Eight degrees of drunkenness from the Holy Fathers. The Orthodox Church on drunkenness: attitude and opinion

The words drunkenness and alcoholism have become so firmly entrenched in the life of our society that we often don’t even think about how much pain, grief and fear lies behind these concepts. For the first time we can read about the harmful consequences of excessive drinking of wine in the Bible in the story of the righteous Noah: “Noah began to cultivate the land and planted a vineyard; and he drank the wine and became drunk, and lay naked in his tent” (Genesis 9:20-21) . But this was done by man for the first time and out of ignorance. And already 2 thousand years later, in the Proverbs of King Solomon, we are faced with words full of sorrow addressed to people who suffer from the disease of drunkenness: “Who has a howl? who has a groan? who has quarrels? who has grief? who has wounds for no reason? Whose eyes are crimson? Those who sit for a long time over wine, who come to look for the seasoned wine. Don’t look at the wine, how it turns red, how it sparkles in the cup, how it cares afterwards, like a snake, it will bite and sting, like an asp; your eyes will look at other people's wives, and your heart will speak debauchery; and you will be like one sleeping in the middle of the sea and like one sleeping on the top of a mast. They pushed me, I didn’t feel it. When I wake up, I will seek the same thing again" (Prov. 23:29-35).

Currently, drunkenness and alcoholism have taken such threatening forms that they can be compared to a universal disaster. What is this connected with? There are a huge number of definitions of the causes of drunkenness and alcoholism, ranging from official and primitive to frankly far-fetched and artificial. Until recently, the following definition of alcoholism existed in our country: “Alcoholism is a chronic disease caused by the systematic consumption of alcoholic beverages. Manifested by physical and mental dependence on alcohol, mental and social degradation, pathology internal organs, metabolism, central and peripheral nervous system" (SES, p. 39). Nowadays, the view of the causes of alcoholism has become much broader, but at the same time more confusing. For example, the Encyclopedia Britannica interprets it this way this question: “It is believed that the causes of alcoholism may be due to bad heredity, poor diet, endocrine system disruption, latent homosexuality, exposure to economic instability, poor social conditions or sinful nature” (Brit. Enz., 1996). In our country, a socio-ethnographic theory of the genesis of alcoholism, based on endocrine characteristics of a genetic nature in connection with the climatic and historical conditions of the development of certain peoples, is currently widespread among narcologists. All of the above listed diversity of views on this problem does not provide a clear answer to the question of what alcoholism is and how to combat its spread.

Before talking about the prevention and treatment of drunkenness and alcoholism, it is necessary to clarify what we mean by these terms. The patristic tradition defines drunkenness as "... - a misfortune that is laughed at, a disease that is mocked at; voluntary possession, which is worse than insanity" (St. John Chrysostom). In the holy fathers we can find many statements about drunkenness, but we will find practically no evidence of alcoholism. This is understandable. The preaching of the holy fathers was addressed primarily to adult, conscious people capable of taking responsibility for their actions. In this case, the best definition of drunkenness may be the words of St. Basil the Great that “drunkenness is a voluntarily summoned demon that invades the soul through voluptuousness.”

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At the same time, alcoholism can be considered as a hereditary disease, caused as a manifestation of original sin, parental sin, aggravated by socio-ethnic characteristics. Let's try to prove this statement.

Alcoholism as a social phenomenon was not known to ancient peoples. Only in 1848 Swedish doctor Magnus Huss introduced the concept of “chronic alcoholism”, summarizing data from a truly epidemic explosion of this disease among the peoples of Europe. An interesting fact is that alcoholism especially progressed in those European countries that, in the wake of Protestantism, moved away from ancient spiritual traditions, preaching individualism. Thus, in terms of the number of cases of chronic alcoholism in European countries, Scandinavian countries and France are in first place. At the same time, Italy, where wine is an element of the national culture, has almost completely avoided these problems. An interesting example is modern Ireland, where the percentage of people suffering from chronic alcoholism among Protestants is much higher than among Catholics. This is especially strange, since many areas of Protestantism consider sobriety as a religious dogma (Here we are deliberately not talking about statistics related to cases of so-called “heavy drinking,” that is, severe everyday drunkenness).

It must be said that many ancient peoples following the ancient cultural traditions, such as the Jews, Chinese and Indians, also managed to resist the spread of alcoholism among the population of their countries. And peoples such as North American Indians, as well as some small peoples of the North, professing primitive pagan cults of shamanic traditions, have an almost one hundred percent predisposition to alcohol addiction. Using the example of Russia, we can see how “everyday drunkenness” (which the Russian people began to suffer only from the time of Peter I) developed into total alcoholism after the revolution of 1917 as the religious feeling among the people weakened. But this is only one side of the issue.

According to the definition of Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky: “Drunkenness (in this case we are talking about alcoholism. - Author’s note) is a derivative phenomenon of other passions, sometimes not fully known to its victim...” That is why alcoholism as a chronic disease is determined not so much by ethnicity. social environment, as much as it is a derivative of parental sin and personal passion of nature. Many researchers tend to consider alcoholism a hereditary disease based on the special predisposition of the endocrine system of individuals to consume alcohol-containing products. Children predisposed to alcoholism are often weakened, with unstable immunity to viral infections, which passes almost instantly once the body receives easily digestible energy in the form of alcohol. But this is only the physical side of the issue, since these children, as a rule, first of all suffer from a particularly passionate nature. According to Fr. Ambrose (Yurasova): “If a pregnant woman drinks wine, smokes, lives with her husband according to the flesh, her child will be born passionate, predisposed to these sins, with the beginnings of fornication, drunkenness, anger, all vices and passions.” This affects not only the mental organization of the child, but also leads to disruption of metabolic and physiological processes in the body. In the future, when a child comes into contact with alcohol, innate spiritual passion will certainly manifest itself with particular force, in which alcohol will provide “support”, removing religious, psychological and socio-ethical prohibitions, creating the preconditions for “permissiveness” in children. In this case, wine, which, according to the psalmist, “makes glad the heart of man” (Ps. 103:15), “drowns reason and mind, and arouses passions and voluptuousness” (St. Basil the Great).

