In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Today is the commemoration of the feast of the Holy Trinity, the day of Pentecost - the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the birth of the Church of Christ. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a fundamental Divine Revelation, incomprehensible to the human mind. Through human words the Divinely revealed truth of God about Himself is partly revealed to us, and a certain veil of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity itself is slightly opened. We, as Christians, believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Consubstantial and Inseparable Trinity. In order to somehow bring closer the understanding of the Trinity in Persons, but one in essence, at different times the Trinity was compared either with the sun or with the source of water. To understand the Holy Trinity, it is necessary to perform the feat of prayer, for we know that a true theologian is the one who prays. And this mystery of the theology of the Holy Trinity can be revealed to a person when he succeeds in this prayer deed of his. I will say in advance that the secret of understanding the Holy Trinity, apart from the mediation of prayer, lies in love. For the Consubstantial is supported by this great and main virtue. When we say that we love a person, we sometimes do not realize the meaning of this deepest word. Since for us, for the most part, the understanding of love is some special feelings for this or that person, some kind of benevolence, maybe a desire to be around, getting used to this person. But most often the word “love” is defined by us as a kind of feeling that arises “for something”: for some kind mutual disposition towards us, for physical, bodily beauty. But in fact, love is self-sacrifice, and this is its main concept. Although they say in the world that there is no definition of love, but love is when we love a person just like that, for what he is, when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves for his welfare and well-being. It is precisely this definition of love that the Lord Himself gave us, when God the Father sent His Only Begotten Son into this world, when He became incarnate and for the sake of love for the human race took upon Himself suffering, crucifixion and death. This feat was in the name of love for the human race. The Lord could wipe us off the face of the earth - obstinate, selfish, proud, hating each other, who are hindered by everything in this world, including nature - rain and even nightingales that hinder sleep. Our eye is evil - we see one evil in each other, we see nothing good and do not feel anything. And so the Lord God came to us, so obscene, two thousand years ago to make us better, so that our eyes become kind, so that we see each other not through a perverted prism of evil, but through the prism of love, self-sacrifice. The Lord Himself gave us an example of this feat of love. His love for the human race “for nothing”. Moreover, we do not deserve this love! You yourself understand how vicious we are and do not even have a bit of self-sacrifice. But the virtue of love does not arise immediately, although sometimes we have some kind of good disposition towards each other. This is the path of our whole life to ultimately love everyone just like that, in the name of self-sacrifice. There are many others on the path to this virtue, but humility is the primary, fundamental virtue. It is most directly connected with the present days of the celebration of the Holy Trinity, Pentecost, since Holy Bible tells us about the fulfillment by the grace of God of those who have been filled with the virtue of humility. The Holy Scripture says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4: 6). That is, the first stage of the fulfillment of the Holy Spirit in our heart is the presence of humility - the awareness of our unworthiness; understanding of one's sinfulness, impurity; understanding of what is around - the most the best peopleand you are the most spoiled person. Only when we treat ourselves with a certain prejudice and severity, and toward our neighbors, on the contrary, with condescension and good disposition, does our salvation become true. But if we have strictness towards ourselves and we begin to show this strictness towards others, then we have a kind of surrogate for spiritual life. And it is not clear what we are filled with - the grace of God or the sinful component. Last Sunday, the day of the Holy Trinity, when we visited the temple of God, probably many of you felt a state of peace. Everything was conducive to that: prolonged worship, kneeling. Remember how you left the temple that day. I think that many of you were pacified, spiritualized. That is, everyone felt the grace of God, with which the whole Church was filled, and we partially had the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is not in vain that this happens on the day of the Holy Trinity, so that we have the opportunity to feel what we should strive for and to acquire through the virtue of humility - a grace-filled state of mind. I would like, brothers and sisters, to wish all of us to be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, to understand that the grace of God visits us when we realize our sinfulness and humble ourselves before God. The people around us deserve a kind favor from us. And we cannot do what we did in the Old Testament - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We in the New Testament understand differently: for blasphemy we bless a person, for an inappropriate disposition towards us we treat this person kindly. Otherwise, what is the point of our being in the temple if we do not correct ourselves ?! May the Lord God help us to reform, purify, spiritualize and be filled in the end with the most important virtue of God, which the Holy Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity has and shares with us.
Amen.

