deadly sins: gluttony, anger, envy, lust, greed, pride and laziness. Everyone knows, but not all of us consider each of the seven on the list to be a sin. Some are guided by their personal views, others based on the realities of the structure of current society. Some people don’t understand, some are disingenuous, some don’t believe, but the main thing is that no one notices how these seven of us are slowly making slaves of our vices and multiplying and expanding the “range” of our sins. More details below.

There are seven mortal sins in Christian teaching, and they are called so because, despite their seemingly harmless nature, if regularly practiced, they lead to much more serious sins and, consequently, to the death of an immortal soul that ends up in hell. Mortal sins are not based on biblical texts and are not a direct revelation of God; they appeared in the texts of theologians later.

First, the Greek monk-theologian Evagrius of Pontus compiled a list of the eight worst human passions. They were (in descending order of severity): pride, vanity, spiritual laziness, anger, despondency, greed, voluptuousness and gluttony. The order in this list was determined by the degree of a person’s orientation towards himself, towards his ego (that is, pride is the most selfish property of a person and therefore the most harmful).

At the end of the 6th century, Pope Gregory I the Great reduced the list to seven elements, introducing the concept of vanity into pride, spiritual laziness into despondency, and also adding a new one - envy. The list was slightly reordered, this time according to the criterion of opposition to love: pride, envy, anger, despondency, greed, gluttony and voluptuousness (that is, pride is more opposed to love than others and is therefore the most harmful).

Later Christian theologians (in particular, Thomas Aquinas) objected to this particular order of mortal sins, but it was this order that became the main one and remains in effect to this day. The only change in Pope Gregory the Great's list was the replacement of the concept of despondency with laziness in the 17th century.

The word translated as “blessed”, is a synonym for the word “happy”. Why doesn’t Jesus put a person’s happiness on a par with what he has: success, wealth, power, etc.? He says that happiness is a consequence of a certain internal state, which does not depend on what happens around, even if a person is slandered and persecuted. Happiness is a consequence of a relationship with the Creator, because it was He who gave us life and knows better than anyone what its meaning is, and therefore happiness. Envy appears only when a person does not love and is therefore not happy. An emptiness appears in the soul, which some unsuccessfully try to fill with things or thoughts about them.

A. In the Old Testament
– examples of envy (Gen 37:11; Numbers 16:1-3; Ps 105:16-18)
- commandment not to envy (Proverbs 3:31; Proverbs 23:17; Proverbs 24:1)

B. In the New Testament
– examples of envy (Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10; Phil 1:15-17)
– negative consequences of envy (Mark 7:20-23; James 3:14-16)
– positive consequences of envy (Rom 11:13-14)
– envy among other sins (Rom 1:29; Gal 5:20; 1 Pet 2:1)
- love does not envy (1 Cor 13:4)

ANGER

If a person sees himself in the mirror in a fit of anger, rage, he will simply be horrified and will not recognize himself, his appearance has changed so much. But anger darkens not only and not so much the face, but the soul. An angry person becomes possessed by the demon of anger. Very often, anger gives rise to one of the most serious sins - murder. Of the reasons that cause anger, I would like to note, first of all, conceit, pride, and inflated self-esteem - a common cause of resentment and anger. It’s easy to be calm and condescending when everyone praises you, but if you touch us with a finger, you can immediately see what we’re worth. Hot temper and short temper may, of course, be a consequence of an overly temperamental character, but still character cannot serve as an excuse for anger. An irritable, hot-tempered person must know this trait of his and fight it, learn to restrain himself. Envy can be considered one of the causes of anger - nothing irritates more than the well-being of your neighbor...

Two sages lived in the same hermitage in the Sahara Desert, and one of them said to the other: “Let’s fight with you, or else we’ll soon cease to really understand what passions torment us.” "I don't know how to start a fight", answered the second hermit. “Let’s do this: I will put this bowl here, and you will say: “This is mine.” I will answer: “She belongs to me!” We'll start arguing, and then we'll fight.". That's what they did. One said that the bowl was his, but the other objected. "Let's not waste time“, the first one said then. – Take it for yourself. You didn't come up with a very good idea about the quarrel. When a person realizes that he has an immortal soul, he will not argue over things.".

Dealing with anger on your own is not easy. Pray to the Lord before you do your work and the mercy of the Lord will deliver you from anger.

A. Human anger

1. The anger of people like
– Cain (Gen 4:5-6)
– Jacob (Gen 30:2)
– Moses (Exodus 11:8)
– Saul (1 Samuel 20:30)
– David (2 Samuel 6:8)
– Naaman (2 Kings 5:11)
– Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:6)
- And she (Jonah 4:1,9)

2. How to control our anger
– we must refrain from anger (Psalm 36:8; Eph 4:31)
– we must be slow to anger (James 1:19-20)
- we must control ourselves (Proverbs 16:32)
– in our anger we should not sin (Psalm 4:5; Eph 4:26-27)

3. We can be cast into hell fire because of anger (Matthew 5:21-22)

4. We must allow God to avenge sin. (Ps 93:1-2; Rom 12:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8)

B. The Wrath of Jesus

- to injustice (Mark 3:5; Mark 10:14)
- to blasphemy in the Temple of God (John 2:12-17)
- at the last trial (Rev 6:16-17)

B. Wrath of God

1. God's Wrath is Righteous (Rom 3:5-6; Rev 16:5-6)

2. Reasons for His Wrath
– idolatry (1 Samuel 14:9; 1 Samuel 14:15; 1 Samuel 14:22; 2 Par 34:25)
- sin (Deuteronomy 9:7; 2 Kings 22:13; Rom 1:18)
– lack of faith (Ps 77:21-22; John 3:36)
- bad attitude towards others (Exodus 10:1-4; Amos 2:6-7)
- refusal to repent (Isa 9:13; Isa 9:17; Rom 2:5)

3. Expression of His Wrath
– temporary sentences (Numbers 11:1; Numbers 11:33; Isaiah 10:5; Lamentations 1:12)
- on the day of the Lord (Rom 2:5-8; Soph 1:15; Soph 1:18; Rev 11:18; Ps 109:5)

4. The Lord controls His wrath
– God is slow to anger (Exodus 34:6; Ps 102:8)
– God’s mercy is greater than His wrath (Ps 29:6; Isaiah 54:8; Hos 8:8-11)
– God will turn away His wrath (Psalm 77:38; Isaiah 48:9; Dan 9:16)
– believers are delivered from the wrath of God (1 Thessalonians 1:10; Rom 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9)

IDLENESS

Idleness is the avoidance of physical and spiritual work. Dejection, which is also part of this sin, is a state of pointless dissatisfaction, resentment, hopelessness and disappointment, accompanied by a general loss of strength. According to John Climacus, one of the creators of the list of seven sins, despondency is “a slanderer of God, as if He is unmerciful and inhumane”. The Lord has endowed us with Reason, which is capable of stimulating our spiritual quests. Here again it is worth quoting the words of Christ from the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” ( Matthew 5:6) .

The Bible does not speak of laziness as a sin, but rather as an unproductive character trait. Laziness refers to a person’s lethargy and inaction. The lazy man should follow the example of the hardworking ant (Proverbs 6:6-8) ; lazy is a burden to other people (Proverbs 10:26) . By making excuses, the lazy only punishes himself, because... the arguments he gives are stupid (Proverbs 22:13) and testify to his feeble-mindedness, causing ridicule of people (Proverbs 6:9-11; Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 12:24; Proverbs 13:4; Proverbs 14:23; Proverbs 18:9; Proverbs 19:15; Proverbs 20:4; Proverbs 24:30-34) . Those who lived only for themselves and did not realize the talent given to them will be subjected to merciless judgment. (Matthew 25:26 etc.).

GREED

You won't find the word "greed" in the Bible. However, this does not mean that the Bible has ignored the problem of greed. Quite the contrary, the Word of God takes a very close and careful look at this human vice. And it does this by breaking down greed into its components:

1. Covetousness (the love of money) and covetousness (the desire to get rich). “...for know this, that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” ( Eph 5:5) .
The love of money, being the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10) , is the foundation of greed. All other components of greed and all other human vices originate in the love of money. The Lord teaches us not to be lovers of money: “Have a disposition that does not love money, being content with what you have. For He Himself said: I will never leave you nor forsake you" ( Hebrews 13:5) .

2. Extortion and bribery
Extortion is the demand and collection of interest on a loan, extortion of gifts, bribes. Bribe - reward, remuneration, payment, retribution, gain, self-interest, profit, bribe. Bribery is bribery.

If the love of money is the foundation of greed, then covetousness is the right hand of greed. The Bible says about this vice that it comes from the heart of a person: “Further [Jesus] said: What comes out of a man defiles a man. For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, malice, deceit, lasciviousness, an envious eye, blasphemy, pride, madness - all this evil comes from within and defiles a person" ( Mark 7:20-23) .

The Bible calls covetous and bribe-takers wicked: "The wicked takes a gift from his bosom to pervert the ways of justice" ( Eccl 7:7). “By oppressing others, the wise become foolish, and gifts spoil the heart” ( Proverbs 17:23) .

The Word of God warns us that the greedy will not inherit the Kingdom of God: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wicked people, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God" ( 1 Cor 6:9-10) .

