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I do not preface my publication with a preface: let it speak for itself. Everything contained in it is nothing other than the grace-filled illumination of the soul, which I received from the all-enlightening Spirit of God in moments of deep attention and self-examination, especially during prayer. Whenever I could, I wrote down my blessed thoughts and feelings, and from these notes over many years a book has now been compiled. The contents of the book are quite varied, as readers will see if there are any. Let them judge the contents of my publication.

Archpriest AND. Sergeev

All things are for Your pleasure andwise and active.

Prayer before the Gospel at the Liturgy

1. You have abundantly revealed to me, O Lord, Your truth and Your righteousness. Through educating me through the sciences, You revealed to me the wealth of faith and nature and human reason. I have heard Your word - the word of love, passing even before separationsoul and spirit ours (Heb. 4:12); studied the laws of the human mind and its philosophy, structure and beauty of speech; penetrated partly into the secrets of nature, into its laws, into the abyss of the universe and the laws of circulation; I know the population of the globe, I know about individual peoples, about famous persons, about their deeds that have taken their course in the world; I partially learned the great science of self-knowledge and drawing closer to You - in a word, I learned a lot, a lot, so that exceeding the human mind so farzana mi essence(Sir. 3, 23); and I still learn a lot. I have a lot of books with varied content, I read and re-read them, but I still haven’t gotten enough. My spirit still thirsts for knowledge; my whole heart is not satisfied, not full, and from all the knowledge acquired by the mind, it cannot receive complete bliss. When will it be satisfied? Satiated, never appear before Thy glory(Ps. 16, 15). Until then I won't get enough. Drink from the sowing water (from worldly knowledge), He will thirst again: but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him, there will be in him a fountain of water flowing into an everlasting belly, said the Savior (John 4:13-14).

2. How do the saints see us and our needs and hear our prayers? Let's make a comparison. May you be transported to the sun and united with the sun. The sun illuminates with its rays the whole earth, every grain of sand on the earth. In these rays you also see the earth; but you are so small in relation to the sun that you constitute only one ray, and these rays are in

there is an infinite amount of it. By its identity with the sun, this ray closely participates in the sun’s illumination of the entire world. So the holy soul, uniting with God, as with the spiritual sun, sees through the medium of its spiritual sun, illuminating the entire universe, all people and the needs of those who pray.

3. Have you learned to look upon the Lord before you? I'll take it out - as the omnipresent Mind, as the living and active Word, as the life-giving Spirit? Holy Scripture is the realm of Mind, Word and Spirit, God of the Trinity, in which He manifests himself clearly: glagoals, even as I told you, the essence of the spirit and the belly, - said the Lord (John 6:63); the writings of the holy fathers are again an expression of the Thought, Word and Spirit of the hypostases, with a greater participation of the human spirit itself; the writings of ordinary secular people are a manifestation of the fallen human spirit, filled with sinful attachments, habits, and passions. In the Word of God we see face to face God and ourselves, as we are. Recognize yourself in it, people, and always walk in the presence of God.

4. Man, you see for yourself, does not die in his word; He is immortal in it and speaks after death. I will die, but even after death I will speak. There is so much of this immortal word among people, which was left behind by those who died a long time ago and which sometimes lives on the lips of an entire people! How tenacious is the word, even a human one! Moreover, the Word of God: it will survive all centuries and will always be alive and active.

5. Since God is a creative, living and life-giving Thought, those who, with the thoughts of their spirit, deviate from this hypostatic Thought and are concerned only with material, perishable objects, thereby materializing their spirit; Particularly sinful are those who, during divine services or home prayer, completely deviate in their thoughts and wander in different places outside the church. They extremely insult the Divinity, in Whom our thoughts should be fixed.

6. What does fasting and repentance lead to? What is the labor for? Leads to cleansing of sins, peace of mind, union with God, sonship, and boldness before the Lord. There is something to fast about and confess with all your heart. The reward will be invaluable for conscientious work. How many of us have a feeling of filial love for God? How many of us boldly and without condemnation dare to call on Heavenly God the Father and say: Our Father!.. Is it not, on the contrary, that such a filial voice is not heard in our hearts at all, muffled by the vanity of this world or attachment to its objects and pleasures? Is not the Heavenly Father far from our hearts? Shouldn’t we, who have moved away from Him to a land far away, imagine Him as God’s avenger? - Yes, because of our sins we are all worthy of His righteous wrath and punishment, and it’s amazing how He is so patient with us, how He does not cut us down like fruitless fig trees? Let us hasten to appease Him with repentance and tears. Let us enter into ourselves, examine our unclean heart with all severity and see what a multitude of impurities block the access of Divine grace to it, we realize that we are spiritually dead.

7. The loving Lord is here: how can I allow even a shadow of malice into my heart? May all malice completely die within me, may my heart be anointed with the fragrance of kindness. May the love of God conquer you, evil Satan, who incites us, who are evil-minded, to evil. Anger is extremely deadly for the soul and body: it scorches, crushes, torments. Let no one bound by evil dare to approach the throne of the God of love.

8. When praying, we must certainly take control of our heart and turn it to the Lord. It must not be cold, crafty, untrue, or double-minded. Otherwise, what is the use of our prayer, of our fasting? Is it good to hear an angry voice from the Lord: these lips of men draw near to meThey honor Me with their lips and their lips, but their heart is far from Me.(Matt. 15:8). So, let us not stand in church with spiritual relaxation, but let each one burn in his spirit, working for the Lord. And people do not value very much the services that we do coldly, out of habit. And God wants our heart. Give Mi, son, your heart(Proverbs 23:26) because the heart is the most important thing in a person, his life; more - our heart is man himself. Therefore, whoever does not pray or does not serve God with his heart is the same as not praying at all, because then his body prays, which in itself, without a soul, is the same as the earth. Remember that when you stand in prayer, you stand before God, who has the mind of all. Therefore, your prayer should be, so to speak, the whole spirit, the whole mind.

9. The saints of God live even after death. I often hear in church how the Mother of God sings Her wonderful song, passing through the heart, which She composed in the house of Her aunt Elizabeth after the Annunciation of the Archangel. Here I hear the song of Moses, the song of Zechariah - the father of the Baptist, Anna - the mother of the prophet Samuel, the song of the three youths, the song of Mariam. And how many New Testament holy singers delight the ears of the entire Church of God to this day! What about worship? What about the Sacraments? What about the rituals? Whose spirit moves there and touches our hearts? The Lord God and the saints of God. Here is proof of the immortality of the human soul. How is it: people died - and after death they control our lives; They died - and they still speak, teaching, edifying and touching us!

10. Just as breathing is necessary for the body and without breathing a person cannot live, so without the breath of the Spirit of God the soul cannot live true life. What air is to the body, the Spirit of God is to the soul. The air is somewhat like the Spirit of God. Spirit, wherewants, breathes...(John 3:8).

11.When you are faced with a temptation to sin, then vividly imagine that sin greatly angers the Lord, Who hates lawlessness. For God does not want iniquityecu (Ps. 5:5). And in order for you to better understand this, imagine a truthful, strict father who loves his family, who tries by all means to make his children well-behaved and honest, in order to reward them for their good behavior with his great riches, which he prepared for them with great difficulty, and who between Thus he sees, to his regret, that the children do not love him because of their father’s love, do not pay attention to the legacy prepared by their father’s love, live dissolutely, and rush rapidly towards destruction. And every sin, mind you, is death for the soul (see James 1:15ff.), because it kills the soul, because it makes us slaves of the murderous devil, and the more we work for sin, the more difficult our conversion is, the more certain is our destruction. Fear all sin with all your heart.

12. When your heart wanders into the thoughts of evil and the evil one, as they say, begins to wash away your heart so that it is completely moved from the stone of faith, then say to yourself internally: I know my spiritual poverty, my insignificance without faith; say: I am so weak that I only live in the name of Christ, and I am at peace, and I am glad, I am expanding in my heart, but without Him I am dead spiritually, I am worried, I am embarrassed in heart; Without the Cross of the Lord, I would long ago have been a victim of the most severe sorrow and despair. Christ keeps me in life; The cross is my peace and consolation.

13. We can think because there is an infinite thought, just as we breathe because there is an infinity of air space. This is why bright thoughts about any subject are called inspiration. Our thought constantly flows precisely under the condition of the existence of the boundless thinking Spirit. This is why the apostles say: we We are not content on our own, thinking that it is from ourselves, but our contentment is from God(2 Cor. 3:5). This is why the Savior says: Don’t worry about what you say or what you say, for fear it will be given to you in the very hour that you say(Matt. 10:19). You see, both the thought and even the word itself (inspiration) come to us from outside. This, however, is in a state of grace and in times of need. But even in our ordinary situation, all bright thoughts come from the Guardian Angel and from the Spirit of God, while, on the contrary, unclean, dark thoughts come from our damaged being and from the devil, who is always close to us. How should a Christian behave? God Myself there is act in us(Phil. 2:13). In general, everywhere in the world we see the kingdom of thought: both in the entire composition of the visible world, so, in particular, on earth, in the circulation and life of the globe - in the distribution of the elements of light, air, water, earth, fire (in secrecy), then how other elements are diffused in all animals - in birds, fish, reptiles, beasts and humans, in their wise and purposeful structure, in their abilities, morals or habits, in plants, in their structure, in nutrition, etc. - in a word, We see the kingdom of thought everywhere, even in soulless stone and grain of sand.

14. Priests of the Lord! Be able, with the consolation of faith, to turn the bed of sadness of a Christian sufferer into a bed of joy, be able to turn him from the most unhappy person, in his opinion, into the happiest man in the world, assure him that, having been punished in a small way, he will be greatly benefited (see Wisdom 3:5) after death - and you will be friends of humanity, comforting angels, organs of the Comforter Spirit.

15. If we do not kindle the warmth of faith in our hearts, then through negligence our faith may completely extinguish, and Christianity with all its Sacraments may, as it were, completely die out for us. The enemy is only trying to extinguish faith in the heart and bring all the truths of Christianity into oblivion. That is why we see people who are Christians in name only, but who are perfect pagans in deeds.

16. Do not think that our faith is not life-giving for us, shepherds, that we serve God hypocritically. No, we are the first to benefit most from the mercies of God and we know from experience that for us the Lord with His Sacraments, that His Most Pure Mother and His saints. For example, when we partook of the life-giving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Lord, we often, often experienced their life-giving nature, the heavenly gifts of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; We know that the merciful royal gaze of the last of his subjects does not please as much as the gracious gaze of our heavenly Master, as His Mysteries do. And we would be extremely ungrateful before the Lord and hardened in heart if we did not tell about this glory of the life-giving Mysteries to all the beloved of God, if we did not glorify His miracles that take place in our hearts at every Divine Liturgy! We also often experience the invincible, incomprehensible, Divine power of the honest and life-giving Cross of the Lord, and by its power we drive away passions, despondency, cowardice, fear and all the machinations of demons from our hearts. He is our friend and benefactor. We say this sincerely, with the consciousness of all the truth and power of our words.

