Social service for the sake of man. The Church has determined the main directions of its social ministry

Suffering is a terrible reality of the world in which we live, a reality that, in its persuasiveness, perhaps surpasses all other realities of this world. We know the root cause of suffering is sin. Suffering is tolerated by God as a consequence of sin. At the same time, the Lord does not want creatures created for joy, for communion with Him, to suffer. The Lord commands His disciples to be compassionate, merciful, sorry, love all those who are in suffering. The gospel shows us many such examples. The Lord Himself never remained indifferent to the requests with which the unfortunate people turned to Him, and He commanded His disciples to love the people living next to them and help them in need.

Compassion for someone else's grief, someone else's misfortune is the business of every Christian. But, in addition, there has always been a special ministry in the Church, there were people who were involved in organizing this ministry. When in the first Christian community immigrants from the Hellenistic countries began to grumble that their widows were neglected in the distribution of needs (Acts 6: 1-7), then seven deacons were chosen to "take care of the tables." It was a special social service, as we would say now.

This ministry continued in the Church in the future. Not only men, not only deacons, but also women - deaconesses, who were specially appointed and ordained for this, were engaged in it. They helped the priest with the performance of the requirements and, in addition, were engaged in social service.

Unfortunately, in the twentieth century in Russia, this is the work of mercy, which has always been inherent in Orthodox Church, interrupted, and not by internal reasons, but as a result of severe external persecution. But for more than 15 years now, the Church has been free and has the opportunity to renew her social ministry.

Before talking about modern forms of social service in the Church, it should be said that you and I must first of all awaken and strengthen in all members of the Church the desire to serve others. It is necessary not only to take care of the organization of this ministry, but also to try to awaken in people feelings of compassion and pity. It does not appear so easily, especially in young people. In the example of our school, we see that 14-15-year-old girls do not always easily dispose to compassion. They themselves may have never suffered, have never experienced difficult life situations and cannot always respond to someone else's suffering. It also happens the other way around: the terrible trials endured by our orphans harden their hearts and prevent them from becoming what we would like to see them.

It happens that a person, having started serving his neighbor out of good, good intentions, subsequently loses this feeling of love and compassion - whether because he does it incorrectly or not entirely right, or because he is overly engaged in this, he takes on the cross beyond his strength. A good, kind beginning turns out to be with a bad end - a person turns into an ordinary administrator, organizer. When this service becomes just a job that pays money for, the initial impulse of love and pity in a person is lost, dries up.

All our work should flow from the desire to serve our neighbor, from the desire to be compassionate, merciful. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that sisters who graduated from college and worked in the hospital for several years lose their original aspiration with which they came to us. You come to their department, ask: "How are you doing here?" And you hear in response: "Thank God, today we are resting, not a single patient has been brought." This is what sisters who work for money usually say: I want to do less and earn more. If the sister, who came here to serve the salvation of her soul, in order to soften her soul with this service, says so, then it becomes very, very bitter.

We must always be attentive to ourselves and take care of ourselves, so as not to lose the goal for which this business was started. This, it seems to me, is the most important thing.

Now we will talk about the organization of social service, about things that are important, of course, in a practical sense. But nevertheless, one must remember that if there is mercy, if there is love, then the Holy Spirit himself will organize, will direct, and the Lord will arrange and help. If we create some kind of organization similar to the state one, we organize work, maybe we will do better than what has been done in the country now, but forget about the goal, then instead of serving love, an inanimate structure will form.

How can you be strengthened and stay on this path, how can you remain faithful to the call that each of us heard in our souls? It seems to me that for this it is necessary to remember God, to have the image of Christ before our eyes, to participate in church sacraments, to read the Gospel, to the holy fathers, to pray and be attentive to what is happening in the soul. If some bad feelings appear there, if the heart begins to harden and harden, indifference appears, one must repent of this and ask God to soften the hardened heart with His grace.

A wrong job does not help to acquire grace - the gift of the Holy Spirit; on the contrary, it happens that what happened is also lost. Fatigue and excessive work destroy the spiritual order, a person leaves the Church and begins to take pride, pride in his service, exposing it, forgetting that the Lord commanded to do all charity in secret. The result is sometimes terrible and sad. We must try with all our might to preserve that little flame of love and compassion that burns in the heart.

If we talk about the organization of social service, then this work can be conditionally subdivided into the following forms. The first is the ministry that the Church performs within herself as a church community. This is help to those people who work in the community: sick, elderly, single, incomplete and large families within the church community itself. This should never be forgotten. Very often, our social activity turns outward, and at this time in the parishes themselves there are people who need help. We even have sisters who, being overzealous, forget their children, husbands, and parents. They forget them, starting to look after others, visiting hospitals, and their own children are left orphans, husbands are widowers with living wives, mothers and fathers are deprived of daughter and filial affection and consolation.

Work within the church community must be organized. Within each community, someone has to do this on purpose. Of course, the priest must lead this work, but he cannot devote himself entirely to this service, he has other responsibilities. The deacon's ministry has also changed somewhat. Now the deacon helps the priest during the divine service in the church. In addition to the priest and deacon, there should be some other people who can and should know the needs of the parishioners and help them. We must be very attentive to each other, because this is the manifestation of our love, to which the Lord calls us. And it even happens that some other structures in our society show more mercy to their members than Orthodox Christians to each other. When you were in hospitals, you probably saw how his comrades took care of some wounded member of the mafia group. Friends in the gang come in huge numbers, they give expensive gifts to doctors and sisters, they ask what medicines and food are needed ... And when someone from our communities, our parishes gets to the hospital, we do not always know about it. It seems to me that our first task is to work within the parish. We must be caring, considerate of each other, and teach this to our parishioners and members of our sisterhoods.

The next important form of work is social service, turned to the outside, - participation in the work of state structures and the creation of our own, to help all those in need. This work is also very difficult. If we organize some kind of structure into which unbelievers, non-church people also fall, then there is a danger, on the one hand, of imposing our views on them, and on the other, complete inattention to their spiritual needs.

We have departments in the hospital where most of the patients are serious. Our sisters of mercy, working in a public hospital, are not always able to overcome the prevailing stereotypes and ask even a dying person whether he believes in God, whether it is necessary to call a priest to him for parting words. It seems to me that when doing social work in a hospital, we should think not only about medical care, but also about the souls of people. Here you need to find a middle ground. An Orthodox sister should not allow people in our care to leave this world without confession and communion. Moreover, you need to be able to make sure that every illness (after all, illness is a visit from God) would not only be healed, but also serve as a reason for a person to remember his sins and turn to God. Of course, this must be done tactfully, under the guidance of a priest.

There is one more difficulty - interaction with various government agencies. It is not always easy. We have to balance between two extremes: either completely dissolve in the state structure and become like the people who work in it, or oppose this structure and eventually be rejected by it. If we are not in some way united with the people who work with us, they will not accept us and will remain dissatisfied with our work. Conflicts with them, constant confrontation, of course, are unacceptable.

The external direction of social work can take different forms. This is the creation of our own structures - shelters, almshouses, and cooperation with government agencies, and the organization within them of some of their own institutions - there can be a lot of options here. In our community, we have created a school of sisters of mercy with the help of the state, Orthodox people work in it, and our director is Orthodox. There are now orphanages - orphanages, where the directors are priests. There, too, various difficulties arise, but these houses have state funding, children, upon reaching adulthood, are provided with housing with the help of the state.

Who can we help in today's society, and who needs our help most? The field for activity is quite wide, because now the state social work is practically not organized. Socialism is over, a transition to some other type of society has taken place. The forms of caring for people that we were proud of under socialism have been destroyed. This time has passed. In our time, the Church is provided with a huge field for social activity.

In the church in the name of the holy blessed Tsarevich Demetrius, as in many churches in Moscow, we help those people who turn to us for help. For this we have a special nurse on duty who takes care of all the needs and requests of all who come. Requests are very different: someone needs money for travel or clothing, someone needs to be placed in a hospital, others have some other questions. It would be very good if such services were at every church.

Basically, homeless people come to the temple - for food. There are few of them who really need help. They just don't want to work and lead an incredibly difficult life. If only to feed them, that is, to encourage the way of life that they lead, it will be destructive for them. We need to help them get out of this situation. We need houses of industriousness, where they should be helped to find a job.

The church is distributing humanitarian aid. True, now its flow has greatly decreased. Our first experience of distributing humanitarian aid was unsuccessful - with a crush in the queue, mutual grievances. Now we provide assistance to certain categories of those in need: for example, all parishioners, and if to a hospital, then to all departments.

I have already spoken about the need to help large families, the sick and the elderly within the parish itself. Orthodox Christians, unlike non-believers, often have large families, but they do not always cope with raising children. Men in the twentieth century, unfortunately, have become less courageous, less active, which weakens families, especially large families. Therefore, helping such families should be our task. This help can be provided by unmarried young girls. In large families, they will gain experience in caring for children.

Specific problems arise in hospitals, for example when organizing the work of volunteers. We need to be very careful to ensure that people who can harm the sick and discredit the Church do not end up in hospitals. For example, in England such people are selected very carefully. They are sure to talk with them, find out the reason why they decided to help the sick. If the reason is personal grief, then they are not always admitted to this ministry. Working with assistants should be taken very seriously. If we want the staff of volunteers not to decrease, but to increase, then it is imperative to work with these people. They need to be taught, organized, if necessary, provide psychological assistance and, if possible, encourage.

In addition, we have sisters in hospitals who help the priest with the service. The work is also very difficult, because patients are often consumerist, they do not take sacraments seriously. Being healthy, they did not find time to visit the temple. Here, in the hospital, the priest comes to them himself with the proposal to confess and receive communion. The patient asks: "How much does it cost?" - "Not at all." - “Very well, I will confess, I will receive communion, there will be no harm from this, maybe it will help.” The priest for them is something like a psychic, a healer. Such an attitude towards the sacrament and its performer, of course, cannot be encouraged. Therefore, we confess, as a rule, everyone who wants to, and we give communion only to those who are seriously ill; if a person is going to be discharged from the hospital in a day or two, and if he has never received Communion before, then, having confessed him, we will definitely try to send him to church. That which is easily given is of little value. It is necessary that a person treats the sacrament with reverence.

