What is almsgiving and how should it be given? It would seem, what is so difficult? It turns out that not everyone and not always can be helped, even if asked. Giving is a whole science. Before learning it, one should study and understand the language of theology well.
Charity - what is it? The parable of alms
There are many parables that say that the rich should give to the poor. And then the compassionate one will be rewarded for his mercy, and the one who asks for his patience.
According to religion, charity is giving to the poor. Sharing with your neighbor is one of the main life postulates of a true Christian. But here it is necessary to correctly interpret the concept of "give alms." Who is really worth helping, and who needs to be bypassed and thereby save both your soul and the one who asks?
Parable of the Wandering Jews
One of the biblical parables is also dedicated to this issue. The Jews, wandering in the desert, made a sacrifice of gold twice. In the first case, they collected all the ornaments of their women and cast them into a calf. This gift they gave to the devil. The second time all the Jewish husbands collected all the gold and silver coins. They presented them as a gift to the Lord God.
What does it say? That when a person spends what he earns on all his whims, such as festivities, clothes, expensive jewelry, then he presents all this to his demon. That is, thereby nourishes it. And if he takes the acquired property and money to the poor or buys food and clothes for them, then the person saves his soul. After all, he makes an offering to the light side of his inner being.
Is the person really in need?
But in our world, it is sometimes very difficult to determine who is truly in need and who is cheating, begging for money for their greedy needs. Donations cannot be made to everyone who asks, and most importantly, how much he asks. One must be able to distinguish between the truly needy and the typical speculators who make money. This is also mentioned in the Bible. That is, everyone should give depending on their wealth. The one who is richer, respectively, more. The poor man can give according to his strength. And they will be treated equally. After all, they give equally according to their capabilities.
Do good deeds right
So how do you give charity anyway? Remember, do everything with a pure heart and with good intentions. If you see that a person needs more than you, give, don't be sorry. Avoid scammers and try to warn other applicants about the impure intentions of the applicant. The look should be friendly and bright. In no case should you give with regret or unwillingness. Like, you have to file, but you don’t want to. Or, as many do, especially the rich: they throw alms to the poor as a favor. All this will return to you with the same pain that the person asking you was experiencing at that moment.
After all, the Bible says that you give not just to the poor in need, but to your God. Thus, thank him for all the good deeds and pressing trials. Here the proverb "as you sow, so you reap" works perfectly. That is, the more you donate with a pure heart, the more will be returned to you later in the works of the Lord.
"When it gives right hand, the left must not know about it.” What does it mean? When you donate, no one should know about it. And you yourself should not count how much you have given away, and how much good is left. If you've done something like this, forget it. The more you give, the more you will receive.
Serve on time
Remember that charity, like everything in this life, must be timely. Serve when it's not too late. So far, the poor man has not taken the dark road. After all, many in order to feed themselves and their children, can go to crime. They can steal, deceive, force others to give them their property and, worst of all, commit murder. Remember that food should be given when a person is hungry, and not when he died without seeing food. Help the orphans or those who stumble, so that you will not have to answer to the Lord later. They could help, but they passed by, the man laid hands on himself, taking a big sin on his soul. But you could have done something and didn’t want to, which means that you will have to answer to the Almighty later.
Donations can be different!
After all, almsgiving is a kind human attitude towards the needy.
You see, a woman is crying in the street - do not pass by. Suddenly she was robbed, and she needs help. Or maybe she has a problem at home, and she has no one to share with, and she cries. It is possible that the person simply became ill, but there is no strength to ask for help. After all, you or your loved ones may find themselves in such a situation, and it’s good when strangers don’t pass by indifferently.
Or look around, maybe you have an old neighbor, to whom children do not go, or she is completely alone, and you need help. Go to the store, apply water, chop firewood, tidy up the house or just talk over a cup of tea. For many lonely old people, your half hour will not only cheer you up, but also bring them back to life. And you need to do this every day, and not when you yourself feel bad and think about others.
After all, most of us go to the temple when one of our loved ones starts to get sick or is unwell himself. That's when we put candles in the church, and distribute to the poor. And is it right? Of course not. Every day someone needs help, and not only when we remember it, and then only in order to save ourselves. It is better to do things when you are healthy and share them with others.
It also happens that the rich are so stingy that they do not even help their children and do not share their wealth. And when they are already on their deathbed, they remember them. Then they begin to divide who gets what. Can such a person be sure that the children will fulfill his last will? After all, he did not honor them during his lifetime, and they can repay him the same. If the Lord blesses the rich man through his wealth, then it must be shared during life.
Giving in the church
Many people ask themselves: what is the right way to give alms in the church? Now you can stumble upon dishonest priests. All of them unanimously assert that if alms are given in the church, then it will be doubly rewarded. But where is it written and said in the Bible that good deeds in the temple are doubled? All this is similar to the marketing scheme of those church fathers who want to put everything in their pocket. Here, too, everyone must distinguish where to leave a donation, and which temple is better to bypass.
Unfortunately, in some modern cathedrals and churches, the priests do not even know the prayers of all, and not only do they not know, but they have not even read the Bible. But you can not be categorical to everyone. Most of them still truly serve the Lord. Also, many poor churches are in need of alms or just physical strength. After all, it is not the kind of church that is good, that with huge domes and inside it is all full of wealth and gold. And the one where the priest will help and forgive sins with a bright and pure soul. The church is considered to be the house of the Lord, where people gather and talk with him. Someone asks for health, someone for peace of mind.
A good priest gives thanks for what he already has. Many come to the temple to honor the memory of loved ones and relatives. Or just donate. But Scripture does not say that the house of the Lord should be richer in gold and richer than the parishioners who bring alms to its doors.
Conclusion
Summing up the above, we can say that almsgiving is a good gift from the side of the giver to the needy. So help people from the bottom of your heart!
It doesn't matter where alms are served: or just a busy street. The main thing is to help the needy, if not with money, then at least with a kind word.
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How to do charity.
From the "Instructive words" of the saint.
The prophet Daniel, out of the hatred of the Babylonian nobles, was thrown into the lions' den. Six days have passed since he did not eat any food there, and now the Lord sends His Angel to Judea, to another prophet - Habakkuk, who at that time was carrying food to the field to the reapers. The angel said to Habakkuk, "Take this meal to Babylon, to Daniel in the lions' den." Avvakum answered: “Sir! I have never seen Babylon, and I do not know a moat.” Then the Angel of the Lord took him by the hair and placed him in Babylon over the ditch, by the power of the Spirit. And Habakkuk called and said, “Daniel! Daniel! take the dinner that God has sent to you." Daniel said, "You remembered me, O God, and did not leave those who love you." And Daniel got up and ate. The angel of God instantly returned Habakkuk to his place (). Habakkuk, of course, could have told the Angel when he appeared to him: “I have workers in the field waiting for dinner, and you are sending me to distant Babylon with this dinner to Daniel, what will my workers eat?” But the Prophet did not say so. God told him to take food to a starving prisoner, and he obeyed the command without any excuses.
How many such prisoners, how many starving people like Daniel! How many of those who do not have a single piece of daily bread, how many debtors, helpless, how many shivering from the cold! God tells us to take care of them, to help them. The poor betrays himself to you; You are an orphan's helper(). Is there any answer to be had here? Almighty God, of course, could have nourished Daniel with heavenly food even without Avvakumov's lunch, but His wise Providence wants one person to endure need, and another to help him in this need, so that the poor endure the need, and you, the rich, help him. Why so? For the benefit of both: so that the poor receive a crown for patience, and you for mercy. But so that you do not work in vain - here is a rule for you: Come on, where you need to; come on, as much as you need; come on, as it should; come on when you need it. That is: think about the person to whom you give, and the measure, and the form of alms, and time.
