Which gospel is better to read. Synodal Department for Youth Affairs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

When we prepare to hear or read the New Testament, we need to ask God for help. There are many cases when believers began to interpret the divine books in their own way and as a result departed from the Orthodox faith.

The prayer before reading the Gospel, which the holy fathers commanded us to do, can sound in different ways. Their meaning, as a rule, comes down to one thing - there must be a petition to God for the gift of understanding of Holy Scripture.

For example, one of them, the most capacious: "Lord, enlighten the eyes of my heart with the light of the mind of Thy Holy Gospel."

The prayer of Ignatius Brianchaninov before reading the Gospel is widespread: “ Save, Lord, and have mercy on Your servants (names) with the words of the Divine Gospel, which are about the salvation of Your servants. Lord, the thorns of all their sins have fallen, and may Thy grace dwell in them, scorching, cleansing, sanctifying the whole person in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.»

Prayer before and after reading the Gospel will be understandable and meaningful if it is built according to the following scheme:

• to read before reading the Divine Revelation a prayer for the enlightenment of the mind and the granting of the understanding of the Divine Words;
• after reading the Holy Letter, to fulfill the rule of Ignatius Brianchaninov, in which a petition is raised for the cleansing of the sins of all those for whom the Holy Gospel was read.

Most believers do just that. The chapters of Divine Scripture are included in the prayer rule performed by believers of the Orthodox Church every day. Therefore, it is very important to perform the prayers before reading the Gospel at home in an appropriate way.

There are many books that fill our bookshelves. Almost everyone has a personal library.

According to the books that are in it, it is possible with a high degree of probability to make a judgment about the person, their owner. About who he is, what he thinks and dreams about, what he aspires to, what his life is like.

Most of the books we have are enough to read once, and we never go back to them.

But there are those that we turn to again and again, reading them throughout our lives. Divine Revelation is the most important book of any Christian. It can be compared with air, food, which we need every day to live and pray to God. She leads, inspires, supports on a difficult path and to eternity and does not allow to turn off it.

The Bible was a reference book for many prominent people. It was read and re-read many times by Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Gogol, Mendeleev, Pavlov and other equally famous personalities. In pre-revolutionary Russia, at the end of any educational institution, graduates were given a volume of the Gospel along with a certificate, as parting words and guidance for their future lives.

The Bible is Divine Scripture. And this means that each of his lines is filled with a special spiritual power that can change and enlighten our lives. Each of us has such days, periods when everything seems to be filled only with darkness.

It would seem that there is no light, longing and hopelessness around us. And so, as soon as we start rereading the Revelation, spiritual light begins to illuminate our life path.

Getting rid of passions

Through the Divine Books, the Lord himself begins to act in us, in our life.

There are numerous testimonies that tell how the Higher Power helped the believer to cope with some of his bad habits, sinful habits.

So one person suffered from alcoholism for a long time and could not get rid of this addiction, for which he turned to doctors, tried to fight this habit by exerting his own will, but all these attempts were unsuccessful.

And one day he came to the monastery to consult with the elder how he should be in order to overcome this sin.

The old monk advised him every time, as a craving for something evil, sinful, to pick up a volume of the Holy Book and start re-reading it over and over again. This is what this man did.

When a craving for alcohol appeared, and his hand reached out like a glass, before giving up and giving way to a destructive passion, he began to reread the Holy Letter. And a miracle happened. As soon as he finished reading a chapter, he discovered that the passion that had tormented him so much either died out completely, or weakened and became insignificant.

There are many examples of how the Word of God changed a person's life. Therefore, we should not forget and as often as possible turn our gaze to the Holy Scriptures, reread it every day, so that the light of Divine Revelation illuminates us.

And so that through the reading of this Holy Book, the Lord will always be with us, and our life will be filled with his light. Prayer before reading will facilitate and help this like nothing else.

How to Read the Gospel

Today, every person has the opportunity to buy a Bible, open it and start flipping through the pages, rereading them again and again. But will it always be salutary? If we do it hastily, without proper preparation and mental attitude, without deep immersion in the meaning of what has been stated, then it is unlikely.

It is unacceptable to behave in relation to the Holy Letter as an ordinary novel or a detective story, rereading it somewhere in the subway or while away the time on the bus. Leafing through the sacred pages in between, hastily and without some inner effort, we are unlikely to understand anything.

It is good to have in your library explanations of Divine Revelation:

1. Theophylact of Bulgaria.
2. John Chrysostom.
3. Bishop Michael.
4. Theophan the Recluse and others.

The holy ascetics, who shone in the church with their deeds, believe that it is better to reread the Scriptures, referring to the Orthodox calendar. It contains daily indications of which verses (passages) from the New Testament are included in the liturgical circle.

Thus, together with the whole church, we read the four Gospels during the year. Thanks to this, the New Testament opens from a completely different side. We cease to see and perceive only the eventual, historical outline of the Divine Revelation. Its deep spiritual meaning begins to open.

The gospel is the way, the guide to action. This is how the commandments given by Christ should be taken. They must be fulfilled, they must be lived every minute.

One should not seek only the delight bestowed by the Holy Spirit on everyone who touches the Divine Scriptures with their eyes and thoughts.

One must strive to see the infallible Truth hidden in the words of Divine Revelation. Perceive the reading of holy books as an appeal of God to us all and each personally.