17. You want to comprehend the incomprehensible; But can you understand how internal, soul-killing sorrows befall you, and find means—outside the Lord—how to drive them away? Find out with your heart how to free yourself from sorrows, how to make your heart calm, and then, if necessary, philosophize about the incomprehensible. As much as you can, not even a small peso, what aboutwill you care about the others? (Yak. 12,26).

18. Think more often: whose wisdom is manifested in the structure of your body, constantly supports it in being and functioning? Who prescribed the laws of your thought, and does it still follow them among all people? Who inscribed the law of conscience on the hearts of all people, and to this day it rewards good and punishes evil in all people? God Almighty, All-Wise and All-Good! Your hand is constantly on me, a sinner, and there is not a moment when Your goodness leaves me. Grant me to always kiss Your right hand with living faith. Why should I go far to seek traces of Your goodness, Your wisdom and Your omnipotence? Ah, these traces are so clearly visible in me! I, I am a miracle of God's goodness, wisdom and omnipotence. I - in a small form - am the whole world; my soul is a representative of the invisible world, my body is a representative of the visible world.

19. Brothers! What is the purpose of our life on earth? So that, after our testing by earthly sorrows and disasters and after gradual improvement in virtue with the help of grace-filled gifts taught in the Sacraments, we may rest upon death in God - the peace of our spirit. That is why we sing about the dead: “Rest, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant.” We wish the deceased peace as the end of all desires and pray to God for this. Isn’t it therefore foolish to grieve a lot over the dead? Come to Meecu you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, says the Lord (Matthew 11:28). Here are our dead, who have fallen asleep through Christian death, come to this voice of the Lord and rest in peace. Why mourn?

20. People who try to lead a spiritual life experience the subtlest and most difficult war through their thoughts every moment of their life. - spiritual warfare; You need to be a bright eye every moment in order to notice the thoughts flowing into the soul from the evil one and reflect them; Such people should always have their hearts burning with faith, humility, and love; otherwise, the wickedness of the devil will easily take up residence in him, behind the wickedness is lack of faith or unbelief, and then all kinds of evil, which you can’t soon wash away with even tears. Therefore, do not allow your heart to be cold, especially during prayer, avoid cold indifference in every possible way. It often happens that there is prayer on the lips, but in the heart there is crafty lack of faith or disbelief; with the lips it is as if a person is close to the Lord, but with the heart he is far away. And during prayer, the evil one uses all measures to cool and deceive our heart in the most imperceptible way for us. Pray and be strong, strengthen your heart.

And people do not value very much the services that we do coldly, out of habit. And God wants our heart. Give Mi, son, your heart [Prov. 23, 26]; because the heart is the most important thing in a person, his life; more - our heart is man himself. Therefore, whoever does not pray or does not serve God with his heart is the same as not praying at all, because then his body prays, which in itself, without a soul, is the same as the earth. Remember that when you stand in prayer, you stand before God, who has the mind of all. Therefore, your prayer should be, so to speak, the whole spirit, the whole mind.

21. If you want to ask God for some good from God through prayer, then before praying, prepare yourself for undoubted, strong faith and take remedies in advance against doubt and unbelief. It is bad if, during the prayer itself, your heart becomes weak in faith and does not stand in it: then do not even think that you will receive what you asked God for in doubt, because you have offended God, and God does not give His gifts to a scolder! Everything, said the Lord, if you ask in prayer, believingly, you will receive [Matt. 21, 22], and, therefore, if you ask unbelievingly or with doubt, you will not accept. If you have faith and do not doubt, He also says, then you can move mountains [Matt. 21, 21]. This means that if you doubt and don’t believe it, you won’t do it. Let (every person) ask by faith, without hesitating, says the Apostle James... let him not doubt, for he will receive anything from God. - A double-minded husband is unsettled in all his ways [James. 1, 6 - 8]. A heart that doubts that God can grant what is asked is punished for doubt: it painfully languishes and is embarrassed by doubt. Do not anger the Almighty God with even a shadow of doubt, especially you, who have experienced God’s omnipotence many, many times. Doubt is blasphemy against God, a bold lie of the heart, or a spirit of lies nesting in the heart against the Spirit of truth. Be afraid of him, like a poisonous snake, or not, what I say is, neglect him, do not pay the slightest attention to him. Remember that God, at the time of your petition, expects an affirmative answer to the question He internally offers you: do you believe that I can do this? Yes, you must answer from the depths of your heart: I believe, Lord! And then it will be according to your faith. May the following reasoning help your doubt or unbelief: I ask God 1) for a good that exists, not just an imaginary, not a dreamy, not a fantastic good, but that everything that exists received its being from God, because without Him nothing could have come into existence [John. 1, 3], and, therefore, nothing happens without Him, what happens, but everything either received existence from Him, or by His will or permission happens and is done through the means of His powers and abilities given to creatures by Him, - and in The Lord is the sovereign Lord of all things that exist and happen. Moreover, He calls those things which are not, as though they are [Rom. 4, 17]; This means that if I asked for something that does not exist, He could give it to me by creating it. 2) I ask for the possible, and for God our impossible is possible; This means that there is no obstacle on this side either, because God can do for me even what, according to my concepts, is impossible. Our misfortune is that our faith is interfered with by myopic reason, this spider that catches the truth in the nets of its judgments, conclusions, and analogies. Faith suddenly embraces, sees, and reason, in a roundabout way, reaches the truth: faith is a means of communicating spirit with spirit, and reason - the spiritual-sensual with the spiritual-sensual and simply material; that one is spirit, and this one is flesh.

29. The evil one tries to scatter prayer like a mound of sand; he wants to make words like dry sand, without connection, without moisture, i.e. without warmth of heart. Prayer - sometimes there is a temple on an arctic fox, sometimes there is a temple on a stone [Matt. 7, 24, 26]. Those who build on the sand are those who pray without faith, absent-mindedly, with coldness - such prayer crumbles by itself and does not benefit the one praying; They build on stone by those who, throughout the duration of prayer, have their eyes fixed on the Lord and pray to Him as if he were alive, talking with them face to face.

31. Our hope for receiving what we ask for during prayer is based on faith in the goodness and generosity of God, for there is a God of mercy and generosity and a Lover of mankind, and at the same time we remember the previous countless experiences of goodness and mercy as on other people (in the Holy Scriptures and in the lives of the saints), and in us. Therefore, for the success of prayer, it is also necessary that the one praying has already received what he previously asked for and firmly believes in it in his heart. Often through our prayer we receive what we ask for, especially for the salvation of our souls; we must attribute this directly to the Lord, to His grace, and not to any chance. Where can chance be given place in the Kingdom of the Sovereign God? Without Him nothing truly comes into being, just as without Him nothing could come into being [John. 13]. Many do not pray because it seems to them that they have not received any gifts from God through prayer, or they consider prayer an unnecessary matter; God, they say, knows everything before we ask, and they forget what is said: ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; push, and it will be opened to you [Matt. 7, 7]. Our petitions (prayers) are needed precisely to strengthen our faith, by which alone we are saved: by grace we are naturally saved through faith [Eph. 2, 8]; O woman, great is your faith [Matt. 15, 28]! This is why the Savior forced the woman to ask intensely, in order to arouse her faith, to strengthen it. Such people do not see that they do not have faith - the most precious asset of a Christian, which is necessary like life - that they falsely create God through unbelief and are children of the devil, unworthy of any mercies of God; that they are perishing. It is also necessary that the heart burns during prayer with the desire for spiritual blessings, with love for God, who is clearly contemplated by the heart in His extreme goodness for the human race and is ready to listen with fatherly love to all his prayers. Even though you are wicked, you know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him [Matt. 7, 11]?

39. And in prayer, a person is most often not a son of freedom, but a slave of necessity and duty. Look at any person, even a priest. How many pray with a free, spacious heart, with living faith and love?

41. Do not spare yourself for heartfelt prayer even when you have spent the whole day in labor. Didn't care at all about St. prayer, tell the Lord everything from your heart, see that it is God’s work. I picked up the tug, don’t say it’s not strong; placing your hand on the head, do not look back [cf. OK. 9, 62]. If you pray carelessly, not with all your heart, you will not fall asleep (if you pray at night) until you pay off your sin before God. This does not happen to everyone, but to those who have perfected it. Be careful not to place your flesh above God, but neglect bodily rest for Him. Whatever prayer rule you have undertaken to fulfill (if it is a long prayer rule, then fulfill the whole rule well; if it is short, too), fulfill it with all conscientiousness, and do not fulfill the works of God with a divided heart, so that one half belongs to God, and the other to your flesh. The zeal of the Lord God will not tolerate your wickedness, your self-pity. He will hand you over to the devil, and the devil will not give rest to your heart for neglecting the One who is the true peace of your heart and who will always do this for your own good, in order to keep your heart close to God, because every insincere prayer removes the heart from God and arms it towards man himself, and, on the contrary, every sincere prayer brings the human heart closer to God and makes it close to God. So, believe the word: if you hurry in prayer for bodily peace, so that you can rest faster, you will lose both physical and mental peace. Oh! with what labor, sweat and tears we achieve the approach of our heart to God; and will we really again make our very (careless) prayer a means of moving away from God, and won’t God be jealous about this? After all, He pities both us and our previous labors, and He wants to force us to certainly turn to Him again with all our hearts. He wants us to always belong to Him.

53. Is it possible to pray hastily without harming your prayer? It is possible for those who have learned inner prayer with a pure heart. In prayer, it is necessary that the heart sincerely desires what it asks for; felt the truth of what he was talking about - and a pure heart has this, as it were, in its nature. Therefore, it can pray with haste and at the same time be pleasing to God, since haste does not harm the truth (sincerity) of prayer. But those who have not acquired heartfelt prayer must pray slowly, waiting for the corresponding echo in the heart of each word of prayer. And this is not always easy for a person who is not accustomed to prayerful contemplation. Therefore, the rare pronunciation of the words of prayer for such people should be made an indispensable rule. Wait for each word to resonate in your heart with its characteristic echo.

55. Like an unkind person, coming with a request to a good, meek and humble person, for better success of his request, he himself tries to become like him, so a Christian, approaching with prayer to the Lord, or His Most Pure Mother, or the Angels, or the saints - for the success of his prayer, he must, if possible, become like the Lord Himself, or His Most Pure Mother, or the Angels, or the saints . And this is precisely the secret of approaching and quickly hearing our prayers.

58. The task of our life is to unite with God, and sin completely prevents this; Therefore, flee from sin as a terrible enemy, as a killer of the soul, because without God there is death, not life. Let us understand our purpose, let us constantly remember that the common Master is calling us to unite with Himself.