Come on, where you need to go. The Jews sacrificed their treasures in the desert twice: the first time they collected women's jewelry in order to pour a golden calf out of them; another time they took down their gold, silver and copper things, gems and fabrics for the device and decoration of the tabernacle (camping temple). In the first case, they gave their treasures to the devil, and therefore not in the right place; in the second, they dedicated them to God, that is, they gave them where they needed to be given. So, when you give, give, spend, squander your possessions on your whims, which are the same to you as idols, for example, on games, on clothes, on drunkenness and obscene revels, then know that you give it where do not, for you bring it as a gift to the devil. And when you donate to, to a monastery, when you use your property to help some poor family, to dowry a poor girl, to ransom a captive, to feed an orphan, then know that you give it exactly where it is needed: you bring all this a gift to the Lord God.
Come on, as long as it takes that is, look according to the person and according to his need. For a beggar who roams the world, two money is enough to buy daily bread, but these two moneys are not enough for a respectable person who, due to some unfortunate circumstances, has fallen into poverty, and not enough for the dowry of a poor girl.
When the earth is dry, you cannot give it a drink with a few drops of water: it needs abundant rain. What is the need, such is the help should be. Likewise: what is the condition of the giver, such should be the almsgiving. The rich give more, the poor can give less. And with the Lord, both of them will receive an equal reward. Why? Because, of course, the Lord does not look at alms, but at good will. The poor widow put two copper mites in the church treasury, where the rich put gold and silver, but Christ praised her offering more than others: everything, He said, they put in from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had, all her livelihood(), that is, its entire state. The door can be unlocked with a golden, and iron, and even a wooden key, as long as it fits the lock: so the rich can unlock the door of paradise with a gold coin, and the poor with a copper coin.
Come on, do it right, and firstly: come with a friendly look from a good heart, and not with regret and as if involuntarily: not with chagrin and not with compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver(). Is the reward worth the one who gives and scolds, gives alms and shames?!. If only you knew who is really asking you for a piece of food, a measly help! If you could know, Who says to you: give me a drink(). After all, this is God Himself in the form of a poor man! Thus St. Chrysostom speaks of this: “Oh, how high is the dignity of poverty! Under the cover of poverty, God Himself is hidden: the beggar stretches out his hand, and God accepts. Who gives alms to the poor, he lends God Himself: He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord(). So, think with what joy it is necessary to give alms! Give with a generous hand, for as the sower does not throw seeds one grain at a time, but with a whole handful, so in the deed of alms follow the word of King David: squandered, distributed to the poor, therefore the truth interrupts him forever(). As you sow, so shall you reap: sow generously, and reap much; sow sparingly, and reap little. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully(). How to give alms Christ Himself teaches: With you, when you do alms, let left hand yours doesn't know what the right one is doing(). This means: let your charity be a secret, so that not only people do not know about it, but that you yourself do not consider your own good; when one hand gives, the other does not need to know about it: let them both give - generously and plentifully.
Finally, come on when needed. This is the most necessary for the poor and for yourself. Alms way in time of poverty. Help when you can still help, come on, before it's too late, before the poor man falls into despair, indulges in theft and other vices, until he dies of hunger and cold. Help a helpless orphan girl to get married before she loses herself, so that God will not answer you for her. Serve, finally, while you yourself live in the world, not waiting for the hour of death. At death, you will inevitably be merciful, because you cannot take anything with you into the coffin. While you are alive, do good, so that it comes from a good heart, from a good intention, and then you will have a perfect reward with the Lord. Almsgiving is good even when leaving this life, but it is much better during life. Oh, how great is the Lord’s reward for it, what comfort it will bring to your conscience! What a joy it is for the heart to be comforted while still alive by the well-being of that orphan whom you brought into the people, to see the happiness of that poor girl whom you married, to see the joy of that poor man who, with your help, got out of trouble! Will it be until the time when you are at your last breath? You are about to write a spiritual testament, and relatives and friends will already come to you to close your eyes ... But suppose that you have time to write this testament: are you sure that your heirs will fulfill your will? What foolishness! When, even during your lifetime, you did not trust them with your belongings, will you really trust them with your soul after your death? The rich are dead! If possible, rise from your coffins; I will ask you only one question: if God granted you to be resurrected for only one hour, what would you do then? Oh, of course, then you would pay for all your unrighteousness with a quarter, you would give away all your property in order to propitiate God's justice through that ... Here, listener, you now ask, like a rich man in the Gospel: What good can I do to have eternal life?(). And I will answer this question for you: if God has blessed you with earthly blessings, as a rich man, then go ahead.
Come on, where you need; come on, as much as you need; come on, as it should; and come when you need.
And then you will have a treasure in Heaven - eternal life, the Kingdom of Heaven. More than this, of course, what more can you wish for yourself? ..
Who needs our charity?
Open your hand to your brother, your poor and your needy in your land (). So the Lord commands not only about those poor who go and beg from house to house and church: there are many poor and wretched who are ashamed to reach out for help and consider it better to silently endure any need and poverty than to be beggars. Seek such especially with your merciful heart and help them.
There are widows who, after the death of their husbands, were left in poverty, in debt, with small children. Children ask for bread, clothes; boys need science, girls need needlework, and lenders demand the payment of debts, take the last as collateral, drag them to the courts ... Blessed is he who sees such a need for poor widows and visits them and helps them! ..
There are complete orphans who, like orphaned chicks, cry for help: who will feed them, who will shelter them, who will take care of them, who will protect them from resentment? They don't ask for money, they don't ask for property, they need their daily bread. And the more they deserve mercy, the less they understand, due to their infancy, their great need. Who will help them? You, Lord, are merciful! The poor betrays himself to you; You are an orphan's helper (). You feed the chicks who call you. But through whom will the Lord God help them? Through the one who bears in himself the image of God, that is, mercy in his heart, whose heart the Lord will dispose to this great service, who visits the homes of such orphans, for the true poor often do not show themselves on the street. Have mercy on orphans, be them instead of a father! ..
There are strangers and strangers, whom need drove into a foreign land, who were robbed on the way. evil people who have been visited by some kind of serious illness, and they have nowhere to lay their heads: they have no friends or relatives who would take pity on them ... Who will they resort to if we refuse them help and shelter? Truly, such people need our help no less than widows and orphans!
In another house, the owner does not get up from the bed of illness for many years, the wife has lived all that was possible for a long time; and the wife of another has died, and he was left alone with the children, especially with the girls, and the patient himself is lying ... The neighbors do not know, or do not want, or cannot help him ... Who will help him? You alone, merciful Lord, look down and comfort through those who bear in themselves the image of Your mercy! ..
And in another house and husband, and wife, and children - all are sick; there is no one to look after them, no one to look after the household: all can be taken away by unkind people. How not to help such, than you can? ..
Another one worker in the family - what he earns, he will live with his wife and children: he happened to fall ill or become crippled. Today he did not go to work, and tomorrow he has nothing to eat ... How not to help such a family?
It happens that the owner went to work with his family, returned home - everything burned down, only coals remained ... And in cities it often happens that if they take something out of the conflagration, then a dashing person will steal it from the street ... And hunger and cold await the unfortunate victims of fire, and nowhere to lay their heads!
