When a person was still a child, his grandmother always told him: “Granddaughter, when you grow up big, you feel bad in your soul - go to church, it will always be easier for you there.” A man has grown up. And life somehow became completely unbearable for him. He remembered his grandmother’s advice and went to a certain temple. And then someone comes up to him: “You’re holding your hands wrong!” The second one runs up: “You’re not standing there!” The third one grumbles: “He’s not dressed like that!” They shout from behind: “You’re baptizing yourself incorrectly!” And then one woman came up and said to him:
Man, you’d better leave the temple, buy yourself a book about how to behave here, and then come in.
A man came out of the temple, sat down on a bench and cried bitterly. And suddenly he hears a voice:
Why are you, my child, crying?
The man raised his tear-stained face and saw Christ. Speaks:
God! They won't let me into the temple!
Jesus hugged him:
Don't cry, they won't let me in either.
Chanterelle
In Egypt, where in ancient Christian times there were many great monasteries, one monk was friends with an unlearned, simple-minded peasant fellah. One day a peasant said to a monk:
I also honor God, who created this world! Every evening I pour goat's milk into a bowl and place it under a palm tree. At night God comes and drinks my milk. He really likes it! There was never a time when there was anything left in the bowl. Hearing these words, the monk could not help but laugh. He good-naturedly and clearly explained to his friend that God does not need goat's milk. However, the peasant stubbornly insisted on his own. And then the monk suggested that the next night they secretly monitor what happens after the bowl of milk remains under the palm tree.
No sooner said than done: at night the monk and the peasant hid nearby and in the moonlight they soon saw a fox sneak up to the bowl and lap up all the milk clean. The peasant was struck like thunder by this discovery.
Yes,” he admitted sadly, “now I see - it was not God!” The monk tried to console the peasant and began to explain that God is a Spirit, that He is completely different from our world, that people know Him in a special way... But the peasant only stood in front of him with his head down, and then began to cry and went to his shack . The monk also went to his cell. But, approaching her, he was amazed to see an Angel at the door, blocking his path. The monk fell to his knees in fear, and the Angel said:
This simple man had neither the education, nor the wisdom, nor the bookishness to honor God differently than he did. And you, with your wisdom and bookishness, took this opportunity from him. Will you say that, without a doubt, you judged correctly? But you don’t know one thing, O sage: God, looking at the sincere heart of this peasant, sent a fox to the palm tree every night to console him and accept his sacrifice.
So God blessed!
Once upon a time there lived a peasant who loved God. And his heart loved God so much that he lived only by Him. The peasant had two sons, and now one of them died. “So God allowed it!” - said the peasant, grieving along with his wife. Some time later, another son was born to him. “So God blessed!” - the peasant rejoiced, congratulating his wife on the birth of her child. The next year there was a crop failure in his field. “So God allowed it!” - the peasant said to his wife, coming from the field. The next year he reaped a large harvest. “So God blessed!” - the peasant shared his joy with his wife. “Why did you get it all right - God and God? It's like you don't know anything else to say! - the wife flared up. “Well, what do you say now?” - “So God allowed it!” - he answered. “Again you’re on your own! Anyway! And it’s good that you love to work and feed your family!” - the wife said, having calmed down. “So God blessed!” - the peasant agreed.
So as not to walk around preoccupied with haste
One day Abba Ammon went to cross the river. He found a ship ready to sail and sat down next to it. At this time, another ship was sailing further, going to the same place, and the people on it began to call him.
He answered:
I will only board a public vessel. Abba had a bunch of palm branches with him; he sat down, braiding the rope, and then unraveling it again, and weaved until the public ship sailed and he crossed to the other side. The brothers bowed to him and asked:
Why did you do this?
The elder replied:
So as not to walk around preoccupied with haste.
The path to salvation
One elder was asked: “How can a zealous Christian not be tempted when he experiences so many temptations: the world opposes him in every possible way, he sees monks returning to the world, he understands his own weakness, etc.?”
The elder replied: “Let him imagine dogs chasing hares. When one of them sees a hare, he immediately rushes after him - the others only see the dog in pursuit and first also run after it, and then return back; the first dog that saw the hare is alone chases until she catches him. She is not distracted from her goal by the fact that other dogs have lagged behind, turning back, she does not look at the rapids, nor at the forest thickets, nor at the thorny bushes, and, running through thorns, is often wounded, but does not stop running. In the same way, one who seeks the Lord Christ steadily strives towards Him, defeating all the temptations that he encounters, until he reaches his goal."
Human ways
A certain monk prayed earnestly saying:
Lord, you are merciful and patient, so why is it so difficult to save a soul and why is hell full of sinners?
He prayed for a long time, asking God this question. And finally, an Angel of God appears to him and says:
Come, I will show you the paths that people walk. They left the cell and the angel led the elder into the forest.
Do you see that woodcutter who is carrying a heavy bundle of firewood and does not want to throw off even a little to make it easier? - asked the cherub.
In the same way, some people bear their sins and do not want to repent. Afterwards the angel shows the old man a well of water and says:
Do you see a madman drawing water from a well with a sieve? This is how people repent. They draw the grace of forgiveness, and then sin again and the grace flows away like water through a sieve.
The angel again shows the man to the monk and says:
Do you see this one who put a log across his horse and is trying to ride into the temple of God on horseback, but the log gets stuck in the door? This is how people do their good deeds - without humility and in pride - without knowing their value. And now, elder judge for yourself, is it easy for God to save such people, matching mercy with His justice?
Useless gift
They said about one of the fathers that for seven years he asked God for a certain gift - and it was given to him.
After this, he went to one great elder and announced to him about the gift. When the elder heard it, he was saddened, saying: Great work! and said to him:
Go and complete the other seven years, praying to God that your gift may be taken from you; because it's not good for you.
He went and did so until it was taken away from him.
Perfect and supreme obedience
One day Francis of Assisi was sitting among his comrades and, sighing, said:
You can hardly find a monk in the whole world who would completely obey those in charge over him.
Surprised, his comrades asked him:
Explain to us, Father, what perfect and highest obedience is.
And he represented the truly obedient in the form of a dead body:
Take the lifeless body and place it wherever you want; you will see, it will not object if they begin to move it, it will not grumble no matter where it is placed, it will not cry out if it is taken away. If you put it on the pulpit, it will look down, not up. If you put it in purple, it will appear doubly pale. This is the true obeyer; one who does not reason why he is moved, does not care where he is placed, does not insist on being moved. Exalted to any position, he retains his usual humility. The more he is revered, the more unworthy he considers himself.
Bonfire
A fierce storm that broke out in the open ocean sent the ship to the bottom. The indifferent elements spared no one except one person. He woke up at dawn, washed ashore by a wave, the only survivor.
The man wandered along the shore in the hope of finding people and soon returned to the place from which his journey began. It was an island - a small island, lost in the vast ocean. There were no people here. The man was left alone.
Like Robinson Crusoe, he made himself a hut from branches and shipwrecks washed ashore by the waves. Every day he prayed to God to send him salvation. But day after day passed, week after week, month after month, and the man was still left alone. One day, after spending the whole day in search of food, a man returned to his wretched home and saw ashes in its place. What little he owned was reduced to smoking coals.
God! - the man cried out in despair. - Have I really not had enough trials? Why are You punishing me, depriving me of even the little that I had?
Sobbing from grief, and even more from powerlessness, he fell to the ground, not knowing how to live further. He lay on the ground without raising his eyes, feeling the heat of the day give way to the cool of the evening. And he still lay on the ground and could not get up, because he had no more strength left.
Suddenly he heard sounds - so familiar on the ship, but forgotten on the shore. Quiet at first, then louder and louder. He raised his head and saw a ship with full sails heading towards his island. Not yet fully believing that this ship was real, the man realized that he had never seen anything more beautiful than this ship.
How did you manage to find me? - the man asked the sailors.
We saw the signal fire you lit on the shore! - they answered him. How difficult it is to humbly accept your lot. Unable to comprehend the Creator's plan, we often grumble. But only in grief and sorrow is spiritual strength gained.
