The educational activity of the Church is one of the most important components of its educational ministry.
Enlightenment in the Christian understanding is the communion of the world with the light of Christ's truth. It is carried out not only in the form of Christian education, but also as a mission, that is, the preaching of Christian truth addressed to unbelievers, and catechesis, that is, teaching the faith, familiarizing with the Orthodox tradition, associated with the communal, liturgical and prayer life of the Church. The basis of the educational activity of the Church is the testimony of God the Trinity and the saving mission of Christ. The tasks of educational activity are to kindle love for Christ, the desire to follow Him and fulfill His commandments.
Orthodox enlightenment should begin in the family not only at birth, but even before the birth of a child. Therefore, family education is a subject of special care for the Church. The very organization of family life, its way of life is the best means of spiritual and moral education, and the best method of education is the example of parents. It is the family that determines the well-being of a person and society, it is she who is the guardian of religious traditions, since the formation of a person's personality begins in the womb.
The Church is directing its efforts both at strengthening the institution of the family as a whole and at developing educational programs, including training future and young parents to raise their children in the Orthodox faith. The Church develops family educational projects, a system of family Sunday schools (simultaneous participation in educational projects at the parish of children and their parents, due to which the entry into the bosom of the Church of family members occurs most harmoniously), and conducts other work in this area.
The Church defends the priority right of parents to raise their children.The goals of enlightenment are served by church services, oral and printed sermons, literature introducing Orthodoxy, including the patristic heritage, catechism talks, parish counseling; education can also be carried out in such forms as lectures, readings, competitions, children's olympiads; activities of church antiquities, museums and libraries; pilgrimage and sightseeing trips, local history; rehabilitation and educational and socio-pedagogical work, including within the framework of Sunday schools.
The main activities of Sunday schools are doctrinal (a set of basic doctrinal programs) and additional (a set of additional classes aimed at educating an active and multifaceted personality of an Orthodox Christian, among which such areas as cultural and educational, social, military-sports, pilgrimage stand out).
The standardization of the activities of Sunday schools is designed to improve the quality of educational activities in this area. As a structural subdivision of the parish, the Sunday school is called upon to help strengthen (form) the parish community.
The Church trains and certifies teachers of Sunday schools and teachers of doctrinal disciplines. Standards and other documents regulating their activities are developed by the specialized synodal department.
Concerned about the quality of the educational activities of Sunday schools, the profile synodal department carries out:
1) summarizing the experience of Sunday schools;
2) organizing the development of standards and educational materials by educational and methodological associations, expert communities and specialists;
3) taking into account the personnel needs of Sunday schools in determining the church order for the training of specialists.
The activities of the catechism courses are regulated in accordance with the documents developed by the Synodal Department and include a systematic introduction to the Orthodox faith in the form of classes for parishioners and parish employees.
Enlightenment is addressed to various social groups. One of its forms is rehabilitation and educational work with disabled people, people suffering from the ailments of drunkenness, drug addiction and gambling, who find themselves in a difficult life situation, victims of totalitarian sects, convicts, those in custody and the mentally ill. The Church contributes to the organization of rehabilitation and pedagogical education in families of social risk, helps Orthodox families in the decision to raise children left without parental care, and provides care for social shelters for children.
Activities in the field of education that do not take the form of educational programs, however, must be provided with personnel whose qualifications meet the educational qualification and the specifics of the audience.
Orthodox educational work is also addressed to various professional and public groups: the Cossacks, employees of penitentiary institutions, military and law enforcement officers, doctors, employees of museums, libraries and other cultural institutions, media workers, athletes, migrants and others.
Educational activities are organized both on the platforms provided by the above social groups, and in special institutions created by the Russian Orthodox Church and with its participation.
The educational concept of the Russian Orthodox Church serves as a guide in matters of educational activities for synodal institutions, self-governing Churches, Exarchates, Metropolitan districts, metropolises and dioceses in all countries of the canonical presence of the Russian Orthodox Church; for educational organizations managed by the Russian Orthodox Church; monasteries, parishes and other canonical church institutions.
The concept is a message to society about the need for joint scientific, educational and educational activities for the purpose of spiritual and moral development of man and society and is intended to become the basis for the development of joint educational projects with state and municipal authorities, public organizations and charitable institutions.
Footnotes and comments
Fundamentals of the social concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, XIV.3. The foundations of the social concept were adopted by the Consecrated Jubilee Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.
Saint Gregory the Theologian. Word 43. Gravestone of Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea Cappadocia
The formation of research competencies is an integral element of high-quality higher education and its first stage - bachelor's degree. The pastoral profile here cannot be an exception.
For the Russian Federation - the public accreditation procedure based on Art. 87 FZ No. 273-FZ; for educational organizations of other countries - procedures taking into account national legislation.
Fundamentals of the social concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, XIV.3.
and in recent years, the Russian Orthodox Church has significantly increased its work in the field of social service and charity. This work is carried out at the church-wide and diocesan levels through the Department for Church Charity and Social Service of the Moscow Patriarchate (OTsBSS MP), headed by Archbishop Sergius of Solnechnogorsk, Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate. What are the main directions of the ROC today?
1) A significant place in the activities of the Department is occupied by medical programs. One of the most important areas in the social service of the Russian Orthodox Church today, as before, is helping suffering people within the framework of medical institutions (hospitals, hospitals). At the end of 1990, in St. Petersburg, next to the Theological Academy, the first church charitable hospital in our country after 1917, St. Blessed Xenia of Petersburg, was opened.
The leadership of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Moscow Patriarchate in the name of St. Alexis, together with the Department and the Government of Moscow, began to create a patronage service on the basis of the hospital, designed to provide care for the sick and the elderly. Currently, this kind of patronage service is already functioning in the Southern District of Moscow. In the context of the transition of medical care to a commercial basis, the Moscow Patriarchate Hospital is one of the few clinics where examination and treatment are free of charge.
The All-Russian Center for Mental Health of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Russia operates a psychiatric service that provides free assistance to persons referred for treatment by parishes of Moscow, the Moscow Region and other dioceses. 250 people are under constant diagnostic observation. The clinic simultaneously treats 20 patients on a non-commercial basis. In 1996, a special rehabilitation service was created. Through the Department for Church Charity, it is possible to hospitalize patients in the 1st Psychiatric Hospital. ON THE. Alekseev (former Kashchenko), where the pastoral care of the mentally ill is carried out by the rector of the hospital church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”. In July 1996, a memorial chapel was erected on the territory of this psychiatric hospital by the staff of the clinic and the Department.
A significant event was the signing in March 1997 of the Cooperation Agreement between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Ministry of Health. This agreement opened up wide opportunities for expanding the care of patients of clinics for the development of joint charitable projects with medical institutions.
A specific feature of the charitable and charitable activities of religious organizations is its inseparable connection, its unity with religious preaching, with a mission. "More than 200 sisters of mercy who graduated from the school at the temple of Tsarevich Dimitri, not only provide medical care, but carry the deeds of mercy to the suffering of a number of hospitals in Moscow." The idea of the unity of mercy and mission is the basis of the "Concept for the Revival of Spiritual Education and Charity of the Russian Orthodox Church", as well as the organizational and functional structure of the Commission for the Revival of Religious and Moral Education and Charity.
The Orthodox clergy believe that charity and charity should be closely connected with religious preaching. "Mercy is a form of Christian preaching". Hence the need for specially trained personnel, possessing not only the necessary professional training, but also moral qualities. Such cadres are being trained today in the network of schools of sisters of mercy, within the framework of the brotherhood of doctors, at some hospitals, etc.
Anti-alcohol program. Already in the 50s of the 19th century, the first parish sobriety societies began to appear in Russia. In 1882, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt opened the House of Diligence in his parish, where many fallen people were spiritually reborn. By the beginning of the XX century. in almost every diocese there was a sobriety society. In 1912, the first All-Russian Congress of practical figures in the fight against alcoholism on a religious and moral basis was held in Moscow.
A few years ago, the Russian Orthodox Church launched an anti-alcohol program. It, and this is its specificity, is conducted on the principle of the so-called "family sobriety communities", where, in parallel with the treatment of alcoholics, work is carried out with their family members in order to create an atmosphere of sympathy and support around them. In 1996, the department's anti-alcohol program was actively developed. Now there are 25 family sobriety clubs in Russia, 8 more are ready to open. The Department of Justice of the city of Moscow registered the public movement "On the Way to Sobriety", the Board of Trustees of which includes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Children's program. Considerable attention in the activities of the ROC is given to children's programs. In this regard, we should mention the activities of the orphanage school in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Medvedkovo. In the school where more than 70 children from the most unfavorable families live, study and are educated, there is a chapel where prayers are performed, the Sacrament of Baptism is performed, catechetical conversations are held. The rector of the Church of the Intercession in Medvedkovo, Archpriest Porfiry Dyachek, takes part in the spiritual care of orphans and street children - pupils of the orphanage. Pupils of the orphanage school in their free time not only visit theaters, circuses, study in circles, relax in summer camps, but also from an early age are accustomed to helping the elderly - residents of nearby houses.
In addition, a society was created to help orphans and disabled children in the name of the holy unmercenaries Cosmas and Domian and others. The Department for Church Charity and Social Service of the Moscow Patriarchate established the international charitable center of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The task of the center is to provide the necessary comprehensive assistance in spiritual education, professional training of orphans and children in need of social protection, as well as the creation of material conditions for the start of their independent life.
Social activity of the Russian Orthodox Church in the field of education. The living practice of the ROC through the work of many priests of the laity catechizers, parents and students themselves gave rise to diverse forms of religious education, catechization of the laity and missionary work:
Sunday schools at churches;
evangelical circles for adults;
groups for preparing adults for baptism;
Orthodox kindergartens;
· Orthodox groups in public kindergartens;
Orthodox gymnasiums, schools, lyceums;
· Orthodox are optional in private and public schools;
· systematic talks on certain programs in temples;
public lectures in churches;
lectures on individual subjects, topics and problems in universities;
Orthodox courses for catechizers;
· Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological Institute;
· Orthodox University of St. John the Theologian and other similar higher educational institutions;
organized pilgrimages;
Orthodox children's, youth and family camps;
Help for the elderly and disabled. Characteristic in this respect is the activity of the Orthodox Society "Hope and Salvation", which provides various assistance to elderly people at home. It has become a good tradition to hold charity evenings and concerts for the elderly, the disabled, war and labor veterans with the participation of the clergy and Sunday school children's choirs.
Unemployment program. Unemployment has become a sign of the times. Its solution is also in the focus of attention of the ROC. Now, together with the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Lefortovo, the Department is developing a program to create jobs. It is planned that unemployed parishioners will be engaged in sewing at home. In addition, the Coordinating Council of Women's Charitable Organizations, established under the Department, is called upon to address the issues of female unemployment. It seems that both sisterhoods and brotherhoods can and should participate in the most active way in the cause of church charity, in solving a number of social problems. This process is facilitated by the Cooperation Agreement between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Social Protection signed this year.
A special area of social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in modern conditions is work with refugees, the organization of food, the most needy compatriot in the countries of the near abroad and the republics of the Russian Federation.
In cooperation with state and public organizations, the Department provides advisory, and, to the extent possible, material assistance in the form of clothing, food, and travel documents.
A number of denominations and seminars of the Russian Orthodox Church (Chechnya, North Ossetia and Ingushetia) were devoted to the problems of rendering assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons; assistance was rendered in the amount of 500 thousand dollars. USA.
Providing assistance to victims of natural disasters and emergencies. Quite characteristic is the fact that charitable assistance and charitable support is provided regardless of national and religious affiliation. On this occasion, the Department held a conference, where representatives of the clergy, including those from Moscow, took part.
Working with prisoners. An increasing place in the charitable activities of Orthodoxy is occupied by work with prisoners. The Church does not forget her children, who have transgressed the line of the law and justly found themselves deprived of their freedom. Priests, despite the workload of the parish, go to the suffering, bringing them the word of Truth. In October 1994, a joint conference of representatives of correctional institutions and the Church was held at the Domodedovo Training Center. Both sides expressed wishes for further joint work in the matter of spiritual enlightenment and education of the convicts. Thanks to the openness and non-formality of the approach of the leadership of this department to the problem of educating people who are in custody, Orthodox churches, chapels, prayer houses are currently open in more than 60 correctional labor institutions, isolation wards. An analysis of mail from places of detention testifies to the great importance of the temple in the matter of spiritual support for prisoners and their correction.
Similar activities are carried out in many corrective labor colonies. (For example, in corrective labor colony No. 33 in Saratov, where in 1992 the church of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg was consecrated, in corrective labor colony No. 5 in St. Petersburg, where the prisoners themselves built a new church in the name of Hieromartyr Veniamin of Petrograd. The temple was consecrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and Wesya Russia Alexy II, who donated the Bible and other religious literature to the prisoners).
It is well known that the stay of convicts in prisons does little to improve their morals. Usually, the prisoner is seen, first of all, as a criminal, and punishment is considered the main form of influence on him. People who have returned to freedom often take the path of crime again. Communication with convicted believers and clergy is built on a fundamentally different moral and psychological basis. They “separate” the person who committed the crime from the crime itself. They see in this person not so much the culprit as the victim of evil will. Such a psychological attitude allows a clergyman or a lay believer to avoid the position of moral superiority, the role of an educator in its simplified sense, in communication with the convict. “The priest will not just talk and console,” writes Hieromonk Sergius, the first clergyman in the last 70 years to visit the Butyrka prison. “He will share with the suffering his unbearable moral burden, will sympathize with him.”
Medical and nursing care. A number of Moscow parishes are also actively developing social service in various fields. So, the parish in the name of the faithful Tsarevich Dimitry at the 1st City Hospital, with the help of the sisterhood, provides medical and patronage assistance. The sisters of mercy, after graduating from college, as well as parishioners of the temple, work in the most difficult departments of the 1st city hospital as nurses to care for the sick and orderlies. The parishioners of the church also work in the patronage service, who serve the sick at home, clean the apartments, do laundry, cook food, and buy groceries. Those who have a medical education carry out medical education, provide medical care - injections, dressings, internal infusion, feeding, personal hygiene, partial rehabilitation of patients. Members of the sisterhood not only serve as obediences in the 1st city hospital, taking care of lonely patients and carrying out patronage at home, but also work with orphans, visiting orphanage No. 12, the St. prisoners, as well as socially disadvantaged sections of the population and hospitals.
The parish of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh is working no less in this direction. Under him, the Life Medical and Educational Center was organized, which aims to inform Russians about such a serious sinful phenomenon as abortion. For three years, the staff of the Center read about 800 lectures in schools, colleges and institutes. More than a dozen different programs, seven TV programs and more than 20 publications in various publications devoted to this topic have been carried out. The total circulation of brochures and leaflets reached millions of copies. Contacts have been established with 598 medical institutions, where publications of the Center are regularly sent. There is a patronage that takes care of 8 seriously ill people who are unable to move independently.
The brotherhood of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, at the Church of All Saints b. Novoalekseevsky Monastery, which is preparing the opening of an almshouse at this parish. Assistance is systematically provided to the poor, the elderly, the blind, those with many children thanks to the constant delivery of humanitarian aid through the channels of the brotherhood from the USA and Belgium.
Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Armed Forces. The reforms and spiritual revival of our society to a large extent also affected the military collectives of the Russian Army. In 1996, we witnessed close and fruitful cooperation between the Russian military and the Orthodox Church. Such cooperation is the call of the times, it is due to the revival of the state-patriotic idea and the best traditions of faithful service to the Fatherland.
A little more than a year has passed since the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Institutions was formed, but the first results of its activities are already visible.
To date, joint statements have been signed with five ministries and departments that have a military contingent. Together with the Federal Border Service, a long-term plan for mutual cooperation has been approved. In addition, in the development and addition of the initiated cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a Cooperation Agreement was signed, which provides for a number of measures, the main purpose of which is to overcome the spiritual and moral crisis, strengthen the rule of law and the rule of law. A similar agreement is being prepared for signing with the Ministry of Defense, which will provide for the development of relations in matters of patriotic education, spiritual and moral education of military personnel, and determine practical steps for the implementation of their religious needs.
I would like to note that although there were more mutual events with the Ministry of Defense than with anyone else, the rest of the departments did not stand aside. Priests of the Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies visited the hospital in Balashikha during the holidays, congratulated the wounded soldiers on the holiday and presented them with gifts.
Program for church interaction with the state and society in the social field. In this regard, the Public Council was created, which included the heads of scientific centers, well-known political and cultural figures. The ROC is making efforts to establish contacts with charitable foundations of other faiths - Muslim, Buddhist, using the experience of foreign charitable organizations, the efforts of individual citizens.
So, at present, the charitable activities of believers of the Russian Orthodox Church have significantly intensified. Many Orthodox charitable foundations and societies have emerged, the purpose of which is charitable and charitable activities, the consolidation of the progressive forces of Russia and other countries in the name of the revival and development of the traditions of Christian mercy, assistance in the implementation of initiatives related to humanity, mercy and charity of organizations and citizens, the formation and financing targeted projects and programs, primarily in the field of health and social security, organizing public charity homes for the poor and disadvantaged.
The activities of Orthodox charitable organizations, societies, foundations are aimed at providing assistance to individuals in need, and entire social groups (for example, refugees, migrants, etc.), to finance and organize social programs of a charitable nature (their focus varies depending on from the goals of a particular foundation, from creating a network of charitable canteens, shops, distribution points, social adaptation centers to medical care and care for children, helping prisoners, embodying the principles of Christian mercy in the field of education and upbringing, participating in the practical revival of Orthodox mercy and charity , Orthodox shrines, etc.); to study domestic and foreign experience of charitable and charitable activities, etc.