In another house, a widow lives with two or three daughters already grown up; she does not have the means to dress them decently, feed them and marry them off. There are few Glycerius and Susannas who are ready to die for purity and chastity: so often poverty and hunger for vice lead the dirty. Oh Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker! Come to the aid of such, help them keep both soul and body pure and holy! Help you in such a need with money and care for the device of such orphan girls! This will be a great reward from the Lord.
So a wealthy man was robbed, he is so upset that he is ready to lay hands on himself - he has absolutely nothing left, and the devil is already pulling him to the rope. Hurry to help him so that he does not fall into despair, console him, help him at least for the first time! If he knows that there are good people in the world who will not leave him in grief and need, then he complacently bears his heavy cross.
Another was himself a great merciful, spared nothing for the temple of God and for human poverty, but now the time has come, and he, by God's allowance, to test his patience, like the ancient righteous Tobit, grew decrepit, blind, lost his hearing, became impoverished; his wife reproaches him for his former alms... What beggar deserves more compassion and all possible help? ..
Often there is also a great need among poor people: they do not know where and from whom they can borrow money for a while; and if anyone has, then the lender demands impossible interest for the favor. It is not only atheists who lose many pawned things; there are now Christians who are ready to rob their own brother. Great and cursed is the sin of covetousness; and in Holy Scripture it is strictly forbidden, and even among the pagans it was considered dishonorable. And in our time - alas - many of the Christians do not consider it a sin - they are engaged in extortion! That is why it is a great mercy to lend to poor people without growth, as the Lord commands in the Gospel.
But is it possible to enumerate all the troubles and human needs? Oh, how many of them - without number many! It was for such needs that the apostles Peter and Paul agreed to collect when they left Jerusalem to preach the gospel: they promised not to forget the miserable poor, of whom there were many in Jerusalem. And they collected, and they themselves brought to Jerusalem the collected alms for widows and orphans, for strangers and the sick, for those imprisoned for the name of Christ and deprived of property for Christ. We will be just as merciful, we will help such poor people in any way we can.
You yourself cannot go from house to house looking for the true poor - now there are various brotherhoods, societies, parish guardianships: they will free you from this work, and you do not refuse them only your feasible mite. But how many prayer books will be for you before the Lord God! And these prayer books, when you leave this world, will receive you, according to the word of Christ, to their heavenly abode - to the eternal heavenly tabernacles ...
Charity delivers from death.
Life of St. Peter, formerly a publican.
Chet'i Menaion of St. , ed. 1902.
In Africa, there lived a hard-hearted and unmerciful publican (tax collector) named Peter. He never felt sorry for the poor, had no thought of death in his mind, did not go to God's church, his heart was always deaf to those who asked for alms. But the good and philanthropic God does not want the death of sinners, but cares about the salvation of all and by His inscrutable Providence saves everyone. He also showed his mercy to this Peter and saved him in the following way. One day, the poor and wretched, sitting on the street, began to praise the people who treated them with mercy, pray to God for them, and reproach those who were unmerciful. While talking in this way, they also spoke of Peter, talking about how cruelly he treats them, they began to ask one another if anyone had ever received any alms in Peter's house; when no such person was found, one of the poor stood up and said:
“What will you give me if I go now and ask him for alms?”
Having agreed, they collected a pledge, and the beggar, having gone, stood at the gates of Peter. Soon Peter left the house. He led a donkey loaded with bread for the prince's dinner. The beggar bowed to him and began to loudly beg for alms. Peter grabbed the bread, threw it in his face and left. Picking up the bread, the beggar came to his brethren and said:
“I received this bread from the hands of Peter himself. At the same time, he began to glorify the Lord and thank Him for the fact that Peter is so merciful. Two days later the publican became so ill that he was close to death; and then he had a vision that he was standing at the Judgment and his deeds were being placed on the scales. On one side of the scales stood stinking and evil spirits, on the other side of the scales were bright and handsome men. The evil spirits brought all the evil deeds that Peter the publican had committed during his entire life, from his earliest years, and put them on the scales. The bright men did not find a single good deed of Peter that could be put on the other side of the scales; wherefore they were sad, and in bewilderment said to one another:
We have nothing to put on the scales. Then one of them said: “Indeed, we have nothing to put in, except for one bread, which he gave for the sake of Christ two days ago, and even then involuntarily.
They put that bread on the other side of the scale, and he pulled the scale over to his side. Then the bright men said to the publican:
“Go, wretched Peter, and add some more bread to this, so that the demons do not take you and lead you to eternal torment.
Having come to his senses, Peter began to think about this and realized that what he had seen was not a ghost, but the truth; at the same time, he remembered all his sins, even those that he had already forgotten about - all his sins were clearly presented to him - it was them that the evil demons, having collected, put on the scales. Then Peter, surprised, thought: “If one bread, thrown by me in the face of a poor man, helped me so much that the demons could not take me, then how much more generous almsgiving, done with faith and zeal, helps those who do not skimp on distributing their wealth. miserable!"
Since then, he has become extremely merciful, so that he did not even spare himself. One day he was going to his purse (the place where the duty was collected or filed). On the way he met one owner of the ship: he was naked, because as a result of the death of his ship, he became completely impoverished. And this man fell down at Peter's feet and begged him to give him a garment so that he could cover his nakedness. Peter took off his beautiful and dear outerwear and gave it to him, but he, being ashamed to walk in such clothes, gave it to a certain merchant to sell. Peter, returning from his collection room, accidentally saw that those clothes were hung out at the marketplace for sale. This saddened him so much that, when he came home, he did not even want to eat food, but, shutting himself up, began to cry and sob, saying: “God did not accept my alms, I am not worthy that the poor should have a memory of me.”
Weeping and mourning in this way, he fell asleep a little, and behold, a certain handsome Man appeared to him, shining brighter than the sun; He had a cross on His head, He was dressed in the very clothes that Peter gave to the ruined owner of the ship; This Man said to Peter, “What are you crying about, brother Peter? The publican answered:
- How can I not cry, my Lord, if I give to the poor from what You have given me, and they again sell what they have in the marketplace. Then the Appearing One said to him: “Do you recognize this garment which I wear? Peter answered:
“Yes, Vladyka, I recognize that she is mine, I dressed the naked with it. Appearing said:
- Stop mourning, for the clothes that you gave to the beggar, I accepted and wear it, as you see; I praise you for your good deed, for you have clothed Me, who is perishing from the cold.
Waking up, the publican was surprised and zealous about the life of the poor, saying: "If the poor are the same as Christ, then, I swear by the Lord, I will not die until I become one of them."
Immediately he distributed all his property to the poor and freed the slaves, leaving only one of them, to whom he said:
“I want to tell you a secret. Keep her and obey me; but if you do not keep secrets and do not obey me, then know that I will sell you to the Gentiles. To this the servant answered him: “Whatever you command me, sir, I must do.” Then Peter said to him: “Let’s go to the holy city, worship the life-giving tomb of the Lord, and there you sell me to one of the Christians, and give the proceeds from the sale to the poor – then you yourself will be a free person.”
The servant was surprised at such a strange intention of his master, he did not want to obey him and said:
- I must go with you to the holy city, since I am your slave, but I cannot sell you, my lord, and I will never do this. Then Peter said to him: “If you do not sell me, then I will sell you to the Gentiles, as I already told you.
And they went to Jerusalem. Bowing to the holy places, Peter again said to the servant:
“Sell me, if you don’t sell me, then I will sell you to the barbarians into hard slavery.
Seeing such an inflexible intention of his master, the slave had to obey him even against his will. Having met a God-fearing man known to him, a silversmith named Zoil, the slave said to him:
“Listen to me, Zoilus, buy a good slave from me. Silversmith answered: - Brother, believe me: I have become poor, so there is nothing to pay for him. Then the slave suggested to him: - Borrow from someone and buy it, for it is very good, and God will bless you for it.
