Orthodoxy! Spiritual questions and answers, stories, testimonies, discussions

[Russian Bear]

"We were like you. You will be like us." (An inscription from a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, inscribed in the crypt where the remains of deceased monks are buried.)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EL4CrvG4heo

Some sayings of the Holy Fathers on the Jesus Prayer:

Hieromonk Anatoly of Kiev: "Without the Jesus Prayer there will be no salvation, because passions in the heart cannot be killed by anything other than the Jesus Prayer." "The entire Orthodox faith and all piety rest on the name of Jesus Christ."

Venerable Elder Seraphim of Vyritsa (1866–1949):
"In the most difficult times, salvation will be found most easily by those who, to the best of their ability, strive to practice the Jesus Prayer, rising from frequent invocation of God's name to unceasing prayer."

Elder Jonah of Odessa (Ignatenko) (1925–2012):
"We need not fear. We can be saved only by the Jesus Prayer. We must learn to breathe it."
ENG:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GzduFfQxuCY

RU:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=W5Z76ExCAnA

Hello again, comrades. I am a Russian Orthodox Christian of the Russian Orthodox Church. I live in Russia, have never been abroad and never will, unless there's a war. I don't speak English or any other foreign languages ​​except Russian and Ukrainian. I think that's all I can tell you. Want to know more? Just write me a letter and ask a question. I'm a very friendly bear, and even if you insult me, I won't be offended. But in that case, I won't be so open with you, so please don't offend me.

I'm creating a new discussion thread. Here you can ask me questions on any spiritual topic, and I'll try to answer them.

I've already created some threads that you can check out if you'd like:

97) Sins before God - meditation and yoga, various spiritual practices and astral projection



https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1686817

97) Answer to the question: Is it a sin to get tattoos on your body, and how does it affect a person?
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1686842

96) Tarot card reading is a sin before God
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1686969

95) 👮🏻 Playboy and Rockefeller, the CIA. I'll tell you the purpose of these sinful, depraved magazines!
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1686412

90) 👽(Unexplained, USSR time) The Anomalous Death of the Dyatlov Pass Group (the closest version)

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1685539

82) Stalin's repressions, the repression of Orthodox Christians and other sins of the USSR
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1684143

78) Nikolay 2 (THE ROMANOVS) Russian documentaries with English dubbing
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1683077

60) 🗣📢The true goal of the LGBT movement is to seize power all over the world. Analysis of the topic based on facts.
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1677461

54)💀 Kola Superdeep and "Screams from Hell"
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1673773

48) 👻(Paranormal) (Unexplained, USSR time) The Anomalous Death of the Dyatlov Pass Group (the closest version)
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664353

37) 👻(Paranormal) Spawn of Hell/‘KYSHTYM Dwarf’ ALYOSHENKA
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663544

35) ☦☦☦✅ (Orthodoxy) Salvation of the soul. The meaning of life.



https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664881

35.1 ☦☦☦✅ Orthodox Christian books
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664887

35.2 ☦☦☦✅ Orthodox bells of Russia
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664889

35.3 ☦☦☦✅ Orthodox spiritual chants and prayers
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664903

35.4 ☦☦☦✅ The Bible is confirmed by historical facts
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664906

35.5 ☦☦☦✅ Repentance is the tearing down of the wall that separates us from God.
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1665090

35.6 ☦☦☦✅Islam. Orthodox View - priest Daniel Sysoev https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1667507

34) ☦☦☦✅(Orthodoxy) Salvation of the soul. The meaning of life.
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664881

29) ✅(Orthodox) Default Orthodox Prophecy of a Greek Orthodox Monk about the future of Russia and Europe
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663756

28) ✅(Orthodoxy) Fr Seraphim Rose - Russian Documentary/English Subtitles
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664890

22) ✅(Orthodoxy, Miracle) Holy Fire in the Holy Sepulcher on Orthodox Easter
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664208

21) ⭐️⭐️⭐️✅(Orthodoxy, Prophecies, Apocalypse) Part 2, Russian angel. UFOs are demons (fallen angels). And now in detail about this.



https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663986

20) ⭐️☦✅(Orthodoxy, afterlife) Post Orthodox teaching on the soul after death
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664206