The work of the needed sisters is special; for it you need to select sociable people who can talk about faith, the Church, and the sacraments.

A very important aspect of the Church's activities is work with homeless children - there are a lot of them now. These kids are very difficult. They, as a rule, have perverted ideas about the purpose and meaning of life. In modern boarding schools, the concept of raising such children is absent - the old system of moral values ​​has been destroyed, a new one has not been created. We must give orphans the understanding that they also have a Heavenly Father who can make up for their orphanhood.

Home patronage is an important and specific form of social service. The patronage nurse most often works with the patient one-on-one. This work must be carefully monitored, the sisters must be taught special skills, regularly conduct classes and conversations with them.

A separate conversation is about drug addicts and alcoholics. I don't even know how many of them can be returned to normal life. This task is facing the Church, but it has not yet been properly resolved. It is not so difficult to remove physical dependence on alcohol and drugs. But psychological dependence is much stronger, it is very difficult to overcome it. It seems to me that the Church could help these people by organizing for them some kind of parishes, communities that pull them out of their former circle of communication.

Work with prisoners is also a form of social activity in the Church. This work probably needs to be discussed separately. Many parishes are now in correspondence with prisoners, sending them books and parcels. Unfortunately, this work is not coordinated.

In my short article, I have listed the main forms of social service to the Church. It only remains to emphasize that in our time, in the absence of an established social security system in our country, the social work of the Church is very important. It is not only a help to the state, but also a preaching of Christian love. Preaching is not verbal - today everyone can speak good words, and they no longer believe them. By helping those in need, we show our faith from our works (James 2:18), which is the best preaching. Many people whom we help, in the end, say that in the face of our sisters they saw the image of completely different people, a completely different life, they realized that in our cruel, soulless world one can live completely differently. Many of these people become members of the Church.

The last thing I want to say is the purpose of all our work. As you know, the purpose of every ministry in the Church, every good deed is to acquire the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is very important that, while engaging in numerous deeds of Christian charity, we do not forget that the most important thing for us is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. It is important that this work makes us better, teaches us love, and strengthens our faith.

According to Abba Dorotheus, the one who does this rationally helps the patient in order to soften his heart and acquire mercy. Not for rewards, not for profit, not for money and not for fame, not to create heaven on earth - you yourself know that no matter how hard we try, we will not be able to wipe away the tears of all those who suffer in this life. Our task is to acquire the grace-filled gifts of the Spirit, to make our heart different, to fill it with Christian love for all those around us. And the more this love is in us, the more the grace of God will contribute to our work.

We thank the editors of the magazines "Church and Time" and "Neskuchny Sad"

for assistance in the preparation of materials.

annotation

Work 31 p., 17 sources

Russian Orthodox Church, charity, mercy, sacrificial love, philanthropy, social work, social work theory, Christianity.

The coursework is devoted to a topical topic of applied value - the study of the Russian Orthodox Church as a subject of social service. After Peter's reforms, the period of absolutism, which passed into tsarism, the subsequent atheistic dominance, at the turn of the 20th - 21st centuries, the ROC again occupies both the minds and hearts of many citizens as Russian Federation and other people. At this stage, thoughts about this are very contradictory, but as they say in the holy book of Christianity - "by their fruits you know them." What fruits in the aspect of the social service of the ROC in the historical context and at the present historical stage can be observed - this will be briefly described in this work.

Introduction

1. The main theological provisions of the ROC

2. Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in a historical context

2.1 Church-monastery system of charity in the first centuries after the baptism of Rus

2.2 Development of the monastic system of assistance and support for those in need in the pre-revolutionary time

2.3 Ministry of Orthodoxy during atheistic persecution

2.4 ROC at the end of the 20th century

3. Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church at the turn of the century

3.1 Medical programs

3.2 Anti-alcohol program

3.3 Children's program

3.4 Social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the field of education

3.5 Unemployment program

3.6 Working with refugees and victims of natural disasters

3.7 Working with prisoners

3.8 Medical and nursing care

3.9 Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Armed Forces

Conclusion

Bibliographic list

Introduction

The development of the theory and practice of social work in Russia has a long, centuries-old tradition. The logic of the formation of national statehood led to the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church (hereinafter ROC) played one of the central roles in public charity. For centuries, the universal, Christian idea of ​​love for one's neighbor has called the national consciousness of Russians to mercy and goodness. Unfortunately, for a long time these concepts were identified exclusively with the religious activities of the ROC and Christian morality. The real contribution that the ROC made to the cause of helping “the poor and the poor” throughout its history was hushed up. However, as the revival in the late XX - early XXI centuries. national charity and the restoration of the institution of social work, it becomes obvious the need to study and practical application of the experience of religious charity of the ROC, which from the very beginning of its existence was an organization that took care of the poor and needy people into its own hands.

The role of the ROC in Russian philanthropy should not be absolutized, but at the same time, it is necessary to pay tribute to the mission of charity, which is pouring out in an extensive stream from the Church and her faithful children. All Christian teaching is imbued with the idea of ​​altruistic service to one's neighbor, the idea of ​​sacrificial love for everyone, even to their enemies.

Christianity has made a huge contribution to the universal human thought of mankind also by the fact that it has brought the dominance of the personal principle in man over the general. Sacrificial love and charity in Christianity comes from the depths of the human soul, from the "innermost heart of man" and is regarded as the personal salvation of the whole person and from here - of all mankind.

The institution of social work in Russia can be viewed as a secularized Eastern Catholic Christianity (Orthodoxy), and this work will briefly touch upon one of the aspects of this issue. The work of the ROC as a subject of social work will also be touched upon.

1. Obasic theological provisionsRPP

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the psychology of a beneficent Christian, we will briefly consider the main theological provisions of the ROC in the aspect of ecclesiology, using the social doctrine adopted by the ROC at a local council in 2000. According to the Eastern Catholic teaching, the Church is a gathering of believers in Christ, into which everyone is called upon by Him to enter. In her, “all that is heavenly and earthly” must be united in Christ, for He is the Head of “the Church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1: 22-23). In the Church, the deification of creation is accomplished by the action of the Holy Spirit, and God's original plan for the world and man is fulfilled.

The Church is the result of the redemptive feat of the Son sent by the Father, and the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit, who descended on the great day of Pentecost. According to the expression of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Christ led by Himself mankind, became the Head of the renewed human nature - His body, in which one gains access to the source of the Holy Spirit. The Church is the unity of the “new man in Christ”, “the unity of God's grace, living in a multitude of rational creatures, submitting to grace” (A.S. Khomyakov). “Men, women, children, deeply divided in regard to race, people, language, way of life, work, science, title, wealth ... - the Church recreates them all in the Spirit ... All receive from her a single nature, inaccessible to destruction, nature, which is not influenced by the numerous and deep differences that people differ from each other ... In it, no one is at all separated from the general, everyone seems to dissolve in each other by the simple and indivisible power of faith ”(Saint Maximus the Confessor).

The Church is a divine-human organism. As the body of Christ, she unites in herself two natures - the divine and the human - with their inherent actions and volitions. The Church is connected with the world by its human, created nature. However, it interacts with him not as a purely terrestrial organism, but in all its mysterious fullness. It is the divine-human nature of the Church that makes possible the grace-filled transformation and purification of the world, which takes place in history in creative collaboration, the “synergy” of the members and the Head of the church body.

The Church is not of this world, just as her Lord, Christ, is not of this world. But He came into this world, “humbled” Himself to its conditions - into the world that He had to save and restore. The church must go through the process of historical kenosis (self-belittling), fulfilling its redemptive mission. Its purpose is not only the salvation of people in this world, but also the salvation and restoration of the world itself. The Church is called to act in the world in the image of Christ, to testify of Him and His Kingdom. Members of the Church are called to join the mission of Christ, His service to the world, which is possible for the Church only as a conciliar service, “let the world believe” (John 17:21). The Church is called to serve the salvation of the world, for the Son of Man Himself “did not come to be served, but to serve and give His soul for the redemption of many” (Mark 10:45).

The Savior says about Himself: “I am in the midst of you, as a servant” (Luke 22:27). Serving for the salvation of the world and man cannot be limited by national or religious frameworks, as the Lord Himself clearly says about this in the parable of the merciful Samaritan. Moreover, the members of the Church come into contact with Christ, who has borne all the sins and sufferings of the world, meeting every hungry, homeless, sick, prisoner. Help to the suffering is in the full sense help to Christ Himself, and the eternal destiny of every person is connected with the fulfillment of this commandment (Matthew 25. 31-46). Christ calls on His disciples not to disdain the world, but to be "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world."

The Church, being the body of the God-man Christ, is God-man. But if Christ is a perfect God-man, then the Church is not yet a perfect God-manhood, for on earth she is at war with sin, and her humanity, although internally united with the Divine, by no means expresses Him in everything and corresponds to Him.

Life in the Church, to which every person is called, is an unceasing service to God and people. All God's people are called to this ministry. The members of the body of Christ, participating in the common ministry, also fulfill their special functions. Each is given a special gift to serve all. “Serve one another, each with the gift that you have received, as good stewards of the many different grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). “To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; faith to another, by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; to another miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different languages, a different interpretation of languages. Yet one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each separately, as He pleases ”(1 Cor. 12: 8-11). The gifts of the manifold grace of God are given to each separately, but for the joint ministry of the people of God (including for the world).

