Wednesday, 18 Sep. 2013

The Greek-Catholic Orthodox (Right Faithful) Church (now the Russian Orthodox Church) began to be called Orthodox Slavic only on September 8, 1943 (approved by Stalin’s decree in 1945). What then was called Orthodoxy for several millennia?

“In our time, in modern Russian vernacular in official, scientific and religious designation, the term “Orthodoxy” is applied to anything related to the ethnocultural tradition and is necessarily associated with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Christian Judeo-Christian religion.

To a simple question: “What is Orthodoxy,” anyone modern man, without hesitation, will answer that Orthodoxy is Christian faith, which Kievan Rus took over during the reign of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun from the Byzantine Empire in 988 AD. And that Orthodoxy, i.e. The Christian faith has existed on Russian soil for more than a thousand years. Scientists from historical science and Christian theologians, in confirmation of their words, declare that the earliest use of the word Orthodoxy on the territory of Rus' is recorded in the “Sermon on Law and Grace” of the 1037-1050s of Metropolitan Hilarion.

But was it really so?

We advise you to carefully read the preamble to the federal law on freedom of conscience and religious associations, adopted on September 26, 1997. pay attention to following points in the preamble: “Recognizing the special role Orthodoxy in Russia...and further respecting Christianity , Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and other religions..."

Thus, the concepts of Orthodoxy and Christianity are not identical and carry within them completely different concepts and meanings.

Orthodoxy. How historical myths appeared

It is worth wondering who participated in the seven councils Judeo-Christian churches? Orthodox holy fathers or still Orthodox holy fathers, as indicated in the original Word on Law and Grace? Who and when made the decision to replace one concept with another? And was there ever any mention of Orthodoxy in the past?

The answer to this question was given by the Byzantine monk Belisarius in 532 AD. Long before the baptism of Rus', this is what he wrote in his Chronicles about the Slavs and their ritual of visiting the bathhouse: “Orthodox Slovenians and Rusyns are wild people, and their life is wild and godless, men and girls lock themselves together in a hot, heated hut and wear out their bodies... »

We will not pay attention to the fact that for the monk Belisarius the usual visit to the bathhouse by the Slavs seemed something wild and incomprehensible; this is quite natural. Something else is important for us. Pay attention to how he called the Slavs: Orthodox Slovenians and Rusyns.

For this one phrase alone we must express our gratitude to him. Since with this phrase the Byzantine monk Belisarius confirms that the Slavs were Orthodox for many thousands years before their conversion to Judeo-Christian faith.

The Slavs were called Orthodox because they RIGHT was praised.

What is "RIGHT"?

Our ancestors believed that reality, the cosmos, is divided into three levels. And it's also very similar to Indian system divisions: Upper world, Middle world and the Lower World.

In Rus' these three levels were called:

• The highest level is the level of Government or Edit.
• The second, middle level is Reality.
• And the lowest level is Nav. Nav or Non-reality, unmanifested.

• World Rule- this is a world where everything is right or ideal higher world. This is a world where ideal beings with higher consciousness live.
• Reality- this is ours, the manifest, obvious world, the world of people.
• And peace Navi or do not appear, unmanifest is the negative, unmanifested or lower or posthumous world.

IN Indian Vedas It also talks about the existence of three worlds:

• The upper world is a world where the energy of goodness dominates.
• The middle world is engulfed in passion.
• The lower world is immersed in ignorance.

Christians have no such division. The Bible is silent about this.

Such a similar understanding of the world gives similar motivation in life, i.e. it is necessary to strive for the world of Rule or Goodness. And in order to get into the world of Rule, you need to do everything correctly, i.e. according to God's law.

Words such as “truth” come from the root “rule.” Is it true- what gives the right. " Yes" is "to give", and " edit" - this is "highest". So, " Truth" - this is what the government gives.

If we talk not about faith, but about the word “Orthodoxy”, then of course it was borrowed by the church(according to various estimates in the 13th-16th centuries) from “those who glorify the rule”, i.e. from ancient Russian Vedic cults.

If only for the following reasons:

• a) it was rare that an Old Russian name did not contain a piece of “glory”,
• b) which is still Sanskrit, Vedic word“prav” (spiritual world) is contained in such modern Russian words as: right, right, righteous, right, rule, management, correction, government, right, wrong. The roots of all these words are " rights».

“Right” or “rule”, i.e. highest beginning. The point is that the basis of real management should be the concept of Rule or the highest reality. And real governance should spiritually elevate those who follow the ruler, leading his wards along the paths of rule.

• Details in the article: Philosophical and cultural similarities of Ancient Rus' and Ancient India .

Substitution of the name "Orthodoxy" is not "Orthodoxy"

The question arises: who and when on Russian soil decided to replace the terms orthodoxy with Orthodoxy?

This happened in the 17th century, when Moscow Patriarch Nikon instituted church reform. The main goal of this reform by Nikon was not to change the rituals of the Christian church, as it is interpreted now, where everything supposedly comes down to replacing the double finger sign of the cross for tripartite and walking procession On the other side. The main goal of the reform was the destruction of dual faith on Russian soil.

Nowadays, few people know that before the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Muscovy, dual faith existed on Russian lands. In other words, the common people professed not only orthodoxy, i.e. Greek Rite Christianity, which came from Byzantium, but also the old pre-Christian faith of their ancestors ORTHODOXY. This was what most worried Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his spiritual mentor, Christian Patriarch Nikon, for the Orthodox Old Believers lived by their own principles and did not recognize any authority over themselves.

Patriarch Nikon decided to put an end to dual faith in a very original way. To do this, under the guise of reform in the church, allegedly due to the discrepancy between the Greek and Slavic texts, he ordered to rewrite all liturgical books, replacing the phrases “orthodox Christian faith” with “Orthodox Christian faith.” In the Chetiy Menaia that have survived to this day, we can see the old version of the entry “Orthodox Christian Faith.” This was Nikon’s very interesting approach to the matter of reform.

Firstly, there was no need to rewrite many ancient Slavic, as they called then, charati books, or chronicles, which described the victories and achievements of pre-Christian Orthodoxy.

Secondly, life during the times of dual faith and the very original meaning of Orthodoxy were erased from the memory of the people, because after such church reform any text from liturgical books or ancient chronicles could be interpreted as the beneficial influence of Christianity on Russian lands. In addition, the Patriarch sent out a reminder to Moscow churches about the use of the three-finger sign of the cross instead of the two-finger sign.

Thus began the reform, as well as the protest against it, which led to church schism. The protest against Nikon's church reforms was organized by the patriarch's former comrades, archpriests Avvakum Petrov and Ivan Neronov. They pointed out to the patriarch the arbitrariness of his actions, and then in 1654 he organized a Council at which, as a result of pressure on the participants, he sought to carry out a book review of ancient Greek and Slavic manuscripts. However, for Nikon, the comparison was not with the old rituals, but with the modern Greek practice of that time. All the actions of Patriarch Nikon led to the fact that the church split into two warring parts.