18) 🛑(The article was blocked and placed in a hoax, which I do not agree with) (Conspiracy theories, science) Flat Earth is reality. People do not know the secret of the universe
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664000

17) ⭐️(Orthodoxy, Prophecies, Apocalypse) Part 1 RUSSIAN ANGEL youth Vyacheslav. Prophecies. ATTENTION VERY IMPORTANT



https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663846

14) 🦖📰(Science and Facts) Post IS IT POSSIBLE TO MEET A LIVING DINOSAUR IN OUR TIME? Priest Andrey Gorbunov



https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1664025

13) 🛑(Paranormal and Unknown) Post In Ohio, digger met "dark entities" in an unexplored tunnel.
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663997

11) ✅📰(Conspiracy theory, apocalypse) Apocalypse, The Seal of the Antichrist, 666, Documents, сhips and barcode



https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663919

10) ✅📰(Conspiracy theory, apocalypse) Post Aaron Russo on the "New World Order" 666 Chips the seal of the antichrist
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663580

9) 👽⚔️(The Unknown and the Paranormal) Mutants are conquering the Earth's space
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663750

4) ✅📰(Science) Experiments by Soviet scientist confirm hypothesis about materiality of thought
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663460

3) 👽(Paranormal and Conspiracy Theories) Washington Carousel (UFO) The true nature of UFOs! IMPORTANT TRUTH!!!
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663552

2) ✅📰(Science and medicine) Together with the transplanted organs, a person receives a part of the donor's personality.
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663542

1) ✅📰(Science) Soviet scientists have proven the existence of spirits and the afterlife
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/sho...=1#post1663458

There are topics that touch on spiritual themes in one way or another, so don't be surprised to find UFOs, ghosts, and monsters among them.

You can share your own story for discussion or a vision. For example, a good question would be, "Why do I dream about a deceased relative?" Or, "Is it okay to get a tattoo and does it affect a person?"

I don't know everything either, but when it comes to spiritual topics, I know an Orthodox database where I can find resources and share them with you. It just requires a search and analysis of the material. My arguments will be logical, since all these topics are interconnected. Religion, monsters, UFOs (aliens), reptilians, Nephilim (also associated with Atlantis), dinosaurs... and much more, everything is interconnected. I'm ready for a friendly conversation with you, regardless of your age, skin color, or nationality... I'm interested in communicating with all of you, comrades.

Okay, I'll start with a question:

My question: Is it a sin to get tattoos on your body, and how does it affect a person?

The Law of God states: "...you shall not make cuttings in your flesh, nor tattoo any marks on yourselves. I am the Lord [your God]" (Lev. 19:28). (As you can see, the Bible contains information on everything.) In the Book of Deuteronomy, a similar prohibition is accompanied by a clarification: "...you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a special people to Him, above all the peoples that are on the face of the earth" (Deut. 14:2). In other words, we cannot act so boldly with our bodies; they, like our souls, are the property of God, by right of the Creator. If the Lord had decided that certain writings and drawings should appear on our bodies, we would have been born with them. But the Lord has not planned anything like that for us. I think those who have gotten tattoos should repent of it as a sin against their own bodies and the principle of holiness. It is written: "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship" (Romans 12:1-2). I see nothing reasonable about tattoos.

The Bible and tattoos

People often wonder: What does God command us regarding tattoos? The Bible doesn't contain many direct references to tattoos. This is because the people who tattooed such timeless inscriptions and images on their bodies did not belong to the people who received the Law of Moses. They were people of pagan beliefs.

So, in the Book of Leviticus, we find the words: "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor shall you put any tattoo on yourselves. I am the Lord" (Lev. 19:28). This quote is more than obvious. God says "no" to such a custom. But why is such an act condemned? To understand this commandment, we must delve into the culture of the time.
Most cultures of that era were barbaric in nature, but the people of Israel formed a new nation. The Law given by God to Moses was the foundation on which this nation stood. The people of Israel were called to live within a completely different value system, distinct from the culture of violence, robbery, and death characteristic of other, neighboring peoples. By tattooing their bodies, the Jews would be no different from the pagans who committed ritual murder, "sacred" violence, massacres, and deified passions destructive to the human soul. This is perhaps one of the reasons why God gave a commandment against tattoos.

