How to live according to the will of God? Parable. Non-random “accidents”, or God’s will for everything

God sees in advance the life of a person as a whole... and decides - this one should be among the believers and saved, and this one should not be... The definition of God is a conclusion from the whole life of a person; life itself flows according to the inclinations of will, and according to the influence of Divine Providence on it, both inside and outside...

Saint Theophan the Recluse

...Always trust only in God, but never in man. Then all evil will fall away from you like a cut off branch.

Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina

The great Pimen said: “Our will is a copper wall between us and God, and does not allow us to get close to Him or contemplate His mercy.”We must always ask the Lord for spiritual peace, so that it would be more convenient to fulfill the Lord’s commandments; for the Lord loves those who strive to do His will, and thus they find great peace in God.

Venerable Silouan of Athos

Conduct yourself simply and with complete trust in God. By placing our future and our hope on God, we, in some way, oblige Him to help us. Do you know how everything changes if you trust God? Is it a joke to have God as your ally? There are no difficult situations for God; it is not difficult for Him to find a way out of any situation. For God everything is simple...

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets

...Do not rush to reach out to tomorrow, live today, today learn to see the will of God for yourself at the present moment, and not only see it, but you must also have an unshakable determination to fulfill it, so you will live by the guidance of God. We must forget our “like it or not”, we must accept God’s.

Archimandrite John Krestyankin

The will of God is holy and good. Divine Providence - How to know and see the will of God? — Cutting off one’s will and trusting in God — About everyday life —About the benefits of small acts of virtue - Holy Scripture about trust in God

The will of God is holy and good. Providence of God

Venerable Anthony the Great (251-356) taught his disciples: “Truly smart person He has one concern: to wholeheartedly obey and please God in every possible way. This and the only thing he teaches his soul is how to please God, thanking Him for His good providence, no matter what happenstance in life. For it is inappropriate for doctors, even when they give us bitter and unpleasant medicines, not to give thanks for the healing of the body, but to God, because of what seems not joyful to us, to remain ungrateful, not realizing that everything happens according to His providence and for benefit us. In such understanding, and in such faith in God, there is salvation and peace of the soul.”

Venerable Isaac the Syrian (550) writes: “If you have once entrusted yourself to the Lord, who is all-sufficient to protect you and look after you, then do not worry about anything like that again, but tell your soul: “For me, He is sufficient for every task, to whom I once gave my soul.” I'm not here; He knows it." – Then you will actually see the miracles of God, you will see how God is close at all times to deliver those who fear Him., and how His Providence surrounds, although invisible. But because the Guardian who is with you is invisible with your bodily eyes, you should not doubt Him, as if He does not exist; for He often reveals Himself to the eyes of the body, so that He may be pleased with you.

Those in whom the light of faith shines no longer reach such shamelessness as to again ask God in prayers: “Give us this,” or: “Take that from us,” and do not care at all about themselves; because with the spiritual eyes of faith they hourly see the Fatherly Providence with which that true Father, Who with His immeasurably great love surpasses all fatherly love, more than anyone else, he can and has the power to help us to an abundance greater than what we ask, think and imagine.

Be sure that your Guardian is always with you and that, together with other creatures, you stand under one Lord, Who with a single wave sets everything in motion and arranges everything. Stand courageously and be complacent. Neither demons, nor destructive beasts, nor vicious people can fulfill their will to harm you and destroy you, unless the will of the Ruler allows this and does not give this place to a certain extent. Therefore say to your soul: “I have a Guardian who protects me; and not one of the creatures can appear before me, unless there is a command from above. If it is the will of my Lord that the evil ones prevail over creation, then I accept this without being upset, as I do not want the will of my Lord to remain unfulfilled.” Thus, in your temptations you will be filled with joy, as one who knows and understands exactly that the Master’s command controls and disposes of you. So strengthen your heart with trust in the Lord.”

Venerable Abba Dorotheos of Palestine (620) writes what God’s good will is: “God wants us to desire His good will.

To love one another, to be compassionate, to give alms and the like—this is God’s good will.”

Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow (1783-1867) writes that all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, and teaches in all sorrowful circumstances and disasters to see the good Providence of God: “Poverty, illness, hunger, death come to people: is this the way of the Lord? Where is the mercy? These calamities befall many, evil and good, without discernible distinction: is this the way of the Lord? Where is the truth here? Natural evil is born from natural causes, but it is often averted by natural means: where is the way of God here? Don’t we notice how perplexities of this kind are readily invented and preached by the people of this century, as if they were new discoveries, as if they were knowledge of the laws of nature? Truly, the pure, sublime gaze of the Prophet is not superfluous here in order to discern the path of God in the affairs of nature, in order to reveal the mercy and truth of the Lord through the confusion of human innocence and guilt. And David sees this and warns our later wise men long ago so that they do not make inappropriate exceptions from the laws and authority of both the all-good and all-encompassing Providence. All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth(Ps. 24, 10).

Since God is infinite, omnipresent and omnipotent, there is no state of creatures in the universe that would be inaccessible to Him, through which some path of the Lord would not lie: there is no event that would not be led by the path of the Lord, however, so that the path The Lord never restricts the paths of freedom for moral beings. Since God, who is omnipresent and governs everything, is also a wise, righteous and all-good God, then all the actions of His conduct, all the events of the world concerning moral beings, are conducted in such a way that everything is a means to good and against evil; so that what is called evil unpleasant feeling and destructive actions in visible nature, this, so to speak, superficial manifestation of evil, was a medicine or antidote to a deeper and more genuine evil which, born from the abuse of the freedom of moral beings, damages them internally and becomes the source of countless and endless evil consequences, internal and external, if its paths are not stopped by the ways of the Lord. All the ways of the Lord including those named so paths of wrath(Ps. 77, 50), or punitive actions of Providence, and disasters, apparently randomly found, apparently indiscriminately striking, are mercy and truth, relating primarily to those who seek His covenant and His witness;- truth, when a sinner is struck and the multiplication of sins and the spread of sinful infection is prevented; the truth when a righteous person is saved in a common disaster; mercy, when a sinner is spared, in whom repentance has either already been initiated, or is foreseen to be initiated; mercy and truth together, when by the calamity which threatened many and befell few, many were brought to the knowledge of their sinful condition and excited to reform.

Heard by Job and still heard today comforters of evil(Job.16:2), (that is, those comforters who, thinking to console in evil, produce new evil with false consolation) say: be calm - a destructive disease is not at all the wrath and punishment of God. So what is she, my friends? Is favor and reward from God? It is likely that such a comforter would not wish for such a reward; but it is true that philanthropy will not allow us to wish it for him.

When a rod appears in the temple of a good father, the one who sees it will immediately think: apparently, there are guilty ones among the children. The Universe is the home of the Heavenly Father. He protects people, especially children of faith, more than the mother of her children(see: Is.49, 15). Social disaster is, without a doubt, not a wreath, but a rod. So, when I see this rod, I cannot think otherwise than that the children of the earth apparently deserve punishment from the Heavenly Father.

If they think that disaster did not come through the path of truth and the mercy of the Lord, punishing evil and turning to good, then I ask: how did disaster come into the world? Stealthily? - It is forbidden. God is omniscient. Forcibly? - It is forbidden! God is omnipotent. By the blind movement of the forces of nature? - It is forbidden. They are ruled by the all-wise and all-good God. No matter where you turn with your guesses, you will be forced to return to one indisputable truth: If somehow disaster brought into the world, then it is allowed only as a means of Providence, punitive and corrective, and sometimes testing and perfecting, - as the truth and mercy of the ways of the Lord.”

Venerable Macarius of Optina (1788-1860) in one of his letters he writes about firm faith in the Providence of God and about surrendering all of himself and his loved ones to His holy will - then all our bewilderments are dispelled, that God does not hear our prayers and does not help in the sorrowful circumstances that befall us, etc. : “The bewilderment and confusion that trouble you concerns you and your children not only in temporary life, but extends to eternity. You, although you want to get rid of inconveniences in life, resort to material means and ask God to send them to you; If you don’t receive it soon, you reach despondency and despair. I offer you what you yourself know: destinies of God inscrutable! Your destinies are many abyss(Ps.35:7), and Thy destinies, O Lord, throughout all the earth(Ps. 104, 7). And the Apostle Paul exclaims: O the depth of the wealth and wisdom and mind of God! who has tried the mind of the Lord, or who has been His adviser(Rom. 11:33-34)?

From this we can conclude that God’s providence is over all of us, and even a bird does not fall without His will and the hair of our head will not perish (see: Luke 21, 18).

And isn’t your present position in the will of God? Believe firmly that God is looking out for you; don't give room for doubt lest the word of the Scripture come true against you: Your destinies are taken away from before him(Ps.9, 26).

But you ask and don’t receive, which confuses you even more.

And as you know from the history of human life and from the examples that happen before our eyes, what accidents people are struck by: a family is sometimes deprived of its father, a husband of his wife, a wife of her beloved husband, parents of their only begotten son - all their hope and joy; children remain orphans, without care; another is deprived of all wealth, becomes a beggar, another suffers various misfortunes, sorrows of illness, is deprived of honor, and so on.

Who manages all this if not The providence of the Almighty, allowing everyone sorrow, according to his measure, strength and structure in order to punish him, or to test and strengthen his faith, or to protect him from falling into sin?

Those who suffered misfortune rightly asked for deliverance and relief from sorrows, but did not receive it soon; why? The One Almighty Creator and Provider of all knows this. We know that He we demand their news before our petition(Matt. 6:8) and that He gives us benefits that we do not expect from Him; that He is always a timely helper in sorrows.

One church teacher says: “The Lord, although invisibly, is really close to us, so that He can hear all our groans and give us His help. He knows and sees all our needs and misfortunes, and His loving heart is filled with goodness and readiness to help, which He showed when He lived on earth, full of grace and truth. But the Lord does not deliver me from misfortune for a long time! Yes, beloved, but the time and method of deliverance He has placed in His power».

Surrender yourself to His holy will and pour out your sorrow before Him, with the psalmist: I will pour out my prayer before Him; I will declare my sorrow before Him. My spirit will never disappear from me, and You have known my paths(Ps. 141, 4). My heart has always been sad, I have cried from the ends of the earth(Ps. 60: 3). God is our refuge and strength, our helper in the sorrows that have come upon us(Ps.45:2).