“He who walks in righteousness and speaks the truth; who despises the gain of oppression, keeps his hands from taking bribes, stops his ears so as not to hear about bloodshed, and closes his eyes so as not to see evil; he will dwell on the heights; his refuge is inaccessible rocks; bread will be given to him; his water will not run dry" ( Isa 33:15-16) .

3. Greed:
Greed is the thirst for profit. The nature of a greedy person is well described in the book of the prophet Amos “Hear this, you who hunger to devour the poor and destroy the needy, you who say: When will the new moon pass, that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, that we may open the barns, and reduce the measure, and increase the price of the shekel, and deceive with unfaithful scales, that we may buy the poor with silver? and the poor for a pair of shoes, and sell grain from grain" ( Am 8:4-6). “These are the ways of anyone who covets someone else’s goods: it takes the life of the one who takes possession of it” ( Proverbs 1:19) .

Exodus 20:17) . In other words, this commandment appeals to a person: "Don't be greedy!"

4. Stinginess:
“I will say this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each one should give according to the disposition of his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion; For God loves a cheerful giver" ( 2 Cor 9:6-7) . Is stinginess different from greed? These words are almost synonymous, but there are still some differences between them. Stinginess, first of all, is aimed at preserving what is available, while greed and greed are focused on new acquisitions.

5. Selfishness
“For the wicked boasts in the lust of his soul; the self-interested man pleases himself" ( Psalm 9:24). “He who loves greed will destroy his house, but he who hates gifts will live” ( Proverbs 15:27) .

Selfishness is a sin for which the Lord punished and is punishing people: “For the sin of his greed, I was angry and struck him, I hid my face and was indignant; but he turned away and followed the path of his heart" ( Isaiah 57:17) . The Word of God warns Christians “So that you do not deal with your brother in any way unlawfully or selfishly: for the Lord is the avenger of all this, as we told you and testified before” ( 1 Thessalonians 4:6) .

Lack of selfishness is an essential characteristic of true servants of God: “But a bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, chaste, decent, honest, hospitable, teacher, not a drunkard, not a murderer, not quarrelsome, not greedy, but quiet, peace-loving, not money-loving...” ( 1 Tim 3:2-3); “Deacons must also be honest, not double-tongued, not addicted to wine, not greedy...” ( 1 Tim 3:8) .

6. Envy:
“An envious person rushes to wealth, and does not think that poverty will befall him” ( Proverbs 28:22). “Do not eat food from an envious person and do not be enticed by his delicious dishes; because as the thoughts are in his soul, so is he; “Eat and drink,” he tells you, but his heart is not with you. The piece you ate will be vomited up, and your kind words will be wasted" ( Proverbs 23:6-8) .

The Tenth Commandment prohibits us from coveting the good of others: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” Exodus 20:17) . However, it is known that such desires most often arise in people due to envy.

7. Selfishness:
We have already had a fairly deep conversation about selfishness. We will not return to it, we will only recall that the components of selfishness are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We called this the triune nature of egoism: “For everything that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but from this world” ( 1 John 2:16) .

Greed is an integral part of selfishness, for the lust of the eyes is everything that the insatiable eyes of a person desire. It is against the lust of the eyes that the tenth commandment warns us: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” Exodus 20:17) . So, selfishness and greed are two boots.

8. Gluttony:
The Word of God warns that the eyes of man are insatiable: “Hell and Abaddon are insatiable; so insatiable are human eyes" ( Proverbs 27:20). “Insatiability has two daughters: “Come on, come on!”" ( Proverbs 30:15) “Whoever loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, and whoever loves wealth will not profit from it. And this is vanity!” ( Eccl 5:9) “And I turned and saw still vanity under the sun; a lonely person, and there is no other; he has neither a son nor a brother; but there is no end to all his labors, and his eye is not satisfied with wealth. “For whom am I toiling and depriving my soul of good?” And this is vanity and an evil deed!” ( Eccl 4:7-8) .

The main reason for greed is spiritual emptiness: spiritual hunger and thirst with which a person is born into the world. Spiritual emptiness formed in the human soul as a result of spiritual death, which was a consequence of his fall. God created man perfect. When man lived with God, he was not greedy, but without God, greed became a character trait of man. No matter what he does, he is unable to fill this spiritual emptiness. “All a man’s labor is for his mouth, but his soul is not satisfied” ( Eccl 6:7) .

A greedy person, not understanding the reason for his dissatisfaction, tries to drown it out with material goods and wealth. He, poor fellow, does not understand that spiritual poverty cannot be filled with any material benefits, just as spiritual thirst cannot be quenched with a bucket of water. All such a person needs is to turn to the Lord, who, being the only source of living water, is able to fill the spiritual emptiness in the soul.

Today the Lord addresses each of us through the prophet Isaiah: “Thirsty! go, all of you, to the waters; even you who have no silver, go, buy and eat; Go, buy wine and milk without silver and without price. Why do you weigh out money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen to Me carefully and eat what is good, and let your soul enjoy the fatness. Incline your ear and come to Me: listen, and your soul will live, and I will give you an everlasting covenant, the everlasting mercies promised to David." Isaiah 55:1-3) .

Only the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is able to satisfy the spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst of everyone who comes to Him: “Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life; He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" ( John 6:35) .

Of course, it is impossible to get rid of greed in one day, especially if you have been in slavery to this vice for a long time. But it's definitely worth a try. (Deut 24:19-22; Matthew 26:41; 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Cor 9:6-7; Col 3:2; Rom 12:2; 1 Tim 6:6-11; 3John 1:11; Hebrews 13:5-6)

The next time you have a desire to profit from someone or have a reluctance to share with someone, remember the words of Christ: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” ( Acts 20:35)

A. The commandment about greed

- in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:17; Deut 5:21; Deut 7:25)
- in the New Testament (Rom 7:7-11; Eph 5:3; Col 3:5)

B. Greed leads to other sins (1 Tim 6:10; 1 John 2:15-16)

- to deception (Jacob) (Gen 27:18-26)
– adultery (David) (2 Kings 11:1-5)
– disobedience to God (Achan) (Joshua 7:20-21)
– hypocritical worship (Saul) (1 Samuel 15:9-23)
– murder (Ahab) (1 Samuel 21:1-14)
– theft (Gehazi) (2 Kings 5:20-24)
- troubles in the family (Proverbs 15:27)
– lies (Ananias and Sapphira) (Acts 5:1-10)

B. Being satisfied with what you have is a remedy against greed

- commanded (Luke 3:14; 1 Tim 6:8; Hebrews 13:5)
– Pavel’s experience (Phil 4:11-12)

GLUTTONY

Gluttony is a sin against the second commandment (Exodus 20:4) and there is one type of idolatry. Since gluttons value sensual pleasure above all else, then, according to the words of the apostle, they have a god in their belly, or, in other words, their belly is their idol: “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in shame, they think about earthly things” ( Phil 3:19) .

Sweets can become an idol, an object of desire and constant dreams of a person. This is undoubtedly gluttony, but already in thoughts. This is also something to beware of. “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” ( Matthew 26:41) .

Gluttony literally means immoderation and greed in food, leading a person to a bestial state. The point here is not only about food, but also about the uncontrollable desire to consume more than is required. However, the fight against the vice of gluttony involves not so much the volitional suppression of the urge to eat, but rather reflection on its true place in life. Food is certainly important for existence, but it should not become the meaning of life, thereby replacing concerns about the soul with concerns about the body. Let us remember the words of Christ: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will wear. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing" ( Matthew 6:25) . This is very important to understand because... in modern culture, gluttony is defined more as a medical illness than as a moral concept.

voluptuousness

This sin is characterized not only by extramarital sexual relations, but also by the very passionate desire for carnal pleasures. Let us turn to the words of Jesus Christ: “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28) . A person whom God has endowed with Will and Reason must be different from animals who blindly follow their instincts. Also included in lust are various types of sexual perversions (bestiality, necrophilia, homosexuality, etc.), which are inherently contrary to human nature. (Exodus 22:19; 1 Tim 1:10; Lev 18:23-24; Lev 20:15-16; Deut 27:21; Gen 19:1-13; Lev 18:22; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:11; 2 Cor 5:17)

The list of sins is contrasted with a list of virtues. To pride - humility; greed - generosity; envy - love; to anger - kindness; voluptuousness - self-control; to gluttony - moderation and abstinence, and to laziness - diligence. Thomas Aquinas especially singled out Faith, Hope and Love among the virtues.

Old Stump

And hello to you, dear one! The tempting chance to choose any mask for yourself and then speak on its behalf, as well as the almost unlimited opportunity to demonstrate your successes, real or imaginary - these are the lures with which the Internet catches us. It seems that when you started your page on a social network, you weren’t going to turn yourself inside out, talking about the most intimate things, but before you know it, lo and behold: the heavy shackles of self-control have fallen, the prisons of moral taboos have collapsed, and cheerful freedom joyfully greets you at the entrance. Vanity fairs, naturally. And you are already ready to bare yourself, and not always in the figurative sense of the word, may Alexander Sergeevich forgive me my insolence - it hurts!

We'll talk about vanity later, but today about envy. Firstly, because after the article about Cain and Abel ("RG - Week" dated June 23, 2016), many questions came. And secondly, because the Internet is not only a vast vanity fair, but also an equally endless arena for envy - otherwise where would so many dirty, offensive comments come from under any bright message.

So let's get started.