60. Prayer is the lifting of the mind and heart to God. From here it is obvious that one whose mind and heart are firmly attached to something carnal, for example, to money, to honor, or who has passions in the heart: hatred, envy of others, cannot pray, because passions usually bind the heart, like God expands him, gives him true freedom.

70. People fell into unbelief because they had completely lost the spirit of prayer or did not have and do not have it at all, in short, because they do not pray. The prince of this age has room to act in the hearts of such people; he is the master in them. Through prayer they did not and do not ask the Lord for the dew of God’s grace (but only those who ask and seek are given the gifts of the Lord), and so their hearts, corrupted by nature, without the life-giving dew of the Holy Spirit, dried up and from extreme dryness finally burst into flames with the hellish flames of unbelief and various passions , and the devil knows only to inflame the passions that support this terrible fire, and triumphs at the sight of the destruction of unfortunate souls, redeemed by the blood of the One who trampled on his power.

71. Morning prayer. God! Creator and Lord of the world! look mercifully upon Thy creation, adorned with Thy divine image in these morning hours: may Thy Eye live, may Thy Eye enlighten, in darkness so much brighter than the rays of the sun, my dark soul, mortified by sin. Take away from me despondency and laziness, grant me joy and spiritual vigor, so that in the joy of my heart I glorify Your goodness, holiness, Your boundless greatness, Your endless perfections at every hour and in every place. For You are my Creator and the Lord of my life, Lord, and You are due glory from Your rational creatures for every hour, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

79. Sometimes in a long prayer only a few minutes are truly pleasing to God and constitute true prayer and true service to God. The main thing in prayer is the closeness of the heart to God, evidenced by the sweetness of God's presence in the soul.

99. Begin to fulfill the commandments concerning the small, and you will fulfill the commandments concerning the great: the small leads to the great everywhere. Begin to fulfill even the commandment about fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays or the tenth commandment concerning evil thoughts and desires, you will fulfill all the commandments. But he who is unfaithful in small ways and in many ways is unfaithful [cf. OK. 16, 10].

101. Truth is the basis and diversity of everything that is created, and in your affairs (internal and external) let truth be the basis of everything, especially the basis of prayer; Let your whole life, all your deeds, all your thoughts and desires be strung on truth, as a foundation.

106. If you want to correct someone’s shortcomings, do not think of correcting him using your own means: we ourselves spoil things more with our own passions, for example, pride and irritability that comes from there; but cast sorrow upon the Lord [Ps. 54:23] and pray to Him, who tests our hearts and bellies [cf. Ps. 7, 10], from the bottom of my heart, so that He Himself would enlighten the mind and heart of man; if He sees that your prayer breathes love and comes from the whole heart, then He will certainly fulfill the desire of your heart and you will soon say, having seen a change in the one for whom you are praying; this is the betrayal of the right hand of the Most High [Ps. 76, 11].

117. When you sin against God and your sins torment and burn you, then quickly seek the one Sacrifice for sins, eternal and living, and cast your sins before the face of this Sacrifice. Otherwise, there is no salvation for you from anywhere. Don't think about saving yourself.

121. You wonder how the saints from heaven listen to us when we pray to them. And how do the rays of the sun from heaven bow down to us and shine everywhere - all over the earth? Saints are the same in the spiritual world as the rays of the sun are in the material world. God is the eternal, life-giving Sun, and the saints are the rays of the intelligent Sun. Just as the eyes of the Lord constantly look at the earth and earth-born, so the eyes of the saints cannot help but turn to where the providential gaze of the Lord is directed to the creatures and where their treasure is (their bodies, their deeds, sacred places, faces devoted to them). Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also [Matt. 6, 21]. You know how the heart sees quickly, far and clearly (especially objects of the spiritual world); notice this in all knowledge, especially in spiritual knowledge, where very much is learned only by faith (the vision of the heart). The heart is the eye of the human being; the purer it is, the faster, further and clearer it sees. But among the saints of God, this spiritual eye, even during their lifetime, was brought to the purity possible for a person, and after their death, when they united with God, by the grace of God it became even brighter and more extensive within the limits of its vision. That is why the saints see very clearly, widely and far; see our spiritual needs; they see and hear everyone who calls on them with all their hearts, i.e. those whose intelligent eyes are directly directed towards them and are not darkened or eclipsed during aspiration by doubt and lack of faith, when the eyes of the hearts of those who pray coincide, so to speak, with the eyes of those who are called upon. Mysterious vision here! An experienced person understands what is being said. Therefore, how easy it is to have communication with the saints! You just need to clear the vision of your heart, direct it firmly towards a well-known saint, ask for what you need - and it will happen. What does the Lord say about vision? He is all sight, all light, all knowledge. He always fills heaven and earth and sees everything in every place. In every place the Eyes of the Lord watch the evil and the good [Prov. 15, 3].

125. When starting to pray to the Queen Theotokos, before praying, be firmly confident that you will not leave Her without receiving mercy. To think this way and to be confident about Her is worthy and righteous. She is the All-Merciful Mother of the All-Merciful God the Word and all centuries and all Christian churches proclaim Her mercies, uncountably great and countless; She is definitely an abyss of goodness and generosity, as it is said about Her in the canon of Hodegetria [Canon, canto 5, art. 1]. Therefore, to approach Her in prayer without such confidence would be unreasonable and impudent, and doubt would offend Her goodness, just as the goodness of God is insulted when one approaches God in prayer and does not hope to receive from Him what is asked. How do they rush for mercy to some tall and rich person, whose mercy everyone knows, who has proven his mercy through numerous experiments? Usually with the calmest confidence and hope of getting from him what they want. So we must not doubt in prayer, and not be cowardly.

129. Unite with God with your soul through heartfelt faith, and you can do everything. Are you being fought by strong, invisible, never-ending enemies? You will win. Enemies visible, external? You will win. Tormented by passions? You will overcome. Suppressing sorrows? You will disgust me. Are you discouraged? You will get courage. With faith you can overcome everything and you will receive the kingdom of heaven itself. Faith is the greatest good in earthly life: it connects a person with God and in Him makes him strong and victorious. Cling to the Lord, there is one spirit with the Lord.

134. In order not to be servile to passions and the devil every day, one must set oneself a goal, constantly keep it in mind and strive for it, conquering all obstacles in the name of the Lord. What is this goal? The Kingdom of Heaven, the divine palace of glory prepared for believers from the foundation of the world. But since the goal is achieved by known means, it is necessary to have these means at one’s disposal. What are these means? Faith, hope and love, especially love.

Believe, hope, love, especially love, despite any obstacles, God most of all, and every neighbor as yourself.

You don’t have the strength to keep these priceless treasures of the human spirit in your heart, fall more often to the God of love, ask, seek, ask: you will receive, you will find, it will be opened [See. Matt. 7, 7, 8], - He who promised is faithful. Walking, sitting, lying down, talking, studying, at all times, pray with your heart for the gift of faith and love. You have not yet asked as you should, with fervor and constancy, and you have not had the firm intention of acquiring them. From now on say: Behold, I have begun.

146. If you want the Lord to give heartfelt faith to your prayer, try from the bottom of your heart to say and do everything with people sincerely and do not at all be double-minded with them. When you are straightforward and trusting with people, then the Lord will give you straightforwardness and sincere faith in relation to God. The Lord inconveniently accepts someone who is not straightforward with people in prayer, making him feel that he is insincere in his attitude towards people, and therefore cannot be completely sincere in his attitude towards God, without spiritual suffering.

160. Forced prayer develops hypocrisy, makes one incapable of any activity requiring reflection, and makes a person sluggish in everything, even in fulfilling his duties. This should convince everyone praying in this way to correct their prayer. One must pray willingly, with energy, from the heart. Neither out of sorrow, nor out of need (forcibly) pray to God - God loves a willing giver.

162. When you receive healing from any illness, give thanks to the Lord with the following short doxology: Glory to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the beginningless Father, who alone heals every illness and every illness among people [cf. Matt. 4:23], for you had mercy on me, a sinner, and delivered me from my illness, not allowing it to develop and kill me because of my sins. Grant me from now on, Master, the strength to firmly do Your will for the salvation of my damned soul and for Your glory with Your beginningless Father and Your consubstantial Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

177. The surer and stronger the means that unites us with God (prayer and repentance), the more destructive actions God’s adversary and ours direct against it, who uses everything for this: our body, which is disposed to laziness, and the weakness of the soul, its attachment to earthly goods and worries, doubt so close to everyone, lack of faith, unbelief, nasty, evil and blasphemous thoughts, heaviness of heart, darkness of thought - everything is directed in the inattentive by the action of the enemy to falter in prayer, on this ladder that leads us to God . That is why there are very few sincere and zealous prayer books; That is why Christians fast very rarely - they repent and receive communion; Perhaps half of them would not have fasted if civil law had not commanded everyone to attend confession and Holy Communion every year. Those who have experienced know all this.

185. When, during prayer, despondency and melancholy take possession of your heart, know that this comes from the devil, who is trying in every possible way to stop you in prayer. Be strong, take courage, and with the memory of God, drive away the murderous sensations. Notice: if not in his thoughts, then in his heart, the enemy often intensifies to blaspheme the name of the Almighty God. What is heartfelt blasphemy against God? Doubt, unbelief, despondency, impatience of God's punishments and grumbling are all passions. By unbelief in the truth and goodness of God, the enemy spews blasphemy against the truth, goodness and omnipotence of God; despondency also blasphemes His goodness; in general, an outburst of human passions blasphemes the all-good Providence and the truth of God.

191. When you pray for the forgiveness of your sins, always strengthen yourself with faith and trust in God’s mercy, which is always ready to forgive our sins through sincere prayer, and be in every possible way lest despair set in your heart, expressed as a heavy despondency of the heart and forced tears. That your sins are against God’s mercy, whatever they may be, as long as you sincerely repent of them! And it often happens that a person prays and does not inwardly hope in his heart that his sins will be forgiven, considering them, as it were, above God’s mercy. For this, indeed, he does not receive forgiveness, although he sheds sources of involuntary tears, and with a sorrowful, constricted heart he departs from the generous God - that is what he is worthy of: believe as you receive, says the Lord, and it will be done for you [Mr. 11, 24]. Uncertainty about receiving what you ask from God is blasphemy against God.

203. When asking the Lord, or the Most Pure Mother of God, or the Angels, or the saints, one must have the kind of faith that the Capernaum centurion had [Lk. 7, 6 et seq.]. He believed that just as his soldiers obeyed and fulfilled his words, so much the more, according to the almighty word of the All-Good Lord, his request would be fulfilled. If the creatures, with their limited power, fulfilled what he asked them to do, then will not the Lord Himself, with His omnipotent power, fulfill the requests of His servants, who turn to Him with faith and hope! Will not our petitions, submitted with faith, hope and love, be fulfilled by His faithful servants, strong in grace and intercession to God - the Most Pure Mother of God, Angels and holy men! Truly, I believe with the centurion that if I ask, as I should and for what I should, of any saint: give this and he will give, come to my aid and he will come, do this and he will do it. This is what simple and strong faith you need to have!