Thus, alcoholism can be considered as a genetic-mental disease, aggravated by ethno-social reasons. At the same time, another phenomenon is very widespread, which is called “drunkenness”, generated by reasons of a personal nature, and which can also acquire chronic forms. In English there is the term “heavy drinking” mentioned above, which can be translated as “severe drunkenness” and which is absent in our medical and psychological terminology, which does not distinguish between drunkenness and alcoholism. It seems to us that when talking about this type of alcohol abuse, we should use the term “chronic drunkenness.” Chronic drunkenness, like alcoholism, can lead to the body’s psychological and physiological dependence on alcohol. But unlike alcoholism, the causes of such addiction are the habit of excessive alcohol consumption, which is also aggravated by the sinful passion of nature and therefore, despite any treatment, getting rid of this illness is impossible until the passion that causes it is expelled from the person’s heart. Chronic drunkenness most often arises from everyday drunkenness and, according to Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky: “In general, until drunkenness begins to turn into binge drinking, until it has merged with any deep-rooted passion of the soul, a person who brings sincere repentance can always free yourself from it with the help of God." And this is understandable. When the love of alcohol turns into passion, a distortion of the human trimerium occurs (i.e., the unity of spirit, soul and body), where the soul, dual in nature, turns away from the spirit and begins to serve bodily passions, which, accordingly, leads to a change in the psyche And human physiology, selfhood is affirmed, which is a manifestation of demonic possession.

Thus, drunkenness, as well as alcoholism, is the cause of many serious sins. According to St. Tikhon of Zadonsk: “It gives rise to quarrels, fights followed by bloodshed and murder, foul language, blasphemy, blasphemy, annoyance and insults to neighbors. It teaches one to lie, flatter, rob and steal, so that there is something to satisfy passion. It incites anger and rage. It leads to people wallowing in the mud like pigs in a swamp - in a word, it makes a person a beast, a verbal one, dumb, so that not only the internal state, but also the external appearance of a person often changes. Therefore, Saint Chrysostom says: “The devil. loves nothing more than luxury and drunkenness, since no one fulfills his evil will like drunkards.”

Knowing the difference between the nature of the origin of alcoholism and drunkenness is necessary in order to correctly develop a method of treating a particular person, based on the primary prerequisites of the disease.

Currently, there are many methods for treating chronic drunkenness and alcoholism. This includes the so-called coding (i.e., the introduction of a semantic code into the patient’s consciousness after preliminary psychotherapy), the use of psychotropic drugs, detoxification solutions, drugs that cause the development of a negative conditioned reflex to alcohol, the use of vitamins and other restoratives. All this is aimed primarily at relieving withdrawal symptoms, and then at strengthening the patient’s sense of fear before drinking alcohol. By by and large This is not a treatment, since it does not save a person from addiction, and besides everything else, the dominant fear does not always become an obstacle to drinking alcohol.

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There are also group psychotherapy techniques, one of which is the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous, founded in the USA. They have developed a fairly effective system for combating drunkenness and alcoholism, the so-called 12-step program, i.e. an attempt to get rid of an illness through awareness of the spiritual root causes of the disease. Unfortunately, when spiritual issues are touched upon by people who are far from the Christian worldview, a kind of amorphous ecumenism arises, which has placed this organization at the level of a sectarian association. At the same time, it is curious that in a non-religious Western society, focused on the “achievements” of modern medicine and Freudian psychotherapy, a movement arises in which a person places his trust in God for restoration and healing from his illnesses, and, among other things, the idea of repentance can be traced, although not before the Lord, but before people. Appearance similar organizations speaks of the complete powerlessness of traditional medicine in the treatment and prevention of drunkenness and alcoholism.

In the works of the holy fathers of the Orthodox Church we find many instructions on how to get rid of the sinful passion of drunkenness. All of them can be boiled down to the fact that to overcome an illness one needs faith, prayer, fasting, humility, sincere repentance before God in the sacrament of confession, frequent invocation of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos and the saints of God, and of course regular communion Holy Mysteries of Christ.

First of all, a patient with alcoholism must clearly understand his dependence on alcohol, i.e. admit that he is an alcoholic. This is a very difficult step and the task of a narcologist, psychotherapist or pastor is to help the patient overcome this barrier, since without this step further treatment impossible. In fact, the patient, having recognized himself as an alcoholic, overcomes manifestations of such a sinful passion as pride, since for a long time he had to hide his illness from people, trying to appear before them as a normal person. It is important that this recognition is not just a statement of fact, but leads to a desire to get rid of alcohol addiction. Often we can observe how loved ones and relatives passionately desire to rid the patient of his vice, but on his part they are met with either active resistance or indifferent consent, from which he can retreat at any moment. Sympathy and help, especially prayer, are necessary for the patient, but without his own desire for treatment, one can only hope for a miracle. Usually, the desire to recover appears after long binges, when the body is no longer able to perceive alcohol and at the same time cannot refuse it. In this state of withdrawal, medical intervention is necessary to bring the patient out of this state with the help of medications. From a psychotherapeutic point of view, this is the most appropriate moment to adjust the patient’s attitude towards a complete cure.

This stage is the most difficult for both the patient and those who help him. We must not forget that chronic drunkenness and alcoholism are a manifestation of the influence of demonic forces on a person. Therefore, very often, as soon as a person feels better after withdrawal symptoms are removed, under their influence he returns to his addiction. During this period, it is very difficult to bring a person to the Church, to prepare for the sacrament of repentance, especially if he is not an active member of the church. At the same time, we should not forget that it is precisely during this period of the greatest demonic situation that the sufferer intuitively seeks church protection. It must be said that it is not always found due to the fact that very often our pastors, quite rightly treating drunkenness as a grave sin, forget that this is also a disease and demonic possession, and this is completely within the competence of the church. If during this period the patient does not enlist the prayerful support of the shepherd and people close to him, and is not able to cleanse his soul in the sacrament of repentance, the subsequent stages on the path to recovery will be very difficult to overcome, since it is impossible fallen man to fight demonic circumstances and transform one’s nature without God’s help, without the prayerful intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and God’s saints.