Attention! When reading the Gospel, both in church and in private, it is necessary to stand with your head bowed.
At home, with a lack of physical strength or severe fatigue, you can kneel down and in a reverent pose listen to the words of God himself. Prayer before reading the Gospel , as a rule, should always accompany this mysterious act.

How to read at home

If you have received the blessing of a confessor or have come to such a decision yourself under the influence of reading spiritual literature, listening to sermons, you must remember that you should read a whole chapter, not leaving it to be completed tomorrow. On the advice of the illustrious ascetics, deeds, as well as the epistles of the apostles, should be included in the daily prayers performed by Orthodox believers.

There is another way , how to read the Gospel at home. Many Orthodox Christians take a similar path.

One chapter is read in full and one or more, at will or in accordance with the blessing of the confessor, chapters of the Apostle per day.

You need to read everything in order, from beginning to end, and then returning and repeating everything again.

You should not randomly open the first page that comes across and read everything that catches your eye, or most of all liked. There should be a gradually ordered, chapter by chapter, reading of the Holy Scriptures.

Only in this case, a clear, distinct picture of all the biblical events that took place will form in the mind of a person.

When reading the Holy Revelation, one should not behave somehow too freely, uninhibitedly. It is still, though performed independently, at home, but a liturgical act. Therefore, both the appearance of the praying person (s), and the behavior must correspond to what is happening.

There is no need to be like the sectarians who have belittled the Holy Letter to such an extent that they read it almost sitting in the closet. Disrespect for God is a great sin.

Standing in prayer or reading the Divine Letter generates reverence in a person. This results in more focus. On the other hand, if it’s hard, in cell prayer you can give yourself relief and read while sitting.

Solely in order to make it easier to focus on the meaning of the Holy Scriptures, and not be distracted, shifting from foot to foot. But it is also necessary to sit with reverence, and not spread out in a position that is too loose and inappropriate for this occasion.

Attention! If some kind of sorrow or trouble has visited, prayers before reading the Gospel at home, as well as listening to and paying attention to the Holy Letter, help a lot not to get confused and find a prudent way out in a difficult situation.

Useful video

Summarize

Believers and many people who are absolutely non-religious recognize the Bible as the source of the highest culture and spirituality for all mankind.

Divine Revelation presents us with fundamental moral truths that have long been lost and completely forgotten in the incessant pursuit of material wealth, progress and personal comfort.

People who have recently joined the church do not know how to properly read the Gospel at home, and therefore ask such questions. Reading Scripture usually involves a number of difficulties. And they are worth considering in more detail.

Difficulties in Learning the Gospel

Some believers note that it is extremely difficult to read Scripture at first. And this is due not only to the unusual style of presentation, but also to the fact that many are steadily drawn to sleep when reading it.

Priests believe that this phenomenon is associated with manifestations of the subtle world, where there are not only angels, but also demons. It is the dark forces that do not like it when a person studies the Holy Scriptures. And they try their best to prevent such action.

Churched people have fewer difficulties with reading the Gospel, because they are stronger in spirit. And their faith is bigger and deeper than that of the newcomers. Therefore, all temptations and difficulties in mastering the Holy Book pass with time, if a person makes efforts to do so.

There are a number of rules relating to the reading of Scripture. They contain the following information:

• It is necessary to read while standing;
• The first reading should be from the beginning to the end of the book. Read on for your favorite passages. But this does not mean that you need to read continuously;
• While reading, you should not be distracted or rushed.

In addition to the general rules, in the modern world there are myths associated with the reading of the Gospel. Among them are such as:

• Those that say that a woman must have a certain form of clothing and a covered head for reading. At home, you can read without these formalities;
• Those where it is mentioned that if the information is not remembered, then just praying is enough. It is practically impossible to learn everything from the Gospel even in dozens of readings. Therefore, it is worth continuing to read even when the head does not put off the read at all. Just as a river purifies what is put into it by a person, and the person himself, by reading, is cleansed.

The longer the Holy Scripture is studied, the more new meanings a Christian discovers for himself in the end. It is difficult to give an unambiguous answer to the question of how to read the Gospel at home correctly.

In what language should the Scriptures be studied?

Modern people do not know the Old Slavonic language, and it is not recommended to torture yourself by reading it. It is best to parse spiritual texts in the language that is native to a person.

How to involve children in reading the Gospel?

In Orthodoxy, there are many excellent books for children, where biblical stories are presented in an accessible form. You can buy one of them to read about it to children. But reading the "adult" Gospel is also welcome.

It is unacceptable to use modern versions stylized as fairy tales for reading. The child must understand the importance of the process, and not confuse it with child's play.

Due to the lack of church knowledge, the believer may not understand some passages of Scripture. Then it is necessary to resort to official interpretations permitted by the church or personal confessor.

Is it necessary to cover spiritual literature?

The priests give a negative answer to this question. In church practice there is no rite of consecration of literature. And the Gospel itself is already a holy book. And it does not need additional lighting.

So, how to read the Gospel at home? This must be done in a calm environment. You can read in solitude, or you can organize reading for the whole family. If difficulties arise, then before reading, you can pray to the Lord. Ask him for the gift of wisdom for the study of the Holy Scriptures. Thoughtfulness and diligence are the main aspects of comprehending one of the main books in Christianity. While reading, it is recommended to make notes in a separate notebook. There you can write down questions that arise, important thoughts and favorite quotes. This approach helps to systematize the acquired knowledge.