1. Can the evil eye, that is, an envious look, cause harm, cause illness, cause failure and even death?

The saints say no. This is how Basil the Great discussed this back in the 4th century, devoting a separate chapter of his creations to envy. “Those suffering from envy are considered more harmful than poisonous vipers. They inject poison through the wound, and the bitten place gradually rots; others think of the envious that they cause harm with one glance, so that from their envious glance, bodies of strong build begin to wither, youth of age blooming with all their beauty. All their fullness suddenly disappears, as if from envious eyes some destructive, harmful and destructive stream is pouring. I reject such a belief, because it is common among the people and is brought into women's chambers by old women; but I affirm that the haters good - demons, when they find in people the wills and desires characteristic of themselves, the demons, they use all measures to use them for their own intentions; therefore, they also use the eyes of the envious to serve their own demonic will." That is, an envious gaze can indeed glow with inhuman malice, but one should not attribute magical powers to this hatred. Moreover, a person can always protect himself from envy. Think about it, if hatred and malice were stronger than the grace of God, the human race would have stopped at the first envious person - Cain.

2. Why is envy terrible?

The one that kills. But who? First of all, the envious person himself. As the saints unanimously believe, the grace of God - that is, the uncreated divine energy, power - leaves envious hearts. This means that if the envious person does not do anything, that is, if he does not repent and does not fight the illness that has gripped him, the worst thing awaits the unfortunate person - the death of the soul. Like any sin, this passion blinds the envious person, and he ceases to notice that he lives by constant comparison of himself with others. Someone else's life, not his own, becomes the center of his attention. “Just as those who are enraged often turn their swords on themselves, so the envious, having only one thing in mind - harm to the one they envy, lose their own salvation,” explains St. John Chrysostom. “Envy is worse than any other passion, because with its sting it seeks to destroy families , societies and even entire nations, leading them to extreme crime and even murder."

3. What to do if they envy you? How to defend yourself?

First of all, the saints teach, “what is worthy of envy in you, hide most of all from the envious person” (Reverend Nilus of Sinai). Don’t tempt people by showing off and planning for the future. By the way, before the revolution in Russia there was a saying: “Man believes, but God disposes,” and it was actively used when someone was obsessively interested in your plans. Moreover, such curiosity in itself seemed strange. There was a principle: do not declare, and certainly not advertise, a work that is not yet perfect. We tried not to boast about our success - it looked like bad form.

The saints unanimously believe that it is impossible to regain the favor of an envious person through good deeds. “The passion of envy, flaring up in a person’s soul, becomes insatiable. No good, no service from neighbors can stop this ungodly passion in a person.” Therefore, there is only one defense against envy - God's help: participation in the sacraments of the Church, prayers. Most of our prayers contain words of petition for protection from the enemy of the human race, and it is he who is the parent of envy.

You need to pray for the most unfortunate person who envies you. “Pray for the envious person and try not to irritate him,” the Optina elders teach.

4. What to do if a worm of envy has settled in you too?

Understand: you need to start fighting this passion at the earliest stages. This is what the Optina elder Nikon taught: “When you feel dislike, or anger, or irritation towards someone, then you need to pray for those people, regardless of whether they are guilty or not. Pray in the simplicity of your heart, as the holy fathers advise: “ Save, O Lord, and have mercy on Thy servant (the person’s name) and for the sake of his holy prayers, help me, a sinner!” Such prayer calms the heart, although sometimes not immediately.”

You must definitely monitor the germs of such hostility in your heart and then confess them. And at the moment of the emergence of anger in the soul, it is necessary, on the advice of another Optina elder, Ambrose, “to exterminate them at the first sensation, praying to the Almighty God, the Knower of the Heart, in the psalm words: “Cleanse me from my secrets, and spare Thy servant (or Thy servant) from strangers.” (Ps. 19:13-14)."

Another recommendation: “shut your mouth, seal your lips,” that is, try with all your might not to say bad things about someone you envy.” Moreover, you need to encourage yourself to see the good in him, and if you happen to “seal your mouth,” remember only good things.

And finally, force yourself to do acts of love. Yes, that’s right: cultivate your heart, cultivate your soul. “You need to force yourself, albeit against your will, to do some good to your enemies, and most importantly, not to take revenge on them and be careful so as not to somehow offend them with the appearance of contempt and humiliation,” taught the Monk Ambrose of Optina. That is, if you envied a person, do him good, and you will suffocate the viper of malice arising in you.

5. Who is the culprit of envy?

Certainly not someone who is envied, even if the person behaved provocatively and temptingly. Envy is a spiritual disease of the one who experiences it. Theologians call the sources of envy self-love and its main products - pride and vanity, self-interest and love of money, carnality. By eradicating root vices in oneself, a person also weakens envy.

In turn, envy in a person gives “the following bitter creations: rivalry, anger, malice, gloating, enmity and hatred, quarrels, discord, slander, lies and slander, sneaking, secret slander, base sneakiness, gloating in the misfortune of neighbors, deceit and hypocrisy" (Hermogenes Szymansky).

In asceticism there is such a very effective method of combating passions: you need to plant in your heart a virtue that is opposite to the sin that has taken over you. You are stingy - try to get joy from generosity, angry - know the pleasure of learning to be restrained, and so on. The virtue opposite to envy is sincere, heartfelt love for one's neighbor, that love which, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, does not envy, is not exalted, and is not proud. Oddly enough, love is also learned, but we’ll talk about that next time.

Saint John of Kronstadt about the envious

Lord, enlighten the mind and heart of this Thy servant to the knowledge of Thy great, countless unsearchable gifts, which they receive from Thy innumerable bounties. In the blindness of my passion, I forgot You and Your rich gifts, and impoverished myself to be imputed, rich in Your blessings, and for this reason He looks with delight at the good of Your servants, in the image, oh, most ineffable Goodness, injuring everyone, in every way against his strength and by intention Thy will. Take away, O All-Good Master, the veil of the devil from the sight of the heart of Thy servant and grant him heartfelt contrition and tears of repentance and gratitude, so that the enemy does not rejoice over him, captured alive from him into his will, and may he not tear him away from Thy hand.

Write to the editorial office or [email protected]

Why is envy dangerous, what actions can it take?

Is she pushing? What are some examples of this?

Are you familiar with mental vices from literature?

How to overcome envy? Love covers

All. Learning love is the most important thing in

Human life.

What did envy do?

It's finished! Paleness imposed

Seal on dead lips,

For the first time death closed his lips,

And blood was shed for the first time!

Brother struck brother

Having broken the connection of past years,

And there is no return for deeds,

And there is no forgiveness for sin.

Trembling, with a mad face

The killer runs in wild fear,

Frightening loved ones and relatives.

But tomorrow is the same as today,

He hears and is overwhelmed with horror,

“Tell me, where is Abel? Where is your brother?"

O. Chumina

Cain killed his brother Abel. It didn't happen right away. At first he accepted the thought instilled in him by the enemy of the human race and succumbed to him out of envy. And this thought had to be reflected at the very beginning, as the holy fathers teach us, so that it does not grow to the point of committing a sin in practice.

Envy is a terrible evil. From her is the passion for fame and acquisition; from her lust for power and pride. Hence the criminal robbers and robbers on the roads, hence the murders, hence the division of our family. Whatever evil you encounter comes from envy.

***

Ivan Ilyin. ENVY.

While people live on earth, they must get along, find their way to each other, unite, help one another. Otherwise, the earth will open up beneath them and the sky will split open above their heads. But envy is the most powerful means of disintegration: it was once invented by the master of “Apart” and “Against Each Other.”

In order to get along, people need to “forgive” each other their differences, their advantages, their primacy. Not only in the possession of a fortune, but in everything: you are smart, gifted, educated, handsome, strong, rich, you are highly ranked in your service - I am not; you are above - I am below; ok, I accept it, I'm happy with it... I don't envy you. If my “bottom” is not enough for me, I will fight for “more” and “better”, but not wanting to take yours away from you. I will work, work creatively, move myself “up” - in competition, but without envy. You just stay “at the top”; I'll come up to you.

Competition as an internal motivation is a healthy, creative, fraternal phenomenon.

Envy, as an internal motivating reason, on the contrary, painful, destructive, hostile. Its formula is unreasonable and immoral.

Envy is primarily stinginess and greed. .

She is insatiable, like curiosity; it thereby means eternal poverty, eternal care, eternal bad mood; it turns every success into failure and leaves a person in poverty in hopeless loneliness. A cruel envious person is a malicious person: he takes offense at a person for someone else’s happiness, he is hurt by every other person’s success, any positive quality in another torments him like a wound in the heart; the anger of the one who has lost against the owner fills him, like the rage of an inferior person who constantly feels his inferiority, and therefore biasedly notes the superiority of others. He doesn’t even get to the point: he gets stuck in the struggle between “I” and “you,” and in this eternal struggle he wears out himself and his opponent.

If his rage expands to a social program, then it spills over into class struggle and a Marxist civil war begins.

Where is the salvation and consolation? In art there is no envy. It's not difficult at all. Give everyone what they already have, and don’t constantly delve into your own inferiority. Throw away this pathetic “reading” of your imaginary “smallness” from the supposed “superiority” of others. Know that you yourself are worth “addition.” Rise up without pushing others down. Do not envy! Do not envy! And - most importantly - learn to forget about yourself in a big matter!

Questions for students:

- probably not a single one was spared

Feelings of envy. What is experiencing

The soul, when it comes into contact with it?

- how to avoid envy?

- Is it easy not to envy?