Believing his words, Zoilus took thirty pieces of gold from one of his friends and with this money bought Peter from his slave, not knowing that Peter himself was the master of that slave. The latter, taking money for his master, withdrew to Constantinople, and, without telling anyone what he had done, distributed the money to the poor. From that time on, Peter began to serve at Zoilus. He had to do what he was not used to before: either he worked in the kitchen, or he carried manure from Zoil's house, or he dug the earth in the vineyard. With such hard work, in his immense humility, he exhausted his flesh. Zoilus saw that Peter was bringing down a blessing on his house, just as once the house of Pentefrius received a blessing because of Joseph. He saw that his wealth had multiplied - therefore, he loved Peter, and, at the same time, seeing his extraordinary humility, he had respect for him. One day he said to him:
“Pyotr, I want to free you, be my brother.”
Peter did not want freedom, but preferred to serve in the form of a slave. Often one could see how other slaves scolded him, sometimes even beat him and insulted him in every possible way, but he patiently endured all this without uttering a word. Once Peter saw in a dream a radiant Man who had once appeared to him in Africa in his clothes. This one, now having thirty pieces of gold in his hand, said to him:
“Do not grieve, brother Peter, for I myself received the money for you, be patient until the time you are recognized.
Some time later, some silver sellers came from Africa to bow to the holy places. Zoilus, Petra's lord, invited them to his house for dinner. During dinner, the guests began to recognize Peter and said to one another: “How this man looks like Peter the publican!”
Hearing their conversation, Peter began to hide his face from them so that they would not finally recognize him. However, they recognized him and began to say to the owner of that house:
- We want to tell you, Zoil, something important: do you know what is in your house great husband– Peter? In Africa, Peter was a very prominent person, but he unexpectedly freed all his slaves and disappeared somewhere himself. The prince is greatly saddened and regrets that Peter has left us; in view of this, we would like to take him with us.
Being outside the doors, Peter heard everything. Putting the dish he was carrying on the ground, he hurried to the gate to escape. The gatekeeper was mute and deaf from his very birth, so that only after famous signs opened and closed the gate.
Saint Peter, hurrying to leave, said to the mute: “I tell you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, open the doors for me immediately!” Then the mouth of the mute was opened, and he said: “Very well, sir, I will open it now.
With these words, he immediately opened the gate, and Peter hastily left. Then the former mute came to his master and began to speak in the presence of everyone. Everyone in the house was surprised to hear what he was saying; everyone began to look for Peter, but they could not find him. The mute said:
See if he ran away? - know that this is a great servant of God; when he came to the gate, he said to me: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I say to you, open the gate!” And I immediately noticed a flame coming from his mouth, which touched me, and I began to speak.
Everywhere they immediately went in the footsteps of Peter, but did not overtake him; everywhere diligently searched for him, but did not find him. Then everyone in Zoil's house wept and said, "How did we not know that he was such a great servant of God?" And they glorified God, who has His hidden servants. Peter, fleeing from human glory, hid in secret places until his death (the Saint died in the VI century in Constantinople).
Examples of the beneficence of alms distributed in memory of the dead.
Blessed Luke tells that he had a brother who, upon entering the monastic order, cared little for his soul and died unprepared for death. The holy elder wanted to know what his brother had been rewarded with, and he began to ask God to reveal his fate. Once, during a prayer, the elder saw the soul of his brother in the hands of demons. Meanwhile, money and valuables were found in the cell of the deceased, from which the elder understood that the brother’s soul was suffering, among other things, for breaking the vow of non-possession. The elder gave all the money he found to the poor. After that, he again began to pray and saw the Judgment Seat of God and luminiferous angels arguing with demons for the soul of a brother. The demons cried out to God: "You are righteous, so judge: the soul belongs to us, for it did our deeds."
The angels said that the soul of the deceased was delivered by alms given for her.
The evil spirits objected to this: “Did the deceased give alms? Wasn't this old man handing out?" - and pointed to the blessed Luke.
The elder was frightened by this vision, but nevertheless he gathered his courage and said: “True, I did alms, but not for myself, but for this Soul.”
The outraged spirits, having heard the answer of the elder, disappeared, and the elder, reassured by the vision, ceased to doubt and grieve over the fate of his brother.
Saint Abbess Athanasia (Comm. 12 April) bequeathed to the sisters of her monastery to arrange a meal for the poor in memory of her for forty days after her death. But they carried out her command only until the ninth day, and then they stopped. Then the saint appeared to them with two angels and said: “Why did you forget my will? Know that alms given for the soul, as well as the food of the poor and the prayers of the priests, propitiate God. If the souls of the departed were sinful, then the Lord will grant them remission of sins; if they are righteous, then charity for them serves to the salvation of benefactors.
Having said this, the Monk Athanasia stuck her rod into the ground and became invisible. The next day the sisters saw that her staff had blossomed.
Quite recently, at the beginning of our century, a great ascetic of works of mercy shone in Russia, whose word was a living deed, and the deed was reflected in the word. Here are excerpts from his diaries, all the more valuable for us because they were written in a recent time, specifically for us, almost his contemporaries, and the author, of course, had in mind the circumstances of our time. Readers already guess that we are talking about the holy and righteous.
“Looking at the world of God, I everywhere see the extraordinary generosity of God in the gifts of nature; the surface of the earth is, as it were, the richest meal prepared in abundance and variety by the most loving and generous host; the bowels of the waters also serve to saturate man. What to say about four-legged animals and birds? And here how much generosity in the delivery of food and clothing to man! The bounties of the Lord are innumerable. See what the earth does not deliver in summer and autumn! So every Christian imitate the bounties of the Lord, so that your meal will be open to everyone, as the meal of the Lord. The miser is the enemy of the Lord«.
“Look at the ants, how friendly they are; look at the bees, how friendly they are, look at the flocks of pigeons, how friendly they are, look at
a flock of sheep, how friendly they are. Think of the flocks of some fishes, who love to walk without fail together, how friendly they are. Think how zealously they protect each other, help each other, love each other - and be ashamed of the dumb you, who do not live in love, running away from bearing the burdens of others!
“What are human souls? This is the same soul or the same breath of God that God breathed into Adam, which from Adam and hitherto extends to the entire human race. All men are therefore the same as one man or one great tree of mankind. Hence the most natural commandment, based on the unity of our nature: Love the Lord. thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind...and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself(). The natural necessity is to fulfill these two commandments.”
“All people are the breath and creation of the one God, they originated from God and return to God as to their beginning: the flesh will return to the earth that it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. As the breath of the one God and as descended from one person, people should naturally live in mutual love and mutual preservation and should not be separated from each other by pride, anger, envy, stinginess, unsociable disposition, but they will be one.
“Use My gifts not in isolation, not as conceited ones, but as My children, who should have everything in common, not sparing to offer another gift of My fruits, the works of My hands, remembering that I give them to you as a gift, according to My fatherly goodness and bounty philanthropy. This is what happens in a family. When a father, or mother, or brother brings gifts, then the father gives them to all the children, or the brother of his brothers, and if the children, brothers and sisters all live in mutual love, then they do not consider themselves contented and happy if the father or brother he surrounded one of them with gifts and did not give at least to one of them what he gave to others. And why? Because, out of mutual love, they feel like one body, because they are all, as it were, one, one face. So do each of you. And I know how to reward you for the love that pleases Me so much. If I give mercy to those who do not fulfill My commandments, a rich man had good harvest
(), then shall I not spare My true children, for whom I actually intended all My bounties?
