And do not forget: the main thing we shout at the top of our voice is the necessity of catechumenate, preparation, learning, obedience-listening to the word of God, and repentance, without which there can be no baptism of the Holy Spirit! God is Love! Just don’t tell me that priests will baptize you – I know this very well not from hearsay! Be watchful! Know the Truth – and you will be free from the chains of heresies, delusions, fantasies, confessional prejudices, “traditions of elders”…
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The Church (parish) is a community of people united (gathered) around Christ, in Christ, that is, all of them are gathered from this world in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Christians are united, related only by Christ, the Holy Spirit! When we wrote about the Parish-Eucharist (in part II) and emphasized the necessity of membership in it, our task was to show who is a Christian (to call “Christians” to repentance, giving them an obvious criterion for verification: am I a parishioner, do I live Eucharistically, parochially); a Christian cannot but be a parishioner – a catholic, conciliar hypostasis (a Christian is the Church, the Body of Christ, therefore he is in bodily (hypostatic) relationships with all Christians, members of the single Body of Personal Communion in the Holy Spirit). But not every parishioner, a member of a community that shares and imitates the body (family, kin), carries out joint social projects, where they help each other, etc. – is a Christian! Heretics, sectarians have the usual practice of joint teas, meals, mutual assistance (and what to say: even in pagan organizations, clubs, movements, parties, all this is there) – and this does not save them from delusion, heresy! Therefore, the sign of a Christian is love for Jesus Christ, life in Christ, in the Holy Spirit! And we wrote in the flesh for “Christians”: if you are not a participant in the Eucharistic gatherings of the baptized, then you are not a Christian. But not every “participant,” a participant in the rite of the Eucharist, is a Christian, far from it! By their fruits, you will know them! Therefore, the main thing is not the parish (“lovers of tea and warm conversations”) and membership in it, but the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, membership in the Body of Christ, communion in the Body of the Resurrection! I will not hide on the Last Judgment behind anyone or anything: neither behind the community, parish, church, nor behind husband, wife, children, priests, elders, saints… – I myself will stand before the Judgment of God, I myself will answer for myself: do I love Jesus Christ (and not my parish, or my priest, or someone else, behind whose back you foolishly, irresponsibly hid all your life)?! Do I love?! Am I in the Holy Spirit?! Do I desire the Holy Spirit, Truth, Mercy, Forgiveness?! It is I, I, not someone else or others! I must be Happy, not others instead of me! Therefore, the main thing that everyone (both presbyters and parishioners) should care about is the catechumenate (listening to the word of God and diligently fulfilling the will of God), and not various pagan methods of uniting people: teas, treats, meals, conversations, joint social, humanitarian, cultural, national… projects – nothing Bodily, Eucharistic will come out, no like-minded, one-hearted parish will come out, just a pile of sand (individuals-egotists), which is visibly held together by earthly values (idols)-benefits, and not by Christ, Truth, Love of the Holy Spirit! To become a Christian, one must not be a parishioner, but a catechumen! Be watchful! For narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way that leads to the Kingdom of God…
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Humility – the foundation (“blessed are the poor in spirit”) and the most important criterion of the spiritual life of the catechumen (and the Christian). The holy fathers speak of humility (in the ascetic aspect): “Humility and without feats make many sins forgivable (which can be forgiven); without humility, even feats are useless, moreover, they are even the cause of great misfortunes, evil. What salt is to any food, humility is to every virtue.”
“Blessed is the person who recognizes their weakness because this knowledge becomes for them the foundation (root, and beginning of all good perfection)” (St. Isaac the Syrian). “Humility… takes precedence among virtues” (St. Barsanuphius the Great). “Although there are many types of His (the Holy Spirit’s) actions and many signs of His power, the first of all and the most necessary is humility because it is the beginning and foundation” (St. Symeon the New Theologian, Word 3).
“The poor in spirit will not judge another, or be angry with them, or envy them, or wrong them. He condemns himself, and only himself in everything” (St. John of Kronstadt). And how is this blessed poverty of spirit (humility) acquired, St. Symeon the New Theologian says briefly and clearly: “Strict, diligent fulfillment of God’s commandments teaches people to recognize their weakness.”
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“Do not bind yourself with any prayer rules, it will only cause disorder and despondency (dejection, sadness). Live freely and easily with the memory of God, and in this will be your protection, and help, and all life: “Lord, have mercy! Lord, bless! Lord, forgive! Lord! Glory to You!” Here are many prayers for you at once and for all occasions” (John of Krestyankin).