Next step an absolute “taboo” on alcohol consumption should be established. Moreover, first of all, this prohibition must be expressed by the patient’s own will and accompanied by a sincere and heartfelt prayer to the Lord God, who alone can affirm and strengthen the sufferer and save him from a serious illness. Quitting alcohol and the subsequent period of adaptation to a sober life, which can last up to 6-8 months, should be supported by the influence of medications, including such strong drugs as Antabuse (disulfiram) and Temposil (calcium cyanamide), which can create a temporary (sometimes psychological) barrier to alcohol cravings. Naturally, the best way to spend the rehabilitation period is to remove the patient from the usual sphere of communication, a trip to a monastic monastery, possibly with some kind of obedience, physical labor, regular spiritual nourishment, stay at fresh air and nature. Unfortunately, in our time this is not always possible.

During this period, it is absolutely necessary that an Orthodox psychotherapist, narcologist or priest, familiar with the basics of pastoral psychiatry (See the book of Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern) “Orthodox Pastoral Ministry”), try, together with the patient, to analyze the sinful nature of the disease, to identify those hidden passionate motives, which underlay the disease of alcoholism or chronic drunkenness. It is important to help the patient find trust in the Lord, to convince him that he will never be able to control the process of drinking alcohol on his own and therefore it is necessary to give up alcohol forever, and that only the Lord our God can help him get rid of this demonic passion, and this can only be achieved through repentance, fasting and prayer and the Sacrament of Communion.

The most difficult thing is not to place “unbearable burdens” on the suffering person. For example, due to the restructuring of the metabolism of a patient with alcoholism, strict fasting can cause an uncontrollable craving for alcohol, which he will not be able to cope with.

I would like to give an example of such work with one patient (with his consent, of course). Alcoholic A. was born into an unbelieving family and was a weak and sickly child from childhood. At the age of three, he developed a passion for masturbation, noticing which his parents tried in every possible way to shame and even frighten him, as a result of which he felt his own inferiority and inferiority. The habit of hiding one’s passion, always being in the role of the accused and pushed at home and at school, contributed to the formation of a weak character, prone to uncontrollable outbursts of rage and anger. Eternal self-doubt and fear of exposure led to the fact that he found satisfaction only alone with himself, indulging in his sinful passion. At the age of 13, he tried alcohol for the first time and realized that it gave him courage, allowed him to realize dormant aggressive aspirations, allowed him to communicate freely and freely with the opposite sex, and even felt that he was getting sick less. Thus, they found a “universal means” of overcoming everyday difficulties and satisfaction secret passions. At the age of 20, he already knew what withdrawal syndrome was, made several suicide attempts, and was ill several times venereal diseases, was involved by the internal affairs bodies for fights, hooliganism, attempted robbery, and spent the night in the sobering-up station more than once. At the same time, in a sober state he was a charming, intelligent young man in whom one could not even suspect such passions. After some time, he sincerely came to faith and accepted the Sacrament of Baptism, but his confessor, with the best intentions, kept him in such strictness that he even forbade him to help in church, sing in the choir, etc. The young man fell into despair and sinful passions flared up again, but the worst thing was that this was already the fall of a Christian. Ten years later, he reached such a state that in order to maintain the vital functions of his body he had to drink a glass of vodka every half hour. Several years ago, he met an experienced confessor, underwent treatment with an Orthodox narcologist using Antabuse, took part in our rehabilitation programs, and became an active member of one of the Moscow parishes. He managed to get rid of alcohol addiction thanks to the fact that, with God’s help, he began to wage an irreconcilable struggle against the passion of fornication and the passion of pride, which manifested itself in lack of self-control and irritability, and which were the basis for subsequent alcohol addiction. In conversations with his confessor and participants in rehabilitation programs, he learned that it was precisely these that arose in early childhood passions and, apparently, the result of parental sin, led him to alcoholism, which allowed him to realize them to the fullest. I gave this particular example from many similar ones also because, unlike many patients, this person, having a solid history of alcohol dependence, can now negative consequences drink small quantity wine by church holidays with the blessing of his spiritual father.

Cases of treating people suffering from chronic drunkenness seem much more difficult. It is to such people that we can find many appeals in patristics. Let us remember the words of St. John Chrysostom: “A drunkard is worse than a demoniac: we all pity the demoniac, but we are indignant and angry with a drunkard. Why? Because this one has a disease from the devil’s misfortune, and this one is from carelessness; this one is from the machinations of enemies, this is due to the machinations of one’s own thoughts.” Indeed, despite the fact that in this case there are passions underlying drunkenness, there is also the influence of evil spirits on a person, there is also a physiological dependence of the body on alcohol, but the root causes are different. A patient with alcoholism initially, due to the genetic nature of parental sin, had a predisposition to sinful passions, both mentally and physically. And the drunkard, cultivating the defeated passions in himself, reveled in wine, receiving satisfaction from it, voluntarily incited a demon to himself, according to St. Basil the Great, and thus acquired a psychological and physiological dependence on alcohol.

Working with these people is extremely difficult, since in most cases they do not want to admit their addiction and do not want to voluntarily give up their sinful habit. Only an extremely difficult physical condition of the body, or Divine intervention granted through the prayers of loved ones and relatives, can convince them of the need for treatment. Practice has shown that in these cases, after stopping the patient and bringing him out of the state of binge drinking and abstinence, it is imperative to use potent medications that cause certain allergic reactions on alcohol and leading to the impossibility of its use. And only then begin psychotherapeutic influence, his spiritual enlightenment. It is necessary to introduce him to the basics of the Orthodox faith, explain the sinful cause of the disease, inform him not only about the physical consequences of alcohol abuse, but also about the spiritual death of the individual, about the inability of a drunkard to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Only through frequent confession of sins before the Lord, the Jesus Prayer and regular Eucharistic communion is it possible to transform the personality of a drunkard.