The Church calls on her faithful children to participate in public life, which should be based on the principles of Christian morality. In the High Priestly Prayer, the Lord Jesus asked Heavenly Father for His followers: “I do not pray that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from evil ... As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world” (Jn. 17.15.18). Manichean oppression by the life of the surrounding world is unacceptable. The participation of a Christian in it should be based on the understanding that the world, society, and the state are objects of God's love, for they are intended for transformation and purification on the basis of God-commanded love. The Christian must see the world and society in the light of its ultimate destiny, in the eschatological light of the Kingdom of God. The discernment of gifts in the Church is manifested in a special way in the area of ​​her public service. An inseparable church organism participates in the life of the surrounding world in its entirety, but the clergy, monastics and laity can exercise such participation in different ways and to varying degrees.

2. WITHsocial ministryRPPin the historical contextToste

2 .1 Church-monastery system of charityin the first ineka after the baptism of Rus

In 988, Christianity in the Orthodox version is recognized as the official state religion. With the adoption of Christianity, a special organization appeared - the church. The Christianization of the Slavic world had a decisive influence on all spheres of society, on the transformation of social relations, which could not but affect the character, forms of help and support of a person. The resulting cultural and historical situation demanded different principles of integration and other forms of support and protection. It was from this time that the Christian concept of help began to form, which was based on the philosophy of active love for one's neighbor. "Love your neighbor as yourself." This formula becomes a moral imperative that determines the essence of an individual's deed. On the other hand, it expresses the essence of the unity of subjects, thereby becoming an indicator of belonging to a certain community.

However, not only a moral attitude towards one's neighbor, but also an act is the basis of the attitude and worldview of a true Christian. Love and activity - an indissoluble unity - are understood not in their self-sufficiency, but only in mutual connection. This semantic unity also understands the essence of such concepts as "charity", "mercy".

The main objects of assistance are the sick, beggars, widows, orphans. Documents appear regulating relations in the field of support and assistance different categories population of Russia. Among the most ancient sources of law are the church statutes of the princes Vladimir and Yaroslav, which contain the norms of marriage and family relations. There are also new subjects of assistance: the prince, the church, parishes, monasteries. The main directions of help and support were outlined: princely, church-monastery, parish charity, alms.

The state, represented by the princely power, undertakes the construction of monasteries and temples, and at first prepares candidates for priesthood. Power determines customers, i.e. those persons who, in her opinion, need help. Some types of institutions - the hostages - built a church, while others - hospitals - donors, benefactors at their own expense: Russian princes, or church leaders.

Initially, Christianity in Russia was not the ideology and worldview of the majority; it was characterized by isotherism, which was reflected in the life of monasteries. Monasteries initially existed as closed communities. They did not strive for "communion" with the people, since monasticism was asceticism, renunciation of worldly temptations. However, this isolation, detachment, asceticism become attractive for the pagan consciousness. Monasteries are perceived as a kind of sacrament that brings miraculous healing, where they "prophesy", "multiply honey and bread."

Having a higher culture of life, monasteries were a multifunctional system of self-support, where a special type of self-help was formed for a person, associated with the main most important areas of his life: communication, learning, living together in a community, treatment, housekeeping. Therefore, those functions of monastic life, which were traditional for monks, are perceived by the population Ancient Rus as a revelation.

Having received support from the princely authorities, having strengthened economically, the monasteries become centers of charitable and social activities. They perform four main functions: treatment, provision of the poor (in the form of providing one-time assistance with natural products - alms), education, control. According to these functions, there are corresponding forms of support in monasteries. In this respect, monasteries do not “specialize” in any one type of assistance, as is inherent in the Western Church, but act in their multifunctionality.

However, the monastic system of tutelage gradually began to take shape. Its peculiarity consisted in the fact that one who takes the monastic ordination is obliged to bring a gift to the monastery, which made it possible to lead a stable and “well-fed” life within its walls. This is how the “boarding” support system is formed. The gift was brought, as a rule, in the form of land, which was donated by the convert.

We observe a different system of support in the parish system of assistance and protection, where basically the church plays the leading role as the organizing principle, as well as the parish.

In the literature of the XIX century. there were two stable tendencies, two views on the genesis of this phenomenon in the practice of charity and mercy. In the first case, the development of the parish aid system is associated with the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The devastation of the southern lands led to the migration of the population to the north to remote places. Settlements of migrants began to be erected from the temple, around which dwellings were built. This is how the parish was formed. In addition to administrative functions, the parish, according to the teachings of the church, acts as a community institution to support the sick, the weak, the disabled, orphans, and beggars who accompany the migrants and find their refuge there. Subsequently, on the basis of this "contingent" monasteries are recreated.

In the second case, the development of the parish system is justified by the fact that parish charity is a transitional link between monastic and “civil” aid systems. In contrast to monasteries with their closed organizational structure, parishes are an open system. The parish community elected clergy and clergymen independently (often from among its “parish community members”),

In addition to the clergy, a headman was elected in the community, who performed various functions - from economic to social: acquiring land, building almshouses, collecting debts and distributing money to those in need. All actions of the headman and clergyman were controlled and sanctioned by the community. “At the same time, the parish constituted both an administrative unit, and a tax, and a zemstvo, and a territorial unit. All local affairs were united in it, all communal civil and church life was concentrated in it. Therefore, it is natural that ancient Russian parishes also became organs of ancient Russian charity ”(E. Maksimov).

In fact, two different points of view express one tendency: the practice of assistance is not associated only with the activities of monasteries, it appears in other organizational forms, becoming part of the administrative and economic mechanism of the community. The activities of the parishes were not limited to providing assistance to the crippled, crippled, and beggars; those tendencies of the "first spiritual teachers" of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose practice was conditioned by Christian education, prevailed in it. The process of Christianization in Ancient Russia modifies the process of help and mutual assistance. Along with the traditional subjects of assistance, new ones appear in the face of the princely power and the ROC.

The historical significance of princely benevolence and misery lies in the fact that the emerging centralized government is looking for ways to help subjects that are not related by kinship. It can be added that with the adoption of Christianity, not only administrative and legal reform was carried out, but also attempts were made to socially reform in the area of ​​assistance and support. Initially, this process was carried out within the framework of retinue traditions, pagan brothers, but then there is an alienation of reciprocal and redistributive ties between the prince and the needy. This happened when the impossibility on the part of the princely power to single-handedly carry out Christian social reform, since the society was heterogeneous, and there was a dual faith in it, began to be realized. The confrontation between the pagan and Christian faiths practically led to the opposition of the way of life, which, in turn, led to the impossibility of "dressing up" according to the laws, which should also have not only their own provisions, but also their own legal subject.

2.2 Development of the monastic system of assistance and support in needYushyin pre-revolutionary times

The monastic aid system represents two main stages in the development of monasteries. The first is the unification of lands around monasteries in the central part of Russia (XIV-XVI centuries), the second is the colonization of the North (XVI-XVII centuries). The unification of the lands around the monasteries has been taking place since the second half of the 14th century, when the nature of the monastic administration changes, the reorientation of the life of the monasteries begins, which first of all set themselves the solution of economic problems, turning these monasteries into an independent feudal fiefdom. Sergius of Radonezh and Metropolitan Alexy were at the head of the new monastic reform.

Monasteries-estates are replacing the monasteries founded by princes and bishops. The monastery monasteries have been developing for over two hundred years. They laid the foundation for a “boarding” support system not only for men, but also for women. During this time, the institution of widows receives legal recognition and "institution" (which allowed widows to live in abundance for a number of years). Moreover, many Russian princesses (or their husbands) specially built monasteries to spend the rest of their lives within its walls. Vows have become an integral part of a woman's life scenario.

In addition to the active role of the ROC in the sacralization of life processes, the functions of protecting and supporting widows and orphans are also important, i.e. those functions that were the privilege of the princely power.

The attractiveness of the monastic protection and support for the working people was also in the fact that they had more favorable living conditions, being part of the monastery fiefdom. The peasants went to the monasteries, for they were exempted from duties and taxes, from the jurisdiction of local authorities, from the princely officials passing through the villages, who needed to be given carts, horses and fodder, guides, etc. The peasants found a quiet refuge in the monastery, “reliable protection from political and administrative persecution and oppression, - a safe haven from various failures and calamities, sorrows and hardships that are inseparable from the life of almost every person. " The arrival of the working people makes the monasteries strong and abundant. Their wealth was multiplied by private contributions. They are different - from church utensils and religious items to land. Deposits were donated with different conditions: remembrance of the depositors after death, feeding the poor on their behalf, etc. But there were also special ones. land deposits, which allowed the depositor during his lifetime to live on preferential terms on the territory of the monastery (not to take monastic dignity, not to lead an ascetic lifestyle). Such a resident had the status of a balti.

The mercy and mercy preached by the ROC do not become only abstract concepts, they are consistent with the real conditions of a person's public and private life. Charity is not only a way of salvation, but also an act (aimed at harmonizing social relations), followed by pardon. The theoretical comprehension of mercy in the new historical conditions not only introduces a different system of analogies, but there is a reassessment of the categories of the needy, the institution of widows, the institution of the beggars, all those social institutions that are indicators of the “fair” or “unfair” state social policy in relation to the vulnerable segments of the population.

In the XVIII - XIX centuries. The role of the ROC in public affairs is noticeably fading away in connection with the total subordination of the Church to the state in the person of Peter the Great. For the Church, this was a big blow, which deprived her of the patriarchate (restored only in 1917), entailing the distortion of church teaching by various heresies of the Catholic and Protestant persuasion. In the late 19th - early 20th centuries, charity and other public service, freeing themselves from the fetters of bureaucracy, find support in private philanthropic institutions. The liberation of the ROC from the bonds of state enslavement was the revolution of 1917 (at the cost of a host of martyrs of 70-year Babylonian (communist) captivity ...