210. He who hastily, without heartfelt understanding and sympathy, reads prayers, overcome by his lazy and sleepy flesh, serves not God, but his flesh, his self-love, and curses the Lord with his inattention, the indifference of his heart in prayer: for God is Spirit: and those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth [cf. John 4, 24] - unhypocritical. No matter how lazy and relaxed your flesh is, no matter how it makes you sleepy, overcome yourself, do not spare yourself for God, deny yourself, so that your gift for the Lord will be perfect, give God your heart.

212. In any work, domestic or official, do not forget that your strength, your light, your success is Christ and His Cross; Therefore, do not fail to cry out to the Lord before starting the work: Jesus, help me! Jesus, enlighten me! In this way, your living faith and hope in Christ will be supported and warmed in your heart; for His is the power and the glory forever and ever.

225. If you call on any saint with doubts about his closeness to you and his hearing of you, and your heart is struck by tightness, break yourself, or better said, immediately overcome with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ the slanderer (the devil) nesting in your heart. , call on the saint with heartfelt confidence that he is near you in the Holy Spirit and hears your prayer: and now it will become easy for you. The heaviness and languor of the heart in prayer comes from insincerity, from the deceit and deceit of our heart, just as in ordinary speech with people we feel internally awkward when we speak to them not from the heart, untruthfully, insincerely. You are cruel against the enemy [Acts. 26, 14]. Be always and everywhere true in heart, and always and everywhere you will have peace in your heart, but especially be true in conversation with God and with the saints: for the Spirit is truth.

226. During prayer, each word must be pronounced with the heart with the power that is contained in each of them, just as medicines are usually taken with the medicinal power corresponding to each of them, given to them by the Creator. If we release the power or essence of the medicine, then it will not be effective and will only set the teeth on edge; so exactly, if in prayer we pronounce words without their power, without feeling their truth in our hearts, we will not receive any benefit from prayer, because true, fruitful prayer must be in spirit and truth. The words of the prayer correspond to medicinal compounds or spices, each having its own power and together constituting a healing technique for the body. Just as pharmacists preserve the power of aromatic medicinal compounds, keeping them tightly sealed in glass bottles or some other vessel, so we must firmly keep the power of each word in our hearts, as in a vessel, and pronounce it in no other way than with the power corresponding to it.

228. Prayer is the golden connection of a person - a Christian, a wanderer and a stranger on earth, with the spiritual world, of which he is a member, and most of all with God - the Source of life; the soul came from God, to God and may it always come through prayer. Prayer has great benefits for the one praying: it gives peace to the soul and body; it gives rest not only to the soul of the one who prays (I will give you rest) [Matt. 11, 28], but also often the souls of our deceased forefathers, fathers and brothers. You see how important prayer is!

235. He who did not show mercy to His Son... for whatever reason, He also gives us all things with Him [Rom. 8, 32]? The greatest thing is given, everything else, whatever we ask, is infinitely less than the Son of God. Therefore, we can confidently ask God for everything in the name of Jesus Christ - for every good thing that we can think of. Again, whatever you ask of the Father in My name, that I will do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son [John 14:13]. Do you ask for forgiveness of sins and peace for the departed? He is the cleansing of the sins of the whole world. His blood cleanses us from all sin. He can forgive the deceased any sin they committed in word, deed or thought. “He is the resurrection and the life and rest of His fallen servants...” Do you ask for good things for living people and for yourself? If you want, ask, He says, and it will be done for you [John. 15, 7].

243. All who begin to work for the Lord in prayer, learn to be like Him, meek, humble and true in heart; do not have guile in your soul, do not be double-minded, do not be cold, try to have His Spirit, for whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ is not His [Rom. 8, 9]; - and the Lord is looking for something similar to Himself and akin to us, into which His grace could be grafted. Remember that not a single word is wasted in prayer if it is said from the heart: the Lord hears every word and every word is in His balance. It sometimes seems to us as if our words beat the air in vain, sound like the voice of one crying in the desert; no no! We must remember that the Lord understands us in prayer, so to speak, i.e. our words are exactly how perfect prayer-books understand themselves, for man is the image of God. The Lord answers every desire of the heart, expressed in words or unexpressed.

253. Do the saints whom we call pray for us? They pray. If I, a sinful person, a cold person, sometimes an angry and unkind person, pray for others who commanded and did not command me to pray, and I do not doubt, I do not get bored patiently going over their names in prayer, although sometimes not heartily, then are God’s holy men - these lamps and flames, burning in God and before God, full of love for their earthly brothers, do not pray for me and for us when we call on them with all possible faith, hope and love? They, the ambulance helpers and prayer books, also pray for our souls, as our God-enlightened Mother, the Holy Church, assures us. So, pray without a doubt to the holy men of God, asking for their intercession for yourself before God. In the Holy Spirit they hear you, only you pray with the Holy Spirit and from the heart, for when you pray sincerely, then the Holy Spirit breathes in you, which is the Spirit of truth and sincerity, is our Truth and sincerity. The Holy Spirit is one and the same in us and in holy people. The saints are holy from the Holy Spirit, who sanctified them and dwells in them forever.

256. We pray to the All-Good and All-Immaculate Mother of God - and She prays for us. We glorify Her, the Highest of all glory, and She prepares for us eternal glory. We often say to Her: “Rejoice,” and She asks Her Son and God: My beloved Son, give them eternal joy for greeting Me with joy.

291. Thank God every day with all your heart for giving you life in His image and likeness, a life that is rationally free and immortal. Thank you especially for the fact that He restored you, who had fallen into eternal death, and sent you back to life, and not by a simple act of omnipotence, for this would be inconsistent with His justice, but by giving His Only Begotten Son, who suffered and died for us, as a ransom for us; Thank you also for the fact that every day He, by His will through sins, falling from life to death, countless times, gives you life again just because you say from your heart: those who have sinned, Father, in heaven and before You [Lk. 15, 18]! Thank you also for the fact that He, who recklessly plunges yourself into illness - a harbinger of bodily death, often delivers you from them, corrects your mistakes and does not deprive you of your earthly life, knowing that it is dear to you, that you are not yet ready for that eternal life. Thank Him for all the means of life, for all the joys and sorrows in life, for everything is from Him, the All-Good Father, everything from that First Initial Life, which gave and gave life to everyone.

293. Sometimes in prayer it is good to say a few of your own words, breathing with ardent faith and love for the Lord. Yes, we can’t all talk to God in other people’s words, we can’t all be children in faith and hope, but we have to show our minds, burp out our good words from our hearts, and at the same time we somehow get used to other people’s words and grow cold. And how pleasant this babble of ours, coming directly from a believing, loving and grateful heart, is to the Lord - it is impossible to retell: it is only necessary to say that the soul, at its words to God, trembles with joy, becomes all excited, enlivened, and blissful. You will say a few words, but you will taste so much bliss that you will not receive it to the same extent from the longest and most touching prayers of others, pronounced out of habit and insincerely.

294. When you ask the Lord for something, immediately contemplate His gracious and generous Hand, who gives you His gifts, Who from the abundance of God has given and continues to give everything to everyone, and to doubt whether you will receive what you ask for or not, consider it madness, similar to that about which the prophet said that he said with his heart: there is no God [Ps. 13, 1]. So, asking some kind and generous person for help, we imagine his giving hand in advance, for earthly benefactors, in the likeness of their All-Good Father, are good and generous and give what we ask immediately after our request, as it is said: who is Is it from you that a man, if his son asks for bread, will he give him a stone for food? or if he asks for fish, will he give him food for a snake? If you, being wicked, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him [Matt. 7, 9-11].

322. We need to pray for the constant and firm confidence of the heart that everything - our souls and bodies with their well-being and ill-being, and all our possessions, and all the circumstances of life - we have from God, from His power, and not from nature, not from chance, not from myself. Don’t pray to God, and you will soon forget in your heart your Benefactor, your Creator and your Lord, and with forgetting Him you will fall into all kinds of evil. So, you see that prayer always brings you significant benefits.

331. Praying to the Lady, you call Her the abyss of goodness and bounty. Be like Her in your own strengths in kindness and generosity to those who need your goodness and generosity, do not be embittered towards them, do not despise them, but love them the more, the more they need you. Reason lightly and sensibly, evangelically about their situation, often putting yourself in their place, and the Lady will increase Her mercies to you.

336. They say: we soon get tired of praying. From what? Because you do not imagine the Lord alive before you, as if He is at your right hand [cf. Ps. 15, 8]. Look at Him unceasingly with the eyes of your heart, and then you will spend the whole night in prayer and will not get tired. What am I saying - night! Stand for three days and three nights and not get tired. Remember the stylites. For many years they stood in a prayerful mood of spirit on the pillar and overcame their flesh, which, both in you and in them, was also prone to laziness. And you are burdened by several hours of public prayer, even one hour!

349. When praying, one must have such faith in the power of the words of prayer that one does not separate the words themselves from the very deed expressed by them; one must believe that the word, like a shadow following the body, is followed by deed, since with the Lord word and deed are inseparable: for He spoke and it happened; He commanded it, and it was created [Ps. 148, 5]. And you also believe that what you said in prayer, what you asked for, will happen. You praised - and God accepted the praise; you thanked the Lord - and God accepted your thanksgiving into the stench of a spiritual fragrance. The trouble is that we are of little faith and separate words from deeds, like the body from the soul, like form from content, like a shadow from the body - we are also in prayer, as in bodily life, having no spirit [Jude. 1:19], that is why our prayers are fruitless.

352. When I pray, I firmly believe that 1) God is the One and fulfills everything, therefore at my right hand, 2) that I am His image, 3) that He is the abyss of goodness and 4) the Source of all goodness and that He Himself has authorized me to pray to Him . Just as stones or pieces of wood, or anything else thrown upward, will certainly fall to the ground or into the water, depending on where they are thrown, so the words of a prayer will certainly reach God if they are spoken from the heart, and if not from the heart, falsely, then fall into the serpent of the abyss, into the ocean of lies - the devil, who is a creature of lies.