At the same time, it should be noted that there are problems in organizing the efforts of those individuals and organizations that want to join the merciful and charitable work of the church. First of all, this is due to the still tangible lack of experience. Exchange of experience, coordination of charitable activities between Orthodox, other religious and secular organizations is today an urgent need for the development of charitable activities in Russia and the CIS countries.
Constant assistance to dioceses, parishes, monasteries in matters of mercy and charity is provided by the Department of Church Charity and Social Service, including both specific material assistance and advisory assistance. The department publishes a monthly newsletter, Diakonia, which is sent to all dioceses. In general, the institution of mercy in the Russian Orthodox Church appears to be organized and ordered on the basis of agreement on the issue of mercy by a community of believers, where rational establishments determine not only the rights and obligations of members of the community, but also fix the sources of funding and support for charitable activities from various social institutions, sponsors. . The normal functioning of this institution depends on the compatibility of the specific values of religion with the fundamental values of society, Christians with representatives of other faiths, as well as non-believers.
When studying the experience of the charitable activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, one should keep in mind the peculiarities of its historical evolution. If before the era of Peter I, charitable activities among the population were entirely in the hands of the church and monasteries, then starting from the 18th century, when the church was subordinate to the state, the size of this activity was significantly reduced. First of all, state (secular) institutions begin to engage in social work among the population. The revival of the charitable and charitable activities of the church came after 1905, only to disappear after 1917.
An essentially new stage in the charitable activity of Orthodoxy is now beginning. The development of this activity encounters a lack of material resources. The search for these funds is carried out in various directions, including the ways of developing the entrepreneurial and economic activities of church organizations and monasteries, seeking help from sponsors, patrons, etc.
When establishing contacts, especially locally - in dioceses and parishes, between secular social workers and representatives of Orthodox organizations, one may come across the fact that the latter are sometimes inclined to carry out social service primarily among fellow believers. At the same time, leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church also note the opposite fact. So, Professor-Archpriest Gleb Kaleda testifies: “... The organizers of Orthodox charity note that it is often easier to attract people with a good heart, but almost unbelievers or neophytes, recently baptized and going to church, than the so-called church Orthodox people.”
Over the years of its existence, the Russian Orthodox Church has accumulated extensive experience in charitable and charitable activities, which today is being actively revived. Of course, like any other, this experience has not only advantages, but also disadvantages, but on the whole it can in many ways serve the spiritual revival of our Fatherland. “But spiritual revival is not only the construction of churches, the opening of monasteries, it is the creation of temples in the souls of people, the revival of mercy and generosity, which were once so characteristic of Russian Orthodoxy.”
This is a common work that the ROC does in the field of social service. Unfortunately, the objective socio-economic situation in the country indicates that the need for such work will not only exist for a long time, but will increase every year.
CONTROL QUESTIONS
1. Describe the main stages in the formation and development of Orthodox charity?
2. What is the specificity of church charity before 1917?
3. Why was the Soviet model of social services for the population opposed to both private and church charity?
4. In what areas is the charitable activity of the ROC carried out at the present stage?
5. What shortcomings are inherent in the modern social service of the ROC?
Literature
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19. Saint John of Kronstadt in the memoirs of contemporaries / [Comp., ed. foreword and comment. S.L. Firsov]. – M.: Pravoslav. St. Tikhon. theologian. in-t: Brotherhood in the Name of the All-Merciful Savior, 1994. - 207 p.
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The document was approved by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on December 27, 2011 (magazine No. 152).
The Christian faith is based on Divine Revelation proclaimed by the prophets and apostles. “God, who at many times and in various ways spoke of old to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days has spoken to us in the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he created the worlds” (). One of the most frequent references in the Gospel to Christ the Savior, who revealed to us the fullness of Divine Revelation, is the Teacher. He proclaimed the approach of the Kingdom of God and taught the people both in words and deeds, setting a personal example of obedience to the Heavenly Father and sacrificial service to people. The Savior commanded his disciples and apostles to continue His teaching ministry: “Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I commanded you” (). “The members of the Jerusalem church who were baptized on the day of Pentecost were constantly in the teaching of the Apostles, in fellowship and breaking bread and prayers” ().
The teaching of faith is connected with the communal, liturgical and prayer life of the Church. At the center of this teaching is “the Word of God, which is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (). Therefore, as the Apostle Paul testifies, “both my word and my preaching are not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the manifestation of the Spirit and power, so that your faith is not based on human wisdom, but on the power of God” ().
Church teaching is fundamentally broader and deeper than the intellectual process of transferring and assimilating knowledge and information. The focus and meaning of church enlightenment is the grace-filled transformation of the whole nature of man in communion with God and Him.
The practice of spiritual edification, dating back to apostolic times, is reflected in the Tradition of the Church, including the canonical decrees of the Ecumenical and Local Councils and in the works of the Holy Fathers:
Canon 46 of the Council of Laodicea states: "Those who are being baptized must learn the faith."
Canon 78 of the VI Ecumenical Council confirms this decision and gives it a general church character: "Those who are preparing for Baptism must be taught the faith."
Canon 47 of the Council of Laodicea speaks of the need for catechesis for those who were not taught the faith before Baptism: “Those who received Baptism in sickness, and then received health, should study the faith and know that they were worthy of a divine gift.”
Canon 7 of the Second Ecumenical Council also prescribes that “those who join Orthodoxy and some of those who are being saved from heretics” be read out, while defining the manner of their announcement: “and we force them to remain in the church and listen to the Scriptures, and then we already baptize them.”
The saint also spoke of the same thing: “Faith and baptism are two ways of salvation, akin to each other and inseparable. For faith is accomplished by baptism, and baptism is founded on faith” (“On the Holy Spirit,” chapter 12).
This practice is also reflected in the works of ancient Christian authors, liturgical-canonical monuments and church services.
The educational service of the Church, based on teaching, includes catechesis and religious education. Catechesis is an assistance to a person who believes in God in a conscious and responsible entry into the life of the Church. Religious education is the instruction of an Orthodox Christian in the truths of faith and the moral norms of Christianity, familiarizing him with the Holy Scripture and Church Tradition, including the liturgical life of the Church, the patristic prayer and ascetic experience.
This document, based on the Holy Scriptures, the resolutions of the Ecumenical and Local Councils and the patristic approaches to catechumens, defines the main directions, forms and content of the enlightenment ministry of the Russian Orthodox Church.
I. Organization of the educational ministry of the Church
Educational service in the Russian Orthodox Church is carried out at the general church, diocesan, deanery and parish levels.
I.1. Educational work at the church level
At the general church level, catechetical and religious educational work is headed by the Synodal Department for Religious Education and Catechization of the Russian Orthodox Church (hereinafter referred to as the Synodal Department). The Synodal Department is a coordinating body in relation to similar institutions operating in Self-Governing Churches, Exarchates, Metropolitan Districts and Dioceses.
Synodal department:
submits for consideration by the Hierarchy the draft normative documents regulating the educational and catechetical activities of the Russian Orthodox Church;
addresses diocesan bishops and heads of specialized structural divisions of dioceses, sends them their normative documents and methodological materials, requests relevant information;
interacts with other Synodal structures on the organization and coordination of educational and catechetical activities;
controls the functioning of the personnel training system for conducting educational and catechetical activities;
controls the state of educational and catechetical activities at the general church and diocesan levels;
provides information support for educational and catechetical activities;
conducts an examination of educational, catechetical, scientific, pedagogical, methodological literature and audio and video materials for use in the Russian Orthodox Church;
organizes and conducts educational conferences, readings, competitions.
I.2. Educational work at the diocesan level
The general leadership of the diocesan divisions operating in the field of catechetical and religious-educational activities is carried out by the ruling bishop. To organize the relevant work in the diocese, there is a specialized diocesan department (or a specialized responsible diocesan employee), which in its work is guided by general church regulations, the instructions of the ruling bishop, and the recommendations of the Synodal Department for Religious Education and Catechesis. Salaries of employees, organizational expenses, programs and events of the specialized diocesan department are paid from the budget of the diocese and attracted funds.
Carrying out organizational and methodological activities in the field of catechesis and religious education, the relevant diocesan department (responsible diocesan employee):
determines the methodology and forms of conducting categorical conversations and conversations before the Sacrament of the Wedding;
supervises the work of existing and initiates the creation of new spiritual and educational centers, catechetical courses, Sunday schools for children and adults, coordinates the implementation of other forms of spiritual and educational activities;
supervises, coordinates, controls the activities of Orthodox educational institutions (kindergartens, secondary schools, gymnasiums, lyceums);
holds conferences, congresses, seminars on educational and catechetical topics;
provides methodological support for the implementation of all forms and directions of educational and catechetical activities in the diocese;
interacts with government bodies, educational institutions, the media and the public within the scope of responsibility;
analyzes reports on education and catechesis from deaneries and submits a consolidated report approved by the diocesan bishop to the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis;
organizes training, retraining, advanced training of personnel for conducting educational and catechetical activities, and also conducts their certification.
In accordance with paragraph 18 of the Definition of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church (February 2-4, 2011) "On the issues of the internal life and external activities of the Russian Orthodox Church", a specialized collegium can be created in the dioceses. The Board, being an advisory body, is formed and carries out its activities in accordance with the standard Regulations adopted by the Holy Synod.
I.3. Educational work at the deanery level
At the level of the deanery, the general organization, coordination and control of catechetical and religious educational work is carried out under the leadership of the dean. The direct implementation of this work should be entrusted to a staff member responsible for catechetical and educational work in the deanery. The person responsible for catechetical and educational work in the deanery is appointed and dismissed by the diocesan bishop on the proposal of the dean, agreed with the chairman of the profile department of the diocese. The person responsible for catechetical and educational work in the deanery is enlisted in the staff of one of the parishes of the deanery with a salary according to the staffing table. The person responsible for catechetical and educational work in the deanery reports to the dean and coordinates his activities with the chairman of the relevant diocesan department (profile responsible diocesan employee). The Dean has the care of raising funds for specialized programs and events in the Deanery.
Responsible for catechetical and educational work in the deanery:
interacts with the diocesan department, participates in the work of the collegium under it, in deanery and diocesan activities in the field of education and catechesis;
maintains regular interaction with parish catechists, directors of Sunday schools and coordinates their activities;
carries out regular interaction with the directors of Orthodox educational institutions, participates in representing their interests before state and municipal authorities;
assists rectors of parishes whose staff does not include a parish catechist in the organization and implementation of catechetical activities in the areas indicated in clause 1.4;
organizes events in the field of education and catechesis on the scale of the deanery;
analyzes parish reports on catechesis and activities of Sunday schools;
draws up an annual work plan and an annual report on activities in the appropriate form, coordinates them with the relevant diocesan department (responsible diocesan employee) and approves with the dean;
regularly improves his qualifications at diocesan or church-wide advanced training courses.
I.4. Educational work at the parish level
At the parish level, the general organization, coordination and control of catechetical and religious educational work is the responsibility of the rector. The care of this work should be entrusted to the full-time parish catechist, in those parishes where it is possible to create such a position. The decision to exempt the parish from the need to have this staff unit is made by the dean on the proposal of the rector, with a subsequent report to the diocesan bishop. Such a decision can be made in relation to small parishes, primarily those located in rural areas and small towns.
The activities of the Sunday school for children, with the blessing of the rector, are organized by the director of the Sunday school.
With the blessing of the rector of the parish, clerics of the parish, students and graduates of theological schools and specialized educational institutions, as well as lay people who have received the appropriate education and the qualification of a catechist, can carry out catechetical activities. At the same time, the activities of the laity in the field of catechesis should not replace the pastoral ministry of the clergyman and his spiritual guidance.
The parish catechist and the director of the Sunday school are appointed and dismissed by the rector, are enlisted in the staff of the parish with a salary according to the staffing table, report to the rector and coordinate their activities with the chairman of the relevant diocesan department (the relevant responsible diocesan employee) and with the person responsible for catechetical and religious education. educational work in the deanery.
Appropriate programs and activities of the parish are paid from the funds of the parish and attracted funds.
The parish catechist organizes or conducts:
categorical conversations before the Sacrament of Baptism with adults, children of conscious age, parents and trustees of young children, as well as conversations with persons wishing to marry; these conversations complement the personal pastoral communion of the priest with those preparing to receive the Sacraments;
classes in Sunday school for adults in order to expand the knowledge of parishioners and parish staff on the basics of the Orthodox faith;
biblical (gospel) talks, talks on matters of worship;
the work of the parish counseling service on the basics of the Orthodox faith, church life, Orthodox ethics and the rules of conduct in the church;
spiritual and educational work during pilgrimages organized by the parish;
development and distribution of catechetical leaflets for Orthodox holidays, Sundays, days of commemoration of the dead, historical temple dates.
Parish catechist:
maintains regular interaction with the assistant dean for catechesis and the relevant diocesan department (responsible diocesan employee);
with the blessing of the rector, participates in deanery and diocesan events of a catechetical orientation;
draws up an annual work plan and an annual report on activities, approves them with the rector and provides them to the assistant dean for catechesis;
regularly improves his qualifications, in particular at diocesan advanced training courses.
II. Directions, forms and content of the educational ministry of the Church
II.1. Announcement
The announcement is a set of conversations and instructions for those preparing to receive Holy Baptism. All adults and children over 7 years of age who wish to receive the Sacrament of Baptism must pass the announcement.
It is unacceptable to perform the Sacrament of Baptism on adults who, not knowing the basics of faith, refuse to prepare for participation in the Sacrament.
The necessary conditions for the performance of the Sacrament of Baptism are the Orthodox faith () and repentance () of those who wish to be baptized.
The faith of the catechumens should be expressed in their confession of Jesus Christ as the true God and Savior, in the firm intention to live according to the teachings of the Church and the Word of God, in the confession of the Creed. The Sacrament of Baptism cannot be performed on a person who denies the fundamental truths of the Orthodox faith and Christian morality. People who wish to be baptized for superstitious reasons cannot be allowed to participate in the Sacrament of Baptism.
In each particular case, the duration and extent of the reading should be determined by the clergyman or lay catechist with love and discretion.
The announcement of adults involves several conversations, including the study of the Creed, selected passages of Holy Scripture, the foundations of Christian morality, including ideas about sins and virtues, an introduction to the liturgical life of the Church.
In the absence of opportunities or conditions for disclosure, the following minimum requirements must be met:
It is necessary to hold at least two categorical conversations about the basic concepts of Christian morality, Orthodox dogma and church life. At the first conversation, special attention should be paid to clarifying the motives of a person’s appeal to the Church with a request for Baptism, helping him to understand the Christian meaning of the Sacrament, answering questions and initial instruction in faith. At the second discourse, the catechumens should be given general instruction in the Christian faith and life through the interpretation of the Creed and the basic biblical commandments. The catechist should focus the reader's attention on the need to change his life in accordance with the Gospel of Christ, and also make sure that he has correctly assimilated the basic truths of the Orthodox dogma about God, the world and man.
After the second categorical conversation, or immediately before the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism, the priest must conduct a penitential-confessional conversation, the purpose of which is to recognize and confess to the baptized their sins and affirm the good intention to renounce them and begin a new life in obedience to God and His Church.
In the case of Baptism performed on sick people or in life-threatening conditions, the announcement must be made after Baptism as soon as possible.
When performing the Sacrament of Baptism over infants and children under 7 years old, it must be remembered that the baptism of children is performed in the Church according to the faith of their parents and godparents. In this case, both parents and recipients must undergo a minimum categorical training, except in those cases when they are taught the basics of the faith and participate in church life. Announcement conversations with parents and godparents should be held in advance and separately from the performance of the Sacrament of Baptism. It is appropriate to call on parents and beneficiaries to prepare for participation in the Baptism of their children by personal participation in the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist.
The perception of Baptism as an important event in a person’s personal life and significant for the church community will be promoted by proper preparation for the acceptance of the Sacrament, the revival of the ancient practice of its celebration in the presence and with the participation of the parish in conjunction with the Holy Eucharist on Great Saturday, on the eve of Christmas and Theophany.
II.2. Spiritual enlightenment of baptized people
An integral part of the life of the parish should be systematic spiritual and educational talks and classes, which can be held in the form of a Sunday school or in other forms. A more complex and effective form of systematic spiritual education for the laity is theological courses, which can be organized in one of the large parishes and operate within the city, deanery or diocese.
In this regard, one of the directions for the development of catechetical ministry at the parish, deanery and diocesan level should be the creation and maintenance of information resources in the Internet space, the organization of the work of public libraries and media libraries, the publication and distribution of spiritual and educational literature.
It is necessary to expand the practice of studying the Holy Scriptures in the parishes in the form of Bible talks and circles. The study and discussion of the Bible in small groups under the guidance of a clergyman or a lay catechist should help parishioners to better understand the Word of God and be guided by it in their lives, as well as contribute to the revival and development of parish communities. Extra-liturgical discussions should also be held for the parishioners, devoted to the study of the Sacraments and rites of the Orthodox Church.
In large parishes, it is recommended to create advisory services on issues of the Orthodox faith and church life, involving for this service both church clergy and spiritually enlightened laity. The modern experience of parish life testifies to the effectiveness of individual educational conversations with unchurched people who enter the church. Special care is required for people who came to the temple because of the grief that happened. In churches, it is recommended to place stands with spiritual and educational information, to publish and distribute public missionary, catechetical and spiritual and educational materials.
Raising the level of church literacy of church staff, as well as concern for their spiritual and moral improvement, should be the subject of special pastoral care for parish priests. It is recommended to organize for them spiritual and educational talks appropriate to the specifics of their ministry, to encourage them to receive a church education, to control their attitude towards parishioners. Pilgrimages are one of the important forms of modern church life. Rectors of parishes, employees of pilgrimage services and responsible laity should remember that excursion and pilgrimage activities have great spiritual and educational potential, which must be properly used to preach the Word of God and instruct pilgrims in the Orthodox faith.