Supporters of the old traditions accused Nikon of a trilingual heresy and indulgence in paganism, as Christians called Orthodoxy, that is, the old pre-Christian faith. The split spread throughout the country. This led to the fact that in 1667 a large Moscow council condemned and deposed Nikon, and anathematized all opponents of the reforms. Since then, adherents of new liturgical traditions began to be called Nikonians, and adherents of old rituals and traditions began to be called schismatics and persecuted. The confrontation between the Nikonians and the schismatics at times led to armed clashes until the tsarist troops came out on the side of the Nikonians. In order to avoid a large-scale religious war, part of the highest clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate condemned some provisions of Nikon’s reforms.

The term Orthodoxy began to be used again in liturgical practices and government documents. For example, let us turn to the spiritual regulations of Peter the Great: “...And as a Christian Sovereign, he is the guardian of orthodoxy and all piety in the Holy Church...”

As we see, even in the 18th century, Peter the Great was called the Christian sovereign, the guardian of Orthodoxy and piety. But about Orthodoxy in this document there is not a word. It is not in the editions of the Spiritual Regulations of 1776-1856.

Thus, the “church” reform of Patriarch Nikon was clearly carried out against the traditions and foundations of the Russian people, against Slavic rituals, not church ones.

In general, the “reform” marks the milestone from which a sharp decline in faith, spirituality and morality begins in Russian society. Everything new in rituals, architecture, icon painting, and singing is of Western origin, which is also noted by civilian researchers.

The “church” reforms of the mid-17th century were directly related to religious construction. The order to strictly follow the Byzantine canons put forward the requirement to build churches “with five peaks, and not with a tent.”

Tent-roofed buildings (with a pyramidal top) were known in Rus' even before the adoption of Christianity. This type of building is considered originally Russian. That is why Nikon, with his reforms, took care of such “trifles”, because this was a real “pagan” trace among the people. Under the threat of the death penalty, craftsmen and architects managed to preserve the tent shape of temple buildings and secular ones. Despite the fact that it was necessary to build domes with onion-shaped domes, the overall shape of the structure was made pyramidal. But not everywhere it was possible to deceive the reformers. These were mainly the northern and remote areas of the country.

Nikon did everything possible and impossible to ensure that the true Slavic heritage disappeared from the vastness of Rus', and with it the Great Russian People.

Now it becomes obvious that there were no grounds at all for carrying out church reform. The reasons were completely different and had nothing to do with the church. This is, first of all, the destruction of the spirit of the Russian people! Culture, heritage, the great past of our people. And this was done by Nikon with great cunning and meanness.

Nikon simply “planted a pig” on the people, so much so that we, the Russians, still have to remember in parts, literally bit by bit, who we are and our Great Past.

But was Nikon the instigator of these transformations? Or maybe there were completely different people behind him, and Nikon was only a performer? And if this is so, then who are these “men in black” who were so disturbed by the Russian man with his many thousands of years of great past?

The answer to this question was outlined very well and in detail by B.P. Kutuzov in the book “The Secret Mission of Patriarch Nikon”. Despite the fact that the author does not fully understand the true goals of the reform, we must give him credit for how clearly he exposed the true customers and implementers of this reform.

• Details in the article: The great scam of Patriarch Nikon. How Nikita Minin killed Orthodoxy

Education of the Russian Orthodox Church

Based on this, the question arises: when did the term Orthodoxy begin to be officially used by the Christian Church?

The fact is that V Russian Empire did not have Russian Orthodox Church. The Christian Church existed under a different name - “Russian Greek Catholic Church”. Or as it was also called “Russian Orthodox Church of the Greek Rite”.

Christian church called The Russian Orthodox Church appeared during the reign of the Bolsheviks.

At the beginning of 1945, by order of Joseph Stalin, a local council was held in Moscow under the leadership of responsible persons from the State Security of the USSR Russian Church and selected new patriarch Moscow and all Rus'.

• Details in the article: How Stalin created the Russian Orthodox Church MP [video]

It should be mentioned that many Christian priests, those who did not recognize the power of the Bolsheviks left Russia and beyond its borders they continue to profess Christianity of the Eastern Rite and call their church nothing more than Russian Orthodox Church or Russian Orthodox Church.

In order to finally move away from well crafted historical myth and to find out what the word Orthodoxy actually meant in ancient times, let us turn to those people who still keep old faith ancestors

Having received their education in Soviet times, these pundits either do not know or carefully try to hide from ordinary people, that even in ancient times, long before the birth of Christianity on Slavic lands Orthodoxy existed. It covered not only the basic concept when our wise ancestors glorified the Rule. And the deep essence of Orthodoxy was much larger and more voluminous than it seems today.

The figurative meaning of this word also included the concept of when our ancestors The right was praised. But it was not Roman law or Greek law, but ours, our native Slavic law.

It included:

• Family Law, based on the ancient cultural traditions, laws and foundations of the Family;
• Communal law, creating mutual understanding between various Slavic clans living together in one small settlement;
• Cop law which regulated the interaction between communities living in large settlements, which were cities;
• Vesi law, which determined the relationships between communities living in different cities and settlements within the same Vesi, i.e. within one area of ​​settlement and residence;
• Veche law, which was adopted at a general meeting of all the people and was observed by all clans of the Slavic community.

Any Right from the Tribal to the Veche was organized on the basis of the ancient Laws, the culture and foundations of the Family, as well as on the basis of the ancient commandments Slavic gods and instructions of ancestors. This was our native Slavic Right.

Our wise ancestors commanded to preserve it, and we preserve it. Since ancient times, our ancestors glorified the Rule and we continue to glorify the Rule, and we preserve our Slavic Right and pass it on from generation to generation.

Therefore, we and our ancestors were, are and will be Orthodox.

Substitution on Wikipedia

Modern interpretation of the term ORTHODOX = Orthodox, appeared on Wikipedia only after this resource switched to funding from the UK government. In fact, Orthodoxy is translated as rightVerie, Orthodox is translated as orthodox.

Either, Wikipedia, continuing the idea of ​​​​the “identity” Orthodoxy = Orthodoxy, should call Muslims and Jews Orthodox (for the terms Orthodox Muslim or Orthodox Jew are found throughout world literature) or still admit that Orthodoxy = Orthodoxy and in no way relates to Orthodoxy, just like the Christian Church Eastern rite, called since 1945 - the Russian Orthodox Church.

Orthodoxy is not a religion, not Christianity, but a faith

By the way, on many of his icons it is written in implicit letters: MARY LIK. Hence the original name of the area in honor of the face of Mary: Marlykian. So in fact this bishop was Nicholas of Marlikiy. And his city, which was originally called “ Mary"(that is, the city of Mary), is now called Bari. There was a phonetic replacement of sounds.