Sermon by Bishop Savva of the Resurrection on the Day of the Feast of Pentecost, Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate Moscow (city) diocese

June 2, Saturday 1st after Pentecost, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the sacrifice of the feast of the Holy Trinity - Pentecost.

The Holy Trinity. Copy of the icon of St. Andrew the Icon Painter

Troparion of the Feast of Pentecost, Tone 8:

Blessed Thou, Christ is our God, / Like the wisdom of the catchers of manifestations, / having sent them down the Holy Spirit, // and thus catch the universe, Human-loving, glory to Thee.

Kontakion of the Feast of Pentecost, voice 8:

When the languages \u200b\u200b\\ u200b \\ u200bof merge descend, / share the languages \u200b\u200b\\ u200b \\ u200bof the Most High, / when you distribute the fiery tongues, / in the union all the call, // and in accordance with the glorification of the All-Holy Spirit.

The last day of the afterfeast of the twelve is called the bestowal (such is the feast of the Holy Trinity - Pentecost) and the great feasts lasting many days (there is no afterfeast and giving away). In the Orthodox Liturgy, it is accompanied by no less celebrations than the day of the feast itself. The Greek analogue to our surrender - apodosis - translates from greek as "return".

The tradition of celebrating the most famous and important events of the Christian life for several days came into the New Testament divine service with Old Testament - in the Pentateuch of Moses, the Lord says to Israel: “... for seven days offer sacrifice to the Lord; on the eighth day, let you have a sacred meeting, and make a sacrifice to the Lord: this is the giving of the holiday, do not work any work ”(Lev. 23, 36). The same commandment to the people of God is repeated in the Book of Numbers: “On the eighth day, let you have a giving of the feast; do not work any work; and offer the burnt offering ... ”(Num. 29, 35–39).

Giving is nothing more than the return of the believing heart to rethinking the holiday after a certain time. In early Christian times, this was strictly practiced on the 8th day.

It is difficult to say whether the celebration of giving has been widespread in local non-Jewish Christian communities since the earliest apostolic times. But history brings to us the correct information that already during the reign of Emperor Constantine I, 8-day celebrations were held in honor of the consecration of the temples-basilicas of the cities of Jerusalem and Tire. Later, such a tradition spread to the twelve annual holidays, and in the 4th century the celebration of Easter and Pentecost began to be served everywhere, and in the East - also the Epiphany and, later, the Nativity of Christ. Approximately, in the 17th century, a tradition appears to celebrate the days of memory of the saints of God, in particular the holy Primate Apostles Peter and Paul, the holy martyr-archdeacon Lawrence, the holy martyr Agnes.

The Holy Trinity.

The painting of the crypt of the church in honor of the Monks Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky.

During the divine service, timed to coincide with the celebration of the holiday, according to the liturgical tradition, all the chants and prayers of that day are sung and recited. When the twelve feasts are celebrated, Matins is celebrated with great doxology, and during the Liturgy the Apostle and the Gospel of the day are read.

Talking about giving church holiday, Metropolitan Benjamin (Fedchenkov) writes that the Lord sometimes gives Grace associated with this or that event, on this last day of the feast. Why? Probably for the same reason why Christ, who at first hid from the eyes of Luke and Cleopa, who recognized him, then appears again to his disciples. A person cannot fully realize the value of something that does not move away from him at least for a while. In order to assimilate the sacred concept both with the mind and soul, you need to imbue it for several days, and then let it go during the bestowal, looking forward to its return. Saturday can hardly be tightly tied to any calendar day - rather, it is a special state.

That is why sabbaths in the Old Testament Scriptures are called both the day of the week, and calendar dates, and even years. The giving of the feast is also "the Sabbath to the Lord thy God." Keeping in himself the feeling of the afterfeast, the Christian learns to feel a part of God's Grace constantly - and this is the surest step towards achieving what the Holy Scriptures say: “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).