The main form of Orthodox spiritual and moral education and catechesis for children and adolescents are parochial (Sunday) schools.
The activities of parochial schools are focused on the all-round churching of children and youth, on the assimilation of Christian moral norms by students and on their active inclusion in church life. To achieve this goal, along with the educational process, it is necessary to pay considerable attention to the organization of extracurricular activities of parochial schools: pilgrimages, summer camps, participation in religious processions, preparation of Christmas and Easter performances, choral singing and artistic creativity, participation of children and adolescents in social service parish.
The rector of the parish should have special care for raising the level of theological and pedagogical knowledge of teachers, educators and leaders of parochial schools.
The modern crisis of the family and traditional family values encourages to pay special attention to the preparation of believers for the Sacrament of Marriage and spiritual and educational work with the family.
Due to the unchurchedness of the majority of those entering into a church marriage, it seems necessary to establish mandatory preparatory conversations before the Sacrament of Marriage, during which the clergyman or lay catechist must explain to those entering into marriage the importance and responsibility of the step they are taking, reveal the Christian understanding of love between a man and a woman, explain the meaning and the meaning of family life in the light of Holy Scripture and the Orthodox teaching about salvation.
Church care for the family should consist in preparing young people for marriage and spiritual support for the family after its creation.
Of great importance is the placement and dissemination of spiritual and educational information in maternity hospitals and antenatal clinics, holding catechetical conversations about the Christian understanding of love and marriage with high school students of general education schools and students of secondary specialized and higher educational institutions. An important direction in the development of the spiritual and educational activities of the Church is the creation and organization of the work of various forms of Orthodox consultations on family and marriage issues.
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The Orthodox Church has a rich and varied experience of educational activities based on Holy Scripture and the patristic tradition. The modern world, which is experiencing a state of spiritual and moral crisis, is in dire need of a living Christian witness of the Church, which performs "reasonable service" ( The Church zealously performs the “ministry of the word” () to help modern man find the path to God, know the truth and gain eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
Introduction
The first three centuries of Christianity
Christian mercy III-VI centuries
Christian charity of the 7th-11th centuries
The spread of Christianity in Russia
Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the XIV-XVIII centuries
Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 19th century
Russian Orthodox Church and Modernity
Conclusion
Appendix
Introduction
Theoretically, this topic is relevant because throughout almost the entire history of Russia, the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church have been of great importance for the state as a whole. The attitude to the problems of social assistance, protection of the weak, the poor, the destitute in the Church itself was formed along with its formation in the first centuries of our era and was perceived by Kievan Rus together with Baptism in 988. Since the practice of Christian mercy had an earlier social tradition, the Russian state, right up to the Petrine reforms of the 18th century, entrusted the deeds of mercy and assistance to the Church. Scholars see parochial charity as the fundamental principle of modern forms of public charity, and note the continuity of the ideology of aid. After the 18th century although the state itself began to engage in charity and spurred the evolution of public charity, the social service of the Russian Orthodox Church (hereinafter ROC) did not become less relevant because of this - neither theoretically nor practically.
Theoretically, parish charity was researched and developed in the 19th century in the works of V. Benzin, A. Papkov, S. Runkevich, S. Yushkov, P. Deryabin and others.
But in practice: a poor person could get an education only in parochial educational institutions; church estates were the main sources of cash, grain and other collections of the state; printing houses, pharmacies, schools, almshouses, beggars, church people, monasteries, and even soldiers and artillery (including crippled soldiers, soldiers' wives and children) were supported by church funds; in case of disaster, a person went for help to a church parish in his village or village to the headman.
As we can see, in the past the social service of R.P.C. was more than relevant. As for this relevance today, in connection with the socio-economic reforms carried out in the last decade, interest in the practical activities of the R.P.Ts. to support various categories of people in need. Today there is an intense interest in the social service of the R.P.C. XIX-beginning of the twentieth century, since the theory of social work itself appeared in Russia as a separate field of science recently - during the period of socio-economic reforms, and church charity has ten centuries of experience. And without using, without studying this experience, it is impossible to develop new effective concepts of social work for the present and future in Russia. It must be remembered that in Russia it is impossible to achieve success by blindly copying Western models. This also applies to social work. Firstly, we must study the past and present experience of the social work of our state, where the Church has performed and is performing a considerable part of the work, and secondly, we must take what is useful for us from the experience of other countries. Since in each state social problems have their own characteristics, and R.P.Ts. has always dealt with Russian problems, her social service is especially relevant for Russian problems.
The practical relevance of social service R.P.Ts. can be argued by increasing religiosity (Table 1). In modern Russian society, there are visible trends of a return to Orthodoxy. But in order to return to Orthodoxy, firstly, society is trying to remember and practically imagine what Orthodoxy is, and, secondly, society and the Church are looking for those forms of interaction that would be most useful and effective for both sides.
The ongoing structural crisis, covering all spheres of society, has increased the need to develop "shock absorbers" that can ease social tension, protect the population from economic and psychological risks and recessions. RPC, despite its weakness after the Soviet era, can provide considerable assistance in this situation. And therefore the social service of the Russian Orthodox Church is still relevant - both theoretically and practically.
The object of my research is the Russian Orthodox Church and especially its actions in relation to society, but also society in relation to the Church.
The subject is the benefits of interaction between the Church and society, positive and negative aspects.
The goal is to show that the Russian Orthodox Church still bears a great weight of social service and brings great benefits to society, despite its outward invisibility.
) consider the social service of the R.P.C. in the process of historical development and modification;
) to reveal the influence of Christian traditions on the forms and methods of social service of the R.P.C.;
) to reveal that from the social service of R.P.C. of the pre-revolutionary period, what is desirable to restore, and what is not;
) to consider modern forms and methods of public service R.P.Ts. and evaluate their effectiveness and usefulness to society.
I divided the literature studied by me into 3 groups. The first group of authors: Talberg N.D., Deryabin P., archbishop. Filaret (Gumilevsky), prof. Archim. Cyprian Kern, prof. Golubinsky E.E., Shchapov A.P., Nechvolodov A.D., Nikolsky N.M., Kartashev A.V., Klimov S.V., Maksimov E. I identified these authors in a group based on their proximity to R.P.C. Many of them lived in the 19th century, their books are reprinted and not only. All of them are religious people and see in R.P.Ts. basis of Russian society and state.
th group: Gordienko N.S., Kurochkin P.K., Klochkov V.V., Likhachev D.S., Dmitriev L.A., Budovnits I.U., Volkov M.Ya., Okulov A.F.
These people are from the era of the USSR, they lived by the communist ideology. Even if they were believers or simply considered the activity of the Church useful and necessary, they could not write laudatory works in honor of R.P.Ts. censorship wouldn't let them through anyway. Therefore, almost all of their works are of a critical nature, with a negative attitude towards R.P.Ts, although among these authors there were also deeply religious people, for example, Acad. Likhachev D.S., and maybe others If, 1 and I group considered charity and mercy to be the prerogative of the Church, then 2 and I the group considers this to be the prerogative of the state. group: Garadzha V.I., Firsov M.V., Gromov M.N., Kozlov N.S., Mudrik A.V., Shchapov Ya.N., Klyuchevsky V.O. This group of contemporary democratic authors looking at the social activities of R.P.Ts. as far as possible, objectively. The first three centuries of Christianity Let's start at the beginning, that is, with Jesus Christ. His first 12 and 70 apostles helped, of course, people in need, but this was not the main task. They spread the doctrine and set up churches. More and more people joined them. Most sold all their property and carried it to the Church. In A.D. 34 the apostles, desiring to have more time for prayer and teaching, chose seven approved men and ordained them deacons. They were entrusted with the management and disposal of the common estate and the care of widows and orphans. . From this time begins the social service of the Church. At that time, the Church did not yet divide people into truly needy and petitioners who did not want to work. Firsov M.V. and Studenova E.G. incorrectly write that The Apostle Paul singled out those who are truly in need and petitioners who do not want to work. If someone does not want to work, then do not eat . The Apostle Paul wrote these words not about parasites, but about those people who were waiting for the second coming of Christ and quit their studies. In the early centuries, Christians helped without dividing people into categories. Here is how the apostle Paul taught to help: Now your surplus is to make up for their lack, and after their surplus to make up for your lack, so that there is uniformity, as it is written: whoever gathered a lot, did not have superfluous; and whoever is little has no lack . And further: So, as long as there is time, let us do good to all, but especially to our own by faith. . It doesn’t matter why a person asks, this is his own business, and we benefit from this, since alms are much more useful for the giver, if only it is not given out of vanity. John Chrysostom (born 344-354, died 407) writes about alms from vanity that this there is definitely inhumanity and cruelty or even worse . Cruelty, and therefore injustice, also manifests itself when mercy extends only to certain subjects. John Chrysostom believes that there should be no boundaries in an act of mercy .
Since 34, the deacons have been carrying out the charitable function of the Church. We have a lot of evidence for this. We must also not forget that in the first centuries of our era, pagan emperors were in power, who oppressed Christians in every possible way, betraying them to torture and execution. And in this difficult time for the Church, she helped a lot of people. Here are some examples. “The Roman prefect summoned Archdeacon Lawrence to himself and demanded from him the issuance of the treasures of the Roman church, about which there was an exaggerated rumor among the pagans. Your doctrine, - the prefect told him with a sneer, - commands you to give Caesar's to Caesar: give back the money on which the portrait of the emperor is carved . Lawrence answered calmly: Wait a minute, let me put things in order . On the third day, Saint Lawrence gathered the poor, who received benefits from the Roman church, and brought them to the court of the prefect. Come out,” he said to the prefect, “see the treasure of our Church; your whole yard is full of golden vessels . Lawrence was burned, but this evidence tells us that already in the III century. many people ate at the expense of the Church. Another example of social service is the Holy Great Martyr Anastasia the Destroyer, who was the daughter of a noble and wealthy Roman. For the sake of Christ, she sympathized with all the poor and suffering, especially those imprisoned in dungeons. . After the death of her husband she was no longer limited to the dungeons of one Rome, but moved from city to city, from country to country: she delivered food and clothes to the prisoners, washed their wounds, asked the prison guards to free the sufferers from the iron shackles that rubbed their wounds, and paid for it them big money. For all these feats of philanthropy, she was given the name of the Patterner . In the IV century. Emperor Constantine stopped the persecution, returned all the confiscated property to Christians and their churches, and converted to Christianity himself. Christian mercy III-VI centuries In place of pagan philanthropy came agape or love of neighbor. Love for one's neighbor was different from sensual love, eros. It was based on the motives of participation in the fate of a person, in his needs and problems, therefore, the inner meaning of Christian mercy is active giving love .
"Agape" as an interpersonal interaction occurs in the first Christian sacraments, joint evening prayers and meals. Over time, this process becomes more complex and expands as the Christian's activity takes on different forms. The activity is not limited only to support within the Christian community, but has its continuation in society, where the principles, worldview, values and normative behavior in relation to other members of the community are transferred. All this leads to a rethinking of the process of interaction, both intergroup and interpersonal, in the works and commandments of the Apostles and Fathers of the Church. It was then that the concept agape enriched with concepts mercy , love for neighbor . Intra-group help and mutual help endured in society is canonized and becomes an obligatory law of the life of a true Christian. In approaches to the poor, the principle family responsibility when having relatives in need of help did not receive "sustenance" from the Church. However, Christian support has priority groups that receive assistance in the first place: Comprehension of the most important dogmas about mercy expands the understanding of the essence of help and support. Of particular importance in this regard are the works of Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian, Theodore the Studite, John of Damascus, Athanasius of Alexandria and other authors of "moralistic literature". The ideas of these Christian thinkers had a great influence on the state of public consciousness in matters of help, support and charity. A distinctive feature of the works of these theologians was that they were intended both for speaking from the pulpit , and for book use . And here the Byzantine school of eloquence, the Cappadocian circle, whose members were Basil of Caesarea, or the Great, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory the Theologian, played a big role. Brilliant orators, they introduced the dialectical methods of Neoplatonism into the theological controversy, where the word is a practical tool for changing social consciousness. The Church is the people themselves who make it up, and especially its leaders or pastors, since they express its thoughts and opinions, moral and ethical orders. The century, in this regard, stands out in particular. It was at this time that Basil the Great lived (died in 379), his younger brother Gregory of Nyssa (died in 395), Gregory the Theologian (died in 389), John Chrysostom (died in 407), Athanasius of Alexandria , or the Great (died in 373), Ephraim the Syrian (also lived in the 4th century, exact dates are not known). These pillars of Christianity laid the foundations for all Christian culture, worship and church activities, including charity. They don't call it the fourth century for nothing. golden age of christian enlightenment . The fourth century (312-420) differs sharply from all subsequent ones: this is the age of the greatest luminaries of the Church . Let's get acquainted with the teachings of these people a little closer, but not with the whole teaching, but with the teaching of mercy and charity. Basil the Great understands the essence of mercy as pain for the oppressed beyond their fault, felt by the compassionate .
Mercy is associated with condolences, with compassion for one's neighbor, since a person cannot comprehend the destiny from above, and even more so his state, which is constantly changing or can change at the will of Providence. We have mercy on those who from great wealth fell into extreme poverty, who from strong bodily health passed into extreme exhaustion, who previously admired the beauty and freshness of their body, and then was damaged by disfiguring diseases. . The concept of social equality is interpreted here in the context of a particular destiny and its changes. The problems of mercy and its essence are comprehended in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa from somewhat different positions. The question "Why is he who receives back, what gives?" he is considered in the light of his substantiation of the dogma of the Holy Trinity. The unity of God exists in the inseparability and inseparability of His hypostases. Therefore, mercy is a manifestation of the Divine principle. By showing mercy to another person, a person through love unites with another person and thereby becomes worthy of the Divine Essence. That if someone, being a man, becomes merciful, then he becomes worthy of God's bliss, having reached that which is called Divinity .
Gregory the Theologian, concretizing the ideas of his school, gives them the character of practical instruction and ministry: Be for the unfortunate God .
However, mercy, doing good to one's neighbor presupposes a certain series of tasks that provide a choice for the one who does mercy. Gregory distinguishes supreme beneficence and less beneficence . Among the highest blessings that benefit the soul, he refers to the laws of the Prophets, Teachers, Shepherds, various gifts of the Holy Spirit and the sacrament of the new salvation . To lesser blessings - bring food, give rags, bring medicine, bandage wounds, ask about distress, talk about patience . In the Church, the bishops and presbyters were more involved in the higher blessings, and the deacons were more concerned with the lesser ones. When the Church began to spread, the apostles, to help their ministry, established the positions of first deacons (server), then presbyters (elder). The first was entrusted with serving the material needs of the Christian community - managing its charitable fund and distributing benefits to the poor; the performance of the sacraments was also entrusted. The second received pastoral spiritual authority - they had to take care of the satisfaction of the spiritual needs of Christians with teaching, moral guidance and sacred rites. The apostles entrusted the bishops (guardian) in the established Christian communities with the highest supervision and management . Gregory the Theologian values personal enrichment above property enrichment. The pre-Christian world did not know high moral truths and laws. The main principle of activity in the pagan world was selfishness. Under its influence, each of the pagans, pursuing in life only their personal interests and goals, inevitably violated the human rights and dignity of the other. Hence, in the pagan world, the malice of man to man, the enmity of individuals and societies, hence all sorts of atrocities, crimes, vices, etc. Christianity brought into life a new beginning - the doctrine of brotherhood and love of all people among themselves. In communicating this new beginning to His disciples, the Savior commanded that it be the hallmark of His followers. . Among true Christians, the doctrine of brotherhood and love is carried out even today, but especially in the first centuries of Christianity. The people who formed the Church, despite differences in origin, social status and condition, considered each other brothers and loved each other as brothers. . Name brothers and sisters also was not an empty phrase, as well as brotherly kisses. At first, all this was expressed in common property. And no one called anything from his estate his own, but they had everything in common. There was no one in need among them; for all those who owned lands or houses, selling them, brought the price of what was sold and laid it at the feet of the Apostles; and to each was given what he needed .
By the way, the common property is still preserved in the monasteries. Another expression of brotherly love was common meals, which were called evenings of love or agapamy . Over time, common property and common meals ceased due to the increase in the number of believers, but in return all kinds of assistance were distributed. Wanderers who traveled from one church to another, the poor, the sick, the old, widows, orphans and all the suffering - all found help and support from Christians. Public calamities caused the charity of Christians in full force . All this was done from a pure heart, a good deed done for show out of vanity is considered a great sin. So Grandfathers or Teachings of the Twelve Apostles Christians are warned: Let the alms sweat in your hand before you give it and give charity in secret .