Bishop Nicholas of Myra - Nicholas the Wonderworker

However, now Christians do not remember these details, hushing up the Vedic roots of Christianity. For now Jesus in Christianity is interpreted as the God of Israel, although Judaism does not consider him a god. But Christianity says nothing about the fact that Jesus Christ, as well as his apostles, are different faces of Yar, although this is read on many icons. The name of the god Yara is also read on .

Shroud of Turin

At one time, Vedism reacted very calmly and brotherly to Christianity, seeing in it simply a local outgrowth of Vedism, for which there is a name: paganism (that is, an ethnic variety), like Greek paganism with another name Yara - Ares, or Roman, with with the name Yara - Mars, or with the Egyptian, where the name Yar or Ar was read in the opposite direction, Ra. In Christianity, Yar became Christ, and Vedic temples made icons and crosses of Christ. And only over time, under the influence of political, or rather geopolitical reasons,, and then Christianity saw manifestations of “paganism” everywhere and waged a struggle with it not to the stomach, but to the death. In other words, he betrayed his parents, his heavenly patrons, and began to preach humility and submission.

The Judeo-Christian religion not only does not teach a worldview, but also prevents the acquisition of ancient knowledge, declaring it heresy. Thus, at first, instead of the Vedic way of life, stupid worship was imposed, and in the 17th century, after the Nikonian reform, the meaning of Orthodoxy was replaced.

The so-called "Orthodox Christians", although they have always been true believers, because Orthodoxy and Christianity are completely different essences and principles.

• Details in the article: V.A. Chudinov - Proper education .

Currently, the concept of "paganism" exists only as an antithesis to Christianity, and not as an independent figurative form. For example, when the Nazis attacked the USSR, they called the Russians “Rusishe Schweine”, so why should we now, imitating the fascists, call ourselves “Rusishe Schweine”?

A similar misunderstanding occurs with paganism; neither the Russian people (our ancestors) nor our spiritual leaders (magi or brahmans) ever called themselves “pagans.”

The Jewish form of thinking needed to vulgarize and mutilate the beauty of the Russian Vedic system of values, so a powerful pagan (“pagan”, filthy) project arose.

Neither the Russians nor the Magi of Rus' ever called themselves pagans.

The concept of "paganism" is a purely Jewish concept, which the Jews used to designate all non-biblical religions. (And as we know, there are three biblical religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And they all have one common source - the Bible).

• Details in the article: There has NEVER been paganism in Rus'!

Secret writing in Russian and modern Christian icons

Thus Christianity within ALL Rus' was adopted not in 988, but in the interval between 1630 and 1635.

The study of Christian icons made it possible to identify sacred texts on them. Explicit inscriptions cannot be included among them. But they absolutely include implicit inscriptions associated with Russian Vedic gods, temples and priests (memes).

On old Christian icons of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus there are Russian inscriptions in runes, saying that these are depicted Slavic Goddess Makosh with the baby God Yar. Jesus Christ was also called HOR OR HORUS. Moreover, the name CHORUS on the mosaic depicting Christ in the Church of Christ Chorus in Istanbul is written like this: “NHOR”, that is, ICHOR. The letter I used to be written as N. The name IGOR is almost identical to the name IHOR OR CHORUS, since the sounds X and G could transform into each other. By the way, it is possible that the respectful name HERO came from here, which later entered many languages ​​practically unchanged.

And then the need to disguise Vedic inscriptions becomes clear: their discovery on icons could entail accusing the icon painter of belonging to the Old Believers, and this could result in punishment in the form of exile or the death penalty.

On the other hand, as is now becoming obvious, the absence of Vedic inscriptions made the icon a non-sacred artifact. In other words, it was not so much the presence of narrow noses, thin lips and large eyes that made the image sacred, but it was the connection with the god Yar in the first place and with the goddess Mara in the second place through reference implicit inscriptions that added magical and miraculous properties to the icon. Therefore, icon painters, if they wanted to make an icon miraculous, and not a simple piece of art, were obliged to supply any image with the words: FACE OF YAR, MIM OF YAR AND MARA, TEMPLE OF MARA, YAR TEMPLE, YAR Rus', etc.

Nowadays, when persecution on religious charges has ceased, the icon painter no longer risks his life and property by applying implicit inscriptions to modern icon paintings. Therefore, in a number of cases, namely in the cases of mosaic icons, he no longer tries to hide this kind of inscription as much as possible, but transfers them to the category of semi-explicit.

Thus, using Russian material, the reason was revealed why explicit inscriptions on icons moved into the category of semi-explicit and implicit: the ban on Russian Vedism, which followed from. However, this example gives rise to the assumption of the same motives for masking obvious inscriptions on coins.

This idea can be expressed in more detail as follows: once upon a time, the body of a deceased priest (mime) was accompanied by a funeral golden mask, on which there were all the corresponding inscriptions, but not very large and not very contrasting, so as not to destroy the aesthetic perception of the mask. Later, instead of a mask, smaller objects began to be used - pendants and plaques, which also depicted the face of the deceased mime with corresponding discreet inscriptions. Even later, portraits of mimes migrated to coins. And this kind of image was preserved as long as spiritual power was considered the most significant in society.

However, when power became secular, passing to military leaders - princes, leaders, kings, emperors, images of government officials, not mimes, began to be minted on coins, while images of mimes migrated to icons. At the same time, secular power, being more coarse, began to mint its own inscriptions weightily, roughly, visibly, and obvious legends appeared on coins. With the emergence of Christianity, such explicit inscriptions began to appear on icons, but they were no longer written in the runes of the Family, but in the Old Slavonic Cyrillic script. In the West, the Latin script was used for this.

Thus, in the West there was a similar, but still slightly different motive, why the implicit inscriptions of mimes did not become explicit: on the one hand, aesthetic tradition, on the other hand, the secularization of power, that is, the transition of the function of managing society from priests to military leaders and officials.

This allows us to consider icons, as well as sacred sculptures of gods and saints, as substitutes for those artifacts that acted as carriers of sacred properties before: golden masks and plaques. On the other hand, icons existed before, but did not affect the sphere of finance, remaining entirely within religion. Therefore, their production has experienced a new heyday.

• Details in the article: Secret writing on Russian and modern Christian icons [video] .

When creating the world, the Great Creator endowed man with a unique gift - freedom. Man was created in the image and likeness of God, and freedom is precisely his God-like property.

The Perfect Personality creates an imperfect being, but endows it with this greatest gift. The Lord knew that by taking advantage of this gift, a person would fall away from Him, but he still left the right to choose. Did God regret that he rewarded man with this “overwhelming” burden? Nothing like this! This is evidenced by all subsequent sacred history, which is literally permeated with evidence of Divine trust.