Archpriest Alexey Uminsky

Speaking of the Gospel, one can argue for a long time that this is a special book that has educated mankind over the past two millennia, that the New Testament is the basis of not only European, but the entire world culture. It is necessary to know the gospel at least in order to correctly navigate in the cultural space that surrounds us - in literature, painting, architecture and music.

One can describe the Gospel as a great book that lays out the basic postulates of Christianity, but it seems to me that it is best to perceive it as a portrait of Christ left to us, because the most important thing that is in the New Testament, the most important thing that Christians have, is Christ Himself, as the great religious thinker Vladimir Solovyov once said.

Of course, the Gospel contains numerous instructions regarding how we should act, how we should live in order to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, but even all this fades into the background. According to the apostle John the Theologian,

About what was from the beginning, what we heard, what we saw with our eyes, what we saw and what our hands touched, about the Word of life - for life has come, and we have seen and testify, and we proclaim to you this eternal life that was with Father and appeared to us - about what we saw and heard, we proclaim to you, so that you also have fellowship with us: and our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And we write this to you that your joy may be complete (1 John 1:1-4).

Evangelists set themselves the most important task, striving not only to convey to us the teachings of the Lord, but also to capture the image of Jesus, because He and His teachings are inseparable from each other. And they achieved their goal: first of all, we treat the Gospel not as a textbook of life, not as a code of rules of conduct, not as a moral and philosophical treatise. This book gives us the opportunity of a precious encounter with Christ Himself.

Of course, each of us must understand what the will of God is. But perhaps even that is not the most important thing. When a person begins to pray, his heart rushes to God. The ascending prayers do not come from the mind, but from the heart. The one who prays often asks for the impossible in the worldly sense, but the most important for himself and very much hopes to be heard. These hopes will not be put to shame, because a person is always heard by the Lord, although he himself does not always hear God.

The gospel is more than a book; it is a call to man to hear God. We cannot hear and see Him physically, but we have God-created immortal souls for whom this is possible through the gospel. And then a real miracle happens to a person: he meets God. He may not understand Him, he may even oppose the will of the Lord, but if he once met God through the Gospel, he will not get away from Christ anywhere.

The Lord says:I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died; but the bread that comes down from heaven is such that whoever eats it will not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; Whoever eats this bread will live forever(John 6:48-51).

People are not ready to hear these words, because they simply do not understand what is at stake. Many of those who formerly flocked to him in crowds departed from Christ, as to the Messiah, whose coming coming was announced by the prophets. When only the twelve closest disciples remained with Him, the Savior addresses them:don't you want to go too? Simon Peter answered Him: Lord! who should we go to? You have the words of eternal life, and we believed and knew that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God(John 6:67-69).

A person discovers the Gospel for himself, striving first of all to know the Divine essence, which we cannot fully understand, but which we can accept, with which we can come into contact and even unite. The apostle Peter calls us all:

As from His divine power, everything that is necessary for life and godliness has been given to us, through the knowledge of Him who called us with glory and goodness, by which great and precious promises have been given to us, so that through them you may become partakers of the Divine nature.(2 Pet. 1:3-4).

Despite the fact that we know that God is invisible and incomprehensible, despite the apophatic theology, that is, the theology of unknowability, God is suddenly revealed to us by the nearness of Christ, His infinite, all-consuming love.

The Apostle Paul never saw Jesus in his life, but he met His disciples, and their words about God, their gospel, their good news so burned Paul that he said:the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword: it penetrates to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from Him, but everything is naked and open before His eyes: Let us give an account to Him.(Heb. 4:12-13).

The gospel is an opportunity, if not to fully understand, then at least to feel the Truth and at the same time find the meaning of life, realize the true purpose of one's suffering, test the strength of one's desire to follow Christ wherever He goes. The gospel is Christ Himself speaking directly to us, Christ Himself touching us, Christ Himself calling us and looking into the depths of our hearts. All this is the gospel: not just a book containing sermons and parables and giving mankind immortal images, later embodied in great works of art, but above all, Christ Himself.

He who seeks Christ, he who wants to know Him, let him take the Gospel in his hands. Only this should be done for real, with a heart ready to seek the Lord, with a soul open to meeting Him. And then the gospel will be revealed to a person, and he will begin to understand the word of God.

A lot of people read the New Testament, but at the same time it remained unread by them. They wanted to somehow alter the gospels, simplify them and "improve" them, making them more understandable and closer to human needs. Many have tried to write their own "gospels", to seek their own Christ, especially during the last few centuries. This means that, unfortunately, they were not looking for Christ, but were looking for themselves in the Gospel.

However, you can also find yourself in the Gospel, but only after you have found Christ, because the Gospel is not the book that you should quote in order to show off your well-read, not the book in which you should look for contradictions and build on these research career. There are no mysteries in the Gospel, to which a person is usually so greedy, imagining religious life as an endless series of some secrets, sacraments and miracles. The gospel is a frank book, a book open to all. It contains nothing secret, nothing ambiguous, nothing that should be deciphered or passed on to initiates as secret knowledge. People who treat the New Testament in this way are left without Christ, although they can know this book by heart and quote it on any occasion. If a person wants to assert himself at the expense of the Gospel, he will fail.

Any of us at some point can find our gospel, and every time we dive into this space, we find ourselves real. The New Testament is able to suddenly illuminate everyone so that we can see who we are and what we are really capable of, hear the call of Christ and understand where He is calling us. We can find the real Jesus - alive and dear, staying next to us.