On the day of giving up the holiday, as well as on the holiday itself, it is necessary, if possible, to avoid any work and do deeds of mercy for the glory of God. It is also a great time to take a critical look at your own faith, to find those weak points in it that need God's help and healing. Everyone can and, perhaps, should ask himself: will I go to this celebration of giving as to the service itself on a "red" day church calendar? Do I realize in what purity and holiness my thoughts should be kept in honor of the day when the special Grace of the Lord appeared? Can I make a sacrifice to God in giving up the holiday, which in New Testament times is expressed not in the blood of bulls and goats, but in the very “broken spirit” described by the holy king and the prophet David?

And in general, do I know how important this final cycle of the Church's remembrance of God's holiday is? Only an understanding of all this will help determine how genuine or, on the contrary, formal one's own faith. This should be understood not in order to reproach and humiliate oneself endlessly, but so that, having understood and accepting the state of one's soul that is, tirelessly move for the better. To a worthy surrender of earthly life and reunification with the Savior.

Of course, now is no longer apostolic times, and not every working person can afford to go to the service at the end of the afterfeast and receive the Holy Communion as it should be. But giving, like the memory of the holiday, should be kept in the heart. This is first of all ...

Icon of the Holy Trinity. Rev. Andrei Rublev

Trinity: in the circle of divine light

Holy Trinity Day is one of the main christian holidays.

The Feast of the Holy Trinity refers us to the story of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles: “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all united in one accord. And suddenly there was a noise from heaven, as if from a rushing strong wind, and filled the whole house where they were. And divided tongues appeared to them, as it were, of fire, and rested, one on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance ”(Acts 2: 1-4).

The Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost appeared in the world in a visible way, with the gifts of saving grace for human soul... It was on the day of the Holy Trinity that Christ's disciples founded the Church. And the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles points to the cornerstone at its foundation - the Trinity of God. This image of the Trinity was embodied in his "Trinity" by the great icon painter Andrei Rublev.

Icon painter with the spirit of God

June 26 - Memorial Day of St. Andrei Rublev, who is one of the students in spirit saint Sergius Radonezh.

Unfortunately, we do not know much about Andrei Rublev himself. We do not know exactly when he was born, although the researchers call the approximate date - 1360. We do not know what his name was before the tonsure. We don't even know the day of his death. Presumably, Andrei Rublev died in the fall of 1427. Such a conclusion can be drawn if we rely on the life of Hegumen Nikon, compiled by Pachomius the Serb, which says that Andrei Rublev died shortly after the completion of the painting of the Trinity Cathedral and before Nikon of Radonezh himself reposed, and the date of death of the abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery is known for sure - November 17, 1427. But it's not so scary that we know so few facts from the biography of Andrei Rublev - after all, we are well aware of the main moments of his spiritual life.

It is known that the life of the great icon painter was tightly connected with two monasteries - Trinity-Sergiev and Moscow Spaso-Andronikov. It is known that the monk's young years passed in the first monastery, and there he was tonsured. We also know that the artistic skills of the monk Andrei Rublev were highly valued in Russia and he was instructed to paint the great cathedrals: the Annunciation in the Moscow Kremlin, the Assumption in Vladimir, the Trinity in the monastery of the Monk. But, of course, the monk-icon painter Andrei Rublev left a special gift to mankind, having painted a unique icon of the Life-Giving and Inseparable Trinity. A follower of hesychasm, he managed to embody in her the silent conversation of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, imbued with the energy of Divine light.

Three Angels from Heaven descended

When hegumen Nikon of Radonezh, who after the death of St. Sergius of Radonezh became the abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, decided to decorate the new white-stone Trinity Cathedral, erected on the site of the old wooden church, he called on Andrei Rublev and Daniel the Black not only to paint the temple with frescoes, but also to write a large number of icons for the multi-tiered iconostasis. According to the Stroganov icon-painting original, “St. Andrew of Radonezh, an icon painter, nicknamed Rublev, painted many holy icons, all miraculous, and before that you lived in obedience to the Venerable Father Nikon of Radonezh. He took with him the image of the Holy Trinity to be painted in praise of his father, Saint Sergius the Wonderworker ... ”This icon was to be located on the right side of the Royal Doors.