"When the water global flood returned again to the borders of the shores...” The Lord gives humanity another chance, again, trusting and not taking away freedom. Abraham had freedom of choice, because he might not have followed the Lord into the space of death (what a feat for ancient man was to leave my native place!). There were no kings for the holy people in God's plan - but when the Jews, following the example of the pagans, decided to get themselves a king, the Lord did not interfere with this (a reminder, by the way, to Orthodox monarchists who shout at the top of their lungs about the divinely established monarchical system). And these are just a few examples from Scripture.

And finally, the greatest example of freedom, love and trust is the Gospel. God ultimately trusts people with his own Son, whom they... crucified.

And yet, from more than two thousand years of experience in church life, we know: God not only did not take away, but even added to us freedom. And Apostle Paul, who was once a strict zealot of the Law, and then became a man of the spirit, wrote beautifully about this.

From Judaism, which was very picky about external rituals, Christianity grew, which, with its attitude to personal freedom, sharply contrasts with other religious systems. The Church has preserved a unique gift - respect for human dignity. And her relationship to the image and likeness of the Almighty cannot be different!

But freedom in the Christian understanding is not at all what it shouts about modern world. Freedom for Christians is, ultimately, freedom from sinful passions, freedom to contemplate the Divine. But modern man, who boasts of his imaginary freedom, is in fact often a slave to many things, when the soul is bound by the chains of passions and the shackles of sins, and the likenesses of God are trampled into the dirt.

True freedom comes when a person joins the Holy Spirit, having gone through the paths of repentance and purification. As the same Apostle Paul aptly said: “The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). True freedom cannot be achieved without the Holy Spirit!

Freedom of spirit is a heavy burden

But how is freedom revealed in the Church of Christ in practical terms? Firstly, a minimum number of fixed rules. Only the fundamentals of faith, the so-called dogmas (the most important of which are listed in the Creed) are strictly defined and unchangeable in the Church. Even the Holy Scriptures different time differed both in later insertions and in the presence or absence of certain books in the biblical code. (For example, the Apocalypse was not accepted by the Eastern Church for a very long time, and the Synodal Bible does not know the Fourth Book of Maccabees, which was included in the most ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint).

One of the greatest Athonite ascetics, Gregory Sinaite, defining the boundaries of church institutions, remarked: “To purely confess the Trinity in God and the two in Christ - in this I see the limit of Orthodoxy.”

But for the practice of salvation, Christianity offers a lot of everything: ascetic rules, prohibitions, compulsions and actions that serve only one thing - to bring a person closer to God. All this is not imposed in full as something obligatory, but is offered for voluntary and individual perception.

The main thing is not the external order, but the Lord God, but without much that the Church has accumulated in its experience, it can be extremely difficult to reach the heavenly chambers. However, all these accumulations are not a goal, but a means, and if the means in a given and specific case do not help (and it cannot be universal!), it means that something needs to be changed in spiritual life, and not go from year to year. year in a “vicious circle”.

Not everyone has heard through the centuries the words that “He has given us the ability to be ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, because the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). And if they do hear, then, probably, this burden is heavy - to walk before the Lord in freedom of spirit. Maturity, a responsible approach, prudence, knowledge of the fundamentals of faith, respect and love for one's neighbor are required.

A person's growth in spirit and truth need not be accompanied by the suppression of all his personal aspirations. Despite this, in modern Russian church reality, freedom is often equated almost with sin. Absolutely Christian concepts such as “personal freedom”, “civil rights”, “gender equality”, “freedom of speech” are interpreted as ideological sabotage by enemies of the Church and the state. Along with the mention of these terms, certain church (and more often para-church) media publish photographs of gay pride parades, naked feminists with axes, and pedophiles. As if fundamental civil rights, growing from the depths of Christianity, are limited only by these negative phenomena!

But the times are not far off when we were promised to be shown the “last priest” on TV, and open confession of faith meant the path of martyrdom or confession. Yes, somehow everything was forgotten...

"To help the penitent"

Freedom of speech began to interfere with us. We somehow began to reject freedom in general both in ideology and in building personal spiritual growth. The lives of many of our brothers and sisters are tied by the chains of various instructions, many of which have no basis in the Holy Scriptures and in the Holy Tradition. It was about these cases that Christ spoke many times: “He answered and said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3), “but in vain they worship Me, teaching doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9), “And he said unto them, Is it good that ye cast aside the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition?” (Mark 7:9), “making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have established; and you do many similar things” (Mark 7:13).

This can be clearly demonstrated by some of the brochures from the series “To Help the Repentant”, after reading which a Christian risks falling into one of the most terrible sins - despondency. This is understandable, because how can you not be discouraged when you get the impression that your whole life is pure sin and darkness? To what is gleaned from the brochures, the advice of the local young priest is added, and even the old woman in the temple whispers something “to help” - and as a result, the person feels like a kind of Prometheus, chained to the rock of life.

Of course, not everything in our country is based on Scripture. There is also Tradition. But our Tradition is sacred. And this is not a beautiful epithet: the word “sacred” suggests that tradition is sanctified in the Church by the action of the Holy Spirit. But there is something completely different: certain traditions and ideas that also have a right to exist, but in no way should be perceived as something super-obligatory, eternal and unshakable.

How to determine where is the Sacred and where is just tradition? Very simple. After all, there is only one Author of Scripture and Tradition - the Holy Spirit. This means that Sacred Tradition must always correspond to, or at least not contradict, Scripture.

“Adherents of severity” and their stranglehold

As an example, let’s take the statement that spouses should abstain from intimacy during Lent. What does Scripture say about this? And the Scripture says the following: “Do not deviate from each other, except by consent, for a time, to practice fasting and prayer, and [then] be together again, so that Satan does not tempt you with your intemperance. However, I said this as permission, and not as a command” (1 Cor. 7:5).

Perfect example Christian attitude to the individual: everything is put in its place, and the maximum degree of freedom is given. But already in the early Church there were adherents of the “hard line”. It was for them that two great fathers of the Church (4th canon of Dionysius and 13th canon of Timothy of Alexandria) made an extended commentary, confirming the freedom of choice of spouses in this difficult issue. In the monuments of ancient Russian literature - “The Teaching of Novgorod Archbishop Elijah (John) (March 13, 1166)” and “The Questioning of Kirik” - the practice of mandatory and forced renunciation of married life in Lent is strongly condemned.

But soon other winds blew, and to this day some clergy in private and public conversations categorically forbid their family flock from touching each other during Lent. A few years ago one learned monk, who spoke in the press with the Open Secret that there are no such prohibitions, was subjected to such a barrage of censures that he was forced to justify himself and “soften the form of his statements.” This is how “adherents of rigor” hold on to human traditions - with a stranglehold.