In our culture, tattoos no longer carry the same meaning they did in the time of Moses. In the era of grace, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, where Christ dwells through the power of the Eucharist. If we look at the motives for tattooing, we see that for the most part, they simply want to stand out from others. But nonconformity, following fashion trends, and the desire to shock—all of this is alien to the law of love of Christ, crucified and risen from the dead.

Some believe tattoos will make them more beautiful. This speaks of their desire to improve on what God has done (cf. Psalm 139:14)[1]. Or it points to an inferiority complex and dissatisfaction with their bodies, as well as a need for a new identity, a search for a different, more interesting "I," which is characteristic of a personality in crisis; lacking any virtues to demonstrate, they try to impress others in this way (and in the original meaning of the word, too). Meanwhile, the novelty of a tattoo may cause surprise for no more than a second, only to be drowned out by a stream of banalities that have already been seen many times.


A young Coptic girl with a cross tattoo on her wrist.

In the Muslim world, Christians tattoo a cross on their arm so that they can receive a Christian burial if they die. However, this also signifies their desire to die for Christ and confess Him until death if they are captured by radical Islamists, for whom Christianity is a constant target. In this case, the tattoo can signify a calling to martyrdom, a desire to confess until death, and an unwavering love for the Crucified One.

Thus, when tattoos do not testify to faith, they are an unfortunate substitute for personality, culture, erudition, a sense of humor, cheerfulness, openness, faith, and creative uniqueness. They serve only as an indicator of a desperate search for an increasingly garish self, a search in places where there never was and never will be one.

Source: https://pravoslavie.ru/59617.html


THROUGH THE TATTOO, THE DEMON GETS HIMSELF A HUMAN... Cases of tattoo influence on character and life of people
Journalist S. Kuzina talked with tattoo removal specialist Konstantin Avramenko and gave many examples of mystical tattoo cases.

Alexey Voronin from Odintsovo wrote: "My beloved girl was a quiet, kind angel. We lived with her soul to soul for two years, we were even going to get married. And then one day she got a tattoo of a devil with a dagger in the salon. And her character suddenly changed dramatically. She started brawling over trifles, became jealous, and became angry with her tongue. It was as if the little devil was stabbing her with a knife.
In the end, we broke up. Can a tattoo really change a person?"

– Maybe, – says Konstantin Avramenko, – Tattoos change people's lives. I've seen it from my own experience.

Konstantin Avramenko, an optical physicist by training, has been engaged in removing tattoos from the skin of his clients for several years. He said that tattoos sometimes change people's character and literally attract trouble. But unfortunately, the fashion for these "jewelry" does not go away.

Usually, patients tell Konstantin why they decided to get rid of tattoos.

FATAL TATTOOS

A girl and a hieroglyph on her ass

– A girl with a Chinese character came to me. – says Avramenko. "She was crying and begging for the tattoo to be erased immediately. According to her, misfortunes fell on her immediately after drawing the picture. Within a year, she lost her job, gave birth to a stillborn child, and her husband left her. And the last straw, which almost led her to suicide, was a gang rape by drunken teenagers. I recovered a little bit and ran to get my tattoo, which, as I found out, meant the word "demon". Now everything in her life is settled.

The Paratrooper and the Spider

– I had a former paratrooper with a complicated tattoo: airplanes, wings, a parachute and death with a scythe. He begged me to erase the death drawing for any money. He says I am a realist and have never believed in magic. But when I started walking around with this tattoo, it was as if my luck had turned its back on me.

The guard and the number "13"

- Twenty years ago, a 40-year-old security guard at a bank on Arbat got a tattoo on his little finger – the number "13". And all these years, according to him, he was haunted by "bad luck." At first, my mother became seriously ill, and in order to pay for the treatment, I had to sell the cottage. Then I got into a car accident, for which I had to pay with an apartment. The daughter became a drug addict. The family fell apart.

When I erased the tattoo, everything changed in his life... he met the woman he loved, and he inherited a gorgeous summer cottage from his deceased grandfather. Now the number "13" is still showing a little. Recently, he called me and asked me to come and finish it, maybe life will change even more abruptly?