374. When you pray, as a rule, especially according to a book, do not rush from word to word without feeling its truth, without placing it on your heart, but do and constantly do the work of feeling with your heart the truth of what you are saying; your heart will resist this - sometimes with laziness and petrified insensibility to what you read, sometimes with doubt and unbelief, with some kind of inner fire and tightness, sometimes with absent-mindedness and deviation towards some earthly objects and concerns, sometimes with the memory of an insult from your neighbor and feeling revenge and hatred towards him, sometimes by imagining the pleasures of the world or imagining the pleasure of reading novels and secular books in general - do not be proud, conquer your heart, give it to God as an acceptable sacrifice: give me, son, your heart [Prov. 23, 26], - and your prayer will connect you with God and with all heaven, and you will be filled with the Spirit and His fruits: righteousness, peace and joy, love, meekness, long-suffering, tenderness of heart. - Do you want to finish your prayer rule soon in order to give rest to your tired body? Pray heartily, and you will fall asleep in the most peaceful, quiet and healthy sleep. Don’t rush to pray somehow: for half an hour of prayer you will gain three whole hours of the healthiest sleep. Are you in a hurry to go to work or to work? Get up early, don’t wake up - and pray fervently - you will gain peace, energy and success in your affairs for the whole day. Is your heart yearning for the vanity of life? Break it; let his treasure be not earthly vanity, but God: teach your heart most of all to cleave through prayer to God, and not to the vanity of the world, so that you will not be put to shame in the days of your illness and at the hour of your death, as rich in the vanity of the world and poor in faith and hope and love. If you do not pray as I said, then you will not prosper in life and faith and spiritual intelligence.

377. At the end of your home morning and evening prayers, call on the saints: patriarchs, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, confessors, saints, abstinents or ascetics, unmercenaries - so that, seeing in them the implementation of every virtue, you yourself become an imitator in every virtue. Learn from the patriarchs childlike faith and obedience to the Lord; among the prophets and apostles - zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of human souls; among the saints - zeal to preach the word of God and, in general, to contribute through the writings to the possible glorification of the name of God, to the establishment of faith, hope and love in Christians; among martyrs and confessors - firmness for faith and piety before unbelieving and wicked people; among ascetics - crucifying the flesh with passion and lust, prayer and contemplation of God; among the unmercenary - non-covetousness and free help to those in need.

424. Diligent, tearful prayer not only cleanses sins, but also heals bodily infirmities and illnesses and renews a person’s entire being and, so to speak, regenerates (I speak from experience). - Oh, what an invaluable gift - prayer! Glory to Thee, Father of bounties and God of all joy! Glory to You, Son of God, only begotten, who interceded for us endless forgiveness of our sins! Glory to Thee, All-Holy Soul, intercede for us with groanings that cannot be uttered [Rom. 8, 26], giving fiery prayer with sighs and tears, warming a cold soul, giving tenderness and sorrow for sins, cleansing, sanctifying, pacifying, strengthening and renewing us! Glory to Thee, Holy Trinity, Beginningless, Life-Giving, forever blessed from all intelligent creatures!

428. You don’t want to pray for a person you hate and despise; but that’s why you pray because you don’t want to, that’s why you resort to the Doctor, because you yourself are spiritually sick, sick with anger and pride; your enemy or the one you despise is also sick; pray that the kindly Lord will teach you kindness and patience, that He will teach and strengthen you to love your enemies, and not well-wishers only, that He will teach you to sincerely pray for ill-wishers as well as for well-wishers.

496. When praying, always firmly believe and remember that every thought of yours and every word of yours can, undoubtedly can be deed. With God every verb will not fail [Lk. 1, 37]. But cleave unto the Lord; there is one spirit with the Lord. This means that your word will not fail. All things are possible to the believer [Mr. 9, 23]. Take care of your word: your word is precious. For every idle word people will give an account on the Day of Judgment [Matt. 12, 36].

504. When you are asked to pray for the salvation of someone from bodily death, e.g. from drowning, from death due to illness, from fire or from any other disaster, praise the faith of those asking for this and say to yourself: blessed be your faith, according to your faith, may the Lord grant the fulfillment of my unworthy, little-faithful prayer and grant me faith.

509. Pray, my brothers, to the Mother of God, when a storm of hostility and malice arises in your house. She, all-good and all-powerful, can comfortably and comfortably pacify human hearts. Peace and love come from one God, as from their Source, and the Lady is one with God in God and, as the Mother of Christ the World, is jealous and prays for the peace of the whole world, and especially of all Christians. She has all-good powers - with Her mania to drive away from us the spirits of malice in heaven, these vigilant and zealous sowers of malice and enmity among people, and to all who flow with faith and love into Her sovereign protection, quickly, quickly gives peace and love. Be zealous for the preservation of faith and love in your hearts; if you do not take care of this yourself, then you will not be worthy of the Mother of God interceding for you before God; Moreover, always be zealous and reverent worshipers of the Mother of the Lord Almighty; for it is worthy as to be truly blessed, the Mother of God, the Ever-Blessed and Most Immaculate, the highest of all creation, the Intercessor of the human race. Try to cultivate the spirit of humility in yourself, for She Herself is humble, like no other mortal, and looks with love only on the humble. Look upon the humility of Her servant, She says to Elizabeth about God Her Savior [Lk. 1, 48].

518. God's holy people had enlightened hearts [Eph. 1:18] and with these eyes they clearly contemplated the needs of our nature, corrupted by sin, clearly saw what we need to pray for, what to ask for, what to give thanks for, how to glorify the Lord, and left us the most excellent examples of prayers of all kinds. Oh, how beautiful these prayers are! We sometimes do not feel and do not know their price, while we know perfectly well the price of food and drink, the price of fashionable clothes, a well-furnished apartment, the price of theaters, the price of music, the price of secular literature, namely the price of novels, this eloquent, empty verbosity - and alas ! We trample the precious beads of prayer under our feet; and while everything secular finds a spacious shelter in the hearts of the majority, prayer - alas! - doesn’t even find a tight corner in them, doesn’t fit in them. And when she asks to come to us and comes up with even one foot, she is immediately pushed out as a beggar, as a person who does not have a wedding garment.

520. Do not miss opportunities to pray for a person at his request or at the request of his relatives, friends, admirers or acquaintances. The Lord looks with favor upon the prayer of our love and our boldness before Him. In addition, prayer for others is very useful for the person praying for others; it cleanses the heart, affirms faith and hope in God, and kindles love for God and neighbor. When praying, say: Lord! It is possible for You to do this and that to Your servant; do this to him, for Your name is the good Lover of Mankind and the Almighty. If we, being evil ones, know how to give good deeds not only to our children, but also to strangers, how much more do You give all kinds of good things to those who ask You [Matt. 7, 11].

525. If you, being in a meeting of people, call to you a person known to you and he comes up to you; if you ask people subservient to you or one person to do something for you that is within the range of his ability and he fulfills your request, satisfying it according to your desire and even beyond your desire, then believe that the same is true in the Church of God - in this in the great house of God, divided into two halves - heavenly and earthly, any person of the heavenly Church you call upon will come to your aid spiritually, according to his characteristic goodness and loving sociability, ask him to do anything for you, especially related to the kingdom of God and the truth of God, and it does what is pleasing for you based on its close communication with God - the Source of goodness and strength. The saints of God hear you in the same way as, for example, the whole congregation in church hears you when you pray or speak a word, for they are in the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit fills everything and everywhere.

544. Thank our most swift Intercessor, the Lady Theotokos, the Most Pure, Most Gracious Virgin Mary, who, through the prayer of our hearts, saves us from the gnawing and oppression of the devil. Look at Her with the eyes of your heart in the Holy Spirit, who exists everywhere and fulfills everything and is simple - look as if she exists at your very heart and cry out to Her: Most swift Intercessor, Lady Theotokos Mary, save me from the enemy-troubler! And immediately, in a minute, She will save you according to the faith of your heart, according to the hope of your heart in Her - and so the oppression, the fire and the heavy despondency will recede from your side. We only need to imagine and firmly believe that the Holy Spirit is everywhere, in every place, and is a simple Being, that in Him the whole heaven is close to us, at a glance, with all the Angels and saints, that we just need to call on the Lord or Lady Theotokos or a saint from the bottom of our hearts, with clairvoyant faith, with heartfelt repentance for the sins with which the enemy binds us or we bind ourselves voluntarily - and salvation will immediately shine forth. The salvation of the Lady is wonderful, and it pours into your soul like a healing balm, or like aromatic life-giving air, or like restful water, just look at Her with the eyes of your heart with hope in Her goodness and benefits. But this is also difficult - to look to Her with heartfelt, clairvoyant faith, as well as to the Lord or to the saints; the enemy intensifies in every possible way to become a solid, high and dark wall between your soul and God or the Mother of God, the Angels and the saints, the accursed one does not allow the heart's eye to see the Lord or His saints, darkens the heart in every possible way, dispels faith, oppresses the insides, burns, darkens. All these actions must be considered a dream, a lie, and through this dreamy wall one must break through to the Lord or to the Mother of God and to the saints. As soon as you break through, you are immediately saved. Your faith will save you [Matt. 9, 22].

546. If the Lady Theotokos, through unity with God and through her unparalleled service to the Lord of all, quickly becomes everything for those who ask with faith and love for Her intercession, delivering them from all evils and giving them all the petitions for salvation, then is it not even more so Lord? just don’t have little faith, don’t be cold in soul towards Him and insensitive as a stone, but kindle in yourself faith, gratitude for God’s good deeds, a sincere feeling for your sins and great love for your Savior, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who loved you with immeasurable love .

547. When praying to the Lord, the Mother of God or the saints, always remember that the Lord gives according to your heart (the Lord will give you according to your heart [Ps. 19:5]), as the heart is, such is the gift; if you pray with faith, sincerely, with all your heart, unfeignedly, then in accordance with your faith, the degree of fervor of your heart, you will be given a gift from the Lord. And vice versa, the colder your heart, the more unfaithful and hypocritical it is, the more useless your prayer is; moreover, the more it angers the Lord, Who is the Spirit and seeks those who worship him in spirit and truth [John. 4, 24, 23]. Therefore, whether you call on the Lord, the Mother of God, Angels or saints, call with all your heart; whether you pray for someone living or dead, pray for them with all your heart, pronouncing their names with warmth of heart; whether you pray for the granting of any spiritual good to yourself or another, or for the deliverance of yourself or your neighbor from some calamity or from sins and passions, bad habits - pray about this with all your heart, wishing with all your heart for yourself or another the requested good, having a firm intention to lag behind or wanting others to be freed from sins, passions and sinful habits, and the Lord will give you a gift according to your heart. If you want it, ask, and it will be done for you [John. 15, 7]. You see, you must definitely want what you ask for, then only you will get it. Pray for one another so that you may be healed [Jas. 5, 16].

574. Just feel sincerely the need for what you pray for, and sincerely believe that every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from God, and not from people, not from chance, not from circumstances, not from fate - what he sees and The Lord hears your every need, every movement of your heart and your thoughts, that He is all-good, all-powerful, all-wise - and everything is convenient in an instant, with a single movement of His thought, through the Son in His Holy Spirit, He can do what you need - and you will receive everything . For although many things are impossible with man, they are not with God; All things are possible with God [Lk. 18, 27; Mrk. 10, 27].