Once upon a time, in times past, several brave and courageous people who lived far from the ocean wanted to find out what the ocean was. They asked knowledgeable old men how to get there, and immediately set off. They walked for a long time and finally reached the ocean. “It turns out that the ocean is like a big field!” - exclaimed the first of the brave pioneers. “But it seems to me that the ocean resembles an endless forest!” - the second traveler said enthusiastically. “But in my opinion, the ocean is a huge desert!” - the third traveler expressed his opinion. A fisherman passed by and told them: “Don’t argue with each other while looking at the ocean from the shore, but rather plunge headlong into the water, and what you see there will be the ocean!” The travelers did just that - they followed the fisherman’s advice. Soon they emerged from the water and caught their breath. “Well, now what is the ocean like?” - the fisherman asked with a smile. The ocean explorers looked at each other and said: “We don’t know what the ocean is like, but it’s very salty!”
Rich is he who sees the Soul eternal
The master once asked the old man,
Begging for alms from the church:
“I see a poor man before me,
That he hasn’t made a fortune in his entire life.
Here I am rich! And my life is sweet
And I’ll get what I want, of course!
Your Fate is undoubtedly not easy,
And probably dreamed of being more successful?
To which the old man answered the master:
“You are not rich, son, you are wealthy.
Rich is the one who sees the Light with his soul,
The rich one is the one who sees the Soul as eternal.”
Love your illness...
“What suddenly struck his body,
Only the Lord - God knows
Let's go home!" and handed over the epicrisis,
The best professor in the area.
“Let him leave our world surrounded by his family,
Not in the official, dull chamber,
And in his estate, among the flood meadows,
At an inviting and quiet sunset.
So they did, they brought the poor man into the house,
Sometimes in consciousness, sometimes without consciousness,
Everyone prayed to Jesus: “Heal him!
My only hope is in you!”
The son, who had not slept for two days, his face blackened,
Suddenly he exclaimed: “Oh, Lord, bravo!”
He urgently brought the sage to his father’s bedside,
That he lived as a hermit behind an oak grove.
He leaned against the headboard and whispered in his ear,
What we don’t know, but our eyes have opened,
Very soon the sick man stopped wheezing,
The heart began to beat rhythmically again.
He slept sweetly for a day, in the morning he asked for food,
Outside the window, admiring the sunrise,
And when I have the strength to go for a walk,
I drank the air of joy without bargaining.
Finally got sick, the clear month grew,
This eternal vagabond wanderer,
Then I heard a pressing question from everyone:
“What did the old man whisper to you?”
He tried to repeat only one thing in my ear:
“When you wake up, you will glorify God!
Never try to overcome a disease
You will love her and perk up!”
“I didn’t understand at first, how to love,
What brings suffering to the body
And then I stopped grieving and blaming,
Loved it and passed the test!”
Yes, our illnesses are a test of the Creator,
Beware of the last line,
Don't rush around, don't cry waiting for the end,
And walk along the road with love...
Here is an amazing book: “Little parables for children and adults. Volume 1", written by the Russian writer, poet and playwright - monk Barnabas (Sanin).
Parables are a special genre that is very rare not only in Russian, but throughout world literature. Short allegorical and instructive stories enable a person to look at his shortcomings from the outside, think about eternal values, and help find answers to various questions of our existence.
Monk Barnabas (Evgeniy Sanin), having created in his parables an amazing fusion of high spirituality and morality with folk wisdom, at the same time managed to write them in a very capacious, fascinating, intelligible language, which allows these instructive stories to be read not only by adults, but also by children.
REAL LOVE
U I saw a beautiful lily on the shore of a pool. And he decided, at any cost, to take possession of her.
What he didn’t offer the beauty: a ride on his fast waves, the gentle coolness of the water in the unbearable heat and a whole whirlpool of all kinds of entertainment and pleasure.
The beauty hesitated.
The bug that hopelessly loved her noticed this and began to dissuade her:
- He will destroy you! You'll be lost!
Just where there!
“He’s so strong, beautiful and all sorts of mysterious...” Lily objected. - No, I guess I’ll still accept his offer!
- Ah well? - the bug cried. “Well then, look what awaits you if you do this!”
And he, folding his wings, rushed to the surface of the whirlpool, which immediately mercilessly swirled, spun him, and soon disappeared forever from the eyes of the lily, who only now understood what true love is...
ENVY
P Envy went to the store with some money to buy some bread.
He looks and there is a guy buying a pie for a ruble...
And so the envy jumped out of the store!
She then decided to at least drink water from the well. She took the biggest tub so that everyone would envy her!
And at the well, the man’s wife – light buckets, painted rockers...
She threw away her envy and completely ran away from the village - without food, without drink...
She lay down on a higher hill and began to envy herself that there was a time when she did not envy anyone...
PROUD WIND
Z The wind blew out the candle and became proud:
- Now I can pay off everything! Even the sun!
A wise man heard him, made a windmill and said:
- What a miracle - the sun! Even the night can extinguish it. Try to stop this wheel!
And, with all his strength, he spun the large, heavy wheel.
The wind blew once, blew again - but the wheel did not stop. On the contrary, the more he blew, the more it spun.
Flour flowed into the smart man's bags, and he began to live: he himself was in abundance, and do not forget the poor!
And the wind, they say, still blows on this wheel. Where exactly? Yes, wherever there is room for pride!
REPENTANCE
U a man fell into a deep abyss.
He lies wounded and dies...
Friends came running. They tried, holding each other, to go down to his aid, but they almost fell into it themselves.
Mercy has arrived. He lowered the ladder into the abyss, but - oh!.. - it doesn’t reach all the way!
The good deeds once done by man arrived and threw down a long rope. But the rope is also short...
They also tried in vain to save a person: his great fame, big money, power...
Finally, repentance arrived. It extended its hand. The man grabbed it and... climbed out of the abyss!
- How did you do it? - Everyone was surprised.
But there was no time to respond to repentance.
It was rushing to other people whom only it could save...
CONSCIENCE
R I told a person’s conscience that he was wrong, another, a third...
On the fourth he decided to get rid of her. Not for a day or two - forever!
I thought and thought about how to do this, and came up with an idea...
“Come on,” he says, “conscience, play hide and seek!”
“No,” she says. – You’ll deceive me anyway – you’ll peep!
Then the man pretended to be completely ill and said:
“I’m sick for some reason... Bring me some milk from the cellar!”
My conscience could not refuse him this. I went down to the cellar. And the man jumped out of bed - and closed it!
He called his friends in joy and with a light heart: he deceived one, offended another, and when they began to be offended, he completely kicked them all out. And no remorse for you, no reproaches - your soul is good, calm.
Good, good, but only a day passed, then another, and something began to be missing for the person. And a month later he realized what - conscience! And then such melancholy fell upon him that he could not stand it and opened the lid of the cellar.
“Okay,” he says, “come out!” Just don't give orders now!
And in response - silence.
He went down to the cellar: here, here - there is no conscience anywhere!
Apparently, he really got rid of her forever...
The man began to sob: “How can I live without a conscience now?”
- Here am I…
To rejoice, the man called his friends, apologized and gave them such a feast!
Everyone thought it was his birthday and congratulated him on it. But he did not refuse, and his conscience did not object. And not at all because I was afraid of ending up in the basement again.
After all, if you look at it, that’s how it all happened!
WHO IS STRONGER?
Sh whether there is good and evil along the way. Two men met them.
“Let’s test,” says evil, “which of us is stronger?”
- Let's! – agreed goodness, who does not know how to object. - But as?
“Let these two men fight for us,” says evil, “I will make one of them strong, rich, but evil!”
- Fine! - says good. - And I am different - weak and poor, but kind!
No sooner said than done.
Instantly one man found himself on a horse, wearing rich clothes. And the other one is in rags, and even with a stick...
- Get out of my way! - the man turned into a rich man shouted at him, hit him with a whip and quickly galloped home to count the money.
The one made poor sighed and silently trudged behind.
- Yeah! - Evil rejoiced. – Is it clear now which of us is stronger?
“Wait,” says kindly. – Everything is easy and fast for you, but not for long. And if I do something, it’s forever!
And this is what happened. For a long time, no, the poor man walked, but suddenly he saw that the rich man was lying under the horse that had fallen on him and could not get up. He's already wheezing, choking...
A poor man approached him. And he felt so sorry for the man who was dying that where did the strength come from! He threw away the stick, strained himself and helped the unfortunate man free himself.
The rich man shed tears. He doesn’t know how to thank the poor.
“I,” he says, “I whipped you, and you saved my life!” Let's go live with me. Now you will be my brother instead of me!
Two men left. And evil says:
- What are you doing, good? She promised to make her little man weak, but what a heavy horse he was able to lift! If so, then I won!
But the good didn’t even argue. After all, it did not know how to object - even to evil.