Most important issue, especially during the rehabilitation period, is to fill the vacuum that forms in the patient’s soul after giving up alcohol. That is why only the support of a strong church community, care and understanding in the family, unceasing heartfelt prayer, physical labor or creative activity in the name of the Lord they are able to return God to the soul, to reveal those hypostases in the abilities that constitute the true content of the personality and determine its uniqueness.

It is necessary to mention the need to conduct a mandatory anti-alcohol program among children and youth in Sunday schools and educational institutions, not limiting ourselves to general routine statements condemning alcoholism, but talking in detail about the nature of alcoholism and drunkenness, about the terrible consequences of personality destruction due to alcohol abuse, citing statistical data, which cannot leave anyone indifferent.

Indeed, all over the world, not only in our country, more than 43% of crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol; 1/3 of road accidents, including those with human casualties, occur due to the fault of drunk drivers; the number of divorces in families due to drunkenness and alcoholism is 12 times higher than for other reasons; The life expectancy of alcoholics is 10-12 years lower than that of others social groups, this is not surprising, since this disease affects the central and peripheral nervous system, causes diseases of the liver, heart, gastrointestinal tract, affects the brain - 1/4 of patients psychiatric clinics- suffer from alcohol abuse disorders. And, probably, the most terrible thing is what St. John Chrysostom warns us about, saying: “The main evil of drunkenness is that it makes Heaven inaccessible to the drunkard and does not allow one to achieve eternal blessings, so that along with the shame on earth, those who suffer "With this illness, the gravest punishment awaits in Heaven."

Vitaly Zubkov, deacon

Missionary Review, No. 6, 1998

All addictions are an unsuccessful human attempt to find inner balance without the help of God, a kind of attempt to find the Kingdom of Heaven in the underworld. The monk said that there are three types of capital - monetary, official and spiritual, and if the main thing for a person is spiritual capital, then he will not become dependent on money, or on officials, or on drugs, or on alcohol. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you” ().
Priest Grigory Grigoriev

Alcoholism- 1) chronic disease caused by systematic consumption of alcohol; manifested in persistent psychological and physiological dependence on alcohol; 2) sinful, drunkenness.

Why, if alcoholism is a disease, does it prevent entry into the Kingdom of Heaven (); Is illness a sin?

According to a number of criteria, alcoholism is indeed recognized as a disease, and a widespread one that is difficult to cure.

At the same time, among diseases it ranks special place. And the point here is this. Many diseases arise and progress regardless of the desire (against the will) of a person.

Alcoholism is largely due to the conscious attraction to alcohol, the special disposition of one’s mental powers. We can say that alcoholism is a disease of a moral and spiritual order. As a matter of fact, treat it exclusively medical supplies, ignoring spiritual ones is extremely difficult, and sometimes almost impossible.

Within the framework of Orthodox Moral Theology, drunkenness is defined primarily as a sinful passion. Therefore, overcoming alcohol addiction mainly involves spiritual, grace-filled means.

For a person subject to drunkenness, alcohol becomes one of the main (if not the main) objects of aspiration. God, family, creativity, work, concern for moral self-education, and Christian duty recede into the background.

In cases of extreme dependence on alcohol, alcohol actually turns into. In this regard, drunkenness is placed in the Holy Scriptures on a par with ().

In addition, in terms of the destructiveness and harmfulness of drunkenness, it is compared with fornication, sodomy, extortion, and predation ().

Therefore, a person who abuses alcohol and does not want to stop this activity prevents himself from entering.

Alcoholism as a spiritual disease

In the “Ancient Patericon” there is a characteristic story about how a demon promised a certain Egyptian desert dweller that he would no longer oppress him with any temptations if only he committed some sin.

He suggested the following three sins: murder, and drunkenness. The hermit thought to himself this way: “To kill a person is terrible, for this in itself is a great evil and deserves the death penalty, both according to God’s court and according to civil law. To commit fornication is shameful, to destroy the previously preserved purity of the body is a pity, and it is disgusting to defile one who has not yet known this defilement. Getting drunk once seems to be a small sin, for a person soon sobers up with sleep. So, I’ll go and get drunk so that the demon no longer oppresses me, and I will live peacefully in the desert.” And so, taking his handicrafts, he went to the city and, having sold them, entered the tavern and got drunk. According to the action of Satan, he happened to talk with a certain shameless and adulterous woman. Being seduced, he fell with her. When he was committing a sin with her, the woman’s husband came and found him sinning with his wife and began to beat him. And he, having recovered, began to fight with that husband and, having overcome him, killed him. Thus, that hermit committed all three sins, which he soberly feared and abhorred, and through this he ruined his many years of labor. Was it only through true repentance that he could find them again, for through mercy God's man For a truly repentant person, his former merits, which he destroyed through the Fall, are returned.

This is how drinking wine leads to all sins and deprives one of salvation, destroying virtues. The apostle speaks the truth: “Do not get drunk with wine, for in it there is fornication” (Eph. 5:18). (Creations of St. St. Petersburg, pp. 455-456)

The passion of drunkenness is bodily, and “the movement of carnal passions suppresses abstinence” (Dobrolyubie, vol. 1, p. 600). Therefore, the holy ascetics even preferred not to drink wine at all. This is written about this in the significant monument of ascetic literature - “Spiritual Meadow”:

“Twenty miles from Alexandria there is a Lavra... There we arrived to Abba Theodore and asked him: “Is it good, father, if we come to someone or someone comes to us and we are allowed to have wine?” “No!” answered the elder. But how did the ancient fathers allow it? “The ancient fathers were great and strong - they could permit and again prohibit. And our family, children, cannot permit or prohibit. If we allow it, we will no longer be able to withstand strict asceticism” (Dukhovny Meadow. Sergiev Posad. 1915 p. 192-193).