575. The hope in prayer is to pronounce petitions, thanksgivings and praises with faith in the presence and hearing of God, with the fear of God, and not to doubt or worry about their acceptance and fulfillment, in full confidence that the Lord has listened to them and accepted into His heavenly and mental altar and, at the request of our mother - the Church (if we pray on behalf of the Church), as well as our hearts, as the all-good, all-wise and all-powerful One, will give what we ask and even in excess of how much we ask or understand. But a heart addicted to food and drink, greedy for them, pampered by them, does not have this hope, just like a heart in which lies hatred, enmity - bound by stinginess, love of money, envy - until it leaves its ailments and improves.

577. Someone who was mortally ill with inflammation of the stomach for nine days and did not receive the slightest relief from medical benefits, as soon as he received communion of the life-giving Mysteries on the ninth day in the morning, by the evening he became healthy and rose from his sick bed. He took communion with firm faith. I prayed to the Lord for him, so that He would heal him. God! I said: Heal Your servant from his illness. He is worthy, this is to him, he loves Your priests and sends his gifts to them. - I prayed in church at the throne of the Lord during the liturgy, during prayer: “who has given us prayers that are common and concordant...” and before the Mysteries themselves. By the way, I prayed like this: Lord! Our belly! Just as it is easy for me to think about healing, so it is easy for you to heal every disease; Just as it is easy for me to think about the resurrection from the dead, so it is easy for You to raise every dead person. Heal Thy servant Vasily from his cruel illness and do not allow him to die, so that his wife and children do not give in to weeping - and the benevolent Master has mercy. And then he was on the verge of death. Glory to Thy omnipotence, goodness and good obedience, Lord!

595. As long as we stand in fervent prayer, our souls remain calm, warm, light, and light because then we are with God and in God; and as soon as prayer left, temptations and various embarrassments came. O blessed time of prayer!

597. Ask what you want from the Lord - God the Father only has to desire: the Creator, the Son and the Finisher, the Holy Spirit are always with Him and in Him, as He is in Them - They are always ready to fulfill the will of the Almighty, All-Good Father; for Sami is one with Him in goodness and omnipotence.

601. They say: if you don’t want to, don’t pray - it’s carnal wisdom; If you don’t start praying, you will completely fall behind prayer; that's what the flesh wants. The Kingdom of Heaven is in need [Matt. 11, 12], without self-compulsion to goodness you will not be saved.

844. Hitherto I have not lacked in anything, having mercy on others, and I will not fail to the end, for the Lord is the same yesterday and today [Heb. 13, 8]. It is not in vain that it is said: the hand of the giver will not fail. Until now, the Lord has increased temporary blessings for me, and has not taken them away. I glorify the bounty of the Lord, His rich providence.

901. Our life is love, yes, love. And where there is love, there is God, and where God is, there is all goodness. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you [Matt. 6, 33]. So, feed and delight everyone with joy, please everyone with joy, and rely in everything on the Heavenly Father, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Sacrifice what is dear to you to love your neighbor. Bring your Isaac, your many-passionate heart, as a sacrifice to God, temper him with your will, crucify the flesh with passions and lusts. You have received everything from God, be ready to give everything to God, so that, having been faithful to your Lord in little things, you will later be placed over many things. For a little while you were faithful, I will put you over many [Matt. 25, 23]. Consider all passions as a dream, as you have learned this a thousand times. Amen.

906. Why do I need an estate? In order for them to exist for me and my family and my relatives, to give to the poor, and not to accumulate it. Measure generously, so that God may generously measure to you according to your giving. Moreover, all possessions or means of life are God’s, not ours, and God is the Head of life: He takes care of maintaining our life through ourselves or through others, or directly. Let us commend ourselves and each other and our whole life to Christ our God [litany]. We say: we need to live, but our life is God: this means that God will and will continue to provide all the means of life.

931. They say: God is merciful; He will have mercy on us. Of course, God has an infinite amount of mercy. But if God is infinitely merciful to us and generous, then why do we arbitrarily offend Him with our iniquities? The more we are blessed by Him, the more we should love Him, be grateful to Him and obey His holy commandments or commands. Where is this love, this gratitude, this obedience?

1104. During prayer, during strong temptations from the devil, cast all your sorrow on the Lord, as He cares for you. When you pray, just believe in the Lord, as He is at your right hand, and everything will be possible for you.

1106. Remember that if during prayer you do not idle talk, but say the words of prayer with feeling, then your words will not return to you thinly, without power (like a husk without grain), but will certainly bring you the very fruits that are contained in the word, like a fruit in a shell. This is the most natural thing, just as the fruit and its shell are natural and ordinary in nature. But if you throw words in vain, without faith, without feeling their power, like a husk without a kernel, then they will return to you empty: you throw a husk, the husk will return to you; you throw the seed, the whole ear will bring you, and the better, the fatter the seed, the more abundant the ear. So it is with our prayers: the more sincerely and heartily you pronounce each word, the more fruit from the prayer: each word, like a grain, will bring you spiritual fruit, like a ripe ear. Who among those praying has not experienced this? It was not in vain that the Savior compared the seed with the word, and the human heart with the earth [Matt. 13, 5]. The same must be said about the words of prayer. Also: who doesn’t know that rain irrigates the earth and plants and gives them water? So the word of God, and even our word, spoken with faith, will not return to us without watering our souls or the souls of obedient and believing souls. This is just as natural as it is natural for rain to water and nourish the earth and plants and promote their growth.

1108. When you pray, try to pray more for everyone than for yourself alone, and during prayer vividly imagine all people together with you as one body, and each individual as a member of the Body of Christ and your own member: we are a delight to one another [Eph. 4, 25]; pray for everyone as you pray for yourself, with the same sincerity and warmth; Consider their weaknesses and illnesses as your own weaknesses and illnesses; their ignorance is spiritual, their sins and passions are their ignorance, their sins and passions; their temptations, misfortunes and sorrows are manifold - with their own temptations, misfortunes and sorrows. Such prayer is accepted with great reverence by the Heavenly Father - this common all-good Father, but He has no partiality [Rom. 2, 11], not a shadow of change [James. 1, 17], - this Love, which has no limits, embraces and preserves all creatures.

1118. In every word there is God the Word, a simple Being. How carefully should one pronounce words, with what humility, prudence, so as not to anger God the Word with the Father and the Spirit?

1134. God is eternally cheerful, and therefore one must always pray to Him with a cheerful and sober mind and heart: be sober in prayer, it is said, and drive away self-forgetfulness and laziness. Do not let your prayer evaporate and only dry words remain from it, but let it breathe with the warmth of the spirit, like moist and warm bread taken out of the oven.

1135. Many people pray hypocritically, and their hypocritical prayer has become a habit; They themselves do not even notice and do not want to notice that they are praying hypocritically, and not in spirit and truth, so that if someone told them in reproof that they are praying hypocritically, they would be angry with the one who dared to say such, in their opinion, inconsistency. A person does not reach hypocrisy suddenly, but gradually. At first, perhaps, he prayed from the heart, but then - since praying always with the heart is significant work, to which one must always force oneself, for the Kingdom of Heaven, it is said, is forced [Matt. 11, 12], - he begins to pray more with his lips, superficially, and not from the depths of his soul, since this is much easier; and finally, with the intensified struggle between the flesh and the devil, he prays with his lips, without bringing the power of the words of prayer to the heart. There are a lot of such people. The Lord says about them: these people draw near to Me with their lips, and with their lips they honor Me, but their heart is far from Me [Matt. 15, 8 (Isaiah 29, 13)]. What has been said about prayer should also be said about the communion of the holy, immortal and life-giving Mysteries. Often, at first a person receives communion with living faith, with a feeling of love and reverence, and then, with the constant opposition of the flesh and the devil to the truth of God, he gives in to them victory over himself and receives communion hypocritically, not of the Body and Blood, but, according to his thoughts of the heart, of bread and wine . The Mysterious Being is spirit and belly [John. 6, 63], as the Savior said, does not fit [John. 8, 37] in it; he is internally robbed by Satan. God save everyone from such communion, from such blasphemy against the Lord! The same happens with the sacrament of repentance.

1155. The words of prayer are like rain or snow if spoken with faith and compassion: each of them contains its own strength and its own fruit. Raindrops or snowflakes, falling continuously in threads or flakes, water the earth, and it vegetates and bears fruit; So the words of prayer - this spiritual rain - each individually, water the soul, and it vegetates the fruits of virtues, assisted by the Holy Spirit, especially if there is still tearful rain.

1164. Every word of the Holy Scriptures, every word of the Divine Liturgy, Matins and Vespers, every word of the sacred-mysterious prayers and prayer books has in itself the power corresponding to it and contained in it, like the sign of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross. Such grace is inherent in every word of the Church, for the sake of the hypostatic, incarnate Word of God who dwells in the Church, Who is the Head of the Church. And everything true kind word has the power corresponding to it, for the sake of the all-filling simple Word of God. With what attention and reverence each word must be pronounced, with what faith! For the Word is the Creator Himself - God, and by the Word everything is brought into being from non-existence.

1171. Do not be lazy to pray earnestly for others, at their request or on your own and together with them, - you yourself will receive mercy from God - the grace of God in your heart, delighting and strengthening you in faith and love for God and your neighbor. These are the elephants of truth, they are taken from experience. We usually do not very willingly, more out of need or habit, pray for others, without the full participation of our hearts; We must force ourselves to pray with all our hearts, with great faith, with great boldness, so that we may receive great and rich mercy from the generous and generously gifted God.

1172. When you pray to God, then you imagine His closeness in no other way than that every minute you breathe in Him, move, are enlightened, are sanctified, are at peace, are consoled and strengthened - in a word, you live in Him, according to the Scripture: for in Him we live and we move and we are. Giving everyone life and breath and everything [Acts. 17, 28, 25]. God is near (verb) in your mouth and in your heart... For if you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe in Him in your heart, you will be saved [Rom. 10, 8, 9].

1173. A Christian must pray for all Christians, as for himself, so that God will grant them prosperity in life and faith and spiritual reason, and freedom from sins and passions. Why? According to Christian love, which sees in all Christians its members and the members of Christ God, the common Savior of all, it desires for them the same as for itself, just as it strives by all means to do for them the same as for itself.

1174. We keep icons in our homes and worship them, among other things, to show that the eyes of the Lord God and all the inhabitants of heaven are constantly fixed on us and see not only all our deeds, but also our words, thoughts, and desires.