Rublev's "Trinity" was based on a well-known biblical story. As the Old Testament tells us, three beautiful young men came to Elder Abraham and he, along with his wife Sarah, treated them under the shade of the oak of Mamre, secretly guessing that he was showing hospitality to the Lord Himself. “And the Lord appeared to him at the oak grove of Mamre, when he was sitting at the entrance to the tent, in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, three men stood opposite him. Seeing, he ran to meet them from the entrance to the tent and bowed to the ground. And he said: Master! if I have found favor in Thy sight, do not pass by Thy servant; and they will bring a little water and wash your feet; and rest under this tree. And I will bring bread, and you will strengthen your hearts; then go; as you walk past your servant. They said: do as you say. And Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said: Quickly knead three sats of the best flour and make unleavened bread. And Abraham ran to the flock, and took a tender and good calf, and gave it to the lad, and he hastened to prepare it. And he took the butter and milk and the calf that had been cooked, and set it before them, and he himself stood by them under the tree. And they ate ”(Genesis 18: 1–8).

On Rublev's icon there is neither Abraham and Sarah, nor the slaughter of the calf, nor the food. Only the figures of three Angels and a Chalice in the center of the table, and in the background the Mamre oak, a house and a rock. The icon under the brush of Andrei Rublev acquired a new, evangelical meaning. In place of the biblical story about the Angels who descended from Heaven in order to inform Abraham the good news, a completely different story came, symbolizing New Testament... And the Cup on the table ceased to be a symbol of an ordinary meal, turning into a prototype of the Eucharist. The humble monk Andrew revealed to us the Secret of the Eternal Council, at which the Son voluntarily accepts the Chalice with the head of a calf. This is the image of the Sacrifice, which Christ went to out of love for people and which changed the history of mankind. The Life-Giving Trinity comes to replace the Old Testament Trinity.

Symbol of Love and Sacrifice

According to the figurative expression of Blessed Augustine, it is more difficult to comprehend the Mystery of the Holy Trinity than to spoon out the sea with a spoon. But Andrei Rublev, it seems, managed to lift its veil. However, perhaps each of us, peering into the great creation of the monk Andrew, will be able to discover something of his own.

But let's take a look at the icon careful gaze... Three Persons of the Holy Trinity appear before our eyes - on the icon they are arranged in the order in which they confess in the Creed. The first Angel, sitting on the left, symbolizes God the Father, the second, in the center of the icon, - God the Son, and the third, on the icon on the right, - the Holy Spirit. You are involuntarily amazed at the spirituality of the Angels: their bodies are slender and light, weightless.

The Angel, symbolizing God the Father, is clothed in a blue robe - this is a symbol of His Divine, Heavenly nature; and the light purple himation - the outer garment - testifies to the Divine incomprehensibility and regal dignity of this Angel. A house with an altar rises above His head. This is not only Abraham's dwelling, but also a symbol of the Divine House, an image of economy. In all the appearance of the Angel, paternal authority is felt: His head is almost not tilted, and his gaze is turned to two other Angels, who, bowing their heads, listen to Him with reverence.

The second Angel is placed in the middle of the icon. Its middle position is determined by the meaning of the second Person in the bowels of the Holy Trinity. An oak extends over His head, and the vestments correspond to how the Savior is usually depicted. The undergarment has a dark crimson color, which signifies incarnation, and the blue cloak, loosely fitting the Angel's waist, indicates His Divine dignity.

The Angel's head is tilted to the left, towards the Father. His whole posture speaks of his readiness to go to the end full of suffering path. No objections, no contradictions, no doubts on the part of the Son of God - only readiness. It is no coincidence that this Angel in the outer garment has a blue color - a symbol of Divine splendor. This means that God wants to reveal Himself in Jesus Christ. A gold clav is sewn on the tunic - a symbol of the purity and perfection of the human nature of Christ. Clavus is also interpreted as a sign of messengership, a sign of the special messianic role of the Savior. Behind the Angel is a tree, which not only symbolizes the Mamre oak from the Old Testament, but also the image of the “tree of life”, the path to which, after the expulsion of the first people from Paradise, was ordered to be blocked.