Or another example from ancient times. “One day at the skete there was a treat for the brethren. A cup of wine was served to one of the elders present. He refused to drink it, telling the server: “Take this death away from me.” The others who took part in the meal, seeing this, also did not drink wine” (St. Ignatius Bryachaninov. Fatherland. Petersburg, 1903, p. 482).

And finally, let us give a story about a slightly different case of abstinence, which illustrates the prudence of the holy ascetics. “One of the elders, pouring wine into a cup, brought it to Abba Siso, who drank; then he brought the second one, he accepted the second one. When the elder offered him a third, Abba did not accept and said: “Stop it, brother! Or don’t you know that Satan exists?” (Memorable tales about the asceticism of the holy and blessed fathers. M. 1845 p. 289)

It is important to understand that alcoholism is without a doubt a disease, but at the same time, from the point of view of religious anthropology, alcoholism is a passion that no person can get rid of painlessly without changing anything in their soul and consciousness. What is passion? Passion is a malignant illness of the soul, a harmful habit that is formed through the repeated execution of any vicious desires that become a person’s need, become part of his habit, influence his lifestyle, dominate him - a person’s entire future life is built depending on this addiction . “Drunkenness does not come from wine - and wine was created by God... but a vicious will produces drunkenness” () and, therefore, you must first change your will - give up self-justification, admit your passion and your powerlessness before it and ask for help. In this case, the help of medicine will be much more effective, since the patient himself will seek healing. But this is precisely the most difficult thing.

It has long been known in Orthodoxy that the cause of alcoholism is a spiritual disease - pride. One of its manifestations in human nature is considered to be such a quality as self-will. People with alcohol addiction are willful people. This opinion is not based on conjecture, but on solid evidence and research. Chemically dependent people They are the last to see their problems. They cannot see themselves from the outside. Internally, in his soul, an alcoholic cannot stand (does not tolerate) the control of people and God. He, an alcoholic, “is and will be the master of his own destiny.” His mind is closed to the perception of other ideas, statements, knowledge.

To summarize the above, two points can be stated that are necessary to overcome alcohol addiction. First of all, this is the desire of the sufferer himself to stop drinking and the willingness to lead sober life, and not for some limited period (a year, two, five years - these are all empty excuses that do not give the necessary effect), but constantly. Secondly, for this it is necessary to abandon self-will and ask for help without hiding or hiding anything from doctors and loved ones.

As for Christians suffering from this illness, these words of the Apostle Paul can be decisive for them: “Drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God” ().

Orthodox medical server

Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be overloaded with gluttony and drunkenness and the worries of this life, so that that day does not come upon you suddenly...

The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, discord, [temptations,] heresies, hatred, murders, drunkenness, outrage and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

For it is enough that in the past time of your life you acted according to the will of the pagans, indulging in impurities, lusts (sodomy, bestiality, thoughts), drunkenness, excess in food and drink and absurd idolatry...

What you hate, don’t do to anyone. Don't drink wine to the point of intoxication, and drunkenness Let him not walk with you on your journey.

The furnace tests the strength of the blade by hardening; This is how wine tests the hearts of the proud - drunkenness.

About wine drinking: wine is a product that is produced using grapevines, known almost from the very beginning of human history. Scientists have long identified and assessed its benefits to the body, its invigorating, tonic and healing effect.

The psalmist David said, exclaiming, that wine can make a man glad. The Apostle Paul recommended that Timothy, who was his disciple, drink a little wine every day because of his stomach problems. “From now on, do not drink only water, but use a little wine, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” 1 Timothy 5:23

The Holy Fathers, for example, St. John Chrysostom, advanced the concept of moderate doses of wine. He wrote down such words that he could not bring as much benefit in healing for getting rid of depression as drinking wine, as long as large quantities of it could not destroy the benefit that comes from it.

About the sin of drunkenness

But no matter how long there is wine, the problem of its indiscriminate acceptance and the sin of drunkenness and alcoholism. Many diseases of ancient times, more than once ending in epidemics, have long been defeated and left in history, and the body of the green serpent, alcoholism, as before, wraps around and strangles a person. Alcohol intoxication, which is a chronic or hereditary disease, which is expressed depending on the alcohol and the pathology of the body, is associated with the effects of drunkenness.

It's clear that alcoholism is a sin, and the prevention and treatment of drunkenness and alcoholism can be beneficial only if their causes are correctly determined.

Causes of drunkenness

In Soviet-era science, opinions about the causes of alcoholism were wide and confusing.
They named living in poor social conditions, instability in the economy, chemical overload of the psyche, a bad predisposition to heredity, and a factor depending on climate and location, nationality and ethnicity.

The influence of similar factors is true, but Christianity is characterized by the expression of a deeper, spiritual view of this problem, when they say that alcoholism is a sin, in general, as with every problem and disease of modern times.

When referring to what has been written Holy Fathers on drunkenness, you can find more than one statement on this topic in them. You can read the statements of the holy fathers about drunkenness and the sin of drinking wine at the end of the article. Its essence was quite accurately and briefly compiled by St. Basil the Great. He wrote that the sin of drunkenness is a demon that a person inclines upon himself at will with the help of voluptuousness that appears in the soul.

When addicted to drunkenness, evil spirits are attracted to people, and he becomes possessed. That this is truly so is stated in a well-known proverb. “I got drunk as hell.” This turns out not to be a mere metaphor, but a demonic experience. People visually see images of demons next to them. It is characteristic that the priests in some religions were addicted to intoxicating drinks before performing their ritual. We find many instructions from the Holy Fathers about how to get rid of the sinful passion of drunkenness.

Attention! THE TRUTH THAT THEY ARE HIDING FROM US!!! Alcoholism problem!