And expect His all-generous and merciful right hand to help you in your sorrows; but if you do not receive what you want and ask for for a long time, then strengthen yourself with the above reasoning; - and believe that it should be this way and not otherwise.

Perhaps this is testing your faith and love for God, or the place you are asking for might not be useful to you morally or physically. The Lord is able to comfort you in others, in the only way known to Him.

Your sorrow, of course, is not forgotten before God, who tests hearts and wombs. If this is punishment, then Holy Scripture tells us: The Lord loves him, punishes him, beats every son who accepts him(Proverbs 3:12). And in the very sorrows, the mercy of God appears and spiritual consolation is given. Cast your sorrow upon the Lord, and He will nourish you(Ps. 54, 23).

You think that it is better for your son to always be with you, but who knows? And in your presence, if God allows, it can deteriorate, and in the hands of others it can survive without harm.

But, wherever your children are, whether with you or in some institution, instill in them Christian rules and entrust them to God and the intercession of the Mother of God...”

about God’s determination, about His Providence and about human will in our lives, he writes: “God sees in advance the life of a person as a whole... and decides - this one should be among the believers and saved, and this one should not be... The definition of God is a conclusion from the whole life of a person; life itself flows both according to the inclinations of will, and according to the influence of Divine Providence on it both inside and outside... God does everything to enlighten man. If, after all the care for him, he sees him not wanting to improve, then he leaves him, as if saying: “Well, there’s nothing to do, stay.” God does not want the sinner to die; but he does not force the will, and only does everything to incline the will towards good. He foresees all such things about everyone, and as He foresees, so He determines.”

Here's what he writes about it (1910-2006): « God has no predestination for man, but man is certainly a co-creator of his life with the Lord.

And the Lord, looking over our lives, sees Is life extension beneficial for us? Are we living our days for good? is there still hope for repentance?

There is no arbitrariness in life. And the state of our soul affects the timing of earthly life.

...Life itself teaches us about life. But if we deliberately sin, then we will not transfer this sin onto others. The other one is responsible for his own, and we are responsible for ours.

Don't forget that We are not pawns in life, but co-creators with God.”

Elder Arseny (Minin) (1823-1879) about God’s Providence in our lives he says: “We must be attentive and reverent to the ways of God’s Providence, through which our mind is enlightened by the light of truth, according to the word of the Lord: I am the way and the truth and the life(John 14:6). In the Holy Scriptures, not everything is revealed to man, due to the limitations of his mind. A person will receive complete insight upon his transition to eternity. IN real life It is revealed to a person as much as he can contain and as much as is necessary for him, according to God’s vision, for this life in which he lives by faith. He stands on faith, as on an unshakable foundation.”

Hegumen Nikon Vorobyov (1894-1963) in one of his letters to his spiritual children he writes: “You seem to be upset that the years are passing by. You are not built... This is all from this world and from its prince. He scares you. He confuses your thoughts, inspires all sorts of fears and lies, and lies endlessly, and thereby betrays himself in all areas.

What is the essence of Christianity? The fact that the Almighty, Omniscient Creator of the universe so loves and pities man, cares so much about him and his salvation, that he gave His Only Begotten Son to shame, the Cross and death. The Lord cares not only about humanity as a whole, but also about each person individually, holds him in His hand every minute, protects him from invisible and visible enemies, admonishes him through people, and through books and life circumstances. If it is necessary to punish a person for admonition and protection from greater trouble, then he punishes with mercy, and then, if the person can accept without harm, he rewards purely, as if regretting that he punished. Anyone whose inner vision has opened somewhat sees this amazing providence of God for man in both the great and the small. And indeed: if God for the sake of man sacrificed the most precious thing - His Son - then how can he regret anything, for the whole universe is nothing before this Sacrifice. The Lord does not spare anything, especially for those who strive for Him, who try to fulfill His word, who lament in their hearts over every sin committed, as a violation of His will, as if inattention to Him, ingratitude and dislike for Him.

He who comes to Me I will not cast out! The Lord rejoices over everyone who reaches out to Him, immeasurably more than a mother rejoices over her child’s love for her.

That's why don't be afraid of the future. God is with us today and tomorrow and forever. Just be afraid of offending Him with any sin. If through weakness we fall into something wrong, we will repent, and the Lord will forgive us; we just don’t need to consciously choose evil (sin), justify ourselves, or grumble at God. Don't be afraid of anything. Be bold, cast all sorrows, bewilderments, fears, insults from demons and people on the Lord, and He wants and knows how to free you from them when it will be useful to you.

Don't trust yourself and people. Believe the Word of God, the Gospel. Study the Gospel through life and experience. Life in Christ will give you such fullness, such an understanding of everything, spiritual joy, firmness - that the life of worldly people will seem (as it really is) insignificant, uninteresting, poor, pitiful, vain, full of petty squabbles, troubles, and often great sorrows."

(1910-2006) writes about the good Providence of God in our lives (from letters to laymen and clergy): “God has no forgotten people, and God’s Providence sees everyone. And the world is ruled by God, only God, and no one else…

God does not consult with anyone and does not give an account to anyone. One thing is certain that everything He does is good for us, one goodness, one love.

...You can and should only change your inner man, who has been in the Church for so many years and has not yet begun to believe that the world is ruled by God’s Providence...

Learn to thank God for everything. And with gratitude accept from His hand both days of prosperity and days of sorrow. AND the basis of our consolation is that God’s Providence rules the world...

God, in the city, in the village, in Russia, and abroad, is One. And God’s Providence builds the destinies of nations and each person separately...

Life is difficult now, a barrage of frightening information is shaking the already fragile balance. So that we do not react so painfully to these storms excited by the enemy, one must firmly believe that God rules the world, and try, as much as possible, to live according to God’s commandments.

Faith that saves a person is not only faith in the existence of God in heaven and in the abstract... No, faith is real submission to the Living God on earth, unconditional trust in His Revelation in its entirety, striving and following the paths He indicated and interpreting absolutely everything for the glory of God.”

How to know and see the will of God?

(1788-1860) in one of the letters he writes: “You ask how to do everything not according to your will and how to know and see the will of God? The will of God is visible in His commandments, which we must try to fulfill when dealing with our neighbors, and in case of non-fulfillment and crime, bring repentance. Our will is corrupted, and we need constant compulsion to fulfill the will of God, and we must ask for His help.”

Archimandrite John (Peasant) (1910-2006) writes in his letter: “...Everything is by Him, everything is from Him, everything is to Him” - that’s how we live. And now, at the end of my life’s journey, I testify that there is no better and truer path than to live according to the will of God. And the will of God is so clearly revealed to us by the circumstances of life.”

Cutting off your will and trusting in God

“The most valuable thing is to learn to surrender yourself entirely to the will of God”

Archimandrite John (Peasant)

Saint John Chrysostom (347-407):“Take heed, brother, when something unexpectedly befalls you and saddens you, do not resort to people and do not rely on human help, but, leaving all people, direct your thoughts to the Doctor of souls. The only one who can heal the heart is He who alone created our hearts and knows all our deeds; He can enter our conscience, touch our heart and comfort our soul.

If He does not comfort our hearts, then human consolations will be useless and in vain; just as vice versa, when God calms and consoles, then, even if people bother us a thousand times, they will not be able to harm us in the least, because when He strengthens the heart, then no one can shake it.”

Venerable Isaac the Syrian (550):“As soon as a person rejects all visible help and human hope and follows God with faith and a pure heart, grace will immediately follow him and reveal its power to him in various help. First, he opens this visible thing concerning the body, and helps him with providence about it, so that in this he can most of all feel the power of God’s Providence about him. By understanding the help in the obvious, he is assured of help in the hidden - in the reasoning of which grace reveals to him the intricacy of difficult thoughts and thoughts, as a result of which a person can easily find out their meaning, their mutual connection and their charm, and how they are born from one another - and destroy the soul. At the same time, grace puts to shame in his eyes all the wickedness of the demons and, as if with a finger, shows him what he would have suffered if he had not recognized this. Then the thought is born in him that every thing, small and great, he should ask his Creator in prayer.

When the grace of God confirms his thoughts so that in all this he trusts in God, then little by little he begins to enter into temptation. And grace allows temptations to be sent to him, corresponding to his measure, in order to incur their power to man. And in these temptations, help is tangibly approaching him, so that he may be content until he gradually learns and gains wisdom, and in trusting in God begins to despise his enemies. For It is impossible for a person to become wise in spiritual battles, to know his Provider, to feel his God and to be intimately established in faith in Him, except by the strength of the test he has passed.”

Venerable Abba Dorotheos of Palestine (620):“Nothing brings such benefit to people as cutting off one’s own will, and from this a person prospers more than from any other virtue.

Only then does a person see the immaculate path of God when he leaves his own will. When he obeys his own will, he does not see that the ways of God are blameless, and if he hears any instruction, he immediately condemns and denies it.

Cutting off your will is a real battle with yourself, to the point of bloodshed, and to achieve this a person must work until death.”

Venerable Elder Paisiy (Velichkovsky) (1722-1794):“The Holy Fathers cared about the present day; about tomorrow, regarding every thing and need, they entrusted care to God, committing soul and body into the hands of the Lord, and He Himself provides for their lives and takes care of every need. Cast your sorrow upon the Lord, and He will nourish you(Ps. 54, 23); Be constantly occupied with Him alone; for He always hears day and night those who cry to Him; especially looks at their unceasing prayer. If we take care of ourselves, then God does not take care of us; if we ourselves take revenge, then God does not avenge us; If we free ourselves from illnesses, then God does not heal us.

If someone does not cast all of himself on God, both in necessary bodily needs and in all sorrow he does not say: "As God pleases"- cannot be saved... When we are sick, we get wounds, or we approach death and die, or we suffer a lack of necessary needs and have no one who would have mercy on us; and if we say: “As God wills, so let him do with us,” then by this alone the devil, our enemy, will be put to shame and defeated.”

Elder Moses, Archimandrite of the Bryansk White Coast Hermitage (1772-1848) said that in everything we must seek God’s help, and not rely on ourselves, and resort to God in everything.

Place yourself in everything on the will of God in all circumstances and say: it will be the will of God.