In the Angel, placed on the right side of the icon, we see the image of the Holy Spirit. The line of His bowed head follows the line of the bowed head of the middle Angel. In his entire appearance, unconditional readiness and devotion are visible, and the expression on his face reveals in Him the Comforter, Who simultaneously pacifies and supports. His undergarment is dark, translucent blue. The top is of the lightest smoky green. As known, green color in iconographic symbolism means eternal life, it is the color of hope, flowering, spiritual awakening. There's a mountain behind the Angel - oldest symbol everything sublime. In the Bible, the mountain is the image of the "rapture of the spirit." It is not for nothing that many significant events take place on the mountain: the receipt by Moses of the Tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai, the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the Ascension of Christ on the Mount of Olives.

All three Angels are holding rods in their hands, signifying Divine authority. And the whole composition is inscribed in a system of concentric circles, which can be drawn along the halos, along the outlines of the wings, along the movement of angelic hands, and all these circles converge in the center of the icon, where the Chalice is depicted. The Holy Trinity seems to be in a single circle of Divine light.

Before us is not just a meal, but a Eucharistic Meal. The table on the icon is not just a symbol of the meal in general - it is both the altar and at the same time the Throne, the Holy Sepulcher. In Rublev's "Trinity" the Mortal Cup is a pledge of future life and a testimony of love for which the Savior sacrifices Himself.

A special symbol of the "Trinity" is its extraordinary colors, the very sky-blue, called "rublevsky cabbage roll". With the help of this paint, Andrei Rublev tried to convey the sublime Heavenly beauty that can open to the earthly gaze.

Silent conversation

Creating his "Trinity", the silent Andrei Rublev focused on the silent conversation, which is being conducted by three Angels of God, making a decision. We understand that only with the unambiguous agreement of all three of its participants, God can save this sinful world. But this plan can only be fulfilled by One - Jesus, the Son of God, and God the Father is ready to sacrifice His beloved Son for the salvation of the world. The conversation goes on without words, and we see only a hint of agreement in how the left and middle Angels bless the Cup. The blessing of the Chalice by the Angel in the middle is a sign of His readiness to accept the sacrifice: “My Father! If possible, may this cup pass from Me; however, not as I want, but as You ”(Matt. 26, 39). God the Father inspires Him for this feat, His face expresses deep sorrow. The Holy Spirit acts here as the Comforter.

Rublevskaya "Trinity" is an iconographic depiction of an act of the greatest, according to the teaching christian Church, sacrificial love. And therefore, coming on the day of the Holy Trinity and the feast of the giving of Pentecost to the church, let us remember the words from the blessed Augustine, who called everyone “to believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the One God, Creator and Ruler of the created Universe; and that neither the Father is the Son, nor the Holy Spirit is the Father or the Son, but that the Trinity consists in the mutual communion of Persons and in equal unity "(St. Augustine" On the Trinity ", part 2, book 9). And believe in the Trinity, Consubstantial and Inseparable.

June 10 p. On Saturday, the 1st week after Pentecost, the Divine Liturgy was performed in the parish of the Presentation of the Lord in Alain.

On this day, the sacrifice of the feast of Pentecost falls, that is, the last day of the afterfeast, which is distinguished by a greater solemnity of the service, having in the service the chants and prayers of the feast itself. The Liturgy on this day is more solemn than on the days of the afterfeast, but less than on the holiday itself. Those praying, once again experiencing the gospel events of Pentecost, seem to say goodbye to the holiday until next year.

The name Pentecost means the 50th day after Easter, celebrated in remembrance of the event of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. This is one of the greatest Christian holidays since the days of the apostles.