MORTAL SINS

Pride- despising everyone, demanding servility from others, ready to ascend to heaven and become like the Most High - in a word, pride to the point of self-adoration.

Unfed soul- or Judas’s greed for money, combined, for the most part, with unrighteous acquisitions, not allowing a person to think even a minute about spiritual things.

Fornication- or the dissolute life of the prodigal son, who squandered all his father’s estate on such a life.

Envy– leading to every possible crime against one’s neighbor.

Gluttony- or carnalism, not knowing any fasting, combined with a passionate attachment to various amusements, following the example of the evangelical rich man, who had fun all day long.

Anger- unapologetic and determined to commit terrible destruction, following the example of Herod, who in his anger beat the infants of Bethlehem.

Laziness – or complete carelessness about the soul, carelessness about repentance until the last days of life, as, for example, in the days of Noah.

***

THINK Slowly!

Just as rust eats away iron, so does envy eat away the soul in which it lives.

Envy is sadness about the well-being of one's neighbor.

Saint Basil the Great

Envy is the daughter of pride: kill the mother, and the daughter will perish.

St. Augustine

An envious person harms himself before the one he envies.

Saint John Chrysostom

***

The annoying demon is busy,

He wants to seduce me with delight:

I accept part of my pleasure

And I give glory to God.

And the demon is busy around again,

He wants to scare me with trouble:

I accept my share of sorrows

And I give glory to God.

For every ray and breath

I give praise to God

And old age, my friend,

I lead you to the threshold, in hope.

Vyacheslav Ivanov

*

There are two paths: good and evil.

Anyone is open, but useful to everyone

Only the one to whom the Truth went,

Which is holy, thorny and cramped.

For the flesh it is cramped, evil and lies,

But not for the righteous soul,

Preserving honor, the Law of the Creator

From the beginning of life to the end.

Archpriest Vl. Borozdinov

***

Don't wish for it

what belongs to your neighbor

The peasant son Timosha tended other people's sheep and received such a small wage for it that he had nothing to buy boots with. One evening, when he was standing barefoot at the gate of the inn, the master's carriage drove up to the house.

“Some people are so lucky that they ride around in a carriage!” – Timosha thought, looking with envy at the rich crew. - And our brother - if you please, go barefoot. How did I, an orphan, anger the Lord, that I must forever toil and wander among strangers? And why is God’s mercy for this gentleman at least?.. If I could change with him even for an hour, it would be happiness!

As soon as he said this, the doors of the carriage opened and, with the help of two servants, a legless cripple climbed out.

- The power of the cross is with us! - Timofey exclaimed, dumbfounded, crossed himself and ran into the field without looking back.

From then on, not only did he not envy anyone, but he also no longer complained about his poverty.

***

Three travelers once found a precious find on the road. It had to be divided equally among everyone. The find was so large that a portion of each would have been quite significant.

But the devil immediately appeared with his companions, the spirits of envy, deceit and greed.

After admiring their find, the travelers sat down to rest to refresh themselves with food, but each was not thinking about food, but about how he could take possession of the treasure alone.

One of them needed to go to the nearest town to buy supplies. One went. The two who remained on the spot agreed to kill the third when he returned to share his part. Meanwhile, the one who went for supplies decided to poison them with poison, so that after the death of both comrades, the wealth would remain for him alone.

When he returned, he was immediately killed by his companions, and they, in turn, after eating the food they brought, both died.

The precious find remained in its place to wait for others - madmen or more worthy people.

***

One Greek sovereign, wanting to know who was worse: an envious person or a lover of money, ordered two people to be brought to him, one of whom suffered from envy, and the other from the love of money.

When those invited appeared, the sovereign said:

“Let each of you demand from me such a gift as he wishes, and I will give it to him with joy.” After this, the second of those who asked and received the gift will receive twice as much as the first one requested and received.

The envious man refused to ask for the gift first, not wanting the money-lover to receive double. And the money lover refused to ask for a gift first in those forms, so that the envious person would not take possession of the double gift.

Since there was no end to the disputes, the sovereign was forced to stop these disputes by commanding that the envious person be the first to make a request for a gift. And what do you think the envious man demanded as a gift? He demanded that one eye be torn out from him, of course, wanting both eyes of his opponent to be torn out, i.e. so that he becomes completely blind.

Thus, this villain, out of envy, not only refused every royal gift, but even decided to allow himself to be mutilated, just so that his rival would not receive a double gift.

***

DO NOT ENVY

Envy of the devil brings death into the world, says St. Scripture (Wis. Sol. 2:24).

Envy not akin to people, but akin to the devil; it comes from the devil.

It is common for people to sin out of weakness, but only the devil alone is capable of doing evil out of envy.

Envy is the daughter of the devil, and whoever mates with her will bring nothing but malice, and malice gives birth to death. Cain made friends with envy and cultivated anger in himself; the anger matured and brought death to two: temporary death to Abel, and eternal death to Cain himself.

St. Gregory of Nyssa writes: “ Envy is the beginning of malice, the mother of death, the first daughter of sin, the root of all evil.”.

St. Basil the Great exhorts: “ Let us, brothers, avoid the intolerable evil of envy; it is the commandment of the tempting serpent, the invention of the devil, the seed of the enemy, the guarantee of God’s execution, an obstacle to pleasing God, the path to Gehenna, the deprivation of the Kingdom of Heaven.”

St. John Chrysostom speaks: " He who performs miracles, maintains virginity, observes fasting, makes prostrations and compares himself with the angels in virtue, but has this flaw (envy), is more wicked than all others, more lawless than the adulterer, the fornicator, and the digger of coffins.”

COUNCIL OF BASIL THE GREAT

CONQUERING ENVY

“If you see with a mind higher than human, you will not consider anything earthly great and extraordinary: neither what people call wealth, nor fading glory, nor bodily health; If you do not provide benefits for yourself in transitory things, but direct your gaze to the truly beautiful and praiseworthy, to the achievement of eternal and true blessings, then you will be far from recognizing anything earthly and perishable as worthy of pleasure and competition. And whoever is like that and is not amazed by worldly greatness, envy can never approach him.”

(Works of St. Basil the Great IV.188, 190)

***

Spiritual honeycomb

Envy plots intrigues against good neighbors. Where there is envy and greed for fame, there is no true friendship.

Envy turns a person into a demon.

Envy is worse than fornication and adultery; it gives rise to slander and accusations. She must be overcome by rejoicing.

All sins come from self-love. The beginning of goodness is to deny oneself, crucify the flesh with passions, endure grief, insults, and adversity.

When a person lives in space, in abundance and contentment, then he grows in his belly and does not grow in spirit, does not bear good fruits.

And when he lives in cramped conditions, in poverty, in illness, in misfortunes, in sorrows, then he grows spiritually, matures and bears good, rich fruits.

Therefore the path of those who love God is hard.

The head and essence of all good deeds is love, without which neither fasting, nor vigil, nor labor mean anything...

Without love for God and neighbor

can't be saved

Wild, harsh desert. There is complete desertion all around. Here three monks are saved through strict feats of abstinence. What tortures do they subject their sinful flesh to! She seemed to have become completely emotionless. Only their hearts remained cold: love for their neighbor never warmed them...

One day these monks met an elder experienced in spiritual life and began to boast to him about their deeds.

- I memorized the entire Old and New Testaments: what will happen to me for this?

“You filled the air with words, but still there is no benefit to you from your work,” the elder answered him.

- And I, father, rewrote the entire Holy Scripture! – the second one boasted.

“And it’s of no use to you,” came the answer.

Then the third exclaimed:

- And I, father, create miracles!

“And it’s no good for you,” the elder tells him, “for you, too, have driven love away from yourself.”

If you want to be saved, have love in your heart, do mercy, and then you will be saved, for:

If someone says that he loves God, but hates his brother, it is a lie... And this commandment of the imams is from God, that he who loves God, loves his brother too (1 John 4: 20.21).

***

The Legend of Saint Julian

Julian brings an unknown traveler to his hut, built in the thicket of an impenetrable forest. His body is completely covered with disgusting leprosy. Thin shoulders, chest and arms literally disappear under the scales of purulent acne. From the bluish lips comes a fetid and thick breath, like fog. The traveler is tormented by hunger and thirst. Julian willingly satisfies them and at the same time sees how the table, ladle and knife handle, which the leper grabbed, are covered with suspicious stains.

The patient's lifeless body grows cold. Julian tries in every possible way to warm him up by the fire. But the leper whispers in a fading voice: “On your bed...” and demands that Julian lie down next to him and warm him with the warmth of his body.

Julian does everything unquestioningly. The leper suffocates. “I’m dying!” he exclaims. “Hug me, warm me with your whole being!”

Julian, without any shadow of disgust, hugs him and kisses him on his stinking lips.

Then, the legend says, the leper squeezed Julian in his arms, and his eyes suddenly shone with a bright light, like stars, his breath became sweeter than the incense of a rose. An unearthly joy filled Julian’s soul, and the one who held him in his arms grew and grew...

The roof rose, the starry vault spread out all around, and Julian rose into the azure face to face with our Lord Jesus Christ, who carried him into the sky...

***

This is what love is, this is how all passions are conquered!

At its core, love is always sacrificial. When you sacrifice yourself for your neighbor, go through hardships, lose some of your benefits - you are close to this feeling. If this, of course, is not a coincidence, but the state of your soul.