This is how the father instructed his children and thus always remained in peace of mind, without embarrassment, and taught the brethren that they should always rely in everything on the will of God and remain in peace and tranquility of soul and not be embarrassed about anything, but would submit everything that happens to the will of God .

Saint Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) writes about renouncing one’s will: “The beginning of all sins is in the disobedience of the first man to the command of God the King, and now What is every sin but the fruit of disobedience?. Ask, why do the zealots of piety suffer most of all? From the waywardness of your will. What did the holy ascetics primarily arm themselves against? Against your will. What prevents a sinner from leaving sin and turning to God - on the path of righteousness? Persistence and corruption of one's will. How therefore should it be beneficial to destroy, or at least diminish this evil in us - our will, to crush this iron neck(Is.48, 4)! (Neck - neck; Here: self-will). But how and what is the most convenient way to do this? Nothing more than obedience, renunciation of one’s will, surrendering oneself to the will of another...”

About surrendering yourself to the will of God, Saint Theophan writes: “When things come from the heart, there is living life... and when it is dedicated to the Lord, then it is divine: for then God is working in you. Thinking about yourself and your fate, you decide: be the will of God. There is no wiser decision than this. He who is like this in his heart is like a quiet refuge, although before your eyes is the troubled sea of ​​the world... Keep the boat of your life at this anchor, and the waves will not drown you, the splashes will only sprinkle you a little.

Keep it like this: always belong to the Lord. This requires a lot: always carrying the Lord in your thoughts; in the heart - always have a feeling for the Lord; in the will - do everything you do for the Lord. Three points, but those that combine everything in themselves - they embrace the whole life.”

Venerable Macarius of Optina(1788-1860): “Faith does not consist only in believing that there is a God, but also in His all-wise Providence, which governs His creatures and arranges everything for their benefit; times and seasons the Father has set in His power(Acts 1:7) and for each of us he determined the limit of life before our existence, so that no bird will fall to the ground without the will of your Father, no hair will perish from your head (see Matt. 10, 29; Luke 21 , 18)".

A person who has such faith sees God in everything, trusts in Him, seeks His help and protection, loves Him and tries to be pleasing to Him in everything. Sin has no power over such a person, because the greatest thing he fears is separation from the Lord his God.

Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina (1845-1913):

« Do not trust in princes, in the sons of men, for in them there is no salvation.”(Ps. 145, 3). ...Always trust only in God, but never in man. Then all evil will fall away from you like a cut off branch.”

Venerable Silouan of Athos (1866-1938): « Great good - surrender to the will of God. There is only one Lord in the soul then, and there is no other thought, and she prays to God with a pure mind, and feels the love of God, although she suffers in body.

When the soul has completely surrendered to the will of God, then the Lord Himself begins to guide it, and the soul directly learns from God, and previously was instructed by teachers and Scripture.

The proud person does not want to live according to the will of God: he loves to govern himself; and does not understand that man does not have enough reason to control himself without God. And I, when I lived in the world and did not yet know the Lord and His Holy Spirit, did not know how much the Lord loves us, I relied on my own reason; but when by the Holy Spirit I came to know our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, then my soul surrendered to God, and everything that sorrowful happens to me, I accept and say: “The Lord is looking at me; What should I be afraid of? Before, I couldn’t live like this.

For someone who has surrendered to the will of God, life is much easier, because in illness, in poverty, and in persecution, he thinks: “This is how God pleases, and I must endure for my sins.”

The best thing is to surrender to the will of God and bear sorrow with hope; The Lord, seeing our sorrows, will never give us too much. If sorrows seem great to us, this means that we have not surrendered to the will of God.

He who has surrendered to the will of God does not grieve for anything, even if he were sick, and poor, and persecuted. The soul knows that the Lord graciously cares for us.

Great Pimen said: “Our will is a copper wall between us and God, and does not allow us to get close to Him or contemplate His mercy.”

We must always ask the Lord for spiritual peace, so that it would be more convenient to fulfill the Lord’s commandments; for the Lord loves those who strive to do His will, and thus they find great peace in God.

He who does the will of the Lord is pleased with everything, although he is poor and perhaps sick and suffering, because he is gladdened by the grace of God. And whoever is dissatisfied with his fate, grumbles about illness or about the one who offended him, let him know that he is in a proud spirit, which has taken away his gratitude to God.

But if so, then do not be discouraged, but try to firmly trust in the Lord and ask Him for a humble spirit; and when the humble Spirit of God comes to you, you will love Him and will be at peace, although there will be sorrows.

A soul that has acquired humility always remembers God and thinks:

“God created me; He suffered for me; He forgives my sins and comforts me; He nourishes me and takes care of me. So why should I care about myself, or what should I be afraid of, even if I was threatened with death?

The Lord admonishes every soul that has surrendered itself to the will of God, for He said: “Call Me in the day of your tribulation; and I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me” (Ps. 49:15).

Every soul that is troubled by something should ask the Lord, and the Lord will give understanding. But this is mainly in times of trouble and embarrassment, and usually one should ask the confessor, because it is more humble.

All people on earth inevitably bear sorrow; and although the sorrows that the Lord sends us are small, they seem overwhelming to people and overwhelm them , and this is because they do not want to humble their souls and surrender to the will of God. And those who have surrendered to the will of God are guided by the Lord Himself with His grace, and they courageously endure everything for the sake of God, Whom they have loved and with Whom they are glorified forever.

The Lord gave the Holy Spirit to earth, and in whom He lives, he feels heaven within himself.

Perhaps you will say: why is there no such grace with me? Because you have not surrendered to the will of God, but live according to your own.

Look at the one who loves his own will. He never has peace in his soul and is always dissatisfied: this is not right, this is not good. And whoever has completely surrendered to the will of God has pure prayer, his soul loves the Lord, and everything is pleasant and sweet to him.

We must always pray that the Lord will enlighten us on what needs to be done, and the Lord will not leave us to be mistaken.

Adam was not wise to ask the Lord about the fruit that Eve gave, and therefore lost paradise.

David did not ask the Lord: “Will it be good if I take Uriah’s wife for myself?”, and fell into the sin of murder and adultery.

Likewise, all the saints who sinned sinned because they did not call on God for help to enlighten them. Venerable Seraphim Sarovsky said: “When I spoke from my mind, there were mistakes.”

So, only the Lord is omniscient, but we all, no matter who we are, need to pray to God for admonition and ask our spiritual father so that there are no mistakes.

The Spirit of God instructs everyone in different ways: one is silent alone, in the desert; another prays for people; another is called to shepherd the verbal flock of Christ; to another it is given to preach or console the afflicted; another serves his neighbor from his labors or estates - and all these are gifts of the Holy Spirit, and all to varying degrees: some for thirty, some for sixty, some for a hundred (Mark 4:20).”

Schema-Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) (1896-1993):“In the act of rejecting his will and reason for the sake of remaining in the ways of God’s will, which surpasses all human wisdom, a Christian, in essence, renounces nothing else but passionate, selfish (egoistic) self-will and his little helpless mind-reason, and thereby demonstrating both genuine wisdom and rare strength will of a special, higher order.”

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets (1924-1994) about trust in the will of God he says this: “Behave simply and with complete trust in God. By placing our future and our hope on God, we, in some way, oblige Him to help us.

Do you know how everything changes if you trust God? Is it a joke to have God as your ally? There are no difficult situations for God; it is not difficult for Him to find a way out of any situation. For God everything is simple. He doesn't use great strength for the supernatural and less for the natural, He applies the same power in everything. If only a person cleaves to Him - that’s the most important thing.

If we humbly ask for God's mercy, then God will help».

Archimandrite John (Peasant) (1910-2006) He writes about the will of God in our lives (from letters to lay and clergy): « Will God's concern for us is that while living on earth, we learn to know God and with joy and desire to follow the will of God - the only saving one that fills life with true content.

And a person can do any work - from the most insignificant to the greatest - and be saved or perish.

You will live for God, for the sake of God and for the glory of God - that is salvation, this is the true, and not ephemeral, meaning of life...

…On our part it is necessary and important to have an inner spiritual aspiration to desire to fulfill the will of God in life. And believe me, the Lord will accept and justify the sincerity of our feelings. He, in addition to our understanding and comprehension, will guide our fragile boat through life with His firm hand.

I am 91 years old, and I now testify to myself and others that the Lord knows our innermost, and according to our faith and striving for the truth, he rules our lives, often healing and correcting that which, due to ignorance and misunderstanding, may hinder the fulfillment of God’s will in ours. life...

Let us pray that our being will be tuned to receive from the Lord everything that He sends. But we need hope and faith, but again we will not wait for longed-for grace, but with hope and faith we will accept that the Lord is leading us precisely along that path, the end of which is salvation of the soul and peace in the Lord...

...With time and experience you will understand that complete good for us only in what is done according to the will of God. Read spiritual books, lives of saints. Start with Dostoevsky. Read and comprehend.”

About everyday life

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.”(1 Cor. 10:31)

« Live not as you want, but as God commands»

Archimandrite John (Peasant)

Saint Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) writes: “Needs and worries are truly destructive for the spiritual system, but this destructive power of them can be cut off surrendering oneself to the will of God. This doesn’t mean sit with folded hands and wait for God to give, but come up with ways and put them into action, leave the success of everything to God’s dispensation…

For all everyday affairs there is one solution, in order to adapt them to a single need, and not to lead them to the detriment of it.

Household affairs They can only excuse short standing in prayer, but they cannot excuse the impoverishment of inner prayer. The Lord does not desire much, but at least a little from the heart.”

Archimandrite John (Peasant) (1910-2006) in his letters he writes: “The Lord always leads us precisely in our paths; He cannot make mistakes and knows something that we don’t know about ourselves, and therefore our idea of ​​the desired happiness or unhappiness does not correspond to the truth. There are people who, by all human standards, are completely unhappy, one has been lying motionless for thirty years, but God grant us all the happiness in which he lives.

We must pray and thank the Lord, learn to endure and humble ourselves, and for this we must learn, first of all, to tolerate ourselves . So we will live, suffer, and sometimes through suffering we will feel the nearness of the Lord. But living everyday life is difficult. We must work and accustom ourselves to pray. Not by standing in front of icons all day, but in the memory of God in the usual doing of everyday concerns, briefly, easily and even cheerfully turning to the Lord: “Lord, have mercy, Lord, forgive.”