A person rereads the Gospel again and again, because the Gospel is life. Every day he lives is either a day of his life with Christ or a life without Christ. Every day he solves the same problem, makes the same choice, asks the same questions: who am I? why do I live? where am I going? does God hear me? do I hear him?

Recently, the reading of the New Testament has become for many a part of the rule of prayer. Of course, a person needs a certain self-discipline, some kind of compulsion to pray and spiritual study, but if he reads the rules, but does not pray, studies the Gospel, but does not hear Christ, fasts, but does not sacrifice himself, all his efforts are meaningless.

Man must love the New Testament. At some point, I suddenly realized with bitterness that I was reading the Gospel, in fact, without reading it at all. And I do not think that such daily reading is our indispensable duty. Of course, as a priest, I still read this or that fragment during the service. But something else became important to me in the Gospel. For me, the experience of the Gospel no longer goes hand in hand with reading it, although at a certain stage, careful, repeated reference to the texts was necessary, if only in order to orientate in them.

How Often Should You Read the New Testament? I do not know. I don't think that this question should ever be asked of a person. It is good to read the Gospel always, but there must be an urgent need for this, such as, for example, the need for communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. If a person does this simply because it is supposed to be so, as a kind of “spiritual physical education”, then he simply does not understand at all why he goes to Church and why he reads the word of God. He does not understand that the Gospel was written about him, and specifically for him.

Here we read in the Gospel of Mark:

In the morning, as they passed by, they saw that the fig tree had withered to the root. And, remembering, Peter says to Him: Rabbi! Look, the fig tree that You cursed has dried up. Jesus, answering, says to them: Have the faith of God, for truly I say to you, if anyone says to this mountain, “Be lifted up and cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that it will come to pass according to his words, it will be for him, whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you: whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours.(Mark 11:20-24).

A person reads this passage, he meets these words:

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take snakes; and if they drink something deadly, it will not harm them; lay hands on the sick and they will recover(Mark 16:16-18).

It seems to us that all this is not written about us, but about someone else. But the fact is that the words of the Lord are addressed not to an unknown "someone" who lived once upon a time, but to us now...

Speaking to Orthodox Christians, I asked them: “Tell me, please, how do you perceive the call of Peter: Lord!<…>Command me to come to You on the water (Matthew 14:28)? Are they related to us? And the listeners decided that these words did not apply to us at all, because we are talking about Peter and no one else. But if this is the case, and the Gospel is not written about us and not for us, then it is completely incomprehensible why we read it at all! Just like a sacred text? But that's not what the gospel was made for. The gospel is given to us so that we, Christians, understand: it is for us to walk on the waters, for us to move mountains, for us to resurrect the dead, for us to drink death, for us to be crucified on the cross, for us to go down to hell with Christ and be resurrected with Him.

Of course, it is unpleasant for a person to realize that he cannot contain and implement what he was told, just as a pious young man did not find the strength to respond to the call of Jesus to follow Him and did not go with the Lord. Even the apostles were perplexed: “Well, then who can be saved?” And Christ answers them that this is impossible for people, because He offers something that none of the normal, ordinary people can understand or accept. Therefore, the Gospel is a book for people who are able to renounce their "normality", to rise above it.

However, what is impossible for people is possible for God. The entire New Testament just testifies that every person is given the opportunity to become like the Lord. Understanding this gives us the Gospel, gives us our holy Church, inextricably linked with each other, because the Gospel and the Church, the Gospel and the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ do not exist without each other.

From the Preface to the book "Discourses on the Gospel of Mark"

Answering for Nachalo magazine these and many other questions frequently asked to clergymen online, Vicar of the Kiev Trinity Ioninsky Monastery, Bishop of Obukhovsky JONA notes: the main thing is to read the Gospel. Read every day and try to live by it.

– Vladyka, the first question is why the Bible is so hard to read. Any magazine or newspaper, as a rule, is "swallowed" in one breath. But as far as the Gospel and soulful books are concerned, this is more difficult. That hands do not reach, it does not want to at all. Can we talk about some special laziness that "attacks" a person just when he has to do something for the soul?

- It seems to me that in this case we are talking about a phenomenon that really confirms the existence of another world - the world of angels and demons - a very subtle, mysterious world.

An interesting point. When we have either a laptop or a fascinating novel in our hands, for some reason we don’t feel like sleeping, and we are able to listen to what is written until late. But as soon as you fall into the hands of some kind of spiritual book - I mean not spiritual fiction, which has appeared in abundance in our time, but serious ascetic theological literature and, especially, Holy Scripture - you immediately feel sleepy for some reason. Thoughts are not held back, they fly in various directions, and reading becomes very, very difficult.

All of this shows that someone in the dark spirit world really doesn't like what we're doing. That there is someone who so clearly opposes us in reading, which edifies us, brings us closer to God.

I would like to make this point. Even if we do not completely remember everything that we read, due to weakness of memory or for some other reason, it is still necessary to read. This question was revealed in the book "The Fatherland" by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, which contains the sayings of Egyptian saints of the 4th-5th centuries. A certain disciple came to the elder and said: “What should I do, no matter how much I read the Holy Scriptures, other books, nothing remains in my head, I don’t remember anything. Is it worth reading in this case, maybe not necessary? To which he was told: just as dirty linen placed in a stream is cleaned even without washing, because running water washes dirt out of it, so reading divine books washes away dirt and rubbish from our head and enlightens our thoughts with the gospel light.