“Dislike, enmity or hatred should not be known among Christians even by name. How can there be dislike between Christians? Everywhere you see love, everywhere you smell the fragrance of love. Our God is the God of love; His Kingdom is the Kingdom of love; out of love for us, he did not spare his only begotten Son and delivered him to death for us. At home, you see love on your family (because they are sealed in baptism and chrismation with the cross of love and wear the cross, eat the supper of love with you in church). Symbols of love are everywhere in the church: crosses, signs of the cross, saints who shone with love for God and neighbors, and Love incarnate Itself. Love is everywhere in heaven and on earth. It calms and delights the heart, like God, while enmity kills the soul and body. And you always and everywhere find love! Will you still not love when everywhere you hear a sermon about love, when only the devil who kills man is eternal enmity!
Christ, Son of God, most holy god do not be ashamed to call us sinners brothers, and do not be ashamed to call brothers and sisters at least the poor and humble, ordinary people relatives in the flesh or non-relatives, and do not be proud of them, do not despise them, do not be ashamed of them, for we are all really brothers in Christ, all were born of water and the Spirit in the baptismal font and became children of God: we are all called Christians, we all feed on the Flesh and By the blood of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the sacraments of the Church are performed over all of us, we all pray in the Lord's Prayer: Our Father ... and we all call God our Father equally. We do not know any other kinship, except for the spiritual, highest, eternal, which was given to us by the Lord of life, the Creator and Renovator of our nature, Jesus Christ, for this one kinship is true, holy, abiding. Earthly kinship is false, changeable, impermanent, temporary, perishable, just as our blood is perishable. So, simply treat people as equals with equals, and do not exalt yourself before anyone, but, on the contrary, humble yourself, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted(). Do not say: I am educated, but he or she is not, he or she is simple, uneducated; the gift of God given to you unworthy, do not turn it into an occasion for pride, but for humility, for From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, more will be exacted from him.(). Do not say: I am noble, and he is of a low kind, earthly nobility without the nobility of faith and virtue is an empty name. What is in my nobility when I am a sinner like others, or even worse?
“Oh, that our sweet meals would always be an expression of our sweet love for each other, so that our hearts would delight mutual love how delightful dishes are. How sweet is Your love, O Lord, manifested in so many and varied earthly gifts and blessings, and above all in the sweetness of Your words and in the sweetness of Your divine Mysteries, Your Body and Blood! What will be the sweetness of the future age? “Lord, enlighten our hearts!”
“What did the Lord of our life do for us insignificant, ungrateful and malevolent? He descended from heaven, clothed himself in our flesh, performed various miracles, suffered, poured out His blood, died, descended into hell, bound Satan, destroyed hell, the prisoners, hell and those who were bound, He raised up to heaven, rose from the dead and raised us with Himself . Let us fulfill His dying testament: let us love one another! God help me!"
“God did not spare His Only Begotten Son for man, what will we regret for our neighbor after this: food, drink, clothes for his garments, money for his various needs? To some the Lord gives much, to others little so that we may think of each other. So the Lord arranged that if we willingly share the generous gifts of His goodness with others, then they serve for the benefit of the soul, opening our hearts to love for our neighbors, and by moderation in their use they also serve for the benefit of the body, which is not sated and is not burdened by them. And if we self-lovingly, sparingly and greedily use the gifts of God only ourselves and pity them for others, then they turn to the detriment of the soul and body to ourselves: to the detriment of the soul, because greed and avarice close the heart to love for God and neighbor and make us disgusting self-lovers, intensifying all passions in us; to the detriment of the body, because greed produces satiety in us and prematurely upsets our health.
“Remember the Love that laid down Her life for people, and spare nothing for your neighbor: no food, no drink, no clothes, no books, no money, if he needs them. The Lord will reward you for it. We are all His children, and He is everything to us… don’t spare your very life for your brother!”
“We are the image of God, and God is Love. Let us live in love, we will envy it with all our might. God help me! And we will consider everything earthly, all food, clothes, money as rubbish and we will not anger the Lord because of copy, biting each other, enmity against each other. Will we sell the Lord for food, for money? One thing: either God or flesh. Two gods cannot be recognized, two cannot be served.
“Our life is love—yes, love! And where there is love, there is God, and where there is God, everything is good. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you.(). So, feed and delight everyone with joy, please everyone with joy, and trust in everything in the Heavenly Father, the Father of bounty and the God of all comfort. Sacrifice the love of your neighbor that which is dear to you. Offer your Isaac, your many-passionate heart as a sacrifice to God, temper him with your will, crucify the flesh with passions and lusts. You have received everything from God, be ready to give everything to God, so that, being faithful in the little things to your Lord, you will then be placed over many things. You have been faithful in little, I will set you over much(). Consider all passions as a dream, as I have known it a thousandfold.”
“Through what tube does the devil suck out our love for God and neighbor? Through addiction to wealth, to food, to drink, to delicacies, to clothing, to houses, to furniture, to rich dishes, to books, and the like. Therefore, wealth, the sweetness of food and drink, the beauty of clothes, houses, furniture, utensils - should be neglected by a Christian, and his first concern in life should be pleasing God and his neighbor for good to creation. Oh, how wise a Christian must be in life! He must be like the many-eyed Cherubim - to be all an eye, all and unceasing reflection, except in cases where unreflective faith is required.
“We must be one spirit with the Lord, the spirit of holiness, the spirit of love, goodness, meekness, long-suffering, mercy. Whoever does not have this spirit in himself is not God's. So, I must be love, one love, count everyone as one. May they all be one(). God help me!"
“An angry and proud person is ready to see in others only pride and malice and is glad if others speak badly about any of his acquaintances, especially those who live richly, but are not mentally close to him, and the worse, the more he rejoices, that others are bad, and he is perfection before them, and is ready to see only one evil in them and compare them with demons. Oh malice! Oh pride! Oh, lack of love! No, look for something good in an evil person and rejoice in this goodness and speak with joy about his good qualities. There is no person in whom there would not be at least some kind of goodness; cover the evil that is in it with love and pray to God for it, so that God would make the evil ones good with His goodness. Don't be an evil abyss yourself!"
“Love every man, despite his sins. Sins are sins, but there is only one basis in man - the image of God. Others - with weaknesses that are conspicuous, vicious, proud, envious, stingy, greedy, greedy, and you are not without evil, maybe even you have more of it than others. At least in regard to sins, people are equal: all, it is said, have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God, all are guilty before God and still need God's mercy towards us. Therefore, loving each other, we must endure each other and leave, forgive others for their mistakes against us, so that Our Heavenly Father has forgiven us our sins(). So, with all your soul, honor and love the image of God in every person, not paying attention to his sins. God alone is holy and sinless. And look how He loves us, what He has created and is doing for us, punishing mercifully and having mercy generously and graciously! Still honor a person, despite his sins, because he can always correct himself.
“Everything is a dream, except for true love. The brother treated coldly, impolitely, impudently, viciously - say: this is the dream of the devil; a feeling of enmity disturbs you because of the coldness and insolence of your brother, say: this is my dream; but here is the truth: I love my brother, in spite of everything, I do not want to see evil in him, which is a demonic dream in him, and which is also in me: we have one sinful nature. There are sins, you say, in a brother, and big shortcomings. You have the same. I do not like him, you say, for such and such shortcomings. Do not love yourself either: for the same shortcomings that are in him are also in you. But remember that there is a Lamb of God who took upon Himself the sins of the whole world. Who are you, condemning your neighbor for sins, for shortcomings, for vices? Everyone stands or falls to his Lord. But you, out of Christian love, must in every possible way condescend to the shortcomings of your neighbor; similar infirmity. For with whom do all kinds of infirmities not happen?
