The love of money is the 3rd of the 8 basic passions, which manifests itself as an insatiable increase in material values. The virtue opposite to the love of money is non-possession.

Under the influence of the love of money, a person violates the second commandment of God, becomes an idolater, begins to honor the “Golden Calf”, that is, wealth. The main varieties of avarice are the following: greed (the desire to possess something) and stinginess (the desire to save). Greed tries to capture someone else's, and stinginess is afraid to share its own.

The love of money is the passion of the soul to possess finances and material possessions more than a person needs under certain conditions. For example, a person has a large family and seeks to build a house for her, earning money for it. Will it be avarice? No.

And the other person lives alone, without a family and children, but wants to have a 5-room apartment and tries to earn money for it. Will it be avarice? Yes, definitely.

The inclination of people to the love of money is, on the whole, natural. The desire to earn a living, support their family and children, buy housing and other necessary things pushes people to look for work, a stable source of income. In itself, this will not be reprehensible if it is within acceptable limits.

For example, if you need something in a specific period of time and save up for it, earn money, even having several jobs at once, this is not a sin and is not reprehensible.

But how do you set the measure? A measure is everything that is enough for a person’s life, gives him the opportunity to live without prejudice to his life, helping those who need it, but without excesses that damage the soul.

If a person has a high income, but before going to bed his thoughts are not occupied with money, can he be called money-loving? Absolutely not. And if he even lives in modest conditions, but every night before going to bed he dreams about a bag of money, is he a money lover? Of course. Therefore, the degree of a person’s income is completely unimportant: the rich may not be a lover of money, calmly perceive money, and a beggar can be thoroughly saturated with this passion for the thirst for money.

In order to live a calm and harmonious life, one should always observe the following important patristic rule: “Let your own need for something become the measure of your acquisition.” The venerable God-bearing father Ephraim the Syrian emphasizes the same.

By nature, man does not tend to love money.

The clergy say that the passion of the love of money, unlike other types of passions, is alien to human nature and not peculiar to it. And this is of great importance, because since this passion is not rooted in human nature, it means that it will not be so difficult to defeat it if desired.

Other types of passions are inherent in the very human beginning. For example, if we talk about fornication. It is connected with the fact that each of us has a physical body (flesh), the instinct of reproduction is inherent in us, and various hormonal changes regularly occur in our body. The passion of gluttony is connected with the fact that we are forced to eat food in order to live, it is vital for us.

And such a pathology as the love of money wakes up in a person later than all the others and begins to infiltrate the human soul from the outside. That is, its root is not in the person himself. But therefore, it is much easier to defeat and regurgitate it.

But if a person once neglects this passion, lets it into his heart, then he runs the risk of becoming the most disastrous and getting rid of it will be the most difficult, because then it begins to excite other passions.

The passion for finance is unnatural to human nature, and the impulse to it is due not to our nature, but to perverse will.

The love of money is impossible to satiate

In fact, the main danger of the love of money is that this passion cannot be fully sated, unlike other passions. For example, if a person suffers from the passion of gluttony and consumes a large amount of food, but in the end there is still some limit - the volume of his stomach, the amount of food on the table, stocks in the refrigerator, and so on. At some point it still stops.

In the same way, prodigal passion cannot be endlessly realized, because it also depends on the physical resources of the body. If a person is subject to the passion of anger and can suddenly flare up, then all the same, at some point his nervous energy will be depleted - according to physiologists and doctors, with the consumption of the required amount of adenosine triphosphoric acid. It burns out and the person is no longer able to be angry, even if he tries or wants to continue to do so.

But the situation changes dramatically when we talk about the passion of the love of money. After all, the more a person buys, the more stingy he becomes and the more he wants to have. Perhaps you think that a millionaire squanders money right and left? Absolutely not, rich people are often ready to hang themselves for a penny.

The love of money is the sister of greed and even more - its Siamese twin. They are always inextricably linked with each other.

The clergy have their own experience in this matter. When the sisters of mercy go to see patients, they often notice that the more money and opportunities a person has, the more he tries to calculate every penny, so as not to convey too much. And the proverb is especially popular with them: “That’s why I am rich, because I pay where you need to pay and don’t cry where you can not pay” ...

The main danger of the passion of the love of money is that it cannot be tamed at all. The more money a person receives, the more it seems to him that everything is not enough. This, by the way, is the first hallmark of the passion for money - the desire to have more money, at least for a little bit. This indicates the entry of passion into your heart. It is important to detect this bad tendency in time and immediately begin to stop the development of passion.

The love of money nourishes and strengthens other kinds of passions.

The passion for the love of money has a very close connection with its “compatriots”. Everything is explained quite simply: you, for example, love delicious food, without moderating your appetite, so you need to earn more money.

Feeling envy about the appearance, clothing, or well-being of others means that you need money to be on the same level with them.

If you want to achieve worldly glory, you need to achieve a position, take a solid post, which will provide appropriate financial opportunities and honor.

Therefore, if you can find the root of the problem of love of money in your soul, then you will get rid of seedlings and other passions. That is why the Monk Nil of Sinai says that: “He who wants to cope with all passions must first of all eliminate their true root; and as long as the love of money remains, you will not be able to achieve a positive result, since the branches, cut off, will immediately begin to grow back.

It becomes clear what a terrible passion is the love of money. It can completely cloud a person's mind, make him think only about money, completely ignoring the other joys of life.

It is sad to realize that today the love of money overcomes an increasing number of people, making them slaves of material goods and values. The only thing that can be done is to fight this heavy passion, eliminating it from your life and from the lives of your neighbors.

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Where did the word "passion" come from and what passions are not sinful? In the article you will not only find answers to these questions, but also learn in detail about the passion of the love of money, its various subspecies, how this sin is also called in the Old and New Testaments, and what definitions of passion are given by the holy fathers of the Church.


  • The general concept of "passion" in the patristic tradition
  • Definition of passion for money
  • According to the Holy Scripture
  • According to the works of the holy fathers and ascetics of piety

    • The general concept of "passion" in the patristic tradition

    The Russian word “passion” originally means “suffering”, therefore, in relation to Christianity, this word is often used in the meaning of “martyrdom” (for example, the Passion of Christ). At the same time, the word "passion" serves to translate the Greek term πάθος ( from verb. πα ́ σχω - suffer and lat. passio - suffering, suffering, passion), which initially means not only suffering, but also undergoing in the broadest sense - to be the object of some external action or the state of an object that is influenced by something else.

    In the Orthodox understanding, passion is the fruit of a person's cooperation with the devil and arises through a conscious perversion of one's nature and one's natural needs. Yes, St. Basil the Great says that passion is a disease of the soul, and St. Abba Isaiah in addition to St. Basil notices that passions are diseases of the soul that alienate it from God.

    According to Bishop Nemesius, the definition of passion is expressed in a strong and long-term desire to satisfy what is desired, and according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, passion is expressed in desire that governs the mind, by which is meant the spirit.

    The limitation of human nature in a certain way took place even in paradise, but it was fully manifested after the fall of the forefathers.

    The manifestation of passions in human nature occurs under certain conditions. In the primordial state, man was in uninterrupted communion with God and supported his vital forces primarily by the grace of God, and after the fall, man began to live “by his own nature.” Man as a being is not self-sufficient, created, changeable and limited, unable to make up for his limitations and inferiority, and therefore suffers.

    According to the teachings of the Church, it is customary to divide passions into natural and unnatural. natural passions (τάκατάφύσινπάθη ) - these are “passive states of a person”, which arose after the fall and manifested themselves in the limitations (mortality, perishability) of human nature. Natural passions include such human needs as the need for food, sleep, rest, shelter, clothing, etc. These are natural needs that are not sinful. They are also called irreproachable or impeccable passions (Greek. πα ́ θη ‘ αδια ́ βλητα ).

    According to St. John Chrysostom, the limitation of human nature in a certain way took place even in paradise, but it fully manifested itself after the fall of the ancestors. When "they lost the veil of immortality, the clothes of glory were taken away, the body was exposed and only the earth remained" .

    Unnatural passions (τάπαράφύσινπάθη ) - these are sinful states that arise as a result of the misuse of the natural properties and natural passions of a person against the divine plan, only for the sake of obtaining sinful pleasures. The Holy Fathers also call them reproachful and subnatural passions.

    In patristic and ecclesiastical literature, the word "passion" or "passions" often means precisely unnatural sinful passions.

    Any sinful passion prevents a person from being in spiritual union with God. Consequently, in order to heal the soul from this disease, it is necessary to cleanse one's heart of passions, which hinder spiritual union with God and obscure the hidden virtues in the human soul.

    In patristic literature, since the 4th century, it has been customary to single out an eight-part system of sinful passions (gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity and pride). This system was used by the great ascetics of the Church, such as St. Ephraim the Syrian (IV century), Evagrius of Pontus (IV century), St. John Cassian the Roman (5th century), St. Nile of Sinai (5th century), St. John of Damascus (VIII century), St. Peter of Damascus (XII century), St. Theodore of Edessa (IX century), Gregory of Sinai (XIV century) and others.

    In turn, some holy fathers, such as St. Gregory of Nazianzus (4th century), St. John of the Ladder (VI century) and others count seven passions, uniting vanity and pride.

    The difference between the main passions among many others is of no small practical importance in the fight against them.

    The listed passions are the main ones, and the holy fathers call them the producers of all evil, the roots of all other passions, and the stimulators of every other sinful inclination to passion.

    The difference between the main passions among many others is of no small practical importance in the fight against them: it determines the order of action and the main objects of this struggle - the main passions, from which, as from the root, others grow. By conquering the main passions, the others are defeated.

    The Holy Fathers, examining sinful human passions in detail, notice more subtle differences and point out the connections and interactions between them, while uniting them according to one or another feature. So, for example, Rev. John Cassian, the Roman, groups passions as follows: gluttony and fornication are bodily passions; love of money, anger, sadness and despondency are spiritual and bodily passions, and vanity and pride are spiritual. Other passions can resist bodily and soul-bodily, that is, the diminishment of some can lead to the growth of others.

    In the octal system of passions, four causal pairs are formed among themselves: gluttony - fornication, avarice - anger, seal - despondency, vanity - pride. The fight against causal passions makes it possible to eradicate or prevent the development and consequences of these passions.

    In the patristic heritage, there are other options for systematizing the passions. For example, Abba Dorotheos speaks of three important passions, from which all the variety of others comes. According to his teaching, the main passions are pride, love of money and love of glory: “all the fathers say that every passion is born from these three: from love of glory, love of money and love of glory.”

    Abba Fallasius teaches that at the base of all sinful passions there are three thoughts: gluttony, vanity and avarice, but mainly self-love: “self-love is the beginning of passions.”

    Rev. Maximus the Confessor, grouping passions, distinguishes among them bodily and mental: "The first come from the desires of the body, and the second - from the irritable and desirable part of the soul, and are caused by external objects."

    The love of money passion in the broadest sense denotes any attachment of a person to the material goods of the visible world.

    Thus, sinful passions arise by perverting the properties of human nature, which are directed to the realization of false meanings and the achievement of erroneous goals. A person enters this path as a result of disgust from God or from His ignorance, as well as from the temptation to enjoy the action of sin with the assistance of the devil. If a person succumbs to the sinful temptation, then by committing a sin, he damages his nature. When the same sins are repeated many times, then nature is distorted and a sinful passion is formed.

    Definition of passion for money

    Covetousness (gr. φιλαργυρία ) is the name of passion in a collective sense, which includes such sins as covetousness, greed, greed, avarice, mischief, covetousness, selfishness, perverse profit, selfish benefit, greed, speculation, etc. Each of the above definitions is related, has one ontological basis and at the same time expresses a concrete manifestation of the passion of greed.

    Thus, the passion of avarice (or, as it is often called, covetousness) in the broadest sense means any attachment of a person to the material goods of the visible world - not only to money, but also to clothes, household items, comfort, etc. In a narrow sense - insatiability in the acquisition of money and property.

    A person possessed by this passion takes or wants to take not only what is necessary, but also many other things with a significant excess to satisfy his sinful passions, regardless of his real needs.

    According to the Holy Scripture

    In the text of the Holy Scriptures, the passion of the love of money is presented descriptively as a circle of definite and interconnected passionate actions of the soul. The term love of money ( Greekφιλαργυρία ) is found in the Old and New Testaments in various contexts. From the totality of the available citations of the Holy Scriptures, one can identify several manifestations of this passion, genetic relationship and continuity with other passions, its destructive influence on a person’s life and his salvation.

    The passion of the love of money is so many-sided that in the Holy Scriptures (according to the Greek text of the Old Testament Septuaginta and the New Testament Novum Testamentum Graece) its manifestations are denoted by several words: in fact, the word love of money ( φιλαργυρία ) , as well as covetousness (πλεονεξία ) and greed (αἰσχροκ έ ρδε ια ) . There are other words in the Greek text that the translators of the Synodal text translated as greed, but there are very few such words: (Ps. 9:24), where in LXX is ὁ ἀδικω̃ν - i.e. wicked or unrighteous and (Prov. 15:27) in LXX is used ὁ δωρολήμπτης - i.e. briber.

    The love of money is the root of all evil: by submitting to this passion and cultivating it in his heart, a person will easily cherish many other sins derived from it.

    In understanding the various aspects of this passion, it is important to consider its biblical context.

    The term love of money is first encountered by the Apostle Luke in the address of the Pharisees, who, being money-loving, laughed at the words of the Savior about the impossibility of combining the service of God and mammon (Luke 16:13-14). Consequently, the Lord Himself rejects the possibility of combining the service of God with the service of silver or money, or any material enrichment. It turns out that the love of money is a violation of the second commandment, idolatry in its purest form, worship of the “golden calf”: “You cannot serve God and mammon,” that is, wealth.

    The apostle clarifies this danger and says that “the love of money is the root of all evil, in giving way to which some have erred from the faith and subjected themselves to many tribulations” (1 Tim. 6:10). Therefore, the Apostle Paul, in his first pastoral epistle to the Apostle Timothy, says that a bishop should not be a lover of money. (ἀφιλάργυρον) (1 Tim. 3:3).

    The universal love of money will be evidence of the end times: people will be “self-loving, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, ungodly, unfriendly” (2 Tim. 3.2).

    And the last place where the term avarice occurs in the New Testament is the letter to the Hebrews, where the apostle Paul calls on the chosen people of God to have “a disposition not loving (ἀ φιλάργυρος ), content with what you have. For I myself said, I will not leave you, nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

    As follows from the considered examples of the Holy Scriptures, the word love of money ( φιλαργυρία ) used to denote service to "mammon" (μαμων άς ) , i.e. wealth, gold and material goods. In addition, the love of money is the root of all evil, i.e. by submitting to this passion and cultivating it in his heart, a person will easily cherish many other sins derived from it.

    Another term to describe the passion of greed is covetousness. (πλεονεξία ). This word is the same as φιλαργυρία , is found only in the New Testament and not at all often.

    Evangelist Luke cites the following words of the Savior: “Beware, beware of covetousness (πλεονεξίας ), for the life of a man does not depend on the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). If the passion of covetousness dominates in a person, then the whole life of a person is subject to one goal - the acquisition (acquisition) of material goods.

    In the second epistle of the apostle Peter about false prophets who were covetous, it says the following: “And out of covetousness they will trap you with flattering words; their judgment is ready long ago, and their destruction does not sleep” (2 Pet. 2:3). At this point, the apostle says that because of their covetousness, and, consequently, because of their greedy insatiability in acquiring everything and more, false prophets will try in every possible way to entrap their listeners. In the same chapter, the apostle Peter, already addressing the lawless and following the foul lusts of the flesh, points out that “their eyes are filled with lust and unceasing sin; they deceive unasserted souls; their heart is accustomed to covetousness: these are the sons of a curse” (2 Pet. 2:14). The apostle testifies to the great perniciousness of this passion, saying that the hearts of the sons of a curse are accustomed, i.e. accustomed to covetousness.

    In his epistle to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul writes: "But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints" (Eph. 5:3). The apostle sharply condemns the naming of covetousness, as well as fornication and other impurity, not to mention the state of being in subjection to the listed sins.

    The following two verses from the epistles of the holy Apostle Paul call the sin of covetousness idolatry: (ειδωλολάτρης ) has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5) and “mortify your members on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness, which are idolatry (ειδωλολατρία ) ” (Col. 3:5). In the context of these two statements, the Apostle Paul, along with other sins, calls for the eradication of covetousness, because its presence blocks the path to the Kingdom of God.

    It is forbidden to be greedy towards a brother, and therefore towards any believer or anyone else.

    Even in the Old Testament, the Lord gave through the prophet Moses to all the people of Israel His Commandments, where the second of them forbids making idols and various idols on earth. An idol is an adored object of worship, replacing the One God. This is categorically forbidden by the Lord, and, therefore, the comparison of the sin of covetousness with idolatry certainly indicates a complete contrast between serving wealth, material wealth (as an idol) and serving God.

    The third, and last, synonym for the word love of money ( φιλαργυρία ) according to the Scriptures, this is a sin of selfishness (αἰσχροκ έ ρδε ια ). This word occurs several times in the Old and New Testaments. It is noteworthy that in the Synodal translation of the Bible, the Russian word greed was translated not only the Greek word αἰσχροκ έ ρδε ια , but also some other Greek words. So, for example, in the Psalter: “For the ungodly boasts in the lust of his soul; avaricious (ὁ ἀδικω̃ν) pleases himself” (Ps. 9:24). Greek word ὁ ἀδικω̃ν , which rather signifies the unrighteous or ungodly, is here translated as a covetous man.

    Another interesting verse: «Ἐξόλλυσιν ἑαυτὸν ὁ δωρολήμπτης ὁ δὲ μισω̃ν δώρων λήμψεις σώ̨ζεται» (Prov. 15:27), which in the text of the Synodal Translation sounds like this: “The greedy one will destroy his house, but the one who hates gifts will live” (Prov. 15:27). Although, if translated literally from the Greek original, it sounds like this: “The bribe taker will completely perish (will destroy himself), but he who hates accepting gifts will be saved” (Prov. 15:27). As you can see, the Greek ὁ δωρολήμπτης translators translated as "selfish".

    In the New Testament, words about covetousness are found in the Apostolic Epistles. The Holy Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Romans about sinners who have sinned with unnatural sins, says the following: “They are full of all unrighteousness, fornication, deceit, covetousness (πλεονεξία̨) , wickedness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malevolence” (Rom. 1:29). Here this sin stands among other terrible sins.

    In another epistle, the apostle Paul, speaking of what the will of God is about the Christians living in Thessalonica, declares: “So that you do nothing with your brother contradictory and greedy (πλεονεκτει ̃ ν ) because the Lord is the avenger of all these things, just as we also spoke to you and testified to you” (1 Thessalonians 4:6). It is forbidden to be greedy towards a brother, and therefore towards any believer or anyone else.

    In his pastoral epistle to the Apostle Timothy, Saint Paul writes that a bishop should be “not a drunkard, not a murderer, not quarrelsome, not greedy.” (πλήκτην ) but quiet, peaceful, not money-loving (α ̓ φιλάργυρον ) » (1 Tim. 3.3). He also writes about the qualities of a bishop in an epistle to the Apostle Titus: “For a bishop must be blameless, like God’s steward, not impudent, not angry, not a drunkard, not a murderer, not a covetous (αἰσχροκερδη̃) » (Tit. 1:7). And with regard to deacons to the Apostle Timothy, the holy Apostle Paul confirms the same thing: “Deacons also must be honest, not bilingual, not addicted to wine, not greedy. (αἰσχροκερδει̃ς) ” (1 Tim. 3:8).

    So, from the text of the Holy Scriptures, it follows that three terms are mainly used to denote the passion of the love of money: the love of money ( φιλαργυρία ), covetousness (πλεονεξία ) and greed (αἰσχροκ έ ρδε ια ) . Considering the context of the use of the indicated words, it is clear that they are basically similar in meaning. The Lord warns his disciples against this passion (Lk. 12:15), the Pharisees (Lk. 16:14) and false prophets (2 Pet. 2:14) were sick with it, it is incompatible with serving God (Lk. 16:13) , it is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10), idolatry (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5), not befitting for Christians (1 Thess. 4:6; (Eph. 5:3), not should be among bishops (1 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 1:7) and deacons (1 Tim. 3:8) and should not even be named among Christians (Eph. 5:3). and pride, fornication, arrogance, slander and ingratitude are the signs of the end times (2 Tim. 3:2) In addition, the Holy Scripture says that a person with this passion cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (Eph. 5:5).

    According to the works of the holy fathers and ascetics of piety

    Love of money as a passion that makes a person become a slave to material wealth, spiritually and physically destroyed under the influence of the corrupting influence of the lust for wealth, was widely explained in the writings of the holy fathers and ascetics of piety.

    The most common definition of the love of money in patristic and ascetic spiritual and edifying literature stems from the words of the holy Apostle Paul, who calls this passion idolatry (see: Col. 3:5-6 and Eph. 5:3,5).

    Of the early holy fathers, who more accurately confirms and explains the words of the holy Apostle Paul about the love of money as worship of an idol, St. John Cassian the Roman (IV-V centuries): “the apostle calls it idolatry, because, having left the image and likeness of God (which the one who reverently serves God must keep pure in himself), instead of God he wants to love and keep the images of people imprinted on gold” .