Saint Dionysius of Alexandria (lived in the 3rd century) is especially famous for his philanthropic deeds. This is how he describes the actions of Christians during the pestilence that raged in Alexandria: Very many, out of an excess of love and brotherly love, did not spare themselves, but supported each other, fearlessly visited the sick, tirelessly followed them, and serving them for Christ's sake, died joyfully together with them, because, being filled with the sufferings of others, they attracted illness from their neighbors. It was in this way that the best of the brethren left life: some presbyters and deacons, and many highly praised by the people. They took the bodies of the saints on outstretched hands, closed their eyes, closed their mouths, carried them on their shoulders and then laid them down, pressed them to themselves and embraced them, decorated them with washings and clothes, and soon they themselves were worthy of the same; because the survivors have always followed in the footsteps of their predecessors. The pagans acted quite the opposite: they drove away those who had begun to fall ill, ran away from the most kind, threw the half-dead into the street, left the dead without burial, and thus tried to get rid of transmitted and communicated death, which, however, with all their efforts, it was not easy for them to turn away from themselves. ". The Roman Orthodox Church in the 3rd century supported more than 1,500 widows and all sorts of infirm people for public offerings. In addition, as a church that had rich members among its members, it always sent donations to other churches to brothers in distress from something. The charity of the Carthaginian church is also known. Saint Cyprian of Carthage (beheaded in 258), during the invasion of the barbarians in Numidia, who captured many Christians, collected 100,000 sesterces from his clergy and people and ransomed the captives. Such brotherly love extended not only to Christians, but also to pagans. John Chrysostom believes that there should be no boundaries in mercy: “Even if we see a pagan in misfortune, we need to do good to him, and in general to every person who is in unfortunate circumstances.” John Chrysostom, like Gregory the Theologian, distinguishes two levels of help: spiritual alms and bodily alms. Unlike the representatives of the Cappadocian school, John Chrysostom considers almsgiving as an indicator of belonging to a certain community of "Christ's disciples", which becomes, as it were, a new form of individual unity. Only teaching mercy opens before a person the possibility of ascending to his essence and further - to the “sign of the Divine”: “A person ... should learn mercy most of all, for it is what makes him a man.” He interprets the problem of social justice as follows: “We all need each other. The poor in the rich, the rich in the poor, the idler in the giver of alms, the giver in the receiver. The existence of haves and have-nots groups is understood by him as the establishment of Divine wisdom, according to which representatives of various property groups should live according to the Divine plan. Aurelius Augustine, or St. Augustine (354-430), put forward the idea that alms have the power to "cover sins." The poor are presented as intercessors before the Almighty. Almsgiving is increasingly associated with the hope of improving one's afterlife, to mitigate punishment for committed sins. Hence comes the idealization of poverty, which is considered a higher state than wealth, and this idealization, in fact, states inequality as an essential necessity. Saint Francis, addressing the monks, said that when they receive alms, in return they give the love of God. At the end of this chapter, more must be said about such a thing as the attitude towards slaves. The advent of Christianity radically changed the attitude towards slaves and their position. The pre-Christian pagan world developed such a view of human relations that some people should dominate, others should be slaves. A slave, according to this view, was considered not only a being without any rights, but even a thing that the master could dispose of at his own discretion. Christianity destroyed such views. It taught that both masters and slaves were equally involved in sin, that Christ redeemed the entire human race, and hence the slaves, from sin, that in the matter of religion all are equal. Hence the relationship between masters and slaves in Christian society was imprinted with the spirit of Christian brotherly love. In religious life, the slave was sometimes placed above the master, becoming his teacher in the Gospel. Christian charity of the 7th-11th centuries From the second half of the 7th century, when tendencies began to appear towards the separation of the Western Church from Orthodoxy, new approaches to the Christian ideology of support appeared in the Western Church. The main views of this time are characterized by the fact that not everyone should actually do good works, but only people vested with church rank. Lay people can help with their donations. The role of monks is growing, which, according to the official opinion of the Western Church, should perform works of mercy. It is enough for a member of the community to give alms to the monastery, and the bishop is to distribute it among the needy. More precisely, all alms should be placed at the disposal of the bishop and distributed by the deacons. Later, when the Western Church had already separated from the Orthodox, from the 12th century the Western Church was convinced that the Pope of Rome was the owner of all church property. As in the first centuries, so now Christianity exerted its beneficial influence on life. His lofty moral principles found even now an excellent realization in the life of both the whole Christian society and individuals. Thus, we see that the Christian government of the Greco-Roman Empire, under the influence of Christian moral principles, issues laws that are beneficial for society, for example, on limiting slavery, alleviating the lot of prisoners and slaves, against gladiatorial spectacles, etc. Society begins to organize its life in accordance with Christian requirements. Charity, public and private, is increasing; family oppression and arbitrariness give way to Christian love; women emerge from the servile position in which they were in the pagan world, and, as wives and mothers, occupy an honorable place in the family; the attitude of fathers towards children and children towards their parents is becoming more humane, and so on. Many examples from the life of Christians of the Middle Ages fully confirm this. The spread of Christianity in Russia In the XI century there was a complete separation of the Western Church from Orthodoxy. Just at this time, the spread of "Byzantine" Christianity in Russia began. Although the official date of the "baptism" of Russia is 988, the process of christinization came into full force precisely in the 11th century. We will touch on the Western Church again when we consider the times of Peter I. It was then that the Western Church and Protestantism began to penetrate our Motherland and influence the minds of people. Of course, this influence was manifested even before the 18th century, but it was not so strong and acted from the outside. In the case of Peter I, it penetrated inside and came from the emperor himself. So, Prince Vladimir accepted Christianity, putting Russia on the path to the stronghold of Orthodoxy and the Third Rome. The young state itself voluntarily rushed under the tutelage of the Church. The princes, beginning with Vladimir, themselves called on the metropolitans and bishops to participate in state affairs; at the princely councils and congresses in the first place, after the princes, was the clergy. But, true to its Orthodox, Greek-Oriental notions about the relationship of spiritual power to secular, the Russian hierarchy did not take advantage of its position in order to create for itself in the newly created state an independent ecclesiastical and political power, as was the case under homogeneous conditions in the West. Contrary to Latinism, the Russian hierarchy used its influence on the organization of the state, on the education and strengthening of the initially weak princely power in it. The Russian hierarchy contributed in the future, along with the invasion of the Tatars, to the unification of the Russian principalities. She always intervened in almost every civil strife of the princes, as a peacemaker and intercessor for the good of the people. The best hierarchies have always persuaded the princes to peace, unification and obedience to the Grand Duke. Orthodoxy brought to Russia an unknown concept of supreme power established by God. The pulling together of all destinies to Kiev, where the common Russian metropolitan sat, strengthened the power of the Grand Duke of Kiev. The emerging system of church and monastic assistance was influenced by factors arising from relations between the church and the emerging state. It should be borne in mind that after Orthodoxy came to Russia, there were no institutions, no funding system, no priests. All this came under the paternalistic control of the state; there is such a type of relationship as in Byzantium. The financial support of the church was carried out through deductions (a tenth). The state, in the person of the princely power, undertakes the construction of monasteries and temples, and at first it prepares candidates for the priesthood. The authorities determine those persons who, in its opinion, need help. Various lists of the Charter of Prince Vladimir define their typology in different ways. It is characteristic that the need to judge them according to the laws of the “Greek nomocanon” is recognized, for which neither the prince nor the boyars have a court. In the Archaeographic Exodus, the clients are: people of the church, widows, cripples, wanderers, blind people. Gradually, this list expanded, under the patronage of the church fell "serfs who paid off serfdom, purchases, community smerds", etc. But if the circle of people is expanding more and more, then support institutions for a long period of time practically do not change. For example, from the time of the Charter of Prince Vladimir to the Charter of Prince Vsevolod, the same institutions are under church control: hospitals, hotels, hospices. The hospice built a church, hospitals - donors and philanthropists (for example, Efrem Pereyaslavsky built a hospital in 1091, and a year earlier a people's stone bath). The state selected and financed the church clergy to serve "philanthropic purposes" in case of old age, illness, and disability. The charter enshrines the right of certain categories of those in need to care in old age. Thus, the paternalistic policy of the authorities in relation to the church made it possible for the latter to take shape as an independent institution of assistance and support. As for the monasteries, they originally existed as closed societies. Christianity was not yet the worldview of the majority, and the monasteries did not strive for "communion" with the people. However, gradually the isolation, detachment and asceticism of the monasteries become attractive to the pagan consciousness as well. Monasteries are perceived as something mysterious and wonderful. Monasteries had a higher culture of life, there was a multifunctional system of self-support and self-help, which was associated with the main areas of human life: communication, education, cohabitation, treatment, housekeeping. Having received support from the princely authorities, having strengthened economically, the monasteries become centers of charitable and social activities. They perform four main functions: treatment, provision of the poor (in the form of one-time assistance with natural products - alms), training, control. Monasteries do not specialize in one kind of help, as is typical for the Western church, but act in their multifunctionality. Gradually, the Ktitor monastic system developed in the monasteries. Its peculiarity is that the one who takes the monastic rank is obliged to bring a gift to the monastery, which made it possible to lead a stable and “well-fed” life within its walls. This is how the “boarding” support system was formed. The gift was brought, as a rule, in the form of land, which was donated by the new converts. We see a different system of support in the parish system of assistance and protection, where the church plays the leading role as an organizer. The development of the parish assistance system is associated with the period of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The ruin of the southern lands led to the migration of the population to the north to remote places. Settlements of migrants began to be built from the temple, around which dwellings were built. This is how the parish was born. “In addition to administrative functions, the parish, according to the teachings of the church, acts as a community institution to support the sick, the infirm, the disabled, orphans, the poor, who accompany the migrants and find their refuge there. Subsequently, monasteries are recreated on the basis of this “contingent”. “The parish was both an administrative unit, and taxable, and zemstvo, and territorial. All local affairs were united in it, all communal, civil and church life was concentrated in it. Therefore, it is natural that the Old Russian parishes also became the organs of ancient Russian charity. The activities of the parishes were not limited to helping the crippled, the crippled, the poor, it was dominated by those tendencies of the first spiritual teachers of the R.P.C., whose practice was conditioned by Christian upbringing. For example, episcopal courts conducted civil proceedings (divorce, bride stealing, inheritance disputes, cases of poisoning, and many others). Monasteries also acted as organs of public control (for example, unfaithful wives were exiled there). Before the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars in Kievan Rus, there were 120 monasteries, of which 99 were in cities, and only 21 were in villages. This emerging system more and more supplanted the princely poverty, becoming an independent subject of assistance, which will fully carry out its activities with all the contradictions until the formation of statehood in Russia. “The metropolitans and bishops used the income they received not only for themselves. Metropolitan Kirill wrote that the property of the department goes to the maintenance of the clergy, the cathedral church and the house, to the maintenance of the poor, sick wanderers, orphans and widows, as well as to the benefit of victims of fire and unfair trial, to the renewal of churches and monasteries. Thus, the bishop's house was a poor house of charity. Estates were also donated to monasteries, which in turn helped the suffering. So Rev. Theodosius set aside a tenth of the monastery's income for the maintenance of the sick and the poor, and in addition, every Saturday he sent a cartload of bread to the prisoners in the dungeons. Parish churches were partially provided with donations from their builders and benefactors. Yaroslav, at the same time, building temples in cities and villages, gave "from the estate of his lesson" (prince's hand). The common source of content for the clergy was the voluntary donations of the parishioners. In addition, the priests were allowed to use in their favor the income from the sale of incense and church wine. The formation of the ideas of help, support and protection in antiquity is associated with the development of writing and the penetration of ideas about charity and mercy towards one's neighbor through Christian literature. Russian literature of this period is classified differently by various authors. In the 19th century Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy E.E. Golubinsky divided it into two large groups: borrowed and original. A.P. Shchapov especially singles out literature from which “Old Russian scribes drew concepts about the world: Holy Scripture, Greek-Eastern interpretations of the book of Genesis and Psalms (among which the translations of Basil the Great, Athanasius the Great, Gregory the Theologian and others occupy the most part), liturgical books, Byzantine cosmographs, chronographs, palei. Modern domestic scientists M.N. Gromov and N.S. Kozlov divide Russian literature into three streams: translated, common to the Slavic peoples, and original. In my opinion, the most convenient division is that of Professor E.E. Golubinsky: borrowed and original. Among the borrowed literature, primarily texts from the Bible were translated, as well as moralizing works belonging to the Church Fathers. The works of the thinkers of the Church paid great attention to the formation of public consciousness in matters of help, support and charity, which, undoubtedly, was reflected in the Izbornik of 1076. It displays various aspects of life, but the theme of mercy occupies one of the leading roles. "Izbornik" is evidence of the first approaches of public comprehension to the problems of social assistance. The theory of "alms" is presented in four main chapters: "In the word of a certain father to his son", "Punishment of the rich", "On the rank of the strong" and "On the gold-lover". “Included in the Izbornik 1076” the foundations of the "theory of mercy" will develop in three main directions: the understanding of mercy as a philosophical category, as a Christian way of salvation, and also as a "means of control" of social relations. The theme of mercy and righteous judgment is also reflected in other literature. Caring for the weak, for the socially unprotected sections of society is a separate topic, which is raised by both Vladimir Monomakh and Daniil Zatochnik. The “Instruction” of Vladimir Monomakh interprets the well-known thought of Gregory the Theologian: “For nothing likens a person to God so much as doing good; although God is incomparably more beneficent, and man less, according to his own strength. Its rethinking takes place in the context of the theme of God-established power and the need to support socially disadvantaged sections of the population: In general, do not forget the more miserable, but feed as much as you can... Feeding, feeding as a medieval principle of life was associated not only with assistance, but was seen as the protection of a certain way of life. True, here for the first time there was a justification residual principle in the matter of public assistance, which will be used by the authorities for several hundred years. To widows and orphans Vladimir Monomakh teaching pays special attention to: judge the orphan, justify the widow , give to the orphan and justify the widow , I did not let the poor widow offend the strong .
Daniil Zatochnik continues the theme of the authorities' responsibility to their neighbor in need, seeing this as a necessary attribute of authority. Begging changes the relationship of the subject with the world, poor and in the homeland hate walks The poor man will speak - everyone will shout at him. Poverty has a detrimental effect on those close to those in need, it transforms relationships, provokes base feelings: After all, many are friends with me and at the table stretch their hand with me in the same salt shaker, and in misfortune they become enemies and even help to trip me; they cry with me with their eyes, but laugh at me with their hearts . Daniil Zatochnik sees the essence of poverty not only in the life strategy of a person (the poor have to exist in constant torment throughout his life), but also in the facts of social pathology, for poverty is closely connected with theft , robbery , debauchery . Daniil Zatochnik partly rethinks the technological approach to begging as to holiness, to poverty as a necessary condition and attribute of worldly life. Definitions of the Vladimir Cathedral (1274) is a set of canonical texts that define and regulate the activities of priests, their relationship with the needy, with the authorities, it reflects the ethical principles of Christian social service .
V Rule of Cyril, Metropolitan of Russia... the principles of the performance of the duties of a priest are disclosed. Cyril opposes the venality of church dignity, forbids taking "bringing" from the Magi. He believes that when receiving a spiritual dignity, it is necessary to test the newly initiated. To do this, they study his biography, “exhaust his life”, people who know the candidate from childhood, “from children”, play a big role here. In "The Hierarch's Instruction to the Newly Ordained Priest the theme of the moral duty and responsibility of the priest is continued. In particular, it refers to the moral qualities that he must cultivate in himself: kindness , hierarchical likeness , love , forgiveness , sobriety , retention . At the same time, a priest must be a good family man, raising his children well. The priest must not take bringing until the sinner is cleansed by repentance. With regard to them, as well as to the flock, certain measures of influence are proposed, among which are training, correction , prohibitions, penances, excommunications. However, the priest himself must go to the flock, even in cases where he is not called. Of interest is Epistle of the Bishop of Vladimir to the local prince . This document defines those cases in which the courts of the episcopate, according to established laws, can handle cases. It is emphasized that the prince and the boyars should not interfere in the legal proceedings of the episcopal courts, since they protect the interests of the people of the Church: for the needs of the clergy, and old age, and infirmity, and the ailment of fallen children, many feedings, feeding the poor, help to the offended, diligence in misfortunes, assistance to countries, in fire and in the flood, redemption for captives, feeding in gladness, orphans and the wretched mind, allowance for widows, thinness dying covers and coffins and burial, a refuge and consolation for the living, and memory for the dead . In the listed works of mercy, which differ from the canons of John Chrysostom, those specific areas of activity that the Church was engaged in during this period are given. .
V The confessor's teaching to those who confess in accordance with Christian morality, good Christians are called to follow works of mercy: to look after orphans and widows, beggars and wanderers. For charity, it is advised to allocate a tithe from your income: Tithing from all your possessions ... keep with you, and from that you give to the orphan, and the widow, and the strange, and the priest, and the blueberry, and the poor . Thus, tithing becomes a means of individual assistance to those in need. .