Try to live in the presence of your guardian angel - and you will see how wonderfully He will arrange everything. Be more attentive to yourself and stricter. Don’t worry about following all the rules. Fulfilled - thank God! Didn't fulfill it - forgive me, Lord! Comply everything not only with the requirements, but also with your physical and spiritual well-being. Our Savior saves us, not our exploits and labors.

So continue to live: work in moderation, pray in moderation, and you and your loved ones will be saved...

About the benefits of small acts of kindness

Archimandrite John (Peasant)(1910-2006): “Many people think that living by faith and doing the will of God is very difficult. It's actually very easy. You just have to pay attention to the little things, the trifles, and try not to sin in the smallest and easiest things. This is the simplest and easy way enter the spiritual world and get closer to God.

Usually a person thinks that the Creator requires very great deeds from him, the most extreme self-sacrifice, the complete humiliation of his personality. A person is so frightened by these thoughts that he begins to fear getting closer to God in anything, hides from God, like Adam who sinned, and does not even delve into the word of God. “All the same,” he thinks, “I can’t do anything for God and for my soul, I’d rather stay away from the spiritual world, I won’t think about eternal life, about God, but I will live as I live.”

At the very entrance to the religious realm, there is a certain “hypnosis of big things”: you have to do some big thing - or nothing at all. And people do nothing for God and for their souls. It’s surprising: the more a person is devoted to the little things in life, the less precisely in the little things he wants to be honest, pure, and faithful to God. Meanwhile, every person who wants to get closer to the Kingdom of God must go through the correct attitude to little things.

“He who wants to draw closer”—herein lies the whole difficulty of man’s religious paths. Usually he wants to enter the Kingdom of God completely unexpectedly, magically, miraculously, or, by right, through some kind of feat. But neither one nor the other is the true location of the upper world.

Man does not magically miraculously enter God, remaining alien on earth to the interests of the Kingdom of God; he does not buy the values ​​of the Kingdom of God by any of his external actions. Actions are needed to instill in a person a higher life, a heavenly psychology, a bright will, a desire for good, a just and pure heart, and unfeigned love. It is through small, daily actions that all this can be instilled and rooted in a person.

Small good deeds are water on the flower of a person’s personality. It is not at all necessary to pour a sea of ​​water onto a flower that requires water. You can pour half a glass, and this will be enough to already have for life great value. A person who is hungry or has been starving for a long time does not need to eat half a pound of bread - it is enough to eat half a pound, and his body will perk up.

...I would like to focus every person’s close attention on very small, very easy for him and, however, extremely necessary things.

Who will give one of these little ones just a cup to drink? cold water, in the name of the disciple, truly I tell you, he will not lose his reward(Matthew 10:42). This word of the Lord contains the highest expression of the importance of small good. A cup of water is not much. Palestine at the time of the Savior was not a desert, as it is today, it was a flourishing, irrigated country, and the cup of water was therefore a very small quantity, but, of course, practically valuable at a time when people traveled mostly on foot...

If people were wise, they would all strive for a small and very easy task for them, through which they could receive eternal treasure. The great salvation of people is that they can be grafted onto the trunk eternal tree life through the most insignificant stalk - an act of kindness. Good... the smallest things can have a huge impact. That is why you should not neglect the little things in goodness and say to yourself: “I can’t do great good - I won’t care about any good.”

...Truly, small good is more necessary and vital in the world than great good. Without big people live, they can’t live without something. Humanity perishes not from a lack of great good, but from a lack of precisely small good. The great good is only a roof built on the walls - the bricks of the small good.

So, the Creator left the smallest, easiest good on earth for man to create, taking upon Himself all the great things. The Creator creates our small things with His great things, for our Lord is the Creator, who created everything out of nothing, much less can he create great things out of small things. But the upward movement itself is opposed by air and earth. Every good thing, even the smallest and easiest, is opposed by human inertia. The Savior revealed this inertia in his short parable: And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately wants new, for he says: old is better.(Luke 5:39). Every person living in the world is attached to the ordinary and familiar. A person is accustomed to evil - he considers it his normal, natural state, and goodness seems to him something unnatural, shy, beyond his strength. If a person is accustomed to goodness, then he no longer does it because he needs to do it, but because he cannot help but do it, just as a person cannot help but breathe, or a bird cannot help but fly.

A person with a good mind strengthens and consoles himself first of all. And this is not selfishness at all, as some unfairly claim, no, this is a true expression selfless goodness when it brings the highest spiritual joy to the one who makes it. True good always deeply and purely comforts the one who unites his soul with it. One cannot help but rejoice when emerging from a gloomy dungeon into the sun, to pure greenery and the fragrance of flowers... This is the only non-selfish joy - the joy of goodness, the joy of the Kingdom of God. And in this joy a person will be saved from evil and will live with God forever.

For a person who has not experienced effective good, it sometimes appears as a vain torment, unnecessary for anyone... There is a state of false peace from which it can be difficult for a person to get out. Just as it is difficult for a child to emerge from the womb into the world, so it can be difficult for a human infant to get out of his petty feelings and thoughts, aimed only at delivering selfish benefit to himself and cannot be moved to care for another person who has nothing to do with him.

This conviction that the old, known and familiar state is always better than the new, unknown, is inherent in every unenlightened person. Only those who have begun to grow, to embark on the path of hunger and thirst for the truth of Christ and spiritual impoverishment, cease to regret their inertia, the immobility of their dreams acquired in life and warmed by life... It is difficult for humanity to break away from the usual. In this way, perhaps, it partly preserves itself from thoughtless insolence and evil. The stability of one's legs in a swamp sometimes prevents a person from throwing himself headlong into the abyss. But more often it happens that a swamp prevents a person from ascending the mountain of vision of God, or at least reaching the strong ground of obedience to the word of God...

Through small deeds done with the greatest ease, a person becomes more accustomed to goodness and begins to serve it reluctantly, but from the heart, sincerely, and through this he enters more and more into the atmosphere of goodness, puts down the roots of his life in the new soil of goodness. The roots of human life easily adapt to this soil of goodness and soon can no longer live without it... This is how a person is saved: from small things come great things. He who is faithful in the small is faithful in the great.

That is why I am now singing a hymn not to goodness, but to its insignificance, its smallness. And not only do I not reproach you that you are busy with good only in small things and do not make any great self-sacrifice, but, on the contrary, I ask you not to think about any great self-sacrifice and in no case neglect the little things in good. Please, if you want, become indescribably angry on some special occasion, but do not be angry with your brother over trifles in vain (see: Matt. 5, 22).

If necessary, invent any absurd lie you like, but do not tell lies to your neighbor in everyday life. This is a trifle, but try to do it and you will see what comes of it. Leave aside all considerations: is it permissible or impermissible to kill millions of people - women, children and the elderly; try to show your moral sense in a trifle: do not kill the person of your neighbor even once with a word, a hint, or a gesture.

After all, there is goodness and to keep yourself from evil...

And here, in the little things, you can do a lot easily, imperceptibly and conveniently for yourself. It is difficult to get up to pray at night. But in the morning, delve into the “Our Father,” and let all the words of this echo in your heart. short prayer. And at night, having crossed yourself, surrender yourself with all your heart into the hands of the Heavenly Father... It’s very easy... And give, give water to everyone who needs it, give a cup filled with the simplest sympathy to every person who needs it. There are whole rivers of this water in every place - don’t be afraid, it won’t run out, draw a cup for everyone.

Wonderful path of “small deeds”, I sing a hymn to you! Surround yourself, people, gird yourself with small deeds of goodness - a chain of small, simple, easy ones that cost you nothing. good feelings, thoughts, words and deeds.

Let us leave the big and difficult, it is for those who love it, and for us, who have not yet loved the big, the Lord, by His mercy, prepared, poured out small love everywhere, like water and air.”

Holy Scripture about God's Providence and b trust in God

“I know, Lord, that a man’s way is not in his will, and that it is not in the power of a man who walks to direct his steps.”(Jer.10, 23)

“Commit your deeds to the Lord, and your undertakings will be accomplished.”(Proverbs 16:3)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding..In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”(Proverbs 3, 5-6).

“Blessed is the man who puts his hope in the Lord and does not turn to the proud or to those who turn aside to lies.”(Ps.39:5);

"Cast sorrow upon the Lord"(Ps. 54, 23);

“I trust in God; I will not fear; what will man do to me?”(Ps. 55, 12);

“My soul rests only in God: my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock, my salvation, my refuge: I will not be shaken any more. How long will you lean on the person? You will be cast down, all of you, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence” (Ps. 61: 2-4);

“Trust in Him at all times; pour out your heart before Him: God is our refuge.

The sons of men are but vanity; sons of husbands - lies; If you put them on the scales, all of them together are lighter than emptiness.”(Ps. 61, 9-10).

“Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.”(1 Pet.5, 7)

“Thy will be done as it is in Heaven and on earth” - words from Lord's prayer, which every Orthodox Christian believer should read every day. Often these are really just words for us that we mechanically read every day. But here comes a crucial moment in our lives, when they cease to be just words - but become the meaning of our lives!

Thy will be done...How to live correctly according to the will of God?

Living according to the will of God means not becoming despondent and despairing from the sorrows and disasters that happen, for everything that happens to us happens exclusively according to the will of God, and therefore serves for our salvation.

Living according to the will of God means placing all your hope and all your trust solely in God, and not in material savings and not in your friends.

As long as we think that we are not afraid of any troubles, since we have a lot of money that will save and rescue us from any trouble, we live according to our own will, which is why we endure rebellion of spirit, uncertainty about the future and endless the fears that torment us.

The Lord said: “And so, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow itself will worry about its own; Sufficient for each day is your trouble” (Matt. 6:34)

As long as we think that we are not afraid of any troubles, since we have many friends who will save and help us out of any trouble, we live according to our own will. And since we don’t know where and what our salvation is, we go our own way, leading not to salvation, but to destruction.

Living according to the will of God is very difficult for us people, for we are accustomed to pleasing our flesh and our vain mind. The saint said correctly about us righteous John Kronstadt:

“We only call the Lord God, but in reality we have our own gods, because we do not do the will of God, but the will of our flesh and thoughts, the will of our hearts, our passions; our gods are our flesh..."