    Just as drunkards, the more wine they pour into themselves, the more they inflame with thirst, so the money-lovers can never stop their indomitable passion.

    In a similar way he defined this passion and St. John of the Ladder (6th century): “Love of money is the worship of idols, the daughter of unbelief, excusing oneself with one’s weaknesses, a predictor of old age, a harbinger of famine, a fortuneteller of lack of rain.” Rev. John of the Ladder, like other true ascetics, ascetics and interlocutors of the Holy Spirit, identified the love of money with the worship of idols not by chance, his edification grows from personal observation and experience in building the spiritual life of those people whose mentors he was.

    In the 19th century The relevance of the above definition was emphasized by St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov). He says: “Holy Scripture calls the love of money idolatry: the love of money transfers the love of the heart (in faith and hope) from God to money, makes money God, destroys the true God for man. The money-lover has no God. The God of the money-lover is his capital.

    The next concept, and at the same time a variety, of the passion for avarice is greed, which is defined as the desire for personal gain, gain and greed.

    St. John Chrysostom, comparing the passion of money-loving with drunkenness, notes that just as drunkards, the more they pour wine into themselves, the more they are inflamed with thirst, so money-lovers can never stop their indomitable passion, but “the more their property increases, the more they are inflamed. covetousness and do not lag behind this passion until they plunge into the very abyss of evil.

    St. Basil the Great, speaking about the love of money, also refers to this passion as self-interest: “defeated by small self-interest, having once taken the root of lust into his heart, he immediately ignited with the heat of a greater desire.” Elsewhere, speaking of the perniciousness of the passion for the love of money on the example of the first Christians Ananias and Sapphira, St. Basil uses the same term: “Even those who want to collect money that they never had, and, showing poverty before people, turn out to be rich before God through the passion of self-interest?”

    St. Tikhon Zadonsky, testifying to the main property of greed, insatiability in his desires, again means by it the passion of greed: “Even animals, having had their fill, no longer rush to animals, and greed can never get enough, but always hunger and thirst for someone else's good and what the more they collect, the more they desire and steal.”

    St. Theophan the Recluse defines the sin of greed as follows: “self-interest is an insatiable desire to have, or the search for and acquisition of things under the guise of utility, then only to say “mine” about them. St. Theophanes points to an important property of greed - "to have one's own", i.e. a strong desire to possess something.

    Prot. Sergiy Filimonov says that the peculiarity of greed, as well as greed in general, is in its insatiability: the more a person acquires, the more he wants and the more greedy and stingy he becomes.

    Another term that has a concept similar to the love of money is covetousness.

    Father and teacher of the Church of St. Basil the Great about the love of money, calling it covetousness, says this: “What does covetousness consist of? The fact that the limit of the law is transgressed, and a person cares more about himself than about his neighbor.

    The next variety of the passion for the love of money is the sin of taking money. Msheloimstvo is a passion for collecting property, acquiring and hoarding superfluous, unnecessary things, as well as bribery, etc.

    Msheloimstvo is the acquisition of things unnecessary for a person, when they are, as it were, covered with moss from long storage and inactivity.

    Rev. Leo Optinsky writes about this sin as follows: “As for the love of things and mischief (that is, the excesses of various things), then this weakness, according to the reasoning of the holy fathers, is bitterer and more miserable than the love of money.”

    St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) remarks that novice monks should not “bring in the cells of misloimage, that is, various items of whim and luxury. Private monsoonism attracts the mind and heart of the newcomer to itself: in this way it distracts them from God. In addition, it excites dreaminess, which opposes spiritual progress.

    Prot. Pavel Gumerov, asking the question “what is the misdemeanor, about which one reads in the confessional evening prayer?”, answers it himself that the misdemeanor is the acquisition of things unnecessary for a person, when they are, as it were, covered with moss from long storage and inactivity. Very poor people can also suffer from this sin, acquiring and accumulating dishes, clothes, any other items, filling all cabinets, shelves and pantries with them, and often even forgetting what lies where.

    Prot. Sergiy Pravdolyubov tells about the etymology of the sin of “msheloism” that one old priest explained the origin of this word from the adjective “mossy” - overgrown with moss: moldy bread in the breadbasket, old milk in the refrigerator, rancid cereals that were stored “for a rainy day”, old unnecessary things - all sorts of senseless and ruinous hoarding in the spirit of Plyushkin. Consequently, mossiness of unnecessary collected items comes from mossy. This sin, like the sin of self-interest and other sins of the passion of the love of money, happens not only to the rich, but also to the poor.

    Another kind of passion for money, and for some a synonym, is stinginess, which should be characterized as excessive thrift and the desire to avoid any expenses in every possible way.

    St. John Chrysostom, in his eloquent sermons on the passion of the love of money, declares: “The love of money is not only in loving a lot of money, but in general in the love of money. To desire more than is necessary is the great love of money. Did the talents of gold persuade the traitor? Only thirty pieces of silver; for thirty pieces of silver he sold the Lord. St. John Chrysostom, when defining the passion under study, draws attention to the main property of the love of money - this is, first of all, a strong love for money, i.e. a perverse property of love, in which the right love for God and neighbor is directed towards oneself, towards the greedy acquisition of something for oneself, in this case money.

    There are also more lengthy and figurative definitions of the love of money. Rev. Isidore Pelusiot, who lived in the 5th century, compares this vice with a bestial, fire-breathing woman who, instead of hair on her head, has thousands of snakes, constantly hissing and spewing deadly poison, and she has thousands of hands with claws, with which she torments some, throws arrows at others. , and the third snatches money. The saint says that she flatters, fawns, deceives, does not respect anyone, does not heed any requests, or sighs, or lamentations, or curses. She “takes everything, robs everyone, is never satisfied, but turns the multitude of what she gathers into food more and more widely for the kindled fire, and the end of what is taken makes it the beginning of taking more.” Thus, Saint Isidore, based on the manifestations of the passion of the love of money, builds his vision of the definition of this disease.

    The church thinker of the 19th century, Archimandrite Photius (Spassky), defines the passion for money in this way: “love of money is an insatiable desire to multiply the estate and acquire money in any way.”

    Elsewhere, St. John Chrysostom compares the passion of the love of money, in an allegorical sense, with a terrible alcohol addiction: “the love of money is insatiable drunkenness, and just as drunkards, the more they pour wine into themselves, the more they become inflamed with thirst, so these (money-lovers) can never stop this indomitable passion. , but the more they see the growth of their property, the more they are inflamed by greed and do not lag behind this evil passion until they plunge into the very abyss of evil. In this statement of the saint, one can see the destructive effect of the passion for money, the impossibility of satisfying his needs and the death of a person’s soul for eternal life.

    Rev. Fallasius, paraphrasing the words of the Apostle Paul about the love of money as the root of all evil (see: 1 Tim. 6:10), says that the love of money is “the food of the passions, since it supports and grows all-embracing self-pleasing lust.” In a similar way, this passion is characterized by St. Abba Isaiah: "Covetousness is the evil mother of all evils".

    The holy fathers and ascetics of piety define the passion of the love of money as well as covetousness. The sin of covetousness is the sin of appropriation of someone else's and bribery (give money at interest, unrighteous acquisition, participation in lotteries, playing on the stock exchange, etc.). Earlier, in Rus', usurers were called usurers. The sin of covetousness is always accompanied by avarice and avarice.

    Covetousness is the evil mother of all evils.

    Rev. Isaac the Syrian calls the sin of covetousness not just the desire to have money, gold or something expensive, but this passion also calls any attachment of the human will: “Do not think,” says St. Isaac the Syrian, - that only the acquisition of gold and silver is covetousness; it is the acquisition of whatever it is to which the will is attached.

    As can be seen, the holy fathers and ascetics of piety, in defining the passion for the love of money, focus on different aspects of this vice and its different, but equally pernicious, consequences. Some of them emphasize that the passion of the love of money is not natural and depends on the choice of a person, while others, on the fact that the passion of the love of money hides the death of the soul, which makes a person incapable of communion with God, replaces God and puts himself in the place of an idol. . All of them call to be moderate and restrained in their desires, not to allow passion to settle in your heart and try to use everything for the glory of God.

    According to the Lampe G.W.H. A Patristic Greek Lexicon, where the Greek terminology of the holy fathers is considered, two terms are used in the definition of the passion for money πλεονεξία And αἰσχροκέρδή ς . And πλεονεξία has nine definitions, and αἰσχροκέρδή ς just one.

    In the definition of the Greek word π λεονεξία the following meanings are used in the Lampe dictionary:

    love of money (St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Polycarp of Smyrna, martyr Justin Flosof, Origen);

    profit, profit (St. Clement of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom);

    Covetousness, sorrow, especially sorrow enslaved by the devil ( oppression by devil) (St. Clement of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop Theodore of Cyrus);

    Unfair, rude attitude (St. Clement of Alexandria);

    Pride (Eusebius of Caesarea);

    Superiority over others, benefit ( St. Clement of Alexandria);

    Wealth (St. John Chrysostom, Bishop Theodoret of Cyrus);

    demon possession (St. Hippolytus of Rome And Origen).

    And in the definition of the term αἰσχροκέρδή ς one value is used - sordidly greedy gain, those. excessive covetousness (see: Bishop Theodore of Cyrus interpretation on (1 Tim. 3:8)).

    Let us note that the holy fathers and ascetics of piety did not try to give a clear definition of the passion of the love of money, but often aimed to show how this passion manifests itself, i.e. what are the signs of the action of passion on the human soul and body and how to fight it.

    It is worth remembering that in all manifestations of the passion for money there is one common motive - the desire to possess a lot, love for the process itself and for acquiring and possessing as much as possible.

    Monk Agafangel (Davlatov)

    Keywords: passion, covetousness, love of money, mischief, covetousness, covetousness, mammon, Holy Scripture, holy fathers, St. John Chrysostom


    Leonov V., prot.

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    Spiritual aspects of Christianity// URL.: http://pagez.ru/ds/strasti.php (date of access: 01/24/2017).

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    Macarius the Great, St. Spiritual Conversations. - M.: STSL Publishing House, 2014. - P. 93.

    Leonov V., prot. Fundamentals of Orthodox Anthropology: Textbook. - M.: Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2013. - P. 215.

    John of Damascus, St. Exact presentation of the Orthodox faith. - M.: Siberian Blagozvonnitsa, 2012. - S. 315.

    St. John Chrysostom taught that in Paradise, to strengthen the nature of Adam, God gave three kinds of trees - there were trees that gave him food for life, there were trees that contributed to his prosperous life, and there was a tree that protected him for eternal life. Cm.: John Chrysostom, St. Complete collection of creations. In twelve volumes. T. VI. - St. Petersburg: ZLATOUST, 2004. - S. 599.

    John Chrysostom, St. Complete collection of creations. In twelve volumes. T. VI. - St. Petersburg: ZLATOUST, 2004. - S. 809.

    Leonov V., prot. Fundamentals of Orthodox Anthropology: Textbook. - M.: Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2013. - P. 217.

    Zarin S. M. Asceticism in Orthodox Christian teaching. Ethical-theological research. - Kyiv: Society of Lovers of Orthodox Literature. Publishing house named after Leo, Pope of Rome, 2006. - S. 214.

    Shimansky G.I. The teaching of the holy fathers and ascetics of the Orthodox Church on the fight against the main sinful passions and on the virtues. - M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2006. - S. 135.


    1. What is the love of money

    The love of money is one of the main passions, it is the love of money, property, wealth, enrichment.

    St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) writes about what the passion of avarice is expressed in:

    Loving money, generally loving property, movable and immovable. Desire to get rich. Reflection on the means to enrichment. Dream of wealth. Fear of old age, sudden poverty, sickness, exile. Avarice. Greed. Unbelief in God, distrust of His Providence. Addictions or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain cares. Loving gifts. Appropriation of someone else. Likhva. Hardness of heart to the poor brethren and to all those in need. Theft. Robbery.

    Saint Basil the Great:

    What is covetousness? The fact that the limit of the law is transgressed, and a person cares more about himself than about his neighbor.

    The passion for the love of money refers to idolatry, which the holy fathers explain:

    The Holy Scripture calls the love of money idolatry: the love of money transfers the love of the heart (in faith and hope) from God to money, makes money a god, destroys the true God for man...

    Abba Heremon:

    “He who does not give what is necessary to the poor, and prefers his money, which he saves out of distrustful avarice, to the commandments of Christ, he falls into the vice of idolatry, since love for worldly matter prefers the love of God.”

    “... the holy apostle, referring to the harmful hell of this disease, called it not only the root of all evil (1 Tim 6, 10), but also idolatry, saying: put to death ... covetousness (in Greek - the love of money), which is idolatry ( Col 3, 5). So, you see to what a vice this passion gradually grows, so that the apostle calls it idolatry, because, having left the image and likeness of God (which the one who reverently serves God must keep pure in himself), he wants instead of God to love and keep the images of people imprinted on gold."

    Priest Pavel Gumerov writes:

    Love of money, serving the material is idolatry in its purest form, worship of the “golden calf” (although, of course, any passion is an idol): “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24), that is, wealth.

    The passion of greed can suffer not only the rich - and a poor person can be subject to it if his heart has a desire for money, property, wealth, - the holy fathers teach:

    St. Tikhon of Zadonsk:

    Love of money, like any passion, nests in the heart of a person and possesses a heart. Therefore, not only the lover of money who actually collects wealth in every way and keeps it for himself, without giving to those who demand it, but also the one who, although he does not collect and does not have it, but insatiably desires it. Not only the covetous and predator who actually steals someone else's, but also the one who unjustly desires someone else's, which is a sin against the tenth commandment: "Do not covet ...". For in his will he covets and steals the property of others, and what he does not do in practice depends not on him, but on an external obstacle that does not allow him to steal someone else's property.

    Venerable Simeon the New Theologian:

    He who lusts for money is condemned as a lover of money, even if he had absolutely nothing.

    St. John Chrysostom:

    Love of money is not only in the love of a lot of money, but in general in the love of money. To desire more than is necessary is a great love of money. Did the talents of gold persuade the traitor? Only thirty pieces of silver; for thirty pieces of silver he sold the Lord.

    2. Types of avarice

    The love of money includes passions: greed, avarice, extravagance, covetousness, covetousness, covetousness, covetousness, covetousness, foul profitability, addiction to objects.

    Priest Pavel Gumerov:

    “The love of money has two types: extravagance, squandering and, conversely, stinginess, greed. In the first case, a person, having wealth, madly spends it on entertainment, satisfaction of his needs, a luxurious life. In the second case, he can live very poorly, in everything deny yourself, but serve wealth as an idol, save, collect and share with no one.

    Greed - the desire for personal gain, enrichment, profit, greed for money.

    Covetousness - passionate concern for the acquisition of property that exceeds the measure necessary for life, greed for wealth, greed, insatiability.

    Acquisitiveness - hoarding, addiction to an abundance of property, insatiability in the acquisition of wealth.

    Msheloimstvo - a passion for collecting property, acquiring and hoarding superfluous, unnecessary things, as well as bribery, self-interest (from mshel - (other Russian) - profit, thing, property; mshel - self-interest).

    Priest Pavel Gumerov:

    “Passion for hoarding, stinginess is a trait that is not only inherent in the rich. Quite often people ask the question: “What is hoarding?”, About which we read in the confessional evening prayer. and inaction, as it were, are covered with moss. Very poor people can also suffer from this sin, acquiring and hoarding dishes, clothes, any other items, filling all cabinets, shelves and pantries with them and often forgetting even what lies where.

    Extortion - bribery, bribery, usury, demand and collection of interest on loans, extortion of gifts, “when, under the guise of some right, but in fact with a violation of justice and philanthropy, they turn someone else’s property or someone else’s labor, or even the very disasters of their neighbors, into their own favor. , for example, when lenders burden debtors with interest, when owners exhaust those who depend on them with unnecessary work, if during a famine they sell grain at an inflated price ”( Orthodox catechism).

    bad business- "bad acquisition", criminal profit, profit, profit in a bad, unrighteous way. This concept includes any measurement, body kit, deceit, but also any income that brings evil to people - for example, based on the satisfaction or incitement of sinful passions. The falsification of any documents or the use of forged documents (for example, travel tickets), the purchase of stolen goods on the cheap, is also bad business. This also includes parasitism, “when they receive a salary for a position or a payment for a business, but they do not fulfill their positions and deeds, and thus they steal both the salary or payment, and the benefit that they could bring to society or to the one for whom it was necessary work" ( Orthodox catechism).

    3. Holy Scripture about the love of money

    What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
    (Matthew 16:26)

    19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,
    20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal,
    21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
    22 The lamp for the body is the eye. So if your eye is clear, then your whole body will be bright;
    23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. So if the light that is in you is darkness, then what is the darkness?
    24 No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one, and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
    25 Therefore I say to you, worry not for your soul what you shall eat or drink, nor for your body what you shall wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothes?
    26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you much better than them?
    27 And which of you, by taking care, can add even one cubit to his stature?
    28 And why are you concerned about clothing? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow: neither toil nor spin;
    29 but I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory did not dress like one of them;
    30 But if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, God so clothes, how much more than you, you of little faith!
    31 So worry not, and say, What shall we eat? or what to drink? Or what to wear?
    32 because all these things are sought by the Gentiles, and because your Father in heaven knows that you have need of all this.
    33 Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:24-25)
    (Matthew 6)

    Jesus said to his disciples: Truly, I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven; And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When His disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looked up and said to them: With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
    (Matthew 19:23-26)

    23 And looking around, Jesus said to his disciples, How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!
    24 The disciples were horrified at his words. But Jesus again says to them in answer: children! How difficult it is for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God!
    25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
    26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said among themselves, Who then can be saved?
    27 Jesus looked at them and said, It is impossible for men, but not for God, for all things are possible with God.
    (Mark 10)

    Jesus answered her and said, Martha! Martha! you care and fuss about many things, but only one thing is needed; Mary chose the good part, which will not be taken away from her.
    (Luke 10:41-42)

    13 One of the people said to him: Master! tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.
    14 And he said to the man, Who appointed me to judge or divide you?
    15 And he said to them, Beware of covetousness, for the life of a man does not depend on the abundance of his possessions.
    16 And he spoke to them a parable: A certain rich man had a good harvest in the field;
    17 And he reasoned with himself, What shall I do? where can I gather my fruits?
    18 And he said, This is what I will do;
    19 And I will say to my soul, My soul! much good lies with you for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry.
    20 But God said to him, Fool! this very night your soul will be taken from you; Who will get what you have prepared?
    21 So it is with those who lay up treasures for themselves, and do not grow rich towards God.
    22 And he said to his disciples: Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your soul what you will eat, nor about your body what you will wear:
    23 The soul is more than food, and the body is more than clothes.
    24 Look at the ravens: they do not sow, they do not reap; they have neither storehouses nor granaries, and God feeds them; how much better are you than birds?
    25 And which of you, by taking care, can add even one cubit to his stature?
    26 So if you can't do even the slightest thing, why are you concerned about the rest?
    27 Look at the lilies, how they grow: they do not toil, they do not spin; but I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory did not dress like any of them.
    28 But if the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, God so clothes, how much more than you, you of little faith!
    29 So do not look for what you eat or what you drink, and do not worry,
    30 because the people of this world seek all these things; but your Father knows that you need it;
    31 Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.
    (Luke 12)

    Therefore, put to death your earthly members: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness, which is idolatry, for which the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience ...
    (Col. 3:5-6)

    6 A great gain is to be godly and contented.
    7 For we brought nothing into the world; it is clear that we cannot take anything out of it.
    8 If we have food and clothing, let us be content.
    9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and into a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which plunge people into disaster and destruction;
    10 For the love of money is the root of all evil, which, having given way, some have erred from the faith and subjected themselves to many tribulations.
    (1 Tim 6)

    And as they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a perverse mind - to do indecency, so that they are filled with all kinds of unrighteousness, fornication, deceit, covetousness, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malevolence ...
    (Rom. 1:28-29)

    And fornication and all impurity and covetousness should not even be named among you, as befits saints.
    …for know that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
    (Eph. 5, 3, 5)

    For there are many disobedient, idle talkers and deceivers, especially among the circumcised, who should stop their mouths: they corrupt whole houses, teaching what they should not, out of shameful self-interest.
    (Tit. 1, 10-11)

    When wealth increases, do not attach your heart to it.
    (Ps. 61:11).

    He who loves gold will not be right.
    (Sir. 31:5)

    The little of the righteous is better than the riches of many wicked.
    (Ps. 36:16)

    4. Sources of love of money

    The Holy Fathers teach that the love of money has no basis in human nature and arises from unbelief, lack of faith, inability to rely on the Providence of God, lack of hope in God, pride, unreason, vanity, carelessness.

    Rev. Neil Sorsky:

    The love of money is an ailment from outside of nature, it comes from lack of faith and unreason, the fathers said. Therefore, the feat [of struggle] against it is not great for those who listen to themselves with the fear of God and truly want to be saved. When [this illness] takes root in us, it turns out to be the most evil of all and, if we obey it, it leads to such destruction that the apostle not only called it “the root of all evils” (1 Tim. 6, 10): anger, sorrow and other - but also called idolatry (Col. 3, 5). For many, because of the love of money, not only fell away from the pious life, but also sinned in faith, suffered mentally and bodily, as is narrated in Holy Scripture. It is said by the fathers that he who gathers gold and silver and trusts in them does not believe that there is a God who cares for him. And this is what the Holy Scripture [still] says: if someone is enslaved by pride or the love of money - any one of these passions - then the demon no longer fights him with another passion, because it is enough for him [and] this one for destruction. Therefore, it is fitting for us to protect ourselves from this pernicious and soulful passion and pray to the Lord God that the spirit of avarice drive away from us.