But since then, good and evil do not go together. And if they walk along the same road, then only in different directions!
OLD ROAD
N It was no longer possible to carry the strength of people along the country road.
They've been trampling on it for a hundred years, trampling on it: it's time to retire - she knew about pensions from those who walked along it all their lives. And who needs it: now more and more highways and asphalt are in fashion!
The road curled up and lay down to rest on the sidelines.
People came out the next morning: there was no road!
What should I do? What to do?..
You can’t walk on the asphalt - the asphalt couldn’t withstand the spring streams, it’s all cracked, and now they’ll have to resurface it until the fall.
The highway is also soft, sticky in the heat. This is how the soles stick to it.
The road saw this, sighed and - nothing can be done! – began to serve people again.
WATERCOLOR PAINTS
U The watercolor paints knew that they were going to be diluted with water, and they were indignant:
- Why can’t we handle it ourselves?
“No,” she said, tired of rubbing even the softest brush over dry paints.
- You can’t handle it! – confirmed the paper, which has seen a lot in its time.
But the artist said nothing.
He diluted the paints with water and painted a picture.
Such that everyone was satisfied.
And first of all, the watercolor paints themselves!
TWO BOGATYRS
E the hero roamed across the field.
Helmet, armor, shield, spear, mace and even a sword in a sheath...
An old monk meets you.
A faded scarf on his head, a patched cassock, and a rosary in his hands.
- Be healthy, honest father!
- And you, baby, don’t get sick! Where are you heading?
- To the war. And you?
- And I’m already at war. Like you, I don’t even need to look for her!
The two heroes looked at each other with understanding.
And they hurried to save Rus' from visible and invisible enemies!
ICON
TO They were looking at paintings of icons in the museum and didn’t understand anything:
“And why did they hang her among us?” No bright colors, no beauty of movement, no vividness of the image! Right, black square?
But the black square did not answer. Behind silence he hid his complete emptiness and therefore was known as the wisest and even mysterious. Moreover, due to his price, he was very rich, and therefore even more respected.
The icon itself was very upset. And not at all with these gossip addressed to you. And the fact that people walked past and just looked at her.
But she was created not to be looked at, but to be prayed in front of her!
HAMMER-COSMONAUT
R I wanted to fly the hammer into space.
Others fly - and why am I worse? At the same time, I’ll pin the stars to the sky so that they hold on tighter and don’t fall so often!
Maybe I would have flown, but I just didn’t know how to get there and where to find free time.
So he worked tirelessly during the day. And at night I looked out the window at the falling stars and sighed: oh, I’m not there now!..
And I sighed in vain.
He was really needed on earth too...
IMPOSTER CHAIR
P They left a chair on the table when the windows were washed, but forgot to put it away. He became proud.
“I,” he says, “are now the most important in the house!”
And he ordered all things to call themselves the throne.
The fly heard it. She sat down on a chair and said:
“I’m a queen now, since I’m sitting on the throne!”
The fly swatter smacked a fly and announced that there was a coup d'état in the house.
It is not known how all this would have ended, only the hostess came. She put the chair in place, sat down on it to rest and said nothing.
But all things already knew: now the house is in order!
TAP
R the crane boasted:
“If it weren’t for me, everyone in the house would have died of thirst!”
How can you argue with that? Everyone can see that water is actually flowing from it.
Only once did an accident happen somewhere. The repairmen came and turned off the water.
After that we turned and turned the tap: no water!
And then everyone realized that it wasn’t all about the tap.
And the most important thing is that he understood it too. Because he almost died of thirst then!
POOR BABY
P The poor baby went to the mug to ask for alms.
- Give it to me, for Christ's sake! We are almost namesakes, and maybe even relatives!
- Go to the lid! - the mug turned away from the gate. “If you and I are related, we are only second cousins.” And there is only one letter difference between you and her in the name. Maybe my cousin will give it to me!
The baby went to the lid. And she didn’t even get off the pan. This is what she answered from above:
- There are a lot of you walking around here! Either a pot, or a cat... I have nothing! Don't you see what times we live in? The pan itself is not enough for us. Right, friend? – she turned to the pot-bellied pan.
But she was so full that she couldn’t even answer.
The little one went home, slurping unsalted. And towards her is a hammer. He learned about her need and said:
- Don’t worry, I’ll help you in any way I can!
“But I’m not your relative, and we even have different last names!” – the baby whispered in tears.
- So what? – the hammer was surprised. – We need to help each other!
And, although he himself was not rich at all, rather even poor, he gave her so much that it lasted for a long time. How much does a baby need? And when it was over, he told me to come again. Although he was neither a relative nor even a namesake!
LARK
Z A lark was flying over the field.
He praised God, who gave him this beautiful day, this beautiful earth, sky, air and beautiful life itself!
People looked at the tiny ringing dot and were surprised:
- Wow, he’s so small and sings so loudly!
And the lark sometimes looked down at people and was amazed:
- Wow, they are so big and strong - the crowns of God’s creation, and they sing so quietly...
TWO ROADS
IN Two roads met at a fork. Narrow and wide.
“You’ve completely neglected yourself: you’re covered in sharp stones, potholes, and overgrown with thorns!” – the wide one began to reproach the narrow one. “Your travelers are about to die from fatigue or hunger!” It’s just me: beautiful, smooth! Alongside me are cafes, restaurants, houses with all amenities. Live - have fun!..
- Why are you suddenly silent? After all, judging by your words, your life is good! – the narrow road was surprised.
“Okay, that’s good...” the broad one sighed in response. “But at the end of me there is an abyss.” Bottomless, black, gloomy. Something that I can’t even describe to you. Many people don't even know about it. And those that know just brush it off. Apparently they don’t know the whole truth. And I’ve seen so much of this abyss that more than anything else I’m afraid of one day sliding into it. After all, I’m afraid this will happen forever! Well, how are you living?
- Difficult! – the narrow road sighed. “And it’s not easy for those who follow me.” But at the end of my path there is a mountain. And those who ascended it were so bright, joyful, happy that I can’t even describe to you! And you know, most of all I want to be there too. I hope this will last forever!
The roads talked and went in different directions.
And at that fork in the road there was a man who heard it all.
And here’s what’s strange: he’s still standing there, still thinking about which road to take!
DANGEROUS FRIENDSHIP
P made friends with a haystack and a match.
- She’s not a match for you! - everyone told him. - Stay away from her, otherwise how far from trouble is it?
But he didn’t want to listen to anyone. I admired my friend all day. And even at night he wanted to see her.
The match could not refuse him and struck itself against a stone...
People came in the morning and looked - from the haystack there was only a dark circle in the meadow. And there was nothing left of the match at all!
MAIN CONDITION
R The evil man wanted to become good.
I prayed to God and began to do good to people.
And evil is right here:
- Well, no, I won’t give my spoils to anyone!
It seized the moment and forced the man to do evil.
He sits and rubs his hands contentedly:
- He won’t get away from me!
But it was not there!
The man only became smarter after that. He prayed again to God, asking him to protect him from evil, and with even greater zeal he began to do good. And he no longer paid any attention to all the entreaties of evil.
And evil left, trembling with anger, from its habitual place.
Yes, to the first house where they don’t remember God...
OAK AND WIND
IN the young oak became indignant:
- Why are you, wind, not giving me peace? You keep blowing and blowing! You just stroke and preen the grass, but I’ve already broken off so many branches!
- Silly! This is for your benefit! - the old oak tree groaned.
- For mine?! - the young oak tree was indignant, thinking that the old man had already lost his mind. And he, as if nothing had happened, explained:
- Eh, youth, youth!.. The wind rocks you, and your roots sink deeper and deeper into the ground. Soon he will knock me down too, so that you have more sunshine...
And then the young oak tree thanked the wind. And he regretted that he could not move aside so that he would not have to fell this old and wise oak...
RED HARE
P The hare looked at himself in winter, looked at himself in summer and thought: why do I only have two fur coats: white and gray? Let me sew myself a red one - like a fox! First of all, it's beautiful. And, secondly, the rest of the hares will be afraid of me, and all the carrots in the garden will be mine!
No sooner said than done. The hare sewed a new fur coat and went for a walk in it.
And when I realized that it was a hare, I was even more delighted, because I had not had lunch in the morning.
Only the hare himself was not happy then.
He forcibly took his paws away. After all, you always want to live more than you eat!
All the fox had to do was lick his lips. And from then on the hare did not even dare to think about changing anything of what the Lord Himself had given him!