A girl and a butterfly

– A 16-year-old girl got a tattoo on her back – a beautiful colored butterfly. Since then, the main thing in her life was to meet a new boy every evening. After school, she did not go to college, but ran around nightclubs. The young people treated her without respect. And she didn't get out of other people's beds.

Her boyfriend said nasty things to her and started dating her friend. Someone encouraged her to get rid of the tattoo by sending it to me. I explained to her that according to old beliefs, a butterfly is a sign of a prostitute. After getting the tattoo, her boyfriend came back to her, and they got married a month ago. She's expecting a baby now.

A boy and a scary tattoo

"Recently, I was asked to come to the 1st City Hospital to remove a tattoo from a 15–year-old boy lying in a coma," Konstantin recalls. – I was very surprised: can't we wait until he comes to his senses? It turned out that his parents insisted on my arrival, who only saw the terrible inscription on his son's right shoulder in the hospital: "Live quickly die young" (in Russian, "Live fast, die young").

It turns out that the boy's parents sent him to Cyprus for a vacation. He got a tattoo there. Then he went wild. In two months, he managed to drop out of school, get into the police several times for hooliganism and catch a sexually transmitted disease. And then he took his father's car and crashed into a pole at a speed of 120 km per hour. The airbag saved me. But he broke his pelvis and hip.

– I was afraid to erase the entire inscription, – Avramenko continues, – suddenly there will be complications? I decided to print only the word "DIE", which changes the meaning. And then something strange happened. The guy was unconscious. And I also did a local anesthetic. He started to erase the tattoo, and the guy in the coma (!) suddenly began to move his shoulder away, and with his other hand he tried to push the device away.

The pulse rate rose to 138 beats. I doubled the dose, but the boy felt everything anyway. The three nurses present and the head of the intensive care unit were as shocked as I was. It was as if Satan himself had possessed him and was not letting him get rid of the fatal words. When I removed the tattoo, his pulse dropped to normal, and the boy recovered very quickly.

– I believe that tattoos should not be applied, – sums up Avramenko. – It's not for nothing that there is a prohibition in the Gospel: "Do not decorate your bodies with drawings and writings."

"It's easy to get a tattoo,– Konstantin says. – It's much harder to get rid of it.
Unfortunately, people have no idea what they will have to face. What agony to go through... surgical intervention is necessary here. The most ancient way is to cut off a piece of skin with a knife or scalpel.

It takes several years for plastic surgeons to remove large-area tattoos. The time can be shortened by transplanting skin, for example, from the back or buttocks, into the place of the cut-out area. But then there will be wounds in two places. They try to erase tattoos with a laser. It burns through fabrics to a considerable depth. They're dying out. Scars appear in this place.

Why am I telling you all this? And in order for you to think ten times before getting a tattoo.

For example, it is obvious that the tattoo owner provokes others to pay attention to her. It gives you a sense of self-worth. Any tattoo attracts attention, but it is necessary to specify – attention to what?

First of all, to the body... tattooing by its very nature is a confession of physicality. The person who got the tattoo, one might say, professes a cult of his body…

Of course, such an escape into the outside is a sign of spiritual weakness.

THE MYSTICAL COMPONENT

A tattoo can change a person's life. To understand this, it is not necessary to turn to mysticism. Having made a conscious act of tattooing on your body, accepting a sign as defining yourself, and often challenging the people around you, a person can no longer remain the same. And this change does not bring a person any peace or peace of mind. The tattoo works as an anchor, speaking psychoanalytically.

It constantly reminds its wearer of the choice he has made, spurring the appropriate emotions. You can't pick out a wolf and not get a little wolfish at the same time. Naturally, the habits of a real wolf have nothing to do with it, we are talking about the image of the beast as we imagine it.

In general, man is a symbolic being, and the world that we perceive and realize is, to a lesser extent, the physical world. Behind every physical object, behind every thing, there is a tradition of understanding, symbols and signs that we don't even always notice.
Many signs influence us through the subconscious mind.

Sometimes we underestimate the power of a sign, but a tattoo is by no means such a case. You just don't have to succumb to the commercial advertising of tattoo parlors, which are in a hurry to present the tattoo as a kind of fashionable decoration. It's not profitable for tattoo artists to say serious things. But those who take tattooing seriously know its symbolic power. (That's why it's not worth pinching innocent, at first glance, drawings. Even an image of a butterfly tattooed on the body, as the example above showed, can lead to negative consequences in life).