Descent of the Holy Spirit. From the book of Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

"A Simple Gospel Word"

Jesus Christ chose His disciples from among the poor and unlearned people; some were fishermen and lived their own business. The Lord commanded them to preach His Word throughout the world. They had to convert Jews and pagans, speak with learned and wise, with strong and noble people. The task entrusted to them was difficult. It could not have been accomplished without God's help. And this help was promised to them by Jesus Christ, who commanded them not to leave Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from above. He promised them the gift of miracles, knowledge of tongues, promised them His constant presence with believers.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me, He told them. So go, teach all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age (Matt. 28: 18-20).

After these words, the Lord ascended to heaven. The disciples returned to Jerusalem, where they stayed in the upper room on Mount Zion in constant prayer, joyfully and hopefully awaiting the promised Comforter, the Holy Spirit. With them was the Mother of Jesus, some wives who believed in the Lord, and other believers.

The day of Pentecost was coming. This holiday was solemnly celebrated in Jerusalem on the fiftieth day after Easter. They remembered the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Houses and synagogues were decorated with tree branches; many people came to Jerusalem from all over the world.

The Gospel narrates that the apostles prayed with one accord in the upper room on Mount Zion, when suddenly, at the third hour of the day, which corresponds to the ninth hour of the morning according to our time, there was a great noise from heaven, as if from a strong wind, and the Holy Spirit, in the form of tongues of fire , descended on each of the praying; they were all filled with divine power and wisdom; all suddenly received a great gift from above - knowledge of languages, which should have made it easier for them to preach the gospel to all nations.

Hearing the noise, many people surrounded the house in which the apostles were staying - there were many foreigners and many Jews who lived in foreign lands and came to Jerusalem for the feast. The apostles went out to them and began to speak with each in his native languagepreaching about the great works of God. Everyone was amazed at this. Then Peter began to explain the prophecies in which it was predicted about the coming of Jesus Christ, and announced that all these prophecies have now come true, that Christ was born, was crucified and then resurrected, that He now poured out on His apostles the Holy Spirit. Those who heard this were moved by heart and said: "What then should we do?" Peter answered them: “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, to receive the remission of sins; and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is given to you and to all whom the Lord will call. Save yourself from this depraved race ”(cf. Acts 2: 37-40). On this day, about three thousand people converted to Christ and were baptized. They began to live with the apostles and had everything in common; they were constantly in prayer and the breaking of bread, that is, they performed the sacrament of the Eucharist established by the Lord.

The Holy Church solemnly commemorates the Descent of the Holy Spirit. This holiday is called the day of Pentecost, and also the day of the Holy Trinity. Churches and houses are decorated with tree branches and flowers in memory of the fact that under the shade of green booths the Jews also celebrated the gift of the Law to them. In glorifying the new grace poured out on the apostles, the Church sings: "Blessed art thou, Christ our God, who are wise are the fishers of manifestations, sending them down the Holy Spirit, and by those catch the universe, Human lover, glory to Thee." In Russian: “Blessed is Christ our God, Who revealed the wise fishers by sending them the Holy Spirit, and through them caught the universe. Humanitarian, glory to You! "

"I caught the universe" means: attracted the whole world to true faith. The word "caught" is used here because the Lord said to the apostles, who were fishermen, fishermen: "I will make you fishers of men."

The Liturgy on this holiday is distinguished by the fact that it is immediately followed by Great Vespers with three kneeling prayers. The day following the day of Pentecost is called the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and is a continuation of the same holiday.

On Wednesday of the 4th week (weeks) after Easter at orthodox Church the Feast of the Day of Pentecost is celebrated, that is, half of the time from Easter to Pentecost. In 2010, this day falls on May 5 (April 22, old style).

This holiday does not have a pre-celebration. The preparation is celebrated for 8 days; starting from Wednesday the 4th and ending (not excluding Sunday) on the Wednesday of the 5th week, when the Leaving is celebrated (the last day of the afterfeast, the end) of the Feast of Prepolovene.

In the divine service of this holiday, it is always said about water: "I will drink my soul thirsty for piety with water ..."