“When you give to the one who asks, and your heart regrets for him the given alms, repent of this, for divine love gives us its blessings, while we already have enough of them. Love for one's neighbor should say this in itself: although he has, it's not bad if I increase his well-being (and to tell the truth, one or two or three kopecks will not greatly increase and improve his well-being). God gives me, why should I not give to the needy? I say: to the needy, for who will stretch out his hand without need? If you yourself received from God the gifts of His goodness only according to your merit, then perhaps you would have to go poor. God is generous to you beyond your merit, and you yourself want Him to be generous. How do you not want to be generous to your brothers, having an abundance?
“Leave all human iniquity to the Lord, for God is the Judge, and love yourself diligently from a pure heart of everyone, but remember that you yourself are a great sinner and need God's mercy. And in order to earn the mercy of God, one must have mercy on others in every possible way. Everything is for all the Lord: and the Judge, and the generous Giver of gifts, and mercy, and the cleansing of sins, and light, and peace, and joy, and strength of the heart "...
“All sacrifices and mercy to the poor will not replace love for one's neighbor if it is not in the heart; therefore, when giving alms, one must always take care that it be given with love, from a sincere heart, willingly, and not with vexation and chagrin at them. The very word alms shows that it should be a deed and a sacrifice of the heart, and served with tenderness or regret for the plight of the poor, and with tenderness or contrition for one's sins, in the purification of which alms are given: alms, according to Scripture, cleanses every sin. Whoever gives alms reluctantly and with vexation, sparingly, he did not know his sins, did not know himself. Almsgiving is a beneficence above all to the one who gives it..
“Almsgiving is a seed; if you want it to bear good fruit, make this seed good, giving in simplicity and from a kind, merciful, compassionate heart, but be sure that you do not lose so much, or better, you do not lose at all, but you gain infinitely more through perishable alms, if you give from a good heart, with faith in the Giver, and not from selfish or selfish views. Because you did it to one of these least of my brothers, you did it to me, your Lord ().
“Do good to the poor cheerfully, without suspiciousness, doubt and petty inquisitiveness, remembering that you do good to Christ Himself in the person of the poor. Know that your charity is always insignificant in comparison with a man, this child of God; know that your charity is earth and dust; know that spiritual kindness must necessarily follow hand in hand with material kindness: affectionate, fraternal, sincerely loving treatment of one's neighbor; do not let him notice that you are borrowing him, do not show a proud look. Give, it is said, in simplicity, pardon with good will. Look, do not deprive your material alms of value by not giving spiritual ones. Know that the Lord will test good deeds at the Judgment. For man, God the Father did not spare His only begotten Son, but gave him to death for him. The devil, according to our cunning, stumbles us in our good deeds.
“Rejoice in every opportunity to show kindness to your neighbor, like a true Christian, striving to acquire as many good deeds as possible, especially the treasures of love. Do not rejoice when you are shown affection and love, considering yourself justly unworthy of it; but rejoice when you have an opportunity to show love. Show love simply, without any deviation into thoughts of slyness, without petty worldly selfish calculations, remembering that love is God Himself.
“Love for God then begins to manifest itself and act in us when we begin to love our neighbor as ourselves, and not spare either ourselves or anything of our own for him, as the image of God; when we try to serve him for salvation with everything we can; when we refuse, for the sake of pleasing God, from pleasing our womb, our carnal eyesight, from pleasing our carnal mind, which does not submit to the mind of God. Whoever says, "I love God," and hates his brother, is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God, whom he has not seen.().
“Every day they ask you for alms, and give every day willingly, without bitterness, rudeness and grumbling: you give not your own, but God’s children to the crusaders, who barely have where to lay their heads; you are the minister of God's heritage, you are the daily servant of the lesser brethren of Christ, do your work with meekness and humility, do not miss him. You serve Christ the Judge and the Recipient: great honor, high dignity! Do good deeds with joy! Your labors are generously rewarded, be generous to others yourself. They are not rewarded according to their merits, not according to their merits and give to others, but for the sake of their need.
“Be attentive to yourself when a poor person in need of help asks you for it: the enemy will try to chill your heart at this time,” indifference and even neglect to the needy; overcome in yourself these non-Christian and inhuman dispositions, arouse compassionate love in your heart for a person like you in everything, for this member of Christ and your own, for this temple of the Holy Spirit, so that Christ God will love you; whatever the needy asks of you, fulfill his request according to your strength. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.()».
"God! teach me to give alms willingly, with affection, with joy, and to believe that by giving it I do not lose, but gain infinitely more than what I give. Turn away my eyes from people with a cruel heart who do not sympathize with the poor, indifferently meet poverty, condemn, reproach, stigmatize it with shameful names and relax my heart so as not to do good, to harden me against poverty. Oh my God! how many such people there are! Lord, correct the work of alms!.. Lord, accept alms in the person of Your poor people.”
“Greedy, greedy miser! Was it money or bread that gave you life? Isn't it God? Was it not His Word that gave being and life to you and to all the rest. Is your life supported by money and bread, water and wine? Doesn't a person live by every word that comes from the mouth of God? Isn't money and bread dust? Isn't it the least we need bread to sustain our lives? Everything is created and sustained by the Word. The Word of God is the source of life and its preservation!”
"What I need? I do not need anything on earth, except for the most necessary. What I need? I need the Lord, I need His grace, His Kingdom is in me. On earth, the place of my wandering, my temporary education, there is nothing of my own, everything is God's, and everything is temporary, assigned to me for temporary services; my surplus is the possession of those who have no neighbors. What I need? I need true, Christian, active love, I need a loving, compassionate heart, I need joy for their contentment and well-being, grief for their sorrows and illnesses, for their sins, weaknesses, disorders, shortcomings, misfortunes, poverty; they need warm, sincere sympathy in all the circumstances of their lives, joy with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep. It is full to give place to self-love, selfishness, to try to live only for yourself and attract everything only to yourself: both wealth, and sweets, and the glory of this world, and not to live, but to die, not to rejoice, but to suffer, carrying the poison of self-love in yourself, because self-love is the poison constantly poured into our hearts by veliar. Lord, Witness of my heart and all its movements! Give me a merciful heart that I ask of You! It's impossible for me With God all things are possible(). Give me true life, dispel the darkness of passions, destroy their strength by Your power!”
“Do not rely on piles of money, but on God, vigilantly caring for everyone, and especially for His rational and verbal creations, and especially for those who live piously. Believe that His hand will not fail, especially for those who do alms, for a man cannot be more generous than God. This proof is your own life and the life of all before former people who gave alms. May God alone be the treasure of your heart! Cling to Him entirely as created in His image and likeness, and flee from the aphids of the earth, which constantly smolders our souls and bodies. Hurry to a life that is not passing away, to a life that does not grow old in endless ages; drag everyone there as much as you can.”
“It is good in every respect to give to the poor: except for pardon for the Last Judgment, and here, on earth, alms givers often receive great favors from their neighbors, and what others get for a lot of money, they are given for free. In fact, the most philanthropic, most righteous and most generous Heavenly Father, whose children are merciful to the merciful, will not reward them here too, in encouraging them to great deeds, or at least to continue those deeds of mercy and to correct the unmerciful, who laugh at the merciful? He will reward both worthy and righteous!