    Rev. Ambrose Optinsky:

    Greed comes from disbelief and selfishness.

    Ancient Patericon:

    The elder was asked: what is the love of money? - And he answered: distrust of God in that He has care for you, and lack of hope in the promises of God, and love for harmful pleasures.

    Saint Gregory Palamas:

    The passions engendered by the love of money make disbelief in Divine Providence difficult to overcome. He who does not believe in this Providence relies on wealth with his hope. Such, although he hears the words of the Lord, that "it is more convenient for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:24), imputing the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal to nothing, longs for earthly and transient wealth. Even if this wealth is not yet in the hands, by the very fact that it is coveted, it brings the greatest harm. For “those who want to get rich fall into temptation,” as the apostle Paul says (1 Tim. 6:9), and the nets of the devil ... This unfortunate passion is not from poverty, but rather the consciousness of poverty from it, but it itself is from madness, for it is fair The Lord of all, Christ, called the fool who said: "I will tear down my barns and build greater ones" (Lk. 12:18). For how foolish is he who, for the sake of things that cannot bring any essential benefit, “for the life of a man does not depend on the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15), betrays the most useful (eternal blessings) for the sake of such things.

    Rev. John Cassian the Roman writes about “by what vices the love of money is born”:

    “So, this passion, having prevailed over the monk’s relaxed and cold soul, first prompts him to a small acquisition, providing some fair and, as it were, reasonable pretexts for which he should save or acquire a little money. For he complains that what the monastery provides is not enough, it can hardly be bearable even by a healthy, strong body. What will one have to do if a disease of the body occurs and a little money is not hidden to support the infirmity? about the body, you will have to die miserably. And the clothes provided by the monastery are insufficient if you do not take care to get yourself from somewhere else. Finally, you cannot live long in the same place or monastery, and if the monk does not prepare himself money for traveling expenses and crossing the sea, he will not be able to move when he wants, and being constrained by extreme poverty, he will constantly lead a life of a working and miserable life, without any success; always beggar and naked, he will be forced to be supported with dishonor by someone else. So, when his mind is deceived by such thoughts, he ponders how he could acquire at least one denarius. Then, with a caring mind, he looks for a private matter that he could deal with without the knowledge of the rector. Then, having sold the fruits of it secretly and having received the desired coin, he is very worried about how to double it (the coin) rather, he is perplexed where to put it or to whom to entrust it. Then he is often preoccupied with what could be bought with it and with what trade to double it. When he succeeds in this, then the strongest greed for gold arises and the more excited, the greater the amount of profit obtained. For as money increases, so does the frenzy of passion. Then long life, advanced old age, various long-term illnesses appear, which cannot be endured in old age, unless more money is prepared in youth. Thus, the soul, bound by serpentine bonds, becomes miserable when, with obscene diligence, it desires to multiply the badly collected savings, giving rise to an ulcer for itself, which cruelly inflames, and completely occupied with thoughts of profit, sees nothing else with the gaze of the heart, but only that, from where if you could get some money with which you would sooner leave the monastery to where there would be some hope of getting money."

    Abba Daniel explains that the love of money is “foreign to our nature, and what is the difference between it and natural vices”:

    “The love of money and anger, although not of the same nature (for the first is outside our nature, and the second, apparently, has its initial seed in us), however, proceed in a similar way: for the most part, the causes of excitement are received from the outside. For those who are still weak often complain that they fell into these vices through the irritation or instigation of some, and excuse themselves that they, at the challenge of others, gave themselves over to anger or the love of money. That the love of money is outside of nature, this is clearly seen; because it does not have in us the main beginning, which would refer to the participation of the soul or flesh, or the essence of life. For it is known that nothing belongs to the needs of our nature, except daily food and drink; all other things, no matter how diligently and lovingly preserved, are alien to human need, as can be seen from use in life itself; therefore, the love of money, as existing outside of our nature, tempts only cold and ill-disposed monks. And the passions inherent in our nature do not cease to tempt even the most experienced monks and those who are in solitude. That this is absolutely true is proved by the fact that we know some pagans who are completely free from the passion of the love of money. It is also in each of us, with true self-sacrifice, overcome without any difficulty, when, leaving all the property, we adhere to the rules of coenobia so much that we do not allow ourselves to keep a single penny. As witnesses, we can present many thousands of people who, having squandered all their property in a short time, have so destroyed this passion that they are no longer subject to any temptation from it. But they cannot protect themselves from gluttony if they do not fight with a special prudence of the heart and abstinence of the body.

    St. John Chrysostom:

    “Love for wealth is not a natural passion ... Why did it intensify? From vanity and extreme carelessness.

    Abba Evagrius describes the spiritual process of the emergence and development of the passion for the love of money - those thoughts with which the demon of the love of money seduces the soul:

    “...Love of money implies long-term old age, impotence for needlework, hunger, illness, the deplorability of poverty, and how hard it is to accept from others what is necessary for bodily needs.

    ... It seems to me that the demon of greed is very skillful and inventive in seduction. He often, oppressed by an extreme renunciation of everything, takes on the appearance of an steward and a pauper, cordially receives wanderers who do not exist at all, sends what is needed by other needy, visits city dungeons, ransoms those who are sold, clings to rich women and indicates to whom they owe to compassion, and to others, whose vagina is full, he inspires to renounce the world, and thus, little by little, having deceived the soul, he overlays it with thoughts of avarice and transfers it to the thought of vanity. This one introduces many who glorify the Lord for such his (the hermit's) orders, and makes some of them quietly talk among themselves about the priesthood, predicts the death of a real priest and adds that he cannot avoid (election), no matter what he does for it. Thus, a poor mind, entangled in such thoughts, quarrels with those who do not accept it, diligently distributes gifts to those who accept it, and gratefully accepts them, and betrays some stubborn (opponents) to the judges and demands to expel them from the city. While such thoughts are revolving inside, the demon of pride appears, furrows the air of the cell with frequent lightning, lets in winged snakes and, the last evil, deprives the mind. But we, praying that such thoughts perish, will try in a grateful disposition, to get used to poverty. “For we have brought nothing into this world, but as if we could bring it down: if we have food and clothing, we will be satisfied with this” (1 Tim. 6:7-8), remembering what St. Paul: “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).

    Rev. John of the Ladder He also writes about the thoughts with which the demon of the love of money seduces the soul:

    The love of money is the worship of idols, the daughter of unbelief, the excuse of oneself for one's weaknesses, the predictor of old age, the harbinger of famine, the soothsayer of lack of rain.

    5. Creatures of the love of money

    The Holy Fathers write that the love of money is one of the main passions, on its basis many other passions and sins arise in the human soul: pride, vanity, arrogance, dislike, anger, hatred of neighbors, unmercifulness, ingratitude, envy, remembrance, malice, insolence, slander, irritability, lies, hypocrisy, theft, theft, perfidy, betrayal, sadness, despondency, laziness, carelessness, intemperance, “many cares and worries that divert the mind and heart from God”, leading to forgetfulness of God.

    Abba Dorotheos:

    "... every sin comes either from voluptuousness, or from the love of money, or from the love of glory."

    Abba Evagrius:

    “Of the demons who oppose active life, those who are entrusted with lusts, or lusts of gluttony, and those who instill in us the love of money, and those who call us to seek human glory, are the first to fight. All the rest, walking behind them, successively take those already wounded by them. For ... he will not escape pride, this first offspring of the devil, who has not uprooted the root of all evil - the love of money (1 Tim. 6, 10), since, according to the word of the wise Solomon, the poverty of a man humbles (Prov. 10, 4), and briefly say , it is impossible for a person to fall under any demon, if he is not first wounded by those primary ones.

    Rev. John Cassian the Roman:

    “Because of this, he will not be afraid to admit the atrocity of lies, a false oath, theft, break loyalty, ignite harmful anger. And if he loses hope for profit, he will not be afraid to violate honesty, humility, and as the other's womb, so to him gold and the hope of self-interest becomes everything instead of God. ... Therefore, the holy apostle, referring to the harmful hell of this disease, called it not only the root of all evil (1 Tim 6, 10), but also idolatry, saying: put to death ... covetousness (in Greek - the love of money), which is idolatry ( Col 3, 5). So, you see to what a vice this passion gradually grows, so that the apostle calls it idolatry, because, having left the image and likeness of God (which the one who reverently serves God must keep pure in himself), he wants instead of God to love and keep the images of people imprinted on gold."

    Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

    Those who want to get rich fall into misfortunes and snares, which are prepared for them by their very desire to get rich. The first fruit of this striving is a multitude of cares and worries that turn the mind and heart away from God.

    Saint Nil of Sinai:

    Do not rejoice with wealth, because worries about it most often and against their will excommunicate a person from God.

    Rev. Ephraim the Syrian:

    With covetousness there can be no love. Yes, and how should she be? He who is addicted to money hates his brother, trying to take something away from him...

    St. John Chrysostom:

    “Those who are addicted to money are inevitably also envious, prone to swearing, treacherous, impudent, blasphemous, full of all evils, predatory and shameless, impudent and ungrateful.

    Cut off this passion; it gives birth to the following diseases: it makes one ungodly, leads to oblivion of God, despite His countless blessings... This passion is important, it is capable of producing thousands of disastrous deaths.

    Whoever owns wealth, it is not easy for him to escape from his fetters; so many ailments embrace the soul... that is, passions that, like a thick and dark cloud, obscuring the gaze of the mind, do not allow one to look at the sky, but make one bend down and look at the earth.

    The rich man, occupied with many cares, arrogant with the pride that comes from wealth, given over to sloth and heedlessness, accepts the healing of hearing the Scriptures with little zeal and no great zeal.

    Wealth is not only incapable of planting or cultivating anything good, but even if it finds good, it damages, stops and withers it, and otherwise it completely destroys and introduces the opposite - immeasurable intemperance, obscene irritability, unjust anger, pride, arrogance, madness.

    Passion (love of wealth) ruined many houses, raised cruel wars and forced to end life with a violent death. Moreover, even before these disasters, it darkens the good qualities of the soul and makes a person cowardly, weak, impudent, a deceiver, a slanderer, a predator, a covetous person, and generally having all the low qualities in himself.

    He who loves wealth will not even love his brother, and meanwhile we are commanded for the sake of the Kingdom to love even enemies.

    The soul of a rich man is full of all evils: pride, vanity, countless desires, anger, rage, covetousness, unrighteousness, and the like.

    For the inattentive, wealth is a means to vice.

    Let no one chase after wealth: many evils come from it for the inattentive - pride, laziness, envy, vanity and others, much greater.

    Seeing a prisoner who has both neck and arms, and often legs in chains, you consider him extremely unhappy; so when you see a rich man... do not call him happy, but for the same reason consider him unfortunate. In fact, besides the fact that he is in chains, there is also a cruel prison guard with him - evil greed, which does not allow him to leave the dungeon, but prepares for him thousands of new shackles, dungeons, doors and locks, and, plunging him into inner dungeon, still makes him delight in his bonds, so that he cannot even find hope of freeing himself from the evils that oppress him. And if you penetrate into the interior of his soul, you will see it not only bound, but also extremely ugly.

    St. Tikhon of Zadonsk:

    “Pride, avarice, avarice and unmercifulness invent so many reasons and excuses that it is impossible to count them. Because of these reasons, it is difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 19:23). They trust in their riches, and not in the living God, which is idolatry. Avarice and avarice, pride and her daughter nestle in the rich - contempt for the poor and the wretched, mercilessness towards the suffering brethren, pernicious luxury, and so on. And the root of everything is self-love. Wealth is not to blame for the death of the rich, for wealth is a gift from God, and many were rich, but pious... The self-loving heart that clings to wealth and turns away from the Living God destroys the rich. That is why David says: "When wealth increases, do not attach your heart to it" (Ps. 61, 11).

    Beware of luxury, like pestilence. It greatly relaxes the Christian soul, teaches to steal someone else's property, offend people and keep one's hand from giving alms, which is required of a Christian. Luxury, like a womb, does not know satiety and, like an abyss, devours all goodness... Thus, luxury devours everything and relaxes the mind. Watch out for luxury. Nature is content with little; lust and luxury require a lot.

    Rev. Mark the Ascetic:

    Self-conceit and arrogance are the causes of blasphemy, but the love of money and vanity are the causes of mercilessness and hypocrisy.

    The substance of vanity and bodily pleasure is the love of money, which, according to Divine Scripture, is also the root of all evil (Tim. 6:10).

    The mind is blinded by these three passions, the love of money, I say, vanity and the desire for pleasure.

    Rev. John of the Ladder:

    “... anger tells us: “I have many mothers and not one father. My mothers are: vanity, love of money, gluttony, and sometimes fornication...

    A money-lover is a blasphemer of the Gospel and a voluntary apostate. He who has acquired love has squandered money, and whoever says that he has both is deceiving himself.

    He who conquered passion cut off this care, and he who is bound by it never prays purely.

    The love of money begins under the guise of giving alms, and ends with hatred for the poor.

    Rev. Macarius of Optina:

    “The world, according to St. Isaac, is made up of passions, and especially the three main ones: love of glory, voluptuousness and love of money. If we do not arm ourselves against these, then we inevitably fall into anger, sadness, despondency, remembrance, malice, envy, hatred and the like.

    You mentioned in your writing that God no longer requires a person to fulfill the duties of the rank in which he was born, which, according to your understanding, you are trying to fulfill without reproach of conscience. As this point is important, it is necessary to judge it better. This duty consists in fulfilling the commandments of God, according to the vow given by us in baptism, in whatever rank one may be; but in the fulfillment of these, we are faced with resistance from the enemy of the human race - the devil, about which the holy Apostles write ... You see what an invisible war we have: he always tries to fight the Christian race with contrary actions to the commandments of God, through our passions; to this serve his main weapons - passions: love of glory, voluptuousness and avarice. Having been defeated by these, or by one of them, we give free entry to other passions to act in our hearts. From your understanding it is clear that you have an imperfect understanding of this battle or resistance and not so much caution, but only your diligence, without reproach of conscience, to fulfill your duty; but they did not penetrate into this, as they should, what it consists of. If you would fulfill your entire duty without reproach of conscience, or rather, without humility, then there is no benefit.

    You will say: everywhere there is salvation, and in peace with women one can be saved. Truly true! but there more work is required for the fulfillment of the commandments of God: a wife, children, care for the acquisition of wealth, worldly glory; all this is a great obstacle to the pleasing of God. The commandments of God are commanded to be obeyed by all, and not only by monks; but for monks it is just superfluous: the preservation of oneself in virginity and non-possession, which contribute to the preservation of other commandments. We do not care about food and clothing, for in these we have no impoverishment by the Providence of God ... In a worldly life, it is more convenient to be carried away into transgression of the commandments; those who have a pledge of passions in their hearts, not only do they not take care to eradicate them, but they also do not consider them necessary, and in any case, the guilt that comes is the action of the passions. Let's talk about the love of money. Writes to St. Apostle Paul (1 Tim. 6, 9-10): “but those who want to get rich fall into adversity and a snare, and in lust many are foolish and harming, even people plunge into all destruction and destruction. The love of money is the root of all evil.” Who escapes this evil root? Everyone tries to acquire, sometimes with injustice, with covetousness, with swearing and other unpleasing deeds. Here, no longer ask about love for one's neighbor, about which the Lord Himself commanded so much in the Holy Gospel and the holy Apostles taught.

    ... All these three main passions: the love of money, the love of pleasure and the love of glory make a lot of obstacles to the fulfillment of the commandments of Christ, and it is difficult for one who is in the world to struggle with them and not be wounded by them ... "

    Rev. Abba Isaiah:

    Covetousness is the evil mother of all evils.

    6. The fatality of the love of money

    Rev. John Cassian the Roman writes that "the disease of the love of money is fatal":

    “And this disease of the love of money, coming later, is imposed on the soul from the outside, and therefore it is easier to take precautions and reject it; and being left without attention and once crept into the heart, it is more disastrous than all and more difficult to drive it away. For it becomes the root of all evil, providing numerous occasions for vices.

    "Example of Judas.

    Do you want to know how disastrous, how pernicious this passion is, if it is not zealously exterminated; how will she multiply and produce various offshoots of vices to the destruction of the one who raised her? Look at Judas, who was among the apostles. Since he did not want to crush the deadly head of this serpent, he poisoned him with his hell and, entangling him in the nets of lust, plunged him into such a deep abyss of vice that he persuaded him to sell the Redeemer of the world and the originator of the salvation of people for thirty pieces of silver. He would never have been brought to such impious treachery if he had not been infected with the malady of the love of money; he would not have become a wicked author of the murder of the Lord, if he had not first become accustomed to stealing the money entrusted to him.

    About the death of Ananias, Sapphira and Judas, which they suffered because of the love of money.

    Finally, the chief apostle, taught by these examples, knowing that one who has something cannot curb passion, and that it is possible to put an end to it not with a small or large amount of property, but only with mere non-possessiveness, punished Ananias and Sapphira (of which we are above they mentioned that they withheld some of their property), so that they suffered perdition for lying from passion. And Judas himself arbitrarily destroyed himself for the guilt of betraying the Lord. What a resemblance between crime and punishment! For there (with Judas) betrayal followed the love of money, but here (with Ananias and Sapphira) - a lie. There the truth is betrayed - here the vice of deceit is admitted. Although their actions seem different, in both cases the same end followed. For he (Judas), avoiding poverty, wanted to return what he had rejected; but these, in order not to become poor, attempted to retain some of their possessions, which they were to offer in full to the apostles or distribute to the brethren. And therefore, in both cases, condemnation to death follows; because both vices originated from the root of the love of money. …

    The love of money causes spiritual leprosy.

    Lovers of money are considered lepers in mind and heart, like Gehazi (2 Kings 5:27), who, having desired the corruptible money of this world, was stricken with a leprous ulcer. This serves us as an obvious example of the fact that every soul, defiled by passion, is stricken with spiritual leprosy of vices, and unclean before the Lord is subject to eternal damnation.

    For carnal wisdom is death, but spiritual wisdom is life and peace (Rom. 8:6). What person would not agree with these words of the apostle? Wisdom of the flesh is really death. Come hither, money-loving, covetous, envious, proud, proud, ambitious man, and let us have a look at you, at your deeds, at your life! Reveal to us, if you like, your thoughts of the heart! We will be convinced by you - by a living example, that carnal wisdom is death: you do not live a true life, you are a spiritual dead man, you are internally bound in freedom; at the mind - as insane, because the light, even in you, is darkness (Matt. 6, 23), you received from God a heart capable of enjoying the feelings of everything true, holy, good and beautiful; but you, with carnal wisdom, suppressed in him noble feelings, noble impulses, you are a dead man, you do not have a life in yourself (John 6, 53).

    St. John Chrysostom:

    “Strong and ready for anything love for acquisition, not knowing satiety, forces the captive soul to go to the extreme limit of evils. Let us reflect it, especially at the very beginning, so that it does not become invincible.

    As there is no sea without waves, so the soul, immersed in worries, is without sorrows, without fear; the first ones are followed by others, they are replaced by third ones, and before they have time to subside, new ones rise up.

    Nothing subjects us to the devil so much as desire for more and covetousness.

    The soul, once captivated by covetousness, can no longer easily and conveniently restrain itself from doing or saying something that angers God, since it has become the slave of another master who commands her everything that is contrary to God.

    As much as the soul is higher than the body, so much harder are the wounds that we inflict on ourselves every day with worries combined with fear and apprehension.

    The covetous man distances himself from God, as does the idolater.

    The slaughter of souls is predominantly performed on the altar of covetousness.

    How long will this fury of gain continue? How long will the inextinguishable furnace burn? Don't you know that this flame turns into an eternal unquenchable fire?

    Whoever began to serve Mammon has already abandoned the service of Christ.

    Just as drunkards, the more wine they pour into themselves, the more they become inflamed with thirst, so money-lovers can never stop this indomitable passion, but the more their property increases, the more they are kindled by greed and do not lag behind this passion until they fall into the very abyss of evil.

    Take note, you money-lovers, and think about what happened to the traitor Judas. How he lost his money and ruined his soul. Such is the tyranny of the love of money. He did not use the money, neither the present life, nor the future life, but suddenly he lost everything ...

    What is the use if someone even humbles himself and observes fasts, but at the same time is greedy, covetous and, being tied to the earth, introduces into his soul the mother of all evils - the love of money?

    Even if there were no devil, even if no one worked against us, and in this case countless paths from everywhere lead the money-lover to hell.

    Let us free ourselves and quench our addiction to money to kindle the desire for heaven. After all, these two aspirations cannot be combined in one soul.

    Let us neglect money, so as not to neglect our souls.

    The love of wealth has perverted and overthrown everything, it has destroyed the true fear of God. As a tyrant destroys fortresses, so she overthrows souls.

    Even if we were virtuous in every way, wealth destroys all these virtues.

    Wealth combines two opposite evils: one crushes and darkens - this is care; the other is relaxing - it's a luxury.