During the Great Patriotic War, in one of the Russian villages, a mother accompanied her son to the front. The son was a man far from church life and did not wear a pectoral cross. His mother, blessing him, put a cross on his neck and asked him not to take it off under any circumstances. The young man, although he grew up in an atmosphere of atheistic propaganda, obeyed his mother and fought with a cross on his chest. It happened that he and his military unit were surrounded and captured by the Germans.
It was a dry summer, and farmers, residents of a small village, were worried about what would happen to their harvest. One Sunday after mass, they turned to their pastor for advice.
Father, we must do something or we will lose the harvest!
All you have to do is pray with absolute faith. Prayer without faith is not prayer. It must come from the heart,” answered the priest.
On the first day of Lent, one village priest put forty-nine pieces of beans in his pocket, so that, by throwing out one piece every day, he could determine the day the fast ended. While washing the priest's clothes, his wife noticed that his pocket was full of beans. “Father loves beans, I’ll add a little for him, let him eat to his health.” So I did. Father threw one bean out of his pocket every day, but it didn’t run out.
One harlot met a woman on the road whose child had just died in her arms. The mother’s grief touched the harlot so much that she fell to her knees and prayed: “Lord! I am cursed, unclean and nasty, unworthy of anything that You could do for me.
God appeared to one old woman in the village.
She told about this to the priest, who, caring about the spiritual structure of his parishioner, told her.
I took most of the parables given here from various open sources /links at the end/, but I slightly shortened some. Several parables were told to me and I simply wrote them down from memory.
I believe that parables do not have to be strictly tied to a particular religion, because one Father instructs all of us - His children.
PIECE OF CLAY
God molded a man from clay, and he was left with an unused piece.
– What else do you need to make? – asked God?
- Bring me happiness! - the man asked.
God did not answer anything, but only placed the remaining piece of clay in the man’s palm.
TWO ANGELS
There were two Angels in heaven. One always rested on a cloud, and the other flew from the earth to God.
The resting Angel decided to ask another:
- Why are you flying back and forth?
– I carry messages to God that begin with the words “Help, Lord...”. Why do you always rest?
– I must carry messages to the Lord that begin with the words “Thank You, Lord...”.
CROSSING
Two monks were coming from the monastery. When they approached the river, they met a girl who asked them to take her to the other side.
The monks were forbidden by vows to touch women, but, nevertheless, one of the monks put her on his shoulders and carried her to the other side. Then the monks continued their journey, and the girl continued hers.
An hour later, one of the monks could not stand it and asked the other:
“Why did you do this, since our vows prohibit touching women?”
To which the second monk replied:
“I moved it an hour ago, and you continue to carry it to this day.”
Let go of the past - it no longer exists.
IN GOD'S SHOP
One day a woman had a dream that the Lord God was standing behind the store counter.
- God! It's you? - she exclaimed with joy.
“Yes, it’s me,” God answered.
- What can I buy from you? - the woman asked.
“You can buy everything from me,” came the answer.
- In that case, please give me health, happiness, love, success and a lot of money.
God smiled benevolently and went into the utility room to get the ordered goods. After a while he returned with a small paper box.
- And it's all?! - exclaimed the surprised and disappointed woman.
“Yes, that’s all,” God answered. - Didn’t you know that my store only sells seeds?
BE HAPPY!
A beggar stood by the road and begged for alms. A horseman passing by hit the beggar in the face with a whip.
He, looking after the retreating horseman, said:
- Be happy.
The peasant who saw what happened, hearing these words, asked:
-Are you really that humble?
“No,” answered the beggar, “it’s just that if the rider was happy, he wouldn’t hit me in the face.”
STAND IN PLACE
One day, Mark the Thracian, who had been in the desert for more than 90 years, talked with one ascetic about faith.
“If you have faith,” Mark explained, “and you say to the mountain, “Move!”, then it will move.
And the mountain located not far from them actually began to move. Then the Monk Mark said to the mountain:
- I’m not telling you, take your place.
The mountain fell into place.
LITTLE SON
A certain man asked one elder:
- Tell me, father, how is it that you not only are not angry with those who speak ill of you, but also continue to love them?
The elder laughed for a long time and answered:
- Tell me, man, did you have a little son?
- Was.
- Were you angry with him if he did or said something wrong?
- No.
“Didn’t you, on the contrary, try to somehow cover up his shortcomings so that he wouldn’t get upset?”
- I tried.
- So I am: I don’t get angry and continue to love.
BECAUSE OF YOUR FEAR
The inhabitants of one city were mired in sins, and God decided to punish them for such behavior. He called the angel of death and ordered him to go to this city and kill a hundred sinners and bring their souls to Him.
A little time passed, during which the inhabitants of the city were struck by an epidemic of a terrible disease.
The Angel of Death appeared before the Almighty, bringing with him the souls of sinners. But their number was not one hundred, as God ordered, but several thousand.
God asked the angel to explain his disobedience. And the angel answered:
- I followed your orders exactly. I killed only one hundred citizens of this sinful city.
- How did the others get here? - asked the Lord?
- The rest left the earthly world because of their fear.
SAINT
Once they spread a rumor about a monk that he was a saint. And everyone even told him this to his face. And he kept calling himself a sinner and at the same time humbly bowing to everyone. But one day he said to someone, as usual:
- I'm a sinner.
And he answered him:
- I know that you are a sinner.
He started up like this:
- How? Have you heard anything about me?
WOULDN'T IT BE A SHAME?
One day Abba Ephraim was walking through the city when, at someone’s instigation, a harlot approached him to seduce him into a shameful union, and if not, then to make him angry, since no one had ever seen him angry. Ephraim told her:
- Come after me!
Approaching a place where there was a large crowd of people, Abba Ephraim said to her:
- Here, do what you wanted to do.
The harlot, seeing the multitude of people, exclaimed:
- How can we do this in the presence of so many people? Wouldn't it be a shame?
“But if we are ashamed of people, then all the more should we be ashamed of God, Who sees everything,” the elder answered her.
THIS IS THE ANGEL WHOM THE LORD SENT TO YOU
Elder Macarius of Optina corresponded with many laity. One day a St. Petersburg merchant writes to Macarius that his servant has left him and his acquaintances recommend him a village girl.
- Should I hire her? - asks the merchant.
“Yes,” the elder answers him.
After some time, the merchant sends a new letter.
“Father,” he writes, “let me fire her, she’s a real demon.” From the moment she appeared in my house, I have been constantly angry and have lost all self-control.
“Don’t drive her out under any circumstances,” answered the elder. - This is the angel whom the Lord sent to you so that you could see how much anger was hidden in you, which the previous maid was unable to reveal in you.
GIFT OF MIRACLES
In ancient times there lived a holy man. Every day of his life could be defined in two words: he did good and forgave. Even the angels were amazed at his holiness and they said to God:
- Lord, grant him the gift of miracles!
“I agree,” God answered. - Ask him what he wants.
And the angels asked him:
- Do you want to give health to the sick with the touch of your hands?
“No,” answered the saint. “It’s better to let the Lord Himself do this.”
- Don’t you want to have such a gift of speech, by the power of which you would turn sinners to the path of truth and goodness?
“No,” answered the saint. - This is the work of angels, not of a weak person. I pray for the conversion of sinners, but I do not convert.
But the angels continued to insist:
- Still, you need to ask yourself for the gift of miracles.
“Okay,” the saint agreed, “I want to do good without knowing it myself.”
THIS IS HOW I LEARNED
One day one monk asks another:
- Tell me, who taught you the Jesus Prayer?
“Demons,” he answers.
- How can that be? - the monk was surprised.
- Yes, like this: they keep bothering me with sinful thoughts, but I keep saying prayers and doing things. That's how I learned.
WE WERE TAUGHT
One day Abba Isaac came to Abba Pimen and saw him pouring water on his feet. Surprised, he edifyingly spoke to him:
- How so! Others live in strictness and torment their bodies, but what are you doing?
“We were not taught to mortify the body, but the passions,” the elder calmly answered.
WHO KNOWS THEMSELVES
A monk once asked an elder:
- Tell me, father, why do I constantly condemn my brothers?
“Because,” the elder answered, “you have not yet known yourself.” He who knows himself does not look at the affairs of others.
OH THAT'S WHAT!
Once an old woman came to an Orthodox priest for advice and said:
- Father, I have been praying continuously for almost fourteen years, but I have never had a feeling of God’s presence.