We are far from this high sacrificial feeling. Today we have all vulgarized: love, infatuation, and friendship. But even in modern relationships, it is not surprising, there is a feeling of sacrificial love.

In any true love there is certainly a religious element. Agree, as soon as we love deeply, we say “forever.” Because then we clearly feel that this love, which has filled our entire spiritual being, will not die with us, but will be transferred with us to another life.

That is why great and unhappy love seeks refuge in the sky, in dreams of uniting there with those from whom the earth has separated, and speaks like the famous Schillerovskaya heroine Tekla:

There is a better land where we are free to love,

My soul has already transferred everything there...

Great Russian lyricist Afanasy Fet, whose poetry is almost alien to religious motives, nevertheless left a poem of crystalline purity, which depicts a dream about a man’s beloved girl in the solitude of the night, in front of an icon:

Lady of Zion, before You

In the darkness my lamp is lit.

Everyone is sleeping all around. My soul is full

Prayer and sweet silence.

You are close to me. With a humble soul

I pray for the one by whom my life is clear.

Let it bloom. Be happy she

Whether with another chosen one, alone or with me...

Oh no!.. Forgive the influence of illness.

You know us: we are destined for each other

Save through mutual prayers...

So give me strength, stretch out your holy hands,

So that it could be brighter in the midnight hour of separation

I will light a lamp before You!

How well, how deeply this is said and how wonderfully it expresses the ultimate goal of all Christian affection: “We are destined to save each other through mutual prayers”...

Fate can separate people. Two people who seem to be made for each other may find themselves separated in different directions. But what fate cannot take away from anyone is the right to pray for a beloved soul.

Time has no power over real feelings. There is an exceptional power of feelings when they love even stronger in separation, when souls feel each other at a distance: they worry if a loved one gets sick or troubles and sorrows befall him, they rejoice when there is success and peace of mind.

Our time is a time of general depravity. If our distant ancestors had seen today's youth - almost completely naked girls, as if offering themselves to the first person they met, I think they would not have endured such a sight!

But not only the indecent appearance, but also the indecent behavior of young people! Under the influence of Western pernicious culture, relationships have become vulgar, the mystery in the relationship between a man and a woman is disappearing, eroticism and sex have become commonplace. Fornication and adultery are normal.

But, dear friends, you can’t lie before God! No matter how much we attribute everything to time and morals, we will have to answer in all severity: children will be born sick or defective, married life will not work out in the future, and is it possible to list all the consequences of a sinful life!

We must deeply understand what times we live in, how little we actually know and feel about our Orthodoxy, how far we are not only from the solid moral foundations of such distant times, but also from the morality of ordinary Christians who lived a hundred years ago.

We are also surprised: why do the great disasters that befall us from everywhere occur? Because of our sins, God's vengeance hits us, but we do not want to admit our sinfulness. We don’t want to repent and improve.

Why is it important to repent - go to Church for confession?

Because if we sincerely repent of our sins, the Lord forgives us. Why in the Church? Because the priest, with the power given by God, has the right to forgive sins: he covers you with an epitrachelion and reads a special prayer.

Humanity has received a holy gift - the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Through repentance and Communion, the path to salvation was opened to countless great sinners. We all just need to sincerely repent!

CREATIVE WORKSHOP

Dramatization of “Tales of the Fisherman and the Fish” by A.S. Pushkin.

MATERIALS

Gospel

God's law

“Spiritual Conversations.” T.16.No. 42, p. 359

“Spiritual Sowings.” Spiritual and moral reading for the people, schools and families. M.. 1995 – from a reprint of the Holy Vvedensky Monastery of Optina Pustyn.

“Sin and Repentance of the Last Times.” Archimandrite Lazar. M., 2002 .

Nuggets of spiritual wisdom. M.. 1993 .

I. Ilyin. “I look into life. Book of Thoughts.” M.: “Athos”, 2000.

Poetry: A. Fet, Schiller, V. Ivanov, prot. Vladimir Borozdinov

Q?There is another story about the first red testicle.
Mary Magdalene, like other disciples of the Lord, went from country to country and talked everywhere about Jesus Christ, about how He rose from the dead and about what He taught people. One day she came to Rome and entered the palace there. Once upon a time, Maria was noble and rich, she was known in the palace and was allowed to see Emperor Tiberius. In those days, when people came to the emperor, they always brought him some gift. The rich brought jewelry, and the poor brought what they could. And so Mary came now when she had nothing else but faith in Jesus Christ. She stopped in front of the emperor, handed him a simple egg and said loudly:
- Christ is risen!
The emperor was surprised and said:
- How can anyone rise from the dead! It's hard to believe. It's as hard as it is to believe that this white testicle can turn red!
And while he was still talking, the testicle began to change color: it turned pink, darkened and finally became bright red!

Special Easter rituals include blessing arthos. Artos is a prosphora with a cross or the Resurrection of Christ depicted on it.

The historical origin of artos is as follows. According to custom, the apostles ate a meal with the Lord, and after His ascension into heaven they set aside part of the bread for their teacher, thereby expressing their faith in the constant presence of Jesus Christ among the disciples.

By preparing artos, the Church imitates the apostles. At the same time, artos reminds us that Jesus Christ, by His Death on the Cross and Resurrection, became for us the True Bread of Life.

After the Liturgy, the eggs, Easter cakes and Easter cakes brought by believers are blessed (according to tradition, the Easter meal begins with the singing of the prayer “Christ is Risen” and eating the blessed eggs, Easter cake and Easter cake). Remembering the great benefits shown to the human race by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, ancient Christians extended a helping hand and charity to the orphans, the poor and the needy. Evidence of ancient Christian charity on the days of Holy Easter remains today the distribution of money and blessed products to the poor, in order to make them participants in the general joy on this bright holiday.

Features of the Easter service

In the consciousness of the Orthodox Church, the event of the Resurrection of Christ is one continuous delight, one continuous joy. Not a single holiday is celebrated with such unusual light and solemnity as the holiday of the bright Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, our Easter service itself is the only and unique one. It is one continuous rejoicing.

If we began to cite the amazing chants of this church service, extraordinary in its content, we would simply have to rewrite it entirely, because it is difficult to decide which of the chants to give preference to, they are all so good and expressive.

Before Easter Matins the rite of the Midnight Office is celebrated, where on the 9th song of the canon Don't cry for me Mati the shroud is taken from the middle of the temple to the altar and placed on the Holy Altar until Easter is celebrated.

At the end of the Midnight Office, Easter Matins begins with a procession of the cross with the singing of the Sunday stichera of the 6th tone Your Resurrection, Christ the Savior. In front of the closed doors of the temple after worship Glory to the Saints... the moment comes that everyone is really looking forward to: the clergy sings the troparion of Easter Christ is risen from the dead... and people pick up these long-awaited words.

Easter Matins is extremely festive, we perceive it as a “feast of the holidays”, and at the same time it does not have any of the usual, regular signs of a festive service: there is no doxology sung, there is no polyeleos - all that is usually an integral part of a festive matins. But at the Easter service, almost everything is sung. During the singing of the Easter canon, the priests perform censing for the people with the words “Christ is Risen!”, People answer: “Truly He is Risen!” All the decoration of the temple, the vestments of the clergy, are festive, bright red. The royal doors of the altar are open throughout Bright Week. The entire Easter service is an incessant, solemn hymn to the bright Resurrection of Christ. Victory of life over death. Reconciliation of God with man and man with God... On the bright Easter night, heaven and earth merge together, angels and people touch and every barrier between them disappears. The majestic and significant Easter service reveals to the believer everything that is mysterious, lofty and saving for the soul in Christianity, bright, joyful and comforting for the heart. It is in the moments of the most majestic Easter service that Christian delight captures a person’s soul completely and dominates in it over all its other thoughts, feelings and aspirations.

At this service we hear the Catechetical Word of St. John Chrysostom, amazing in content: Let all who were pious and God-loving enjoy this good and bright celebration. And let all who were prudent enter this day into the joy of their Lord. Whoever worked and fasted, let him receive his reward today. The Lord accepts the latter and the former with equal joy on this day. May the rich and the poor rejoice with each other on this day. Diligent and lazy - let them honor this day equally. Those who fasted and those who did not fast, let everyone rejoice equally. Let no one weep over their misery on this Easter day, because the common kingdom has appeared. Let no one cry for their sins, because on this day God gave His forgiveness to people. Let no one fear death; the death of Christ has set everyone free.

· “Christ is Risen!” - we say with a feeling of spiritual delight and awe, and we want to pronounce these words endlessly, listening in response to the other two holy words “Truly He is Risen!”

· LITERATURE

·

· Gospel

·

· God's law

·

· Deacon A. Kuraev. “School theology” - M., 1998

·

· Orthodox reading. M., 2001- 2004 . Yu. Vorobievsky.

·

· “The Path to the Apocalypse.” M., 1999 .

·

· “The unknown light of faith.” M., 2002 .

·

· "Star of Bethlehem" M., 2000 g.

· The unidentified world of faith. Publication of the Sretensky Monastery., M., 2002 .

·

· Spiritual poetry. M., 1990.

Rev. Justin Popovich. “Progress in the Mill of Death.” Minsk.,

2001 .

Envy accompanies a person throughout his entire history. Already in the fourth chapter of the book of Genesis, that is, immediately after the description of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, the tragedy of their firstborns is told. Cain is jealous of brother Abel because God accepted the latter’s sacrifice and “did not respect” his own. The continuation is known: Cain does not listen to the voice of God, lures his brother into the field and kills him. As punishment, the Lord condemns the criminal to exile. What do the Church Fathers say about this truly murderous sin?