    Heavenly blessings await us, but we still have a passion for earthly things and do not think about the devil, who, because of the small, deprives us of the great. He gives dust to steal Heaven, shows a shadow to turn away from the truth, deceives with dreams (for nothing else is this earthly wealth), so that when the day (of judgment) comes, he will show us the poorest of all.

    Tell me, why are you standing there, staring in amazement at wealth and ready to fly towards it? What do you see in him that is amazing and worthy of stopping your eyes on yourself? .. Are you attracted to expensive clothes, and in them a voluptuous soul, raised eyebrows, vanity and excitement? Is all this worthy of wonder? How are these people different from the beggars who dance in the market and play the flute? They ... dance their dance, which is funnier than the dance of jesters - they run and whirl either at luxurious dinners, or at the houses of obscene women, or in a crowd of flatterers and parasites. Although they are dressed in gold, they are especially pathetic, because they care most about what does not matter to them. Do not look at the clothes, but open their soul and see if it is full of countless wounds, is it not dressed in rags, is it not alone and defenseless? What is the use of this insane addiction to externals? It is far better to live poor and be virtuous than to be a king but vicious. The poor man enjoys all the pleasures of his soul by himself, and because of inner wealth he does not feel outward poverty. And the rich, enjoying what is completely indecent to him, is deprived of what should be especially characteristic of him, and is tormented in his soul by thoughts and conscience, which haunt him even among pleasures. Knowing this, let us put aside golden garments and adopt for ourselves virtue and the pleasure that comes from virtue. Thus, both here and there we will enjoy much joy and attain the promised blessings.”

    Saint Isidore Pelusiot:

    Because of the love of money, enmity, fights, wars; because of her murders, robberies, slander; because of it, not only cities, but also deserts, not only inhabited countries, but also uninhabited ones breathe blood and murders ... For the love of money, the laws of kinship are perverted, the statutes of nature are shaken, the rights of essence itself are violated ... No matter how angry no one has found in public assemblies, or in courts, or in houses, or in cities, he will see in them the offshoots of this root.

    Of people who are covetous and offenders, some know, while others do not know, that they sin incurably. For the inability to feel the ailment in which you are is the result of an increase in insensitivity, which ends in complete insensitivity and mortification. Therefore, such people are most to be pitied. To do evil is more pitiable than to suffer evil. Those who do evil (offending people because of covetousness) are in extreme danger, and for those who suffer, the damage concerns only property. Moreover, the former do not feel their pure mortification ... like children who put nothing into what is truly terrible, and can put their hands into the fire, and when they see a shadow, they come to fear and tremble. A similar thing happens with lovers of acquisition: fearing poverty, which is not terrible, but also protects from many evils and contributes to a modest way of thinking, they mistake for something great unrighteous wealth, which is more terrible than fire, because it turns into dust both the thoughts and hopes of those who possess them.

    Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:

    Observe here, Christian, where the love of money of your worshipers leads. Judas was not horrified to sell for such a small price the priceless Christ, his Benefactor and Teacher, and thus bought himself eternal death. The same will happen to other money-lovers who are not afraid to do any evil in order to enrich themselves.

    Love of money and covetousness not only cause harm to others, but also plunge their zealots into disasters. So, Gehazi, the servant of the prophet of God Elisha, who secretly took silver and robes from Naaman the Syrian, who was healed by God's grace and returned to the house, according to the righteous judgment of God, was stricken with this leprosy (2 Kings 5, 20-27). So, Judas the traitor, who was not afraid to sell the priceless Christ, the Son of God, for thirty pieces of silver, accepts an execution worthy of the love of money, and kills himself by strangulation (Matt. 26, 15-16; 47-49) ... And even if whoever escapes temporary punishment, for not all lawless ones are punished here according to the unknown fates of God, will not escape eternal punishment, which will certainly follow both for other lawless people and for the covetous.

    Luxury and stinginess are opposite sisters, but both deadly infect human hearts. One squanders, the other keeps and teaches to guard wealth, but both to human ruin. One relaxes, the other binds a person, but both of them mortify his soul.

    Whoever wants to stand before God with a pure mind, but confuses himself with worries, is like one who tightly fetters his feet and tries to move quickly.

    Avva Pimen:

    “He also said: it is impossible for you to live according to God when you are voluptuary and money-loving.”

    Abba Peter said... strive to avoid the three passions that pervert the soul, namely: the love of money, piety and tranquility. For if these passions enter the soul, they do not allow it to succeed.

    Priest Pavel Gumerov:

    “Serving material goods especially takes a person away from spiritual values. His soul is replaced by another, he becomes a materialist in the full sense of the word. Thoughts and thoughts about earthly goods and values ​​do not leave room for the spiritual. That is why it is said: “It is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 19:23).

    God needs a place in our heart in order to hold on to something in the human soul. Then the person can be helped. And if the heart, the soul is occupied only with the material? This does not mean that it is easy for the beggar, the poor, to be saved. Poverty can also give rise to many vices: envy, pride, despondency, grumbling, etc. But the Gospel speaks of the difficulties of salvation for the rich. And from history it is clear that both Christ and the apostles were very poor, did not have where to lay their heads. There were many more poor Christians. Although there were very rich people among the saints: Abraham, kings David, Solomon, emperors, princes ... It is not wealth in itself that is a sin, but the attitude towards it. Everything that the Lord gives us: talents, wealth is not ours. We are stewards, stewards over all this, this is God's. And we must not only return what has been given to us, but also return with interest, multiply, using these gifts to help our neighbors and save our souls.

    But often it is not so, material values ​​occupy such a dominant position in the minds of people that they almost do not remember about God, about the soul, about their neighbors.

    7. Fight against the love of money

    The fight against covetousness is to to cultivate in oneself the virtues opposite to the love of money: mercy to the needy, almsgiving, generosity, unselfishness, indifference to wealth and unwillingness to acquire, zeal for spiritual blessings and gifts, and not for perishable earthly property, cultivating, in opposition to the wishes of the acquisition of good thoughts: the fear of God, the memory of death, love for one's neighbor.

    7a. Spiritual warfare with the passion of greed

    Abba Evagrius writes on the meaning of struggle with thoughts in opposition to passions:

    “There are eight main thoughts from which all other thoughts come. The first thought is gluttony, and after it is fornication, the third is love of money, the fourth is sadness, the fifth is anger, the sixth is despondency, the seventh is vanity, the eighth is pride. Whether these thoughts disturb the soul or not, it does not depend on us, but whether they remain in us for a long time or not, whether they set the passions in motion or not, it depends on us.

    “When an enemy comes and wounds you, and you wish, according to what is written, to turn his sword into his heart (Psalm 36:15), then do as we tell you. Decompose (make an analysis) in itself the thought invested by him, who he is, what he consists of, and what actually strikes the mind in him. What am I saying, that's what it is. Let them send to you the thought of the love of money. Divide it into the mind that accepted it, into the thought of gold, into gold itself, and into the passion for money. Finally ask: what of all this is sin? Mind? But how is he the image of God? Or the thought of gold? But who can say that, having a mind? So isn't gold itself a sin? But why was it created? So, it remains to put sin in the fourth (i.e., in the passion for money), which is neither a thing that is independent in essence, nor the concept of a thing, but some kind of human-hating sweetness, born from free will and forcing the mind to evilly use the creatures of God, what sweetness to stop and commands the law of God. When you investigate this, the thought will disappear, being decomposed into what it is, and the demon will flee, as soon as your thought delights in grief, inspired by such knowledge.

    Rev. Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer gives lessons on spiritual warfare, the cultivation of good thoughts and the use of feelings

    “I will offer you a general indication for all cases, according to the guidance of the holy fathers. We have three parts or forces in our soul: mental, desirable and irritable. From these three forces, due to their damage, three kinds of wrong thoughts and movements are born. Thoughts are born from mental strength: ingratitude towards God and grumbling, forgetfulness of God, ignorance of divine things, thoughtlessness, all kinds of blasphemous thoughts. From the power of desire, thoughts are born: voluptuousness, love of glory, love of money, with all their numerous modifications that make up the area of ​​self-pleasing. From irritable power thoughts are born: anger, hatred, envy, vengeance, malevolence, malevolence, and all evil thoughts in general. You should defeat all such thoughts and movements with the methods shown, trying every time to raise and plant in your heart the good feelings and dispositions that are opposite to them: instead of disbelief - undoubted faith in God, instead of grumbling hundred - sincere thanksgiving to God for everything, instead of forgetting God - unceasing in-depth memory about God, omnipresent and all-containing, instead of ignorance - a clear contemplation or in the mind sorting out all the saving truths of Christianity, instead of irrationality - feelings trained in the reasoning of good and evil ... instead of greed - contentment with little and love of poverty; also instead of anger - meekness, instead of hatred - love, instead of envy - rejoicing, instead of vengeance - forgiveness and peace, instead of malevolence - compassion, instead of malevolence - kindness.

    It remains for me to offer you general rules on how external senses should be used, so that the impressions from them do not ruin our spiritual and moral system. Take heed!

    a) Most of all, my brother, with all your might hold in your hands your evil and imminent robbers - your eyes - and in no way allow them to extend to a curious look at the faces of women, whether they are beautiful or ugly, as well as at the faces of men, especially young and beardless. ... For from such curiosity and passionate looking, voluptuous lust, prodigal, not innocent, can conveniently be born in the heart, as the Lord said: 5, 28). And one of the wise wrote: "From the view, lust is born." This is why Solomon, warning us against being captivated by the eyes and from being stung by the lust of beauty, gives a lesson: “Son, let not lust overcome you with kindness; Here are examples of the harmful consequences of free-looking eyes: the sons of God, the descendants of Seth and Enos, were carried away by the daughters of Cain (Gen. 6); Shechem, the son of Emmor, saw Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, in Shikim, and fell with her (Gen. 34); Sampson was captivated by the beauty of Delilah (Judg. 16); David fell from looking at Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11); two elders, judges of the people, went mad at the beauty of Susanna (Dan. 13).

    Be careful also to peer into good food and drink, remembering our foremother Eve, who, looking with unkind eyes at the fruit of the forbidden tree in paradise, lusted after it, plucked it and ate it, and put herself and her whole family to death. Do not look with lust at beautiful clothes, neither at silver and gold, nor at the brilliant attire of the world, so that through your eyes the passion of vanity or avarice does not enter into your soul, for deliverance from which Saint David prays: “Turn away my eyes, if not to see vanity ... "(Ps. 118, 37). And I will say in general: be careful to look at round dances, dances, feasts, pomp, disputes, quarrels, idle chatter and all other inappropriate and shameful deeds, which the senseless world loves and the law of God forbids.

    Run and close your eyes from all this, so as not to fill your heart with passionate movements and your imagination with shameful images and not arouse rebellion and battle against yourself, cutting off the continuity of the feat, which you must always strive against your passions. But love to visit churches and look at holy icons, sacred books, tombs, cemeteries and all other reverend and holy things, looking at which can have a salutary effect on your soul.

    Saint Hesychius writes about this in his discourse on sobriety and prayer: “It is necessary for you to look within with a sharp and intense gaze of the mind in order to recognize those who enter; having learned, immediately by contradiction crush the head of the serpent, crying out with a sigh at the same time to Christ the Lord. And you will receive then the experience of the invisible Divine intercession" (point 22).

    Also: "Therefore, whenever evil thoughts happen to multiply in us, let us plunge into their midst the invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ; and immediately we will see that they begin to disperse like smoke in the air, as experience has taught us" (paragraph 98).

    And again: “We will conduct mental warfare in this order: the first thing is attention; then, when we notice that an enemy thought has approached, we will throw words of an oath on the bliss from the heart with anger; the third thing is to pray against it, turning the heart to the invocation of the Lord Jesus Christ, may this demonic ghost vanish immediately, otherwise the mind would not follow this dream, like a child seduced by some skillful conjurer" (paragraph 105).

    And one more thing: “Controversy usually blocks the further course of thoughts, and the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ drives them out of the heart. gold, or when everything like this happens in our thoughts, it is immediately convicted that our spirits have led our hearts into such a dream - vindictiveness, fornication, avarice, etc. If our mind is experienced, trained and able to guard ourselves from enemy attacks and see clearly, as in the daytime , seductive dreams and charms of the evil ones, then immediately with a rebuff, contradiction and prayer, Jesus Christ easily quenches the fiery arrows of the devil, not allowing the passionate dream to carry away himself and our thoughts, and these thoughts agree with the ghost of the pretext, or have a friendly conversation with him and go into in a lot of thought, or to be united with it, - after which, with some necessity, bad deeds follow, like night after day.

    And you will find many similar places at St. Hesychius. You will find a full outline and all invisible warfare in him, and I would advise you to reread his word about sobriety and prayer more often.
    (Invisible curse)

    Rev. John Cassian the Roman teaches that love of money must be fought from its very first attacks, because "the disease of love of money, once accepted, is expelled with great difficulty," and at the same time it is important to fight with the very thoughts, and not only with the deeds of the love of money:

    “Therefore, this disease should not seem unimportant to anyone, which could be neglected. How easily it can be evaded, so, having taken over someone, it barely allows you to use medicines for healing. For it is the receptacle of vices, the root of all evils and the indestructible instigator to evil, as the apostle says: the love of money is the root of all evils, i.e. love of money (1 Tim. 6:10).

    ... not only must one be wary of acquiring money, but the desire itself must be expelled from the soul. For it is important not so much to avoid the deeds of money-loving, as to uproot this passion itself. For lack of money will do us no good if the desire to acquire remains in us.

    And one who does not have money can suffer from the disease of love of money, and the vow of poverty will not bring any benefit to someone who could not cut off the passion of covetousness and is content only with the promise of poverty, and not with virtue itself, and he bears the burden of need not without heartfelt grief. For just as the gospel word (Matthew 5:28) considers those who are not defiled in body to be unclean in heart, so those who are not burdened with the weight of money can be condemned as those who love money in mind and heart. For they did not only have the chance to have, and not the will, which with God is always crowned more than necessity. For it is worthy of regret to endure the trials of poverty and nakedness, and to lose their fruits from the vice of vain desire.

    The love of money can only be overcome by non-acquisitiveness.

    Here is a striking and obvious example of the ferocity of this passion, which does not allow the captive soul to observe any rules of honesty and cannot be satisfied with any increase in profit. For it is not by wealth that one can put an end to this passion, but only by non-possessiveness. Finally, when Judas concealed the money entrusted to him, designated for alms to the poor, in order to be satisfied with the abundance of money, at least to moderate his passion, he was so inflamed with a strong passion from their abundance that he no longer wanted only to steal money secretly, but to sell himself Lord. For the violence of this desire surpasses all riches.

    There is no other way to defeat the love of money than by non-possessiveness.

    The perfect victory over the love of money is achieved by not allowing in our heart the spark of desire for any and the slightest acquisition, being sure that we will no longer be able to extinguish it if we feed this spark in us even a little food.

    Rev. Neil Sorsky teaches not to have things that exceed the vital need and to purify the soul, guarding against any desire to acquire property:

    Not only should we avoid gold, silver and property, but also all things beyond the needs of life: in clothes, and in shoes, and in the arrangement of cells, and in vessels, and in all kinds of tools; and all this of little value and unadorned, easily acquired and not inciting to vanity, is fitting for us to have - so that we do not fall into the snares of the world because of it. The true removal from the love of money and materialism is not only not to have property, but also not to want to acquire it. This leads us to spiritual purity.

    St. Tikhon of Zadonsk also instructs to distinguish the dictates of lust from the necessary demands of nature:

    “Lust and luxury desires and seeks a lot ... it can never be satisfied, just as the heat of the heart cannot be quenched, no matter how much the patient drinks. Know both lust and natural necessity, and act according to the demand of nature, and not according to the desire of lust.

    When you think about a blessed and tormenting eternity, then this reflection, like a wind in the darkness, will dispel your thoughts about whims and luxury, and you will not demand anything but what is necessary. Lust and luxury need a lot, nature is content with little.

    The Holy Fathers teach the techniques of spiritual warfare against the passion of greed and its industries:

    St. rights. John of Kronstadt:

    “We must constantly remember that the devil is constantly trying to litter our souls with hellish rubbish, of which we have too much and which is too small and varied. So, whether your heart’s eye is clouded with enmity, whether with pride, or impatience and irritability, whether pitying material possessions for a brother or for yourself - I mean avarice, whether covetousness and avarice, whether unpeaceful and offensive words of others, whether despondency and despair, envy whether by doubt, lack of faith or unbelief in revealed truths, whether by vanity, or by laziness in prayer and in every good deed and in general the deed of service, speak in your heart with firm confidence the words: this is the devil’s rubbish, this is the darkness of hell. With faith and hope in the Lord, with constant sobriety and attention to oneself, one can, with God's help, avoid hellish rubbish and darkness. He who is born of God watches over himself, and the evil one does not touch him.

    The treatment of mental diseases (passions) is completely different from the treatment of bodily diseases. In bodily illnesses, one must dwell on the illness, caress the sore spot with mild remedies, warm water, warm poultices, etc., but in mental illnesses it is not so: a disease has attacked you - do not dwell on it with attention, do not caress it at all, do not indulge it , do not warm her, but beat, crucify her; do the exact opposite of what she asks; hatred of your neighbor has attacked you - quickly crucify it and immediately love your neighbor; stinginess has attacked - rather be generous; envy attacked - rather be kind; Pride has attacked - rather humble yourself to the ground; the love of money has attacked - rather praise the lack of possessions and be jealous of it; tormented by the spirit of enmity - love peace and love; overcomes gluttony, - rather zeal for abstinence and fasting. The whole art of curing diseases of the spirit consists in not paying attention to them in the least and not in the least indulging them, but immediately cutting them off.

    Saint Isidore Pelusiot:

    If the love of money, this “root of all evils” (1 Tim. 6:10), influences you, and, having turned all your feelings to yourself, leads you into such a frenzy that you fall into idolatry, then firmly answer him with the right word: “it is written: to the Lord Worship your God and serve Him alone" (Matthew 4:10). And the action of the poison will end, and you will completely sober up.

    Rev. Mark the Ascetic:

    “The cause of all sinfulness is vanity and the desire for pleasure. He who does not hate them will not stop passions.

    St. John Chrysostom:

    "When an evil habit or a passion for covetousness greatly seduces you, arm yourself against them with this thought: despising temporary pleasure, I will receive a great reward. Say to your soul: you grieve that I deprive you of pleasure, but rejoice, because I am preparing Heaven is for you. You work not for man, but for God; be patient a little and you will see what benefit will come from this; remain firm in the present life and you will receive indescribable freedom. If in this way we converse with the soul, if we present more than one burden virtue, but also her crown, let us soon turn her away from all evil."

    "The servant of Christ will not be a slave to wealth, but its master."

    “How to extinguish the flame of covetousness? Can be extinguished even if it has risen to the sky. One has only to want - and we, no doubt, will overcome this flame. As it is strengthened by our desire, so it will be destroyed by desire. Wasn't it our free will that set it on fire? Consequently, free will will be able to extinguish, only we wish. But how can such a desire appear in us? If we pay attention to the vanity and uselessness of wealth, to the fact that it cannot accompany us to Eternal Life; that here too it leaves us; that even if it is here, the wounds from it go with us there. If we look at how great the riches prepared there are, and if we compare earthly wealth with them, then it will seem more insignificant than mud. If we notice that it exposes countless dangers, that it gives only temporary pleasure mixed with grief, if we carefully consider other wealth, that is, that which is prepared in Eternal Life, then we will have the opportunity to despise earthly wealth. If we delve into the fact that wealth does not in the least increase fame, health, or anything else, but, on the contrary, plunges us into the abyss of death, if we find out that despite the fact that you are rich here and have many subordinates, departing there, you will go away alone and naked - if we often repeat all this and hear from others, then perhaps health will return to us, and we will get rid of this heavy punishment.

    “Perhaps you use more than you need, spend a lot of money on amusements, on clothes and other luxury items, and partly on slaves and animals, and the poor asks you not for anything superfluous, but for that only to satisfy your hunger and satisfy your necessary needs - to have daily bread to support your life and not die. But you don’t want to do this either, and you don’t think that death can suddenly steal you away, and then everything that you have collected will remain here and, perhaps, pass into the hands of your enemies and enemies, and you yourself will leave, taking with you only all the sins with which you collected it. And what will you say then on that terrible day? How will you justify yourself, so unconcerned about your salvation? So listen to me and, while there is still time, give away the excess money, so that you can thus prepare your salvation there and gain the reward of those eternal blessings, which may we all receive by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom the Father, with the Holy Spirit , glory, power, honor, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen".

    “And those who are possessed by an insane passion and love for collecting wealth, exhaust all their strength for this, and are never satisfied, because the love of money is insatiable drunkenness; and just as drunkards, the more they pour wine into themselves, the more they become inflamed with thirst, so these (money-lovers) can never stop this indomitable passion, but the more they see the growth of their property, the more they are inflamed by greed and do not lag behind this evil passion. until they plunge into the very abyss of evil. If these people manifest with such intensity this pernicious passion, the culprit of all evils, then all the more should we have the judgments of the Lord, which are higher than “gold and even a lot of pure gold”, always have in our thoughts and not prefer anything to virtue, and these pernicious passions eradicate from your soul and know that this temporary pleasure usually gives rise to incessant sorrow and endless torment, and not to deceive ourselves and not to think that our existence ends with real life. True, most people do not express this in words, on the contrary, they even say that they believe the doctrine of the resurrection and the future reward; but I pay attention not to words, but to what is done every day. If you really expect resurrection and retribution, then why are you so concerned about worldly glory? Why, tell me, do you torment yourself every day, collecting more money than sand, buying villages, and houses, and baths, often acquiring this even by robbery and covetousness and fulfilling the prophetic word on yourself: “Woe to you, who add house to house, joining field to field, so that [others] have no place, as if you alone were settled on the earth” (Isaiah 5:8)? Isn't that what we see every day?