First we live according to our will, and then we repeat: “Lord, Lord, save us, we are perishing!” We blame the people and circumstances around us for our troubles and misfortunes, while we ourselves are to blame for everything, for we live not according to God, but according to our own will.

When a person completely and completely surrenders himself into the hands of God, when he does not seek his own, but God’s, when he builds his life not according to his own will and understanding - but only if the will of the Lord is in everything - that person does not blame other people for his suffering, because he knows that everything was sent down to us by the Lord God for our own purification and salvation.

How to live according to the will of God? This means not making material reserves for yourself, but giving all your wealth to the poor, and relying in this life not on money, but on God. Don't think about tomorrow, don't make plans for later life, for man proposes, but God disposes.

In conclusion, I would like to use a parable to show that by trusting our lives only to God, we receive goodness and salvation for ourselves!

“A peasant who had a beautiful stallion was considered the richest man in his village. And everyone envied him. But when his horse went to the steppe and did not return, they stopped envying him, and some even pitied him. But the old man was not sad and was calm. He was asked:

Why is there no sadness on your face?

“I don’t know whether this is good or bad,” he answered.

But when his horse returned and brought with him a herd of wild horses from the steppe, everyone began to envy him again. And only the old man was not happy and was calm. He was asked again:

Why is there no joy on your face now?

It is not given to me to know whether this is good or bad - just as he answered them the first time.

And when his son fell from an unbroken horse and injured his leg, some were sad, while others secretly rejoiced. But the peasant was calm. They asked him again, but he answered as before.

The war began, and all the guys were taken into the army, but his son was not taken, everyone began to envy him again. Only the old man himself was neither sad nor happy, because everything was the Lord’s will.”

So let us, dear friends, always live only according to the will of God! And the Lord Himself will manage our life, which only in our eyes may seem complex and tricky; in the eyes of God, our life path is just one sentence of world history.

“Is it God’s will for me to marry this man?” “What about going to work in a specific organization in order to enter such and such an institute?” “Is God’s will for some event in my life and for some action of mine?” We ask ourselves questions like these all the time. How can we understand whether we act in life according to the will of God or on our own? And in general, do we understand the will of God correctly? Answered by Archpriest Alexy Uminsky, rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Khokhly.

–How can God's will be manifested in our lives?

– I think it can manifest itself through the circumstances of life, the movement of our conscience, the reflections of the human mind, through comparisons with the commandments of God, through, first of all, a person’s very desire to live according to the will of God.

More often, the desire to find out the will of God arises spontaneously: five minutes ago we didn’t need it, and suddenly boom, we urgently need to understand the will of God. And most often in everyday situations that do not concern the main thing.

Here some circumstances of life become the main thing: to marry or not to marry, to go left, right or straight, what will you lose - a horse, a head or something else, or vice versa will you gain? The person begins, as if blindfolded, to poke into different sides.

I think that knowing the will of God is one of the main tasks of human life, an urgent task every day. This is one of the main requests of the Lord’s Prayer, to which people do not pay enough attention.

– Yes, we say: “Thy will be done” at least five times a day. But we ourselves internally want “everything to be fine” according to our own ideas...

– Vladyka Anthony of Sourozh very often said that when we say “Thy will be done,” we actually really want our will to be, but so that at that moment it coincides with the will of God, is sanctioned, approved by Him. At its core, this is a crafty idea.

The will of God is neither a secret, nor a secret, nor some kind of code that needs to be deciphered; to know it, you don’t have to go to the elders, you don’t have to specifically ask someone else about it.

The Monk Abba Dorotheos writes about it this way:

“Another may think: if someone does not have a person whom he could question, then what should he do in this case? If someone wants to truly, with all his heart, fulfill the will of God, then God will never leave him, but will instruct him in every possible way according to His will. Truly, if someone directs his heart according to the will of God, then God will enlighten the little child to tell him His will. If someone does not want to sincerely do the will of God, then even though he will go to the prophet, and God will put it on the prophet’s heart to answer him, in accordance with his corrupted heart, as the Scripture says: and if a prophet is deceived and speaks a word, the Lord has deceived that prophet. (Ezek. 14:9).”

Although every person, to one degree or another, suffers from some kind of internal spiritual deafness. Brodsky has this line: “I’m a little deaf. God, I am blind." Developing this inner hearing is one of the main spiritual tasks of a believer.

There are people who are born with an absolute ear for music, but there are those who cannot hit the notes. But with constant practice, they can develop their missing ear for music. Even if not to the absolute extent. The same thing happens to a person who wants to know the will of God.

–What spiritual exercises are needed here?

– Yes, no special exercises, you just need a great desire to hear and trust God. This is a serious struggle with oneself, which is called asceticism. Here is the main center of asceticism, when instead of yourself, instead of all your ambitions, you put God at the center.

– How can we understand that a person is really fulfilling the will of God, and is not acting arbitrarily, hiding behind it? So the holy righteous John of Kronstadt boldly prayed for the recovery of those asking and knew that he was fulfilling the will of God. On the other hand, it’s so easy, hiding behind the fact that you act according to the will of God, to do something unknown...

– Of course, the concept of “God’s will” in itself can be used, like everything in human life, simply for some kind of manipulation. It is too easy to arbitrarily attract God to one’s side, to justify the suffering of another person, one’s own, by the will of God. own mistakes and your own inaction, stupidity, sin, malice.

We attribute a lot of things to God. God is often on our trial, as the accused. The will of God is unknown to us only because we do not want to know it. We replace it with our fictions and use it to realize some false aspirations.

The real will of God is unobtrusive, very tactful. Unfortunately, anyone can easily use this phrase to their advantage. People manipulate God. It’s easy for us to justify our crimes or sins all the time by saying that God is with us.

We see this happening before our eyes today. How people with the words “God’s Will” on their T-shirts hit their opponents in the face, insult them, and send them to hell. Is it God’s will to beat and insult? But some people believe that they themselves are the will of God. How to dissuade them from this? I don't know.

The will of God, war and commandments

– But still, how not to make a mistake, to recognize the true will of God, and not something arbitrary?

– A huge number of things are most often done according to our own will, according to our desire, because when a person wants his will to be done, it is done. When a person wants God's will to be done and says, “Thy will be done,” and opens the door of his heart to God, then little by little the person's life is taken into God's hands. And when a person does not want this, then God says to him: “thy will be done, please.”

The question arises about our freedom, in which the Lord does not interfere, for the sake of which He limits His absolute freedom.

The Gospel tells us that God's will is the salvation of all people. God came into the world so that no one would perish. Our personal knowledge of the will of God lies in the knowledge of God, which for us also reveals the Gospel: “That they may know You, the only true God” (John 17:3), says Jesus Christ.

These words are heard at the Last Supper, at which the Lord washes the feet of His disciples and appears before them as sacrificial, merciful, saving love. Where the Lord reveals the will of God, showing the disciples and all of us the image of service and love, so that we do the same.

After washing the feet of his disciples, Christ says: “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you speak correctly, for I am exactly that. So, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should wash each other’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do the same as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know this, blessed are you when you do it” (John 13:12–17).

Thus, God's will for each of us is revealed as a task for each of us to be like Christ, to be involved in Him and co-natural in His love. His will is also in that first commandment - “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 22:37-39).

His will is this too: “...love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).

And, for example, in this: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).

The Gospel word and the apostolic word, the word of the New Testament - all this is a manifestation of God's will for each of us. There is no will of God for sin, for insulting another person, for humiliating other people, for people to kill each other, even if their banners say: “God is with us.”

– It turns out that during a war there is a violation of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” But, for example, the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War who defended their homeland and family, did they really go against the will of the Lord?

– It is obvious that there is God’s will to protect from violence, to protect, among other things, one’s Fatherland from the “finding of foreigners”, from the ruin and enslavement of one’s people. But at the same time, there is no will of God for hatred, for murder, for revenge.

You just need to understand that those who defended their Motherland then had no other choice at the moment. But any war is a tragedy and a sin. There are no just wars.

In Christian times, all soldiers returning from war performed penance. All, despite any seemingly just war, in defense of their homeland. Because it is impossible to keep yourself pure, in love and in union with God when you have a weapon in your hands and, whether you want it or not, you are obliged to kill.

I would also like to note this: when we talk about love for enemies, about the Gospel, when we understand that the Gospel is God’s will for us, then sometimes we really want to justify our dislike and reluctance to live according to the Gospel with some almost patristic sayings.

Well, for example: give a quote taken from John Chrysostom “sanctify your hand with a blow” or the opinion of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow that: love your enemies, beat the enemies of the Fatherland and abhor the enemies of Christ. It would seem that such a succinct phrase, everything falls into place, I have the right to always choose who is the enemy of Christ among those whom I hate and can easily name: “You are simply an enemy of Christ, and that is why I abhor you; you are an enemy of my Fatherland, that’s why I beat you.”

But here it is enough to simply look at the Gospel and see: who crucified Christ and for whom Christ prayed, asked his Father, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)? Were they the enemies of Christ? Yes, these were the enemies of Christ, and He prayed for them. Were these the enemies of the Fatherland, the Romans? Yes, these were enemies of the Fatherland. Were these His personal enemies? Most likely not. Because Christ personally cannot have enemies. A person cannot be an enemy to Christ. There is only one creature that can truly be called an enemy - this is Satan.

And therefore, yes, of course, when your Fatherland was surrounded by enemies and your house was burned, then you must fight for it and you must fight off these enemies, you must overcome them. But the enemy immediately ceases to be an enemy as soon as he lays down his arms.

Let us remember how Russian women, whose loved ones were killed by these same Germans, treated the captured Germans, how they shared a meager piece of bread with them. Why at that moment did they cease to be personal enemies for them, remaining enemies of the Fatherland? The love and forgiveness that the captured Germans saw then, they still remember and describe in their memoirs...

If one of your neighbors suddenly insulted your faith, you probably have the right from this person to cross to the other side of the street. But this does not mean that you are freed from the right to pray for him, to wish for the salvation of his soul and in every possible way to use your own love for the conversion of this person.

Is it God's will for suffering?

