then a full grain in the ear,

When the fruit is ripe, he immediately sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

Man is responsible for sowing the seeds of the Kingdom of Heaven and for the harvest, but shoots and growth no longer depend on man. Another statement of Jesus Christ indicates where the Kingdom of Heaven is and where it is necessary to throw its grains, and where to throw the net:

“When the Pharisees asked when the Kingdom of God would come, he answered them: The Kingdom of God will not come in a noticeable way, And they will not say: “Look, it is here,” or: “Look, there.” For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

This means that the Kingdom of God is the inner world of man. But since the everyday inner world of a person who has not encountered the teachings of Christ is the world of mammon, a world where the main value is wealth, it needs to be changed. “I tell you a secret: we will not all die, but we will all be changed...” (1 Corinthians 15:51) - says the Apostle Paul.

The inner world of a person who wants to enter the Kingdom of Heaven must include the values of this Kingdom. Jesus Christ speaks most of all about these values and ways to achieve them in the New Testament.

One of the characteristic features of the Christian Path, in contrast to Judaism, is the need for the traveler’s own efforts to achieve the traits necessary to enter the Kingdom of Heaven:

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and those who use force take it by force.” (Matt. 11:12)

“The Law and the Prophets until John; From now on, the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone enters into it with effort.” (Luke 16:16)

The primary condition for a person to enter the Path of Christianity is his repentance. A very big problem in understanding the Gospels is that often we do not know exactly what meaning was put into many words by one or another character, due to the fact that the meaning of words changes over time. The same applies to the word “repentance”. In the modern interpretation, the word “repent” is always supplemented with the words “in sins,” that is, “to repent of sins.” John the Baptist and Jesus Christ said this:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17)

The word “repent” means “to return to the source,” that is, it suggests some kind of experience that returns a person to the beginning of his life, when he was closest to God and the human world had not yet imposed its bonds on him. The following words resonate with the last statement of Jesus Christ:

“Truly I tell you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3)

Each tradition solves the problem of space and time in one way or another. It is known that space and time are related to each other: the product of the magnitude of internal space and the speed of passage of time is a constant value. The larger the size of the internal space, the slower the time passes, and vice versa, the smaller the size of the internal space, the faster the time flows: that is, time is a psychological quantity, depending on the internal state of a person. Just remember how a person perceives time when he waits and when he is late. Science has now proven that a year in the life of a five-year-old child is equal to ten years of a fifty-year-old person. And only in ordinary consciousness did the opinion become established that the flow of time is a constant quantity, directed from the past through the present to the future, that time is a one-dimensional quantity. Astronomical time, which has one measurement coordinate and a constant flow rate, is used by people for the convenience of everyday life. Time, like space, has three dimensional coordinates, and eternity is one of these coordinates. Jesus Christ knew this very well and offered his disciples a method of working on this problem - to repent (return to the source, that is, to 0 coordinates) and, being in the state of a child, enter another time - eternity. Like any wisdom, the sayings of Jesus Christ have a multi-level system of knowledge, the reading of which depends on the state of human consciousness. Therefore, this interpretation is not the only one.

The Christian tradition attaches great importance to the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ as the quintessence of this teaching:

“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; so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt. 5:3-12)

Poverty of spirit, crying, meekness, greed and thirst for truth, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, exile for the truth, reproach, persecution and all kinds of unjust reproach for Jesus Christ - this is what is necessary and what awaits a person who has taken the Path of Christianity. “Poor in spirit” is a very mysterious expression that has been and is being interpreted in different ways, but the direct meaning of this expression is forgotten. People agree to many humiliations, but they will never agree and never agreed that they are spiritually poor. Spiritual wealth is considered a priori to belong to man. But if you are rich in something or think that you are rich, then naturally you do not make any effort to increase what you consider to be wealth. You don't ask God for it because you have it. And if you don’t ask, then it’s not given to you. We are, in fact, poor in spirit, but by thinking otherwise, we close the door to the arrival of spiritual wealth.

Lies have permeated all of humanity and continue to permeate it and, perhaps, have increased even more since the time of Jesus Christ, since before the mind did not play such a big role in people’s lives. People lie both consciously and unconsciously, and the second case is more common than the first. That is why “hunger and thirst for righteousness” is so important for Christ’s disciples, since one cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven without such an ability.

Jesus Christ had twelve disciples close to Him, later called Apostles: Simon (Peter), his brother Andrew. Jacob Zebedee, his brother John, Philip, Bartholomew (in the Gospel of John - Nathanael), Thomas, Matthew, Jacob Alphaeus, Judas Levway (Thaddeus), Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot.

Due to his immediate calling, Paul also considered himself numbered among these twelve. Paul's real name was Saul. He was born into a Jewish diaspora family - wealthy enough to give his son a classical education along with a thorough study of the Torah - and was a Roman citizen and Pharisee. At first he belonged to the persecutors of Christians, but converted to Christianity after receiving a vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. Soon his missionary activity began, which consisted of spreading Christianity outside of Judaism.

The Christian religion is currently one of the largest on Earth. Its history is reminiscent of a tree in the process of growth: it has large and small branches, some of them suddenly stop developing, while others, which have remained small for a long time, suddenly sprout many shoots, and some of the shoots themselves become large branches.

After a millennium of unified existence, although the Christianity of the East and the Christianity of the West had been different for many centuries, in 1054 Christianity officially split into Catholicism and Orthodoxy. At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The Protestant Reformation began in Catholicism, which led to the emergence of Protestantism. In Orthodoxy there are fifteen autocephalous (independent) churches and several autonomous ones. Protestantism includes three main movements - Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism - and a large number of sects, many of which have become independent churches: Baptists, Methodists, Adventists, etc.

Parables of humanity. (5)