    Saint Gregory the Theologian:

    Rich! listen: "when wealth increases, do not attach your heart to it" (Ps. 61, 11), know that you are relying on a fragile thing. It is necessary to lighten the ship so that it is easier to sail.

    7b. Hope in God conquers the passion of the love of money and delivers from troubles

    Saint Theophan the Recluse writes that it is not the possession of wealth that is sinful and destructive, but addiction to it and hope in it, and not in God:

    "It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:23). This refers to the rich, who sees in himself many ways and many forces for prosperity. But as soon as the one who has a lot cuts off all addiction to possessions, extinguishes in himself all hope for it and ceases to see in it his essential support, then he becomes in his heart what he does not have anything, the road to the Kingdom is open to such. Wealth then not only does not interfere, but helps, because it gives a way to do good. Wealth is not a problem, but trust in it and addiction to it. This idea can be summarized as follows: whoever trusts in what and what he is addicted to, that is what makes him rich. Whoever trusts in the one God and clings to Him with all his heart is rich in God. Whoever puts his trust in anything else turns his heart to that other than God, he is rich in this other, and not in God. Hence it follows: whoever is not rich in God, there is no entrance to the Kingdom of God. This implies gender, connections, mind, ranks, range of actions, and so on.

    Saint Demetrius of Rostov teaches to trust in God:

    “When wealth increases, do not attach your heart to it,” says the prophet (Ps. 61, 11). Great folly to set one's heart on gold and trust in disastrous covetousness. Therefore, do not trust in corruptible riches and do not hasten after gold, for, as it is said: "He who loves gold will not be right" (Sir. 31:5,), but put your trust in the living God (1 Tim. 4:10), who abides forever and created all things.

    Do not be afraid of impoverishment in anything, for before you had nothing - now you have, and if you do not have - you will have. For the One Who created everything has not become impoverished, and He will never become impoverished. Strongly believe this: He who brought everything from non-existence into existence did not become impoverished; Giving food to the hungry. He who satisfies every animal is abundant in everything. Do not be stingy in giving alms to those who ask, and do not turn away from the One in whose name you are asked; give everything to the One who gives you, that you may receive from Him a hundredfold.”

    Saint John of the Ladder writes that faith and hope in God kill the passion of the love of money:

    Faith and withdrawal from the world is death for the love of money.

    Otechnik:

    The brother asked the elder: "Bless me to have two gold coins in my body, according to the infirmity of my body." The elder, seeing that he wanted to keep them, said: "Have it." The brother returned to the cell, and thoughts began to disturb him: "What do you think? Did the elder bless you to have money or not?" Rising, he again came to the elder and thus asked him: "For God's sake, tell me the truth, because my thoughts confuse me about the two pieces of gold." The elder answered: “I saw your will to have them, therefore I said to you: have them, although it is not useful to have more than what is needed for the body. Two gold pieces constitute your hope, as if God did not provide for us. But it can happen if you lose them, then your hope will perish. Better place your hope in God, for He cares for us."

    The Tradition of the Church narrates about what the humble hope in God never puts to shame:

    Prologue in the teachings:

    The monks of the monastery of Abba Theodosius told such an incident. According to the charter of the founder of their monastery, they had a custom on Maundy Thursday to all the poor who came to them, widows and orphans to give out a certain amount of wheat, wine and honey and five copper coins each. But one day there was a crop failure in the vicinity of the monastery and bread began to be sold at a high price. Fasting came, and the brethren said to the abbot: "Father, do not distribute wheat this year, because we have little of it, we will have to buy at a high price and our monastery will become impoverished." The abbot answered: "Why should we leave the blessing of our father? He will take care of our food, and it is not good for us to violate his commandment." The monks, however, did not cease to persist and said: "It is not enough for us, we will not give!" The saddened abbot, seeing that his exhortations were leading nowhere, said: "Well, do as you know." The day of distribution came, and the poor left empty-handed. But what happened? When after this the monk entered the granary, he saw to his horror that all the wheat was moldy and spoiled. Everyone knew about it. And the abbot said: "Whoever transgresses the commandments of the abbot, he is punished. Previously, we distributed five hundred measures of wheat, and now we have destroyed five thousand measures and have done a double evil: they have violated the commandment of our father and put their hope not in God, but in our granaries."

    Life of Rev. Sergius of Radonezh narrates:

    “... the monk strictly forbade the monks to leave the monastery in order to ask for food from the laity: he demanded that they put their hope in God, who nourishes every breath, and they would ask Him with faith for everything that is necessary, and what he commanded the brethren, he did it himself without any omission.

    Once another time there was an impoverishment in food; the monks endured this deprivation for two days; Finally, one of them, suffering greatly from hunger, began to grumble at the saint, saying:

    – How long will you forbid us to leave the monastery and ask for what is necessary for us? We will endure one more night, and in the morning we will leave here, so that we do not die of hunger.

    The saint consoled the brethren, reminded them of the exploits of the holy fathers, pointed out how for the sake of Christ they endured hunger, thirst, experienced many hardships; He gave them the words of Christ: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26).

    “If He feeds the birds,” said the saint, “then can’t He give food to us? Now is the time for patience, we grumble. If we endure the short-term test with gratitude, then this very temptation will serve us to great advantage; for even gold is not pure without fire.

    At this he prophetically said:

    “Now we have had a shortage for a short time, but in the morning there will be abundance.

    And the saint's prediction came true: the next day, from an unknown person, a lot of freshly baked bread, fish and other freshly prepared dishes were sent to the monastery. Those who delivered all this said:

    – This is what the Christ-lover sent to Abba Sergius and the brethren living with him.

    Then the monks began to ask the messengers to eat food with them, but they refused, saying that they were ordered to immediately return back, and hastily left the monastery. The hermits, seeing the abundance of brought food, realized that the Lord had visited them with His mercy, and, having warmly thanked God, arranged a meal: at the same time, the monks were greatly struck by the extraordinary softness and unusual taste of bread. For a long time it was enough for the brethren of these dishes. The venerable abbot, taking advantage of this opportunity to instruct the monks, said, instructing them:

    – Brethren, look and marvel at what reward God sends for patience: “Arise, Lord, [my] God, lift up Your hand, do not forget the oppressed” [will not forget his poor to the end] (Ps. 9:33). He will never leave this holy place and His servants who live there and serve Him day and night.”

    Life of Saint Boniface the Merciful, Bishop of Ferentia:

    “Saint Boniface was from the Tusk region, in Italy. Since childhood, he was distinguished by love for the poor, when he had to see someone undressed, he took off his clothes and dressed them naked, therefore he came home either without a chiton, or without a retinue, and his mother, herself a poor widow, often got angry with him and said:

    It is in vain that you do this, dressing the poor, being yourself a beggar.

    Once she entered her granary, in which bread was prepared for the whole year, and found it empty: Boniface, her son, secretly distributed everything to the poor, and the mother began to cry, hitting herself in the face and exclaiming:

    Woe to me, where will I get food for the whole year, and how will I feed myself and my family?

    Boniface, having come to her, began to console her, but when, even after strong weeping, he could not calm her down with speeches, he began to beg her to leave the granary for a while. When his mother left, Boniface closed the door in the granary, fell to the ground and began to pray to God, and immediately the granary was filled with wheat. Boniface, thanking God, called his mother, when she saw the granary full of bread, she consoled herself and glorified God. From that time on, she did not forbid her son to distribute to the poor as much as he wanted.

    Ancient Patericon:

    Some of the Greeks once came to the city of Ostracina to give alms. They took guardians with them to show them who was in particular need of alms. The attendants brought them to one of the mutilated and offered him alms. He did not want to accept, saying: “Here I am toiling and eating bread from my labors.” Then they brought them to the hut of a widow with her family. When they knocked on the door, her daughter answered. And the mother went to work at that time - she was a dressmaker. They offered clothes and money to their daughter, but she did not want to accept, saying: “When my mother went, she said to me: be calm, God willed, and now I have found a job, now we have our own food.” When the mother came, they began to ask her to accept alms, but she did not accept it either and said: “I have my God as the Patron - and now you want to take Him away from me!” When they heard her faith, they glorified God.

    Otechnik:

    Someone brought money to the old man, saying: “Here is for your needs: you are old and sick” (he was covered with leprosy). The elder answered: “Have you come to take away my feeder from me, who has been feeding me for sixty years already? I spent so much time in my illness and did not need anything, because God provided me with everything I needed and nourished me.” The elder did not agree to take the money.

    7th century Cultivation of virtues

    Abba Dorotheos teaches about the importance of acquiring virtues in the fight against passions:

    “For the doctor of souls is Christ, who knows everything and gives a decent cure against every passion: so against vanity he gave the commandments of humility of mind, against voluptuousness - the commandments of abstinence, against the love of money - the commandments of alms, and, in a word, every passion has healing commandment corresponding to it.

    So, as I said, we must strive against evil habits and passions, and not only against passions, but also against their causes, which are the roots; for when the roots are not uprooted, then the thorns will necessarily grow again, especially since some passions can do nothing if a person cuts off their causes. … And all the fathers say that every passion is born from these three: from love of glory, love of money and voluptuousness, as I often told you. So, one must not only cut off the passions, but also their causes, then fertilize one’s morals well with repentance and weeping, and then already begin to sow good seed, which are good deeds; for as we said about the field, that if, after cleansing and working it, good seed is not sown on it, then grass comes up and, finding the earth loose and soft from cleansing, takes root deeper in it; so it is with man. If he, having corrected his morals and repented of his former deeds, does not begin to take care of doing good deeds and acquiring virtues, then what is said in the Gospel comes true on him: “when an unclean spirit leaves a person, it passes through a waterless place, seeking rest, and does not acquire. Then he says: I will return to my house; Then he will go and take with him seven other spirits most cruel to himself, and they will live in that one: and the last one will be bitterer than the first to that man” (Mt. 12:43-45). For it is impossible for the soul to remain in the same state, but it always succeeds either in the best or in the worst. Therefore, everyone who wants to be saved must not only not do evil, but must also do good, as it is said in the psalm: "avoid evil and do good" (Ps. 33, 15); not only is it said: “turn away from evil,” but also: “do good.” For example, if someone is used to offending, then he should not only not offend, but also act in truth; if he was a fornicator, then he should not only not indulge in fornication, but also be temperate; if he was angry, he should not only not be angry, but also acquire meekness; if someone was proud, then he should not only not be proud, but also humble himself. And this is what it means: "turn away from evil and do good." For every passion has its opposite virtue: pride is humility, avarice - mercy, fornication - abstinence, cowardice - patience, anger - meekness, hatred - love and, in a word, every passion, as I said, has a virtue opposite to it.

    I have told you about this many times. And just as we banished the virtues and assumed passions in their place, so we must take the trouble not only to banish the passions, but also to accept the virtues and put them in their place, because we naturally have the virtues given to us by God. For when God created man, He instilled virtues in him, just as He said, “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). It is said: “in the image”, since God created the soul immortal and autocratic, and “in the likeness” refers to virtue. For the Lord says: “Be merciful, therefore, for even your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36), and in another place: “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). Likewise, the apostle says: “be kind to one another” (Eph. 4:32). And the psalm says: "The Lord is good to all" (Ps. 144:9), and the like; that's what "like" means. Therefore, by nature, God gave us virtues. Passions, however, do not belong to us by nature, for they do not even have any essence or composition, but, just as darkness in its essence has no composition, but is a state of air, as St. Basil says, arising from the impoverishment of light, so passions are not natural to us. : but the soul, having deviated from the virtues out of voluptuousness, instills passions in itself and strengthens them against itself. That is why we need, as it is said about the field, having completely completed the purification, immediately sow good seed, so that it would bear good fruit.

    Abba Serapion instructs that in order to successfully combat the love of money, the passion for fornication must be overcome:

    So, although these eight passions have different origins and different effects, the first six, i.e. gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, are interconnected by some kind of affinity or connection, so that the excess of the first passion gives rise to the next. For from excess of gluttony necessarily comes fornication lust, from fornication greed, from greed anger, from anger sadness, from sadness despondency; and therefore it is necessary to fight against them in the same way, in the same order, and in the struggle we must always pass from the previous to the next. For every harmful tree will soon wither if its roots, on which it rests, are exposed or dried up.

    Rev. Macarius of Optina:

    “... I really don’t like petty calculations in money in you; you so carefully keep score so that even one dime does not pass one more than another; when will you be engaged in spiritual salvation and worry about the eradication of passions, when the main passion and the root of all evil - the love of money dominates you? Considering that what is mine is not passed on to your sister, you will waste time on the most necessary things: self-reproach, humility and heart disease about your sins. Everything, except for this, that is not inherent in our soul, will remain here, and with us, either virtues or passions will go there, the extermination of which was not baked here and was not cleansed by due repentance. So, I can't tell you how much money to put into the construction site; and if you are true disciples of the Savior of Christ, our Lord, then acquire and enrich yourself with love, and the love of money is the first enemy. If you want to listen to me, then know that it will be more pleasant for me when each of you tries to spend most of it before the other; and in everything it is necessary to act in this way in order to overthrow the evil love of money, which is the cause of many evils: excessive concern for calculations, thought deepened into it, anger, rancor, impoverishment of love and hope in God.

    Where the love of money has power over us, there we count every penny so that the excess does not pass ... Passion, all passion; not the one, but the other, and they are bad mediators in friendship. Elder Vasily in the hostel the word "yours and mine" calls pekul [guardianship] of the evil one; it will not bear the good fruits of love and peace. If something of yours or hers were transferred, then why have a calculation about this? Not only five, ten, but even even a hundred rubles went over to someone, I do not advise you to reckon, and not to think that I am borrowing or do not want to borrow; all this destroys love. Love is more precious than all the treasures in the world. I advise and ask you both not to reckon and not be embarrassed when something goes over; is it yours? And what did you do to deserve it? everything is God's gift, and we are God's.

    You write: "does not lose the account of friendship"; this is a worldly proverb, and spiritual wisdom: "yours and mine" - is pekul [guardianship] of the evil one - and this is in relation to acquisitiveness and love of money - the root of all evil; and you, as you yourself see, from another stinking source flow calculations, from self-love and pride, likewise from that one too, and maybe something else. All this friendship does not build, but destroys. I advise you and her to avoid petty calculations as much as possible, and not to cherish the passions of greed, not wanting to be obliged to each other. It is in the full sense: "peace"! Peace of heart and harmony are dearer than all the treasures of the world, keep it more than money or pride.

    ... enemies, seeing us arming themselves against them and flowing to capture the Kingdom of Heaven, arm themselves more fiercely against us and fight us, arousing passions for action; and the main ones are love of glory, voluptuousness and love of money, and through them other passions also manifest their actions in us. By the mere fulfillment of the rules we cannot get rid of the action of the passions, but by doing the commandments in community with people. The commandments extend even to loving enemies. Our infirmity is healed not by solitary retreat, but by doing and enduring the annoyance of the cross (see the book of St. Isaac the Syrian, Word 2). But when we, having been passionate, i.e., ill with pride, vanity, cunning and opinion, want to approach God in solitude, we can be deceived ... it is better to struggle with people, from our falls to know our weakness and come to humility; then all our deeds will be pleasing to the Lord God.

    Our life is a spiritual military service - scolding: with whom? - with invisible spirits of malice. Who stirs up these troubles? - the enemies of our stomach are demons, trying to snatch from us crowns of feats for patience, which we could receive by accepting annoyance, insults, humiliation, reproach, contempt, etc.; and through this, our cruel heart would be softened and passions would be destroyed: self-love, love of glory, voluptuousness and avarice, from which all passions take strength and act.

    Rev. Ambrose Optinsky:

    “These virtues are wisdom, chastity, courage and truth, with which a person must be protected in order to repel and conquer the three main passions: voluptuousness, love of glory and love of money. When reflecting each of these three passions, it is necessary to have both God-wise reason and great firmness of mind ... Wisdom tends to have not only wit, but also foresight, and foresight, and together the art of how to act.
    ... for the worldly, the love of money is the root of all evil ...

    It's not about wealth, it's about ourselves. No matter how much you give to a person, you will not satisfy him.

    In vain do you think that material means would give you peace of mind. No, this idea is false. There are people with means in your eyes, but they worry more than you. Try to humble yourself better, and then you will find peace, as the Lord Himself promised through the Gospel word. If someone sends you something, accept it as from the hand of God, and do not be ashamed of poverty. Poverty is not a vice, but the main means to humility and salvation. The incarnated Son of God Himself deigned to live in poverty on earth. Remember this and don't be ashamed... Calm down and call on God's help.

    In vain do you think that wealth or abundance, or at least sufficiency, would be useful or comforting to you. The rich are even more anxious than the poor and deficient. Poverty and insufficiency are closer to both humility and salvation, if only a person does not become faint-hearted, but with faith and hope entrusts himself to the all-good Providence of God. Until now, the Lord has fed us and is able to do this forward ... "

    Saint John of the Ladder:

    “Do not say that you are collecting money for the sake of those in need, for even two widow's mites bought the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Faith and withdrawal from the world is death to the love of money.

    By almsgiving and poverty in everything necessary, this courageous ascetic courageously avoided idolatry, that is, the love of money (see: Col. 3: 5) ”

    Saint Demetrius of Rostov:

    Do not pursue much, but be thankful for little. For everyone is after a lot, everyone is looking for a lot, everyone is concerned about everything, however, leaving everything to the smallest, they will not be able to take anything from here with them. It is better to be thankful for a little than to be foolishly chasing after a lot. "The little of the righteous is better than the wealth of many wicked," says the prophet (Ps. 36:16). For everything that you get here and that you gain will remain on the earth; you, leaving everything, with a naked soul will move into the coffin.

    St. John Chrysostom:

    “Money should be owned, as befits masters, so that we rule over them, and not they over us.

    Slavery to wealth is harder than any torment, which is well known to all those who have been honored to be freed from it. In order for you to know this beautiful freedom, break the bonds, run from the nets! Let not gold be stored in your house, but that which is more precious than countless riches - almsgiving and philanthropy. This gives us boldness before God, and gold covers us with great shame and helps the devil to influence us.

    The more you become rich, the more you will be a slave; but if you despise what is characteristic of slaves, you will become glorious in the royal house.

    Let us begin to despise property, so that Christ does not despise us, let us begin to neglect wealth in order to gain (true wealth). If we cherish it here, then we will undoubtedly destroy it both here and there, and if we distribute it with great generosity, then in both lives we will enjoy great prosperity.

    “What did Christ say to this when the young man departed? "It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:23). With these words, Christ does not condemn wealth, but those who are addicted to it. And if it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, what can be said about a covetous person?.. Having said that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, He adds: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matt. 19). , 24). This shows that no small reward awaits him who, with wealth, can live prudently! Christ recognizes such a way of life as the work of God, in order to show that a lot of grace is needed for those who want to live like this. When the disciples were confused when they heard His words. He said: "It is impossible for men. But with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26).

    If you want to know how the impossible can become possible, listen. Not for this did Christ say: “It is impossible for men, but with God all things are possible,” so that you weaken in spirit and move away from the work of salvation as impossible, but so that you, realizing the height of the subject, the sooner set about the work of salvation and in these exploits, calling on God to help him, he received Eternal Life. So how can the impossible be made possible? If you give up your possessions, distribute money and leave evil desires ... But how, you say, can you leave this? How can someone who has already possessed such a strong passion for wealth be immediately freed from such a strong passion for wealth? Let him only lay the foundation for the distribution of property, let those in need separate his excesses, and in the course of time he will do more and easily go forward. So, if it is difficult for you to achieve everything at once, then do not try to get everything at once, but gradually and little by little ascend this ladder leading to Heaven. Just as those who suffer from a fever, if they take any food or drink ... not only do not quench their thirst, but kindle the flame even more strongly, so do covetous people, as they satisfy their insatiable passion, which is more poisonous than bile, inflame it even more. And nothing stops this passion so easily as a gradual weakening of selfish desires, just as a small use of food and drink destroys the harmful effect of bile ... Know that evil ceases not by increasing wealth, but by destroying the passion for it in oneself ... So, so that we do not torment ourselves in vain, let us reject the love of wealth that constantly torments us and never calms down and, desiring heavenly treasures, let us strive for another love, which is both easier for us and can make us blessed. Here the work is not great, but the benefits are countless, for he who is always awake, sober, despises earthly blessings can never lose heavenly blessings, while he who is enslaved and completely devoted to these latter will inevitably lose them.