In general, the entire intimate sphere of married life is fertile ground for all kinds of speculation and prejudice. There is a full range of everything here: “sinful positions and types of intimacy.” (This is in “bed with a candle” to the legal spouses! Talmudists stand aside and nervously bite their elbows...) And “the sinful use of condoms and other non-abortive means of birth control.” (Give birth and give birth, forgetting that we give birth not into biomass, but into the Kingdom of Heaven or into eternal destruction. And that in addition to giving birth, it is also necessary to raise a person as a worthy member of the Church and society. Like many priests, I I know examples of child abandonment in large families).

If during confession a priest “bites” into the topic of the confessor’s intimate life, one has to doubt his spiritual and sometimes mental health.

But one more aspect must be borne in mind: through tugging the strings of the secret and intimate aspects of a person’s life, one can obtain a certain access code for manipulating and controlling him - a Pharisaic technique as old as the world, which has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ.

A fashionable sentence for an Orthodox woman

Sometimes our freedom is “pinched” in small ways...

Thus, one famous archpriest and preacher recently began to take bread from the hosts of the “Fashionable Sentence” program and became closely involved in the issues of modern fashion. Here, of course, he is far from being a pioneer: there is a well-known theme - women should look like this, men should look like this, and children should look exactly like this, and preferably, walk in order.

Some of their personal stereotypes, ideas, projections and even deep-seated complexes and desires are pushed through under the guise of church regulations. Where neither Christ, nor the apostles, nor the apostolic men intervened, some modern preachers are bending over backwards. They will give advice on all occasions, and in the end they will even say who will be saved and who will not (I'm not kidding!), making decisions for the Lord God. It is truly said: “And the word of the Lord became unto them: commandment upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, so that they go and fall backward, and are broken, and are caught in a snare.” and they will be caught” (Isa. 28:13-14).

In conclusion, I would like to say once again that Christianity is not a chain of endless prohibitions and suppressions. This is a religion of free and voluntary ascent to God. The Lord does not force anyone, does not bend anyone over his knee, but wants “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

“Stand fast therefore in the freedom which Christ has given us, and do not be subjected again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). Let us, brothers and sisters, carefully and deeply study our faith, pray with zeal, without losing prudence and common sense, respecting and appreciating each individual, for the individual is the image and likeness of God.

Portal "Orthodoxy and Peace" andindependent service "Sreda" conduct a series of discussions about parish life. Every week - a new topic! We will ask all the pressing questions to different priests. If you want to talk about the pain points of Orthodoxy, your experience or vision of problems, write to the editor at [email protected].

Although the articles are completely different!!! Let's read and try to figure out what Orthodoxy and Orthodoxy are!

For example, translated into English, Orthodoxy is identified with the Eastern Orthodox Church! By the way, these so-called Orthodoxy there are a whole bunch! Let's say there is the Orthodox Catholic Church. What's this like Orthodox Catholic Church? A as you like Ethiopian Orthodox Church(Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church) Here is another striking example: Russian Orthodox Church is the Russian Orthodox Church, but Orthodox Judaism is no longer, as you might think, Orthodox Judaism, and Orthodox Judaism, as it should be! This means that Orthodoxy is not Orthodoxy! Orthodoxy is " orthodoxy"!!! And then everything falls into place! So the so-called Russian Orthodox Church is nothing more than True Christianity! The same as Ethiopian or Catholic!

NO ATTITUDE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY TO
ORIGINAL SLAV TO THE JANA CONCEPT “ RIGHT- ABOUT- SLAV IE" DOESN'T HAVE!!! AND THIS RIGHTS YES!!!

Anyone who doesn’t see this automatically subscribes to idiocy Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Islam, Orthodox Catholic Church. And so, we dealt with Orthodoxy-Orthodoxy.

By the way, do you want to know a little about how things were in Rus' until something went wrong brought Christianity to us? Christians burned our books like rotten letters, like many of the world’s libraries, so we’ll have to turn to their notes. The fact that the Slavs lived well and richly is noted by all Christian chroniclers. And despite the fact that they treated the pagan Slavs with the arrogance of fanatics, confident in the exclusivity and superiority of their faith, even they note the wonderful human qualities of the Slavs. The chronicler Gemold writes:

“...The Prussians have not yet known the light of faith; people with many natural good qualities, “very philanthropic” towards those in need; “They rush to meet those who are in danger at sea or persecuted by sea robbers, and come to their aid. They value gold and silver almost nothing. They have an abundance of unknown furs, because of which the deadly poison of pride has spread in our country. And they seem to revere them as manure, as a reproach, I think, to us, who sigh for fur clothing as if it were our greatest happiness. Therefore, for linen garments, which we call faldones, they give us such precious skins ... ".

And here are the words of the Christian bishop Otto of Bamberg, who twice visited the lands of the Pomeranian Slavs with the aim of converting them to Christianity in 1124 and 1127: “... there is an incredible abundance of fish there, both in the seas and in rivers, lakes and ponds. For a denarius you could buy a cartload of fresh herrings, and if I began to tell what I know about their smell and thickness, I would be accused of gluttony. Throughout the country there are many deer, fallow deer and wild stallions, bears, wild boars, pigs and all kinds of game; oil cow's milk, sheep's milk with the fat of lambs and rams, with plenty of honey and wheat, with hemp and poppy seeds, and all kinds of vegetables, and if there were vines there, olives and fig trees, you would think that this is the promised land, there are so many fruit trees in it...

Honesty and camaraderie among them are such that, completely ignorant of either theft or deception, they keep chests and drawers unlocked. In fact, we did not see any locks or keys there, and they themselves were quite surprised to see our packs and boxes locked. They store their clothes, money and all their jewelry in their barrels and tubs, simply covered with a lid, and are not afraid of any deception, for they have not experienced it ... "

And knowing that with the “coming” to power, the Christed ones committed a real genocide! Look:

So they have to go out of their way to prove to us that we were wild and terrible until they “enlightened” us, these are these figures who by that time “enlightened” Europe: Unwashed Christian Europe

Let's return to Orthodoxy. What is this? Where is it from? What does it mean? Why is this word so pleasant to the ear? You can feel something ours, dear, Slavic in it!

TRUTH, CORRECTLY, RIGHT, RULE, GOVERNMENT, direction...

SLAV, SLAV, SvyatoSLAV, VladiSLAV, BorisSLAV, RostiSLAV, Vyacheslav...

ORTHODOXY (Rule Glory) is an ancient Russian concept, dates back several tens of thousands of years and takes its roots from Ancient Vedic Russian national religion, which described the world order using concepts "Reality"(material world), “Nav”(prototypical world), “Rule”(world shaping) and “Slav”(creative world) - (four-level structure of the world order) - at that time, Russian people glorified “Rule”, lived according to the Truth and were called ORTHODOX.

