Archpriest George Gutorov Biography

Archpriest Andrei Pankov: How to love your temple our viewers send questions, here is one of them: “Where to start the churching? And unthinkable, it is impossible to carry out churching without repentance. We recall that the preaching of St. John the Baptist, the Baptist of the Lord, began precisely these words facing the hearts of people: repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven approached.

The sermon of our Savior also began with these words, and it was addressed to those who followed Christ. Finally, the apostles, sent by the Lord for the implementation of the Gospel mission, also preached primarily repentance - it was from this that it began: not with the call to believe, to be merciful, compassionate and so on, of course, it is necessary.

But this is the path of a Christian who, realizing his sin, his lie, his iniquity, first of all, reconciled with God. It seems to me that it is necessary to start the path of churching with this. This is very difficult. The path to God is always a path fulfilled by obstacles, temptations. For each person, this is quite obvious. For a church man, even more so. I think that every Christian, every person visiting the temple, recalling his first steps in the Church, understands how difficult it was, how difficult it is to accustom himself to reading evening and morning prayers.

We are already at the first steps of our churching are faced with a real spiritual abuse. There is a gap of absolutely worthless, unnecessary deeds, worries, which at this moment seem indispensable to us. And we postpone the prayer book if our hands still reached him and begin to call someone urgently, we suddenly remember that we have not been removed the dishes, some ridiculous reasons arise in the way of a person who even makes a timid step towards God.

Any movement towards the sky always causes a reaction of dark forces. Therefore, it is necessary to start a Christian or a person who wants to be such, the following path of Christ, the next way, it is necessary to start with this, to defeat those petty, insignificant reasons that distract and lead him to the side. This requires effort - maybe even very serious. Efforts will be required of each of us throughout our lives.

A person who takes only the first steps towards God, the Church, has his temptations. A person more or less chilly, rising in a spiritual sense on his feet, has other temptations. This should not repel us, scare us: the Lord tells us that many sorrows should enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The path of a Christian is the path of the cross, so we should not perceive faith as something cloudless, completely comfortable.

This is the deepest misconception, this is by no means a path leading to Christ. The path leading to Christ is what the Lord and Vladyka himself are talking about: who wants to follow me, may be rejected by himself; He will take his cross and coming for me. The path of a Christian is the path of crucifixion, which can be expressed differently. This is sorrow, and illness, and failures, difficulties in the family, with children, households, colleagues and so on.

But a Christian, hunging all this, first of all, teaches himself patience, humility of all kinds of life tests and temptations. Overcoming this, he grows to the measure that the Apostle Paul says: that we must grow in the measure of the age of Christ. I think that from each of us - both from the new ones and from people, with permission to say, held in the church - require self -confirmation and transfer of life tests.

But the most important thing I want to return to this thought to return-prayer, participation in the sacraments: if a person does not pray, refers to fatigue, some things and can afford to go to bed without reading evening prayers, then, then, it is difficult for me to talk about churching. Everything will go into words that do not bind to anything. These are just words about Christ, church, churching, but not churching.

First of all, probably, the desire to be with the Lord, with Christ, to save your immortal soul. This is the main goal, the main purpose of each of us. If we replace it with something else, then we absolutely lose the main content of our Christian purpose. The apostle Pavel in a message to the Corinthians speaks remarkable words, they are very appropriate in our conversation: if we only hope for Christ in this life, then we are more unhappy of all people.

This is true. When we replace with some temporary comfort and well -being the legacy of eternal life, then we are more unhappy of all people. Therefore, prayer, repentance, active, lively participation in the sacrament of confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries should be cornerstone, fundamental for every person who wants to be with Christ. Thank you very much for the capacious answer.

A lot of questions appear, but at first - from the viewer: “How to prepare for the sacrament to a person who communes the baby, but does not communion? On the other hand, thank God that parents or close people tend to communion with a baby. I think that there are also no physical problems for the sacrament of an adult, either you need to know a specific situation.As for the preparation, what interferes with an adult parting his baby to read the prayer rule to Holy Communion, to keep the corresponding post?