    “Listen to how the blessed Paul glorifies his faith, which he showed in himself from the very beginning: “by faith,” he says, “Abraham obeyed the call to go to the country that he had to receive as an inheritance, and went, not knowing where he was going” ( Heb.11:8), drawing our attention to what God said - "come out of your land and go to the land that I will show you." Do you see firm faith, do you see a pure-hearted spirit? Let us also imitate him, withdraw our thoughts and desires from the affairs of this life, and direct our path towards heaven. After all, we can, if we only want, and while living here, be on the way there (to heaven), when we begin to do what is worthy of heaven, when we have no passion for the goods of the world, when we do not seek vain glory in this life, but, despising it , let us strive to achieve another glory, true and always abiding; when we do not deal with the luxury of clothes and take care of adornment of the body, but we transfer all this concern for external adornment to the care of the soul, and we will not tolerate it being naked and devoid of the clothes of virtue; when we despise bliss, run away from gluttony, let's not chase feasts and dinners, but we will be satisfied with the necessary, according to the apostolic admonition: "having food and clothing, we will be satisfied with it" (1 Tim. 6, 8). And what is the use, tell me, in excess, in the fact that the stomach is torn from satiety, or the mind is upset by the immoderate use of wine? Is it not from here that all evil is born both for the body and for the soul? What are these various diseases and disorders from? Is it not because, by transgressing the measure, we burden the womb with too heavy a load? Why also adultery, fornication, theft, covetousness, murder, robbery, and any corruption of the soul? Is it not because we seek more than what is proper? Just as Paul called the love of money the root of all evils, so he who calls immoderation and our desire to go beyond the limits of need in everything will not sin will not sin. Indeed, if we wanted not to look for anything superfluous, but only necessary, in food, and in clothes, and in dwellings, and in other bodily needs, then the human race would be freed from many evils.

    I don’t know why each of us is more or less susceptible to the disease of covetousness and never tries to limit himself to what is necessary, but, contrary to the apostolic admonition: “having food and clothing, we will be satisfied with it,” we do everything as if we don’t know what kind of everything that exceeds the necessary need, we will have to give an account and answer, as having not properly used what was given to us from the Lord. Not only for our enjoyment, we must use what He has given us, but also to alleviate the needs of others. So, what forgiveness can those who show delicacy in clothes, try to clothe themselves in silk fabrics, and what is especially bad, are still proud of it, while they should be ashamed, afraid and tremble, that it is not out of need and not for profit that they put on such clothes, but for bliss and vanity, in order to be surprised at the marketplaces. A man of the same nature as you walks about naked, not even having coarse clothing to cover himself; but nature itself does not draw you to compassion, neither conscience prompts you to help your neighbor, nor the thought of that (last) terrible day, nor the fear of hell, nor the greatness of the promises, nor the fact that our common Lord assimilates everything that we have rendered to our neighbor Yourself. But, as if having a stone heart and being strangers to the same nature, such people, putting on expensive clothes, think that they are already becoming higher than human nature, and do not think how great a responsibility they subject themselves to, badly disposing of what is entrusted to them from the Lord. , and willingly allowing the moth to destroy their clothes, rather than (wishing) to give any part of them to co-slaves, and, thus, they are already preparing for themselves the most severe fire of hell. Even if the rich would share everything they have with the poor, then they would not escape punishment for what they do, luxury in clothes and feasts. What kind of punishment, indeed, are not worthy of those who try in every way, as often as possible, to put on clothes of silk and shining with gold, or in any other way decorated, and in them proudly go to the market, and Christ is left neglected, naked and lacking even the necessary food? These words I especially address to women. Among them we find the most passion for adornment and excess, for putting on golden clothes, wearing gold on the head, neck and other parts of the body, and in this conceit. How many poor people, tell me, could be fed, and how many naked bodies could be covered with just what is hung on the ears (of women) without any need and without any benefit, but only to harm and corruption of the soul? That is why the teacher of the universe, saying: "having food and clothing," also turns the word to women and says: "that wives adorn themselves not with braided hair, not with gold, not with pearls, not with clothes of great value" (1 Tim. 2, 9). You see how he does not want them to be adorned with such clothes, clothed with gold and precious stones, but that they should try to truly adorn the soul, by good deeds elevate its beauty, and not show it (when caring about decorating the body) in impurity, in dirt. , in sackcloth, exhausted by hunger, exhausted from the cold. Such care for the body and such adornment of it testify to the ugliness of the soul, the luxury of the body reveals the hunger of the soul, the richness of its clothes exposes its nakedness. After all, it is impossible for someone who cares about the soul and values ​​its goodness and beauty dearly to take care of external adornment, just as it is impossible for one who is preoccupied with appearance, the beauty of clothes, gold jewelry, to make proper diligence for the soul. Indeed, can a soul ever rise to the knowledge of its needs, or enter into contemplation about spiritual things, completely given over to the earthly, crawling, so to speak, on the earth, never being able to ascend a mountain in thought, but drooping down under its own weight? countless sins? And how many misfortunes are born from here, it is now impossible to depict in a word; it should be left to the consciousness of those who are too busy dressing how many sorrows they receive from here every day. So, if any golden thing is damaged, great noise and confusion embraces the whole house; if the servant steals - whips, blows and bonds fall on everyone; whether some envious people, having intended evil, inadvertently deprive of their property - again great and unbearable sadness; whether there will be misfortunes that plunge (the rich) into extreme poverty - life becomes harder for them than death; if anything else happens, everything causes great sorrow. And in general it is impossible to find a calm soul in those who are engaged in such things. Just as the waves of the sea never cease and cannot be numbered, because they continually follow one another, so it is impossible to enumerate all the disturbances that arise from here. Let us, I beseech you, avoid excess in everything and not overstep the limits of your needs. True wealth and inexhaustible wealth consists in desiring only what is needed and properly using what is superfluous.

    Priest Pavel Gumerov:

    “How to deal with the passion of greed? Cultivate opposite virtues in yourself:

    - mercy to the poor, the needy;

    - care not for earthly values, but for the acquisition of spiritual gifts;

    - thinking not about mercantile, earthly issues, but about spiritual ones.

    Virtue will not come by itself. A person who has a disposition towards the love of money, avarice, greed, must force himself, force him to do works of mercy; use wealth for the benefit of his soul. For example, when we give alms, we need to give it not like this: “On you, God, what is not good for us,” but so that it is a real sacrifice, and not a formality. And sometimes it turns out that we gave the beggar some little thing that just pulls our pocket, and we are still waiting that he will be grateful to us for this. “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; but whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6).

    By forcing ourselves to share, to give, to help others, we can get rid of the love of money and greed. We will understand that “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), that by distributing we can receive greater joy and satisfaction than by accumulating and accumulating valuables, which sometimes bring very little benefit to us.

    Many people ask themselves: who should give alms, because sometimes there are doubts about the honesty of the person asking, that he will use our help for good? There is no consensus of the holy fathers here. Some believe that it is necessary to give to all those who ask, for the Lord Himself knows whether a person asks sincerely or deceives, and there will be no sin on us; give as to Christ Himself. Others say that charity should be done with great judgment. It seems to me that the truth is somewhere in the middle. Of course, in any case, we will not sin, even if we give to a dishonest person. "Professional beggars" have been in all ages, and in the time of the Savior too. And yet both the Lord and the apostles distributed alms to the poor. But if we do not have confidence in a person, we can give him a small amount, and give more generous help to those who are really in need. There is so much grief around us that there are probably such people among our friends and relatives. Good advice is contained in the life of the righteous Philaret the Merciful. This saint became famous for his poverty and mercy. He had three boxes filled separately with gold, silver and copper coins. From the first, the completely poor received alms, from the second - those who lost their means, and from the third - those who hypocritically lured out money.

    The Holy Fathers say that wealth is given to a person by God so that he helps those in need, and he must be treated not as his own property, but as a temporary, for a period given by God for management and good use:

    Saint John Chrysostom:

    “God allowed you to have more than others, not so that you spend on fornication, drunkenness, satiety and luxury goods, but so that you give to the needy.

    God made you rich so that you could help those in need, so that you could atone for your sins by saving others; I gave you money not to lock it up for your own destruction, but to squander it for your own salvation.

    Rich is not the one who has gained a lot, but the one who has given away a lot.

    Has the philanthropic Lord given you much so that you can use what is given to you only for your own benefit? No, but in order that, according to the apostolic admonition, your excess will make up for the lack of others (2 Cor. 8, 14).

    Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

    “The Lord commands with the help of alms to turn earthly possessions into heavenly ones, so that the very treasure of a person, being in Heaven, would draw him to Heaven.

    Scripture ... calls wealthy people the stewards of property that belongs to God and is entrusted to the stewards for a time, so that they dispose of it according to His will.

    To receive the true, common, inalienable property, remain faithful to God in the management of those that are entrusted for a period of time. Do not deceive yourself, do not consider earthly property as property.

    Priest Pavel Gumerov:

    “In the Gospels we find many parables—short stories—about the rich and riches. Some of them speak of the correct attitude towards wealth, and some very clearly, figuratively show the madness of people who live only on earthly, perishable values.

    In the Gospel of Luke there is this story: “A certain rich man had a good harvest in the field; and he reasoned with himself: “What should I do? I have nowhere to collect my fruits.” And he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will gather all my bread and all my goods. And I will say to my soul: soul! A lot of good lies with you for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him: “Crazy! This very night I will take your soul from you, who will get what you have prepared? So it is with those who lay up treasures for themselves, and do not grow rich towards God” (Luke 12:16-21). The holy righteous John of Kronstadt, interpreting this parable, as if asking a rich man: Why are you mad, saying: “There is nowhere for me to gather my fruits”? Like nowhere? Here are the granaries for you - the hands of the poor: give the gifts of God's goodness given to many, to many poor, and receive for this from the Lord forgiveness of sins and great mercy; having acted in this way, you will act in accordance with the will of God, for the Lord gives us surplus to help the poor, "for the merciful ones themselves will have mercy."

    In this parable, wealth is not at all condemned, but the rich man's attitude towards it is condemned. He lived all his life in revelry and joy, and even standing on the verge of death, he did not understand why God gave him this estate. And it is given only for one thing: to turn material treasures into spiritual, incorruptible ones. Help the needy, do good deeds, decorate temples and generally save your soul with the wealth given to you. But for a rich person, all this is oh so difficult. Life in contentment and bliss sucks, makes insensitive to the pain of others. The problems, the pain of the needy, the disadvantaged become infinitely far away. It is difficult for a person who has not experienced what poverty and deprivation are to understand a hungry person. The proverb “The well-fed does not understand the hungry” is not accidental.

    There is another parable in this regard in the Gospel. A certain man was rich; “He dressed himself in purple… and every day he feasted splendidly. There was also a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate in scabs and desired to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man's table; and the dogs came and licked its scabs. The beggar died and was carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died, and they buried him. And in hell, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, and crying out, said: “Father Abraham! Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” But Abraham said: “Child! Remember that you already received your good in your life, and Lazarus evil: now he is comforted here, and you are suffering” (Luke 16, 19-25). Why did the rich man go to hell? After all, the Gospel does not say that he killed or robbed someone in order to get his wealth. Well, think about it, he loved daily feasts. In addition, he was a believer, knew Abraham and, probably, even read the Holy Scriptures. But, apparently, he did not have any good deeds, he had nothing to justify himself with; everything that was given to him as a means of saving his soul was madly spent only on himself. "You already got what you wanted!" Abraham tells him. All these years, at the very gates of the rich man's house, the sick, hungry beggar Lazarus lay. The rich man even knew his name, but did not take any part in his fate, even the crumbs from the rich man's table were not served to him. From wealth, luxury, the heart of the rich man grew fat, and he no longer noticed the suffering of another. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” says Christ. The rich man's heart belonged to an earthly treasure. His soul was filled only with the service of bodily pleasures, there was no place in it for love for God and his creation - man. Here, on earth, he made his choice: to live an unspiritual life, not to think about the soul. After death, a person can no longer change; if he didn't need God here, he couldn't be with Him there. The Lord does not punish a person, but the person himself dooms himself to torment. Paradise life with saints, communion with God is even more painful for the sinner than the fire of Gehenna.

    Let me give an example that partially explains this idea. For a believer, prayer, festive, Sunday service, fellowship with brothers in faith is a joy. And try to make a person not only unusual, but also an unbeliever, stand for three hours at the festive vigil. He won’t even stand idle for half an hour - he will be exhausted and exhausted. ”

    8. The fight against money-loving lasts until death.

    According to patristic teaching, it is necessary to fight against passions, including the love of money, until the very death, not deceived by their weakening or imaginary disappearance.

    So, "Ancient Patericon" narrates:

    “They told about one old man that he lived for fifty years without eating bread or drinking wine, and they said: I have killed in myself fornication, avarice and vanity. - Abba Avraham, hearing that he was saying this, came to him and asked: did you say such a word? Yes, the old man replied. Abba Abraham said to him: behold, you enter your cell and find a woman on a mat; can you not think it's a woman? No, - answered the old man, - but I struggle with the thought, so as not to touch her. Abba Abraham says to him: so, you have not killed passion, but it lives in you and is only curbed! Further: you walk along the road and see stones and shards, and among them - gold; can you imagine both in the same way in your mind? No, - answered the old man, - but I struggle with the thought, so as not to take the gold. The elder says: so, passion lives, but only curbed! Finally Abba Abraham said: You hear about two brothers, that one loves you, and the other hates and slanders; if they come to you, will you receive them both equally? No, - he answered, - but I struggle with the thought to show the same goodness to the one who hates me, as to the one who loves me. Abba Abraham says to him: so, the passions live in you, only they are curbed.

    St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

    “Death, death alone completely frees even the saints of God from the influence of sin on them. Shameless are the passions: they can rise even in the person lying on his deathbed. Even on your deathbed, it is impossible to stop vigilance over yourself. Believe in the passionlessness of your body when it lies down in the coffin.

    They will not stop rising and attacking us to the grave! And we will prepare ourselves for lifelong resistance to them, in the firm conviction that we cannot be constant conquerors of the passions, that by natural necessity we must be subjected to involuntary conquests, that these very conquests contribute to success when they support and strengthen repentance and the humility that is born from it.

    Let us not trust our victories over passions, let us not admire these victories. The passions, like the demons wielding them, are cunning: they appear defeated, so that we may be exalted, and so that, because of our exaltation, victory over us would be more convenient and decisive.

    Let's get ready to look at our victories and victories in the same way: courageously, cold-bloodedly, impartially.

    9. Reasoning in the fight against the passion of the love of money

    The Holy Fathers instruct that, as in the fight against any passion, in the fight against the love of money, the virtue of reasoning is necessary, which helps not to deviate from the royal, middle path of virtue either to the right, into the indulgence of passion, or to the left, into extreme jealousy not according to reason. “Extremes come from the suppression of spiritual enemies. It is foolish to be addicted to money, and foolish to neglect it; both are bad and lead not only to embarrassment, but even to spiritual harm.(St. Ambrose Optinsky).

    So, worldly people who have a family, children, should take care of their material well-being, and reasonable provision of the family will not be a lot of money. Likewise, giving alms should be done with reason., to the best of their abilities, feasible, both material and spiritual, since not everyone can suffer without damage to the soul the deprivation necessary for life.

    St. Theophan the Recluse states " duties of the head of the family»:

    “The head of the family, whoever it is, must take full and comprehensive care of the whole house, in all parts, and have vigilant care for him, realizing himself as a response person both before God and before people for his good and bad; for in his face he represents it all: for him he receives shame and approval, hurts and rejoices. This concern, in parts, should be directed a) to a prudent, stable and complete economy, so that everyone in everything can have feasible contentment, a painless, comfortable life. This is worldly wisdom - honest, blessed by God ... In this respect he is the steward and ruler of affairs. On it lies when to start what, what to do to whom, with whom to enter into transactions, and so on. p) With attention to the course of material affairs, spiritual affairs are also on it. The main thing here is faith and piety. The family is the church. He is the head of this church. Let her keep her clean. The method and hours of home prayer on it: determine them and support them. Ways of enlightening the family in faith on it; the religious life of everyone is on it: enlighten, strengthen, calm down, y) Arranging everything with one hand inside, with the other he must act outside, with one eye look inside, with the other - outside. The family is behind him. He enters society, and society takes the entire family directly from him. Therefore, all the necessary relations and public affairs are on him. He - know, he - and put into action what is needed. 5) Finally, he has the duty to preserve family customs, general and private, and in the latter case, especially the spirit and customs of the ancestors to keep in the family and to pass on the memory of them from generation to generation. Each family has its own character; let him remain and hold on, in union, however, with the spirit of piety. From their heterogeneities, a slender, with diversity, and full body will be formed - a village, a city, a state.

    Ancient Patericon:

    Blessed Synclitica was once asked: "Is non-possession a perfect blessing?" She replied: "Yes, it is a perfect boon for those who can endure. For those who endure lack of possessions, although they have affliction according to the flesh, are at peace in soul. Just as hard linen, when it is wrinkled and rinsed more strongly, is washed and cleansed, so a strong soul is strengthened even more by voluntary poverty.

    Rev. Ambrose Optinsky teaches prudence and measure in giving alms, as well as in other property matters:

    “You write about a deceased worker and ask if this is not a temptation to you, that the thought inspires you with pity for her and compels you to take care of her commemoration, so that out of the five rubles that you had, you gave two to the priests to commemorate her? I answer: of course, this is a temptation. Holy Scripture says: “Do good to your neighbor if your hand can” (Compare: Deut. 15:10). And the Monk Barsanuphius the Great says that if a monk, having only what is necessary for himself, refuses the one who asks, then he will not sin. Do you really live above the teachings of Barsanuphius the Great? You yourself are constantly in need: should you think about financial charity to your neighbors? If you give away the last thing that you yourself need, then the enemy, who always fights you with concern for your insufficient funds, will hinder you even more. Is it good for you, through unbearable good deeds, to plunge yourself into embarrassment and care, and care, when we have the Gospel commandment: “do not scoff”! Reasoning, according to the teaching of the holy fathers, is above all. If you feel pity for the deceased, then in your position, it is more proper for you not to do monetary good works for her, but, if you want, to pray in private for her, so that the Lord, as the message Himself, will have mercy on her soul. And I think that if you do this, then your pity and zeal, all this will disappear soon.

    You ask if you did well by borrowing five rubles for the wanderer and giving her P.'s new boots, which she herself needed. I answer: not good, very bad, and very unfounded. Do not do this for any reason. Nowhere is it written for alms to borrow money and do such good deeds, which are inevitably followed by embarrassment for yourself or for others. I think I wrote you the word and advice of Pimen V. that a monk will not lie if he refuses to the one who asks what he does not have, when he does not have too much, in excess of his need, otherwise he should get with embarrassment for himself what he recklessly gave to another . Your position calls for great discretion and sound discussion.

    In one of the lives of the Kiev-Pechersk saints it is said: if someone does not regret the money stolen from him, then this will be charged to him with a more arbitrary alms.

    How much more should you not regret that in one way or another you have used what you have given or taken from you, otherwise you will diminish the spiritual benefit of your sacrifice.

    You ask how you should be with your relatives: you received advice to leave them, but meanwhile you have no help from anyone and do not know whether to write to them or not to write? I told you to give up excessive concern for relatives and close ties with them, and not to not write to them at all. You can write to them on time. In your present circumstances, you can not ask directly, but ask them that five months have passed, how you live somehow, how they live there - they eat air, or something, and whether they pay for something, or everyone has no money. - If you had received what you needed from others, you might not have reminded them, but now why not ask such a question.

    After everything that I wrote to you, you stubbornly stand your ground - you don’t want to write to your relatives, and meanwhile, because of your silence, they are not only upset with you, but they don’t send you money, and they can’t end things with each other. so that a general nuisance comes out through you. Well, aren't you reckless and stubborn. You wrote to me more than once about some kind of power of attorney, but you never really explained what kind of power of attorney is required from you. As I wrote to you before, I repeat again that a reasonable and solid power of attorney should be sent if your family circumstances so require. You justify yourself by promising not to write to your relatives. The ancient fathers renounced all kinship, but on the other hand they did not ask anyone for anything, but ate herbs and potions or from the labor of their hands. If you cannot imitate them, do not ask anyone for anything, work and eat from the labor of your hands, or, perhaps, if you can eat air and at the same time be peaceful, do not grumble and do not reproach or accuse anyone, if you can do all this then hold on to your promise. And if you can’t, then confess your weakness and foolish promise and humbly ask the Lord for forgiveness: “Lord, I lied, accursed, I promised that I can’t fulfill! Forgive me, a sinner!" You ask: who is better to please - God or people. But you, stubbornly holding on to your reckless promise, will annoy people, but you will not please God.

    To live completely silently, without any worries, not at all caring about either cell or other needs, is a matter beyond our measure, when we see that the former fathers - and perfect ones - took care of their food, each in his own measure, although they cared little, and impassive, but cared. How much more should we, weak and passionate, in this case humble ourselves and take care of our flesh, according to the word of the apostle, nourishing it and warming it according to need, and not whimsically.

    You write: “I don’t like money so much that I never keep it for a long time; That's why I'm always without money, and then I borrow. But this is stupidity, and one should not justify oneself in this, but it is better to reproach oneself and try to improve. If a man could eat and clothe himself with air, then he would justly neglect money, which, it seems, sometimes bothers him. And just as in times of cold and famine it is impossible to neglect necessary clothing and food, so it is impossible to neglect those means through which food and clothing are acquired. The Holy Fathers say that "the edge of the devil's essence," i.e., that extremes come from the suppression of spiritual enemies. It is foolish to be addicted to money, and foolish to neglect it; both are bad and lead not only to embarrassment, but even to spiritual harm through various confusions from wrong neglect. Money in itself, or rather, according to the purpose appointed by God, is a very useful thing. They replace the lack of simplicity and love between people. Without money, who would count people? There would be eternal disputes and quarrels and even fights to the point of murder, and with small coins and even worthless papers people get rid of all this without themselves realizing it. The harm is not from money, but from reckless greed, or avarice, or from abuse - perhaps, let's say, and from wrong neglect. Use the use of money correctly and you will be at peace.