Accordingly, ORTHODOXY in the ancient Slavic language means a magical action that improves the shaping world. Currently, the very concept of “Orthodoxy” has been distorted, and even an absurd phrase has arisen - “Christian Orthodoxy”, which is used in the sense of “Christian orthodoxy”, and denotes the same context as “orthodox Islam”, “orthodox Judaism”, but in no way not like Orthodox Islam and Orthodox Judaism!

Orthodoxy means Glory and Rule. Russian Orthodox Church received its name after the reforms of Nikon, who realized that it was not possible to defeat the native faith of the Rus, all that remained was to try to assimilate it with Christianity. Correct name ROC MP in the outside world "Orthodox (Orthodox) autocephalous church of the Byzantine sense"

Until the 16th century, even in Russian Christian chronicles you will not find the term “Orthodoxy” in relation to Christian religion. In relation to the concept of “faith”, such epithets as “God’s”, “true”, “Christian”, “right” and “immaculate” are used. And even now you will never find this name in foreign texts, since the Byzantine Christian church called - orthodox, and is translated into Russian - the correct teaching (in defiance of all the other “wrong” ones).

Orthodoxy- (from the Greek orthos - straight, correct and doxa - opinion), the “correct” system of views, fixed by authoritative authorities religious community and obligatory for all members of this community; orthodoxy, agreement with the teachings preached by the church. Orthodox refers primarily to the church in Middle Eastern countries (for example, the Greek Orthodox Church, Orthodox Islam, or Orthodox Judaism). Unconditional adherence to some teaching, firm consistency in views. The opposite of orthodoxy is heterodoxy and heresies. Never and nowhere in other languages ​​will you be able to find the term “Orthodoxy” regarding the Greek (Byzantine) religious form. The substitution of imagery terms for an external aggressive form was necessary because IHI images did not work on our Russian soil, so we had to mimic existing familiar images.

Even the term gospel“Christians stole from the government language of Rome, it means “the highest order” - “the good news of the sovereign to the people.” At first, the religion was not called “Christian” and spread throughout the port cities among the debased dregs of society (proselytes), who most easily succumbed to Christian lies and promises of writing off all sins. The most devout Christians became the most ordinary penitent hetaeras, who had worn out their talent over the years. And this is no coincidence. The early Christian “blessed righteous women” rushed between the chapel and their dens. It was they who came up with the well-known formula: “If you don’t sin, you won’t repent, and if you don’t repent, you won’t be saved.”. New religion, having infected a sufficient number of courtesans and slaves, was initially called differently: either “true believers”, then “faithful disciples of the apostles”, or “new prophecy”. The name "Christians" was given to them by their opponents. Only at the end of the 2nd century it will become generally accepted and dominant.

The pinnacle of Tertullian's sermons was the saying: “I believe because it is absurd”. This is how this position is formulated: “The son of God being crucified is not shameful, for it is shameful. And the son of God died - this is quite reliable, because it is absurd. And having been buried, he rose again - this is true, because it is impossible.” This is the logic.

Term "paganism" means "other languages". This term previously served the Russians simply to identify people speaking other languages. Subsequently, the Jews decided to saturate the term “paganism” (pagan) with negative images, which they successfully did in the Torah, the Talmud, the Bible, and the Koran, and currently support this position in all media.

The concepts of the foundations of the universe: Reveal, Navi, Rule, Slavi, the invaders of Rus' needed to ban and transfer the energy of people’s thoughts into their own use, to introduce the concept of “hell”, which did not exist at all in Rus'.

Reality This is our familiar world in which we live.
Nav this is the world of our ancestors, where our souls go after death in the world of Reveal.
Slav this is the world of the gods, where we and our ancestors strive to get to, subconsciously remembering that the Russians are the children of the gods.
Edit these are canons and institutions, the boundary between all three worlds, interacting with each other in such a way that descendants are incarnated in the family of their ancestors, so that there are mutual transitions of souls between the worlds of Reveal and Navi, to follow the path of Rule to the world of Glory.

“The Russian gods do not take human or animal sacrifices, only fruits, vegetables, flowers and grains, milk, edible antimony fermented on herbs, and honey, and never live birds or fish. And it is the Varangians and Hellenes who give the Gods a different and terrible sacrifice - a human one. We did not want to do this, since we ourselves are Dazhdbog’s grandchildren and did not seek to sneak in the footsteps of strangers.”

Book of Veles. "Trojan Ages".

From the Book of Veles it follows that our ancestors worshiped: Rule, Glory, Reveal, Navi, and called their religious system ORTHODOXY, consisting of the names of two gods - Rule and Glory. Although the Nikon reform (XVII century) put an end to dual faith at the state level, the names of the gods were preserved in the prayers of the Old Believers: Rule, Reveal, Perun, Sventovit, Veles,... , which indicates the persistence of dual faith even today. And even dual faith was preserved in the name of the Russian religious system - “Christian Orthodoxy” - one faith is Christian, the other is Orthodox.

Rule, Glory, Yav and Nav were called world gods because dedication to each of these gods took place through the “mirro”. The word "peace" comes from "miro", which is a type of fragrant ointment of a special composition, made for each god from the resin of the corresponding sacred tree. With the help of myrrh, a person was introduced to one or another god.

Rule, Glory, Reality and Nav - gods female. Two concepts come from the goddess Rule: right (correct) and Right side. The name of the goddess Slava also has two meanings: great (glorious) and left side (LEFT - SLAVA). With the advent of Christianity, an attempt was made to introduce new designations: “on the right” was replaced by the word “oshuya”, and “on the left” by the word “right”, but the new words did not take root.

RIGHT - TRUTH, CORRECTLY, RIGHT, RULE, GOVERNMENT, direction. In Sanskrit, Pravhavapyaya means that from where everything comes and where everything dissolves at the end of life, which corresponds to Slavic legends about the divine world of Prav.

SLAV - SLAVA, SLAVs, SvyatoSLAV, VladiSLAV, BorisSLAV, RostiSLAV, Vyacheslav, …. .

to the Kyiv princes as state religion It was beneficial to have Christianity, which affirmed unity of command, since Orthodoxy was built on Copian law (see K. Zakharov’s article “Copian Law”) and was in conflict with the Christian pyramidal structure of society. For this reason, the ancient faith was doomed to oblivion.