- Regarding the reading of the Gospel, I would like to ask about purely practical aspects, based on the questions that are often asked to clergy on the Internet.

For example, is it necessary to take extracts from the text while reading? After all, so we read less, but it is remembered. Or is it better to try to read more without being distracted by taking notes?

- It all depends on the degree of organization of a person. There are people who need to systematize everything, fix it, lay it out point by point - so they will perceive it better. It is really useful for them to take notes and make notes.

There are those who do not differ in such a system, I think they are the majority. Such people need to read the Holy Scriptures regularly and constantly, and preferably with interpretation. It is clear that the first few times it needs to be read in its entirety without distractions. But the further we read, the more we see the need to understand it better. At some stage, we will not be able to comprehend many things with our own mind, so it is worth turning to the 20-century experience of the Church.

– Which of the interpretation books would you recommend for reading? Preferably from those that are available for general consumption, written in a light style, style.

– In general, for all people who are at the beginning of their spiritual path, just going to church, I highly recommend reading the book by Archpriest Seraphim Slobodsky “The Law of God”. Perhaps the title suggests that the book is designed for children in an educational institution, but in fact it is quite serious. In my opinion, this is a brilliant example of how it is possible to collect and formulate very concisely and clearly the basic concepts of faith, the Church, and Orthodoxy in one small book. Including, there is also a section on the Holy Scriptures, on the history of the Church. This book is a must-read for every churchgoer.

As for the interpretation of Holy Scripture, there are quite a lot of wonderful publications. The classic is the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom. But for a beginner, it may seem somewhat complicated and not entirely clear. If a person is just about to start studying the Holy Scriptures, it is best to use the interpretation of Archbishop Averky (Taushev). It will surely be clear and understandable to everyone.

– More practical questions about reading the Gospel at home. Do I have to read standing up or can I sit down?

- According to custom, special reverence for the Holy Scriptures involves reading it while standing.

But, in my opinion, nothing should distract from the attention of the gospel words, it is necessary to immerse yourself in reading as much as possible. And standing still implies a certain instability. In this case, anyone, especially a young person, will definitely have thoughts that it would be nice to sit down, or that he needs to run somewhere, or go do something. Therefore, if in the temple we listen to the Holy Scripture “forgive me”, that is, standing straight, with our hands down, then at home, I think, it can be read and sitting in order to better understand and not be distracted by thoughts from attention to divine words.

- Question about the dress code for women: should the head be covered?

- In my opinion, such questions are already from the category of “straining a mosquito”. It turns out that if a person finds himself in a situation where he cannot cover his head, then why don’t you read the Holy Scriptures? ..

We know that a woman during prayer - whether at home or in church - must necessarily cover her head. Reading Holy Scripture is not a prayer, so I think it is perfectly acceptable to read it with an uncovered head.

- Is it necessary to wear a skirt when reading, or is it possible to wear home clothes - in sweatpants, for example?

My opinion is that it is not necessary to wear any special clothes for reading or prayer rules. If this is your favorite pajamas and slippers in the form of bears, then it is quite possible and so. The main thing is that it should be clothing, and not, say, underwear.

But this applies to the situation when a person prays himself. If we are talking about a Christian family, especially when there are children, then we should try to dress in what is more appropriate for prayer. A woman should be wearing a skirt and a scarf, a man should also be in more or less decent clothes - to emphasize the importance of the moment the family stands before God. This is especially important for the upbringing of children - by this we show that prayer is not performed on the go, but is the most important common deed.

- During the days of natural cleansing for women, they should not be applied to the icons, approach the blessing and the cross. And what about the Gospel? It is believed that it is also impossible to apply to it. Accordingly - and read?

This is a joke, of course. But, really, in my opinion, such prescriptions are complete nonsense. Instructions regarding the purity of women, first of all, relate to the sacraments - confession, communion, unction and others. On certain days, a woman cannot participate in them. All other restrictions are already a tradition of this or that locality, this or that parish. That is, there is no clear prescription in the Church what cannot be done during this period.

Traditionally, it is believed that in addition to non-participation in the sacraments, a woman should also refrain from eating prosphora and holy water, not kissing icons, and not taking a blessing from a priest.

But again, you need to understand that in addition to the theoretical, there is also a practical side of life: if you eat a prosphora or kiss an icon, it’s entirely up to us, then when you come face to face with the priest, explain to the priest why you hide your hands behind your back, I think it would be inappropriate.

Again, being in this state does not preclude contact with certain sacred objects. After all, the greatest shrine is the cross of Christ, which we wear on the body, we do not remove it during this period, it remains on us. And we make the sign of the cross upon ourselves. It is the same with the prayer book and the home gospel: I think that it is possible and even necessary not to interrupt your established prayer rule and, accordingly, not to stop reading the Holy Scriptures.

- Desirable, but not required.

- In continuation of the theme of reverence for the Holy Scriptures - is it possible to read it in transport? A modern person spends a lot of time on the road and combines this time with reading prayers and sacred books. Is this allowed?

– It seems to me that the prayer rule should be read at home, in a calm atmosphere, when nothing distracts from the conversation with God. The only exceptions can be force majeure situations, when either he stayed late at work, or there was some kind of failure in the established schedule, and the person knows for sure that he will come home and, due to objective reasons, will no longer be able to subtract prayers. In this case, it is allowed to read in transport. But this should not become a habit and become a permanent practice. You always need to listen to your conscience and evaluate how real and justified the need to pray on the road is.