    N.'s mother asks if she can keep her sisters' money. If the ancient strict order of community life had been preserved, when everything needed was given to the living, then this would have been indecent and could be considered improper, but at present, due to the general weakness of both those in command and subordinates, this is absolutely impossible to forbid. There is a need and a necessary need for the latter.

    Rev. Macarius of Optina:

    “Your conscience cannot reproach you for having perishable money, if you own it, and not they own you; how to own them, I think you know enough.

    By the call of God, from the distant world in ancient times, some, with the help of God, having mortified their bodies with feats with humility and sharpness of life, did not demand the riches of this world; but the fame that had passed about their virtues attracted to them many who wished to receive salvation, who could not bear the cruelty of their life, demanded more or less indulgence for their infirmities ... Thus, often and according to God's revelation, brotherhoods were formed, monasteries were gradually arranged , convents, monasteries and laurels, for the construction of which they were sent from God, through kings and nobles, the treasures of this world, which they, if they accepted, then ... only by asking for this will of God, through the internal or obvious revelation, although mourning the abandonment of his silence; but, considering the salvation of their neighbors, which they have in these abodes, and in later times, they preferred the salvation of many souls to their benefit. The brethren who were in the monasteries, sometimes reaching up to a thousand, and more or less, also demanded maintenance; although many had food from the labor of their hands, they did not brush aside the zeal of those who brought from their righteous acquisitions, using them for monastic needs ... This, it seems, is the reason that prompted the ancient fathers to accept the treasures of this world - the reason for the salvation of souls; for not all could be perfect as they are; and paki: the zeal of those who bring these gifts served to save many. They accepted these treasures without passion, and therefore - without harm to themselves ... "

    10. Non-possession

    Non-acquisitiveness is a virtue that opposes the love of money, this passion is defeated by it, it gives peace and freedom of spirit, peace and softness of heart, brings one closer to God and leads to salvation. The Holy Fathers teach that this virtue is achieved through many labors.

    St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) writes about what non-possession includes:

    “Satisfying oneself with one essential. Hatred of luxury and bliss. Mercy for the poor. Loving the poverty of the gospel. Trust in God's providence. Following Christ's commandments. Peace and freedom of mind. Carelessness. Softness of the heart.

    Sayings of the nameless elders:

    If you want to receive the Kingdom of Heaven, hate all earthly possessions, because if you are voluptuary and money-loving, you will not be able to live according to God.

    Saint John Chrysostom:

    Non-acquisitiveness brings us closer to Heaven, freeing us not only from fear, worries and dangers, but also from other inconveniences.

    Saint Nil of Sinai:

    Let no one think that success in non-possessiveness is easily and easily achieved.

    Saint Isidore Pelusiot:

    It is known that not having a need is in many ways recognized as the greatest blessing ... but it is also recognized that a much higher well-being is to be above even the need to have any kind of property. Therefore, let us take more care of the soul, but about the body - as far as it is necessary, about the external - we will not exert any care at all. For in this way we will also reach the highest bliss, which includes the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Rev. Isaac the Syrian:

    “No one can acquire real non-possessiveness unless he prepares himself to endure temptations with joy.

    Without non-acquisitiveness, the soul cannot be freed from the rebellion of thoughts and, without bringing feelings to silence, it will not feel peace in thought.

    Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

    “In order to acquire love for spiritual and heavenly things, one must renounce love for earthly things.

    Non-acquisition and renunciation of the world is a necessary condition for achieving perfection. The mind and heart must be wholly directed towards God, all obstacles, all occasions for entertainment must be eliminated.

    Ancient Patericon:

    Blessed Synclitica was once asked: "Is non-possession a perfect blessing?" She answered: “Yes, it is a perfect blessing for those who can endure. For those who endure lack of possessions, although they have sorrow according to the flesh, are calm in soul. strengthened by voluntary poverty."
    - The Reverend Father John Cassian the Presbyter to the ten conversations of the fathers sent to Bishop Leonty and Ellady, who were in the skete desert. The Fifth Interview of Abba Serapion. About the eight main passions.

    Life of Saint Boniface the Merciful, Bishop of Ferentia

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    Talking about the love of money in our time is like describing the heat in summer. July hell torments everyone, you can’t hide from it. There is, of course, salvation from the heat - air conditioners and fans, shade and cold water. But few people love the sun, and love for the "silver" sometimes completely captures the heart. And this can happen even if the "silver" of this is not in the pockets of the lover ...

    About what is the sin of love of money, we are talking today with Abbot Nektariy (Morozov).

    - In modern Russian society, there are many people who live on the verge of poverty. How, in such a situation, is it generally possible to speak of the sin of the love of money?

    - The sin of the love of money is not in the excessive possession of silver, gold, that is, material values, but in love for these very values.

    In order to live on earth, a person needs many things: food, clothing, money with which it can be bought. Housing is needed because we cannot live on the street. It happens that expensive medical services and medicines are also needed. And that's not all...

    Let's say a person needs surgery. Will there be love in the heart of the operated person for a needle that pricks him into a vein and injects some kind of pain blocking agent, for a scalpel that cuts the skin and allows the surgeon to remove the inflamed appendix? Most likely no. The patient will treat both the needle and the scalpel as necessary and endure. But it is not so at all - with material goods, with money, which can be used to purchase the necessities of life. Love for the material is very dangerous for a person. And very scary - especially since it can be experienced both by a person who has nothing, and vice versa, who has many treasures of this world.

    What does "love" mean in this case? This means that in a situation where you are faced with a choice between what you love and duty, honor, mercy, compassion and, most importantly, the desire to be faithful to God, you will choose what you love, this very “silver ". You will not give it to someone who needs it, you will close your heart from someone who is ill, and in order to increase or keep what you have, you will commit this or that betrayal towards God. This is the main harm of the love of money.

    Man, of course, is a multifaceted being, but when he is turned to something, it means that he turns away from something else. Appeal to the material necessarily turns away from the spiritual. How such an attitude can manifest itself in a rich person is probably understandable. He has many concerns: how to manage his wealth, how to protect it from those who want to plunder this wealth, how to spend it wisely so as not to completely deplete it, and how to add something new to it. Naturally, when a person is busy with the process of acquiring or maintaining, he gradually understands that success in this is often associated with some immoral acts. When you have a lot of money, you can easily add more to it by taking it away from someone else who has less and who is unable to defend it. Of course, you can simply earn money, but it is much more difficult than taking it away. Therefore, when a person loves silver, he will most likely take it away. And even if he earns honestly, he will still face a situation of choice: pay or not pay taxes, pay or not a decent salary to the people who work for you, and so on. Of course, if a person loves God more than wealth, if he does not imagine his life without, if not God's laws, then at least the laws of human morality (although today this concept is very vague), he is more likely to be remembered as a kind and fair person. But more often than not, this is not the case. More often, a person who has achieved prosperity is guided in his actions, in his actions, not by love for God and not by moral laws, but by something else.

    If a person has nothing, then his love for silver and gold will be similar to the love of a person who is secretly in love with someone, languishes with passion, but cannot approach the object of his desire. He is jealous of everyone who approaches the object of his adoration, suffers terribly from this, suffers, envies, gets angry - his heart turns black from this. And therefore, a person who loves money, but does not have them, may consider that his whole life has failed. He thinks he is unhappy. He just doesn’t know yet that no matter how much money you have, it’s still less than you would like. The thirst for money increases in direct proportion to their number. Therefore, when priests talk about the need to fight against the passion of the love of money, they are talking about precisely this - about the need to fight against the love of what should be just a means to achieve certain goals.

    - Personally, I am not familiar with rich people, so I will share my impression of those who, in your expression, are in love unrequitedly. It often resembles a disease, a pathology. From people who have been beaten by life, who have endured severe hardships, from Leningrad blockade survivors - you can’t interrogate some of them for water on a rainy day ... But people who collect slippers without a pair are also sick with avarice, right?

    - As for the slippers - yes, this is just the love of money, like a love for material things that reaches irrationality. Only I do not agree that the painful manifestations of this passion are most often noticeable precisely in those who have experienced some kind of deprivation. On the contrary, often those who have experienced hunger and learned that you can be content with very little in life are more generous than people who lived in abundance. Sometimes it is these people who share not only what they have in abundance, but also what they themselves lack. Petersburg, including besieged Leningrad, has never been a city of greedy people. Although, of course, it also happens that the experienced hardships, suffering lead to a certain breakdown, mental illness, but this is a separate issue ...

    There is such an amazing story in Otechnik. Once upon a time, the Monk Abba Daniel, while wandering, stopped in one village, where a man who did not look rich at all approached him and invited him to his house for the night. This man's name was Eulogy, he was a stone cutter - he earned money by hewing stones. He immediately spent what he earned during the day - he bought something he needed for himself, and distributed everything else to the poor, welcomed wanderers. And Evlogius liked the Monk Daniel so much, delighted him so much that the abba began to pray to God that He would grant the stonecutter great blessings that could allow a much larger number of people to do good. The Lord answered: "It is not necessary." But the abba persisted in his request, and then God again answered: “All right, I will fulfill your request, but what follows will fall entirely on your shoulders.” And so Evlogii found a treasure, left for another city, settled in expensive chambers, where not a single poor man and beggar was allowed to be shot at by a cannon. Abba Daniel, who came to visit his friend, was also expelled. Then the monk prayed again and began to ask for forgiveness for his foolish prayer. As a result, the stone cutter lost everything, returned to his village, began to do honest work again and take care of those in need, as before ...

    The estate has tremendous power and authority. Here, it would seem, there is nothing - and okay. And something appears, and a person immediately clings to it. You need to be attentive to yourself, to be able to catch the moment when the heart begins to grow together with the estate, and cut this connection. The Lord Himself sends situations when a person can overcome this passion in a natural way, but it happens that this passion is so great that a person rejects everything that God sends ...

    But the more you give, the more you get back! However, this should not be taken for granted...

    Yes, if a person decides precisely from such motives and with such goals to give to someone what he has, he must be prepared for the fact that this goal may remain unattainable.

    - And one more law: if you have 20 kopecks in your pocket, it is much easier to part with them than with twenty rubles.

    “Yes, because you are already starting to count on them, planning what you will buy with them, and suddenly someone asks you for them ... And it is very difficult to part with them. But! It is not always necessary to part, in fact. The question is who asks, why asks and why asks.

    The apostle Paul said that our abundance should serve to make up for someone's lack (2 Cor. 8 , 14). We will be asked not for what we do not have, but for what we have. Yes, there were ascetics who neglected any property so much that, looking at them, it seems that they lived beyond the limits - not only of the universal, but even of the common Christian norm. For example, the righteous Filaret the Merciful distributed everything, and he had a fairly large family, which also needed food. And the members of his family were in the state that they already had to give something. In the end, the Lord returned everything to Saint Philaret a hundredfold: his daughter became the wife of the emperor. There was also such an amazing ascetic, Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly (Sidorenko) from Tbilisi, who constantly distributed everything that he had. At first he lived in a cell in the mountains, and it is clear that he had nothing there. And then he moved to the city, and they gave him a blanket, then shoes, then something else - he gave everything away and cried very much: “I tell them: give it out, give it out! They drag me…” But such feats are out of the ordinary. St. Barsanuphius the Great even has this advice: when someone comes to you and asks you for something, and you yourself need it, you have the right to refuse. Because if a person can part with something and not be tormented, part and not cause inconvenience to his loved ones, who together with him have the right to this property, then you can give it away. If you give the last, you must definitely think about those who are next to you, and about what you will do next. Because if you give the last and go yourself to someone to ask in turn, then this is unlikely to make sense.

    But there are, of course, situations in life when it is necessary to give the last. A person with a lively conscience, as a rule, sees and knows this himself.

    - Many justify the sin of greed by the presence of a family and obligations to it. How can a family man, burdened with worries, distinguish where the norm is, and where he is already fond of providing material resources for his children and household?

    - If a person has a large family, he really has to work hard, work hard to provide for it. And this will not be love of money, but the fulfillment of duty in relation to those who depend on this person materially. Another thing is when a person cannot earn as much as he would like, it does not work out for some reason - and he should not have any sadness from this, he should not fall into despondency because of this, stop striving for God. Although if children cry from hunger, then you have to break into a cake, and earn money ...

    - And if the children and the wife want something beyond the necessary, beyond the essential? Let's say roller skates or a new car? And the head of the family loves them and cannot refuse to satisfy these desires?

    - In any family, I would advise a husband and wife to decide what “loves” is, how it should be expressed: in acquiring material goods or in being together and experiencing happiness from this - even without skates and a car. Experience happiness from the fact that the spouses are close, understand each other, rejoice in what they have, and tolerate if they do not have something.

    The criterion of the norm is the same here. If a person sees that what he would like to have captures and enslaves him, then something is wrong here. Suppose a person seeks the joy of owning something. The life devoted to achieving this turns out to be depleted of positive emotions, peace, and an elementary opportunity to rest. And when the goal is reached, there is no joy. It turns out that a person deceives himself. It's like hanging a carrot in front of a donkey's muzzle - the faster he chases after it, the faster it will run away from him - as Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) once very accurately put it in one of his sermons. The desire to possess is insatiable, it cannot be fully satisfied. First you want to have something you need, then you want something better than you have, then you want something better than others, and so on.

    It is natural and not reprehensible for a person to wish that he had what he needed, and at the same time - of good quality. But the question is what price to pay for it. It is impossible that this price should be the whole life, the heart of a person, the whole person. Do we buy in order to live, or do we live in order to acquire. The answer puts everything in its place. If a person lives in order to acquire, a substitution has occurred in his heart. The means suddenly became the end, and the end became the means.

    “Today, the possession of something has become a matter of prestige or decency. If you don't have a cool phone, it's already indecent. And this begins from childhood - if at the time of my growing up we decided questions about the "suitability" of a person in children's competitions, now it all depends on the brand of tablet that dad bought you ... What are the reasons for this phenomenon?

    There are many reasons, but the main one is one. Today, the notion of the human person is lost. And not only someone else's, but also their own. A person loses that depth that should be inherent in him, that fullness of life that he should have. In other words, modern man has too little in his soul. And therefore, having nothing to cherish within himself, he tries to make an impression of himself with the help of what he possesses in the material plane. And of course, the one who manages to possess something is conceited about it. And the one who has nothing - and for the soul too - suffers from this: he feels offended, oppressed and offended.

    - How to instill in a child the right attitude to things?

    - You need to give the child something that will be more important for him than property. Something that will allow him to feel like an accomplished person, regardless of whether he has the opportunity to buy a car for his wife or not.

    We know people who live in difficult living conditions and who look with envy at the owner of a limousine who doused him with dirty water from a puddle. And these people are unaware that this owner of a limousine, having several million conventional units, suffers and suffers, looking at some oligarch with a football club, an airplane and a yacht. And he is tormented, looking at someone else in the same way ... Probably ...

    “We know that the mother of all sins is pride. And if we all learned to humbly trust God, then our life would be different... It seems to me that the love of money is also a relative of many sins. For example, a greedy person cannot be kind. So is it or not?

    - Initially, a money-loving person can be kind, but gradually, with the development of passion, virtues fade away in him. After all, man is a creature dependent on skill. If we refused to help someone twice, three times, four times, then nothing will gradually remain of our kindness. At first we are tormented - we want to give, but we don’t want to give anymore. Man is so arranged - he tries to minimize his suffering. And so we learn not to give without suffering. To do this, you need to harden your heart, close it so that no one can get through to it. “No one” is not only people, but also God. Why does a person suffer? Because his conscience rebukes him. And this is not only conscience, but also the Guardian Angel, and the Lord Himself, Who knocks at the heart. And in order not to give something to someone, a person must learn not to hear God, not to respond to His call.

    Love of money is the sin of not trusting God. Why does a person so feverishly want to acquire something? Because in this he believes hope for his well-being. As long as a person does not hope for an estate, but hopes for the Lord, he is guided by Him in life. And when a person puts property, property at the forefront, then everything changes dramatically, then he gradually becomes a stranger to God.

    - And how to deal with greed? After all, to one degree or another, it lives in the heart of each of us ...

    The Lord takes care of this, and in a variety of ways. Here we have lost a wallet with money - this is a means to overcome our love of money. Instead of rushing about and worrying about this, one should say: “Well, God teaches me to painlessly part with money.” If we have to give something that would be useful to us, it means that the Lord teaches us both love and the suppression of the passion of greed.

    In general, when a person begins to give something, he gradually develops a skill for this, a very important one. St. John Chrysostom said that if it is hard to give what is needed, then one must begin to give at least what is not needed. And the skill will begin to be developed, you will gradually learn to share the latter. But it is important in this case, giving away the unnecessary, not to talk about yourself: how good I am, I’ll stop there, perhaps! There are people among Russian officials - I won't say all of them - who are accustomed to taking. And when they need to give something away, the unimaginable begins to happen to them - withdrawal, like a drug addict. I had to observe the feeling of the deepest bewilderment on their faces at such a moment: How so! Give away?! And not to give in order to receive, but just like that. And many are unable to do so. The truth is, it's all about skill.

    Journal "Orthodoxy and Modernity" No. 26 (42)

    Interviewed by Natalia Volkova

    When asked what happiness is for a person, outstanding thinkers of all times, philosophers and poets noted in their works that the greatest happiness is to be able to love and be loved, and then, to have personal freedom, not to be a slave to anyone. Christians would clarify: one must love the Lord in order to love a person correctly; and in order to be free and know how to use it correctly, you need to free yourself from your passions. Without this, freedom will be not only a great but also a dangerous gift. Love is the good that passes into eternal life and becomes its main content; and freedom deepens and expands in communion with God, in the realization of the royal dignity of man.

    In earthly life, freedom is the possibility of moral choice. In eternal being, freedom is the deliverance of the human soul from all negatives; this is the entry of a person from a state of struggle with demonic forces and sin into the infinite peace of the Divine, where there are no contradictions and oppositions, where the human will is united and merged with the divine will. So, human happiness is love and freedom.

    Love has two antipodes. The first antipode of hatred is the state of fallen spirits; the second is the love of money, which, like hatred, expels love from the heart. Love of money in its deepest essence is hostility towards a person, as towards his potential enemy and invader. The Apostle Paul calls the love of money idolatry, that is, the entry of a person into the dark world of evil - into the realm of fallen spirits, and the replacement of God with earthly dust, no matter what images and forms this dust takes.

    Love and love of money are not compatible. There are three stages in the ascent of the soul to God: faith, hope and love. The love of money is the loss of hope in God and reliance on money; this dims faith and vanishes love. It seems to the lover of money that the providence of God will leave him, and he, impoverished, will die abandoned by everyone in this world, like a lonely traveler in the desert. It seems to him that the providence of God, which feeds even small chicks, will leave him sick and poor, that the Keeper of Israel will doze off and fall asleep. Therefore, the money-lover clings to money as a lifeline in the whirlpools of life, as a panacea for all illnesses and misfortunes. He believes that with money in his bosom he will be safe in all circumstances, like a person hiding from enemies behind a fortress wall. He believes that wealth is the only friend you can rely on, and the rest, in fact, are only encroachments on his property. He expects that if he falls ill, the money will be needed for his treatment; if famine comes, he will survive thanks to them, and when he dies, he will leave a will so that the money would be distributed to commemorate his soul, so that they will be useful to him even after death. The love of money left to grow turns into passion: a person collects money for the sake of money; because of them, he is ready to sacrifice not only someone else's, but also his own life.

    The money-lover forgot about the providence and help of God, which kept him until now. It seems to him that God will “die” and he must take care in advance to provide for himself and his old age. He collects money for a "rainy day", not realizing that he makes every day of his life a rainy day. Fornication, drunkenness, anger are obvious sins; and love of money is an insidious, hidden sin, it is a serpent that hid in the human heart, as in its hole, and grows, turning into a dragon.

    A money-lover cannot love God, even if he fulfills lengthy prayer rules, visits temples, travels to holy places, and even makes some donations. Whoever has no hope in God has no trust in God, and love requires trust - it is by its very nature trusting.

    The money-lover loves no one and no one loves him. He plays at love and they play at love with him. The place of the grave of Judas is unknown - and the grave of the money-lover will soon be forgotten: it will blow from it with the same cold as from his heart during life. Depriving himself of love, the money-lover deprived himself of warmth and light, his very soul became corpse-like.
    Alexander the Great, dying, ordered to put his body in a crystal sarcophagus, with an empty palm turned up, as a sign that the one who conquered half the world did not take anything with him into eternity. If we could see in the spiritual plane a money-lover lying in a coffin with his hand open, then we would imagine his palm filled with mud, into which money turned - his idol.

    In the embryo, the heart is first formed - this is the center of its being; in a corpse, the heart is the last to decompose in the body. And the lover of money already killed his heart during his lifetime - it is eaten away by worms, and he passes into the afterlife with a soul filled with metaphysical darkness. There are two especially terrible places in hell: fiery hell and tartarus. There is no coolness in fiery hell, there is no warmth in tartar - there is eternal cold that permeates the souls. The fate of the money-lover is tartar. Who, during life, has extinguished love and mercy in himself, after death will find himself in the realm of impenetrable cold, which is as terrible as fire; this cold pierces through him like ice with its needles.