Since the Christianization of Russia, at least 4 civil wars have occurred. The Russian prince Vladimir, who accepted and baptized Rus' into Christianity, could not immediately get rid of the ancient gods and saints, and Christ was likened to them. Therefore, from the 9th to the 13th centuries, dual faith existed in Rus'. According to the Russian philosopher A.A. Sedov, Christianity was included as an element in the ancient Orthodox faith. Ancient Arab sources say that during the period of dual faith in the territory of the ancient Russian state When Christianity was spread by fire and sword, about 3,000 Orthodox cities were wiped off the face of the Earth. At this time, Red Believers appeared, long before the Old Believers, they went into monasteries and escaped Christianization and Muslimization. The ancient Russian Christian source, the Suzdal Chronicle, tells about the same thing: “The Magi beat the old man, because they detained the gobin.” The translator translated this phrase: “The Magi beat people because they hid their wealth.” Unfortunately, it happens that when reading translations of ancient texts, we learn not about ancient culture, but about the culture of the translator of these texts. He translated the chat as people, but the Russian word “chado” means a child, and the Sanskrit “chalo” means a student-child (compare with the Russian word MAN), therefore, it is more likely that the “old chat” are believers who worship the old gods . This phrase shows an obvious contradiction - the Magi beat the believers who worshiped the gods whom the Magi themselves served. It is clear that they could not beat their flock, but the Christian priests could have every reason to do so. The translator further translates: “because they hid the wealth.” In general, the concept of wealth, as an abundance of things, appeared relatively recently, because wealth was associated with gods, with speech, with intangible things. And gobino most likely could not mean wealth, in the material sense of the word. The root GOB is practically not found today in the Russian language, but its reverse reading gives the word GOD, from which researchers conclude that this word meant everything that they received from God, i.e. divine energy or biofield, as modern psychics would say. Based on this chronicle, we can conclude that the struggle between Orthodoxy and Christianity on ancient Russian soil was fierce.

Nikon's reform caused another religious split, which led to another civil war, followed by an uprising of the Old Believers under the leadership of Stepan Razin, then Emelyan Pugachev. The fight against dual faith in Russia came down to the fight against the remnants ancient faith, in which Nikon, together with the Russian Emperor Alexei the Quiet, succeeded. And, as a consequence of their activities, children in schools are still taught that the uprisings of the people were caused by the difficult economic situation of the peasants, and not by their adherence to the Orthodox faith.

The final split occurred after the Tatars adopted Islam. The new Orthodox faith retained the old name, but changing the essence, destroyed the etheric and astral components of the egregor, which made it helpless

Name: Orthodoxy (“correct service”, “correct teaching”)

Orthodoxy took shape in the first millennium AD under the leadership of the see of the bishop of Constantinople, the capital of the eastern Roman Empire. Currently, Orthodoxy is practiced by 225–300 million people worldwide. In addition to Russia, the Orthodox religion has become widespread in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

Orthodox believe in God the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is believed that all three divine hypostases exist in indissoluble unity. God is the creator of the world, which he created initially sinless. Evil and sin are understood as distortions of the world created by God. The original sin of Adam and Eve's disobedience to God was atoned for through the incarnation, earthly life and the sufferings of God the Son of Jesus Christ on the cross.

In the understanding of the Orthodox, the Church is a single divine-human organism headed by the Lord Jesus Christ, uniting the community of people with the Holy Spirit, Orthodox Faith, the Law of God, the hierarchy and the Sacraments.

The hierarchical structure of the Orthodox Church accepts certain democratic governance procedures, in particular, criticism of any clergyman, if it deviates from the Orthodox faith.

There are two ways to achieve salvation. The first is monastic, which consists of solitude and renunciation from the world. This is a path of special service to God, the Church and neighbors, associated with a person’s intense struggle with his sins. The second way of salvation is serving the world, especially the family. The family plays a huge role in Orthodoxy and is called a small church or home church.

The source of the internal law of the Orthodox Church - the main document - is the Holy Tradition, which contains the Holy Scripture, the interpretation of the Holy Scripture compiled by the Holy Fathers, the theological writings of the Holy Fathers (their dogmatic works), dogmatic definitions and acts of the Holy Ecumenical and Local Councils Orthodox Church, liturgical texts, icon painting, spiritual continuity expressed in the works of ascetic writers, their instructions on spiritual life.

TO Orthodox sacraments include: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Priesthood, honest Marriage and Blessing of Anointing. The sacrament of the Eucharist or communion is the most important; it contributes to a person’s communion with God. The sacrament of baptism is a person’s entry into the Church, deliverance from sin and the opportunity to begin new life. Confirmation (usually immediately following baptism) consists of imparting to the believer the blessings and gifts of the Holy Spirit, which strengthen the person in the spiritual life. During the Blessing of Anointing, a person’s body is anointed with consecrated oil, which allows one to get rid of bodily ailments and gives remission of sins. Unction is associated with the forgiveness of all sins committed by a person, a request for liberation from illnesses. Repentance is forgiveness of sin subject to sincere repentance. Confession provides grace-filled opportunity, strength and support for cleansing from sin.

The Orthodox Church believes that the history before the great schism (the separation of Orthodoxy and Orthodoxy) is the history of Orthodoxy. In general, relations between the two main branches of Christianity have always been quite complicated, sometimes reaching the point of outright confrontation. Moreover, even in the 21st century it is still too early to talk about complete reconciliation. Orthodoxy believes that salvation can only be found in Christianity: while non-Orthodox Christian communities are considered partially (but not completely) deprived God's grace. Unlike Catholics, Orthodox Christians do not recognize the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope and his supremacy over all Christians, the dogma of immaculate conception Virgin Mary, doctrine of purgatory, dogma of bodily ascension Mother of God. An important difference between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, which has had a serious impact on political history, is the thesis about the symphony of spiritual and secular authorities. The Roman Church stands for complete ecclesiastical immunity and, in the person of its High Priest, has sovereign secular power.

The Orthodox Church is organizationally a community local Churches, each of which enjoys complete autonomy and independence on its territory. Currently, there are 14 autocephalous Churches, for example, Constantinople, Russian, Greek, Bulgarian, etc.

The issue of religion is discussed and studied in every state and society. In some places it is especially acute and is quite conflicting and dangerous, in others it is more like small talk in free time, and in others it is an occasion to philosophize. In our multinational society, religion is one of the most pressing issues. Not every believer is well aware of the history of Orthodoxy and its origins, but when asked about Orthodoxy, we will all answer unequivocally that Orthodoxy is the Christian faith.

The emergence and development of Orthodoxy

Many scriptures and teachings, both ancient and modern, report that the Orthodox faith is true Christianity, citing their arguments and historical facts. And the question – “Orthodoxy or Christianity” – will always worry believers. But we will talk about accepted concepts.

Christianity is the largest form public consciousness in the world, preaching life path and the teachings of Jesus Christ. According to historical data, Christianity arose in Palestine (part of the Roman Empire) in the 1st century.

Christianity was widespread among the Jewish population, and subsequently gained more and more recognition among other peoples, the so-called “pagans” at that time. Thanks to educational and propaganda activities, Christianity spread beyond the Roman Empire and Europe.

One of the ways of development of Christianity is Orthodoxy, which arose as a result of the division of churches in the 11th century. Then, in 1054, Christianity was divided into Catholicism and the Eastern Church, and the Eastern Church was also divided into several churches. The largest of them is Orthodoxy.