1. John Chrysostom

Saint John Chrysostom compares the envious person to a dung beetle, a pig and even a demon. According to him, envy is direct enmity against God, who favors this or that person. In this sense, the envious person is even worse than demons: they harm people, while the envious person wishes harm to his own kind.

“Envy is worse than enmity,” says the saint. – When a person at war forgets the reason for which the quarrel occurred, he also ceases the hostility; an envious person will never become a friend. Moreover, the former fights openly, and the latter – secretly; the former can often indicate a sufficient reason for enmity, while the latter cannot point to anything other than his madness and satanic disposition.”

An example from life. Two people are applying for a position with a good salary and prospects for career growth. If the spiritual needs of these people are low and their material needs are high, then, most likely, competition will arise between them, and against its background - an explicit or implicit conflict.

On the part of the one who receives the coveted position, the conflict will be settled as soon as he takes the chair. But the “loser,” if he is at all prone to envy, will aggravate the conflict even more and will certainly fall into this sin - even when he finds another job, he will remember that this worthless person took HIS place.

Envy really resembles madness in the most medical sense: an obsessive state. One way to get rid of an obsessive state is to try to rationalize it.

A person is successful, which means that God is glorified through him. If this person is your neighbor, it means that through him you are successful, and through you God is also glorified. If this person is your enemy, then you need to strive to make him your friend - just for the sake of the fact that God is glorified through him.

2. John Cassian the Roman

The opinion common to the entire Holy Tradition is that it was out of envy that the serpent attacked Eve. It was envy of man's unique status as the image and likeness of God that led him to strive to overthrow it. Moreover, the devil provokes the foremother Eve to envy: “You will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” It is envy of these non-existent gods that pushes the first woman to violate God’s commandments. So, indeed, a satanic vice.

The Monk John Cassian the Roman categorically asserts that envy cannot be overcome by one’s own efforts. In response to virtue, the envious person only becomes embittered. Thus, Joseph’s goodwill and helpfulness embittered his eleven brothers even more. When he went to feed them in the field, they decided to kill their brother - the idea of ​​selling him into slavery was already a softening of their original intention...

Old Testament history is repeated at all times, albeit without criminality. In many teenage groups there will be guys who will call an excellent student who explains complex problems to his stupid classmates a “nerd” - and it’s good if they don’t put chewing gum, or even a button, on the chair...

There is no need to despair. St. John Cassian gives universal advice: pray.

“So that the basilisk (devil), with one bite of this evil (envy), does not destroy everything that is alive in us, which is, as it were, inspired by the vital action of the Holy Spirit, we will constantly ask for God’s help, for which nothing is impossible.”

3. Basil the Great

Prayer is no less hard work than, for example, fasting exercises. Not everyone can do it without proper training, and the battle with envy is necessary here and now. What to do?

Saint Basil the Great gives two very simple pieces of advice. First: realize that there is nothing to envy at all. Wealth, fame, honor and respect are absolutely earthly things, which you also need to learn how to use correctly.

“Those who are still unworthy of our competition are the rich for the sake of his wealth, the ruler for the sake of the greatness of his dignity, the wise for the sake of his abundance in words. These are instruments of virtue for those who use them well, but do not contain bliss in themselves... And whoever is such, who is not struck by the worldly as something great, envy can never approach him.”

The second advice is to “sublimate” your envy into a creative transformation of yourself, the achievement of many virtues. True, this recommendation is suitable for combating a special type of envy associated with ambition:

“If you absolutely desire fame, want to be more visible than many and cannot stand being second (for this can also be a reason for envy), then direct your ambition, like some kind of stream, towards the acquisition of virtue. Do not, under any circumstances, desire to become rich in any way or to earn approval through anything worldly. For it is not in your will. But be just, chaste, prudent, courageous, patient in suffering for the sake of piety.”

Even if we don’t touch on high virtues, the advice is more than practical. Let's say two young people are interested in playing the guitar. One becomes a rock star in his city, and the other plays three chords in the transition. For the second, the easiest way is to start envying a successful friend - it’s more difficult, firstly, to estimate the risks (Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix were enormously talented and wildly popular, which did not protect them from an ugly and terrible death, but only stimulated a tragic end), and secondly, learn additional chords and go beyond your favorite transition.

A gradual increase in professionalism, tied to training and self-discipline, may not take you to Olympus, but it will allow you to develop, play and compose music for your own pleasure.

4. Theophan the Recluse

If it is quite difficult to resist an envious person with a kind attitude, as the Holy Scripture directly testifies to (the above example of Joseph and his brothers, King Saul, who continues to envy David and persecute him despite his humility...), then the envious person himself can and must overcome his passion through “I don’t want” – precisely by changing behavior towards one’s “victim”. No matter how hard it is.

“Well-wishers, in whom feelings of sympathy and compassion prevail over selfish ones, do not suffer from envy. This shows the way to extinguish envy and everyone tormented by it. You must hasten to arouse goodwill, especially towards the one you envy, and show it in action - the envy will immediately subside. A few repetitions of the same kind, and with God’s help, it will completely subside,” says St. Theophan the Recluse.

In other words, when compassion and empathy for one’s neighbor becomes a habit, there will be no room for envy.

Almost a textbook example: a lonely young lady, consumed by envy of successful “gossips,” suddenly finds out that her prosperous, married and rich friend’s husband is a drug addict, and all her well-being is for show. If the process of envy has not yet started too strongly, the envious woman (perhaps at first, and not without gloating) rushes to help her friend... and in the process of jointly calling drug treatment clinics, friendly conversations and mutual tears in the kitchen, she is so imbued with her neighbor’s grief that she no longer speaks of envy remembers. Compassion for grief turns out to be higher than envy for success.

5. Maxim the Confessor

By the way, there is another side to this advice: if possible, there is no need to give reasons for envy. If you don’t want to be envied, don’t boast about your success, wealth, intelligence and happiness.

“The only other way to calm him down is by hiding it from him. If something is useful for many, but causes him grief, then which side should he neglect? We must stand on the side of what is useful for many; but if possible, do not neglect it and do not allow yourself to be carried away by the deceit of passion, giving help not to passion, but to the one suffering from it,” recommends an approach with reasoning, St. Maximus the Confessor.

He also notes that you yourself should get rid of this passion according to the commandment of the Apostle: “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15).

The first is more difficult. To feel sorry for the unfortunate is a natural movement of the soul. Rejoicing at someone else's happiness is a conscious action dictated by sincere love, when you truly treat your neighbor as yourself. Only the author of the famous “Centuries about Love” could give such advice.

True, sometimes examples of its implementation are found in life. A lonely woman in cramped living conditions worries for a long time that she does not have children, works with adoptive parents, begins to rejoice for the happy children and their new parents... And then suddenly, unexpectedly, circumstances turn out in her favor, and she manages to adopt her child.

6. Gregory the Theologian

As we see, the Fathers of the Church give the same advice on how to combat envy: pray, rejoice for your neighbor, grow in virtue. None of the teachers of the Church conduct master classes on overcoming envy. Precisely because the birth of this passion can be traced from the Bible, precisely because it is obviously inexcusable as a direct product of the devil, the main weapon against it is reproof.

Saint Gregory the Theologian believed that envy, oddly enough, is not without justice - already in this life it punishes the sinner.

The fathers say that an envious person’s face becomes withered, he looks bad... In our life, an envious person is easily recognized by his pursed lips and wrinkles. He is dissatisfied with life, he always grumbles (especially at the object of his passion). I will say more: many diseases that are psychosomatic in nature, from pancreatitis to asthma, are aggravated by the envious person. “It’s unfair that someone else is more successful than me!” - this thought eats up the unfortunate person, not only his soul, but also his body.

This is bad justice, hellish. This alone should turn a person away from such a destructive passion.

“Oh, when would envy be destroyed between people, this ulcer for those possessed by it, this poison for those suffering from it, this one of the most unjust and at the same time just passions - an unjust passion, because it disturbs the peace of all good people, and a fair one, because it dries feeding her! - St. Gregory exclaims.

7. Ephraim the Syrian

The basis of envy is the so-called “agonal spirit” - the ability of an individual to be in constant struggle, competition, rivalry, aggression. Agonality was a characteristic feature of ancient culture (from where a large number of games and competitions come from) and is present in a very primitive form in modern life: you can compete in who has the coolest iPhone or fashionable clothes.

The word “agonality” has the same root as αγωνία (struggle). With this word we call the dying state, the body’s attempt to fight for survival, the last convulsive breaths. This is not a coincidence - the struggle for life is a direct consequence of the presence of death in the world. And death was brought into the world by sin and the devil. Paradoxically, struggle, which in nature is a manifestation of life, in the human world itself represents death.

This is especially obvious when someone “competes” not in real life values, but in external ones, expressed in the primitive “I want to be cooler.” This is how a person becomes closer to the devil - the same “agonistic” spirit with him.

“And whoever is wounded by envy and rivalry is pitiful, because he is an accomplice of the devil, through whom death entered the world (Wisdom 2:24), reminds St. Ephraim the Syrian. “Whoever has envy and rivalry is the enemy of everyone, because he does not want anyone else to be preferred to him.”