There are also many pentagrams and other magical symbols among the signs used in tattoos, including those whose magical nature is not obvious. But it does exist; such are, for example, hieroglyphs or runes. Since ancient times, magical signs have been used for various pagan rituals, which usually required blood and sacrifice. Tattooing is not done without blood; the person on whose body it is done acts as a victim. The sign, the sacrifice, and the blood are all in place, which turns tattooing into a pagan ritual.

Modern consciousness considers such rituals toothless archaic, but human psychology has not changed much. In the past, such rituals were used to establish the power of one person over another. There is reason to believe that even today tattooing can be used as one of the techniques of zombification, that is, subjugating a person to someone else's will. It remains only to say that the will can be not only human, but also demonic. It is impossible to turn to God without breaking with demons.…

If we look at this connection between man and demon from the other side, then the tattoo can be considered a kind of oath of allegiance. A person dedicates himself to this spirit. In many cultures, there is not a very serious attitude towards the word. The words are easy to change. It's easy to deceive with a word. But a tattoo accompanies a person all his life.

Through a tattoo, an unclean spirit gets a person for himself forever – both while he is wearing his mortal body on earth, and after death. And it is scary to imagine the posthumous fate of a Christian when, having presented himself before God, he will have a tattoo on his body indicating that he belongs to a demon.

Here, as elsewhere, it is better not to cross the fatal line – it's easier than going back.

Source: https://vk.com/wall-75812762_21796

Anyone want to share their story, testimony, or ask a question? Anything paranormal, mystical, or spiritual. Of course, it would be great if you asked me about salvation and Orthodoxy... That would be great!

[Ernie Nemeth]

I really enjoy your post topics from a Russian perspective.
Great stories, covered in depth. Riveting, impressive, and accurate recounting of a proud nation's history.

Illuminates the perspective of a Russian patriot and their country's true history in the course of world events.


Well worth a perusal and a sorely needed correction to most people's understanding of the Russian people.

[Russian Bear]

QUESTION: Is there grace for unbelievers?
ANSWER: In theology, there is a concept of two main types of grace. These are prevenient grace and justifying, or sanctifying, grace.

Prevenient grace extends to all mankind, regardless of religious affiliation. God cares for and provides for all mankind. His Providence for us is as follows: it is said that God "...desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). Through His care for every human being, God manifests His quality of Love (love for mankind). It is written: "...the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping righteousness and showing mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." (Ex. 34:6-7).

This prevenient grace of God, that is, calling us to salvation, acts upon every person. Prevenient grace is precisely the divine call to the conscience of every person. But! As we said above, there is also justifying and sanctifying grace, which operates only in the lives of believers—in the lives of those who have responded to the divine call.

This grace (sanctifying and justifying) operates only in the lives of those who have believed in Christ the Savior. This grace has not a temporary (like calling, prevenient grace) but an eternal significance.

God is currently humbly anticipating (calling) the souls of all people to salvation. It is written: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20). But not everyone is ready to respond to this call! There are people who will never respond with consent to the call of faith. The Holy Fathers teach that for such people, and precisely out of love for them, the Lord permitted hell. As we can read in St. Isaac the Syrian, "even those scourged in hell experience the scourging of love. The torment that comes from love, that is, the torment of those who have realized they have sinned against love, is heavier and more bitter than the suffering inflicted by fire."

We must not forget that, according to Church teaching, free will will be preserved even in hell. Having come to know the existence of God in the afterlife, but having fallen into hell due to their crimes, sinners will thirst for paradise, and this thirst will cause them unbearable suffering. They will experience such remorse that is incomparable to any sensory (physical) suffering. One should not think that God is the author of their suffering. Lewis wrote: "Those in hell choose it." Without this personal choice, hell would not exist... The gates of hell are locked from within." A person settles in hell already in this life, immersing their soul in a world of sin, passions, and temptations.