2.3 Ministry of Orthodoxy during atheistic persecution

After October 1917, all social concern was banned from the Churches. By Lenin's decree, she was separated from the state and the school. Temples were subjected to barbaric destruction. Confiscation of church property, the destruction of monasteries, the murder and expulsion of clergy were common practice of that period. Two wars, repressions in 1928 and 1934. inflicted on the ancient Russian Church such a blow from which she has not been able to recover to this day. However, the most difficult test in conditions of social isolation was the inability to show charity in the male life of believers. Nevertheless, even in this tragic time, the ROC was a spiritual shepherd in matters of mercy. In the early 20s. a terrible famine broke out in Russia, which claimed a huge number of human lives. The Soviet government was unable to cope with the disaster, and in many respects aggravated it. More than once, the persecuted Saint Tikhon appealed to Christians all over the world to help Russians, as well as to parishes that survived the robbery, with a request to donate church decorations that have no ritual purpose to a fund to help the hungry. At this time, the ROC spent less money on charitable activities than other organizations and foundations.

During the Great Patriotic War, the ROC did not remain aloof from the common cause of fighting the enemy. On the very first day of the war, the head of the Orthodox Church in Russia, the patriarchal locum tenens Metropolitan Sergius, a 74-year-old elder, published his appeal to all believers in our country. In this appeal, Metropolitan Sergius appeals with all the force of persuasiveness to the patriotic feelings of believers, calls for the fulfillment of the sacred duty to the homeland, sanctifying this patriotic impulse with a primal blessing. This call was regarded by believers as a call to the last battle for freedom from slavery, granted by God to “Holy Russia” for the great sins of apostasy from the true faith.

Believers willingly carried, following the example of their patriotic ancestors, not only money, bonds, but also scrap silver, copper and other things: shoes, linen, linen, etc. A lot of dried and leather footwear, greatcoats, hats, socks, gloves and underwear were prepared and handed over. A special collection was organized for gifts for the soldiers on the day of the Red Army, which gave over 30 thousand rubles, the gifts were distributed among the hospitals to the wounded, who cordially welcomed such attentive care of them.

Throughout the country, prayers were held for the granting of victory. In the parishes, funds were collected for defense and gifts to soldiers, for the maintenance of the wounded in hospitals and orphans in orphanages. 8 million rubles were collected for the construction of a tank column named after Dmitry Donskoy. The Siberian squadron "For the Motherland" was built and equipped at the expense of clergy and laity funds. During the war, Orthodox believers raised 200 million rubles for the needs of the front.

After the war, the ROC, together with other religious organizations, actively participated in the struggle for peace. She made significant contributions to the Soviet Peace Fund. The experience of the peacemaking service of the Russian Church is generally recognized. He strengthened her international ties, both humanitarian and economic. Despite the fact that open attacks on the Church, due to her services to the country, stopped, she, as before, was forced to combine an active patriotic position in foreign policy with social indifference inside the country. If the separation of the Church from the state contributed to the restoration of her autonomy, then, on the other hand, this also “excommunicated” religion from charity. The attempts of the Church to become useful to society were frustrated by the principle: "Socialism can be built without God."

2.4 ROC inlate XX century

Perestroika changed the attitude of the official authorities to the repeated statements of Church leaders about their desire to join the reviving movement of mercy. The answer to them was limited to the inclusion of the clergy in the composition of the Soviet cultural fund, the Children's Fund. IN AND. Lenin, etc. Dissatisfaction with the forms of charity that arose on the wave of renewal was also expressed in the fact that mercy for a Christian, as stated in the Gospel, cannot be abstract. This is love in practice. Clergymen increasingly spoke out against the formal attitude to the funds of the Church as a source of funding for nationwide social events and plans for charity work of a global nature.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in 1993, confirmed the separation of religious associations from the state, but this time against the background of universal recognition of the role of churches in the process of renewal. Perestroika returned her the right to priority in matters of mercy and compassion. According to the Law on Freedom of Religion, religious associations and churches are allowed to engage in charity work, which immediately intensified their social work. Parishes help parishioners with medicines and pastoral care. Aid received by the Church from abroad is distributed among multi-family, needy, disabled parishioners. A nursing school was organized at the Martha - Mariinsky Convent, a new synodal department of charity appeared.

Charity cannot be conceived without the revival of religious and moral education. The concept of spiritual enlightenment and charity put forward by the ROC is built on this key idea. It contains the following primary and long-term tasks: the revival of the parish as a Christian community of like-minded people; the revival of church fraternities and various kinds of church movements; organization of church health care; the creation of diocesan charity commissions; training of teachers of catechism; organization of a charitable budget (parish diocesan, church-wide).

Specific areas of charitable work also include the creation of a diocesan home for the elderly, a church boarding school for orphans, bookstores for spiritual literature, a diocesan library, a social assistance committee, specialized parish institutions (Sunday schools, courses for catechists for adults, a kindergarten, a library, a canteen, a society of sobriety. etc.).

3.CscGreat ministry of the RPPat the turn of the century

At present, the charitable activities of the believers of the Russian Orthodox Church have become much more active. Many Orthodox charitable foundations and societies have emerged, the purpose of which is charitable activities, the consolidation of the progressive forces of Russia and other countries in the name of the revival and development of the traditions of Christian mercy, assistance in the implementation of initiatives related to humanity, mercy and charity of organizations and citizens, the formation and financing of targeted projects and programs, primarily in the field of health care and social security, the organization of public welfare homes for the poor and disadvantaged.

The activities of Orthodox charitable organizations, societies, foundations are aimed at providing assistance to individuals in need of it, and entire social groups (for example, refugees, migrants, etc.), to finance and organize social programs of a charitable nature (their focus varies depending on from the goals of a particular foundation, from the creation of a network of charitable canteens, shops, distribution points, centers for social adaptation to medical assistance and care for children, assistance to prisoners, the embodiment of the principles of Christian charity in the field of education and upbringing, participation in the practical revival of Orthodox charity and charity , Orthodox shrines, etc.); to study domestic and foreign experience of charitable activities, etc.

At the same time, it should be noted that there are problems in organizing the efforts of those individuals and organizations who want to join the charitable work of the church. This is primarily due to the still tangible lack of experience. Exchange of experience, coordination of charitable activities between Orthodox, other religious and secular organizations is today an urgent need in the development of charitable activities in Russia and the CIS countries.

Constant assistance to dioceses, parishes, monasteries in matters of mercy and charity is provided by the Department of Church Charity and Social Service, including both specific material assistance and advisory assistance. The department publishes a monthly newsletter "Diakonia", which is sent to all dioceses. In general, the institution of mercy of the Russian Orthodox Church appears to be organized and orderly on the basis of agreement on the issue of mercy by the community of believers, where rational regulations determine not only the rights and obligations of community members, but also fix the sources of funding and support for charitable activities from various social institutions, sponsors ... The normal functioning of this institution depends on the compatibility of the specific values ​​of religion with the fundamental values ​​of society, Christians with representatives of other confessions, as well as non-believers.

At the present time, essentially a new stage is beginning in the charitable work of Orthodoxy. The development of this activity comes up against a lack of material resources. The search for these funds is carried out in various directions, including the development of entrepreneurial and economic activities of church organizations and monasteries, seeking help from sponsors, patrons, etc.

When establishing contacts, especially in the localities - in dioceses and parishes, between secular social workers and representatives of Orthodox organizations, one may come across the fact that the latter are sometimes inclined to carry out social service primarily among fellow believers. At the same time, the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church note the opposite fact. For example, Professor-Archpriest Gleb Kaleda testifies: "... The organizers of Orthodox charity note that it is often easier to attract people with a kind heart, but almost non-believers or neophytes, recently baptized and churches, than the so-called Orthodox church people."

3.1 Medical programs

One of the most important areas in the social ministry of the Russian Orthodox Church today, as before, is assistance to suffering people within the framework of medical institutions (hospitals, hospitals). At the end of 1990, in St. Petersburg, next to the Theological Academy, the first in our country after 1917, a church charitable hospital of St. Blessed Xenia of Petersburg, was opened.

Central clinical hospital The Moscow Patriarchate in the name of St. Alexis, together with the Department and the Government of Moscow, began to create a patronage service on the basis of the hospital, designed to provide care for the sick and elderly people. Currently, this kind of patronage service is already functioning in the Southern District of Moscow. In the context of the transition of medical services to a commercial basis, the Moscow Patriarchate Hospital is one of the few clinics where examination and treatment is carried out free of charge.

At the All-Russian Center for Mental Health of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Russia, there is a psychiatric service that provides free assistance to persons referred for treatment by the parishes of Moscow, the Moscow region and other dioceses. There are 250 people under constant diagnostic observation. The clinic is simultaneously treating 20 patients - on a non-commercial basis. In 1996, a special rehabilitation service was created. Through the Department of Church Charity, it is possible to hospitalize patients in the 1st Psychiatric Hospital. ON THE. Alekseeva (former Kashchenko), where pastoral care for the mentally ill is carried out by the rector of the hospital church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow". Through the staff of the clinic and the Department on the territory of this psychiatric hospital in July 1996 a memorial chapel was erected.

A significant event was the signing in March 1997 of a Cooperation Agreement between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Ministry of Health. This agreement opened up wide opportunities for expanding the care of patients in clinics for the development of joint medical institutions charitable projects.

A specific feature of the charitable and charitable activities of religious organizations is its inextricable connection, its unity with religious preaching, with the mission. “More than 200 sisters of mercy who graduated from the school at the church of Tsarevich Dimitri, not only provide medical assistance, but they bring deeds of mercy to the suffering of a number of hospitals in Moscow. " The idea of ​​the unity of mercy and mission is laid in the basis of the "Concept for the revival of spiritual enlightenment and charity of the Russian Orthodox Church", as well as the organizational and functional structure of the Commission for the revival of religious and moral education and charity.

The Orthodox clergy believe that charity and charity should be closely linked with religious preaching. Mercy is a form of Christian preaching. Hence the need for specially trained personnel who have not only the necessary professional training, but also moral qualities. Such cadres are being trained today in the network of nursing schools, within the brotherhood of doctors, at some hospitals, etc.