As for the Gospel, spiritual literature, it can and should be read in transport. After all, most of the information enters a person through the eyes, so it’s better to let them be busy with the perception of the word of God than to be scattered on the surrounding people, on advertising and on others that do not bring any fruit and even harmful things.

- Is it possible to use the editions of the New Testament, which are distributed free of charge by representatives of Protestant denominations? Or to acquire the Gospel in churches of other confessions?

- In Protestant publications, you always need to look at whose translation it is. If it means that it was reprinted from the synodal edition (issued before the revolution with the blessing of the Holy Governing Synod, the body that controlled church life at that time), then you can safely read it.

If there is no such indication, or it is said that this is a translation of some society, or a new translation, or an adapted one, or something else, then, of course, it is better to abstain. Often, many denominations, retranslating the Holy Scriptures, adapt it to their creed. As, for example, the Jehovists significantly distorted the Gospel with their pseudo-translation for the reason that they do not recognize the deity of Jesus Christ. All the places where it is said about the deity of the Savior, they remade. Such publications should not be used, and at the first opportunity they should be disposed of - just like any shrine that has fallen into disrepair. Usually, the shrine is burned, and the ashes are either buried in an impregnable place, that is, where they don’t go, or swept into running water - into a river, for example.

– Many believers doubt whether it is possible to use the gospel publications produced by the World Bible Society and trust only what is sold in church shops and stores. How do you think?

– Holy Scripture, as I said, it is advisable to use only what is reprinted from the synodal translation, which was made back in the 19th century in the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Bible Society may also publish adapted translations. They certainly do not have the distortions that are present in various translations of Protestant denominations, but it seems to me that it is better to use the traditional synodal translation.

In addition, you still need to understand that by acquiring Holy Scripture in an Orthodox church, you are thus contributing to the church. Although the books may be somewhat more expensive than in the Bible Society or Protestants.

– Is it necessary to consecrate purchased editions of the Bible or the New Testament?

- The Holy Scripture itself is already a shrine, so it does not need to be consecrated. Moreover, there is no such rite of consecration.

It should be said that earlier crosses and icons were brought to the temple not for consecration, but for blessing. In Greece, the tradition has been preserved that neither crosses nor icons are consecrated, but only blessed in the temple.

What does blessed mean? The priest, as a censor, looks at how this image corresponds to the canons of the Orthodox Church, and blesses or does not bless its use.

Actually, the rite of consecration itself - both the pectoral cross and icons - came to us from Catholic breviaries from the time of Peter Mohyla and is not entirely Orthodox in spirit.

- The same Bible Society publishes a lot of children's books - adapted New Testament stories, for example. There are such publications where all the heroes of the Gospel events are depicted as cartoon characters. Is there any prejudice on the part of the Church towards the depiction of Christ and the saints in this form?

- I am a big opponent of the profanation of everything sacred, including if this sacred in some inappropriate way comes to children.

As for whether to use such publications, one could talk about this 10-15 years ago, when the Orthodox had no analogues. Now a huge number of children's books are published with wonderful illustrations, which are made in the spirit of the Orthodox Church. There are even wonderful children's books with canonical icons. And all this is done brightly and efficiently. Thus, from childhood, a child learns to perceive Christ, the Mother of God in the image that the Orthodox Church has preserved for us.

You need to understand that in what way we get to know any character, he will remain in our minds. Stirlitz - the protagonist of the book by Julian Semenov - appears exclusively in the image of the actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov. Alexander Nevsky - in the form of actor Nikolai Cherkasov, who played him in the film of the same name.

It is the same with a baby: if for the first time he comes into contact with Christ, with the Mother of God, with the apostles on some comics, there is a high probability that this image will be imprinted in his child's head.

– Are there any rules about what language the Bible should be in? Many believe that the Gospel, the Psalter should be read only in Church Slavonic - as is done in churches during worship. But since we are all already cut off from the tradition when Church Slavonic was studied in elementary schools, we do not understand everything that is read correctly and do not fully comprehend the meaning of the words. In this case, it would be logical and natural to read in the language we speak, what do you think?

- Due to the fact that the Holy Scriptures are not easy reading, then, in my opinion, it is better to read it in translation - in Russian, Ukrainian or any other language that a person understands.

The same applies to the Psalter. You can read alternately: for example, once all the psalms are in Church Slavonic, the next time - in Russian. Ideally, the reading of the Psalter should be part of the daily prayer rule. At least a little, but you need to read it, because the psalms are used in the circle of worship of the Orthodox Church. And being in the service, if we read the Psalter in translation, we will be able to understand those allusions and references to it that sound in the service in the temple.

In addition, there is a commandment: sing to God intelligently. This is to the fact that the psalms - and these are, in essence, spiritual songs, you need to understand, sing reasonably. As Elder Paisios of Athos said, if we do not understand what we are praying for, then how can we come to an agreement with God?

But praying, I am deeply convinced, should be in Church Slavonic. Still, prayers in colloquial speech are devoid of the sublimity that is present in the text not just in a different language, but in Church Slavonic.

And references to the fact that everything is not always clear when reading prayers, I consider completely untenable and even stupid. Now there are courses where people learn a foreign language in a month or two, so I think anyone can learn 20-30 incomprehensible Church Slavonic words from prayer sequences.