Of course, if it is a mommy that cannot leave the baby and it is difficult for her to be at the evening worship, to withstand the entire divine liturgy, then there are absolutely understandable reasons. It’s good if the dad participated in this matter, maybe a grandmother who would give the opportunity to prepare the pious to the parent as it should be. But if there is no such opportunity, I think and this is not only my private opinion that any priest will condescend to the fact that the mother communes the child is limited in the full opportunity to prepare herself.

But all the same, some work should bear some work-I think it should read the prayer rule for the holy communion, due to abilities and opportunities, in physical health, to make an appropriate post. And if she does not have the opportunity to defend the entire divine liturgy with the baby, it is difficult if there is no one to help, at least to come to the cherubic song.

I may say superficial things, but in any case, there is someone who could take the burden to help mom prepare for the holy communion? And if not, of course, let it take communion as it can. Let her definitely talk about this with the priest who will profess her, and talk about the causes that do not allow her to fully participate in the sacrament of the Divine Liturgy.

The question in connection with the previous reasoning about morning and evening prayers: why is it so important to read them? Many people ask why there is so much to pray: a secular person or not quite a churching person may not be clear. You can ask God or thank you in your own words - why read the rule? Why do these frames exist? I recommend reading.

He admires the word "rule" by the very word. That is, on the one hand, we are standing on the right path, making this prayer work, on the other hand, there are many aspects. Of course, they cannot be covered in the framework of the program, even a lengthy one, because a person has been studying prayerly all his life. I do not think that someone can say that he has already learned to pray.

This is the path of all life, a feat. It is no accident that the now celebrated saint of God, about whom one could talk for hours today, celebrates the memory of the Monk Siluan Athos, the Great ascetic, we are not afraid of this word, the Russian land, he worked on the Holy Mountain, but, nevertheless, is Russian saints, noted that God pray was the same as to shed blood.

This phrase has already become aphoristic, it is well known, belongs to the Monk Siluan Athos. A person must pour in prayer. Among other things, the so -called rule that we are talking about is disciplined. As for the reasoning, why pray for so long, it seems to me that it just went. I understand that I am primititizing the reasoning that is proposed now, but you must agree when you love your own, close person, how can you dismiss a few phrases in communicating with him and say: “Why should I communicate with him for so long, why should I lose my time to talk with him?

If the object of our love, and this should be the focus and the core of our whole life, is Christ, why do we believe: why should I turn to Him for so long, so much time to lose? He thanked, said hastily, muttered to himself in the subway - and this is quite enough, it seemed to have prayed to God. But, it seems to me, this is just a conscience to have to say that "we pray to God." The rule let's limit ourselves to this aspect, at least, disciplines.

He was probably fair. We very often “read prayers”, and not pray, so we must pray in this most important diligent work: learn to pray to God. If we taste the sweetness of prayer, then there can be no other sweetness for a person - he plunges into the sweetest atmosphere of living communication with God. Again, I repeat, leading as an example of the Monk Siluan Athos.

He says, like many holy saints of God, that the soul is yearning for God. How can you limit yourself to two or three words, if my soul craves Christ, yearn for Him? I will give a very personal example. My wife’s grandmother is an amazing Christian. She lived a very difficult life: her husband died in the early days of the war, and her hands remained in her arms - the eldest was 3 or 4, and the youngest for several months.

The husband was taken away, and he immediately died, she received a funeral. She worked in a military hospital in two shifts. I talked with her, and she told me the amazing story of her human fate. She said: “I work two shifts and there are three children, we don’t forget, grief in connection with my husband’s death and I won’t wait for the work to end to ...”. What do you think - what?

To sleep, stay with children, eat? What else to dream of? God will pray. Can you imagine what love for God? And she carried her through her whole life. Then she was blinded.We came to visit them, I saw her in the same position: since she was blind, her youngest daughter put her face to icons, going to work. And she constantly prayed and said: “Lord, glory to you that I learned the akathists!

I was amazed, I never saw this before or after that the person knew the akathists to Jesus the sweetest, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Nicholas, I am not talking about evening and morning prayers. That's what it means to love God, to pray to Him. A person may not have the opportunity to give alms, have a benefit for quite objective reasons, some other exploits and virtues cannot perform due to the lack of talents that contribute to this.

But a person can pray everywhere.