Similarly, those in paradise realize that paradise began for them on earth, when they responded to the divine call of prevenient grace. In this sense, in this earthly life, the Lord cares for all of His creation, and in the next life, He will care especially for only those who believe in Him. However, even those who end up in hell will not be completely deprived of the Creator's providential care for them. They did not want to live with God, rejected Him during their earthly lives, and God allowed them to live in hell. God does not limit human free will, therefore it is said: "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he who is holy, let him be holy still." "Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his deeds" (Rev. 2:11-12). Man will receive exactly what he deserves! No more and no less. This is why we are given earthly life, so that we may choose either good or evil. Saint John Chrysostom says: "God does not compel anyone. If He wills and we do not, then our salvation is impossible, not because His will is powerless, but because He does not wish to compel anyone."

The Holy Spirit now ministers to both the righteous and the sinners. In the righteous, the Holy Spirit strengthens their desire for righteousness, and in sinners, He influences their consciences (if you will, inhibits their life of sin).

But no one exists, has ever existed, or will exist completely without God's grace. If God were to withdraw His grace from anyone, their life would cease instantly. It is written: "For in Him we live and move and have our being…" (Acts 17:28).

question: What should I do if the sins are repeated?
answer: The Rev. John of the Ladder taught: "Do not be afraid–even if you fall every day and depart from the ways of God, stand courageously, and the Angel who guards you will honor your patience." And the Scripture says, "For the righteous shall fall seven times, and rise up; but the wicked shall fall into destruction" (Proverbs 24:16). Why is the one who falls called the righteous here? Because his righteousness does not come from works, but from faith. And most importantly! Every time he falls, he feels the urge to get up. If such a desire does not leave you, it means that you are on the path to repentance.

You ask, "What should I do if the sins are repeated?" We must not despair or become discouraged. We must fight! And God, seeing your attitude towards sin, will help you overcome it. The main thing! Understand that you cannot deal with all the sins at once. You need to understand what your main sin is, and you need to start an irreconcilable struggle with it.

Even if you lose this fight and your sin overtakes you again, you will still never agree with your own sin, despise it, hate it, and God will provide the rest.…

The main thing is not to despair! And don't lose your patience, as we read in St. John the Baptist. St. John of the Ladder: "Do not be afraid – even if you fall every day and depart from the ways of God, stand courageously, and the Angel who guards you will honor your patience."

"Patience" in this case does not mean acceptance of sin, but, on the contrary, complete rejection of it and a strenuous and exhausting struggle with it.


question: How to acquire chastity? And how to avoid bad thoughts?
ANSWER: St. Ephraim the Syrian teaches: "Do not let your eyes wander here and there, and do not look at someone else's beauty, so that your opponent does not overthrow you with the help of your eyes." John of Kronstadt taught: "If you see a beautiful girl or a handsome young man, immediately praise God for this beauty and think how much more beautiful the heavenly angels are."

One should not even hear about anything reprehensible. St. Mark the Ascetic wrote: "The listener of the thin can also be thin (bad)." One should especially be afraid to say anything bad about spiritual fathers. Evagrius the monk wrote: "Do not listen to speeches against your confessor and do not incite those who do not respect him against him, lest the Lord become angry with your actions and blot you out of the book of life."

One monk went from the monastery to the city. On the way, he met a Jew who scolded the abbot of the monastery all the way to the city. The monk listened in silence as his abbot was scolded. When they reached the city, the Jew asked: "Admit that I'm right." To which the monk replied, "Maybe..." When the monk had finished all his business in the city and returned to the monastery, an elder came out to meet him, who told him: "You are no longer a monk or a Christian, for you have condemned your spiritual father."

By protecting our eyes and ears from temptation, we acquire chastity of faith and chastity of morals. By curbing our own language, we begin to control our entire body. It is written: "... I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth as long as the wicked is before me" (Ps. 38,2); and again: "He who restrains his tongue will live in peace, and he who hates talkativeness will reduce evil" (Ser. 19,6); and again: "If any of you thinks that he is pious, and does not curb his tongue, but deceives his heart, his piety is empty" (James 1:26).

If you want to curb your tongue, I can give you the following advice: if you feel that your speech is about something annoying or sinful, condemning your neighbor, then abruptly start speaking slowly. When a person speaks slowly, it is easier for him to control his emotions and curb them in words and thoughts.