"My God! how love and sincere sympathy for our neighbor sweetens our hearts! Who can describe this bliss of a heart imbued with the feeling of others' love for me and my love for others? It's indescribable! If here, on earth, mutual love so delights us, then what sweetness of love will we be filled with in Heaven, in cohabitation with God, with the Mother of God, with the Heavenly Forces, with the saints of God? Who can imagine and describe this bliss, and what temporal, earthly things should we not sacrifice in order to receive such an inexpressible bliss of heavenly love? God, Your name is Love! you teach me true love. Behold, I tasted its sweetness exceedingly from communion in the spirit of faith in You, with Your faithful children, and I am exceedingly pacified and enlivened by it. Establish, O God, this which you have done in me. If only it were like this all the days of life! Grant me more often to have the fellowship of faith and love with Your faithful servants, with Your temples, with Your Church!
“If you have Christian love for your neighbors, then all Heaven will love you; if you have unity of the spirit with your neighbors, then you will have unity with God and with all the heavenly beings; you will be merciful to your neighbors, and God will be merciful to you, as well as all angels and saints; you will pray for others, and all heaven will intercede for you. Holy is the Lord our God, and so be you!”
“Give me, Lord, to love every one of my neighbors as yourself, always, and for no reason be angry with him and not work for the devil. Let me crucify my vanity, pride, covetousness, lack of faith and other passions. Let there be a name for us: mutual love, yes we believe and hope that for all of us everything is the Lord; let's not bake, let's not worry about anything; may you, our God, be the only God of our heart, and besides you, nothing! Let us be among ourselves in the unity of love, as it should be, and let everything that separates us from each other and separate us from love be contemptible among us, like dust trampled underfoot. If God has given Himself to us, if He abides in us, and we in Him, according to His undeceitful word, then what will He not give me? What will he deprive, in what will he leave? The Lord is my Shepherd, I will not need anything(). So, be very calm, my soul, and know nothing but love. This is my commandment, that you love one another ().
Folk wisdom about mercy.
Almsgiving - crackers for a long journey (that is, to the Kingdom of Heaven).
Prepare food for the household, and then serve the poor.
The poor man asks, but give to God.
Charity before God justifies.
Fasting leads to the gates of Paradise, but charity opens them.
The hand of the giver will not fail.
Alms way in time of poverty.
Gather with one hand and distribute with the other.
God will not be in debt.
Do not boast of silver, but boast of goodness.
You can't buy souls with money.
Do not believe in happiness, and do not close the door on the poor.
People rejoiced when you were born; live so that they cry when you die.
A miserly soul is cheaper than a penny.
A miserly rich man is poorer than a beggar.
As you live, so you will be known.
The earth on the grave will twitch, but it will not cover the bad glory.
The wretched man needs much, and the stingy man everything.
What you store, you carry with you.
Not the one who lives longer lives, but the one who does more good.
With the world on a thread - a naked shirt.
Live for people, people will live for you.
A self-lover is not loved by anyone.
A merciful person and God gives.
To do mercy to the unfortunate is to speak with the Lord God.
God save the one who waters and feeds, and twice the one who remembers bread and salt.
God loves a well-meaning giver.
The gift was accepted by the one who gave to the worthy.
Good good memory.
Judgment without mercy to the one who did not show mercy.
Every day, each of us, on the way to work, to university or on the way home, meets people who beg for alms. Everyone who asks has their own story, problem and reason for asking for help. We all involuntarily face a choice: “Give alms or not? What if the one who asks is lying and will he use my alms for sin?
Today, people talk about charity and helping others more and more often, but there are no fewer questions. About what alms is, to whom and how to properly give it, we talk with the rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Yakutsk, Priest Nerses Khananyan.
The Holy Scriptures say that God is merciful, and His mercy has no limits or conditions: “The Lord is generous and merciful, long-suffering and many-merciful: he is not completely angry, and he is not forever indignant. He did not deal with us according to our iniquities, and did not repay us according to our sins: for as the sky is high above the earth, so great is the mercy of the Lord to those who fear Him ”(Ps. 102, 8-11). The Lord calls us to be merciful. But do we understand the meaning of this word? What is almsgiving and how does it manifest itself?
Almsgiving is a voluntary donation to the needy from one's own funds (money, things, food), as well as any other act, the basis of which is love for one's neighbor, care for him. But it is also worth knowing that sometimes a more important and valuable help for a person is a sincere conversation. If a person is sad, you need to cheer him up, if he is sick, visit him, if he has doubts, instruct him.
Thanks to precisely these instructions, advice, words of support, many were able to overcome fear, cope with spiritual and bodily trials, find the strength in themselves to perform good deeds for the glory of God. Prayer for one's neighbor, soulful conversations, pious teachings, and sometimes a stern remark for the sake of a person's good are almsgiving in a broad sense.
It is written in Holy Scripture: “Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). But is it worth helping anyone who asks? How to find out who really needs help so as not to be deceived?
Sometimes it’s enough just to stop for a couple of minutes, no matter how difficult it is in urban life, and talk to a person, ask a couple simple questions, find out why he asks for alms, if for food, then you can feed him if needed health care, then provide assistance, or at least offer to contact one or another temple, charitable foundation(there are hundreds of them now), and not to give money right away. Usually we run past and think: “I won’t waste time, I’ll throw in a couple of coins and move on. And he helped a person and didn’t waste time. ” Most of these people. Therefore, we often arbitrarily become victims of "false needy."
What to do when you see a person who is drunk and asking for alms, is it worth helping him?
In helping, it is also important not to become an accomplice in sin. We should not give alms when we know for sure that it will be used for alcohol. There are, unfortunately, people for whom begging has become a profession. Those have become impoverished spiritually and it doesn’t matter to them how the money will be with them, the main thing is to satisfy their needs. This can be understood by the face, by the way they ask. After listening to a touching story, one must find the strength not to be deceived. As a rule, a drunk person who claims that this is the last time says these words to most passers-by. We must understand that we cannot meet the needs of all who ask. Our funds are limited, and there are a lot of petitioners, and first of all, we need to help those who really need it, constantly praying for the rest who could not be helped. Holy Bible says: “If you do good, know to whom you are doing, and there will be gratitude for your good deeds. Do good to the pious, and you will receive a reward, and if not from him, then from the Most High” (Sirach 12:1-2).
St. John Chrysostom says: "The amount of alms is assessed not by the size of the alms, but by the inclination and disposition of the givers." The question arises - how and with what thoughts should alms be given?
This virtue, which special meaning in the life of a Christian can sometimes be the cause spiritual fall person. We are talking about doing alms for show, about which the Gospel very clearly warns us: “Be careful, do not do your alms before people so that they see you: otherwise you will not be rewarded from your Father in Heaven. Therefore, when you do almsgiving, do not blow your trumpets before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them. I tell you truly, they already receive their reward. With you, when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” (Gospel of Matthew 6:1-3).
Charity must be given from a pure heart. If I help someone in need, and then throughout the day I think about whether it was worth giving to him from my means, then what I have done will not be of any use.
Often you can see how people bring things to the temple for those in need, and this pleases the soul. But it hurts my heart that half of the things brought have to be thrown away because of their obscene condition.
We must treat with respect and love those who expect our help. If we give away things, then they must be in good condition, washed and ironed, if we transfer products, then they must not be expired. A person who is in need is no different from us, I don’t think that any of us will eat expired cottage cheese or milk.
First of all, we must strive to make someone else's misfortune or need actually become your own.