3.2 Anti-alcohol program

Already in the 1850s, the first parish sobriety societies began to appear in Russia. In 1882, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt opened in his parish the House of Diligence, where many fallen people were spiritually reborn. By the beginning of the XX century. practically every diocese had a temperance society. In 1912, the first all-Russian congress of practitioners to combat alcoholism on a religious and moral basis was held in Moscow.

Several years ago, the Russian Orthodox Church launched an anti-alcohol program. It, and this is its specificity, is conducted according to the principle of the so-called “family sobriety communities”, where, in parallel with the treatment of alcoholics, work is carried out with members of their families in order to create an atmosphere of sympathy and support around them. In 1996, the Department's anti-alcohol program was actively developed. Now in Russia there are 25 family sobriety clubs, 8 more are ready to open. The Department of Justice of the city of Moscow has registered the public movement "On the Way to Sobriety", the Board of Trustees of which includes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.

3.3 Children's program

Significant attention is paid to the activities of the ROC and children's programs. In this regard, mention should be made of the activities of the orphanage school in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Medvedkovo. In the school where more than 70 children from the most disadvantaged families live, study and receive education, there is a chapel in which prayers, the Sacrament of Baptism are performed, and catechetical talks are held. Archpriest Porfiry Dyachek, the rector of the Intercession Church in Medvedkovo, takes part in the counseling of orphans and street children - pupils of the orphanage. Pupils of the orphanage school in their free time not only visit theaters, circuses, study in circles, rest in summer camps, but also from an early age are accustomed to helping the elderly - residents of nearby houses.

In addition, a society for helping orphans and disabled children has been created in the name of the holy unmercenaries Kosma and Domian, and others. The Department of Church Charity and Social Service of the Moscow Patriarchate has established an international charitable center of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The task of the center is to provide the necessary comprehensive assistance in spiritual education, professional training of children in orphanages and children in need of social protection, as well as to create material conditions for the start of their independent life.

3.4 Social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the field of education

The living practice of the ROC, through the works of many lay priests, catechists, parents and students themselves, gave rise to various forms of religious education, catechization of the laity and missionary work:

Sunday schools at temples;

Evangelical circles for adults;

Baptismal preparation groups;

Orthodox kindergartens;

Orthodox groups in public kindergartens;

Orthodox grammar schools, schools, lyceums;

Orthodox are electives in private and public schools;

Systematic conversations on certain programs in temples;

Public lectures in temples;

Lectures on specific subjects, topics and problems in universities;

Orthodox catechist courses;

Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological Institute;

Orthodox University of John the Theologian and other similar higher educational institutions;

Organized pilgrimages;

Orthodox children's, youth and family camps;

Help for the elderly and disabled. Characteristic in this respect is the activity Orthodox society"Hope and Salvation" that provides varied help elderly people at home. It has become a good tradition to hold charity evenings and concerts for the elderly, invalids, war and labor veterans with the participation of the clergy and children's choirs of Sunday schools.

3.5 Unemployment program

The problem of unemployment has become a sign of the times. Its solution is also in the focus of attention of the Russian Orthodox Church. Now, together with the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Lefortovo, the Department is developing a program to create jobs. It is planned that the unemployed parishioners will be engaged in sewing at home. In addition, the Coordination Council of Women's Charitable Organizations, created under the Department, is also called upon to resolve the issues of female unemployment. It seems that both sisterhoods and brotherhoods can and should participate in the most active way in church charity, in solving a number of social problems. This process is facilitated by the Agreement on Cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ministry signed this year. social protection.

3.6 Working with refugees and victims of natural disasters

A special direction of the social service of the ROC in modern conditions is work with refugees, the organization of food, the most needy compatriots in the countries of the near abroad and the republics of the Russian Federation. In cooperation with state and public organizations, the Department provides advisory and, as far as possible, material assistance in the form of clothing, food, travel documents.

A number of confessions and seminars of the Russian Orthodox Church (Chechnya, North Ossetia and Ingushetia) were devoted to the problems of providing assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons; assistance was rendered in the amount of 500 thousand dollars. USA.

Providing assistance to victims of natural disasters and emergencies. It is very characteristic that charitable assistance and charitable support is provided regardless of national and religious affiliation. On this occasion, the Department held a conference, which was attended by representatives of the clergy, including the Moscow one.

3.7 Working with prisoners

An increasing place in the charitable activities of Orthodoxy is occupied by work with prisoners. The Church does not forget her children, who have transgressed the line of the law and justly found themselves imprisoned. The priests, despite the parish workload, go to the suffering, carrying them the word of Truth. In October 1994, a joint conference of representatives of correctional institutions and the Church was held at the Domodedovo Training Center. Both sides expressed their wishes for further joint work in the matter of spiritual enlightenment and upbringing of convicts. Thanks to the openness and non-formalism of the approach of the leadership of this department to the problem of educating persons in custody, Orthodox churches, chapels, and prayer houses have now been opened in more than 60 correctional labor institutions, isolation wards. Analysis of mail from places of detention indicates the great importance of the temple in the spiritual support of prisoners and their correction.

Similar activities are carried out in many correctional labor colonies. (For example, in the correctional labor colony No. 33 in Saratov, where the temple of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg was consecrated in 1992, in the correctional labor colony No. 5 in St. Petersburg, where the prisoners themselves built a new church in the name of the Martyr Benjamin of Petrograd. The temple was consecrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and weighing Russia Alexy II, who donated the Bible and other religious literature to prisoners. I would also like to note the service of the Amur diocese in the penitentiary system of the Amur region).

It is well known that the stay of convicts in prisons contributes little to their moral correction. Usually, the prisoner is seen, first of all, as a criminal, and punishment is considered the main form of influence on him. People who have returned to freedom often take the path of crime again. Communication with convicted believers and clergy is based on a fundamentally different moral and psychological basis. They "separate" the person who committed the crime from the crime itself. They see in this person not so much the culprit as the victim of an evil will. In the Christian understanding, man is the bearer of the image of God, which is called to be godlike, deified. Evil in man is a consequence of the Fall, which was expressed in disobeying the will of God ("Do not eat the fruit of good and evil, otherwise you will die by death", "You are not yet ready for such encounters with nothingness, keep and create paradise" - these were approximately the requests of God to his friend - man. But a person, wrongly using the greatest and at the same time - the most dangerous gift from the Creator - free will, goes into the chaos of nothingness, falling under the will of Satan. Evil in man is an unnatural state of madness). Such psychological attitudes allow the clergyman or lay believer in communication with the convict to avoid the position of moral superiority, the role of the educator in its simplified understanding. “The priest will not just talk and console,” writes Hieromonk Sergius, the first clergyman in the past 70 years to visit Butyrka prison. "He will share with the suffering one his unbearable moral burden, he will be compassionate with him."

3.8 Medical and nursing care

Social service in different areas is actively developing a number of Moscow parishes. Thus, the parish in the name of the faithful Tsarevich Dimitri at the 1st city hospital, with the help of the sisterhood, provides medical and patronage assistance. The sisters of mercy after graduation, as well as the parishioners of the church, work in the most difficult departments of the 1st city hospital as nurses and nurses. The parishioners of the church also work in the patronage service, who serve the sick at home, clean the apartments, do the laundry, prepare food, and buy groceries. Those who have medical education, carry out medical education, carry out medical care - injections, dressings, internal infusions, feeding, personal hygiene, partial rehabilitation of patients. Members of the sisterhood not only carry out obediences in the 1st city hospital, taking care of lonely patients and carrying out patronage services at home, but also work with orphans, visiting orphanage No. 12, Svyato-Dimitrievsky orphanage, an orphanage for underage children in the city of Moscow, helping prisoners, as well as socially disadvantaged groups of the population and hospitals.

The parish of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh is working no less in this direction. Under him, the Medical and Educational Center "Life" was organized, which aims to inform Russians about such a grave sinful phenomenon as abortion. For three years, the staff of the Center delivered about 800 lectures in schools, colleges and institutes. More than a dozen different programs, seven TV programs and more than 20 publications in various publications devoted to this topic have been conducted. The total circulation of brochures and leaflets has reached millions of copies. Relations have been established with 598 medical institutions, where the Center's publications are regularly sent. There is a patronage, caring for 8 seriously ill people who are unable to move independently.

The brotherhood of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, at the Church of All Saints b. Novoalekseevsky monastery, preparing the opening of the almshouse in this parish. Assistance is systematically provided to the poor, the elderly, the blind, and those with many children thanks to the constant deliveries of humanitarian aid through the channels of the fraternity from the United States and Belgium.

3.9 Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Armed Forces

Reforms and spiritual revival of our society to a large extent affected the military collectives of the Russian Army. In 1996, we witnessed close and fruitful cooperation between the Russian army and the Orthodox Church. Such cooperation is the imperative of the times, it is due to the revival of the state-patriotic idea and the best traditions of faithful service to the Fatherland.

To date, joint statements have been signed with five ministries and departments that have a military contingent. Together with the Federal Border Service, approved long-term plan mutual cooperation. In addition, to develop and supplement the cooperation begun with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an Agreement on Cooperation was signed, which provides for a number of measures, the main goal of which is to overcome the spiritual and moral crisis, to strengthen law and order and legality. A similar agreement with the Ministry of Defense is being prepared for signing, which will provide for the development of relations in matters of patriotic education, spiritual and moral education of servicemen, and determine practical steps to implement their religious needs.

I would like to note that although there were more mutual measures with the Ministry of Defense than with anyone else, the other departments did not stand aside either. The priests of the Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies visited the hospital in Balashikha on holidays, congratulated the wounded soldiers on the holiday and presented them with gifts.

Program for church interaction with the state and society in the social field. In this regard, a Public Council was created, which included the heads of scientific centers, well-known political and cultural figures. The ROC is making efforts to establish contacts with charitable foundations of other confessions - Muslim, Buddhist, using the experience of foreign charitable organizations, the efforts of individual citizens.

Conclusion

Traditions of charity and charitable activities have been actively developing in the Eastern Christian Church from the very beginning of its formation. From the time of the Christianization of Rus until 1917, the matter of "public contempt" was in the hands of the Church.