How to get rid of alcoholism, how to overcome the sin of drunkenness

Everything can be boiled down to the fact that in order to overcome an illness, it is necessary to have faith, fulfill the commandments of Christianity, prayers, fasting, humility, sincere repentance before the Lord in the conditions of the sacrament of confession and constant communion with the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

First of all, to those who suffer from the disease of drunkenness, you need to have a clear awareness of your slavery to alcohol. This turns out to be quite often not a very simple action, since many people in this situation have the cost of not recognizing themselves as dependent and considering themselves capable of getting rid of the harmful addiction whenever they really want. In fact, people here lie to those around them and to themselves.

By recognizing that they have been captured by passion, they will be able to overcome both this untruth and the sin of pride, and as you know, the Lord does not recognize those who are proud, but gives grace to those who have humbled themselves. But it is important that this recognition is not an ordinary stating fact, but could lead to the emergence of a desire to get rid of addiction to drinking alcohol.

Here it is necessary that there be an effort, both by those who wish it and by each relative, member of his family. They are required, first of all, to perform intense prayers, for which they are recommended, first of all, to have the favor of the priests.

This will more than once be able to hold you back at the moment when despair comes. What is needed from them is a manifestation of love, at the same time sacrificial, that is, one that does not expect that there will be reciprocal love. Obviously, you need a lot of patience! Next, you need to look at yourself inside and ask yourself the question: is it your own fault that the truth is found in alcohol.

Orthodoxy on the sin of drunkenness

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Statements of the Holy Fathers about drunkenness and the sin of drinking wine

Prayer for drunkenness

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Is drunkenness a sin or not? Many priests give a positive answer to this question. Alcoholism is a disease that is associated with dependence on alcoholic beverages. Regularly drinking alcohol in large doses, a person ruins his body and destroys his soul. He loses all concept of morality and morality. While intoxicated, many people do things that they would never do when sober. Let's find out why drunkenness, from the point of view of priests, is a sin and how to deal with it.

Why drunkenness is a sin

Wine belongs to products known since the beginning of human history. Its ability to ease life's hardships, invigorate and amuse, has been known for a long time. Alcohol is familiar to people from all corners of the Earth, where it is considered an indispensable attribute of all celebrations. However, society does not often remember the consequence of excessive love for alcoholic beverages - drunkenness.

History contains facts of mass death of people from such ailments as:

smallpox;
plague;
malaria;
tuberculosis.

Some of these diseases are almost a thing of the past, others are being successfully managed. But a truly great epidemic in at the moment is precisely alcoholism. Near three million a person dies every year from drunkenness. Moreover, in addition to the alcohol abusers themselves, strangers often suffer. A lot of crimes and road accidents are committed due to the fault of alcoholics. And quite often the consequence of their intoxication is the death of another person. And murder in all religions is a sin.

The voluntary choice of alcohol as a “cure” for many problems ends in drunkenness. In an alcoholic stupor, many see creatures from the other world. This is because an alcoholic attracts evil spirits. You need to say “no” to addiction in time and start treatment.

Able to alcohol intoxication a person is capable of doing things that he would never do sober. Often it is in this state that God’s commandments are violated. Therefore, drunkenness is a sin that must be overcome when coming to God.

Believers about drunkenness

The Holy Fathers, who took part in the life of humanity, could not ignore the problem of addiction to alcoholic beverages. The main idea of the attitude of all church ministers to this problem is expressed in one phrase “drunkenness is enmity for God.” These words belong to the famous Saint Basil the Great. He also believed that in this way the demon takes possession of a person through his addiction to voluptuousness and drives away the Holy Spirit.

U different religions a certain attitude towards alcoholism, but no positive one:

Christians drink wine during communion. But its dose is very small. Otherwise, there is no ban on drinking wine. However, losing one's humanity and becoming dependent on drinking is considered sinful.
In Judaism, wine, which corresponds to certain canons, is also used in some rituals. You can drink alcohol in moderation, but there are rules prescribing restrictions.
The consumption of alcoholic beverages is completely prohibited in Islam. Moreover, there are no exceptions for wine.
Drunkenness is among the five things prohibited in Buddhism. For true believers, drinking alcohol is unacceptable.
Alcohol is prohibited in Hinduism. However, each believer decides for himself whether he can drink or not.

Thus, in all religions there is no loyal attitude towards alcohol abuse. The Holy Fathers condemn drunkenness and consider it a sin. Some believers allow the consumption of wine special occasions and for religious purposes. However, you need to do this in moderation to avoid becoming dependent on alcohol.

Circumstances leading to alcoholism

The reasons for drunkenness are known to the majority of the adult population of the planet; this is the regular consumption of alcoholic beverages. But why such an addiction arises cannot be answered unequivocally. In different eras, circumstances could be different. Let's take, for example, the times of the Soviet Union, when drunkenness was of an everyday nature. Its occurrence was associated with several factors.

In addition to genetic predisposition, there were external reasons:

family and professional troubles;
difficulty in perceiving sudden life changes;
precarious economic situation in the state;
a bad environment that evokes negative emotions;
a regular stressful state from which it is impossible to get out.

Moreover, children, seeing their parents’ drunkenness, grew up and became the same. Many of them tried alcohol for the first time before reaching adulthood. Those who cannot say “no” to their drinking friends also become drunkards. As a result, they end up drinking themselves to death, as they say, “for company.”

Priest Abba Dorotheos names three main causes of alcoholism:

love of fame - the desire to become famous and live better than others;
voluptuousness - excessive attraction to carnal pleasures;
love of money - addiction to financial enrichment and trust in wealth rather than in God.

In society, addiction among people who drink alcohol arises due to complexes, inability to self-realize, and hopelessness. Insecure teenagers become more liberated when they drink. Moreover, tradition still maintains the need to drink alcohol on holidays and weekends. As a result, drunkenness becomes global problem society.