1199. Holy Angels and holy men of God are our best, kindest, most faithful brothers and friends, who so often help us in various circumstances in which no other person can help. Since these brothers, who live forever and benefit us, are invisible, and we, by our physicality, want to have them before our eyes, as if they were always with us, we make images of them, and looking at their images, it seems to us that they are with us, and we call upon them in our prayers, knowing that they have great boldness before God and help us in various circumstances. Thus, the veneration of icons is very beneficial for us, in accordance with our nature, with common sense, and with Holy Scripture itself, for the images of Cherubim were also in the Old Testament tabernacle of Moses. Icons serve us as a constant reminder that the Lord is always with us: I am with you all the days until the end of the age [Matt. 28, 20]; that the Most Holy Theotokos is always close to us, as the Head of the Church’s mental edification, as the Mother by grace of all true Christians, and all true Christians have the image of the Mother of God and their own Queen and Mother by grace in their homes and adorn it abundantly, worthily and righteously with silver, gold, precious stones, for there is no one dearer and more honorable to them after God than His Most Pure Mother. Both the Lord and His Most Pure Mother themselves continually testify to us, both internally and externally through miracles, that our true veneration of His saints and His Mother and His holy icons is pleasing to Him, and is extremely useful for us.

1210. God rests in the saints and in their very name, in their very image; only with faith one must use their images, and they will work miracles.

1214. Prayer is the breath of the soul, just as air is the natural breath of the body. We breathe the Holy Spirit. You cannot say a single word of prayer from your whole heart without the Holy Spirit. When you pray, you converse mouth to mouth with the Lord, and if you have your heart’s lips open by faith and love, at the same time you seem to inhale from Him the spiritual benefits you ask for through the Holy Spirit.

1239. When we pray, then in a strange way the most holy, lofty objects revolve in our thoughts, along with earthly, everyday, insignificant objects: for example, God, and some beloved object, for example, money, some thing, clothing , hat, or any sweet piece, sweet drink, or any external distinction, cross, order, ribbon, etc. So we are frivolous, biased, absent-minded! This is typical only of pagans, who do not know the true God and His Son Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, and not of Christians, whose treasure is not on earth, but in heaven. Where is the living water in our hearts, flowing with a life-giving spring in hearts wholly devoted to God?

1257. You feel like an ungodly, nasty, evil, blasphemous sinner and therefore you don’t want to approach the Lady and pray to Her - but that’s why you pray earnestly, because you recognize yourself as such a sinner, don’t lie in the mire of sin, come to the Lady, become before Her image, hoping that She Herself is here, show Her your sinful wounds without shame, have disgust for them and ask Her to cleanse you from this spiritual leprosy - and you will not be ashamed. The All-Good One will not despise you, the Most Pure and All-Powerful One will cleanse you, as the Lord cleansed the ten lepers.

1278. When you pray to God, you talk with Him face to face; talk with Him as with the King - eye to eye, with the Mother Queen of Heaven, talk as if with a living person, with the Angels and saints just as eye to eye, and let your heart not be occupied with anything extraneous at this time or for anything sticks, for tell me: will you, while talking with the king or queen, do something extraneous and unimportant at this time, for example, look out the window at people passing by or examine things in the chambers, etc.? And wouldn’t this be an extreme insult to the royal majesty? How can we, when talking with the Lord, do something similar and much worse than this?

1298. Prayer is a constant feeling of one’s spiritual poverty and weakness, contemplation in oneself, in people and in nature of the works of wisdom, goodness and the almighty power of God, prayer is a constantly grateful mood.

1299. Prayer is often called something that is not prayer at all: he went to church, stood, looked at the icons, or first at people, at their faces, attire, - he says: he prayed to God; stood at home in front of the icon, nodded his head, spoke memorized words without understanding or sympathy, - he says: he prayed to God, although he did not pray at all with his thoughts and heart, but was somewhere else, with other persons and things, and not with God.

1300. Prayer is the lifting of the mind and heart to God [Orthodox. katih. Metropolitan. Philar.], contemplation of God, bold conversation between the creature and the Creator, reverent standing of the soul before Him as before the King and the Life-Itself, who gives life to everyone; oblivion for Him of everything around us, food for the soul, air and light, its life-giving warmth, cleansing of sins, the good yoke of Christ, His light burden. Prayer is a constant feeling of one’s weakness, or spiritual poverty, sanctification of the soul, anticipation of future bliss, angelic bliss, heavenly rain, refreshing, watering and fertilizing the earth of the soul, strength and strength of the soul and body, purification and refreshment of the mental air, enlightenment of the face, joy of the spirit , the golden bond connecting the creature with the Creator, cheerfulness and courage in all the sorrows and temptations of life, the lamp of life, success in business, equal dignity, affirmation of faith, hope and love. Prayer is a community with Angels and saints who have pleased God from time immemorial. Prayer is the correction of life, the mother of heartfelt contrition and tears; strong motivation for works of mercy; life safety; destroying mortal fear; neglect of earthly treasures; desire for heavenly blessings; expectation of the universal Judge, the general resurrection, the life of the next century; intense efforts to get rid of eternal torment; constant seeking of mercy (pardon) from the Lord; walking in the sight of God; blissful disappearance before the all-creating and all-fulfilling Creator; living water of the soul, containing love in the hearts of all people; bringing heaven down into the soul; containing the Holy Trinity in the heart, according to what was said: we will come to him and make an abode with him [John. 14, 23].

"My life in Christ." St. John of Kronstadt Selected quotes about prayer. Volume 1

for birthdays, anniversaries and just for holidays

The best impromptu requires careful preparation - organizers of birthdays and anniversaries know this better than anyone. the main task festive scenario is to unobtrusively captivate guests and put them in a good mood. This can be done through fun games that look impromptu, or a serious scenario with a flexible approach.

It is important to understand that a holiday is an unpredictable phenomenon, in which there is always room for retreats or changes in mood. Therefore, the organizer of the holiday is like a good conductor, who is also a psychologist. Noticing in time that the mood of the guests has gone in the wrong direction, stopping a tense situation, diverting attention from a problem that has arisen by chance - that’s what a real organizer is.

The script for a birthday or any other holiday has a modular structure that allows you to change places in the program, closing random breaks. Even if at first glance everything in the script is subject to linear logic, there is always the opportunity to rearrange it on the fly, literally between toasts. Guests won’t notice anything, and the holiday will only gain momentum!

Scenarios for anniversary birthdays for women and men

Festive anniversary in nature

If the weather permits, you can spend it in a very original and undoubtedly fun way. Nature encourages a friendly attitude towards everything around you, so games and pranks involving dousing with water, sprinkling with flour, and the like go off with a bang.

You can start your anniversary celebration with a comic congratulation.

Leading
I want to conduct a test on the mental abilities of the hero of the day. To do this, take an ordinary matchbox. We stick one match into the box and give the other to the hero of the occasion. I will ask questions. If the birthday person finds it difficult to answer, he must light the match on the box with his match.

After a few simple questions, the host asks: “When is the donkey’s birthday?” The subject naturally lights a match. The moment has come to solemnly hand him this box with a burning match and sing in chorus “Happy Birthday to you”

Leading
(in the voice of Owl from the cartoon “The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”). Expensive …. ! Happy Birthday to You! At this joyful moment, let me present you with this wonderful cord (brings a bucket from which the cord hangs).

The culprit solemnly pulls the cord and pulls out a bottle of champagne or vodka.

Leading
And now I invite everyone present to take part in the competition “Do you know the hero of the day?” The first guest to answer the question correctly receives candy. At the end of the quiz, the owner of the most candies will receive a prize from the birthday boy - a photograph with a personal autograph and the right to drink with him at the Brotherhood.

Sample list of questions.
1. Name the day of the week when the birthday boy was born.
2. His height, weight at birth.
3. Where did this event take place?
4. What time of day was it.
5. What was the name of the kindergarten teacher.
6. Favorite toy.
7. The birthday boy’s best school friend
8. What kind of education did he receive?
9. Where was the first day of work?
10. When I bought my first car.
11. Where did you spend your last vacation?
12. Where did you meet your other half?
13. When was the wedding day.
14. What was the weather like that day.
15. State the exact age of the children.
16. Favorite dish.
17. Favorite drink.
18. Favorite activity.
19. Favorite books/movies.
20. Foot size.
21. How many acres does the dacha plot occupy?
22. Favorite alcoholic drink.
23. Car brand.
24. Name best friend(girlfriends).
25. Favorite song.

It is advisable to ask simple questions, such that you can find out the answers in advance, although everything depends on the company and it is not always necessary to know the answer to the question; in this case, they are purely symbolic.

This is where we can finish the official part and move on to the wild entertainment part.
For the birthday boy, you can arrange an impromptu concert and at the same time demonstrate your many talents.

Joke-raffle “Fun fortune-telling”

Good people, I’ll try to surprise you
And I am surprised by
That I can predict the fate of everyone.
Which one of you will guess the riddle?
He will find out his fate.
So, my 1st riddle:
Is there a heel behind his nose? (shoe)

We continue fortune telling - gild the handle...
I wish my predictions come true!

Surprises await you in life
Hundred-program TV,
600th Mercedes
A huge house, a blooming garden,
The husband is rich and doesn't drink
And there are plenty of other miracles!

When you wake up one day, you see in the window
Prince Charming on a white horse.
With a smile in the saddle he will pick up, lovingly,
And he will take you to distant lands.

Pots of cabbage soup are waiting for you,
Vegetable vinaigrette,
Jellied meat from offal
And dried fruit compote.
Well, it's time to reveal the secret.
So you'll become a cook!

You will be fat and ruddy,
You will raise geese and chickens.
The husband will drive up on a tractor and shout loudly:
“Smoke break, serve lunch, wife,
And a bottle of wine!”

You will be a noble knight,
Beautiful, strong and simple.
Know how to stand up for the weak,
Stand firm for justice.
And for the love of a beautiful lady
fight, asking for her hand.
Know that love brings happiness
Not tight wallets.

Your house will be a full cup,
There is always an influx of guests there,
And your wife is the most beautiful of all,
There will be seven children.
And one day you come drunk:
An uneven step, a dull look...
The wife will be sad and say:
"The wolf and the seven Young goats"

Your life will be happy and long.
With a color TV, with a white Volga
With a yacht flying in the azure waves.
With bronze tan on strong shoulders.

If it doesn't come out of you
Sissies and crybabies,
Then life will give you
Brand new bucks!

There are many miracles in life,
The road is wide!
But just try to sit down
On your horse!

There are many ways and things to do in the world,
But always be yourself!
Then the road is wide
It will not become a narrow path!

My husband will buy earrings, fashionable boots,
He will carry it in his arms
and don’t ask for half a liter!

This is the news you received:
No salty food today!
And then, lo and behold, you’ll give birth.
After all, everyone in the world knows
Salty foods make babies!

You will soon be very rich.
Be known throughout the area as a millionaire!
Because Uncle will be found in America
He will leave you an inheritance without looking!

You will definitely be lucky in the lottery!
Run, hurry up!
If you buy a bag of tickets,
That's what you'll gain from a shoe lace!