Over the years of its existence, the ROC has accumulated extensive experience in charitable and charitable activities, which are actively reviving today. Of course, like any other, this experience has not only advantages, but also disadvantages, but on the whole it can in many ways serve the spiritual revival of our Fatherland. "But spiritual revival is not only the construction of churches, the opening of monasteries, it is the creation of temples in the souls of people, the revival of mercy and generosity, so characteristic of Russian Orthodoxy."

This is the widespread work that the ROC does in the area of ​​social service. Unfortunately, the objective socio-economic situation in the country indicates that the need for such work will not only exist for a long time, but will increase every year.

Today Russia feels on its social body the beneficial impact of the service of the ROC. It would be wrong to say that this is a rebirth. Suffice it to recall what the tsarist government led to with the Orthodox government, which glorified both the virtue and the vices of the "tsar-father" at every service. The concept that is fashionable today is "the revival of Orthodoxy in Russia" and the preaching of the monarchist state structure as the only godly administration, it seems, can only lead to a repetition of 1917. I would call the current state of the ROC the concept of "renewal." After all, the XVIII - XIX centuries. were centuries of intra-church disputes between Catholic and Protestant theology and their joint opposition to secularization and free-thinking.

The theoretical foundations of Greco-Catholic theology, the religious philosophy of the “holy fathers of the Byzantine Orthodox Church” were resurrected by the “ship of the 22nd year,” by such God-enlightened fathers as Fr. Georgy Florovsky, Fr. Vladimir Lossky, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Fr. John Meyendorff and other Russian religious thinkers. After all, it is known that correct knowledge, correct spirituality gives rise to correct behavior, correct life.

Studying the material for this work, one gets the impression (no matter how strange it may sound) that realized in potency, guided by the free will of a person in synergy with the grace-filled will of God, in the world of determinations it is necessary to try to realize in reality, penetrating with consciousness deeper and deeper into memories of future ...

Fulfilling the mission of saving the human race, the Church does this not only through direct preaching, but also through good deeds aimed at improving the spiritual, moral and material condition of the surrounding world. For this, it interacts with the state, even if it is not Christian in nature, as well as with various public associations and individuals, even if they do not identify themselves with the Christian faith. Without setting the direct task of converting everyone to Orthodoxy as a condition of cooperation, the Church hopes that joint beneficence will lead her fellow workers and people around her to the knowledge of the Truth, help them to maintain or restore loyalty to the God-given moral norms, move them to peace, harmony and prosperity, in conditions whom the Church can best fulfill her saving work.

I would like to conclude, following St. Gregory Palama, in fulfilling the will of God, to open more and more to His uncreated energies (grace, "the light of Tabor"), ascending to the ideal of God-manhood, according to the words of the religious philosopher-Slavophile Alexei Stepanovich Khomyakov: "In the unity of freedom according to the law of love."

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Social service and charity in the life of the Church

The place of social service in the Holy Scriptures and Tradition of the Church

The most important task of a Christian is the practical fulfillment of the commandment of Christ the Savior about love for God and neighbor (Matt. 22: 37-39).

Social ministry of the Church(charity, social work, diakonia) is an activity initiated, organized, coordinated and financed by the Church or with the help of the Church, with the aim of helping those in need.

The Old Testament repeatedly points to the pleasing of charity (Deut. 16: 9-10), which is directly associated with the reverence of the Creator (Proverbs 14.31), delivers from death (Tov. 4.10; 12.9) and cleanses all sin ( Comrade 12.9; Dan.4.24). Alms are placed on a par with prayer, sacrifice and fasting (Tov. 12.8; Is. 58.6-7).

Scripture Old Testament it speaks of helping the poor (Job 29.16; Lev. 25.35; Deut. 15.7-11, etc.); the duty to feed the hungry (Comrade 1,17; Is. 58,7 and others); to give drink to the thirsty one (Proverbs 25.21); clothe naked (Tov. 1,17; Is. 58,7); to help the sick and crippled (Job 29.15; 2 Mac. 8.28); support a widow and an orphan (Job 29.12-13; 31.16-17; Proverbs 31.8, etc.); to provide hospitality to the homeless and strangers (2 Kings 17: 27-29; Isa. 58: 7); take care of the prisoners (Is. 58.6; 61.1), etc. Godly people are ordered to give to the poor (Lev. 19: 9-10) or lend without interest (Lev. 25, 35-37; Deut. 15 , 7-11). However, the concept of "neighbor" in respect of whom good deeds should be carried out was limited to the framework of the people of Israel (Deut. 15.3: 7-11; Ex. 22.25-27; Lev. 25: 35-37; Deut. 23.20 ).

In the New Testament, diakonia is an active and practical expression of Christian mercy and love commanded by the Savior: “As I have loved you, so you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. "(John 13: 34-35). Love for one's neighbor is a sacred calling and a moral duty of a Christian (John 13:34), for at the Last Judgment, God will ask everyone whether he has done deeds of mercy (see Matt. 25,40).

At the same time, the social service of the Church cannot be limited by religious, national, state-political or social frameworks. The Church extends its love of mankind not only to its members, but also to those who do not belong to it (Luke 10: 30-37).

The history of the Church from the earliest apostolic times bears witness to her broad social ministry. So already in the book of Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles, we find evidence of systematic care for the poor (Acts 6: 1-6; Acts 9: 39) and recommendations for its dispensation (2 Cor. 8: 1-24; 1 Tim. 5, sixteen;).

From the era of early Christianity to the present, episcopal sees, monasteries and parish communities have remained the most important centers of social service and assistance to the suffering, sick, and needy.

Among the saints glorified by the Church, there is a special rite of unmercenaries - those who, in addition to internal spiritual deed, carried the cross of free service to their neighbors.

In the Russian Orthodox Church, lay saints are especially venerated who in their lives combined service to the Fatherland with the organization of sacrificial deeds of mercy, for example, the holy prince Vladimir the Baptist, the wife of the blessed prince Demetrius of the Don Evdokia (monastic Efrosinia) Moscow, the new martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth and many others.

The preaching of the Orthodox faith to the peoples of Russia usually began with deeds of mercy and the organization of various types of social service on the ground, and the missionary enlighteners themselves, as a rule, were a personal example not only of the purity of life, but also of organizational skills. This is how the preaching of Christ was carried out by Saints Stephen of Perm, Macarius (Nevsky), Innocent (Veniaminov).

In the most difficult conditions of persecution of the twentieth century, the faithful children of the Orthodox Church, clergy and laity, despite repressions and prohibitions, continued to secretly carry out social service to their neighbors both in prisons and camps and in parishes.

By the grace of God, after the end of persecution over the past 20 years, the Russian Orthodox Church, having returned to large-scale free activities in the field of social service, has accumulated sufficient potential to implement systematic programs in this area.

Experience in social service and charity

St. right. John of Kronstadt

A striking example of social service and charity is the sacrificial service to the people of St. right. John of Kronstadt. His more than half-century priestly ministry (1855-1909) took place in Krostadt, which at that time was the place of administrative exile for petty criminals (thieves, drunkards, vagabonds, etc.): The city was overflowing with the poorest people, with complete indifference to this situation of the majority representatives of the wealthy estates.

Father John himself went to these fallen, unfortunate, rejected people. He began to visit their wretched dwellings, talked with the poor, consoled, looked after the sick, provided them with material support, often distributing all his salaries to them, so that the diocesan authorities were forced to give money to his wife. At first, those around him did not understand the feat of St. John, they laughed at him, even persecuted him, but he overcame everything with his feat of faith and love.

Unwavering conviction of Fr. John was that "every person must be loved both in sin and in his shame." "Do not confuse a person - this is the image of God - with the evil that is in him, because evil is only a disease, a demonic dream, but his essence - the image of God - still remains in him"(O. John (Sergiev). PSS. - SPb., 1892. - T. II. P. 135).

Gradually, the Kronstadters were imbued with respect for Fr. John and began to respond to his calls to participate in it. In 1872, a significant response was caused by the publication in the "Kronstadt Bulletin" conversion of St. John "To all residents with any condition" : "My brothers, who are interested in the welfare of mankind, let them gather and unite in a friendly society, and let us devote our leisure time and gather the moral and material strength of our fellow citizens to find a working people's home and to supply it with necessary things, as well as to organize a vocational school." As a result of the initiative of Fr. John and the assistance of the Kronstadters, in 1874 it was created at the St.Andrew Cathedral parish care for the poor.

The first in Russia was created with great effort "House of industriousness"... The first time it burned down because of the dangerous proximity of places of entertainment and the criminal negligence of the bailiff, whom Fr. John. However, when the same bailiff was put on trial for his criminal cases, St. John testified in his favor. "Condemn the sin, but do not condemn the sinner"... The House of Diligence was opened on December 12, 1882. Fr. John set up workers' workshops, where 25,000 people worked during the year, women's workshops, evening manual labor courses, a school for three hundred children, a kindergarten, an orphanage, a country house for children, a free charity for poor women, a folk canteen with small wages and charities. lunches, free hospital, Sunday school (More: Alexander (Semyonov Tyan-Shansky), Bishop Father John of Kronstadt. - Paris, 1990. - pp. 39-43).

In 1888, thanks to the care of Fr. John was lined up bed house, and in 1891 - hospice... Every day in front of Fr. John lined up up to a thousand beggars, to whom he distributed money sufficient to buy 4 kilograms of bread for each. Social work about. John proves the inconsistency of the opinion of those who believe that the Church should engage only in spiritual work and not take care of the material needs of her children.