By controlling our eyes, ears, and our tongue, we bring our soul into balance and avoid many falls.



question: What happens to a person after his death?
answer: A Private Trial is being Held against him. The Scripture speaks of a private judgment that follows shortly after a person's physical death: "It is easy for the Lord to reward a person according to his deeds on the day of death. A moment's suffering brings about the forgetting of pleasures, and at a person's death, his deeds are revealed" (Ser.11:26-27). The New Testament also says that immediately after death, a private trial soon follows. It is said, "And as men are supposed to die one day, and then judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). This judgment is called a private one because it is not universal or final, since after the Resurrection of the bodies there will be a universal Last Judgment.

At the very moment of death, the soul is surrounded by either angels or demons, depending on whether the soul has reconciled with God or not. It is said of poor Lazarus: "The beggar died and was carried by the Angels into the bosom of Abraham..." (Luke 16:22). It is said about the carefree rich man: "... mad! this night they will take your soul from you..." (Luke 12:20). The literal translation from Greek is: "they demand your soul back," i.e. the demons demand it back to their former sins, i.e. to hell. For many non-believers, the world beyond the grave will be a terrible surprise. Their souls will be filled with eternal terror! And it will never stop.…

A private court determines where the soul stays until the day of the universal Resurrection of the bodies. The fathers teach: a person has sinned in the body, and he will answer in the body. That is, a private court determines the soul either on the threshold of heaven or on the threshold of hell, but this fate may be revised on the day of the universal Last Judgment. That's why we pray for the dead. If their fate was decided immediately and definitively after the death of the body, then it would be useless to pray for them. Yes! For their part, the dead can't change anything about their fate. But we are called upon to strive to help them. It is said of Judas Maccabeus: "For if he had not hoped that those who fell in battle would rise again, it would have been superfluous and in vain to pray for the dead. But he thought that those who died in piety would receive an excellent reward–what a holy and pious thought! Therefore he offered a propitiatory sacrifice for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin" (2 Mac 12:44-45).

The Church teaches that the dead cannot pray for themselves, they need the prayers of the living for them. Such prayers as good deeds follow the deceased. For they pray only for those who have died, who have had a good (moral) influence on the survivors.

Here is an example. Imagine this: a man (an engineer) built a bridge and died soon after. A year after his death, the bridge collapsed, and many people died. The Commission of inquiry found that the bridge collapsed as a result of an engineering error. Whose sin is this? Of course, the engineer who designed this bridge. This is his mistake and his sin! And this sin follows him, this dead man.

But let's ask ourselves: what is the main thing in a person's life? The main business of our lives is our children, and the influence that we had on them or on other people continues to act after our death. Consequently, many of our deeds, they will only catch up with us in the afterlife. And if people pray for us after our death, it will mean that our good influence on people continues to exist in the world of the living, even though we are no longer there.

And woe to a man if he lies in the grave like a rootless one and no one crosses his forehead for him or lights candles. This will mean that all the good he did died with him, and nothing good will ever reach him from the world of the living.

The private trial of the deceased's soul is preceded by his ordeal. Such a walk is an investigation into a person's life. Here he will be able to verify for himself the correctness of all the accusations against him. Then the preliminary verdict. But since the main Terrible Judgment and the final verdict are ahead, we must make prayerful appeals for the dead (if that's the only way to say it).

Of course, God does not need any investigation regarding our souls, He already knows everything. But all this is necessary for the soul itself so that it can realize what it has done. Full realization will come only on the Day of Judgment. For the fullness of being for her (for the soul) will begin when she returns to the body on the day of the universal Resurrection. Up to this point, she is in an unmanifested state, a state of incompleteness of being. The Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs says: "We believe that the souls of the dead are blessed or tormented by their deeds. Having separated from the body, they immediately turn to either joy or sorrow and sorrow; however, they do not feel either perfect bliss or perfect torment, for everyone will receive perfect bliss or perfect torment after the common resurrection, when the soul is united with the body in which it lived virtuously or wickedly" (ch. 18, "Oh in compensation after a private trial").

[Russian Bear]

Tarot card reading is a sin before God



St. John Chrysostom spoke about fortune-telling and those who resort to it like this: "Do not voluntarily resort to fortune-telling, but if others attract you to it, then do not agree... A person always wants to know the invisible, especially wants to know in advance about his misfortunes, so that he does not fall into confusion due to surprise... But if you pay attention to fortune-telling, you will be unworthy of God's favor and mercy, and by doing so you will prepare for yourself numerous disasters."