Church tradition connects this Old Testament holiday with the preaching of Christ in the temple, which is spoken of in the Gospel of John.
The Savior entered the Jerusalem temple and delivered a sermon in which he spoke of Himself as the Messiah on the day when the Jews celebrated the Prepolation of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was one of the three great nationwide jewish holidays, established in memory of the forty-year wandering of Jews in the desert (during this holiday the people settled in booths, huts made of tree branches). The Feast of Tabernacles also had a pre-celebration, i.e. as if half the way from Easter to the Feast of Tabernacles.

It lasted eight days, of which the first and the last were especially holy. The last, eighth day of the Old Testament Feast of Tabernacles was accompanied by the following rite: with a large crowd of people, the high priest left the temple of Solomon to the source of Siloam, at the foot of Zion; I scooped up a light cup with a gold cup and clean water; at the sound of trumpets, he returned to the temple, mixed water with wine and poured it on the altar. During this ceremony, the people incessantly sang the great Alleluia, six psalms. This ritual recalled the miraculous watering of the Jews in the desert, which Moses got from the rock.

Pointing to this rite as a transformation, Jesus Christ declared Himself the source of the true water of life. Christ in his sermon taught that those who believe in Him, having been filled from Him with the true water of life, themselves will become a grace-filled vessel, from which streams of various gifts of the Spirit of God will flow in abundance. "Whoever believes in Me, from that womb will flow rivers of living water" - Jesus said in his sermon. The entire divine service of the New Testament Feast of Prepoloveniye is based on this Gospel text.

In the hymns of Prepoloveniye, the Resurrection of Christ is glorified, then it is reminded of the approaching feast of Pentecost, when the Risen Lord sent down the Holy Spirit to His disciples.

On the day of Prepolovenie, Great Vespers is celebrated with Old Testament readings.

That is why television is so harmful: it provides great food for dreams, it takes possession of the mind, and so imperiously that everyone who has ever watched television knows how difficult it is to break away from it - it pulls like a magnet. Although then you feel emptiness in your soul, you are ready to curse yourself: again you lost time, again your head hurts, time is killed, but what did you gain? They say: here, we need to find out the news. Well, I found out. What did this knowledge give you? Nothing. What's the weather tomorrow? Look at the thermometer and see. Moreover, everyone knows that fifty percent will guess, and fifty percent will lie. Well, look out the window, think for yourself and guess. Maybe it will be even more accurate. So we need to try to distance ourselves from these habits, especially by fasting. Perhaps during this time we will generally wean from them - and if not, the Assumption Fast is ahead, we will still wean. Fasting is a time when we put off all kinds of entertainment and live a monastic life. This is very useful for us.

"Psalm with contrition." We live at the end of the Christian era, and in the entire history of the Church, many wonderful prayers have accumulated, of which our prayer book is composed. The ancient fathers - and these words were said in the third century, that is, one thousand seven hundred years ago - did not have a prayer book. Then the monks had only one book - the Psalter. They prayed, chanting the psalms, and this was called psalm singing. Why psalmics with contrition? Many of us, when we pray, begin to dream, to be carried away with our minds, in different elements of the world, to think something about ourselves. This way of praying is wrong. We must always pray with contrition, with repentance, always realizing who we are and who is the One to whom we are praying. You need to pray so that you never admire yourself, don't think about how you look from the outside, not be glad that you have read a lot. Prayer should have only one fruit — a broken heart. Often we put off a prayer book or a Psalter with such a feeling that we prayed well. This means we prayed badly. Because when a person evaluates himself and begins to praise, this is not the result of good prayer. A good prayer is one that ends in tears, when a person crushes his heart, when he feels that he is such a sinner that he is not worthy to be a doormat in a bathhouse or at the entrance to the subway, on which all feet are wiped. When, as a result of prayer, a person approaches this feeling, it means that the prayer was true.