St. John of Kronstadt attached great spiritual and social importance to Christian education and upbringing, especially of children. He wrote: “During education, it is extremely harmful to develop only reason and mind, leaving the heart unattended - the heart must be paid most attention to; the heart is life, but a life tainted by sin; you need to cleanse this source of life, kindle the pure flame of life in it so that it burns and does not extinguish and gives direction to all thoughts, desires and aspirations of a person, his entire life. Society is corrupted precisely because of the lack of Christian upbringing. "... Since 1857, St. John taught the Law of God at the city school, then since 1862 also at the classical gymnasium of Kronstadt... He had no incapable students, everyone loved him and waited for him. With love and attention to children, he achieved what could not be achieved with threats and punishments.

All social activities of St. John of Kronstadt began in the church and had a prayer and liturgical basis. It is known that he celebrated the Divine Liturgy almost every day. “The Liturgy,” he wrote, “is a constantly repeated triumph of God's love for the human race and an all-powerful intercession for the salvation of the whole world and each member individually. During the Liturgy, the priest should all be embraced by love for God and neighbors, redeemed and the Blood of Christ. ".

Social service about. John is a ministry of holiness and gathering. Right. John of Kronstadt began his labors in Kronstadt almost from scratch, but thanks to many years of ascetic labors, coupled with personal humility and love for people, by the power of God's grace, he performed genuine miracles. "I can do everything about the Lord Jesus who strengthens me".

Literature:

1.O. John (Sergiev). Full composition of writings. - SPb., 1892.

2. St. law. John of Kronstadt. Collected op. in 6 volumes. - Kiev: Oranta, 2006.

3. Alexander (Semyonov Tyan-Shansky), bishop Father John of Kronstadt. Paris, 1990.

4. Benjamin (Fedchenkov), Met. Father John of Kronstadt. - SPb., 2000.

5. Michael, hieromonk. Father John of Kronstadt. Full biography. SPb., 1903.

6. Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt in the memoirs of eyewitnesses. Sat. ed. Spasskaya Yu.M. - M., Father's House, 1997.

7. Sursky I.K. Father John of Kronstadt. Belgrade, 1938 (reprinted 1994).

Appendix: Words, teachings and speeches on days of high solemnity, temple holidays and various occasions related to the social service of the Church, spoken by St. right. John of Kronstadt in 1874-1901

How should a Christian act in the world around him? What is the measure and meaning of his concern for this temporary state of the world? Is this departure of a Christian outside the boundaries of the inner life of the Church justified?

A positive response to the fact that Christians had care for temporary, earthly affairs, for the sake of building society in a more humane way, brought the early Church out of the catacombs and allowed the whole empire to become Christian, at least in a significant part of it. Today the question arises again about the attitude of Christians to earthly affairs, to the structure of society. But now this issue has different accents.

In view of the progress of humanistic tendencies in the mass consciousness, society is inclined to view the Church as an institution of its social life and, from this point of view, assesses its significance and place in society, presenting, in fact, unlawful demands on the Church in terms of solving purely earthly, social problems ... Everywhere one can hear such calls and demands that the Church, leaving its sacred essence, should take up purely earthly affairs, the problems of “oysters and rolls”.

It is appropriate to quote the words of A.S. Khomyakova:

“There is some deep falsehood in the union of religion with social unrest ... When the Church intervenes in rumors about rolls and oysters and begins to show off more or less her ability to resolve such issues, thinking by this to testify to the presence of the Spirit of God in her bosom, she loses everything the right to trust people "- (9)

“Our Church has repeatedly criticized the so-called. horizontalism, i.e. hypertrophy of social activity ("religious politicking", in the words of E. Trubetskoy) of modern Christian churches - members of the ecumenical movement. She emphasized that the main goal of the Church's social service is to strive specifically for the spiritual and moral improvement of society, and not for the growth of its own material well-being "- (3)

Deformation of the Church with a Passion for External Service

Submitting to this public opinion, a number of shifts have taken place in Catholicism towards the subordination of church life to the tasks of solving social and social problems. The regression that has occurred since the second Vatican Council in understanding the essence of the life of the Church in modern Catholicism presents the entire Christian world with a challenge to the temptation of the secularization of the Church and turning it into one of the institutions of society, thus making it a typically pagan cult institution.

In this respect, it is extremely important to show what is the real role of sociality in the life of the Church, which is based not only on the community of believers on earth, but, above all, on communion with the life of the Holy Spirit. It is important to emphasize that the sociality of the Church is not of a utilitarian nature, subordinated to humanistic tasks, but a manifestation of the mystical essence of the Church, which is the Body of Christ. In this regard, it will be important to show both the dogmatic and mystical foundations of the sociality of Christian society and the historical and canonical precedents.

On the other hand, the topic of social service to the Church in today's time is raised not only from the “external”, but also in the internal church society. As you know, the Russian Orthodox Church adopted the so-called. "Social concept", which outlines the main circle of relations of the church community to the external tasks of the world. This is dictated not only by the response to the challenges of the elements of "this world", but also by the tasks of arranging the correct life of Christian communities, for such a life is inevitably associated with more active action among the "outside", as well as the need to bear witness to the Gospel by good deeds.

All this makes the theological justification necessary for the social activities of Christians.

Basic concepts of public service

For Christians, public service is not just a kind of activity, but an activity in the public sphere with a certain motivation, which is hidden under the word “service”. This concept itself presupposes activities with special motivation, motivation, feeding from a sacred source. Common to all ministry - experience high value the subject of service. Therefore, such a ministry should be considered in close connection with the very essence of the Christian's faith, the meaning of his earthly existence.

“Therefore, it is now that the word“ service ”should be returned to its original moral meaning and a way to realize this meaning in concrete human practice should be found, which - again we note - is especially important in social activity, because it is in this activity that many moral contents are subjected to the most acute distortions, because it is in her that the most seductive opportunities for various temptations are encountered, which can only be overcome with a living and correctly acting moral feeling and consciousness "- (1)

“Jesus Christ opened ministry, first of all, as a kind of free religious and moral practice. He realized the readiness and reality of the service of the hierarchically superior person (Himself) in relation to the lower ones and offered this principle to His disciples as both free and obligatory. Following His example, ministry becomes one of the highest spiritual and moral principles "- (2)

The difference between the public ministry of Christians and the social ministry of the Church.

It is important to make it clear from the outset that the term "public service" is not identical with the term "social service of the Church." These are close concepts, somewhere overlapping, but still different. In short, the difference is this: public service is the ministry of people, Christians, who belong to the Church, but their ministry, in this case, occurs in the world, as the ministry of people belonging to their Fatherland, service, family, at the same time inspired and directed by the Christian by faith. The social service of the Church is of a different nature. It is addressed, first of all, to the Christians themselves, to the realization of the principle of love within the Church itself, even if the social mercy of the Church goes beyond the framework of the Christian community itself, it is still more of a missionary goal, testifying to Love for the world. It should also be emphasized here that the Church cannot and should not go outside of her sacrament of sacrament over the souls of people, correctly defining the hierarchy of values.

However, the following should also be noted:

“But the two-natured nature of the Church does not imply its Nestorian division into earthly and heavenly, in which each of them leads an isolated life. The "doubled" understanding of the Church does not correspond to the whole and unified image of Christ. There are no two Churches, there is one one, and it is God-human. But in its human, visible part, only that is united with the Divine and enters into the saving God-manhood, which corresponds to the holy humanity of Christ, His Gospel commandments ”- (3)

Thus, I would divide these two terms: "public service" and "social service of the Church" according to their focus and localization. However, they are both very similar and close. Moreover, the social service of the Church is, as it were, an example, a standard for external "public service", for the very feat of love, which is displayed within the Christian community, gives the necessary experience of active mercy, caring for other people, dictated by the desire for the highest benefit to humanity.

What is Community Service?

The public ministry of Christians is nothing more than their actions aimed at changing society. They can be of two kinds: ministry in private life, ministry in the public sphere. Both spheres concern society, only in its various planes.

The essence of both spheres of application of ministry for Christians is the same - Christian sacrificial love, therefore the theological basis is also the same. There is a difference only in forms, methods, scales.

However, it must be said that ministry in public roles is impossible without service in personal life, for everything is in the words “... be a model for the faithful in word, in living, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity"- (1 Timothy 4:12)

“All types, forms and content of service are realized in life only when it, as a type of life, is realized in the individual. No matter how favorable external circumstances may favor the implementation of external acts of service, it becomes experimentally possible only when it is carried out in the personality before, before experience "- (1)

The very essence of service for a Christian is active love, which manifests itself in self-sacrifice, without this there is no service.

"Service determines the content of the positive structure of moral life, since the guiding ethical factor of service is self-denial ... The inclination to self-giving does not completely solve the moral order of the individual, but is the psychological basis for the meaning of life, which is embodied in service" - (1)

Service in love, in love, for the sake of love is a key principle and content for Christian service, without which it is impossible.

“The teaching of the holy fathers speaks quite unambiguously: only one that is done with Christian love, that is, with humility, is a good deed. Otherwise, it loses its usefulness, and even turns into evil, because, according to the Apostle, sweet and bitter water cannot flow from one source ”- (3)

No other goals can become a real basis for a Christian's ministry, as his love for people in Christ Jesus. Any other motives inevitably lead to deformation of the case, to the deterioration of the main motives and, in the end, to the collapse of any business.

“The idea that the social service of the Church (as well as other types of her activity) is always carried out by the will of the Holy Spirit and does not depend on the spiritual state of its perpetrators is Protestant and deeply mistaken. The Church is God-human. And the deeds of its visible members turn out to be the deeds of the Church-Body of Christ only in the case when the baptized with a righteous life gives place to the Spirit of God in his heart "- (3)

In defining public service, it is important to emphasize that the Church, as a transcendental institution in relation to society, cannot and should not be a direct participant in social processes, since hierarchically and essentially stands above social life and serves the purposes of the sanctification and salvation of human souls.

“For the Church there are no other reasons for social activity, except for the preaching of Christian love and turning to the path of salvation of every person through teaching him by word, and, especially, by the example of the life of her children. The activity of Christians, performed for worldly motives, does not lead to spiritual benefit and evangelization of the world, but to the secularization of the Church itself ”- (3)

That is why it is important to designate that public service can belong not to the Church, but to its members - Christians, who, each in their own sphere, will manifest the gifts of the Spirit, the gifts of Love, received from the Church.