So as not to get bored
We need to sing and dance.
Can't sleep at all at night
Entertain good people
If people are happy
You will become a pop star!

If you want to be happy,
So here's some advice for you:
Eat 3 kilograms of salt
And a big bag of sweets.,
Then drink some vodka...
You'll be happy for the life of you!
I was chatting here, joking...
Still didn’t please someone
I see someone's sad eyes...
Well, there will be dancing for you too...

Scenario for the 55th anniversary (for woman)

Script Lead: Dear Colleagues! Dear birthday girl!

Today we are in friendly fun company, in our so-called “banquet hall” we decided to congratulate the hero of the day.
Let this day go down in history forever,
And it will only bring joy to the birthday girl,
And let the guests have fun carelessly,
I hope no one leaves the anniversary sad.
To start the celebration as it should be,
Everyone is asked to fill their glasses.

Why are there so many people?
All my friends have gathered here,
For a well-deserved rest,
They came to congratulate you.

Well, here's two A's for you,
How quickly the years fly by
But for a reason like this
Don't be upset!

Of course it's not 16
And far from 25,
But, to be honest,
There is no reason to be sad!

After all, a string of difficult years
Didn't ruin the portrait.
Let's look honestly, from above:
What were you like before?
I walked - my ribs rang,
And now - what a body!
The bones are overgrown with meat,
Features are rounded:
Lush bust, hip, what you need -
A delight for men's eyes.
There is something to take, something to look at,
There is something to cling to with your bones.
And those eyes with a sparkle
They'll drive anyone crazy!
And therefore, without further ado, I want to raise the first glass to our hero of the occasion.

Leading: And now I want to give the floor for congratulations to the director of our team.

Director: Dear _______________!

From the bottom of my heart with great respect
Today please accept our congratulations
We are pleased to congratulate you and wish you
Still work, still dare.
Do not grow old in soul and appearance
Be blooming as before.
Keep the flame of the soul and continue to love.
Be as beautiful as always for you for many years to come.

(A gift is given)

The team sings congratulations to the tune of the song “I'm Standing at a Stop Station” and gives gifts.

Friends and relatives are sitting
Sparkling wine flows
And there is a long way left behind.
The words are welcoming.
Where are your cherished years?
What has passed cannot be returned.

As a sign of our attention
Please accept my wishes,
Live many years to the joy of everyone.
May the years be like a blizzard
Everything is turning gray,
And the light warms youth!

Inconspicuous happiness for you,
Unchanged success,
We wish you great luck many times over.
I wish you excellent health, hope and personal happiness,
May youth never leave you!

Let adversity be forgotten
And all your wishes will come true.
And let there never be grief.
Love if you love.
Live the way you want
And always be cheerful!

Host: This holiday is a birthday.
Just a glorious anniversary.
So that the fun continues,
I’ll tell everyone: “Pour it!”

I suggest you drink to these wonderful wishes!

Host: You cried when you were born,
And everyone around laughed...
But we really did have a little pensioner.

Leading: A word of congratulations is presented to our pensioners.

1. The hour has come for retirement!
It happens to us once in a lifetime!

2.We came here today
I wish you many years to come,
Please accept Lyubasha from us
Hello pensioners.

3. I worked a lot,
You didn't work in vain,
This is why, dear,
You have been given a pension.

4.Will you stay at home?
You will be bored, grow old,
If you sing in the choir,
You will immediately look younger.

5. There is no reason for sadness and tears -
The autumn of life is like frost in winter;
Let's tell everyone without hiding anything:
Every age has its own charm!

6. Our age only brings experience
He doesn't age you at all:
After all, 55 is not autumn for us yet,
But only the velvet season.

7. Don’t be sad and don’t be sad,
There's no going back to those days of old
Smile always and everywhere
And don't go to doctors.

8. On this anniversary day, beautiful,
We would like to sincerely wish:
Only joy, long life,
Do not know sorrows and grief.

9.And we wish you continued
Not getting old, but getting younger.
Multiply series of fives
Yes, live in abundance
Without despondency and problems,
To be needed always and by everyone.

Leading: And now comes the solemn moment. Based on all of the above, the Council of Pensioners allows you, Lyubov Vladimirovna, to join the party of pensioners. To do this you must take an oath.

Oath I, ..., joining the ranks of pensioners in the face of my family, friends, colleagues and husband, solemnly swear: with the fervor of my heart to be true to my word to their own, as the pensioner party teaches. Strictly observe and fulfill the duties of the party. To replenish your family with creatures with the help of your children, to our delight, in spite of our enemies, in defiance of our neighbors. I swear! I swear! I swear!

Leading: Well, now I want to acquaint the young pensioner with her responsibilities and rights.
Responsibilities: (on the screen)

Get up, wash. Sit down and eat.
Receive guests
Don't forget your friends.
Put the mash to distill.
Play sports this year.
Be ready for love and work.

Don't get sick, don't be sad,
Eat in moderation and sleep soundly,
Never grow old
All men like it.

Rights of a young pensioner: (read by the hero of the day herself)

When I want, then I get up.
As long as I want, I lie there.
If I want to, I’ll start drinking.
I'll go where I want.
When I want, then I sleep.
I love whoever I want.

Leading: And now I want to raise a glass to the birth of a new pensioner, but very, very young, who still has a lot of things to do!

Presenter: Today, each of the guests, as a sign of respect for you, would like to say special words and give a special gift.
- We would give you a miracle,
A wonderful moment of magic
Only a miracle was created before,
The people who gave you life, birth!

Please raise your glasses and drink to the parents of the hero of the day __________________!

Leading:
Be healthy, beloved wife,
So that your wallet is always tight
Optimism and creativity!
Every day to give joy.
Since we're talking about men,
I want to remind you of a man
who many years ago fell in love with our (name)
and is still a support and shoulder
V family life for her. AND
So, word from the wife of the hero of the day.

How much beauty is there in the world:
Sun, blue sky,
And spring flowers
They can't compare with you.
For many years we walked side by side,
There was everything: sadness and joy
Now the grandchildren have grown up,
Old age is already knocking on our door.
We won't let her into the house
Let him walk longer
When he comes again later,
Let him not find us at home.
You are my good one
I always feel at ease with you
I give you flowers
And a surprise with a lot of love.

I give you this song. “I love you to tears” or others.

Thank you for finding words that please and comfort you at the right moment.

I want to drink to the fact that you exist!

Leading: Today telegrams were sent to the hero of the day. Let me read them
Telegrams:

Granny, hello, don't be sad,
The candy is out, mind you.
Your grandson _______-.

Well, now, friends, the moment has come
Fill a glass for your parents.
For those who gave the joy of life,
And he opened the doors to a beautiful world.
For those who taught him kindness,
Endowed him with a considerable amount of intelligence.
For those thanks to whom now
Vanya is sitting among us as a birthday boy.

So, let's fill our glasses and drink to the parents of our hero of the day, let them have fun and enjoyment today.
Dear guests! We learned a lot today about the hero of the day, there were a lot of congratulations and wishes addressed to him. But not everyone present congratulated him yet. The floor is given to the sister and brother of the hero of the day.

Dear friends, we continue our evening dedicated to the 30th anniversary

Happy thirty year anniversary
All friends rush to congratulate
And wherever fate takes them -
Everyone came here today.
We wish you health
And a long life without worries,
Good luck, happiness and luck!
The time has come for big victories!

Let's all fill our glasses and drink to the happiness and health of our birthday boy!

Wow, I see you moved something? Wait, I will introduce you to the Rules of our evening. Our charter states:
1. That the hero of the day is sitting in front of us.
2. It is announced that 20__ Ivan's anniversary is not cancelled.
3. Remember: it didn’t hurt for everyone to start having a glass.
4. It is announced that laughter in this house is not canceled.
5. Gifts brought to the hero of the day are accepted around the clock for another month after this evening and cannot be returned.

And now the floor is given to the beloved wife of the hero of the day.

We congratulate you on this significant event,
Today is your legal anniversary,
We wish you great health,
And many sincere friends.
We do not give to the birthday boy
No headsets, no rings,
You'll probably receive it warmer
Greetings from friendly hearts.

I offer the floor to congratulate my friends. Dear guests, dear birthday boy, the children’s nursery group “Mouse” has come to your holiday!

Congratulates Uncle Vanya
Our favorite kindergarten,
Sends greetings to you, dear,
Junior nursery team.
We promise to listen to Vanya,
Always go to the potty
When everyone has eaten the porridge,
We'll take the cups away.
Be healthy Uncle Vanya!
Many many more days
We promise that we will come
To your hundredth anniversary!

Dear guests! I ask you to fill your glasses with white, and drop some red into your glasses.

Believe it if you want
Believe it or not if you want it,
There is a beast wandering somewhere nearby.
Doesn't live in the dense forest,
In Russian the mighty language.
This animal is called “moose”
“It’s been like this for a long time.”
Let “ELK” be with you,
To eat and sleep,
For three to drink,
So that you would like and be able to
So that happiness does not end,
So that you DREAM about good things, so that things succeed
May everything always come true!

We want to congratulate you
With a wonderful date - thirty years.
You have already achieved a lot,
But now all the strength has begun to flourish.
Let hope never
Your earthly one will not leave the path.
May he be full of success!
We don’t want to turn away from it!

In the Canary Islands, out of 365 days a year, only 350 are sunny.
So we wish you, Vanya, that there will be a balance of joyful and sad days in your life.
But the natives of the Canary Islands are far from stupid. During those 15 days when there is no sun, they all gather together in their large huts and drink the fermented juice of tropical mangoes. And again in their souls good mood, the sun is shining in their souls again. And you, Vanya, on gloomy and stormy days, do not forget to take mango fruits. And if you don’t have juice on hand, use any substitute from 12 to 40 degrees

For your anniversary!
Thirty years is a special age.
Life leads us forward slowly,
We want to wish you that
The soul has not aged over the years.
So that creativity does not leave,
So that the table is wide with wine,
To make music sound in the house,
To make your wife love you more.
Birthday is a responsible step,
Thirty years in life means something.
Be happy and healthy, like Hercules.
May luck not leave you!

Listen, Ivan, this is the thing -
Vodka began to boil in the glasses,
So that she doesn't run out of steam,
We need to sip a little.
For a reason like this
Let's say a small toast.

Masha and Glasha meet.
- Masha, how is your husband Misha?
- As he drank, so he drinks, as he beat, so he hits.
- Well, thank God, if only he wasn’t sick!
For the health of everyone present!

Dear guests! We had a lot of fun. Our evening is coming to an end. I propose to sing a song for the hero of the day.

We had a great time on your holiday
Nowhere have we seen a more beautiful holiday
So be healthy, live richly,
And we are leaving for the house and the hut!
The evening ends with songs and dances.

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