Such was literature, and the life of ancient Russia presented a sad picture of wild strife. The specific princes fought with each other, tried to seize the grand prince's throne in Kiev. Brother rebelled against brother, and often the children raised their weapons against their father, and the father against their children. Thus passed two centuries. With the multiplication of specific princes, the situation worsened. Svyatopolk the Accursed killed the brothers of princes Boris and Gleb, the people of Kiev Igor, the warriors, on the agreement of the boyars, killed the Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky, the prince blinded Prince Vasilko of Volyn (1097) and later the princes of Rostislavich. At that time such social service of R.P.C. was very important. like peacekeeping. Russian hierarchs intervened in almost every strife. Metropolitan In 1097, Nicholas kept the princes from civil strife on the occasion of the blinding of Prince Vasilko of Volyn: “If you start fighting with each other,” he said, “the filthy ones will take the Russian land, which your fathers acquired; they took over the Russian land with great difficulty and courage and searched for other lands, and you want to destroy the Russian land. Metropolitan Nicephorus I, a close adviser to Vladimir Monomakh, in his teaching told him: “I am writing to remind you: for great power requires a great reminder.” Bishop Feoktist of Chernigov appealed to the princes during the civil strife: “Watch the Russian land, do not wear the Russian land separately ... Be ashamed, at enmity with brothers and consanguineous.” Metropolitan Nikephoros II (1182-1197) told the Kiev prince Rurik: “Prince! We have been appointed by God in the Russian land to keep you from bloodshed, so that Christian blood is not shed in the Russian land. The great peacemaker was Met. Cyril II (1224-1233). At the end of this chapter, I want to return to St. Vladimir and such a social necessity as the death penalty. When Vladimir was baptized, out of mercy he abolished the death penalty. It became impossible to pass through the forests - there were robbers all around. Such "mercy" only leads to the spread of crime, which we can clearly see today. Christianity teaches personal charity and humility: "But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also." But it never taught the state to forgive criminals. The force of guilt and punishment is determined by the court, and if guilt is proven, an appropriate punishment must be carried out. If it is not there, there will be more and more people who want to commit a crime. Therefore, today, when the West imposes its ideas of “humanism” on us, we must remember that this does not suit us Orthodox at all. In the West they worship money and they benefit from a weak state so that they can manipulate it. History clearly shows us that Russia then became a great power when a strong state was in power. The Church always knew this and the bishops began to advise Vladimir to execute the robbers: “Prince, you have been appointed by God to be executed by the evil and the good for pardon.” Saint Vladimir followed the advice of the Church and thereby contributed to the strengthening of the power of the great Kievan prince. A good example for modern Russia. So, the process of Christianization in Ancient Russia modifies the process of help and mutual assistance and takes most of this process under its control. And although R.P.C. until the fifteenth century was the metropolis of the Byzantine Orthodox Church, "a comparison of the church structure in Russia with the Byzantine one shows that the conditions of Russia did not allow blindly copying foreign samples, but forced them to proceed from local needs." The institution of the church is turning into the bearer of not only a new state ideology, but also a new philosophy of help based on the Christian canons of mercy. During this period, the first official institutionalized form of protection appears in the form of parishes and monasteries. They carry out various functions - from assistance to treatment, from judicial office work to social and family education. Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the XIV-XVIII centuries XIII-XV centuries. - this is the time of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The state at that time was not up to charity. “The ruin and destruction of thousands of villages and cities, the extermination of the population during the years of the Mongol invasion led to the decline of the economy and culture of the Russian lands. A significant territory of the country was deserted, the surviving population went to remote forest areas. Russia was thrown back. State power weakened, fragmentation and separatism of individual principalities increased. Under these conditions, the importance of the church increased, which remained a single feudal organization, with which both the conquerors and the Russian princes reckoned. The conquerors endowed the church with privileges: they freed it from paying tribute and established the inviolability of church possessions. All this was done with the expectation of getting a powerful ally in the person of the church. And the church itself tried to establish good relations with the Mongol khans. In the XIV-XV centuries, the church, especially in North-Eastern Russia, became the largest feudal owner. From the second half of the XIV century. monasteries of a new type became widespread - with large land ownership and an economy based on the labor of dependent peasants. In the XIV century. 42 such monasteries were opened, and in the 15th century. - 57. A variety of monasteries were those that arose in the XIII-XV centuries. numerous "monasteries" and "deserts" in sparsely populated areas. As a rule, monasteries grew out of sketes, subjugating the surrounding lands and population. From the second half of the XIV century. monastic colonization intensified in remote areas of the Volga and Pomerania. There were many monasteries in cities and near cities, being military-defensive centers. That is, the monastic assistance system is interconnected with two stages in the development of monasteries: the first is the unification of lands around monasteries in the central part of Russia (XIV-XVI centuries); the second - the colonization of the North (XVI - XVII centuries). Sergius of Radonezh (1314-1392) and Metropolitan Alexy were at the head of the monastic reform. The ktitor monasteries, founded by princes and bishops, are being replaced by monasteries - estates. Ktitorsky monasteries are usually located in a medieval city, and monasteries - estates develop outside of it. Their more intensive development is due to the fact that at first they are more open helping systems for everyone and they have a more profitable investment system for worldly people. First of all, this was achieved due to the fact that the patrimonial monasteries bought up land, which means they became large land owners. Not only villages and villages were bought, but also cities. The attractiveness of the monastic protection and support for the working people also consisted in the fact that they had more favorable living conditions, being part of the monastic estate. The peasants went to the monasteries, because they were exempt from duties and taxes, from the jurisdiction of local authorities, from princely officials passing through the villages, who had to be given carts, horses and fodder, guides, etc. The peasants found in the monastery a safe haven from various failures and disasters, sorrows and hardships that are inseparable from the life of almost every person. The patrimonial monasteries provided a townsman or peasant with a refuge in his old age under a monastic cassock or as a belt. Beltsy was a person who made a land contribution, which allowed the contributor during his lifetime preferential living on the territory of the monastery. Belets did not take monastic orders and did not lead an ascetic life. That is, the monasteries played the role of a kind of insurance institutions not only on the occasion of death, but also on old age. Making a deposit was a requirement to "have an insurance policy". Over time, both the number of those wishing to get behind the monastery walls and the amount of the contribution increased. For example, one poor girl wanted to take the veil as a nun, but did not have the means to make a contribution, then Patriarch Nikon made this contribution for her in the amount of 17 rubles. Almost all the people of the church were forced to pay a certain tax. In the period from the XIV to the XVIII centuries. there are significant changes in the theory of mercy. First, the historical context changes; secondly, thinkers of the late Middle Ages are influenced by various schools and such authors as Dionysius the Areopagite, John of the Ladder, Philip the Hermit and others; thirdly, Orthodoxy as a holistic worldview is undergoing Nikon's reform, after which a church schism occurs and various new trends appear; fourthly, the development of legislation introduces significant adjustments to the traditional Orthodox dogmas about mercy and church people. All this together determined the originality of approaches to the ideas of mercy and the design of the foundations of the "charity theory", which was originally formalized by the state as the "theory of poverty". In the second half of the XVII-XVIII centuries. the foundations of the policy of enlightened absolutism are being laid. The socio-political ideas of Y. Krizhanich, Epiphanius Slavinetsky, V. Tatishchev, and Pososhkov and other thinkers played an important role here. In "Politics" Y. Krizhanich deals with various issues of human existence, but a special place in it is occupied by state-legal and ethical problems. Considering the social classes, he singles out the "wretched people" as a special group of the population, which occupies an intermediate position between the "privileged" and "black people". He divides the wretched into actually wretched, protected by the state, and "sick members", where he includes spendthrifts, idlers, gamblers and drunkards. Although neither of them serve the community, the former are protected out of love according to God's commandment, while the latter must be subjected to strict measures. “The word about mercy and cues of those who ask are worthy of the essence of mercy, cues are not” - the work of Epiphanius Slavenetsky. Epiphanius puts the same principle of likeness to God and love for one's neighbor as the basis of mercy, but he, like Y. Krizhanich, sees in the "people of the Church" (the poor) not only intercessors before God, but also parasites, deceived and profiting from the good feelings of Christians. Here you can see that if you are such a “good Christian”, then what difference does it make to whom you give, if you still don’t lose. In order to prevent the spread of professional begging, the author proposes to provide jobs for the young and healthy, and to organize “infirmities” for the weak and wretched. One can quite agree with this. Funds for their organization should be allocated by the clergy, and controlled by "the king and the chief and the judges of the world." The state stage of social assistance in Russia begins with the draft of 1682 “On measures of state charity, decree”. If earlier charity was carried out mainly through the Church and from her teaching, now the state has also begun to take part in this. But the Church still performed the main function here. In the first part of the Decree, groups of the needy are singled out, to whom special attention of the state and the Church applies. They included the poor, the crippled, the old, the poor. The crippled and the old were supposed to be fed to death. "Beggars with strange diseases" - treated. The second part of the Decree proposes measures to localize begging, both organizational and legislative. Organizational measures provided that the charity of the poor is carried out in monasteries where the sick are treated. Perhaps this is one of the first European-style "social service" projects with a combination of voluntary and professional assistance. As for financing, only the main problems are raised here. Among them: "about imaginary parish beggars", about the attitude towards "yard" and former peasants and about their free treatment, about the charity of disabled people, mutilated not in public services. The project also addresses the issue of educating poor children. They had to learn not only the sciences, but also crafts: silk, cloth, watchmaking, etc. This measure made it possible for the “future beggars” to earn their own bread and thereby intensify the growth of domestic goods. Here, again, organizational issues are discussed about restraint houses, hospitals, schools as institutions of support and protection. “Christian life among the Russian people continued to develop. In the understanding of the Russian people, Russia was considered the only Orthodox kingdom in the universe, before which all other countries were heretical or infidel. Everything was evaluated and comprehended in relation to Orthodoxy, and all worldly forms and customs were sanctified by it. Without the Church, the state itself was inconceivable. The whole life of the king was, more than direct state occupations, filled with church services, festive exits, pilgrimages and surrounded by church rituals. The secular side of public life was not developed. Church teaching and divine writings were the only source of education." The king himself and the patriarch were the first to set an example of charity. Bypassing the prisons, the patriarch personally handed out alms to the prisoners, freed the debtors who were in prisons, paying money for them. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich on Christmas Eve early in the morning went secretly to prisons and almshouses, distributing generous alms there; he did the same alms in the streets to the poor and needy. Patriarchs distributed alms during their "campaigns". As Nechvolodov wrote A.D. in the "Tale of the Russian Land", alms were distributed to "poor and meager people, men and women and children", who declared their "petition" in writing or verbally. Money was given: “for the sake of fire ruin”, “for the payback of the hut”, “for the sake of scarcity”. The saints on the spot studied the need and gave urgent help to the poor. The camp life of the patriarchs was expressed in prayers in passing churches, charity and various offerings to the saints from the laity and the clergy. Gifts were modest: berries, apples, mushrooms, vegetables, mash. The patriarchs presented the bearers with money. Here one more thing needs to be said about the dispute between "possessors" and "non-possessors". This dispute was raised by Nil Sorsky at a meeting in 1503. He said that “monasteries do not need to own estates inhabited by peasants, that monks should live by the labor of their hands, doing needlework or their own cultivation of the land. If necessary, he allowed resorting to people's charity, charging what was necessary, but not excessive. His opponent was the Monk Joseph Volotsky. His supporters began to be called "acquisitives" or "Josephites". He believed that “a monastery can be a money-grubber and can be provided with means of maintenance by immovable estates that generate income; but the monks of the monastery must be non-possessors, there must be a strict communal life in the monastery, so that no monk has absolutely his own and receives everything from the monastery treasury, with full equality of all monks. This dispute troubled Russia for a long time. The essence of this dispute in church lands was growing dissatisfaction with the increase in the real estate of the monastery property on the part of landowners and the state. That is, the state gradually gained strength and limited the power of the church, including in charity. The state takes the needy under its legislative control. But this did not happen immediately, but gradually - from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The 18th century was a turning point. Everything changed in the 18th century. during the reign of Peter I, although the inclinations appeared earlier. This is due to the appearance in the XVI century. Protestantism. In the XVIII century. Peter I was infected with these ideas. The secularization of ideology led to the development of independent social thought, secular science, while church consciousness goes into a more intense search for purely church truth, freeing itself from the temptations of church-political ideology. “The orientation towards Western civilization begins, which is reflected in the regulation of the lifestyle of such a segment of the population as professional beggars. Moreover, legislative measures against this social ailment are carried out almost simultaneously with such states as France, Germany, England ... Secular tendencies of charity complete the picture of help and support at this stage. And private charity in the 17th century is one of the first historical indicators of a change in public consciousness, one of the links in the formation of civil society. In this regard, the approach of Maxim Grek is interesting. He dreamed of begging as a culture of equality and justice, bringing up noble feelings in all members of society. Those. almsgiving is no longer seen as a divine grace, but as a really significant social reward, which manifests itself in the establishment of social harmony. Rationalism penetrates into the works of mercy, although it was present there before, but gradually it becomes more and more there. This is due to the appearance in the sixteenth century. Protestantism, where it is believed that if a person is rich, then he is especially pleasing to God, and if he is poor, then he is not pleasing. And you need to help the poor as a lower person, as well as for public peace, because, as the Protestants believe: "the deeds of a person, as opposed to faith, do not matter." For us, things matter. An Orthodox person helps another as an equal, or even higher in God's eyes, person, as our "intercessor before God." But in the 18th century, the state could no longer live according to church laws, because. the social situation changed, and reforms began. From the 18th to the second half of the 19th century, the formation of state-administrative public and private charity as a system took place. During the reign of Peter I, public administration goes through three main stages: the order system - 1682-1709, the provincial - 1710-1718, the collegiate - 1719-1725. At the first stage, the problems of charity are closely connected with the secularization of monastic lands and reforming the activities of the Monastic Order. The order took into account the possessions of monasteries and spiritual rulers, divided them into two categories: the income of some went to the needs of the monasteries, others - to the treasury. By 1700 church patrimonies became the main sources of money, grain and other collections of the state. In 1708, Russia is divided into provinces, and in 1718. orders are replaced by colleges. The role of the Monastic order, and later of the Holy Synod, was mainly controlling, police-administrative. The clergy were equated with secular officials, for whom the decrees and orders of the Senate were binding. But if the role of the clergy in charity is becoming more accountable and regulated, then the importance of the provinces is increasing. And by depriving the clergy of power and independent financial management, giving preference to the provincial administration, the state thereby provoked the growth of begging. Therefore, it is quite natural that most of the decrees in the field of public charity are aimed at eradicating this social ailment. The process of assistance, institutions of assistance, the subject and object of assistance are beginning to be considered within the framework of state decrees, which act as official normative criteria for life, values, “rules of social behavior”. These official criteria and rules replaced the previously dominant church values. The church became dependent on the state. The patriarch was replaced by the Synod, for more reliable submission. Theological approaches to the personality of the client are replaced by social ones, and individual destiny begins to be considered not in the context of eternity, but in the context of the visible needs and problems of society, in the context of its life, norms and values. Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 19th century In the nineteenth century private charity is actively developing, which had a variety of forms and directions. State and public charity develops. The church became dependent on the state, after the reforms of Peter I, and in the second half of the nineteenth century. a new stage begins in parish care (according to E. Maksimov). This stage is associated with such a basic contradiction, when the church sought to independently manage its capital, but could not do without the voluntary activity of parishioners in the matter of help and support. It was through their donations that the main charitable capital and savings for the needs of the church were made. Collection of donations from parishioners is carried out in favor of the church and clergy, schools and charitable institutions. “Since 1894, the growth of parish guardianships has been planned with Secularization was bearing fruit. In France, Protestant fermentation began in the 16th century. - exploded in the XVIII. It started in the 18th century and exploded in the 20th century. In the 19th century we were a little cooled off by the Patriotic War of 1812. A significant part of Russian society abandoned their passion for everything French. One could feel the repulsion of many from the liberal movements of the 18th century. The contagion continued to act only on a part of the younger generation, caught in the net of Masonic lodges, Protestant mysticism and sectarianism. The people thanked God for the salvation of the Motherland. Emperor Peter I, when establishing the institute of the state prosecutor's office, placed the synodal chief prosecutor in a position similar to that of the Senate prosecutor general. Catherine strengthened its significance. And Alexander I, since the establishment of ministries in 1802, generally awarded him the title of minister. Thus, the Orthodox Church received the status of a ministry, despite the fact that in this ministry the Synod occupied exactly the same position as other sects. The Minister of Spiritual Affairs, Prince Golitsyn himself, was on the side of the sects and forbade spiritual censorship to let through printed works against harmful writings. In such a situation, R.P.Ts. it was difficult to do charity work, since all financial resources were under the control of the minister, including those for charity. The Christians themselves, of course, continued to give alms and help each other, but their consciousness was already beginning to change. On April 1833, S.D. was appointed chief prosecutor. Nechaev. He also tried to strengthen the power of the chief prosecutor. He established a special control for carrying out strict accountability in the numerous amounts at the disposal of the spiritual department. The next minister N.A. continued the same business. Protasov. We will not go deep into history, we will only say that the provisions of the R.P.Ts. everything got worse from minister to minister. Of the chief prosecutors, one can notice K.P. Pobedonostsev. He held this position from 1880 to 1905, during the reign of three emperors: Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. His grandfather was a priest and he himself was a deeply religious person. His "Moscow Collection" clearly reveals the lies and harm of contemporary political and social movements. His "Lord's Feasts" reveal his deep religiosity. Since the chief prosecutor, in fact, managed the Church, their activities must also be attributed to the activities of the Church. K.P. Pobedonostsev established the provision of all clergy with salaries. The clergy put at the head of public education. Many previously closed parishes were restored. The number of communities and monasteries increased. The activity of the clergy was revived by the creation of brotherhoods and societies for the dissemination of religious and moral education. The publishing house of spiritual and moral books for the people began to develop, and many spiritual and folk libraries were opened. Missionary courses were instituted and special seminaries were established to study schism and sectarianism. New dioceses and four new seminaries have been established. But liberalism, alien to Pobedonostsev, captured all large circles of Russian society. When a representative form of government was established in October 