How to overcome drunkenness

There is no doubt that a believer must fight his addiction to alcohol, completely eliminate alcohol or drink it occasionally. It takes a lot of effort to do this. You will need to work on yourself both physically and mentally. spiritually. There are many obstacles to overcome, an endless number of obstacles to overcome.

What to strive for:

Find lost faith, restore connection with God. The Lord forgives those who sincerely repent and gives strength in the struggle.
It is necessary to admit your sin, overcome pride, observe fasts and pray more often.
Keeping the commandments will help, one of which is pride. It is this that prevents an alcoholic from admitting his sin and fighting it.
You need to be aware that the reason for drunkenness lies in yourself. You cannot blame others, much less relatives and loved ones, for your problems.
It will help to perceive drunkenness as a problem that can and should be dealt with right now. Excuses like “I can quit any time I want” are not an excuse.

Relatives should also provide invaluable assistance in the fight against alcoholism. How your closest people should behave:

attend church and pray intensely;
encourage in every possible way the desire to quit drinking;
monitor the successes and failures of a drinking relative;
show every possible participation in the affairs of a loved one;
talk on any topic except the benefits of alcohol;
exclude all alcohol-containing drinks from mandatory attribute for celebrations.

Joint efforts will help a person overcome the attraction to alcohol and say “no” to drunkenness.

If drunkenness is a disease, then why is it a sin?

In the world, alcoholism is considered to be a disease that is difficult to treat. However, drunkenness occupies a special place in the list of ailments. How does it differ from other diseases:

Most illnesses arise and worsen regardless of people's wishes. Alcoholism, on the contrary, develops due to a person’s addiction to alcoholic beverages.
Drunkenness is a moral illness. Therefore, in its treatment, in addition to medical methods, spiritual means should be used.
The main desire of an alcoholic is to drink alcohol. At the same time, Christian duty, work, family and other concerns cease to exist.
Alcoholism completely changes a person’s lifestyle and behavior for the worse. He is possessed by the only passion for which he exists.

The Holy Fathers consider alcoholism to be the beginning of godlessness, which leads to the destruction of the soul. Alcohol clouds the intelligence needed to know God.

In large quantities they have a detrimental effect on human behavior:

gives birth to shamelessness;
weakens physical strength;
brings sadness and despondency;
has a clouding effect on the mind;
incites fury and anger;
gives rise to numerous scandals;
leads to sinful thoughts and behavior.

Alcoholism is a disease that occurs due to the fault of the person himself. He abuses alcohol at will, leading to a loss of morality and non-observance of God's commandments.

Orthodoxy condemns people who drink alcohol in large quantities. The Holy Fathers allow minimal consumption of wine, but only occasionally.

PRAYER
TO THE HOLY VIRGIN AND EVERVIRGIN MARY
BEFORE HER ICON “INEXHAUSTABLE CHALICE”

Oh, Most Merciful Lady! We now resort to Your intercession, do not despise our prayers, but mercifully hear us: wives, children, mothers and those who are obsessed with the serious illness of drunkenness, and for the sake of our mother - the Church of Christ and the salvation of those who fall away, brothers and sisters, and heal our relatives.

Oh, Merciful Mother of God, touch their hearts and quickly raise them from the falls of sin, bring them to saving abstinence.

Pray to Your Son, Christ our God, to forgive us our sins and not to turn His mercy away from His people, but to strengthen us in sobriety and chastity.

Accept, O Most Holy Theotokos, the prayers of mothers who shed tears for their children, of wives who weep for their husbands, of children, the orphaned and the poor, abandoned as lost, and of all of us who fall before Your icon. And may this cry of ours, through Your prayers, come to the Throne of the Most High.

Cover and protect us from the evil trap and all the snares of the enemy, in the terrible hour of our exodus, help us to pass through the airy ordeals without stumbling, with Your prayers deliver us from eternal condemnation, may God’s mercy cover us for endless ages of ages. Amen.

Seven unclean spirits

The Word of God is infinitely great. And human peering into it, even without going beyond the understanding of the Holy Orthodox Church, constantly acquires new shades of comprehension and primarily unrevealed meanings of eternal and permanent meaning.

The Savior’s parable about the unclean spirit that came out of a man is well known and widely used. When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through waterless places, seeking rest. And he doesn’t find it; Then he says: I will return to my house from where I came. And, having arrived, he finds it unoccupied, swept and tidied up; then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and having entered, they live there; and for that person the last thing is worse than the first(Matt. 12:43-45). Addition of the Lord Jesus Christ: So it will be with this evil generation- clearly shows that the content of the parable reveals primarily the socio-historical fate an evil and adulterous generation, which looking for signs for the parable is told by the Savior with a hint of this "genus".

But the thoughts of devotees of piety usually stop at the ascetic parable, and this is very understandable, since it is instructive, serious and soul-saving. But is it exhausted?

Unclean spirits in the ascetic understanding are often united with various kinds passions. Thus, the unclean spirit that comes out of a person is at the same time a kind of conquered passion. The further meaning seems to be mostly clear. When the soul, after expelling passion, does not know how to fill itself with holy positive content, unclean spirits help to introduce into it a much more abundant, intense and intensively working passion - the seven most evil unclean spirits.

But why seven? Is it a coincidence? What if not? And if not, that is, if the number “seven” has not just a symbolic meaning, meaning completeness, but also a completely realistic content, it follows from it that the seven passions that unclean spirits cause to act in the human soul are always constant, the same ones (of course, we are talking only about those cases when sinful passionate movements - quite specific, such as drunkenness and fornication - are expelled from the soul, and it does not bother to begin good deeds).

Observation of such situations, and an attentive person will always have them at hand, as well as the logic of a person’s spiritual and moral life, prove the identical action of sin in such cases.

What would a person need to do if he managed to overcome a sinful habit? To begin with, put your mind on guard over your heart, so that it considers at least the grossest sinful thoughts and, like a guard, even not a very good one, tries not to miss the most undoubtedly hostile ones.