There are many types of fortune-telling, both those that have come down to us from ancient times and those that are innovations of the progressive age (for example, online fortune-telling). And Tarot card reading remains one of the most popular.

Tarot cards are a 78–card deck for fortune-telling based on unconscious archetypes described by Carl Jung. All Tarot cards are divided into two large groups – the Major and Minor Arcana, and represent different life situations.

A huge number of "professional" fortune tellers and amateurs offer their Tarot card reading services. And many ordinary people who in ordinary life are not particularly interested in the world of magic, no, no, and they can "spread" the cards for entertainment or idle curiosity.

After all, there's nothing wrong with looking a little into the future.… Or is there?

Even in the Old Testament, we can read the warning: "You must not have anyone who guides your son or daughter through the fire, a soothsayer, fortune-teller, fortune-teller, enchanter, charmer, summoner, magician, or questioner of the dead; for everyone who does this is an abomination to the Lord" (Deut.18: 10-12). And since then, the Church's view of various kinds of divination has not changed.

Unclean spirits are behind any fortune-telling, even those that are supposedly "well-intentioned," and you can't make a safe deal with the devil. A demon, in order to lure a person online, can tell the truth a hundred times, and then lie once so much that a person's whole life will break down. The unclean have no desire to "help people", to "tell the truth", they have only one goal – to destroy the human soul.

Answering a question about the sinfulness of Tarot card reading, Archpriest Andrey Efanov reminded that God reveals everything that a person needs to know. We must live in the present, learning from the past and trying to live a better, cleaner life in the future.

"What forces does a person use to find out (the future)? Obviously, not to God, but to all kinds of devilry. Well, why start a relationship with her? This is definitely a sin, that is, an erroneous choice. So there is no need to guess, you risk your soul when you guess. Don't, it's not worth it. You can ask a person, draw conclusions from his words and actions, and plan situations to the best of your knowledge. And that's enough. Next, rely on God," the priest urges.

And Archpriest Sergiy Vasin, speaking about the sin of fortune—telling, reminds us that there are a lot of types of fortune-telling, and among them there are no "right" and "wrong", "truthful" or "not so much", because they are all from the devil, and he "doesn't care what manipulations a person makes, the main thing is - his voluntary agreement to turn away from God and seek help from him, the devil. And this does not bode well for a person, whether he believes in him or not. Even if you can find out some information about the past or the future, he will still deceive you, because according to the Holy Scriptures, the devil is the father of lies."

So beware of all kinds of fortune-telling, dear comrades, including Tarot card reading! Rely on the Lord, stand firm in the Orthodox faith, and God will send you what will be useful and saving.

Kabbalah

I would also like to draw readers' attention to the origin of Tarot cards, what ideology and what teaching they carry. Although there are many theories about the origin of Tarot cards, there are also studies based on facts.

And they are as follows: the first documented appearance of maps that can be considered the prototype of modern ones dates back to the 14th century. They appeared in northern Italy. At first, these cards were playing cards. However, we must remember that it was over time. This is the beginning of the Renaissance. The Renaissance is characterized by an appeal to antiquity. Therefore, elements of ancient teachings, including astrology, Kabbalah[1], Neoplatonism, and other pagan beliefs, gradually began to be introduced into the design of the maps.

The cards, transformed in the hands of various occultists, gradually began to acquire modern shapes and meanings and began to be used to predict fate. This significance of Tarot cards was consolidated only at the end of the 17th century, when the first book on the subject appeared. However, there is also an opinion that Tarot cards were used for predictions as early as the 13th century by Hasidic Jews, adherents of Kabbalah. It can be reliably stated that the Tarot cards have incorporated elements of this teaching. What does it represent?

Hasidim, adherents of Kabbalah, can be classified as a sect in Judaism. Similar to Wahhabism in Islam. Kabbalah claims to have some secret knowledge, supposedly encrypted in the text of the Torah, that is, the first five books of the Old Testament. This is an occult mystical teaching that has absorbed ancient magical knowledge and uses it in its practice. To put it simply, it is a kind of mixture of Judaism and magic.

God help you!