1905, he left the post he had held for 25 years. After him, notable, in the good sense of the word, was Chief Prosecutor V.K. Sabler (1911-1915). The last chief prosecutors were: A.D. Samarin, A.N. Volzhin and N.P. Raev. Russian Orthodox Church and Modernity “At the turn of the century, the main trends in the scientific understanding of the process of assistance receive their new development. A characteristic feature of this process is that in addition to the differentiation of knowledge, it is folding into a single paradigm ... Formed in the XIV-XVII centuries. the main directions of public thought about helping and supporting one's neighbor both from the side of the state and from the side of the church at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. gradually formed a single scientific complex on private and public charity. P. Deryabin, based on the teachings of the Church Fathers, continues to defend the need for Christian charity. Noting the diversity of social forms of life, he sees in mercy the path of equality that will save the world from violence and cruelty. Mercy as a form of social equality changes people, because it carries love for one's neighbor, and it, in turn, destroys existing social opposites and contradictions, which leads to freedom, equality and brotherhood. However, in the 19th century it is already necessary not only to affirm, but also to defend the ideas of the Christian approach to charity, the features of such its most important dogmas as poverty and almsgiving, which at that time were already negatively evaluated in social and scientific literature. N. Voznesensky sees the continuation of the Christian practice of charity in state and public assistance. However, he also sees negative trends in the activities of existing state institutions: in charity “through institutions” there is no moral connection between the needy and the benefactor, and this leads to the fact that the assistance provided turns into a formal, “official”, “soulless”, “impersonal” . In addition, having limited support, institutions do not have clear boundaries for their application, as well as criteria for the "moral right of charity", which sometimes meets the needs of "candidates" who are not always truly in need. But in 1917 all these disputes about Christian charity were settled in one direction. The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of January 23, 1918 proclaimed the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church. The property of all religious societies was declared the property of the people (Art. 13), and religious societies themselves do not have the rights of a legal entity (Art. 12). This decree was aimed at eliminating one of the largest types of private property in the country. At the same time, the decree implemented the provision that clergymen should be supported exclusively by the voluntary deductions of believers. According to the law R.P.Ts. charity work was prohibited. In essence, the church was taken away from what it invented: "Love your neighbor as yourself." But still she managed to do something in these conditions. During the Great Patriotic War R.P.Ts. (unlike the Ukrainian Uniates, Catholics and other religious organizations that supported Hitler) called on believers to fulfill their sacred duty to the Motherland. This patriotic impulse was sanctified with his blessing by the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius. Believers donated not only money, bonds, but also silver, copper, shoes, linen, linen, etc. “In total, Orthodox believers collected 200 million rubles for the needs of the front during the war.” After the war, the position of R.P.Ts. improved. First, R.P.C. became one on the territory of the entire USSR. In 1945, the “Estonian schism” repented, and their parishes formed the Estonian Metropolia R.P.Ts. In 1946, the Uniate Church ceased to exist at the Lvov Cathedral. In Ukraine and Belarus, she helped the Nazis, Bandera gangs, tried to tear Ukrainians and Belarusians away from the fraternal Russian people. Uniate parishes entered the Western Ukrainian dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate. Also, by 1946, not a single Renovationist parish remained on the territory of the USSR. In general, the second half of the 40s of the twentieth century. can be characterized as a time of complete restoration of the intra-church unity of the R.P.Ts. “Despite the fact that open attacks on the Church, due to her services to the country, have decreased, she, as before, was forced to combine an active patriotic position in foreign policy with social indifference within the country. If the separation of the Church from the state contributed to the restoration of its autonomy, then, on the other hand, this also “separated” religion from charity. Attempts by R.P.Ts. to become useful to society, they broke down on the principle: "Socialism can be built without God." In the twentieth century during the Soviet era, all social ministries that previously belonged to the R.P.C. received an independent area of existence, these are: medicine, education, social pedagogy, social medicine, social work, social protection, etc. Orthodoxy in the USSR almost lost its influence, it gave only one thing - faith in the salvation of the human soul. And even this basic function, she was hardly allowed to perform. In the last twenty years, the influence of R.P.C. began to increase, this is due to the processes going on in the state and society. Old churches are being returned to believers, new ones are being built. The main thing is that the socio-psychological situation in society has changed dramatically. Instead of the prevailing atheism and irreligion, large sections of the population are returning to the bosom of the R.P.C. This is clearly manifested in a sharp increase in the number of baptisms and weddings, as well as participants in religious rites on church holidays. Religion becomes a refuge for those who have lost faith in a compromised official ideology, a counterbalance to the immorality of society, an idea that consolidates the growing national consciousness. The socializing influence of religious organizations is experienced by both believers and members of their families. For example, in Moscow in recent years, the number of parishes of R.P.Ts. increased sharply, reaching 260 by the end of 2004. In an effort to restore parish life in its entirety, R.P.Ts. sets the task of making parishes the centers of religious life, charitable activities, spiritual enlightenment of parishioners - present and future. The Bishops' Council, held at the end of 2004, was specifically dedicated to the development of spiritual education and enlightenment. According to his definition, each parish should have a Sunday school and create educational religious circles. In addition to Sunday schools, the church-wide system of religious education also includes Orthodox kindergartens, Orthodox non-state lyceums and gymnasiums, and theological institutes. "The revival of parish life requires a large number of clergy who are capable, ready and specially trained to conduct appropriate work with various social and gender and age groups of the population." In the process of socialization, religious organizations perform a number of functions. The value-oriented function is manifested in the fact that they offer their members and strive to form in them a certain system of beliefs (in God, in the immortality of the soul, etc.), a positive attitude towards religious values and norms. This is carried out both in the process of cult activities and in various forms of religious enlightenment. The regulatory function is manifested in the fact that religious organizations cultivate among their members behavior that corresponds to religious norms. The communicative function is realized in creating conditions for the communication of believers, in certain forms of its organization, as well as in the cultivation of communication norms that correspond to dogmas and doctrinal principles. The merciful function of religious organizations is realized in various spheres and forms of activity of mercy and charity, both within the organizations themselves and outside them, thanks to which the members of the organization gain specific experience. The compensatory (comforting) function is manifested in the harmonization of the spiritual world of believers, in helping them to realize their problems and in spiritual protection from worldly upheavals and troubles. And, finally, the educational function is the religious and moral education of a person (for example, the formation of a person as the image of God). Socialization in religious organizations is carried out under the influence of almost all mechanisms of socialization. In the parishes of the R.P.C. the leading mechanisms can be considered traditional and institutional. In a number of sectarian organizations - institutional and stylized, and in organizations of a number of Eastern confessions - institutional and reflexive. Perestroika changed the attitude of the official authorities to the repeated statements of the leaders of the Church about their desire to join the resurgent movement of mercy. The answer to them was limited to the inclusion of the clergy in the Soviet Cultural Fund, the Children's Fund. Lenin, etc. Dissatisfaction with the emerging forms of charity arises from the fact that mercy for a Christian cannot be abstract - it is love in deed. The clergy increasingly spoke out against the formal attitude towards the means of the R.P.C. as a source of funding for nationwide social actions and plans for charitable work of a global nature. And finally, in 2000, under the law on freedom of religion, religious associations and churches were allowed to engage in charity, which immediately activated social work. R.P.C. in 2001 she put forward the concept of spiritual enlightenment and charity. It contains the following tasks: the revival of the parish as a Christian community of like-minded people; the revival of church brotherhoods and various kinds of church movements; organization of church health care; creation of diocesan commissions for charity; training of catechism teachers; organization of the charitable budget (parish, diocesan, general church). Specific areas of charitable work also include the creation of a diocesan nursing home, a church boarding school for orphans, bookshops and libraries of spiritual literature, a social assistance committee, specialized parish institutions (Sunday schools, catechist courses for adults, a kindergarten, a library, a canteen, a sobriety society and etc.). In recent years, the Russian Orthodox Church has significantly increased its work in the field of social service and charity, and has also expanded the very field of social service of the R.P.C. This work is carried out at the church-wide and diocesan levels through the Department for Church Charity and Social Ministry of the Moscow Patriarchate (OTsBSS MP), headed by Archbishop Sergius of Solnechnogorsk, Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate. Today, the social activities of R.P.Ts. develops in the following main areas: an anti-alcohol program (fighting alcoholism on a religious and moral basis), a children's program (working with orphans, disabled children, homeless children, preparing them for an independent life), social activities in the field of education (training, catechesis , missionary work), assistance to the elderly and disabled, a program to combat unemployment, work with refugees (food assistance to compatriots in neighboring countries, as well as advisory and material assistance), assistance to victims of natural disasters and emergencies (regardless of nationality and religious affiliation ), social work in the penitentiary system (psychological assistance is especially strong here), medical and patronage assistance (care for the sick in hospitals and at home, medical and educational work about such a sinful phenomenon as abortion, etc., patronage assistance to people who do not have the opportunity to move independently), socially th service in the armed forces (the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Institutions sets its goals: overcoming the spiritual and moral crisis among military personnel, strengthening law and order and legality, patriotic education, meeting religious needs), a program for church interaction with the state and society in social area (establishing contacts with scientific centers, political and cultural figures, with charitable foundations of other faiths). christianity orthodox church ministry society Conclusion We see that the Russian Orthodox Church since 2000, after the legislative approval of its right to charity, has dramatically increased the volume of its social service. The work of R.P.Ts. in this direction is becoming more and more noticeable - church charitable hospitals, patronage services, psychiatric services, shelter schools, spiritual educational institutions, Orthodox camps, Orthodox kindergartens, sisterhoods, brotherhoods are opening, new churches are being built, old ones are being restored, free libraries of spiritual literature are opening and much more. The purpose of my work is done - R.P.Ts. still bears a great weight of social service, the volume of which depends on the amount of funds of the R.O.C., and these funds, in turn, depend on believers, the more they help the Church, the more She will help society. The amount of funds, and hence the charity of the R.P.C., also depends on the number of believers. For example, between 2008 and 2003 the religiosity of the population, according to VTsIOM, increased by 24.4% (Table 1). But in the more distant past, from 1972 to 2002, religiosity, on the contrary, fell. For example, in the Gorky region, it fell by 6.2% over this period (Table 2). These figures speak of religiosity in general, but, as you know, there are many religions. "Moscow is the third Rome, and 4 mu not to be”, therefore Russia will forever remain a stronghold of Orthodoxy. In 1910, Orthodox and Old Believers made up almost 70% of the population of the Russian Empire (Table 3), I do not think that in our time the picture of the percentage of religious and confessional groups has changed much. But the internal guidelines of the population have changed. Although officially the majority of the population are Orthodox, internally most of them adopt and live by Western values and patterns. But this is not only our problem, but also many other countries and religions. “Recent studies show that since the end of the 50 X gg. For two or three decades, changes have been going in the developed Western countries in one direction: the Catholic population has increasingly adopted "Protestant" value orientations and patterns of behavior. The bad ones are much easier to catch than the good ones. But this is a topic for another conversation. With regard to the solution of the tasks I have set, the situation is as follows. We see that the traditions, forms and methods of social service of R.P.Ts. are rooted deep in antiquity. They were formed along with the advent of Christianity. Traditions in the Church are very strong, as they are very important for all members of the Church. Almost everything in the Church is based on tradition. Forms and methods were constantly changing, depending on objective conditions, but they never departed from traditions. For example, the beggar was helped in the 1st century, and they are helping now. But if until the XVIII century. alms were given to everyone who asks, then after the Protestant trends from the West, people began to think - who should give alms, and who should not? The Church cannot be the Church at all, without traditions. That same Protestant "church" is not the Church precisely because it has rejected most of the Christian traditions, sacraments, dogmas and traditions. From Christianity, they left one Bible - as a keepsake. Moreover, they interpret it as they please. Roman Catholics, on the other hand, added their traditions, dogmas and traditions. In principle, they are also sectarians who broke away from Ecumenical Orthodoxy, and therefore they have not preserved the traditions in full. Only Ecumenical Orthodoxy preserved them, where Russia occupies the first place. Therefore R.P.Ts. has always stood and will stand on the Christian traditions of Orthodoxy, including in charity. But the activity of the church does not depend on traditions alone. Thus, we see that the forms and methods of social assistance to the Church have always depended on the political situation, since the R.P.C. always existed within the framework of the Russian state. From the 11th to the 18th centuries, it can be said that the state depended on the Church, not directly, but indirectly, since the state always listened to the opinion of the Church. After the reforms of Peter the Church became directly dependent on the state and to do what it says. In the twentieth century R.P.C. again became independent of the state, but now the state no longer listens to the opinion of the Church, since the spiritual situation has changed, and as a result, the moral. In the West, in this regard, the situation is several times worse. But we quickly catch up with them. The third task, set in the introduction, is solved by life itself. For example, before the revolution there was no problem of drug addiction, in our time this problem is very acute, so R.P.Ts. begins to lead the rehabilitation of drug addicts, their treatment. Almost all other problems of the pre-revolutionary period have survived to this day, so almost all areas of R.P.Ts. XIX - early. 20th century restored and developed with renewed vigor. As for the fourth task, those programs that are close to the religious and moral area, education, medicine, patronage and missionary work are more effective. As for purely material assistance, here the church cannot yet bring much benefit due to lack of funds, and in this area it certainly cannot be compared with the state. R.P.C. today she is poor and therefore cannot help everyone who asks, although she would very much like to do this. The main thing is that no matter how many enemies tried to destroy the Church, be it Roman emperors, be it other religions, be it political regimes, be it heretics and schismatics, the Church is resurrected again after another battle with renewed vigor. And she again brings spiritual and material help to those who are waiting for her. Appendix Religiosity of the population Table 1 2008 2000 2001 2005 2009 VCIOM 18.6% 30% 39% 43% Analytical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences 29% 29% 40% RNISPN 39% The ratio of religious-confessional groups in 1910. Table 3 Orthodox and Old Believers Muslims Catholics Protestants Jews List of used literature
14.747 rubles up to 19100 (in 1901). It should be noted that the expansion of parochial institutions took place constantly, but their funding in the dioceses was disproportionate and depended on the "voluntariness" of the parishioners. For example, in 1902, 44.662 rubles were donated to the Grodno diocese. for charitable institutions, and Olonetskaya - only 201 rubles, Moscow diocese - 89.721 rubles, and Minsk - only 13 rubles.
Parish charity was carried out in the following main forms: material and medical assistance; assistance in educational activities. Financial assistance included assistance in kind: distribution of clothes, food, tuition fees and maintenance in almshouses, payment for accommodation, as well as the provision of cheap meals. Medical was expressed in the provision of medical assistance and the free provision of medicines to patients. A fairly large place in the matter of public education was occupied by parochial schools. They were also financed from parish revenues, but most of the state revenues came from the Synod. By 1908, there were 26,097 schools in Russia with 1,401,866 students, and literacy schools - 13,650 with 436,000 students.
v.1, - Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 2006. - 384 p.
208 p.
annotation
Work 31 p., 17 sources
Russian Orthodox Church, charity, mercy, sacrificial love, philanthropy, social work, theory of social work, Christianity.
The coursework is devoted to an actual topic of applied significance - the study of the Russian Orthodox Church as a subject of social service. After the reforms of Peter the Great, the period of absolutism, which turned into tsarism, and the subsequent atheistic dominance, at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, the ROC again occupies both the minds and hearts of many citizens of both the Russian Federation and other people. At this stage, thoughts about this are very contradictory, but as they say in the holy book of Christianity - "by their fruits you know them." What fruits in the aspect of the social service of the ROC in the historical context and at the present historical stage can be observed - this will be briefly outlined in this work.
Introduction
1. The main theological provisions of the ROC
2. Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in a historical context
2.1 Church and monastery system of charity in the first centuries after the baptism of Russia
2.2 The development of the monastic system of assistance and support for those in need in pre-revolutionary times
2.3 Ministry of Orthodoxy during atheistic persecution
2.4 ROC at the end of the 20th century
3. Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church at the turn of the century
3.1 Medical programs
3.2 Anti-alcohol program
3.3 Children's program
3.4 Social activities of the ROC in the field of education
3.5 Unemployment program
3.6 Working with refugees and victims of natural disasters
3.7 Working with prisoners
3.8 Medical and nursing care
3.9 Social service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Armed Forces
Conclusion
Bibliographic list
Introduction
The development of the theory and practice of social work in Russia has a long, centuries-old tradition. The logic of the formation of national statehood led to the fact that one of the central roles in public charity was played by the Russian Orthodox Church (hereinafter referred to as the ROC). For centuries, the all-human, Christian idea of love for one's neighbor has called the national self-consciousness of Russians to mercy and charity. Unfortunately, for a long time these concepts were identified exclusively with the religious activities of the Russian Orthodox Church and Christian morality. The real contribution that the ROC has made to the cause of helping the “orphans and the poor” throughout its history has been hushed up. However, as the revival in the late XX - early XXI centuries. domestic charity and the restoration of the institution of social work, it becomes obvious that it is necessary to study and practically apply the experience of religious charity of the Russian Orthodox Church, which from the very beginning of its existence was an organization that took care of the poor and indigent people into its own hands.
It is not necessary to absolutize the role of the ROC in the cause of Russian charity, but at the same time, it is necessary to pay tribute to the mission of charity, which is poured out in a vast stream from the Church and her faithful children. All Christian teaching is imbued with the idea of altruistic service to one's neighbor, with the idea of sacrificial love for everyone, including one's enemies.
Christianity has made a huge contribution to the universal thought of humanity also by the fact that it has made the dominant of the personal principle in man over the general. Sacrificial love and charity in Christianity comes from the depths of a person's soul, from the "hidden heart of a person" and is regarded as the personal salvation of the whole person and from here - of all mankind.
It is possible to consider the institution of social work in Russia as a secularized Eastern Catholic Christianity (Orthodoxy) and this paper will briefly touch upon one of the aspects of this issue. The work of the ROC as a subject of social work will also be touched upon.
1. Omain theological provisionsRPP
In order to better understand the psychology of a benevolent Christian, let us briefly consider the main theological provisions of the ROC in the aspect of ecclesiology, using the social doctrine adopted by the ROC at the Local Council of 2000. According to Eastern Catholic teaching, the Church is a gathering of believers in Christ, into which everyone is called by Himself to enter. In it, “everything heavenly and earthly” must be united in Christ, for He is the Head of “the Church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). In the Church, by the action of the Holy Spirit, the deification of creation is accomplished, the original plan of God about the world and man is fulfilled.