The priest looked carefully at the woman and asked:
- Tell me, did you let Him get a word in?
- Oh, that's what I was thinking about! - she exclaimed. - No, I spoke all the time myself.
ACCORDING TO MY WISH
One kind man met a beggar old man on the church porch. His emaciated body was covered with rags, and he was covered in wounds.
- Good afternoon to you, old man! - the man said in greeting to the beggar.
“I don’t remember that a day has ever been unkind for me, dear man,” answered the beggar.
“I wish you happiness,” the man continued.
- I have never been unhappy.
The man was surprised and thought. that the beggar did not listen to his words, he added:
- I wish you to be prosperous.
- I have never been ill-fated.
“Are you really the only lucky one among all people,” the man asked in complete bewilderment, “when earthly life is full of sorrows and hardships?”
“Unhappy is the one who seeks happiness,” the old man said edifyingly. - And on earth there is no other happiness than to rely in everything on the will of God: I always accept the pleasant and the nasty, the bitter and the sweet in life from God with love and humility and I desire only what pleases God. And therefore everything happens according to my desire.
PROPERTY IN THE UPPER HOUSE
A thief sneaked into one of the hermits at night. Not finding anything valuable on him, the thief asked:
- Listen, where is all your property?
“I hid everything in the upper house,” answered the hermit, pointing to the sky.
DO YOU LOVE GOD?
One day they invited Elder Herman, who lived in Alaska, to board a frigate that came from St. Petersburg.
- Do you love God? - the old man asked the ship’s officers.
“Of course,” everyone answered, “we love God.” How can you not love Him?
“And I, a sinner, have been trying to love God for more than forty years and cannot say that I absolutely love Him,” Father Herman objected to them.
And he continued:
- If we love someone, we always remember him, try to please him, day and night our heart is occupied with that subject. Do you, gentlemen, love God in the same way? Do you often turn to Him and fulfill His holy commandments?
There was only silence in response.
WHO AM I TO JUDGE?
One day Abba Macarius of Egypt saw a monk committing a grave sin.
“If God his Creator,” he said to himself, “suffers sin when he could burn it with fire, then who am I that I can condemn him?
THE ELDER AND THE YOUNG PRIEST
One day the elder wanted to kiss the hand of a newly ordained priest, but he, out of humility, did not allow this to happen.
“If you want the hand to be your property,” said the elder, “then you should not have become a priest.”
TWO PICTURES
One monk once asked Abba Pimen:
- Tell me, Abba, how can you achieve this without speaking badly about your neighbor?
“We and our brothers are like two pictures,” answered the elder. - If a person, looking at himself, finds shortcomings in himself, then he sees perfections in his brother. And when he seems perfect to himself, then, comparing his brother with himself, he finds negative qualities in him.
HOW TO NOT BE ANGER?
One day they asked an old man:
- Tell me, Abba, how can I achieve not to get angry when others humiliate and slander you?
He replied:
- Whoever considers himself insignificant in his heart is no longer indignant at any humiliation.
PLANTING CABBAGE
Five disciples came to one elder to ask to enter the monastery. He looked at them carefully and gave them a task: he sent them to plant cabbage with the roots on top and the leaves in the ground.
They came to the field and began to work. Two began to plant as he ordered, and three began to plant in their own way, as they believed, in the correct way, with roots in the ground.
The elder came to see how they were doing the job, and those who, according to his instructions, were planted with their roots up and their leaves in the ground, he took into the monastery, but he did not accept others.
THAT TREE
One day, Elder Joseph of Optina Monastery was walking through the forest, and he was told that in a certain convent there were hermits. The elder said:
- This is a dangerous path - passions grow in solitude, but it is more useful among the people. Look, where people walk, on the road, grass doesn’t grow there, and where they don’t walk, it’s thick. They even go into solitude out of impatience. And it is useful for us when we are pushed. The tree that is swayed more by the wind is strengthened by its roots, but the tree that is in silence immediately falls.
BIG HARVEST
One elder was once asked:
- Tell me, Abba, who is a person like who boasts of his good deeds?
“He who reveals and divulges his good deeds is like one who sows on the surface of the earth: the birds of the air fly in and peck off the seed,” the elder answered them. - And he who hides his life is like one who sows in the furrows of the arable land: he will reap a bountiful harvest.
HOW ARE YOUR HEARTS NOT PURE!
One of the desert fathers once left the gates of Alexandria with his disciples. On the way, a beautiful-looking woman approached them. The disciples quickly covered their faces with cloaks so as not to fall into temptation. But curiosity took over, and they began to observe their mentor from under their cloaks. With indignant amazement, they saw that he was looking at the woman with all his eyes.
When she entered the city, the disciples lowered their robes and asked him:
“Abba, how did you succumb to the temptation of looking at this woman?”
And he sadly answered:
- How unclean your hearts are! You saw in her only an object of temptation, but I saw God’s wonderful creation.
THE FISH ROTS FROM THE HEAD
One day the abbot of a monastery came to visit Father Kondrat.
-Where is the old man? - the abbot asked one of the monks.
“He’s downstairs in the pantry,” he answered.
That day they were salting sardines there - making a supply for a year. And, as usual, the elder was the first at work.
- Elder, are you here? - asked the abbot, going down into the cellar.
- What about it, my brother! - Father Kondrat answered. - You know yourself, a fish rots from the head.
WE WOULD JUST DO OUR RIGHT
Once the monk of the Optina Hermitage, Varlaam, heard that in one village there was a peasant who loved God and lived a spiritual life. He found this peasant and, after talking with him for some time, said:
- How can one manage to attract the grace and mercy of God to oneself?
“Eh, father,” answered the simple-minded peasant, “we just want to do what’s due, but God’s business is not up to us.”
Abyss
One day a crowd of people was walking along the road. Each one carried his own cross on his shoulder. One man felt that his cross was very heavy. He was very cunning. Lagging behind everyone else, he went into the forest and sawed off part of the cross. Satisfied that he had outwitted everyone, he caught up with them and moved on.
Suddenly an abyss appeared on the way. Everyone put down their crosses and crossed over. The cunning man remained on this side, since his cross turned out to be short.
WINTER PANTS FOR SON
On a summer evening, a young woman sat near the house and sewed trousers for her son, listening to the voices of the children who were playing in the garden. Her husband came home from work and sat down next to her. The woman sighed heavily and said:
- What will happen to us in winter? We barely make ends meet in the summer, and winter will come... Where can we get money for fuel, warm clothes and other needs?
Her husband calmly asked her:
- Tell me, please, dear, what are you sewing?
“I’m sewing trousers for our son for the winter,” she answered.
- Does he know about this?
Of course not. Can you hear how fun he is walking in the garden with the children!
- Maybe it’s better to tell our son not to worry about winter trousers?
- Do you really think that this question worries our son?
- Well, why are you worried about winter? - the husband asked a question. - If we take care of our son, then our Father will take care of us.
BE NOT QUADAR, BUT ROUND
One day a monk asked Abba Matoi:
- Tell me, Abba, what should I do? My tongue worries me. When I am with people, I cannot restrain him, but I condemn and accuse them of every good deed.
“If you cannot control yourself, then run into solitude, for this is help,” the elder said in response. - He who lives with his brothers should not be quadrangular, but round, so that he can roll towards everyone.
“And I live in solitude,” added the elder, “not out of strength of spirit, but out of weakness.” And the strong live among people.
YOUR CROSS
One person thought that his life was very difficult. And one day he went to God, told about his misfortunes and asked Him: “Can I choose a different cross for myself?” God looked at the man with a smile, led him into a storage room where there were crosses, and said: “Choose.”
A man entered the storage room, looked and was surprised: “There are so many crosses here - small, large, medium, heavy, and light.” The man walked around the storage room for a long time, looking for the smallest and lightest cross, and finally he found a small, small, light, light cross, approached God and said: “God, can I take this one?” “It’s possible,” God answered. “It’s your own.”
GREAT FEAT
A disciple came to one elder and said:
- Abba, I see Angels with my spiritual eyes.
“This is not a feat, my dear,” the elder answered him. - When you see with your spiritual eyes the abyss of your sins, like sea sand, then it will be a great feat.
BELIEVE!
One day an atheist was walking along a cliff, slipped and fell down. While falling, he managed to grab the branch of a small tree growing from a crevice in the rock. Hanging on a branch, swaying in the cold wind, he realized the hopelessness of his situation: there were mossy boulders below, and there was no way to climb up. His hands holding onto the branch became weak.