The same saint emphasizes: the envious person has already been defeated, he is tormented by any other person’s joy, while the lucky person who has escaped this passion is glad of the success of another.

Let no one find the comparison with death far-fetched. It is enough to look not even around, but inside yourself.

“Why does my neighbor have a new apartment and car, but I work hard from morning to night - and I have nothing?” - a truly hard-working person is indignant - and does not have time to live behind these thoughts. Instead of spending a day off meeting with his mother, friends, his girlfriend (not to mention going to church), he takes work home, works even harder, but he doesn’t get an apartment or a car, and envy eating more and more...

8. Elijah (Minyatiy)

This passion risks pursuing to death - either the envious person or his victim. In both cases, death is not deliverance. The envious person who goes into eternity in this sin will be condemned for it, and Cain is doomed to exile and contempt. Saint Elijah Minyatiy tells the dramatic story of Queen Eudokia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius, slandered by envious people: unfairly accused of adultery, she was expelled and sent into exile, and her friend Pavlinian was executed.

“And no one received any pleasure from this,” St. Elijah sums up the gloomy conclusion.

The saint draws attention: the envious person does not see the good at all. Any positive example annoys him. Envious eyes, “if they see (good), fill with tears and try not to see, as if involuntarily closing themselves.” But at the same time, it is impossible to hide from them - the envious person watches his victim, cannot tear himself away from her, although it would be easier for himself if he switched his attention to another object.

Indeed, an obsessive state.

9. Paisiy Svyatogorets

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets has not yet been officially glorified by the Church, but his works and advice have already firmly entered the treasury of Sacred Tradition. For a modern person, his recommendations may be the most useful.

The elder believed that envy was simply ridiculous and could be overcome with basic common sense.

“A person needs to work his head a little to overcome envy. No great feats are required, because envy is a spiritual passion.”

Indeed, you don’t need to be Einstein to understand: because you are consumed by longing for someone else’s Mercedes, not even a Toyota will appear in your garage. Especially if you don’t have a garage either. Stealing someone else's Mercedes is not only sinful, but also criminally punishable, so you should not be jealous, but work. And if the salary is small, be content with a bicycle. But your legs will be healthy.

But the most important thing that Elder Paisios draws attention to is that envy is a sin against one of the Ten Commandments. Even the most non-church person respects the Decalogue, if not on a natural, then on a cultural level. Killing is criminal, praying to idols is stupid, taking a spouse away from the family is immoral, stealing is disgusting... So, envying is also bad.

“If God said: “You shall not covet... everything that belongs to your neighbor,” then how can we covet something that belongs to another? So, why don’t we even keep the basic commandments? Then our life will turn into hell.”

10. Protopresbyter Alexander Shmeman

Father Alexander Schmemann has also not yet been glorified as a saint, and it is unlikely that his canonization will be a matter of the near future - this, however, does not prevent many, many Christians from listening to his opinion on many issues.

Above we talked about agonism - a characteristic characteristic of European culture, competitiveness, which underlies, among other things, the passion of envy. Father Alexander Schmemann goes further: any comparison, from his point of view, is a source of evil. Comparing one in favor of the other suggests that everything should be “fair”, or rather, everything and everyone should be equal.

“Comparison never achieves anything, it is the source of evil, that is, envy (why am I not like him), then anger and, finally, rebellion and division. But this is the exact genealogy of the devil. There is nothing positive here at any point, at any stage, everything is negative from beginning to end. And in this sense, our culture is “demonic,” because it is based on comparison.”

Comparison and envy abolish differences.

“Since comparison always, mathematically, leads to experience, knowledge of inequality, it always leads to protest,” continues the theologian. “Equality is affirmed as the absence of any differences, and since they exist, to the fight against them, that is, to a violent equalization and, what is even worse, to the denial of them as the very essence of life.”

There is such an anecdote: the granddaughter of a Decembrist in 1917 hears a noise on the street and sends a maid to find out what is happening.

- There is a revolution, madam.

- ABOUT! Revolution is wonderful! My grandfather also wanted to make a revolution! Find out what the protesters want?

“They want there to be no more rich people.”

- How strange! My grandfather wanted there to be no poor people.

Despite all the absurdity, the joke is quite life-like. Envy taken to the limit does not want happiness for itself, but misfortune for another. May it be as bad for him as it is for me. So that he lives on one salary. Therefore, Schmemann calls the very principle of equality and equalization demonic.

“There is not and cannot be equality in the world; it was created by love, and not by principles. And the world thirsts for love, not equality, and nothing - we know this - kills love so much, replaces it with hatred so much as this equality, which is constantly imposed on the world as a goal and “value.”

Envy accompanies a person throughout his entire history. Already in the fourth chapter of the book of Genesis, that is, immediately after the description of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, the tragedy of their firstborns is told. Cain is jealous of brother Abel because God accepted the latter’s sacrifice and “did not respect” his own. The continuation is known: Cain does not listen to the voice of God, lures his brother into the field and kills him. As punishment, the Lord condemns the criminal to exile. What do the Church Fathers say about this truly murderous sin?

1. John Chrysostom

Saint John Chrysostom compares the envious person to a dung beetle, a pig and even a demon. According to him, envy is direct enmity against God, who favors this or that person. In this sense, the envious person is even worse than demons: they harm people, while the envious person wishes harm to his own kind.

« Envy is worse than enmity, says the saint. – When a person at war forgets the reason for which the quarrel occurred, he also ceases the hostility; an envious person will never become a friend. Moreover, the former fights openly, and the latter – secretly; the former can often point out a sufficient reason for the enmity, while the second cannot point out anything other than his own madness and satanic disposition».

An example from life. Two people are applying for a position with a good salary and prospects for career growth. If the spiritual needs of these people are low and their material needs are high, then, most likely, competition will arise between them, and against its background - an explicit or implicit conflict.

On the part of the one who receives the coveted position, the conflict will be settled as soon as he takes the chair. But the “loser,” if he is at all prone to envy, will aggravate the conflict even more and will certainly fall into this sin - even when he finds another job, he will remember that this worthless person took HIS place.

Envy really resembles madness in the most medical sense: an obsessive state. One way to get rid of an obsessive state is to try to rationalize it.

A person is successful, which means that God is glorified through him. If this person is your neighbor, it means that through him you are successful, and through you God is also glorified. If this person is your enemy, then you need to strive to make him your friend - just for the sake of the fact that God is glorified through him.

2. John Cassian the Roman

The opinion common to the entire Holy Tradition is that it was out of envy that the serpent attacked Eve. It was envy of man's unique status as the image and likeness of God that led him to strive to overthrow it. Moreover, the devil provokes the foremother Eve to envy: “You will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” It is envy of these non-existent gods that pushes the first woman to violate God’s commandments. So, indeed, a satanic vice.

The Monk John Cassian the Roman categorically asserts that envy cannot be overcome by one’s own efforts. In response to virtue, the envious person only becomes embittered. Thus, Joseph’s goodwill and helpfulness embittered his eleven brothers even more. When he went to feed them in the field, they decided to kill their brother - the idea of ​​selling him into slavery was already a softening of their original intention...

Old Testament history is repeated at all times, albeit without criminality. In many teenage groups there will be guys who will call an excellent student who explains complex problems to his stupid classmates a “nerd” - and it’s good if they don’t put chewing gum, or even a button, on the chair...

There is no need to despair. St. John Cassian gives universal advice: pray.

« So that the basilisk (devil) with one bite of this evil (envy) does not destroy everything that is alive in us, which is, as it were, inspired by the vital action of the Holy Spirit, we will constantly ask for God's help, for which nothing is impossible».

3. Basil the Great

Prayer is no less hard work than, for example, fasting exercises. Not everyone can do it without proper training, and the battle with envy is necessary here and now. What to do?

Saint Basil the Great gives two very simple pieces of advice. First: realize that there is nothing to envy at all. Wealth, fame, honor and respect are absolutely earthly things, which you also need to learn how to use correctly.

« Those who are still unworthy of our competition are the rich for the sake of his wealth, the ruler for the sake of the greatness of his dignity, the wise for the sake of his abundance in words. These are instruments of virtue for those who use them well, but do not contain bliss in themselves... And whoever is such, who is not struck by the worldly as something great, envy can never approach him».

The second advice is to “sublimate” your envy into a creative transformation of yourself, the achievement of many virtues. True, this recommendation is suitable for combating a special type of envy associated with ambition:

« If you absolutely desire fame, want to be more visible than others and cannot stand being second (for this can also be a reason for envy), then direct your ambition, like some kind of stream, towards the acquisition of virtue. Do not, under any circumstances, desire to become rich in any way or to earn approval through anything worldly. For it is not in your will. But be just, chaste, prudent, courageous, patient in suffering for the sake of piety».

Even if we don’t touch on high virtues, the advice is more than practical. Let's say two young people are interested in playing the guitar. One becomes a rock star in his city, and the other plays three chords in the transition. For the second, the easiest way is to start envying a successful friend - it’s more difficult, firstly, to estimate the risks (Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix were enormously talented and wildly popular, which did not protect them from an ugly and terrible death, but only stimulated a tragic end), and secondly, learn additional chords and go beyond your favorite transition.

A gradual increase in professionalism, tied to training and self-discipline, may not take you to Olympus, but it will allow you to develop, play and compose music for your own pleasure.