– During each Divine Liturgy in the church, the Gospel is read, and, as a rule, on certain Sundays we hear the same passages prescribed by the charter. Why are only certain episodes chosen for reading in the temple?

- It cannot be said that only individual episodes have been selected. During the calendar year, the gospel is read in full at daily services in the church.

Where did the tradition of reading the Gospel at services come from? We know that the literacy of the population became possible only thanks (at least in our country) to the efforts of grandfather Lenin. Before the revolution, and even more so, even in more ancient times, not all people were literate. And those who could read did not have the opportunity to have the Holy Scriptures, since books were rare. We know how expensive lists, handwritten books were - they were valued, literally worth their weight in gold. When such a book was sold, something of the jewels was often placed on the opposite side of the scale. Therefore, rarely anyone had the text of the Holy Scriptures.

At the time when the divine service of the Christian Church was being formed, all Christians were present almost daily at a common prayer, daily gathered for the Eucharist in the temple. And during these meetings some part of the Gospel was read. And since people regularly attended services, lived in the spirit of Holy Scripture, they knew it, because during the year it was read in full.

If we open the liturgical calendar, then for each day it contains gospel passages. And on Sundays the Church established the reading of the most edifying passages.

If a person wants to live in Christ, for him any opportunity to hear the Holy Scriptures is always joyful and encouraging for the soul. Moreover, you need to understand that the gospel readings have a yearly cycle. Hardly anyone can remember what was read a year ago. Every time, even if a person reads the Gospel at home, that little passage that is read on Sunday is a small discovery for him, a reminder of the most significant parables and the most significant events in the life of Christ.

– Orthodox Christians quite often hear reproaches from non-church people that we have the same thing every day - the same prayers, services similar to each other, one book for daily reading - the Gospel. If you try to answer this reproach, then why is this daily repetition necessary?

Such accusations are a kind of absurdity. If we follow literally the Holy Scriptures, then the Lord Jesus Christ left us only one prayer - "Our Father". But if we read only her alone, there would certainly be even more reproaches.

If someone is embarrassed by daily morning and evening prayers, you can suggest: well, pray in your own words. What will the majority ask? - Lord, give me health. Lord, make it so that at work it was good. Lord, let my children grow up to be good people. And everything like that.

Most of us have a consumer attitude to prayer, although the Lord said: "Seek first the Kingdom of God, everything else will be added to you." And the morning and evening prayers are just aimed at making a person learn to pray. It can be called a kind of spiritual gymnastics. When we do gymnastics in the morning and in the evening, we repeat, in principle, monotonous movements. For what? In order for these movements to become a habit, so that we acquire some physical qualities, skills that we need for life.

In the same way, morning and evening prayers are gymnastics for our prayer consciousness. So that we get used to praying, know what to ask for: for the sublime, for the heavenly, for humility, for purity, for those things that lead to the Kingdom of God. Please note that in the morning and evening prayers that were composed by the saints, there is no “everyday life”, but only that which brings us closer to the Kingdom of God. In this direction, you need to get used to praying.

Of course, if a person leads a spiritual life, if he has a confessor who knows his spiritual and heart disposition, and this person gets tired of reading morning and evening prayers, then the confessor can bless him to read, for example, the Psalter. But this cannot be a general practice, but only with the blessing of a priest who knows the person who has turned to him.

In this regard, we can also recall the preparation for the sacrament. Those who partake of Communion relatively infrequently read and grumble with great difficulty against the rule established in the Church for Holy Communion, which consists of three canons and a follow-up. The following approach is practiced: if a person does not receive communion at every Sunday Liturgy, then in this case the rule for Communion can be “stretched” for a week: one day to read the canon of repentance, the next - the canon to the Mother of God, then to the Guardian Angel, and so on, so that before by communion itself, leave only prayers for Holy Communion. Thus, a person will have more prayer work for several days, a certain prayer mood will be created, and before Communion itself there will no longer be such fatigue from reading a large number of prayers.

But I want to emphasize that everything should be done only with the blessing of the confessor. You cannot apply in life all the advice that you have read or heard somewhere, even from the most authoritative people. This is very dangerous spiritually, because what is said for a particular person may not always be useful for others. Everyone's dispensation is known by his confessor, so if there is a desire to change something in your prayer rule, you need to do this only after consulting with your confessor.

- And if there is no confessor?

If there is no confessor, then the spiritual state of such a Christian leaves much to be desired. It turns out that in the matter of salvation, he is guided only by his own vision of Scripture and Tradition, choosing at his own discretion what is saving for him and what is not.

Hence, by the way, a large number of micro-heresies (“heresy” means choice) in the lives of many overly freedom-loving parishioners or those parishes where the priest is limited to performing divine services, does not work with the flock, is not a real spiritual father for her.

The things we talked about are still secondary and far from the most important in the life of an Orthodox Christian. If a person strives to live according to the Gospel, if he loves God, loves his neighbor, then he will perform all external actions with natural reverence, he will not need to drive himself into artificial frames.

The most important thing is to remember and fulfill the words of the Lord. Christ said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." And the Holy Scripture is the book in which this path is laid out. Therefore, when reading the Gospel, you need to think not about when to cross yourself or where to sit at the moment, but how to fulfill it in your life.