“Well,” he thought, “only God can save me now. I never believed in God, but I must have been wrong. What do I have to lose? So he called: “God! If you exist, save me and I will believe in you!” There was no answer.
He called again: “Please, God! I never believed in you, but if you save me now, I will believe in you from now on.”
Suddenly a Great Voice came from the clouds: “Oh no, you won’t! I know people like you!
The man was so surprised that he almost let go of the branch. “Please, God! You're wrong! I really think so! I will believe!" - “Oh no, you won’t! All of you say it this way!" The man begged and convinced.
Finally God said, “Okay. I will save you... Let go of the branch.” “Let go of the branch?!” - the man exclaimed. “Don’t you think I’m crazy?”
ON A DESERT ISLAND
One day the ship was caught in a storm and crashed on the rocks of a desert island. Those who were saved began a new life, since during the shipwreck everyone’s memory was impaired, which also resulted in the fact that they forgot the exact words of the daily prayer.
A few years later, Christian missionaries arrived on the island. After asking the inhabitants of the island about their lives, they taught them to pray correctly. And when the missionaries sailed from this island, after a while they noticed people from the island following them on the water. It turned out that they had again forgotten the words of the prayer and wanted to learn them again.
The missionaries, seeing such a phenomenon as walking on water, replied:
- Pray as they prayed before us. This way you are probably closer to God.
SHUTTLE FROM THE SPADE
A thousand years ago, in a Russian village there lived a man. This man could not move since childhood, and therefore the only thing he could do was lie on the stove. And he lay there for about thirty years. Probably, his life would have ended on this same stove if an old man had not passed through the village one day. The traveler walked into the hut in which the young man was lying and begging for death, and asked for water.
The patient began to cry and said that he was unable to help, because in his entire life he had never taken a single step without help. The elder asked:
- How long have you tried to take this step?
It turned out that it was a very long time ago - the patient did not even remember how many years ago. Then the elder said:
- Here's a magic staff, lean on it and go get some water.
The patient seemed to be in a dream. He crawled down from the stove, grabbed the staff with his hands and... stood up! He cried again, but this time with happiness.
- How can I thank you and what kind of wonderful staff did you give me?! - exclaimed the young man.
“This staff is an ordinary handle from a spade, which I picked up on your porch,” answered the elder. - There is nothing magical about it, just as your illness did not actually exist. You were able to stand up because you forgot about your weakness. But you don’t need to thank me, instead, find a person who is as unhappy as you yourself were just recently, and help him!
CHILD
There was a drought in one city. Summer was in full swing, and the city priest called everyone to the temple in the morning to pray for rain. The whole town came, and the whole town laughed at one child. The child came with an umbrella.
And everyone laughed and said:
- Fool, why did you bring an umbrella? You'll lose. It won't rain.
The child said:
- I thought that if you prayed, it would rain.
A young cheerful man came to his father and said:
- Father, rejoice with me, I entered the university. I'll be a lawyer! Finally I found my happiness!
“Very good, my son,” answered the father, “that means you want to study hard now.” So what then?
- In four years, I will defend my diploma with excellent marks and leave the university.
- And what next? - the father did not back down.
“Then I will work as hard as I can to become an independent lawyer as soon as possible.”
- So what is next?
- And then I will get married, start my own family, raise and educate children, help them study and get a good profession.
- So what is next?
- And then I will go to a well-deserved rest - I will rejoice in the happiness of my children and rest in a good old age.
- What will happen next?
- After? - the young man thought for a minute. - Yes, no one lives on this earth forever. Then I will probably need to die, like all people.
- What then? - asked the old father. - Dear son, what will happen next? - the father said in a trembling voice.
The son thought even more and said uncertainly:
- Thank you, father. I understand. I forgot the main thing...
HARVEST
One wealthy peasant had many fields with good soil. He worked hard, but the grain still did not grow as well as in the field of the poor peasant next to his field. The rich peasant was amazed at this and asked his poor neighbor what he was doing to make everything grow so well on his sandy land, how did he cultivate the land? The poor peasant replied:
- Dear neighbor, the only difference is that you sow differently than I do.
- How are you doing?
“With prayer,” answered the devout peasant, “in my barn I kneel and pray that God, the Creator of the entire Universe, will multiply my crops many times over.” Therefore, soil fertilized by prayer is the best.
GATE OF GOD
Once a certain Greek philosopher ordered one of his students to distribute silver to those who would wear it for three years. At the end of the test the teacher said:
- Now you can go to Athens to study wisdom.
Upon entering Athens, the student saw a sage sitting at the city gates, scolding everyone passing by. He did the same with the student. He burst out laughing.
- Why do you laugh when I insult you? - asked the sage.
- Because for three years I paid those who reviled me, but you do it for nothing.
“Enter the city, it belongs to you,” answered the sage.
POVERTY
Once a poor man, who was complaining to everyone about his cross, about his poverty, dreamed that he was in a spacious room, which was all lined with crosses of different sizes, and all these crosses were covered with blankets. A secret voice said to the poor man: “You complain about your cross, about your poverty: choose any other cross for yourself.”
The poor man began to choose. I took hold of the first cross, but didn’t lift it; Although the other one lifted it, it was too heavy for him - it was very heavy; The third cross did not seem heavy to him, but its corners painfully cut his shoulders.
So he went through all the crosses, but couldn’t find a single one he could find. Another cross remained in the corner, which the poor man did not experience, because this cross seemed to him larger and heavier than the others. Raising this cross, the poor man shouted joyfully:
- This is the cross I will take upon myself: although it is great, it is lighter than others!
They removed the cover from this cross, and there was an inscription on it - “poverty”.
FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT
Once Mohammedan or Saracen scholars asked Saint Cyril, brother of Saint Methodius, whose brothers were the enlighteners of the Slavs and the inventors of the Slavic alphabet - the Cyrillic alphabet:
- How do you, Christians, divide one God into three Gods? Do you have a Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
“Do not slander the Most Holy Trinity,” answered Saint Cyril. - The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three Persons - but the Being is one. Look at the sun, placed in the sky by God in the image of the Holy Trinity; there are three things in it: circle, radiance and warmth; also in the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The solar circle is a likeness of God the Father, for just as the circle has neither beginning nor end, so God is beginningless; and just as radiance and warmth come from the circle of the sun, so from God the Father the Son is born and the Holy Spirit proceeds. Radiance is the likeness of God the Son, born of the Father and enlightening the whole world with the Gospel; and the warmth of the sun, coming from the same circle along with radiance, is the likeness of God the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the same Father eternally.
MERCIFUL GOD
A certain soldier once asked one of the elders whether God grants forgiveness to sinners. And the elder answered:
- Tell me, beloved, if your cloak is torn, do you throw it away?
The soldier replied:
- No. I fix it and continue to wear it.
The elder concluded:
- If you care about your cloak, will God really not be merciful to his own image?
NOBILE AND PEGOR IN ONE PERSON
One day the monks were talking about humility. One of the noble citizens of the city of Gaza, hearing the words that the more one approaches God, the more he sees himself as a sinner, was surprised and said:
- How can it be?
One monk told him:
- Eminent gentleman, tell me, who do you consider yourself to be in your city?
He answered:
- I consider myself great and the first in the city.
- If you go to Caesarea, then who will you consider yourself there?
- The last of the nobles there.
- If you go to Antioch, who will you consider yourself to be there?
- There I will consider myself one of the common people.
- If you go to Constantinople and get closer to the king, then who will you consider yourself to be?
- Almost beggars.
“That’s how saints are,” said the monk, “the closer they come to God, the more they see themselves as sinners.” For Abraham, when he saw the Lord, called himself earth and ashes.
THE BEST AND THE WORST
One hermit was chosen as a bishop. He refused for a long time, but the brothers insisted. Then he thought: “I didn’t know that I was worthy, I must have something good.” At this time an Angel appeared to him and said:
- Ordinary monk, why are you ascending! People there have sinned and they need punishment, that’s why they chose you, because there was no one worse.
DON'T BE MISTAKEN!
Once upon a time there was a big holiday in China, where many people gathered. There was a well without any fence, and a man fell into it. He shouted very loudly, but the celebration was so big, there was such a noise that no one heard him. At this time, one bhikkhu, a Buddhist monk, approached the well - he was thirsty. The monk looked down and found a man who was screaming, crying and saying: “Have pity on me, save me quickly!”