And when this is not the case?.. Let's see what can happen...

So, sin is defeated! Hooray! The inclination, let's say, towards drunkenness has been driven out of my heart. And I am triumphant. Alas, not for long. I did not have time to give room to the Holy Spirit in my cleansed heart. And it's so clear! I tried so hard myself, so strongly and tenderly I asked for God’s help; My loved ones tried so heartily and for a long time to help me - in every possible way, and above all - united by their prayer. And now I rest calmly and serenely. But then the unclean spirit of drunkenness, wandering around waterless places, seeking peace and not finding it, quietly returns - and, seeing the upper room of the soul empty, he follows the seven comrades known to him, who will help him - he knows from experience - to again inhabit this pure, and such a tasty, such a desired soul. The matter is made easier by the fact that, as he sees, there is no watchman.

The unclean one goes first spirit of pride, which, depending on the character and mood of the pure “patient,” is revealed by one of three faces: self-satisfaction (“what a great fellow I am for being able to myself overcome your sin"), self-confidence(“it turns out it’s not so difficult; and I’m quite strong enough to cope with it”), self-confidence(“and in general, this abomination will not dare to approach me anymore, knowing that I am an experienced fighter against it and a winner”). And with my “experience” in spiritual and moral life, he, seducing me with his three faces in any combination and sequence, penetrates and firmly establishes himself in my poor soul.

And it doesn't just settle; he gives passage to his comrade, another unclean spirit, spirit of laziness. And really - what is it? - everything is beautiful and forever: the spirit of drunkenness does not return, other ugly spirits are also motionless in relation to me (and the spirit of complacency, self-confidence, arrogance penetrated gently and imperceptibly) - you can rest. Previously, there was a lot of sin in my life, but also a lot of intense struggle. I'm tired of this tension; and the conscience is calm; and what actually needs to be done now? - spiritual work, it seems? - nothing, we can do it a little later. In the meantime, let's rest, rest, ... rest... I fully deserve the rest with my previous hard work. And the spirit of laziness spreads slowly, but powerfully.

And here I am, a moral hero, dumped and entangled in the sweet web of the spirit of laziness, unwillingness, tension. And this ruler gives way to his next comrade, who consolidates success. Conscience, sometimes squeaking, gives signals that it’s time to start and do something. But laziness does not allow passage to the only necessary good spirit of internal activity, but it easily allows the cunning and unclean one to pass through. the spirit of doing external things. Any external activity usually has the property that, as a rule, the soul is satisfied with it. This is always dangerous, but it is especially dangerous when an external, lifeless character (or vice versa - too sensual, spiritual) takes on an activity in its very essence; the most internal is prayer. A maliciously crawling unclean spirit either completely cancels the prayer or makes it powerless. I'm losing one of my main weapons.

The feeling of satisfaction, so inherent in external activity, drives away the remnants of repentance (if only they are still preserved in my soul), but it allows the fourth evil spirit to appear solemnly and magnificently spirit- unrepentance, unwillingness to repent. He fearlessly passes through, accompanied by good helpers: self-justification and inattention to himself. Numerous everyday mistakes, seeing freedom of penetration, freely penetrated into the soul and, remaining unrepentant, produced their corrosive effect. For larger errors there were immediately excusable reasons. There was a lot going on. Even when I was in church for confession (mostly “general”), I essentially remained unrepentant. So I lost my other main weapon.

Unrepentance in itself can attract waterless places any unclean spirits; but they - highly experienced - know how to act, where it is most convenient to deliver the most painful blow. It is inflicted by the following unclean spirit - spirit of ingratitude; Moreover, it is natural for him to take his middle place where complacency, laziness, prayerlessness, and unrepentance have already taken root. This spirit is very insidious, deceitful and evil. The one he takes possession of becomes to a greater extent alien to the action of the Holy Spirit and does not hear His suggestions. An unclean spirit takes possession of me, and I fall into the abyss. I, ungrateful, am not able to see anything good either in the actions of God or in the actions of people who compassionately rush to my aid, but I attribute everything to myself.

Then, following ingratitude, the sixth unclean spirit jumps. He brings with him indifference to all people. It brings with it self-absorption. And all people are not indifferent to me only because of the insults they bring me from all sides (the insults, of course, are imaginary, but for me they are real). Anger and discontent are growing. Meanwhile, I myself, in my blindness and indifference, distribute insults right and left, but, not seeing people, I do not see the insults inflicted on them. In my neighborhood, according to the natural order of things, the circle of loneliness is closing. The most destructive is my attitude towards those who seek to save me...

This unclean spirit has done a good job. There are only fragments around me: fragments of my soul; fragments of former good relations. Also, out of ingrained habit, in all my troubles I see the guilt of those who are and were around me, but in myself I observe only kindness, but my soul is becoming more and more wrong, and from this wrongness the confusion increases, and most importantly - who knows how to free yourself. And then the seventh most terrible unclean spirit creeps in and spreads like jelly throughout the entire space of the soul - spirit of despondency. One could write a dissertation about its action, but a sad one. Therefore, it is better to put an end here.

Moreover, it’s time to drink up. The seven unclean spirits did everything so that the spirit - a simple, obvious spirit, for example, drunkenness - could live freely in the devastated, destroyed temple of the soul.

Of course, this is a scheme, and the scheme in reality, by the grace of God, does not always reach the complete destructive limit. And in general, he presents such options for the development of seemingly indisputable schemes that you just gasp, and you often have to gasp. In addition, beyond the consideration of the scheme, the ascetic question remains - how to resist unclean spirits. At the same time, the moral and psychological experience of considering such a mechanism of passions may turn out to be quite useful for those who, sometimes in bewilderment, without understanding anything, stop before the facts of the development of the passionate nature of the human soul, unoccupied, swept and tidied up.

May the Lord give us all a spirit of caution, attentiveness and understanding.

(Handbook for monastics and laity.
Pskov-Pechersky Assumption Monastery, 1998)