The spread of Orthodoxy in Rus' was influenced by its proximity to the Byzantine Empire. From these lands, the history of the Orthodox religion begins. Church power in Byzantium was divided due to the fact that it belonged to four patriarchs. The Byzantine Empire disintegrated over time, and the patriarchs uniformly headed the created autocephalous Orthodox churches. In the future, autonomous and autocephalous churches spread to the territories of other states.

The fundamental event of the formation of Orthodoxy in the lands Kievan Rus, was the baptism of Princess Olga - 954. This later led to the baptism of Rus' - 988. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich called all the inhabitants of the city, and a baptism ceremony was performed in the Dnieper River, which was performed by Byzantine priests. This was the beginning of the history of the emergence and development of Orthodoxy in Kievan Rus.

The active development of Orthodoxy in Russian lands has been observed since the 10th century: churches, temples are being built, and monasteries are being created.

Principles and morals of Orthodoxy

Literally, “Orthodoxy” is correct glorification, or correct opinion. The philosophy of religion is the belief in one God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (God the Trinity).

The foundation in the doctrines of Orthodoxy is the Bible or “Holy Scripture” and “Holy Tradition”.

The connection between the state and Orthodoxy is quite distributed and understandable: the state does not make adjustments to the teachings of the church, and the church does not aim to control the state.

All principles, history, and laws are hardly present in everyone's thoughts and knowledge Orthodox man, but this does not interfere with faith. What does Orthodoxy teach at the philistine level? The Lord is the bearer of supreme intelligence and wisdom. The teachings of the Lord are irrefutably true:

• Mercy is trying to alleviate the sorrows of an unhappy person on your own. Both sides need mercy - the giver and the receiver. Mercy is helping those in need, a deed pleasing to God. Mercy is kept secret and not spread. Also, mercy is interpreted as loaned to Christ. The presence of mercy in a person means that he has a good heart and is morally rich.
• Perseverance and vigilance - consists of spiritual and physical strength, constant work and development, vigilance for good deeds and serving God. A persistent person is one who brings any task to the end, walking hand in hand with faith and hope, without losing heart. Keeping the Lord's commandments requires work and perseverance. Human kindness alone is not enough to spread goodness; vigilance and perseverance are always necessary.
• Confession is one of the Lord's sacraments. Confession helps to receive the support and grace of the Holy Spirit, strengthens faith. In confession, it is important to remember each of your sins, tell and repent. The one who listens to confession assumes the responsibility of forgiveness of sins. Without confession and forgiveness, a person will not be saved. Confession can be considered a second baptism. When committing sins, the connection with the Lord given at baptism is lost; during confession, this invisible connection is restored.
• The Church – through teaching and preaching, presents the grace of Christ to the world. In the communion of his blood and flesh, he unites man with the creator. The Church will not leave anyone in grief and misfortune, will not reject anyone, will forgive the repentant, will accept and teach the guilty. When a believer passes away, the church will not abandon him either, but will pray for the salvation of his soul. From birth to death, throughout life, in any situation, the church is nearby, opening its arms. In the temple, the human soul finds peace and tranquility.
• Sunday is a day of serving God. Sunday must be revered sacredly and the works of God done. Sunday is a day when you should leave everyday problems and everyday fuss and spend it with prayer and reverence for the Lord. Prayer and visiting the temple are the main activities on this day. You need to beware of communicating with people who like to gossip, use foul language, and tell lies. Anyone who sins on Sunday aggravates his sin 10 times.

What is the difference between Orthodoxy and Catholicism?

Orthodoxy and Catholicism have always been close to each other, but at the same time, fundamentally different. Initially, Catholicism is a branch of Christianity.

Among the differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, the following can be highlighted:

1. Catholicism professes that the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son. Orthodoxy professes that the Holy Spirit comes only from the father.
2. The Catholic Church accepts the main position in religious education leading to the fact that the mother of Jesus, Mary, was not touched original sin. The Orthodox Church believes that the Virgin Mary, like everyone else, was born with original sin.
3. In all matters of faith and morals, Catholics recognize the primacy of the Pope, which Orthodox believers do not accept.
4. Followers catholic religion make gestures describing a cross from left to right, adherents Orthodox religion- vice versa.
5. In Catholicism, it is customary to commemorate the deceased on the 3rd, 7th and 30th day from the day of death, in Orthodoxy - on the 3rd, 9th, 40th.
6. Catholics are ardent opponents of contraception; Orthodox Christians accept some of the types of contraception used in marriage.
7. Catholic priests are celibate Orthodox priests allowed to marry.
8. The sacrament of marriage. Catholicism rejects divorce, but Orthodoxy allows it in some individual cases.

Coexistence of Orthodoxy with other religions

Speaking about the relationship of Orthodoxy to other religions, it is worth emphasizing such traditional religions like Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.

1. Judaism. The religion is exclusively of the Jewish people. It is impossible to belong to Judaism without Jewish origin. For a long time, the attitude of Christians towards Jews has been quite hostile. Differences in understanding the person of Christ and his story greatly divide these religions. Repeatedly, such hostility led to cruelty (Holocaust, Jewish pogroms, etc.). On this basis, a new page began in relations between religions. Tragic fate forced the Jewish people to reconsider their relationship with Judaism, both at the religious and political levels. However, the general basis is that God is one, God the Creator, a participant in the life of every person, which today helps such religions as Judaism and Orthodoxy to live in harmony.
2. Islam. Orthodoxy and Islam also have complicated story relationships. Prophet Muhammad was the founder of the state, military leader, and political leader. Therefore, religion is very closely intertwined with politics and power. Orthodoxy is a free choice of religion, regardless of nationality, territoriality and language a person speaks. It should be noted that in the Koran there are references to Christians, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, these references are respectful and respectful. There are no calls for negativity or blame. At the political level, there are no conflicts of religions, but this does not exclude confrontations and hostility in small social groups.
3. Buddhism. Many clergy reject Buddhism as a religion because it has no understanding of God. Buddhism and Orthodoxy have similar features: the presence of temples, monasteries, prayers. It is worth noting that the prayer of an Orthodox person is a kind of dialogue with God, who appears to us as a living Being from whom we expect help. A Buddhist's prayer is more of a meditation, a reflection, an immersion in one's own thoughts. This is a fairly good religion that cultivates kindness, calmness, and will in people. In the entire history of the coexistence of Buddhism and Orthodoxy, there have been no conflicts, and it is impossible to say that there is potential for this.

Orthodoxy today

Today, Orthodoxy ranks 3rd in number among Christian denominations. Orthodoxy has a rich history. The path was not easy, a lot had to be overcome and experienced, but it is thanks to everything that happened that Orthodoxy has its place in this world.

The modern religion Orthodoxy is not just a religion that unites millions of people around the world. It is a religion that has always supported enlightenment, education, science and advancement.

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