Interviewed by Yulia Kominko

The well-known Serbian researcher of canon law, Bishop Nikodim (Milash), wrote in his interpretation of the 19th canon of the VI Ecumenical Council the following: “St. Scripture is the word of God, revealing to people the will of God…” And St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) said:

“…Read the Gospel with extreme reverence and attention. Consider nothing in it unimportant, unworthy of consideration. Every iota of it emits a ray of life. The neglect of life is death.

One author wrote about the Small Entrance to the Liturgy: “The Gospel is here a symbol of Christ. The Lord appeared into the world bodily, with his own eyes. He goes out to preach, to His earthly ministry, and is here among us. A terrible and majestic action is being performed - God is visibly tangible among us. From this spectacle, the holy angels of heaven freeze in reverent awe. And you, man, taste this great mystery and bow your head before it.

Based on the foregoing, one must understand that the Holy Gospel is the main book of mankind, in which life is contained for people. It contains divine truths that lead us to salvation. And it is itself the source of life - the word, filled with true power and wisdom of the Lord.

The gospel is the voice of Christ himself. In a symbolic and spiritual sense, when reading the Gospel, the Savior speaks to us. It is as if we are transported in time to the flourishing Galilean plains and become eyewitnesses of the incarnated God the Word. And He speaks not only universally and timelessly, in general, but specifically to each of us. The gospel is not just a book. This is life for us, this is the spring of living water and the source of life. It is both the Law of God, given to mankind for salvation, and the Mystery of this salvation being accomplished. When reading the Gospel, the human soul unites with God and resurrects in Him.

It is no coincidence that the word "evangelios" is translated from Greek as "good news." This means that by the grace of the Holy Spirit a new message-truth has opened up in the world: God came to Earth to save mankind, and “God became Man so that man would become God,” as St. Athanasius of Alexandria said in the 4th century. The Lord reconciled with the man, He healed him again and opened the way to the Kingdom of Heaven for him.

And while reading or listening to the Gospel, we embark on this heavenly vertical road and follow it to paradise. That's what the gospel is.

Therefore, it is very important to read the New Testament every day. On the advice of the Holy Fathers, we need to include the reading of the Holy Gospel and the “Apostle” (the Acts of the Holy Apostles, the Epistles of the Apostles and the fourteen Epistles of the Holy Primate Apostle Paul) in our cell (home) prayer rule. The following sequence is usually recommended: two chapters of the "Apostle" (some read one chapter) and one chapter of the Gospel per day.

In my opinion, based on personal experience, I would like to say that it is more convenient to read the Holy Scriptures in order, that is, from the first chapters to the last, and then return. Then a person will form a complete picture of the gospel narrative, a sense and understanding of its continuity, cause-and-effect relationships.

It is also necessary that reading the Gospel should not be like reading fiction like “leg by leg, sitting comfortably in an armchair.” Still, it should be a prayerful home liturgical act.

Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy in his book "The Law of God" recommends reading the Holy Scriptures while standing, crossing once before reading and three after.

There are special prayers said before and after the reading of the New Testament.

“Rise in our hearts, O Lord of mankind, your incorruptible light of theology, and open our eyes mentally, in your gospel sermons understanding, put fear in us and your blessed commandments, so that carnal lusts are all right, we will go through spiritual life, all, even to pleasing Yours is both wise and active. You are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies, Christ God, and we send glory to You, with Your Father without beginning and the All-Holy, and the Good, and Your Life-giving Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen". It is secretly read by the priest during the Divine Liturgy before the reading of the Holy Gospel. It is also placed after the 11th kathisma of the Psalter.

Prayer of St. John Chrysostom: “Lord Jesus Christ, open my ears of heart to hear Your word, and understand and do Your will, as I am a stranger on earth: do not hide Your commandments from me, but open my eyes, that I may understand miracles from Your law; tell me thy unknown and secret wisdom. I trust in You, my God, that I enlighten the mind and meaning with the light of Your mind, not only written of honor, but I also create, so that I don’t read my life and words as a sin, but in renewal, and enlightenment, and in the shrine, and in salvation of the soul, and for the inheritance of eternal life. As if You were the enlightener of those lying in darkness, and from You there is every good gift and every gift is perfect. Amen".

The prayer of St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), read before and after reading the Holy Scriptures: “Save, Lord, and have mercy on Your servants (names) with the words of the Divine Gospel, which are about the salvation of Your servant. The thorns of all their sins have fallen, Lord, and may Thy grace dwell in them, burning, cleansing, sanctifying the whole person in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen".

Regarding the latter, I will add that it is also read with the addition of a chapter from the Holy Gospel in some kind of sorrow or trouble. I have found from my own experience that it helps a lot. And the merciful Lord delivers from all sorts of circumstances and troubles. Some fathers recommend reading this prayer with the gospel chapter every day.

These are "Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew" by St. John Chrysostom; interpretation of the Gospel of the blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria; "Interpretation of the Gospel" by B. I. Gladkov, highly appreciated by the holy righteous John of Kronstadt; works of Archbishop Averky (Taushev), Metropolitan Veniamin (Pushkar), Explanatory Bible of the Old and New Testaments by Alexander Lopukhin, and other works.
Let us fall, brothers and sisters, with hearts “hungry and thirsty for righteousness,” to the pure, life-giving spring of Holy Scripture. Without it, the soul is doomed to decay and spiritual death. With him, she blossoms, like a paradise flower, filled with verbal life-giving moisture, worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.