– The Apostle Paul says: “Give thanks in everything: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18) This means that everything that happens to us is according to His will. Or do we act on our own?

– I think it’s correct to quote the entire quote: “Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

God's will for us is that we live in a state of prayer, joy and thanksgiving. So that our condition, our completeness, lies in these three important actions of the Christian life.

– A person clearly does not want illness or trouble for himself. But all this happens. By whose will?

– Even if a person does not want troubles and illnesses to happen in his life, he cannot always avoid them. But there is no will of God for suffering. There is no will of God on the mountain. There is no will of God for the death and torture of children. There is no will of God for there to be wars or bombing of Donetsk and Lugansk, for Christians to terrible conflict, located on opposite sides of the front line, taking communion in Orthodox churches, after that they went to kill each other.

God doesn't like our suffering. Therefore, when people say: “God sent the disease,” this is a lie, blasphemy. God does not send diseases.

They exist in the world because the world lies in evil.

–It is difficult for a person to understand all this, especially when he finds himself in trouble...

– We don’t understand many things in life, relying on God. But if we know that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), we should not be afraid. And we don’t just know from books, but we understand through our experience of living according to the Gospel, then we may not understand God, at some point we may not even hear Him, but we can trust Him and not be afraid.

Because if God is love, even something happening to us at the moment seems completely strange and inexplicable, we can understand and trust God, know that with Him there can be no catastrophe.

Let us remember how the apostles, seeing that they were drowning in a boat during a storm, and thinking that Christ was sleeping, were horrified that everything was already over and now they would drown, and no one would save them. Christ said to them: “Why are you so fearful, you of little faith!” (Matthew 8:26) And - stopped the storm.

The same thing that happens to the apostles happens to us. It seems to us that God does not care about us. But in fact, we must follow the path of trust in God to the end, if we know that He is love.

- But still, if you take our daily life. I would like to understand where His plan for us is, what it is. A person stubbornly applies to a university and is accepted the fifth time. Or maybe I should have stopped and chosen a different profession? Or do childless spouses undergo treatment, spend a lot of effort to become parents, and maybe, according to God’s plan, they don’t need to do this? And sometimes, after years of treatment for childlessness, spouses suddenly give birth to triplets...

– It seems to me that God may have many plans for a person. A person can choose different paths in life, and this does not mean that he violates the will of God or lives according to it. Because the will of God can be for different things for one specific person, and in different periods his life. And sometimes it is God’s will for a person to go astray and through failure to learn some important things for himself.

The will of God is educational. It is not a test for the Unified State Examination, where you need to fill in the required box with a tick: if you fill it out, you recognize it; if you don’t fill it out, you make a mistake, and then your whole life is going wrong. Not true. The will of God happens to us constantly, as a kind of movement of us in this life on the path to God, along which we wander, fall, are mistaken, go in the wrong direction, and enter the clear path.

And the whole path of our life is God’s amazing upbringing of us. This does not mean that if I entered somewhere or did not enter, this is God’s will for me forever or the absence thereof. There is no need to be afraid of this, that's all. Because the will of God is a manifestation of God’s love for us, for our lives, this is the path to salvation. And not the path of entering or not entering the institute...

You need to trust God and stop being afraid of God’s will, because it seems to a person that God’s will is such an unpleasant, unbearable thing, when you have to forget about everything, give up everything, break yourself completely, reshape yourself and, above all, lose your freedom.

And a person really wants to be free. And so it seems to him that if God’s will, then this is just deprivation of freedom, such torment, an incredible feat.

But in fact, the will of God is freedom, because the word “will” is a synonym for the word “freedom”. And when a person truly understands this, he will not be afraid of anything.

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, but to use it for your lusts.” James 4:3.

How should we pray? And what should we pray for? The Bible says we can ask anything in the name of Jesus and we will receive it. (John 14:13) However, what we pray for may not seem to happen, or it may not happen as quickly as we hoped. What is the reason for this?

“And this is the boldness we have toward Him, that when we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14. What is the will of God?

God's will for us is that we should not perish, but come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) In other words, we can say that He wants us to be saved from our sins! This is why we encounter different circumstances in our lives. Although our human minds often fail to understand it, every situation in our lives is an opportunity to be saved from sin. Perhaps we ask ourselves: “Why did this happen to me?” However, such an attitude will only lead to anxiety and dark thoughts. No matter what happens in our lives, we can be at peace and grateful because we know that God is saving us through these circumstances!

When we cry to God for help, do we then want to find a way out of the current circumstances or do we want to receive salvation in these circumstances? Instead of asking: “God, make these trials end.” You can ask: “God, show me what I can get saved from here. Show me why you brought me here!” Then He, for example, can show us a lack of love for the people around us, impatience, envy or other things that live in our flesh. The motive of our prayers should be the desire to fulfill the will of God, first of all in our lives, and then in our prayers for other people.

Ask for sanctification.

We don't know what is best, but we can be sure that God knows it! He is powerful to save us! (Heb. 7:25) Let us make our desires known to God (Phil. 4:6), but let our primary desire be to do His will in our lives. This was Jesus' desire. “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” Luke 22:42.

Jesus said before He was about to be crucified: “My soul is now troubled; and what should I say? Father! Deliver Me from this hour! But this is the hour I have come. Father! Glorify Your name!” John 12:27-28. Jesus did not pray for God to save Him from circumstances in which He found himself, but for God to save Him V these circumstances. These are the thoughts of a disciple. Despite what we encounter along the way, our thoughts should be: “Lord, help me to be saved!” When we ask for this in prayer, we know that he hears us. He will show us what we must be saved from and what we must be cleansed from.

We may, for example, pray for healing, and often find it difficult to understand why what we ask for does not always happen. However, perhaps God is using this situation to show us our anxiety, unbelief, or to expose the sin that lives in our flesh. Not everyone gets healed, but everyone can get saved! We can take comfort in the fact that He will not give us more than we can bear. (1 Cor. 10:13)

If we understand what God's will is for us, then we don't think we were born to have "that good life," or a life of comfort. We are here to be saved! If this is our goal, then we can be sure that He hears our prayers!

NON-RANDOM "RANDOM"

EVERYTHING IS THE WILL OF GOD

Hidden signs of God's Providence in human life

© Fomin A.V. Compiled, 2012.

© LLC Publishing House “NEW THOUGHT”, 2012.

Full or partial reproduction of this publication by any means, including electronic, mechanical or magnetic media, including photocopying, is permitted only with the written permission of NEW MYSL PUBLISHING HOUSE LLC.

All rights to the publication and title are reserved.

Reproduction is possible only with the written permission of NEW MYSL PUBLISHING HOUSE LLC.

Preface

“In the life of every person there are two especially important, significant days, predetermined by the Lord God himself. This is the day of birth and the day of death. In the design of these dates, one can find secret messages that open up ways for us to understand the Providence of God.”

Along the path of our entire life, the Lord God sends us signs and admonitions for our correction. The hidden signs of God's Providence, material and verbal, are placed on life path each of us in abundance, they indicate to us the will of our Heavenly Father and Righteous Judge.

When you are really looking forward to something, asking for an answer from God every day in prayers, a whole series of extraordinary events happen in your life, which, according to your feelings and understanding, can be directly attributed to such indications of the answer (signs) that even other people are surprised. How then to distinguish the essence of these signs - are they from God or the temptation of a weak person? Signs of God's Providence or does the enemy want to confuse and seduce? How can this be understood not by a perspicacious saint, but by a weak sinner? Should we accept such signs as a guide to action?

At the same time, there is a great danger from demonic seduction. Demons closely monitor every person who in any way tries to contribute to their salvation. When they see that God is sending His help to this person in the form of significant dreams or signs and signs, then they immediately begin to send this person many of their signs, omens and dreams. Thus, the whole matter comes down to distinguishing between true (i.e. from God) and false (i.e. from demons) signs and signs. Both of them look extraordinary. That is why it is difficult to distinguish them by the fact of their unusualness, surprise, and even miraculousness.

“Since man was created free, destined to act on his own, the Wise Creator, in order not to violate this advantage, controls our destiny invisibly and inconspicuously. In this regard, the same thing happens to us as with small children, from whom teachers sometimes hide their presence in order to give them complete freedom to act according to their own will.”

Chapter 1
Mysterious death warnings

Signs of God's Providence in human life

The world in which we live is full of signs that require reading, believed St. Nicholas of Serbia. Here is an excerpt from his book “Symbols and Signals”.

“Often, unexpectedly, in good time, we meet a person who disperses the clouds that have gathered in our soul, involuntarily resolving some of our personal problems. It is not uncommon to hear a word from another person that resonates with you, or to say an encouraging word to someone. Or suddenly we receive a letter from someone, exactly when we need it. Or, confused in life's circumstances, we are desperately trying to reason with our small minds, trying to extricate ourselves from a hopeless situation, when suddenly something happens that radically changes the situation. Consequently, an unexpected meeting, a word, a letter, and an incident are all signs given to us either as punishment, or as a reminder, admonition, encouragement, or as a call to repentance.

A person usually believes that all his thoughts are his property, his work, coming from himself. Meanwhile, this is incorrect, because thereby a person proclaims his spirit as a certain absolute part, which is not subject to the influence of spiritual forces, neither good nor evil. In fact, the human spirit is influenced by many spiritual forces, just as the body is influenced by many different physical forces.

Evil thoughts, immoral and godless, come mainly from the spirit of evil and lies. Because of our sins and with God's permission, the spirit of evil pierces our spirit with arrows of lies, vicious pictures, sinful sensations and fantasies.

When we suddenly begin to constantly think about some person who is far from us, then this is a signal that he is worried or talking about us, or doing something for us (or against us), or approaching us himself, or walking letter from him.

People's premonitions are much stronger signs than thoughts. The Bible tells how Isaac, Jacob, and David all felt their death approaching and so they called their sons to bless them.

Many people have premonitions of their death. Some officers and soldiers in the war had the firm belief that they would die on this very day. How few of them exclaimed: “Today I will perish!” This feeling, the premonition of death, cannot be known by those who have not had it. However, the fact that such a premonition takes place is a repeatedly confirmed fact. Fortunately for those who had a presentiment of their near death and managed to repent before God in advance, through prayer and absolution, they were able to prepare for the transition to the next world.