It is very important to have silence "and not think about anything else but the Lord's aspirations." Desire means waiting. The Lord has commanded us to be always ready to meet the Heavenly Bridegroom: "Stay awake, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come." That is, we must always be ready to meet the Lord, wait for the Lord the Holy Spirit to visit us. We must watch our hearts all the time. We all need to think about it all the time: how to please God so that the Lord comes to us and is always with us, so that he does not offend Him in any way, so that He never leaves us. Now we are working, we are restoring the church and sometimes we are so fond of work, communication with people - after all, all good people gather, nice, sweet, kind, - that this takes us away from the most important thing. And we must always remember: to whom are we doing this? To the Lord God Himself. Everything must be done in front of Him, for His sake; He must devote every gesture, every deed. The Apostle Paul said: "Eat or drink ... do everything to the glory of God." So that any deed we have done was for the sake of God: behold, Lord, look, this is for You I work. Never forget about the main purpose of our existence: why do we live? To glorify God in deed, word, thought, and all your life. Of course, we are sinful, weak people, we are distracted all the time, we forget, we will quarrel with someone sometimes, we will condemn - but immediately wake up, repent and start over, again work for the Lord. And so less, less and less we will be distracted by worldly vanity and more and more will serve God.

The elder also said: "Let us take care of meekness." And the Lord said: "Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." A meek person means non-malicious, reckless, not pushing forward, calm, judicious. We must strive for meekness so that we are not quarrelsome, irritable, insisting on our own, impudent, like worldly people. We shouldn't be like that. We must be concerned about being meek all the time. If I got excited, think right away: meekness has gone from me, this is bad, so I am no longer Christ's disciple.

"To take care of the suffering." We must take care to grieve for Christ. Always rejoice in all sorrow. Get sick, suffer, work hard, bend your back, darken your legs, press your knees a little to the floor, force yourself. Try to do it yourself - not wait until some kind of illness comes, but force yourself a little, always do a little through force. A little, because if you do a lot through force, you will completely collapse, this is unreasonable. To bother a little, add this malice to yourself, do more for God's sake: prayed, tired - well, just a little more. And so in everything.

"Take care of longsuffering." Some say: I have been praying for two months now, and nothing. You have to pray for a long time - ten, twenty years. We must train ourselves to be patient. To achieve the Christian life, one must learn to endure for a long time.

"Take care of love." Any malice, hatred, irritation against each other, resentment - God forbid, this must be completely thrown out of us. All the time you have to think: Am I acting with love? What is more dear to me: some business or the person himself? For the sake of the cause, we are often ready to attack a person, offend, scold. But still, a person is more valuable than a deed. And we must always remember that our main business on earth is to acquire love, and to care: am I acting out of love? It happens that discord, anger comes from other people in relation to us. But this is God with them, if only there was nothing from us. This is the Christian life.

And the elder also said: "The purpose of a Christian is to imitate Christ." How can we imitate Christ if we do not know Him? Therefore, the Gospel, as I have said a thousand times and will say a thousand more times, we need to know by heart. Without knowing the Gospel, it is impossible to live at all. It should be our main food. We must read the Gospel every day, at least one chapter, read with concentration, with attention, meditate. Some say: I have no time. To read a chapter is forty seconds with a certain skill, who reads slowly - one and a half to three minutes. Already one and a half minutes out of twenty-four hours can be found for the Lord and for the salvation of your soul! No matter how tired, no matter how difficult it is - read it, think. And so you read it once, two, one hundred, a thousand times read the Gospel - and gradually your mind will assimilate. Of course, it is more difficult for those who started late. And no one is to blame, I had to go to church from childhood. But the Lord will always help if we pray before reading the Gospel: "Lord, help me, give me understanding."

And, having cognized the Gospel, we will know the life of Christ, we will know His feelings, His words, His actions. And then we will always have an example before our eyes. Here's some kind of situation - and you don't know what to do. Ask yourself the question: if our Lord Jesus Christ were in my place, what would He do? And immediately you will have an answer: this is how you should act. Because the Man Jesus Christ, while living on earth, did not commit a single sin. Here is our image. Any of the most holy people had some flaws, this is inevitable, all people are sinful in comparison with God. Ambrose Optinsky in childhood was a naughty boy. Sergiy Radonezhsky studied poorly as a child. Each of them had some shortcomings, but then the grace of God made up for everything. This is how we must, imitating Christ, make up for our weaknesses, approach the Kingdom of Heaven. And the Petrovsky post will help us in this. Save me, God.