And the bhikkhus responded: “No one can save anyone else - this is what the Buddha said: “Be your own light!” Nobody can save anyone - it's impossible. Don't wait for it! And moreover, Buddha said that every person must experience his karma. You must have committed some sins in the past and now you must suffer - so suffer peacefully. And there’s no point in shouting and making so much noise - by screaming and crying, you’re earning new karma for yourself.”
The man said to him: “First save me, and then I will listen with pleasure to your sermon. Now I’m simply not able to listen to you!”
But the bhiksha went further because the Buddha said: “Don’t interfere with other people’s karma.”
Then a Confucian monk approached. He looked into the well, and the man shouted again: “Save me! I’m dying and no one seems to hear me!” The monk replied: “Confucius was right: he said that every well should be surrounded by a wall. And don't worry, please, we will create a huge movement! We will change the whole society, we will force the government to build a wall around every well! Don't worry!"
The man from the well replied: “By then I’ll be dead! And what good does it do me if I’ve already fallen!”
The Confucian said: “It doesn’t matter much, personality doesn’t matter much at all. Personalities come and go - the whole question is only in society. But you can die, consoling yourself that this will never happen to anyone again! Oh, Confucius is a great social reformer!”
Then a Christian missionary approached the well. He also looked into the well - and even before the man shouted anything again, he opened his bag, and there was a bucket with a rope, for a Christian missionary is ready to serve a man long before he has said anything, and he was really already tired and thought: “That’s it, this is my end; and these are religious people!”
The Christian missionary threw him a rope with a bucket and shouted: “Catch it!” I'll get you out!"
Oh, how grateful this man was to him! Having got out, he said: “You are truly the only religious person!”
And the Christian missionary replied: “Do not be mistaken! We are told: until you become a servant to the least of you, you will not achieve the Kingdom of God! Therefore, remember well: fall into the well again and again, and teach your children to fall into the well, then we will be able to save you again and again, because how will we get to heaven if you stop falling?
BESN AND PEOPLE
Once a demon sat in the form of a man and dangled his legs. He who saw this with spiritual eyes asked him:
- Why aren’t you doing anything?
The demon answered:
- Yes, now I have nothing left to do but dangle my legs: people do everything better than me.
GOD KNOWS WHAT IS GOOD
The brother asked the elder:
- I wish I could do a good deed and live with him.
The elder answered:
- God knows what is good. I heard that one of the elders asked Abba Nesteroi: “What good deed should I do?” Abba answered him: “Aren’t all things equal?”
Scripture says: “Abraham was hospitable, and God was with him; Elijah loved silence, and God was with him; David was meek, and God was with him.”
So, see what your soul desires according to God, then do it and guard your heart.
WHY DO WE YELL AT EACH OTHER?
The student asked the Teacher:
- Why do we shout at each other when we are irritated?
The teacher asks in response:
- How do you talk to your loved one?
- Quiet.
- This is because your hearts touch! And when you are angry, your hearts move away from each other, and it seems to you that you are no longer heard! Loving people sometimes don’t even need words; they understand everything just by their looks.
DEBTORS
In ancient times, merchants traveled around Siberia. And there was one among them who, when a person had nothing to pay, gave him a loan. He said:
- Look, I’m writing your name in the book. Next time I will come and collect your debt.
If on his next visit the debtor also had nothing to pay, the merchant said this:
- Well, okay, now I won’t take anything from you, but look, I’m putting a cross next to your name in the book, so I haven’t forgotten anything and next time I’ll definitely collect the debt from you.
Likewise, the next time, if the debtor did not have money, the merchant put another cross.
And for the third time he said this:
- That's it, I forgive you your debt. You see, I cross out your name, I cross out the crosses. May God punish you.
HOW TO BE SAVED
A certain brother asked Abba Macarius:
- How can I escape?
The elder said to him:
- Be like a corpse and do not consider either the contempt of people or their respect.
DRUNKENNESS
In Egypt there lived a hermit monk. And so the demon, after many years of struggle with him, promised him that he would no longer oppress him with any temptations, as long as he committed one sin out of three. He suggested the following three sins: murder, fornication and drunkenness.
“Do,” he said, “any one of them: either kill a person, or commit fornication, or get drunk once - and then you will remain in peace, and after that I will no longer tempt you.”
The hermit thought to himself this way: “To kill a person is terrible, for this is in itself a great evil, and deserves the death penalty both by God’s court and by civil law. It is a shame to commit fornication; it is a pity to destroy the purity previously preserved. Getting drunk once seems to be a small sin, for a person soon sobers up with sleep. So, I will go and get drunk so that the demon no longer oppresses me, and I will live peacefully in the desert.” And so, taking his handicrafts, he went to the city and, having sold them, entered the tavern and got drunk.
By satanic action, he happened to talk with a certain shameless and adulterous woman. Being seduced, he fell with her. When he was committing a sin with her, the woman’s husband came and, finding him sinning with his wife, began to beat him, and he, having recovered, began to fight with that husband and, having overcome him, killed him.
Thus, that hermit committed all three sins: fornication and murder, starting with drunkenness. Whatever sins he feared and abhorred when sober, he boldly committed while drunk and through this ruined his many years of work.
THE POWER OF THE CROSS
Three girls were walking along the railway tracks and found themselves between two oncoming trains, but all three survived. Demons stood nearby and argued heatedly:
- Didn’t you throw the first one under the train? - they shouted to one, - her soul would be ours!
- I couldn’t: she’s wearing a cross!
- Why did you hesitate? The second one is without a cross! - they shouted to the other.
“Even though she doesn’t have a cross, she made the sign of the cross over herself.”
- Well, why were you yawning? The third one is completely unbelieving!
- That’s how it is, but her mother crossed herself on the road and said: “Go with God!”
FOOTPRINTS ON THE SAND
One day a man had a dream. He dreamed that he was walking along a sandy shore, and next to him was the Lord. Pictures from his life flashed in the sky, and after each of them he noticed two chains of footprints in the sand: one from his feet, the other from the feet of the Lord.
When the last picture of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. And he saw that often along his life’s path there was only one chain of traces. He also noted that these were the most difficult and unhappy times in his life.
He became very sad and began to ask the Lord:
- Didn’t You tell me: if I follow Your path, You will not leave me? But I noticed that during the most difficult times of my life, only one chain of footprints stretched across the sand. Why did You abandon me when I needed You most?
The Lord answered:
- My dear, dear child. I love you and will never leave you. When there were sorrows and trials in your life, only one chain of footprints stretched along the road. Because in those days I carried you in my arms.
BUTTON
There lived one man and his life was not very good, it was confusing. He decided to come to his senses, do good deeds, and save his soul. I did them and did them, but didn’t notice any particular change for the better in myself.
One day he was walking down the street when he saw an old woman’s coat button break off and fall to the ground. The person thinks: “What’s wrong! She still has enough buttons. Don't lift it! What nonsense!” But still, groaning, he picked up the button, caught up with the old woman, gave her her button and forgot about it.
Then he died and sees the scales: on the left - his evil lies, pulling him down, and on the right - there is nothing, empty! And evil overwhelms! “Eh,” the man says to himself, “no luck here either!” But suddenly the angels put a button on the right cup... And the cup with good deeds outweighed it.
“Is it really this one button that has pulled out all my evil deeds? - the man was surprised. “How many good deeds I have done, but they are not visible!”
And he heard the angel say to him:
- Because you were proud of your good deeds, they disappeared! But it was precisely this button that you forgot about that was enough to save you from death!
THE EQUALITY OF THE STATUE
Abba Pimen, Abba Anuv and their other brothers (five sons of one mother in total) took monasticism in the monastery. One day they were attacked by a barbarian tribe and destroyed the huts of the monks, killing many of the fathers. Pimen and his brothers escaped. They came to a place called Ferenuf, and all seven stayed there for a while in an empty idol temple with the intention of discussing the choice of a place for permanent residence. At the same time, Abba Anuv said to Abba Pimen:
- Do me a favor, you and the brothers, fulfill my request - during this week we will each live separately in silence, without meeting to talk.
Avva Pimen answered:
- We will do it according to your wishes.
That's what they did. There was a stone statue in the temple. Anuv, getting up every day early in the morning, threw stones at the statue’s face, and in the evening he approached it and asked for forgiveness. He did this throughout the week. On Saturday the brothers came together.