Cleopas and his friend had a premonition of Christ's proximity. When they went to the village of Emmaus, the risen Christ joined them and spoke to them, but they did not recognize Him with their eyes. However, when He became invisible to them, they confessed to each other: didn’t our heart burn within us when He spoke to us along the way and when He explained the Scripture to us? (Luke 24:32).

Reverends Sergius of Radonezh and Seraphim of Sarov foresaw the phenomenon in advance Holy Mother of God. “Today there will be a great visitation!” they told their novices. Many other saints had a similar premonition, like a sign from above.

Premonition as a signal from above also occurs in animals, especially before bad weather or before a disaster, for example, before an earthquake. There are cases when animals anticipate a misfortune that is about to happen to the owner: a horse neighs anxiously or a dog howls. When Saint Artemius was about to go to martyrdom, the deer he had fed began to lick his hands and began to cry.

Sometimes a person suddenly, for no apparent reason, is attacked by melancholy and melancholy. Subsequently, it turns out that this was a sign that some kind of misfortune had happened at his home: the death of a relative or friend, or some other heavy blow.

A feeling of extreme despair that directs a person's thoughts towards suicide is a clear signal that evil spirit– the spirit of despondency – took possession of this man’s soul.

Joy is also a signal. The greatest Christian saints claim that when a person truly repents and fervently prays to the Lord, he feels great joy in his heart and his soul becomes warmer. They interpret this as a sign that the Lord has forgiven the sin for which the person repented in prayer.

The Creator does everything possible to save people: to enlighten those who are foolish, to enlighten those who are darkened by reason, to lead those who are lost to the right path, awaken the sleeping ones. He conveys His holy will and His disposition to people through the stars, and through things, and through animals, and through events, and through dreams. It happens that the Lord warns people of disasters.

In addition, He sends signals to people through other people, and also to certain nations through other nations. Spiritual man feels the presence of God every day, every moment convinced of it. And Holy Scripture, as the Book of God’s will in the destinies of people and nations, daily confirms the truth of these testimonies.

Saint Nicholas (Velimirović), bishop. Žičski Ohridski. Symbols and signals. – Pokrov, 2003. pp. 3–15.

Unknown fame, or is it possible to find out the date of death?

“As it is known that we began this path, it is also known that we will finish it” (Tikhon of Zadonsk. On true Christianity, book 1, § 157). “...Each of us is destined for death from God; when someone dies, we will not die either before or after this appointment; but to whom and when this transition from one life to another is appointed, no one knows except God” (Makariy Optina. Letters, part 3, item 290). “The day of death is greater than the day of birth” - this is what St. Mark of France (of Athens) said to the monk who was supposed to bury him.

It happens that an elderly person lives a very long time. But a relatively young man, you see, is gone tomorrow.

And who knows the time of his death? Only some holy people were notified about this by the Angels of the Lord, because they had already gained dispassion and could calmly and decently end their lives in God. It is not useful for passionate people to know the hour of death; they need to constantly prepare for it. There have been cases when people with cancer, informed of their impending death, began to intensively “live”: alcohol, women, entertainment and died before the promised time from heart failure. This is how we “lived” for the last time...

The lives of saints more than once describe such cases when God, in one way or another, revealed in advance to a holy person when he would leave this world - so that this person would have time to prepare for death properly: that is, to repent of sins, confess, and receive communion.

Death is always a mystery. This life of any person can be studied to the smallest detail. And even if something remains unknown today, then later some documents, some eyewitnesses will be found, and there will be no blank spots left. Death is surrounded by mystical mystery. Did you have a presentiment - didn’t you have a presentiment? Why on this day and not earlier or later?

In general, remembrance of death is a Christian virtue. You need to prepare your soul throughout your life for a meeting with the Lord.

You need to prepare yourself for death from a young age. When you visit the cemetery, pay attention to the dates of birth and death on the graves. Both young and old, children and adults are buried there. In one minute, more than a hundred people die in the world. It is unknown when the Lord will take whom. And we must be ready every day, every hour.

Can the Lord warn a person of little faith about the impending death?

The Lord probably tells many people in one way or another about the approach of death, but not everyone can hear and understand His hidden signs. It happens that through the prayers of believing relatives, the Lord announces death to sinners so that they stop and repent.

Words seemingly accidentally spoken by a person shortly before his death suddenly take on a different, deep meaning after his death. It often begins to seem that he, doomed, already knew everything and therefore was in a hurry to finish something, to hint something to someone.

Many surgeons can probably recall from their practice a case when a patient, before an absolutely harmless ordinary operation, suddenly says: “I will not endure the operation.” This is not fear. The patient speaks naturally and calmly, as if talking about an inevitably expected event. The patient was examined before the operation - everything seemed to be in order - and, nevertheless, a careful surgeon would not operate...

It is well known that at a critical time of a serious illness, the outcome - to live or die - largely depends on the wishes of the patient. And not only during a dangerous illness. If a person is sure that he will die soon and calmly talks about it as if it is obvious, he will probably die soon.

“The readiness to move to another world most often occurs in old, sick people, but it also happens in young, absolutely healthy people. Nature often meets such a desire, coupled with despondency, depression, loss of interests and energy, disappointment...”

“...Each of us is destined for death from God; when someone dies, we will not die either before or after this appointment; but to whom and when this transition from one life to another is appointed, no one knows except God” (Makariy Optina. Letters, part 3, item 290).

The Holy Fathers clearly indicate the reasons why the Lord does not let a person know about the day of death. Let's list some of them.

So that people always live virtuously and are afraid to sin.

So that people hurry to come to God in this life and take the path of salvation.

So that people do not risk their lives in vain.

And another reason is that a Christian must spiritually prepare for death every day.

As we see, the day of death is hidden by the Lord for our own benefit.

But, despite these properties of death, some people, by the grace of God, are given warnings of imminent death and, moreover, in various ways.

One cannot help but mention the fact that, despite the fact that the hour of death is hidden from people, there were and are many cases when people knew about it.

Mysterious methods include all warnings originating from the spiritual world and premonitions of the soul, and natural methods include news of imminent death, for example, from doctors.

As for mysterious warnings, they could: occur in dreams, premonitions and visions; were given to the sick and healthy people; could be about an imminent death within a few days or it was about some date without indicating the year. Such phenomena are attributed to the mercies of God.

Some people were given a premonition of their death, that there were warnings not only about death, but also about the continuation of life, and also that in the Lives and Patericon the method of warnings was not always indicated.

Along with warnings from the spiritual world, a person can be given a premonition of his death.

Death notices in different ways, by the grace of God, enable a person to repent and prepare for death, and also help to avoid the fear of death.

We will talk about such cases not for idle curiosity and not in order to prove the truth of these phenomena, but in order to correctly perceive death and be prepared for the separation of soul and body.

No way. www.ni-ka.com.ua

The invisible connection of loved ones

But not only the righteous, but also many ordinary people received advance notification of their death from deceased relatives. There is much evidence that warnings of imminent death occurred in dreams.

“One woman said: “My husband and I live well, thank God. We had two children: one boy was 12 years old, and the youngest was 3 years old.” Suddenly the eldest fell ill and tearfully asked his mother to invite a confessor and admonish him with the Holy Gifts, saying: “Mom, I’m going to die soon, give me communion.” Three days have passed, and he again asks to be given communion. The mother says that he recently received communion, but he again asks to invite the priest. Two hours later, after Communion, he died. On the fortieth day after his death, he appears in his dream younger brother with many bright children and says: “We have come for you.” The baby expressed his reluctance, saying that he was still small, wanted to live in the world and did not want to die. The deceased brother said that this was the will of God and that in three days he would be with them. After sleeping, the boy fell ill, asked his mother to give him Communion, and died on the day of Communion. Talking about this, the mother said: “Although I was unbearably sorry to part with my children, I am afraid to cry and grieve, because I believe that the Lord providentially controls the life and death of people. Who knows what would have turned out from the children if they had remained alive? (Trinity flowers from the “Spiritual Meadow”).

In one Moscow maternity hospital, an experiment was conducted to establish the possibilities of communication between mother and child. Mothers were in one wing of the maternity hospital, and newborns were in the other. Mothers could not hear their children crying. But when the baby cried while his blood was being taken for analysis, the mother was observed obvious signs anxiety.

The connection between children and parents exists throughout life and with special strength - at the moment of transition of one of them to another world.

One man was walking down the street and suddenly, for no reason, he felt a sharp pain in the left side of his head and severe weakness. He fell and, tearing his trousers on the asphalt, tore off the skin on his left knee. Lost consciousness. And when he came to his senses, for some reason he clearly understood that one of his relatives had died. Since my grandmother was the oldest in the family, I thought that she had died.

But a few hours later he received a call from another city, where his father lived, and was informed that his father had died from a stroke in the left hemisphere of the brain - the same place where his son felt a sharp pain. And in the fall, the father severely injured his left knee - just like his son, who was hundreds of kilometers away from him.

A person always receives certain signals when his loved ones are in danger. But not explicitly, but at the subconscious level. Inexplicable anxiety and depression arise: as if “cats are scratching at my soul.” This indicates one thing: people connected by family or friendship ties feel each other’s condition. And they often take on some of the suffering that befalls their relatives.

Natalya Fateeva recognized with her heart the imminent death of her father. Actress Natalya Fateeva says: “I had a presentiment of my dad’s death. My dad was often sick, periodically he had heart attacks, but every time I definitely knew: he would recover, everything would be fine. In 1980, my mother called me from Kharkov to tell me about my father’s next illness, and at that very second my heart literally sank: I realized that this time was it, this was the last year of his life. I drove thoughts away from myself, prayed to God to intercede for my father...”

And here’s what Elena Koreneva remembers: “I had a song in the play that I didn’t want to repeat. "My daddy's dead, my daddy's dead, hey-ho, hey-ho, my daddy's dead!" At my last performance, my mirror broke right on stage. Or rather, I accidentally stood on it. There, at the very end of the performance, there was a game with a mirror. After bowing, I went to the Moscow River and threw the mirror into the river, turning it away from me, “facing” the water. But premonitions tormented me. A month later, in February, my dad died.”