4. Theophan the Recluse

If it is quite difficult to resist an envious person with a kind attitude, as the Holy Scripture directly testifies to (the above example of Joseph and his brothers, King Saul, who continues to envy David and persecute him despite his humility...), then the envious person himself can and must overcome his passion through “I don’t want” – precisely by changing behavior towards one’s “victim”. No matter how hard it is.

« Well-wishers, in whom feelings of sympathy and compassion prevail over selfish ones, do not suffer from envy. This shows the way to extinguish envy and everyone tormented by it. You must hasten to arouse goodwill, especially towards the one you envy, and show it in action - the envy will immediately subside. A few repetitions of the same kind, and with God’s help, it will completely subside", says Saint Theophan the Recluse.

In other words, when compassion and empathy for one’s neighbor becomes a habit, there will be no room for envy.

Almost a textbook example: a lonely young lady, consumed by envy of successful “gossips,” suddenly finds out that her prosperous, married and rich friend’s husband is a drug addict, and all her well-being is for show. If the process of envy has not yet started too strongly, the envious woman (perhaps at first, and not without gloating) rushes to help her friend... and in the process of jointly calling drug treatment clinics, friendly conversations and mutual tears in the kitchen, she is so imbued with her neighbor’s grief that she no longer speaks of envy remembers. Compassion for grief turns out to be higher than envy for success.

5. Maxim the Confessor

By the way, there is another side to this advice: if possible, there is no need to give reasons for envy. If you don’t want to be envied, don’t boast about your success, wealth, intelligence and happiness.

« There is no other way to calm him down, except by hiding it from him. If something is useful for many, but causes him grief, then which side should he neglect? We must stand on the side of what is useful for many; but, if possible, do not neglect it and do not allow yourself to be carried away by the deceit of passion, giving help not to passion, but to the one suffering from it“, - recommends the approach with reasoning, the Monk Maximus the Confessor.

He also notes that you yourself should get rid of this passion according to the commandment of the Apostle: “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15).

The first is more difficult. To feel sorry for the unfortunate is a natural movement of the soul. Rejoicing at someone else's happiness is a conscious action dictated by sincere love, when you truly treat your neighbor as yourself. Only the author of the famous “Centuries about Love” could give such advice.

True, sometimes examples of its implementation are found in life. A lonely woman in cramped living conditions worries for a long time that she does not have children, works with adoptive parents, begins to rejoice for the happy children and their new parents... And then suddenly, unexpectedly, circumstances turn out in her favor, and she manages to adopt her child.

6. Gregory the Theologian

As we see, the Fathers of the Church give the same advice on how to combat envy: pray, rejoice for your neighbor, grow in virtue. None of the teachers of the Church conduct master classes on overcoming envy. Precisely because the birth of this passion can be traced from the Bible, precisely because it is obviously inexcusable as a direct product of the devil, the main weapon against it is reproof.

Saint Gregory the Theologian believed that envy, oddly enough, is not without justice - already in this life it punishes the sinner.

The fathers say that an envious person’s face becomes withered, he looks bad... In our life, an envious person is easily recognized by his pursed lips and wrinkles. He is dissatisfied with life, he always grumbles (especially at the object of his passion). I will say more: many diseases that are psychosomatic in nature, from pancreatitis to asthma, are aggravated by the envious person. “It’s unfair that someone else is more successful than me!” - this thought eats up the unfortunate person, not only his soul, but also his body.

This is bad justice, hellish. This alone should turn a person away from such a destructive passion.

« Oh, if only envy would be exterminated among people, this ulcer for those possessed by it, this poison for those suffering from it, this one of the most unjust and at the same time just passions - an unjust passion because it disturbs the peace of all the good, and a fair passion because it dries out those who nourish her!"- exclaims St. Gregory.

7. Ephraim the Syrian

The basis of envy is the so-called “agonal spirit” - the ability of an individual to be in constant struggle, competition, rivalry, aggression. Agonality was a characteristic feature of ancient culture (from where a large number of games and competitions come from) and is present in a very primitive form in modern life: you can compete in who has the coolest iPhone or fashionable clothes.

The word “agonality” has the same root as αγωνία (struggle). With this word we call the dying state, the body’s attempt to fight for survival, the last convulsive breaths. This is not a coincidence - the struggle for life is a direct consequence of the presence of death in the world. And death was brought into the world by sin and the devil. Paradoxically, struggle, which in nature is a manifestation of life, in the human world itself represents death.

This is especially obvious when someone “competes” not in real life values, but in external ones, expressed in the primitive “I want to be cooler.” This is how a person becomes closer to the devil - the same “agonistic” spirit with him.

« And whoever is wounded by envy and rivalry is pitiful, because he is an accomplice of the devil, through whom death entered the world.(Wis. 2:24), reminds St. Ephraim the Syrian. – Whoever has envy and rivalry is the enemy of everyone, because he does not want anyone else to be preferred to him.».

The same saint emphasizes: the envious person has already been defeated, he is tormented by any other person’s joy, while the lucky person who has escaped this passion is glad of the success of another.

Let no one find the comparison with death far-fetched. It is enough to look not even around, but inside yourself.

“Why does my neighbor have a new apartment and car, but I work hard from morning to night - and I have nothing?” - a truly hard-working person is indignant - and does not have time to live behind these thoughts. Instead of spending a day off meeting with his mother, friends, his girlfriend (not to mention going to church), he takes work home, works even harder, but he doesn’t get an apartment or a car, and envy eating more and more...

8. Elijah (Minyatiy)

This passion risks pursuing to death - either the envious person or his victim. In both cases, death is not deliverance. The envious person who goes into eternity in this sin will be condemned for it, and Cain is doomed to exile and contempt. Saint Elijah Minyatiy tells the dramatic story of Queen Eudokia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius, slandered by envious people: unfairly accused of adultery, she was expelled and sent into exile, and her friend Pavlinian was executed.

« And no one got any pleasure from it.“, - St. Elijah sums up the gloomy conclusion.

The saint draws attention: the envious person does not see the good at all. Any positive example annoys him. Envious eyes, “if they see (good), fill with tears and try not to see, as if involuntarily closing themselves.” But at the same time, it is impossible to hide from them - the envious person watches his victim, cannot tear himself away from her, although it would be easier for himself if he switched his attention to another object.

Indeed, an obsessive state.

9. Paisiy Svyatogorets

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets has not yet been officially glorified by the Church, but his works and advice have already firmly entered the treasury of Sacred Tradition. For a modern person, his recommendations may be the most useful.

The elder believed that envy was simply ridiculous and could be overcome with basic common sense.

« A person needs to work his head a little to overcome envy. No great feats are required, because envy is a spiritual passion».

Indeed, you don’t need to be Einstein to understand: because you are consumed by longing for someone else’s Mercedes, not even a Toyota will appear in your garage. Especially if you don’t have a garage either. Stealing someone else's Mercedes is not only sinful, but also criminally punishable, so you should not be jealous, but work. And if the salary is small, be content with a bicycle. But your legs will be healthy.

But the most important thing that Elder Paisios draws attention to is that envy is a sin against one of the Ten Commandments. Even the most non-church person respects the Decalogue, if not on a natural, then on a cultural level. Killing is criminal, praying to idols is stupid, taking a spouse away from the family is immoral, stealing is disgusting... So, envying is also bad.

« If God said: “Thou shalt not covet... everything except thy neighbor,” then how can we covet something that belongs to another? So, why don’t we even keep the basic commandments? Then our life will turn into hell».

10. Protopresbyter Alexander Shmeman

Father Alexander Schmemann has also not yet been glorified as a saint, and it is unlikely that his canonization will be a matter of the near future - this, however, does not prevent many, many Christians from listening to his opinion on many issues.

Above we talked about agonism - a characteristic characteristic of European culture, competitiveness, which underlies, among other things, the passion of envy. Father Alexander Schmemann goes further: any comparison, from his point of view, is a source of evil. Comparing one in favor of the other suggests that everything should be “fair”, or rather, everything and everyone should be equal.

« Comparison never achieves anything; it is the source of evil, that is, envy (why am I not like him), then anger and, finally, rebellion and division. But this is the exact genealogy of the devil. There is nothing positive here at any point, at any stage, everything is negative from beginning to end. And in this sense, our culture is “demonic”, because it is based on comparison».

Comparison and envy abolish differences.

« Since comparison always, mathematically, leads to experience, knowledge of inequality, it always leads to protest, the theologian continues. – Equality is affirmed as the unnecessaryness of any differences, and since they exist - to the fight against them, that is, to a violent equalization and, what is even worse, to the denial of them as the very essence of life».

There is such an anecdote: the granddaughter of a Decembrist in 1917 hears a noise on the street and sends a maid to find out what is happening.

- There is a revolution, madam.

- ABOUT! Revolution is wonderful! My grandfather also wanted to make a revolution! Find out what the protesters want?

“They want there to be no more rich people.”

- How strange! My grandfather wanted there to be no poor people.

Despite all the absurdity, the joke is quite life-like. Envy taken to the limit does not want happiness for itself, but misfortune for another. May it be as bad for him as it is for me. So that he lives on one salary. Therefore, Schmemann calls the very principle of equality and equalization demonic.

“There is not and cannot be equality in the world; it was created by love, and not by principles. And the world thirsts for love, not equality, and nothing - we know this - kills love so much, replaces it with hatred so much as this equality, which is constantly imposed on the world as a goal and “value.”

In short, there is no one to envy. You will never be like him. And that's great.