It is very important for a Christian to define his attitude to such a ministry, since his self-realization in a society, which for the most part is non-Christian, stands in direct connection with the question of realizing his Christian piety, fulfilling the commandments, and the question of salvation.

“Christians are“ strangers and strangers on earth, ”but indifference to earthly social life does not follow from this. Wandering the earth, a Christian does not bind himself with passions and attachments to things, but strives to fulfill his duties in earthly life, into which he was sent not without a purpose - duties in relation to other people, to society and to the state ... Give everyone their due ... Do not remain indebted to anyone for nothing but mutual love... (Rom. 13: 7-8) "- (8)

In this regard, it is necessary to determine the value and importance of a person's earthly life for salvation. Without going deeply into this sphere, we can briefly say that the value of human life for a Christian is extremely great, because it is in this earthly life that a person is capable of spiritual and moral changes, of progress in this area. It is in the conditions of temporary earthly existence that that unique personality is formed, which is to find eternity in God. Here, on earth, a person builds in his soul that garden, the cultivation of which was bequeathed to Adam. The completeness of the perception of God depends on the completeness of the realization of the personality, the mastery of the potentials of human existence, which can be accomplished only under conditions of really significant events, under conditions of real-dramatic existence.

The idea of ​​social service according to I.A. Ilyin.

I.A. Ilyin sees the public service of Christians in close connection with their national idea, or rather like this: for him the national idea is a continuation of the spiritual, Christian illumination of grace. The Christian, walking with his positive idea and the message of the Spirit of God into the world, is not opposed here to the world, as something alien, but illuminates the world, as deeply akin to grace, but temporarily fallen away due to sin. This view, undoubtedly, expresses the deep dogmatism of I.A. Ilyin, his penetration of the Chalcedonian secret.

What is the primary task in Ilyin's system of thought? In his work "The Creative Idea of ​​Our Future", he clearly says that the national ideal can be realized only in the case of educating the people of a "spiritual character".

“To deepen and strengthen the Russian national spiritual character in life means to teach the Russian person to be spiritually, to create independently and to defend their homeland. This means to set in motion and bring to a great spiritual flowering - the religious depth of the Russian spirit "- (5)

Ilyin speaks of the realization of a spiritual character in ministry as a vital, spiritually objective necessity.

“... a person who has a spiritual being and character speaks and lives differently:“ I think, decide and act this way, only this way; otherwise I can’t, and I don’t want, and I don’t have to, and I don’t dare, I cannot want otherwise; and would not like to be able otherwise; for this and only this corresponds at once - both to the requirement of God's work on earth, and to the voice of my conscience, in which my instinct and my spirit merged into one ”.

It is the realization of the spiritual necessity to do God's work on earth that is the guarantee of the highest efficiency of the public ministry of Christians, i.e. their service should not come from an abstract moralistic view of society, which needs help, to correct its shortcomings, but from the spiritual need to be oneself, to realize in life a spiritual character brought up in grace. Here we see that the issue of the national aspect of public service is not of a narrow-temporal nature, but the character of the issue of salvation. Here the flesh of the nation becomes the flesh of the action of grace, the bread that can and must be transformed into the Body of Christ.

Personal salvation here cannot stand outside public service, as the realization of this very spiritual need to do good, which is inherent in the spiritual character.

“Everywhere in personal life, in public life, in religion, in science, in art, and in politics - there is this higher, divinely objective necessity, which a person is called to experience and see, and, having seen, to love; and, having fallen in love, comprehend; and, having comprehended, realize; and in this realization build your personal being and the being of your national culture" - (5)

This overcomes the tragic disunity that has become a sign of the humanistic education of people since the Enlightenment. Individualism here can be considered only as the existential depth of a person, but where it is inseparable from a single, common spirit, deed, thought.

It must be said that it is Ilyin's view of such a public ministry of Christians, in which the national character is of such great importance, opens a harmonious way to overcome the schisms that exist in society. Nationalism here pacifies, creates, and does not serve to disunity. Public service is not opposed to the nation and the Motherland, it does not require abandoning one's own, primordial intuitions and connections.

“So, the Russian idea is the idea of ​​the heart.She asserts that the main thing in life is love and that it is precisely love that builds a common life on earth, for from love will be born faith and the entire culture of the spirit. The Russian-Slavic soul, from ancient times and organically predisposed to feeling, sympathy and kindness, took this idea historically from Christianity: she responded with her heart to God's gospel, to the main commandment of God, and believed that “God is Love” ”- (6)

Thus, the thought and contemplation of I.A. Ilyina harmoniously come to the highest idea of ​​public service - the realization of love.

Summing up his view of the Russian idea, Ilyin makes the last point in its development:

“This is the main meaning of the Russian idea formulated by me. It is not invented by me. Its age is the age of Russia itself. And if we turn to its religious source, we will see that this is the idea of ​​Orthodox Christianity. Russia adopted its national task a thousand years ago from Christianity: to realize its national earthly culture, imbued with the Christian spirit of love and contemplation, freedom and objectivity. The coming Russia will be true to this idea too ”.

For Ilyin, the Russian national idea is not only rooted in Christianity, it is the realization of Christianity for the Russian person. An idea, both global and very unexpected for modern secular ideologies, striving to place the national idea in a row with all sorts of limitations that allegedly hinder the true development of the fullness of the human spirit. From this one can see, if we continue logically, that an attack on a national idea is also an attack on the Christianity of the people, which is undoubtedly understood by anti-Christian propagandists.

Chalcedonian Foundation for Public Service.

The Chalcedonian dogma gives a great formula for the harmonious union of the divine and the human in the Body of the Church. Indivisible and indivisible: the dialectic of the divine-human mystery in practice provides a universal means for realizing the true nature of the manifestation of the divine-human organism of the Church to the world. On the one hand, the transcendence of the divine nature in relation to social matter is shown, and on the other, its transcendence through the human nature of the Body of Christ assimilated by God. Hence, in practice, this means that, being in close contact with the world, a Christian is guided by forces and reason alien to this world. This is clearly shown in the principle of understanding the authenticity of good deeds already described above.

“The Soteriological consequence of the“ Chalcedonian ”dogma in the aspect of the social activity of the Church stems entirely from the understanding of two fundamental truths of Christian life: the greatest and the second, similar to it, the commandment of love (Matthew 22; 38, 39). The Christian understanding of love does not always coincide with the generally accepted one. According to Christian criteria, not every outwardly good deed is evidence of love, it turns out to be good. That is, in itself, charitable and other social activities may not be an expression of Christian love "- (3)

Those. the activity of a Christian, although it takes place in earthly conditions, is inspired and saturated with a different light, a different life.

Public Service Objectives.

“The main meaning, as they liked to say 40 years ago, is the“ super task ”... - to help the most lively and responsible part of our society, first of all, in Russia, to gain the possibility of a people's, social and state structure on the basis of faith, truth and love” - (1 )

This definition is probably the best way to reveal the task and meaning of the public ministry of Christians. Indeed, there is no need to try to churchify the entire sphere of social activity, you just need to make the public sphere suitable for the cultivation of Christian virtues, for the manifestation of the positive meaning of Christian life, so that the ideals of goodness, love, purity are socially significant, justified by the situation and atmosphere itself, which people create for themselves.

Another task for public service is the impact on the vector of development of society and civilization as a whole, since being unfaithful, it can bring humanity to ruin. A correct understanding of ascetic principles in Christianity gives the correct guidelines and constraints for the "flesh", the correct hierarchy of needs in a person.

“Material well-being, health, human rights, etc. by themselves, without gospel spiritual values, they do not make a person a better person. Moreover, as the modern Russian writer M. Antonov rightly notes, “a person who no longer needs material benefits and has not raised the need for spiritual development is terrible - this was convincingly shown by V. Rasputin in the story“ Fire ”and Viktor Astafiev in the novel "Sad Detective". And M. Antonov continues: “Man is not a slave to needs and external circumstances, he is a free being, but bodily and therefore in need of satisfaction of needs and experiencing the influence of the environment. Obviously, there is a certain law of measure that has not yet been formulated by science, according to which a person, whose minimum needs are satisfied, is obliged, in order to avoid self-destruction, to rise to more high level spiritual life. If this law is not respected, then material, carnal needs receive hypertrophied development to the detriment of the spiritual essence, and this is true both for the individual and for society - the modern stage in the history of capitalist countries with the dominance of "mass culture" clearly confirms this position " "- (3)

Here we see that Christian anthropology and asceticism make it possible to work out the most favorable direction for the development of society, which, being guided by pagan principles, is heading towards a global catastrophe. The point of Christians here is to prevent earthly life from turning into hell. Christians at all times are an antidote to the evil that exists in society in their time.

Conclusion on Public Service

From the considered aspects of the public ministry of Christians, we can draw the main conclusion - it can only be Christian when it is based on Christian sacrificial love with its indispensable companion - humility. Any departure from this main thing is inevitably fraught with deviation on the path of slavery to earthly passions, alien to the Kingdom of God.

Ultimately, the activity of a Christian in society strives for his best dispensation for the grace of God to stay in him and lead him to deification.

Bibliography:

1. Ninth Christmas Readings. Archpriest Vladislav Sveshnikov
2. Professor of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological Institute, Doctor of Theology PUBLIC SERVICE ETHICS 2001
3. Conversation with Archpriest Vladislav Sveshnikov
4. The path of reason in search of truth. Prof. A.I. Osipov. §3. The foundation of the social ministry of the Church
5. Arch. Plato. Moral theology.
6. I.A. Ilyin. A creative idea for our future.
7. I.A. Ilyin. About the Russian idea.
8. I.A. Ilyin. Socialism and sociality.
9. N. Fioletov. Essays on Christian Apologetics
10. A.S. Khomyakov. About Western Confessions.