The Church is the result of the redemptive feat of the Son, sent by the Father, and the sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit, who descended on the great day of Pentecost. According to St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Christ led humanity by Himself, became the Head of the renewed human nature - His body, in which access to the source of the Holy Spirit is obtained. The Church is the unity of the "new man in Christ", "the unity of God's grace living in a multitude of rational creatures who submit to grace" (A.S. Khomyakov). “Men, women, children, deeply divided in relation to race, people, language, way of life, work, science, rank, wealth ... - the Church recreates them all in the Spirit ... All receive from her a single nature, inaccessible to destruction, nature, which is not affected by the numerous and deep differences by which people differ from each other... In it, no one is by any means separated from the general, everyone, as it were, dissolves into each other by the simple and inseparable power of faith ”(Saint Maximus the Confessor).
The Church is a divine-human organism. Being the body of Christ, it combines in itself two natures - divine and human - with their inherent actions and wills. The Church is connected with the world by its human, created nature. However, it interacts with him not as a purely earthly organism, but in all its mysterious fullness. It is the divine-human nature of the Church that makes possible the grace-filled transfiguration and purification of the world, which takes place in history in creative cooperation, “synergy” of the members and the Head of the church body.
The Church is not of this world, just as her Lord, Christ, is not of this world. But He came into this world, having "humbled" Himself to its conditions, into the world which it was necessary for Him to save and restore. The Church must go through a process of historical kenosis (self-deprecation) in fulfilling her redemptive mission. Its purpose is not only to save the people of this world, but also to save and restore the world itself. The Church is called to act in the world in the image of Christ, to bear witness to Him and His Kingdom. Members of the Church are called to partake of the mission of Christ, His service to the world, which is possible for the Church only as a conciliar service, “that the world may believe” (John 17:21). The Church is called to serve the salvation of the world, for the Son of Man Himself “came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
The Savior says of Himself: “I am in the midst of you as a servant” (Luke 22:27). Service for the salvation of the world and man cannot be limited by national or religious boundaries, as the Lord Himself clearly says about this in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Moreover, members of the Church come into contact with Christ, who bore all the sins and sufferings of the world, meeting every hungry, homeless, sick, prisoner. Help to the suffering is in the fullest sense help to Christ Himself, and the eternal destiny of every person is connected with the fulfillment of this commandment (Matt. 25:31-46). Christ calls upon His disciples not to abhor the world, but to be "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world."
The Church, being the body of the God-man Christ, is God-human. But if Christ is the perfect God-Man, then the Church is not yet perfect God-manhood, for on earth she fights against sin, and her humanity, although inwardly united with the Divine, by no means expresses Him in everything and corresponds to Him.
Life in the Church, to which every person is called, is unceasing service to God and people. All the people of God are called to this service. Members of the body of Christ, participating in the general ministry, perform their own special functions. Each is given a special gift to serve all. “Serve one another, each one with the gift that you have received, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). “To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit; faith to another, by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; miracles to another, prophecy to another, discernment of spirits to another, tongues to another, interpretation of tongues to another. Yet the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He pleases” (1 Cor. 12:8-11). The gifts of the manifold grace of God are given to each one separately, but for the joint service of the people of God (including the service of the world).
The Church also calls on her faithful children to participate in public life, which should be based on the principles of Christian morality. In the High Priestly Prayer, the Lord Jesus asked the Heavenly Father for His followers: “I do not pray that You take them out of the world, but that You save them from evil... As You sent Me into the world, so I sent them into the world” (Jn. 17.15.18). The Manichean disdain for the life of the surrounding world is unacceptable. The participation of a Christian in it should be based on the understanding that the world, society, the state are the object of God's love, for they are destined for transformation and purification on the basis of God-commanded love. The Christian must see the world and society in the light of its ultimate destiny, in the eschatological light of the Kingdom of God. The distinction of gifts in the Church is manifested in a special way in the field of her public ministry. The indivisible church organism participates in the life of the surrounding world in its entirety, however, the clergy, monastics and laity can exercise such participation in different ways and to varying degrees.
2. WITHsocial serviceRPPin historical contextToste
2 .1 Church and monastery system of charityin the firsteka after the baptism of Russia
In 988, Christianity in the Orthodox version is recognized as the official state religion. With the adoption of Christianity, a special organization appeared - the church. The Christianization of the Slavic world had a decisive influence on all spheres of society, on the transformation of social relations, which could not but affect the nature, forms of help and support for a person. The created cultural-historical situation demanded other principles of integration and other forms of support and protection. It was from that time that the Christian concept of help began to take shape, based on the philosophy of active love for one's neighbor. "Love your neighbor as yourself." This formula becomes a moral imperative that defines the essence of an individual's act. On the other hand, it expresses the essence of the unity of subjects, thus becoming an indicator of belonging to a certain community.
However, not only a moral attitude towards one's neighbor, but also an act is the basis of the worldview and worldview of a true Christian. Love and activity - an inseparable unity - are understood not in their self-sufficiency, but only in mutual connection. In this semantic unity, the essence of such concepts as “charity”, “pardon” is also understood.
The main objects of assistance are the sick, the poor, widows, orphans. Documents appear that regulate relations in the field of support and assistance to various categories of the Russian population. Among the oldest sources of law are the church statutes of princes Vladimir and Yaroslav, containing the rules of marriage and family relations. There are also new subjects of assistance: the prince, the church, parishes, monasteries. The main areas of assistance and support were identified: princely, church and monastery, parish charity, almsgiving.
The state, in the person of the princely power, undertakes the construction of monasteries and temples, and at first it prepares candidates for the priesthood. Power defines customers, i.e. those who, in her opinion, need help. Some types of institutions - hospitants - were built by the church, and others - hospitals - by donors, philanthropists at their own expense: Russian princes, or church leaders.
Initially, Christianity in Russia was not the ideology and worldview of the majority, it was characterized by esotericism, which was reflected in the life of monasteries. Monasteries existed at first as closed communities. They did not strive for "communion" with the people, since monasticism was asceticism, renunciation of worldly temptations. However, this isolation, detachment, asceticism become attractive for the pagan consciousness as well. Monasteries are perceived as a kind of sacrament that brings miraculous healing, where they “prophesy”, “multiply honey and bread”.
Having a higher culture of life, the monasteries were a multifunctional self-support system, where a special type of self-help to a person was formed, associated with the main most important areas of his life: communication, education, living together in a community, treatment, housekeeping. Therefore, those functions of monastic life that were traditional for monks are perceived by the population of Ancient Russia as a revelation.
Having received support from the princely authorities, having strengthened economically, the monasteries become centers of charitable and social activities. They perform four main functions: treatment, provision of the poor (in the form of one-time assistance with natural products - alms), training, control. In accordance with these functions, the monasteries have appropriate forms of support. In this regard, monasteries do not "specialize" in one kind of help, as is typical for the Western church, but act in their multifunctionality.
However, the ktitor monastic system gradually begins to take shape. Its peculiarity was that those who take the monastic rank are obliged to bring a gift to the monastery, which made it possible to lead a stable and “well-fed” life within its walls. This is how the “boarding” support system is formed. The gift was brought, as a rule, in the form of land that the new convert donated.
We observe a different system of support in the parish system of assistance and protection, where the main role is played by the church as an organizing principle, as well as by the parish.
In the literature of the XIX century. there were two stable trends, two views on the genesis of this phenomenon in the practice of charity and mercy. In the first case, the development of the parish assistance system is associated with the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The ruin of the southern lands led to the migration of the population to the north to remote places. Settlements of migrants began to be built from the temple, around which dwellings were built. This is how the parish was formed. In addition to administrative functions, the parish, according to the teachings of the church, acts as a community institution to support the sick, the infirm, the disabled, orphans, the poor, who accompany the migrants and find their refuge there. Subsequently, monasteries were recreated on the basis of this "contingent".
In the second case, the development of the parish system is justified by the fact that parish charity is a transitional link between the monastic and "civil" assistance systems. Unlike monasteries with their closed organizational structure, parishes are an open system. The parish community carried out the election of clergy and clergy independently (often from among its "parish community members"),
In addition to the clergy, an elder was elected in the community, who performed various functions - from economic to social: acquiring land, building almshouses, collecting debts and distributing money to those in need. All actions of the headman and clergy were controlled and sanctioned by the community. “At the same time, the parish was both an administrative unit, and taxable, and zemstvo, and territorial. All local affairs were united in it, all communal civil and church life was concentrated in it. Therefore, it is natural that the Old Russian parishes also became the organs of ancient Russian charity” (E. Maksimov).
In fact, two different points of view express the same trend: the practice of helping is not associated only with the activities of monasteries, it also appears in other organizational forms, becoming part of the administrative and economic mechanism of the community. The activities of the parishes were not limited to helping the crippled, the crippled, the poor, it was dominated by those tendencies of the “first spiritual teachers” of the ROC, whose practice was conditioned by Christian upbringing. The process of Christianization in Ancient Russia modifies the process of help and mutual assistance. Along with the traditional subjects of assistance, new ones appear in the person of the princely power and the Russian Orthodox Church.
The historical significance of princely charity and poverty lies in the fact that the emerging centralized government is looking for ways to help subjects who are not related by kinship. It can be added that with the adoption of Christianity, not only administrative and legal reform was carried out, but also attempts were made to social reform in the field of assistance and support. Initially, this process was carried out within the framework of retinue traditions, pagan brothers, but then there is an alienation of reciprocal and redistributive ties between the prince and the needy. This happened when it began to be realized that it was impossible for the princely authorities to carry out Christian social reform alone, since the society was heterogeneous, and there was dual faith in it. The confrontation between the pagan and Christian faiths practically led to the confrontation of the way of life, which, in turn, led to the impossibility of “dressing up” according to the laws, which should also have not only their own provisions, but also their own legal subject.
2.2 The development of the monastic system of assistance and support needsYuthose who arein pre-revolutionary times
The monastic assistance system represents two main stages in the development of monasteries. The first is the unification of lands around the monasteries in the central part of Russia (XIV-XVI centuries), the second is the colonization of the North (XVI-XVII centuries). The unification of the lands around the monasteries takes place in the second half of the 14th century, when the nature of the monastic administration changes, the reorientation of the life of the monasteries begins, which set themselves, first of all, the solution of economic problems, turning these cloisters into an independent feudal fiefdom. Sergius of Radonezh and Metropolitan Alexy were at the head of the new monastic reform.
The ktitor monasteries founded by princes and bishops are being replaced by estate monasteries. The Ktitor monasteries have been developing for more than two hundred years. They laid the foundation for a “boarding” support system not only for men, but also for women. The institution of widows during this time receives legal recognition and "institution" (which allowed widows to live in abundance for a number of years). Moreover, many Russian princesses (or their husbands) specially built monasteries to spend the rest of their lives within its walls. Tongues have become an integral part of the women's life scenario.
In addition to the active role of the ROC in the sacralization of life processes, the functions of protecting and supporting widows and orphans are also important, i.e. those functions that were the privilege of princely power.
The attractiveness of the monastic protection and support for the working people also consisted in the fact that they had more favorable living conditions, being part of the monastic estate. The peasants went to the monasteries, because they were exempt from duties and taxes, from the jurisdiction of local authorities, from princely officials passing through the villages, who needed to be given carts, horses and feed, guides, etc. The peasants found in the monastery a quiet haven, “reliable protection from political and administrative persecution and oppression, a safe haven from various failures and disasters, sorrows and hardships that are inseparable from the life of almost every person. The arrival of working people makes the monasteries strong and abundant. Their wealth was multiplied by private contributions. They are different - from church utensils and religious objects to land. Contributions were donated with different conditions: commemoration of the depositors after death, feeding the poor on their behalf, etc. But there were also special ones. land deposits, which allowed the contributor during his lifetime to have preferential residence on the territory of the monastery (not to take monastic orders, not to lead an ascetic lifestyle). Such a resident had the status of a Balti.
Mercy, mercy, preached by the Russian Orthodox Church, do not become only abstract concepts, they are consistent with the real conditions of public and private life of a person. Almsgiving is not only a way of salvation, but also an act (aimed at harmonizing social relations), followed by pardon. The theoretical understanding of mercy in the new historical conditions not only introduces a different system of analogies, but there is a reassessment of the categories of the needy, the institution of widows, the institution of beggars, all those public institutions that are indicators of a “fair” or “unfair” state social policy in relation to vulnerable segments of the population.
In the XVIII - XIX centuries. the role of the ROC in public affairs is noticeably fading due to the total subordination of the Church to the state in the person of Peter the Great. For the Church, this was a big blow, which deprived her of her patriarchate (restored only in 1917), which led to the distortion of church teaching by various heresies of the Catholic and Protestant persuasion. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, charity and other public service, freed from the fetters of bureaucracy, found support in private philanthropic institutions. The liberation of the Russian Orthodox Church from the bonds of state enslavement was the revolution of 1917 (at the cost of a host of martyrs of the 70-year Babylonian (communist) captivity ...
2.3 Ministry of Orthodoxy during atheistic persecution
After October 1917, all social care was banned from the Church. By Lenin's decree, it was separated from the state and the school. Temples were subjected to barbaric destruction. Confiscation of church property, the ruin of monasteries, the murder and expulsion of clergy - this is the usual practice of that period. Two wars, repressions in 1928 and in 1934. dealt the ancient Russian Church such a blow from which it has not been able to recover to this day. However, the most difficult test in the conditions of social isolation was the inability to show charity in the male life of believers. Nevertheless, even in this tragic time, the ROC was a spiritual shepherd in works of mercy. In the early 20s. A terrible famine broke out in Russia, which claimed a huge number of human lives. The Soviet government was unable to cope with the disaster, and in many ways aggravated it. More than once, the persecuted Saint Tikhon appealed to Christians all over the world to help the Russians, as well as to parishes that had survived the robbery, with a request to donate church decorations that had no ceremonial purpose to the fund for helping the starving. At that time, the ROC spent less money on charitable and charitable activities than other organizations and foundations.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Russian Orthodox Church did not stand aside from the common cause of fighting the enemy. On the very first day of the war, the head of the Orthodox Church in Russia, the patriarchal locum tenens Metropolitan Sergius, a 74-year-old elder, published his appeal to all the believers of our country. In this appeal, Metropolitan Sergius appeals with all the power of persuasiveness to the patriotic feelings of believers, calls for the fulfillment of a sacred duty to the homeland, sanctifying this patriotic impulse with the primatial blessing. This call was regarded by believers as a call to the last battle for freedom from slavery, granted by God to "Holy Russia" for the great sins of apostasy from the true faith.
Believers willingly carried, following the example of their patriotic ancestors, not only money, bonds, but also scrap of silver, copper and other things: shoes, linen, linen, etc. A lot of dried and leather shoes, overcoats, hats, socks, gloves, linen were prepared and handed over. A special collection was organized for gifts for the soldiers on the day of the Red Army, which gave more than 30 thousand rubles, the gifts were distributed to the hospitals for the wounded, who warmly welcomed such attentive care for them.
Prayers for the granting of victory were served throughout the country. In the parishes, funds were collected for defense and gifts for soldiers, for the maintenance of the wounded in hospitals and orphans in orphanages. 8 million rubles were collected for the construction of the tank column named after Dmitry Donskoy. The Siberian squadron "For the Motherland" was built and equipped at the expense of clerics and laity. In total, during the war, Orthodox believers collected 200 million rubles for the needs of the front.
After the war, the ROC, together with other religious organizations, actively participated in the struggle for peace. Considerable contributions were made by her to the Soviet Peace Fund. The experience of the peacekeeping service of the Russian Church is generally recognized. He strengthened her international ties, both humanitarian and economic. Despite the fact that open attacks on the Church, due to her services to the country, ceased, she, as before, was forced to combine an active patriotic position in foreign policy with social indifference within the country. If the separation of the Church from the state contributed to the restoration of its autonomy, then, on the other hand, this "separated" religion from charity. The Church's attempts to become useful to society were shattered by the principle: "Socialism can be built without God."
2.4 ROC inlate 20th century
Perestroika changed the attitude of the official authorities to the repeated statements of the leaders of the Church about their desire to join the resurgent movement of mercy. The answer to them was limited to the inclusion of the clergy in the Soviet Cultural Fund, the Children's Fund. IN AND. Lenin, etc. Dissatisfaction with the forms of charity that arose on the wave of renewal of forms of charity was also expressed in the fact that mercy for a Christian, as it is said in the Gospel, cannot be abstract. This is love in action. The clergy increasingly spoke out against the formal attitude to the funds of the Church as a source of funding for nationwide social actions and plans for charitable work of a global nature.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in 1993, confirmed the separation of religious associations from the state, but already against the backdrop of a universal recognition of the role of churches in the renewal process. Perestroika returned to her the right to priority in the deeds of mercy and compassion. Under the Religious Freedom Act, religious associations and churches are allowed to engage in charity work, which immediately intensified their social work. Parishes help parishioners with medicines and pastoral care. The help received by the Church from abroad is distributed among large-family, low-income, disabled parishioners. A nursing school was organized at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, a new synodal charity department appeared.
Charity is not conceived without the revival of religious and moral education. The concept of spiritual enlightenment and charity put forward by the ROC is based on this key idea. It contains the following primary and long-term tasks: the revival of the parish as a Christian community of like-minded people; the revival of church brotherhoods and various kinds of church movements; organization of church health care; creation of diocesan commissions for charity; training of catechism teachers; organization of the charitable budget (parish diocesan, general church).
Specific areas of charitable work also include the creation of a diocesan nursing home, a church boarding school for orphans, bookstores of spiritual literature, a diocesan library, a social assistance committee, specialized parish institutions (Sunday schools, catechism courses for adults, a kindergarten, a library, a canteen, a sobriety society etc.).
3. WithotsRSP ial ministryat the turn of the century
At present, the charitable activities of believers of the Russian Orthodox Church have significantly intensified. Many Orthodox charitable foundations and societies have emerged, the purpose of which is charitable and charitable activities, the consolidation of the progressive forces of Russia and other countries in the name of the revival and development of the traditions of Christian mercy, assistance in the implementation of initiatives related to humanity, mercy and charity of organizations and citizens, the formation and financing targeted projects and programs, primarily in the field of health and social security, organizing public charity homes for the poor and disadvantaged.