Avva Pimen asked Abba Anuva:
“I saw, Abba, that during this week you threw stones at the face of the statue, and then worshiped it and asked for its forgiveness. But a believer in Christ should not bow to an idol!
The elder answered:
- I did this for you. When, as you saw, I threw stones at the statue's face, did it even say anything? Was she angry?
Avva Pimen answered:
- No.
Anuv:
- Again, when I asked her for forgiveness, was she embarrassed? Did she say: “I don’t forgive”?
Avva Pimen answered:
- No.
Avva Anuv said to this:
“So we, the seven brothers, if we wish to live together, will be like this statue, which, from insults inflicted on it, is not indignant with anger, and with humility shown before it, does not become vain and does not become arrogant. If you do not want to behave in this way, here are the four gates of this temple: let everyone go where he wants and choose for himself the place to live that he wants.
The brothers fell on their faces before Abba Anuv, promised to act on his advice, and remained together in great humility and patience for many years, with one goal - the pursuit of Christian perfection.
WHAT IS SADNESS
One elder was asked:
- Father, what is sadness?
“Being sad means thinking about yourself all the time,” he answered briefly.
HEART IS PURE
Isaac the Syrian was asked:
- How does a person know that his heart has reached purity?
The elder replied:
- When he considers all people to be good, and no one seems unclean and defiled to him. Then he is truly pure in heart.
NOT A WORD ABOUT GOD
One owner hired a worker, but on the condition that he should not say a word to him about God, since the owner himself was an unbeliever, and he had heard about this man that he went to church.
The worker readily agreed, and the owner soon became convinced that the person he hired turned out to be skillful and controversial in business. He did not steal or deceive anyone, and carried out all the instructions even better than other workers, who were atheists like the owner himself. The owner took a closer look: there was harmony in the new worker’s family, while he and the hostess quarreled every now and then, and their children often quarreled and got sick, but this worker’s whole family was healthy and smiling.
And the owner thought: maybe God really helps his worker? He approached him and asked:
- For me, everything is wrong, but you are happy with everything - why?
And the worker answers:
“I just know, dear man, that God does everything for my good, but you don’t know this yet, that’s why you grumble.”
Then the owner quietly sat down next to the worker and, a little embarrassed, asked him:
- Tell me about your God...
TWO FORCES
Two monks lived in the monastery: one was sad all the time, and the other was happy. And one day the sad brother asked the cheerful one:
- How can you be happy all the time? I constantly pray, but the demons do not sleep, and the more I pray, the more they attack me, and they have no number, and their strength is so great that it is impossible to cope with them!
He smiled back and suggested:
- Come on, brother, let’s go up to the roof of our monastery at dawn!
They stood up, and the sad one, turning his gaze to the west, said in fear:
- Look: you see that huge black cloud on the horizon - this army of darkness is inexorably advancing on us!
“Look to the east, brother,” he heard in response.
And both of them saw in the glow of the rising sun countless hordes of shining snow-white Angels covering the entire horizon.
- Now are you convinced that there are much more light forces than dark ones? You were just looking in the wrong place.
ABOUT HEAVEN AND HELL
The faithful came to the prophet Elijah with a request to show him Heaven and Hell.
They entered a large hall, where many people were crowded around a huge cauldron of boiling soup. Each one had a spoon with a very long handle in their hands. Thin, angry, hungry people greedily stuck their spoons into the cauldron, with difficulty removing the soup from there, and unsuccessfully tried to reach the tip of the spoon with their mouths. At the same time, they got burned, swore, and fought.
The Prophet said: “This is Hell,” and led him to another room.
It was quiet there, the same pot, the same spoons. But almost all the people were full and happy. Because they split into pairs and took turns feeding each other.
The Prophet said: “This is Paradise.”
USE RIGHT NOW
Holy Father,” the newcomer turned to the Father Superior, “my heart is filled with love for the world, and it is cleansed from the temptations of the devil. What's the next step?
The padre asked the disciple to go with him to a sick man who needed confession. After the priest consoled the family, he turned his attention to the chest in the corner of the room.
- What is in this chest? - he asked.
“Clothes that my uncle never wore,” said his niece. - He always thought that there needed to be some special occasion to wear these things, as a result they rot in the chest.
“Remember the chest,” the abbot said to the student when they left. - If there are treasures in your heart, use them right now. Otherwise they will rot.
FINAL FALL
An evil man died and met an angel at the gates of Hell. The angel told him:
- It is enough for you to remember one good deed in your life, and it will help you. Think carefully.
The man remembered that one day, when he was walking through the forest, he saw a spider on his way and walked around it so as not to crush it. The angel smiled, and a web descended from the sky, allowing a person to ascend to Paradise.
Others condemned to Hell, standing close to the web, also began to climb it. But the man saw this and began to throw them off in fear that the web would break. At that moment it really broke off, and the man returned to Hell again.
“What a pity,” said the angel. “Your concern for yourself turned the only good thing you ever did into evil.
BRIEF EXPLANATIONS:
CHRISTIANITY is the religion that laid the foundation for modern chronology in most countries of the world.
The center of Christian teaching is the personality of Jesus Christ, born at the beginning of our era and crucified, according to legend, around 33 AD. e. His life, short activity and His teaching are described in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostolic Epistles and the Apocalypse. There are four canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus Christ had twelve disciples close to Him, later called Apostles: Simon (Peter), his brother Andrew (“First-Called”), Jacob of Zebedee, his brother John (the Theologian), Philip, Bartholomew (in the Gospel of John - Nathanael), Thomas , Matthew, Jacob Alpheus, Judas Levway (Thaddeus), Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot.
After a millennium of unified existence, although the Christianity of the East and the Christianity of the West had been different for many centuries, in 1054 Christianity officially split into Catholicism and Orthodoxy. At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The Protestant Reformation began in Catholicism, which led to the emergence of Protestantism. In Orthodoxy there are fifteen autocephalous (independent) churches and several autonomous ones. Protestantism includes three main movements - Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism - and a large number of sects, many of which have become independent churches: Baptists, Methodists, Adventists, etc.
The share of Christianity among world religions is 33% (the largest in number), of all Christians the Orthodox make up 12% (according to the sites http:// way2god.chat.ru/worldrel.htm and http:// internetsobor.org).
The basis of Christianity (from the Greek Christ - Anointed One, Messiah) is faith in Jesus Christ as the God-man, Savior, the incarnation of the 2nd person of the triune Godhead (Trinity). The introduction of believers to Divine grace occurs through participation in the sacraments.
According to Christian doctrine, man is created in the image and likeness of God. The Fall, i.e. the first act of disobedience to God, committed by the first people, destroyed man's likeness to God - this is the weight of the so-called. original sin. The most revered Christian saints considered themselves great sinners, and from the Christian point of view they were right. Therefore, from the point of view of Christianity, the most desirable state of a person in this life is not the calm painlessness of a Stoic sage or a Buddhist “enlightened one,” but the tension of struggle with oneself and suffering for everyone; Only by “accepting his cross” can a person, according to Christian understanding, defeat evil in himself and around him.
The most important of the Christian sacraments are baptism (initiation that introduces one into Christian life and suppresses, according to the teachings of Christianity, the effect of the inertia of original sin) and the Eucharist, or communion (eating bread and wine, according to church faith, invisibly transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ for the sake of the essential union of the believer with Christ, so that Christ “dwells in him”).
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus substantiated the moral principles (Commandments) that became the basis of the worldview of the new era: do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, do not commit adultery, do not do to others what you do not want to receive yourself. And the main Commandments that Jesus brought to people are the Commandments of Love: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37).
The main idea of the doctrine of the afterlife in Christianity is the idea of the existence of heaven and hell. Heaven is a place of bliss, hell is a place of torment. Ancient Christians believed that heaven was in heaven (hence the expression “kingdom of heaven” became synonymous with heaven), and hell was in the bowels of the earth.
LIST OF BORROWING SOURCES:
“Parables of Humanity” (vol. 1, 2, 3), comp. V.V. Lavsky, Rostov n/D, “Phoenix”, 2012.
“Modeling the future”, Vitaly Gibert, St. Petersburg, “Ves”, 2013.
"Desert Fathers", 101 parables. M., "Nikea", 2012
Internet sites:
Http://elims.org.ua/pritchi/spisok-pritch
http://way2god.chat.ru/worldrel.htm
http://internetsobor.org
http://www.epwr.ru/pritchi/txt_80.php
http://azbyka.ru/xristianskie-pritchi#part_23331