You can think a lot about mercy and virtue, because giving alms correctly is a great art, the well-being of a person directly depends on the possession of which, but it is difficult to give without condemning.
If you decide to give alms to someone - give, without thinking about whether you are doing good or bad by giving him alms, and why so, but just give, for you are giving to the Lord. Make no distinction between a man and a woman, nationalities, for for Him everyone is His children, and He looks at you from Heaven - how you will react to His creation.
The Lord can test a person in other ways.
If it falls on you great luck, money, wealth, and the like - remember that this is also a test from the Lord: how will you treat him and your smaller brethren? Not without reason at all times eminent merchants gave money for the construction of churches (by the way, if a person gives money for the construction new church, any damage is removed from it), salaries for icons, donated to widows and orphans.
If a person does not stand the test of wealth - he begins to despise the poor and the weak, to use it for evil to people, then the Lord takes away his wealth. The test can be like that of Job. And then one should not complain, but one should pray and give to the church and the poor. Wealth is given to a person for someone and in the name of something, some good goal, the increase of love in the world.
However, it should not be given to everyone and not everywhere, because some of the people are not worth giving to them. There are freaks and cripples, punished by God for sins, and there are people who have been given a severe test. Therefore, as you pass by, listen to yourself and ask: "Is this to be served?", and you will hear the voice of your soul, you will hear the answer, only it will be very quiet, so that some will not want to listen.
You can serve if the beggars are sitting: (but always be careful, look at the person)
At the entrance to the temple, chapel, near holy springs and holy places;
- at the entrance to the market;
- at the trolleybus stop;
- at the entrance to the hotel.
You cannot serve to those who are sitting below ground level (in underground passages) and drunk, because you are serving not to God. Also, you should not give alms to those sitting at crossroads, near pharmacies and medical institutions (a person gives away his health), near cemeteries and "unclean places", at post offices, under sacred trees (oak, apple, aspen), with signs or with children . If the one who asks is sitting with the dog, it is possible. Give children under 15 years of age only products so as not to corrupt. Give money to young and middle-aged people with caution (in case of malicious intent, they can take away energy, health, vitality). You should not give alms on Wednesdays - this is the day of Mercury (there will be interference in business and trade, because you give away your success), on your birthdays and christenings, as well as returning from some ceremonies.
Before giving alms, one must look at the face of the petitioner and his clothes. If a person is dirty and stooped, looks askance, has a \"hare lip\",\"bird\" facial features, red, six-fingered, one-eyed, withered (if one-armed, one-legged - first ask whether it is a punishment from the Lord God or not ?), standing with a hat in his hand - do not serve. The hat should lie on the ground, next to the feet (in the subtle world, small copper money is tears, and when a person bends down, everything rolls off him into this hat).
It should be served with medium and small coins, preferably 5 kopecks, or if the coin depicts a rider on a horse (such coins were preferred by the wonderful Russian Saint Xenia of Petersburg), you can use banknotes with ones and zeros (10 lats, 100 rubles). You can not give coins with an even number (especially 2), do not give 50 kopecks, except for the church. Serve without touching the hand of the person asking.
It is advisable to give a small amount to the person who has named it, but if he asks for the second time, he should politely refuse, saying \"the first word is more expensive than the second \".
Or, for example, someone comes up and asks to buy a bouquet of flowers at the station for a certain amount, then you have to buy, and then you will not have any problems on the road and you will avoid major troubles.
Leaving the bazaar (and not vice versa, so that you are not robbed), you can give alms to those who collect alms at the entrance to the bazaar, if they are squatting, on a mat or chair, and the hat is not far from their feet. The one who sits on the box will soon \"play the box\" himself.
The alms given in the church deserve special attention.
Entering the church, you should always cross yourself three times, but not in the porch, but after stepping over the threshold into the hall, the same should be done when leaving the church.
Always place the candles first round table- \"in health \", and then on the square-\"for the rest \".
When you come to church with a request to be cured, to remove damage, and so on, you should light candles, express your request clearly and clearly, stand for 15 minutes at the icon, and then apply to the church by dropping the coins into the church box.
Do not give alms to anyone in the church.
Those who ask for a monastery can only be served in the porch of the church. The one who gives at the exit from the church leaves all his troubles and sins, takes off the load, and the one who gives at the entrance leaves it for himself, bringing it into the temple and taking it back from there.
You can give alms if there is an odd number of petitioners in the row (if it is even, you give it dead) - in this case, it is advisable to give a little to everyone, if not in a row - to whom you see fit.
There is also almsgiving in a hidden form. A vivid example of this is the refusal to change in a store. AT this case the seller, who received alms from the buyer, can take his karmic illnesses.
The seller, weighing the buyer or not giving change, violates the commandment of God\"Do not steal\", thereby incurring God's wrath on himself and worsening karma - his own and his children.\"
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The Orthodox faith is built on love for God and people. True Christian will always find a reason to lend a helping hand. Therefore, it is necessary to learn how to sacrifice your time and provide material support to people in need. Why should you submit? What is the right way to give charity? Who better to help close person or an outside beggar? Let's examine these questions in detail.
Why should charity be given?
In all patristic literature, we see examples that oblige us to do the same. main foundation Orthodox faith It is a sacrifice built on love.
- Give as it is necessary and, firstly, give with a friendly look from a good heart, and not with regret and as if involuntarily: not with chagrin and not with compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7).
- As you sow, so shall you reap: sow generously, and reap much; sow sparingly, and reap little. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6).
- He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed (Prov. 19:17).
There are an infinite number of examples that alms are worth giving. Giving alms, we can not only pray for our sins, but also help our living and deceased loved ones. Giving alms, even through force, we soften our hearts. And only in a good heart can the Holy Spirit, one of the components of the Divine Trinity, exist.
It is necessary to donate "for health" or "for peace." It is better if help is provided to a poor person. Often such people can be found near the church. Some rules:
- calculate at home how much you are willing to give;
- if you intend to donate a large amount, it is better to distribute it to all the poor a little bit;
- if the financial assistance is small, choose one person who needs your help. To whom to give, your heart will tell you;
- when giving, ask to pray for health or repose, name the person for whom the sacrifice is being made;
- it is not necessary to submit money, it can be products or things.
Often people begging near the church look unattractive. This includes dirty clothes, a persistent smell of fumes, external injuries, and strange behavior. Remember that you are giving to God! Put aside your inner prejudices, don't judge such people. Often among these beggars there are people who are “thrown away” by life, who have fallen to the very bottom. There can be many reasons for this: homeless childhood, when a person did not learn to live differently, and illnesses of a physical and mental nature. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick,” God said. And if He so decided, do we have the right to doubt.
Who better to help?
We often think that helping loved ones is our charity. Unfortunately, it is not. Helping native person we don't cleanse our heart. Helping relatives is easy. This is already built into us. The donation will be complete if in our hearts we are a little greedy, nervous, but as a result we give anyway. This means that we were able to overcome our inner "greedy".
However, when serving to strangers, do not forget about relatives. Take a look, maybe some distant relative your help is required. It can be more than just financial support. For example, visit an elderly relative, put things in order with her, bring something tasty with you, and just talk heart to heart. Sacrifice your personal free time. This, too, will be almsgiving in the eyes of the heavenly Father.
Doubt about rational use of your funds to a beggar person, donate money to a church. Often themselves and Orthodox community at the temple they take care of needy people, help with food, clothing and medicines. In any case, the money will go "to the cause."
How to properly give alms, each person decides for himself. This should help the heart Orthodox Christian. Try not to bypass a person in trouble, take a closer look at your neighbors and be ready to always lend a helping hand.
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