The activities of Orthodox charitable organizations, societies, foundations are aimed at providing assistance to individuals in need, and entire social groups (for example, refugees, migrants, etc.), to finance and organize social programs of a charitable nature (their focus varies depending on from the goals of a particular foundation, from creating a network of charitable canteens, shops, distribution points, social adaptation centers to medical care and care for children, helping prisoners, embodying the principles of Christian mercy in the field of education and upbringing, participating in the practical revival of Orthodox mercy and charity , Orthodox shrines, etc.); to study domestic and foreign experience of charitable and charitable activities, etc.
At the same time, it should be noted that there are problems in organizing the efforts of those individuals and organizations that want to join the merciful and charitable work of the church. First of all, this is due to the still tangible lack of experience. Exchange of experience, coordination of charitable activities between Orthodox, other religious and secular organizations is today an urgent need for the development of charitable activities in Russia and the CIS countries.
Constant assistance to dioceses, parishes, monasteries in matters of mercy and charity is provided by the Department of Church Charity and Social Service, including both specific material assistance and advisory assistance. The department publishes a monthly newsletter, Diakonia, which is sent to all dioceses. In general, the institution of mercy in the Russian Orthodox Church appears to be organized and ordered on the basis of agreement on the issue of mercy by a community of believers, where rational establishments determine not only the rights and obligations of members of the community, but also fix the sources of funding and support for charitable activities from various social institutions, sponsors. . The normal functioning of this institution depends on the compatibility of the specific values of religion with the fundamental values of society, Christians with representatives of other faiths, as well as non-believers.
An essentially new stage in the charitable activity of Orthodoxy is now beginning. The development of this activity encounters a lack of material resources. The search for these funds is carried out in various directions, including the ways of developing the entrepreneurial and economic activities of church organizations and monasteries, seeking help from sponsors, patrons, etc.
When establishing contacts, especially on the ground - in dioceses and parishes, between secular social workers and representatives of Orthodox organizations, one may come across the fact that the latter are sometimes inclined to carry out social service primarily among co-religionists. At the same time, leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church also note the opposite fact. So, Professor-Archpriest Gleb Kaleda testifies: “... The organizers of Orthodox charity note that it is often easier to attract people with a good heart, but almost unbelievers or neophytes, recently baptized and going to church, than the so-called church Orthodox people.”
3.1 Medical programs
One of the most important areas in the social service of the Russian Orthodox Church today, as before, is helping suffering people within the framework of medical institutions (hospitals, hospitals). At the end of 1990, in St. Petersburg, next to the Theological Academy, the first church charitable hospital in our country after 1917, St. Blessed Xenia of Petersburg, was opened.
The leadership of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Moscow Patriarchate in the name of St. Alexis, together with the Department and the Government of Moscow, began to create a patronage service on the basis of the hospital, designed to provide care for the sick and the elderly. Currently, this kind of patronage service is already functioning in the Southern District of Moscow. In the context of the transition of medical care to a commercial basis, the Moscow Patriarchate Hospital is one of the few clinics where examination and treatment are free of charge.
The All-Russian Center for Mental Health of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Russia operates a psychiatric service that provides free assistance to persons referred for treatment by parishes of Moscow, the Moscow Region and other dioceses. 250 people are under constant diagnostic observation. The clinic simultaneously treats 20 patients - on a non-commercial basis. In 1996, a special rehabilitation service was created. Through the Department for Church Charity, it is possible to hospitalize patients in the 1st Psychiatric Hospital. ON THE. Alekseev (former Kashchenko), where the pastoral care of the mentally ill is carried out by the rector of the hospital church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”. In July 1996, a memorial chapel was erected on the territory of this psychiatric hospital by the staff of the clinic and the Department.
A significant event was the signing in March 1997 of the Cooperation Agreement between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Ministry of Health. This agreement opened up wide opportunities for expanding the care of patients of clinics for the development of joint charitable projects with medical institutions.
A specific feature of the charitable and charitable activities of religious organizations is its inseparable connection, its unity with religious preaching, with a mission. "More than 200 sisters of mercy who graduated from the school at the temple of Tsarevich Dimitri, not only provide medical care, but carry the deeds of mercy to the suffering of a number of hospitals in Moscow." The idea of the unity of mercy and mission is the basis of the "Concept for the Revival of Spiritual Education and Charity of the Russian Orthodox Church", as well as the organizational and functional structure of the Commission for the Revival of Religious and Moral Education and Charity.
The Orthodox clergy believe that charity and charity should be closely connected with religious preaching. Mercy is a form of Christian preaching. Hence the need for specially trained personnel, possessing not only the necessary professional training, but also moral qualities. Such cadres are being trained today in the network of schools of sisters of mercy, within the framework of the brotherhood of doctors, at some hospitals, etc.
3.2 Anti-alcohol program
Already in the 50s of the 19th century, the first parish sobriety societies began to appear in Russia. In 1882, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt opened the House of Diligence in his parish, where many fallen people were spiritually reborn. By the beginning of the XX century. in almost every diocese there was a sobriety society. In 1912, the first All-Russian Congress of practical figures in the fight against alcoholism on a religious and moral basis was held in Moscow.
A few years ago, the Russian Orthodox Church launched an anti-alcohol program. It, and this is its specificity, is conducted on the principle of the so-called "family sobriety communities", where, in parallel with the treatment of alcoholics, work is carried out with their family members in order to create an atmosphere of sympathy and support around them. In 1996, the department's anti-alcohol program was actively developed. Now there are 25 family sobriety clubs in Russia, 8 more are ready to open. The Department of Justice of the city of Moscow registered the public movement "On the Way to Sobriety", the Board of Trustees of which includes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.
3.3 Children's program
Considerable attention in the activities of the ROC is given to children's programs. In this regard, we should mention the activities of the orphanage school in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Medvedkovo. In the school where more than 70 children from the most unfavorable families live, study and are educated, there is a chapel where prayers are performed, the Sacrament of Baptism is performed, catechetical conversations are held. The rector of the Church of the Intercession in Medvedkovo, Archpriest Porfiry Dyachek, takes part in the spiritual care of orphans and homeless children - pupils of the orphanage. Pupils of the orphanage school in their free time not only visit theaters, circuses, study in clubs, relax in summer camps, but also from an early age are accustomed to helping the elderly - residents of nearby houses.
In addition, a society was created to help orphans and disabled children in the name of the holy unmercenaries Cosmas and Domian and others. The Department for Church Charity and Social Service of the Moscow Patriarchate established the international charitable center of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The task of the center is to provide the necessary comprehensive assistance in spiritual education, professional training of orphans and children in need of social protection, as well as the creation of material conditions for the start of their independent life.
3.4 Social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the field of education
The living practice of the ROC through the work of many priests of the laity catechizers, parents and students themselves gave rise to diverse forms of religious education, catechization of the laity and missionary work:
Sunday schools at churches;
Evangelical circles for adults;
Groups for preparing adults for baptism;
Orthodox kindergartens;
Orthodox groups in public kindergartens;
Orthodox gymnasiums, schools, lyceums;
Orthodox are optional in private and public schools;
Systematic talks on certain programs in temples;
Public lectures in temples;
Lectures on individual subjects, topics and problems in universities;
Orthodox courses for catechizers;
Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute;
Orthodox University of John the Theologian and other similar higher educational institutions;
Organized pilgrimages;
Orthodox children's, youth and family camps;
Help for the elderly and disabled. Characteristic in this respect is the activity of the Orthodox Society "Hope and Salvation", which provides various assistance to elderly people at home. It has become a good tradition to hold charity evenings and concerts for the elderly, the disabled, war and labor veterans with the participation of the clergy and Sunday school children's choirs.
3.5 Unemployment program
Unemployment has become a sign of the times. Its decision is also in the sphere of attention of the ROC. Now, together with the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Lefortovo, the Department is developing a program to create jobs. It is planned that unemployed parishioners will be engaged in sewing at home. In addition, the Coordinating Council of Women's Charitable Organizations, established under the Department, is called upon to address the issues of female unemployment. It seems that both sisterhoods and brotherhoods can and should participate in the most active way in the cause of church charity, in solving a number of social problems. This process is facilitated by the Cooperation Agreement between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Social Protection signed this year.
3.6 Working with refugees and victims of natural disasters
A special direction of the social service of the ROC in modern conditions is work with refugees, the organization of food, the most needy compatriots in the countries of the near abroad and the republics of the Russian Federation. In cooperation with state and public organizations, the Department provides advisory, and, to the extent possible, material assistance in the form of clothing, food, and travel documents.
A number of denominations and seminars of the Russian Orthodox Church (Chechnya, North Ossetia and Ingushetia) were devoted to the problems of rendering assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons; assistance was rendered in the amount of 500 thousand dollars. USA.
Providing assistance to victims of natural disasters and emergencies. Quite characteristic is the fact that charitable assistance and charitable support is provided regardless of national and religious affiliation. On this occasion, the Department held a conference, where representatives of the clergy, including those from Moscow, took part.
3.7 Working with prisoners
An increasing place in the charitable activities of Orthodoxy is occupied by work with prisoners. The Church does not forget her children, who have transgressed the line of the law and justly found themselves deprived of their freedom. Priests, despite the workload of the parish, go to the suffering, bringing them the word of Truth. In October 1994, a joint conference of representatives of correctional institutions and the Church was held at the Domodedovo Training Center. Both sides expressed wishes for further joint work in the matter of spiritual enlightenment and education of the convicts. Thanks to the openness and non-formality of the approach of the leadership of this department to the problem of educating people who are in custody, Orthodox churches, chapels, prayer houses are currently open in more than 60 correctional labor institutions, isolation wards. An analysis of mail from places of detention testifies to the great importance of the temple in the matter of spiritual support for prisoners and their correction.
Similar activities are carried out in many corrective labor colonies. (For example, in corrective labor colony No. 33 in Saratov, where in 1992 the church of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg was consecrated, in corrective labor colony No. 5 in St. Petersburg, where the prisoners themselves built a new church in the name of Hieromartyr Veniamin of Petrogradsky. The temple was consecrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II, who donated the Bible and other religious literature to the prisoners.
It is well known that the stay of convicts in prisons does little to improve their morals. Usually, the prisoner is seen, first of all, as a criminal, and punishment is considered the main form of influence on him. People who have returned to freedom often take the path of crime again. Communication with convicted believers and clergy is built on a fundamentally different moral and psychological basis. They “separate” the person who committed the crime from the crime itself. They see in this person not so much the culprit as the victim of evil will. In the Christian understanding, a person is the bearer of the image of God, who is called to be like God, deified. Evil in a person is a consequence of the fall, which was expressed in disobedience to the will of God (“Do not eat the fruit of good and evil, otherwise you will die by death”, “You are not yet ready for such meetings with non-existence, keep and create paradise” - approximately these were the requests of God to his friend - man. But a man, having incorrectly used the greatest and at the same time the most dangerous gift from the Creator - free will, goes into the chaos of non-existence, falling under the will of Satan. Evil in a man is an unnatural state of rabidness). Such psychological attitudes allow a clergyman or a lay believer to avoid the position of moral superiority, the role of an educator in its simplified sense, in communication with the convict. “The priest will not just talk and comfort,” writes Hieromonk Sergius, the first clergyman in the last 70 years to visit the Butyrka prison. “He will share with the suffering his unbearable moral burden, will sympathize with him.”
3.8 Medical and patronage assistance
A number of Moscow parishes are also actively developing social service in various fields. So, the parish in the name of the faithful Tsarevich Dimitry at the 1st City Hospital, with the help of the sisterhood, provides medical and patronage assistance. The sisters of mercy, after graduating from college, as well as parishioners of the temple, work in the most difficult departments of the 1st city hospital as nurses to care for the sick and orderlies. The parishioners of the church also work in the patronage service, who serve the sick at home, clean the apartments, do laundry, cook food, and buy groceries. Those who have a medical education, carry out medical education, provide medical care - injections, dressings, internal infusion, feeding, personal hygiene, partial rehabilitation of patients. Members of the sisterhood not only serve as obediences in the 1st city hospital, taking care of lonely patients and carrying out patronage at home, but also work with orphans, visiting orphanage No. 12, the St. prisoners, as well as socially disadvantaged sections of the population and hospitals.
The parish of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh is working no less in this direction. Under him, the Life Medical and Educational Center was organized, which aims to inform Russians about such a serious sinful phenomenon as abortion. For three years, the staff of the Center read about 800 lectures in schools, colleges and institutes. More than a dozen different programs, seven TV programs and more than 20 publications in various publications devoted to this topic have been carried out. The total circulation of brochures and leaflets reached millions of copies. Contacts have been established with 598 medical institutions, where publications of the Center are regularly sent. There is a patronage that takes care of 8 seriously ill people who are unable to move independently.
The brotherhood of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, at the Church of All Saints b. Novoalekseevsky Monastery, which is preparing the opening of an almshouse at this parish. Assistance is systematically provided to the poor, the elderly, the blind, those with many children thanks to the constant delivery of humanitarian aid through the channels of the brotherhood from the USA and Belgium.
3.9 Social Service of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Armed Forces
The reforms and spiritual revival of our society to a large extent also affected the military collectives of the Russian Army. In 1996, we witnessed close and fruitful cooperation between the Russian military and the Orthodox Church. Such cooperation is the call of the times, it is due to the revival of the state-patriotic idea and the best traditions of faithful service to the Fatherland.
To date, joint statements have been signed with five ministries and departments that have a military contingent. Together with the Federal Border Service, a long-term plan for mutual cooperation has been approved. In addition, in the development and addition of the initiated cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a Cooperation Agreement was signed, which provides for a number of measures, the main purpose of which is to overcome the spiritual and moral crisis, strengthen the rule of law and the rule of law. A similar agreement is being prepared for signing with the Ministry of Defense, which will provide for the development of relations in matters of patriotic education, spiritual and moral education of military personnel, and determine practical steps for the implementation of their religious needs.
I would like to note that although there were more mutual events with the Ministry of Defense than with anyone else, the rest of the departments did not stand aside. Priests of the Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies visited the hospital in Balashikha during the holidays, congratulated the wounded soldiers on the holiday and presented them with gifts.
Program for church interaction with the state and society in the social field. In this regard, the Public Council was created, which included the heads of scientific centers, well-known political and cultural figures. The ROC is making efforts to establish contacts with charitable foundations of other faiths - Muslim, Buddhist, using the experience of foreign charitable organizations, the efforts of individual citizens.
Conclusion
The traditions of mercy and charitable activities were actively developed in the Eastern Christian Church from the very beginning of its formation. From the time of the Christianization of Russia until 1917, the cause of "public contempt" was in the hands of the Church.
Over the years of its existence, the ROC has accumulated extensive experience in charitable and charitable activities, which today is being actively revived. Of course, like any other, this experience has not only advantages, but also disadvantages, but on the whole it can in many ways serve the spiritual revival of our Fatherland. “But spiritual revival is not only the construction of temples, the opening of monasteries, it is the creation of temples in the souls of people, the revival of mercy and generosity, which were once so characteristic of Russian Orthodoxy.”
This is a common work that the ROC does in the field of social service. Unfortunately, the objective socio-economic situation in the country indicates that the need for such work will not only exist for a long time, but will increase every year.
Today Russia feels on its social body the beneficial influence of the ministry of the Russian Orthodox Church. To say that this is a revival would be wrong. Suffice it to recall what tsarism led to with the state Orthodox department, which sang both the virtue and the vices of the “tsar-father” at every divine service. The fashionable today concept of “the revival of Orthodoxy in Russia” and the preaching of a monarchical state system as the only charitable government, I think, can only lead to a repetition of 1917. I would call the current position of the ROC the concept of "renewal". After all, the XVIII - XIX centuries. were centuries of intra-church disputes between Catholic and Protestant theology and their joint opposition to secularization and freethinking.
The theoretical foundations of Greek Catholic theology, the religious philosophy of the "holy fathers of the Byzantine Orthodox Church" were resurrected by the "ship of the 22nd year", such divinely enlightened fathers as Fr. George Florovsky, Fr. Vladimir Lossky, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Fr. John Meyendorff and other Russian religious thinkers. After all, it is known that the right knowledge, the right spirituality generates the right behavior, the right life.
Studying the material for this work, one gets the impression that (no matter how strange it may sound) that what is realized in potency, guided by the free will of man in synergy with the grace-filled will of God, in the world of determinations, one must try to implement in reality, penetrating deeper and deeper into the memories of future...
Fulfilling the mission of saving the human race, the Church does this not only through direct preaching, but also through good deeds aimed at improving the spiritual, moral and material condition of the world around. For this, it interacts with the state, even if it is not of a Christian nature, as well as with various public associations and individuals, even if they do not identify themselves with the Christian faith. Without setting the direct task of converting everyone to Orthodoxy as a condition for cooperation, the Church hopes that joint charity will lead her co-workers and people around them to the knowledge of the Truth, help them maintain or restore fidelity to God-given moral norms, move them towards peace, harmony and prosperity, in conditions which the Church can best carry out her salvific work.
I would like to conclude, after St. Grigory Palamas, in fulfilling the will of God, to open up ever wider to His uncreated energies (grace, “light of Tabor”), ascending to the ideal of God-humanity, according to the words of the religious Slavophil philosopher Alexei Stepanovich Khomyakov: “In the unity of freedom according to the law of love.”
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17th Anniversary Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Fundamentals of the social concept of the Russian Orthodox Church. Moscow, August 13 - 16, 2000
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