Andrei Mironov had a presentiment of his death. Popular Soviet artist Andrei Mironov died on stage. Last year his life was full of various coincidences. Two days before his death, Andrei Mironov suddenly said: “I have never been received so well before...” Not a bad phrase for a meeting up there... Who knows, maybe this is exactly what the artist had a presentiment of.

“Andrey and I were rehearsing the play “The Marriage of Figaro,” in which I played the Count, and Andrey played Figaro,” says Valentin Gaft. – There was no premiere of the play yet, and Andryusha ran to the Bakhrushin Museum to record his role on an audio cassette. I kept wondering: “Why? You'll still have time!" And Andrei was in a hurry and in a hurry and... never had time to finish writing.”

Director Elem Klimov felt the death of his wife Larisa Shepitko from a distance. He dreamed of her death. Then I found out that just at that moment Larisa got into an accident.

Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov) said: “Once in the monastery, at a question and answer evening, I was asked a question about Galina Starovoitova, who was killed.

The goal of the Lord is the salvation of every person. All issues that are resolved in the Duma and in the government are issues at the earthly level. They are connected with the arrangement of life on earth. But the most important thing is not to get dressed, put on shoes, and feed yourself. The main thing is to save the soul. A person must enter the abodes of Paradise and remain with God forever in prayer.

Starovoitova, like every person, is also loved by the Lord. And he wants her to be saved. In one of the programs before her death, she herself said that her mother called her and told her a strange dream: “An avalanche came from the mountain, it picked you up and carried you away. I feel with my mother’s heart that some kind of danger awaits you. Be careful, take care of yourself." What does this mean? That Starovoitova received news from the other world through her mother. The Lord warned her. And such a warning must be taken seriously. Any Christian, having heard this, will hasten to confess and receive communion. And those who are not baptized should repent and be baptized, receive unction, and receive communion. That is, to be reconciled with God. After all, it is unknown who the Lord will call to account when. You have to be ready at any moment of your life. The Lord said: “Whatever I find you in, I will judge you in.” 1

Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov). Questions and answers with thematic index. Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Shchelkovo. www.homutovo.ru

Unusual coincidences shortly before the death of the nuclear-powered icebreaker "Kursk"

Any event taking place in the world, and especially a tragic event, is always preceded by some almost incredible omens. Unfortunately, people begin to understand their hidden meaning, as a rule, only when the tragedy has already occurred.

The death of the nuclear-powered icebreaker "Kursk" and all crew members resonated with pain in everyone's heart.

A tragedy on a national scale occurred. But even in this case, there were omens and forebodings. "Kursk" went to sea a lot, and that last trip in August was the most ordinary. However, for some reason, just before this last outing to sea, a whole wave of bad forebodings fell upon the crew members and their families. Many had visionary dreams, someone knocked on the windows at night, some inexplicable things were happening around.

In the barracks of the Kursk crew, in the most prominent place, the “Coordinates of Sorrow” stand was placed, dedicated to the lost nuclear-powered icebreaker “Komsomolets”. There was a large mirror in the team's washroom. Literally a few days before the Kursk’s last departure to sea, it cracked. Then many thought that this was not good.

The widow of senior lieutenant Erakhtin Natasha recalls that her husband, having already married front door, suddenly came back and looked at his wife in silence for a long time.

- Why are you looking and being silent? – she asked.

“I just want to remember you,” he answered her.

When he left, he took the photographs of his daughter with him for the first time, saying that now they would always be with him.

Senior midshipman Kozaderov, already getting dressed for service, showed his wife an old scar on his leg and said:

“You can always identify me by this scar.”

The husband's words were so unusual that the wife remembered them forever.

The ship's cook, senior midshipman Belyaev, according to the recollection of his wife, literally the day before the last departure of the Kursk, suddenly said, out of the blue:

“You would know how much I don’t want to die at sea.”

Then the wife did not take her husband’s words seriously; their terrible meaning reached her only a few days later...

The chief of staff of the division, Captain 1st Rank Vladimir Bagryantsev, did not even know until the last moment which of the two outgoing boats he would go on. Everything was decided at the very last moment. Vladimir Bagryantsev was the author of a toast popular in the Northern Fleet, in which he foresaw in the most incredible way own death. The last quatrain of this toast sounds like this:

Well, if this happens -
A hurricane will pass through the compartments,
Reassuring the crew forever...
And I raise a glass to them!

Why did he write specifically about the “hurricane”, because the death of the boat was exactly as he predicted. Coincidence or insight?

By the way, Captain Bagryantsev was a very religious man and dreamed of having a church built in his Vidyaevo garrison. The church was erected, but the reason for this installation was the death of him and his comrades.

On the day of the disaster, Bagryantsev’s wife Ekaterina Dmitrievna had a dream: the elders were leading people in white robes somewhere up into the clouds...

On one of their latest photos sailor Roman Martynov took a photo at the stand with M. Gorky’s saying: “Even though you died, but in the song of the brave and strong in spirit You will always be a living example..."

Midshipman Yakov Samovarova’s mother, Anna Adamovna, wrote to me in a letter: “From July 13 to 14, I had a terrible prophetic dream. It’s as if a tall old woman, all in black, comes up to me and says: “There is a thunderstorm and it will come from the sea! The thunderstorm is terrible, there has never been such a thunderstorm before. Wait and get ready!”

Then he asks: “Where is your Yasha?” I got scared and answered: “Yasha is far away and even if you try, you won’t find him!” As she left, the old woman shook her finger at me and repeated again: “Wait and get ready!” What is most surprising is that in fact the next day there was a terrible thunderstorm with downpour. I still thought then that she had warned me about this particular thunderstorm, but it turned out that I was mistaken... I had a second dream, even more nightmare, on the night of August 11-12. Some kind of dark, almost black abyss, and I, taking in full lungs of air, screamed several times so that the veins in my neck bulged. It turned out that I was screaming for real. Woke up and came running eldest daughter. Woke me up. Then I couldn’t sleep for a long time. Now I think a lot about these dreams, especially about the second one. This was probably some kind of sign to me. But what could I have changed?”

No less surprising is the story of midshipman Mikhail Bochkov’s mother, Elena Garievna: “Now I remember that shortly before Misha’s death there were a lot of omens and bad coincidences. In the summer of 2000, our neighbor unexpectedly died of a heart attack right on the street. I walked nearby, immediately recognized him, rushed to call an ambulance, said that the man was ill, maybe even dead, and instead of his apartment number No. 14, she mechanically called her own - No. 3. As if she was inviting trouble. I scolded myself for it later, but what can you do? The fortieth anniversary of the neighbor’s death occurred precisely on August 12, 2000... You don’t need to tell me what day it was.

Senior Lieutenant Sergei Tylik prophetically described his own death in his poem:

I left for a long time then,
and you stayed on the pier,
But the sea is blue and the seagulls are forever
you and I were married.
Life is hard for all of us:
you are on the shore, I am at sea.
And all that remains is to divide
grief between the girls.
How many of them, beloved ones,
didn't wait until the end
And they sent them home
bitter messenger
Sheet of paper black and white
with icons in the field -
And from now on it settled
there is grief in our house.
I was so beautiful
young and strong
And he came home in a coffin,
along with the cold of the grave.
And you remained a widow
at twenty years old.
Only flickers with dim light
mourning portrait...

Only a few people from the Kursk crew survived.

Captain 2nd Rank Mikhail Kotsegub was supposed to return from classes and go to military service second commander of the Kursk, and after Gennady Lyachin’s planned retirement soon, he was going to take over the ship from him. Mikhail was late by some two days. He arrived in Vidyaevo when the Kursk had already left there. If I had time, I would definitely go to sea with it.

The boat's boatswain, senior midshipman Mizyak, was released by the commander for a few days to meet his family returning from summer vacation. Instead, his comrade from a neighboring ship went to sea.

Midshipman Kornilov was saved, without knowing it, by his mother. Shortly before the death of the Kursk, she was in a car accident and was taken to intensive care in serious condition. According to the telegram, Kornilov was released. Today, she is probably one of the happiest mothers in the world, because with her suffering and torment she gave her son a second birth.

Several people survived only due to their illnesses, as they were in the hospital.

The last one who was given life from above at the very last moment turned out to be the boat's chemist, midshipman Nesen. He served as a freelance financier. When the "Kursk" was already preparing to leave, the ship's commander, Captain 1st Rank Gennady Lyachin, called the midshipman upstairs and ordered him to leave the ship as soon as possible, so that during the ship's departure he would have time to receive a salary in the financial part and, upon the arrival of the "Kursk" at the base, he would distribute it to the crew . The midshipman barely managed to escape to the pier when the gangway was already being removed...

Captain 3rd Rank Murat Baigarin entered the academy to study in July. He returned to Vidyaevo to fill out documents and pick up his family. He was simply asked to go to sea to provide insurance for the young commander of the combat unit. And the exit was only for three days... The assistant to the division's flagship mechanic, Captain 2nd Rank Vasily Isaenko, should not have gone to sea at all that time. He had to do an extensive report, he was constantly distracted on the shore, and then he decided to go to sea. So that there, without being distracted, you can finish your work. Captain 2nd Rank Isaenko arrived at the Kursk just before departure...

Quite unusual coincidences also occurred with dates.

So, August 12 is in Orthodox Church on the day of memory of John the Warrior: more than three centuries ago, the Russian soldier Ivan, captured by the Turks, refused to renounce the faith of his fathers, preferring martyrdom to treason.

The operation to examine the Kursk and recover the dead crew members began on October 20, a day that is especially revered by all Russian sailors, since it was on October 20, 1696 that the Boyar Duma issued its famous decree, which began with the words: “Sea vessels will be...” This day is considered to be the date of birth of the Russian fleet.

There were many unusual things with the manifestation of natural phenomena. So, on the day when the relatives of the victims went to sea on the hospital ship “Svir” to lay wreaths, the water in the bay suddenly became an unusual sparkling turquoise color, which even the local old-timers did not remember. On the day when wives and mothers in the Vidyayev House of Officers were given death certificates for their husbands and sons, the sky on Vidyayev suddenly became golden in color, and even with a double rainbow. It was so unusual that people stopped and looked at the sky for a long time, trying to get consolation from it for their misfortune.

APRK "Kursk". Afterword to the tragedy. Vladimir Shigin. – M., 2002.