    A money-lover cannot love either his children or his parents. Although the voice of flesh and blood speaks in him, but the main thing - his heart - he has already given money and wealth. His children are deprived of what the children of the poor have - love. One writer has a story about how a famous professor of mathematics was so stingy that he did not give his son, a high school student, even a change for the road. Subsequently, it turned out that the son stole rare books from his father and sold them to second-hand booksellers, not only to get money, but to take revenge on his parent for his stinginess.

    Pushkin has a small work, The Miserly Knight, which shows well the psychology and degradation of a person for whom the goal of life has become the acquisition of wealth. The stingy baron spares money for his own son, so that he acquires the weapons and clothes necessary for the knight, and comes to the point that he accuses his son of attempting paricide before the duke. This drama ends with the fact that the father challenges his son to a duel and he accepts the challenge, because since childhood he has killed love and respect for his father in his heart.

    Money lovers are despised by their own children. And here we see a certain paradox: either children grow up as greedy and petty as their parents, who are shaking over every coin, or vice versa, wasteful, as if out of revenge on those who during their lifetime did not warm them with their warmth, but left an inheritance only because he could not take him to the grave. If parents have stingy children, then the same picture is repeated, only turned upside down. Children look at elderly parents as freeloaders, as a tax that they must pay unfairly, as a hole in the household budget, where their funds go, which could be used for a more necessary cause. Parents feel, or rather they are shown, that they are a burden to their children, that the sooner they die, the better, and the day of their death will become a gift for children; parents in their own home become like wanderers who were sheltered out of mercy for a lodging for the night, and they stayed longer than expected.

    The picture of life for such spouses is no better. A miserly husband interferes in all the affairs of his wife; he checks the expenses to the smallest detail, asking how much everything costs, and sadly shakes his head, as if his wife is to blame for such prices in the store and in the market. Usually wives do not like and despise stingy husbands. Rather, they will forgive carelessness and extravagance than stinginess and pettiness, unworthy of a man. After all, a woman in the depths of her soul cherishes a romantic dream of a knight-wife who would not regret anything for her sake until old age. If she sees in him a cold businessman or a huckster, then she only tolerates him, despising him in her soul.

    Nor is the situation better if the wife is possessed by the passion of avarice. Her husband is in constant mental stress. He is afraid to spend time with friends, to invite his acquaintances to visit, because he knows that after that reproaches will begin, similar to the hissing of a snake. Such a wife carefully monitors her husband's income. She arranges a whole reconnaissance, asking his colleagues, catches her husband on a random word, and when he falls asleep, she examines his pockets and the lining of his clothes: is there money hidden there or a letter from some acquaintance - her potential rival, where, in her opinion, part of the salary of the spouse can disappear.

    In the house of a miserly woman, there is a mess and dirt. She does not want to part with old and unnecessary things, and clogs the corners of the apartment with them. Moreover, if she sees a nail or nut on the road, she will pick it up and bring it into the house: why - she does not know herself, maybe someday it will come in handy.

    Even taking out the trash is associated with her anxiety, as if some thing did not get into the trash: after all, a crumpled newspaper or a piece of cardboard may be needed in the household! In such a woman, the apartment resembles a junk shop, where there are a lot of unnecessary things thrown into a heap. If she has small children, then she buys large clothes for them, as if for several years in advance, so as not to buy new ones when they grow up. Miserly people usually have few children - one or two children, and sometimes they do not want to have them at all, like an extra mouth that would require additional costs. Often poisoning occurs in such a family, since it is a pity for the hostess to throw away spoiled food, and she prefers to risk her own and other people's health.

    A miserly person often forgoes marriage and family, not for the sake of abstinence and spiritual life, but because the family involves expenses. It seems to him a terrible picture that in his apartment, as in a kindergarten, children will run and make noise, each of which must be dressed, fed, shod and taught. A significant part of infanticide is due to the love of money and stinginess. Parents, having estimated the costs for each child born, come to the conclusion that such costs are not worth a human life.

    The sin of the love of money is one of those sins in which it is difficult for a person to repent, because he himself despises this sin in others. In some moments, he realizes his baseness, disgust and shame. It is easier for him to confess in confession to gluttony, fornication and pride, that he lied to friends, cheated on his wife and even killed a person, than that he could not fall asleep, experiencing to tears the loss of a thing or money that he lent, and he is delayed with dedication. It is even more shameful to admit that he is tormented and bitterly regrets that he gave an expensive thing under a hot hand, and now without this thing life seems empty to him, as after the loss of his most beloved person. He rarely talks about this sin in confession, avoiding it, because he is afraid that the priest will give him penance so that he fights the love of money, for example, he would give some part of his income to the poor. He can get sick from such a confession or hate the priest as an encroacher on his property. Therefore, the lover of money usually prefers that his passion, rooted in the heart, hide there until the Last Judgment, than to tear out this poisonous plant with torment and pain.

    A person hides and hides the passion of avarice from himself. He tries to justify his stinginess with justice and integrity: “I’d rather give money to the poor and the needy than to drunkards and loafers.” But usually this money does not reach the poor. For a miser, beggars are enemies from whom one must hide or pretend to be poor oneself.

    Some stingers believe that they do not need to buy candles and prosphora, give alms to the poor, make donations to the temple, as they are busy with a higher work - prayer for the world. However, this is self-deception. Even the apostles gave alms from the little they had. The believing miser is in a state of continuous internal contradiction: he reads teachings about almsgiving, as if with blinded eyes, and listens to the sermon as if he were deaf. He does not help the needy financially, considering it sufficient if you pray for them. If he decides to give alms, he gives an unnecessary thing or something that needs to be thrown away, and considers that he has fulfilled the gospel commandment.

    Another paradox: some believing misers seek their passion in the most spiritual ascetic literature. Having read from St. Isaac of Syria and other ascetics that the highest mercy is not bodily, but spiritual, which is most manifested in prayer for humanity, the miser seizes on this thought and decides that he does not need to put candles in the temple, give prosphora to the proskomedia, help those in need , but one prayer for humanity is enough. Passing by the beggars, he mentally prays for them and does not stop to distribute alms, so that, in his opinion, the mind would not deviate from God. He does not want to understand that prayer for the world requires self-denial and sacrifice, that for the highest feat it is necessary to go through the lower steps, that constant prayer for the world is a burnt offering, which requires a long and hard struggle with passions, including the love of money.

    The demon chuckles at such a prayer book, sitting in a puddle and dreaming of the glory of the ancient hermits, as at a small child who considers himself a commander, brandishing a wooden sword. Such misers read spiritual literature with enthusiasm like novels, but do not understand that whoever knows more will be asked more severely. Reading without actually doing it only puffs up the mind of a person. But for the most part, the miser does not read or think about such subjects, but, seeing a beggar, pretends not to notice him and quickly passes by.

    For an unbeliever, this problem does not exist: he is sure that he does not owe anything to anyone. If a believer who loves money, deceiving himself, loses communion with God, then the unbeliever deprives himself of even a little that adorns earthly life: he ceases to admire nature, he is not pleased with the light of the sun, his heart says nothing to the brilliance of countless stars, which, like placers of diamonds, sparkle in black abyss of the sky. He may rather wonder how much the sun and stars would sell for if they were put up for auction.

    The Lord teaches us to see each person as our neighbor. Love of money turns the near into the distant, then into a stranger, and then into an enemy. Love expands the heart, but the money-lover has narrowed his heart to the size of a wallet. Although he hides his passion, it is visible to people; it cannot fail to appear, just as a fire cannot be hidden in a haystack or the stench from a dead rat rotting somewhere under the floor.

    Love of money can be combined with external virtues, but this is self-deception. The goal of virtue is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, but the heart of a money-lover is in a state of paralysis and cannot perceive the grace of God - an invisible light. His inner life takes place on the psychic, and not on the spiritual plane. He can rejoice at trips to holy places, emotionally experience temple prayer, even cry with tenderness, but the door of his heart is locked for Christ.

    The Gospel tells how a rich young man asked Christ how to be saved. The Lord replied, "Sell your possessions, give to the poor, and follow me." He called the young man to the highest apostolic service, but he accepted it as a cruel sentence: the desire for eternal life faded, the heavenly treasure was rejected for the sake of the earthly. The young man thought that he had fulfilled the commandments of the Holy Scriptures, but the demon of greed made him his prisoner. Before him stood the One who embodied truth, salvation and eternal life, and the money-lover chose an idol molded from the dust of the earth. The Lord once called to Adam: “Where are you?”, but Adam hid in the bushes, wanting to hide from the face of God; Christ said to the young man: “Follow Me,” but the money-lover turned away from Him and, bowing his head, walked away. Adam listened to the serpent and lost God; but the money-lover listened to the demon and lost eternal life.

    A money-lover can be distinguished by such virtues as fasting, long prayer, reading the Holy Scriptures, pilgrimage to holy places, meekness in dealing with people, affection, etc. It is easier for him to reread the entire Psalter than to perform a work of mercy that would cost him money. He will read the Psalter, but will he understand what is said there? Will grace be instilled in his soul when the idol of the love of money stands in his heart, as in the pagan temple of the image of Moloch and Baal?

    In the life of St. Andrew of Tsargrad the holy fool tells of a monk who was distinguished by an ascetic life, to whom many people came as a great elder for teaching. But St. Andrew saw with his spiritual eyes that the monk's body was entwined with a snake, on which was written "love of money." He denounced this imaginary ascetic in his secret passion, for the sake of which he performed feats, accepting abundant alms from people. The monk was horrified and repentant. But most often, money-lovers hate the one who tells them about the fatality of their condition: like a hungry dog ​​bites the hand of someone who tries to take away a poisoned piece of meat from it.

    Love expands the human heart; it makes him capable of responding like a tuning fork to human pain, of empathizing with the suffering of others, of rejoicing in their joy. Love deepens a person's life. It reveals previously unknown capacities and spaces of the soul. Whoever loves God, his soul becomes an abyss filled with light; who loves a person, his heart exudes warmth. In this respect, the lover of money is a suicide: he compressed and petrified his heart, deprived himself of spiritual light and real communion with God.

    During prayer and worship, he may experience an emotional upsurge, like inspiration, and consider it even a blessed state, but there is no grace, but a refined emotional experience, a feeling associated with passions, which has nothing to do with spiritual enlightenment. These are mental and emotional states connected with blood and flesh, and the lover of money exudes cloudy tears from his eyes, dissolved with vanity.

    The money-lover is deprived of freedom, he is a slave and a prisoner of his passion. The money-lover is always anxious: how to get money, how to save it and not lose it. He is chained to them by an invisible chain and cannot mentally part with his unfaithful friend and cruel master. Money fused with him, entered his being, clung to his body like the sores of a leper; he cannot free himself from this disease, or rather, he does not want to: parting with money is as hard and painful for him as cutting out a piece of his own body with his own hand.

    There was one case during the persecution of Christians in Persia. Priest Pavel and several nuns, his disciples, were brought to the trial. They hid in the desert, but the pagans found them there. Paul was a wealthy man and during the time of persecution his greatest concern was what would happen to his estate. The trial has begun. The virgins confessed Christ, refused to renounce their faith and were sentenced to death. It was Paul's turn. The judge knew that he was a rich man and was glad that now there was a reason for the confiscation of his property. He asked Paul the same question he asked the nuns: is he a Christian? For the sin of the love of money, grace departed from the former priest, his faith disappeared, and he said to the judge: “What kind of Christ, I don’t know any Christ, but if you command, I will renounce him.” The judge was taken aback by such a surprise, saw that the prey was slipping out of his hands, and he himself began to persuade Paul to be courageous, like his spiritual daughters. But Paul answered him: "If the king commands to offer sacrifices to the gods, then I am ready to fulfill it."

    The judge was angry at these words, because after the sacrifice he had to release Paul, and then he came up with another trick and said: “To prove to us that you are not a Christian, take a sword and cut off the heads of the virgins sentenced to death yourself.” Pavel was horrified. But the love of money won. With a trembling hand, he took his sword and approached the nuns to put them to death. “What are you doing, father,” they said, “we are not afraid of death, and so sentenced to it, but have pity on your soul, remember how long we were in the desert, how many hardships you endured, how much we prayed together. Don't be our executioner." But he, as if in a frenzy, rushed with his sword at his victims and killed them. Again the judge saw that he could not, by law, seize Paul’s property, and said to him: “I must tell the king about your feat so that he himself rewards you” - and ordered him to be sent to prison, and at night he ordered the guards to kill Paul and thus took possession of his estate.

    A money-lover is a potential apostate from Christ. I was told the following story. One young man lived as a novice for several years in a monastery, was blessed with monastic clothes, was distinguished by a quiet disposition, and the hegumen expected him to be an exemplary monk. Rich relatives began to visit the novice often and talk about their affairs. Soon he became homesick and told the abbot that he was not fit for monastic life, but wanted to start a Christian family and have children. Without listening to anyone, he returned to the world and began to do business. Soon he stopped going to the temple, and then a terrible misfortune happened to him: during the division of income between him and his companion, a quarrel broke out, which turned into a fight, and the former novice inflicted a mortal wound on his former companion, from which he died on the spot. To avoid punishment, he managed to go abroad, and there was no more news about him. The love of money led this man out of the monastery, forced him to engage in some dubious business, and then brought him to such a state that he became a murderer.

    Often the love of money is combined with the opposite passion - vanity. Then two demons attack the soul from two sides, each dragging it to itself: but no matter which demon wins, Satan still wins.

    Love of money, combined with vanity, makes a person a constant artist and a liar; he makes generous promises that he does not fulfill, speaks of mercy, which he hates in his soul, does ostentatious goodness, but in the expectation that he will receive twice. One person had a significant income. He went to churches, visited monasteries, asked about needs, promised to help, and then disappeared somewhere. After a while, he came with an air as if he had forgotten about everything that he said and promised. And if he was reminded, he referred to employment and assured that he would fulfill everything at the slightest opportunity.

    Once they began to restore a dilapidated temple. People took part in the work as best they could, and this man told the abbot over a meal that he was taking over the construction of the fence and would pay for the material. Those who did not know this man almost clapped their hands, and those who knew remained silent, doubting his words. The abbot turned out to be a gullible person, postponed the construction of the fence and began to wait for the promised, like the return of a ship from a long voyage. Time passed. Work has stopped. People, having learned what was the matter, demanded from this man the fulfillment of his promise. It ended up that he bought somewhere worthless, damaged blocks and brought them to the temple. When they were unloaded, it turned out that they were broken off, cracked and not suitable for construction. In general, the matter ended with the fact that the rector had to spend money to take these blocks out and throw them in a landfill.

    Once a certain person with visiting guests visited the temple and asked that a prayer service be served. After the end of the prayer service, he took out a large bill, showed the priest and the guests, asked where the money mug was, and approached it, holding money in his hands, and then returned with a satisfied expression on his face. A cleaner approached the priest and said quietly: “Father, I saw how this man quickly changed money and put one ruble in a mug and hid the rest.” The priest replied: “Don't say anything, don't disgrace him in front of visiting people. I know these hypocrites, he staged a performance, and maybe at first he wanted to put it on, but at the last minute his heart ached.

    There is another kind of love of money, which is called philanthropy. A person is always aimed at getting the benefit out of everything; he chooses friends according to their profit, calculating how much someone costs and what benefit can be derived from him. Such a person knows how to warm his hands even around charitable deeds. Usually such money-lovers are outwardly courteous, friendly and affectionate, but all this is a mask: they look like a bird, with dove eyes and hawk claws.

    The Bible says: “Almsgiving cleanses every sin,” but only when it is associated with truth and repentance. The son of Sirakhov writes: “It is better to be small with the truth than great with untruth.” If you have given alms, you have gained a friend, but if you have been repaid with ingratitude, then its price will double and triple, and the ingratitude of people will serve you to salvation. If you have given a debt, but they cannot or do not want to repay you, then perform one more spiritual mercy: accept it calmly and indifferently, as if you had moved a stone from one place to another.

    The love of money is always associated with distrust, excitement, condemnation, fear of losing and the desire to gain more. The belly of a glutton and the heart of a money-lover will never say enough is enough.

    There is also a special kind of stinginess, when a person treats not only others, but himself as an enemy. Such a person deprives himself of the most necessary: ​​he dresses in old, already worn out clothes, tries to buy cheap provisions, often spoiled and rotten, so as not to spend an extra penny from the treasury of his idol and master - the demon of money-loving. This is some kind of special asceticism - to cut down and deprive oneself of everything, in what and where it is possible; only asceticism is not for the sake of God, but for the sake of a demon, not to fight passions, but to serve one of these snakes.

    Some money-lovers keep money on their chests, afraid to part with them, in the place where the heart enslaved by passion beats, and at night they put money under the pillow so that the family does not get to them. The favorite pastime of such a money-lover is, having closed himself in a room, counting money, sorting and putting them in packs, while he falls into some kind of ecstasy.

    There are shameful professions: one of them is an executioner, the other is a usurer. Usury is the most disgusting kind of avarice. If the executioner takes a life from a person with one blow or shot, then the usurer slowly drinks the blood of his victim. A usurer is a man with a lost heart.

    Both in Christianity and in Islam, usury is prohibited, and yet it exists, because the passion of the love of money makes a person forget about the afterlife reward and his own soul. The love of money, more than need, induces unfortunate people to trade their bodies as a commodity in the market. Because of the love of money, gambling houses are opened, like wolf pits, into which a careless traveler falls. How many curses lie on these dens and casinos, how many ruined people commit suicide. Because of the love of money, a new type of enrichment appeared - drug trafficking. This white poison destroys the talents and strengths of a person, breaks families, makes people unable to work, kills in them a sense of pity and love even for relatives, turns a person into a beast who is ready to do anything to get a drug, without which he cannot think. life.

    Money-lovers are not born, they are made. In the beginning Judas was an apostle; he shared the hardships and dangers of following his Divine Master. His fall did not begin immediately: he kept a mug for donations, from which the disciples of Christ bought provisions, and also gave alms to the poor. From there, he started stealing money. The demon of love of money deprived Judas of faith in Christ as the Savior of the world, and then completely took possession of him so that he betrayed his Teacher to death for 30 pieces of silver - the price of a slave.

    The love of money is the sin of Judas, who turned from a disciple of Christ into a traitor and committed suicide. According to legend, the tree on which he hanged himself trembled with horror and disgust at the corpse of a traitor. Every money-lover to some extent imitates the sin of Judas and sentences himself to the same fate in the future life - being in hell with the fallen apostle. St. John Chrysostom in his sermon on the Gadarin demoniac says that it is better to deal with a thousand demoniacs than one lover of money, since none of the demoniacs has ever dared to do what Judas did.

    Love of money is a worm that, having penetrated the human heart, quickly turns into a snake. The Holy Fathers write that the passion for money is alien to human nature, it is brought from outside, and therefore at first it is easier to defeat than other passions, but if it takes root in the soul, it will become more powerful than all the passions taken together. Just as a creeper, twisting around the trunk, feeds on the sap of a tree and dries it up, so the passion of avarice enslaves the will, drinks the strength of the soul and devastates the human heart.

    The love of money must be fought from the very beginning, at its first manifestations. What are the means of dealing with this sin? First of all, the memory of death. Righteous Job, having heard the news that all his property and children were lost, said: “Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave and the Lord took; May the name of the Lord be blessed!”

    A person who has realized the sin of the love of money must first force himself to give by will power what little he needs, and when he experiences the joy of this even a small beneficence and is convinced that it is better to give than to take, then he himself can willingly share even the necessary with those in need. . Some people, having done a good deed, then grumble and complain that they did not receive any gratitude or mutual favors in return. But to give for the sake of the Lord means to give free of charge, without expecting a return. Who gives in order to receive from another in return, he is like a money changer who cares about his own benefit and, having not received the profit he was counting on from the transaction, begins to resent and grumble.

    There is no loss in beneficence. Through a person, Christ takes alms, Who promised to repay the giver a hundredfold. Giving to the poor, especially from your poverty, you can boldly say that you make Christ Himself a debtor, and the debt does not disappear after Him. If people repaid you with ingratitude or even evil for good, then in the eyes of God your gift has increased many times over. It has been noticed that many lovers of money die suddenly, without having time to repent. Often the wealth they have amassed is quickly and wasted by their heirs. It is also significant that almost no one prays for money-lovers after their death, their names are quickly forgotten, and the graves are overgrown with grass.

    This sin is especially disgusting among Christians. It must be said that the Lord often allows miserly Christians to go bankrupt in order to show how dangerous it is to rely on money, that wealth is a changeable friend that can leave a person at any time. Such miserly Christians, not understanding the providence of God, wonder why they pray a lot, and things are worse for them than for unbelievers.

    Greed and avarice go hand in hand. Greed wants to seize someone else's, stinginess is afraid to give his own. We can say that greed is active greed and greed is passive greed.

    There is another kind of love of money - this is pettiness, when the lover of money suffers a small loss as painful as a big one. There are even paradoxical cases when such a person experiences significant losses more calmly than small ones, like bleeding wounds easier than injections.

    What do money lovers need to do to overcome this passion? First of all, remember about death, which will take away everything from a person, and about the Last Judgment, at which this pernicious passion will be exposed before the whole world.

    In the Gospel, the Lord most severely denounced the Pharisees - these artists of goodness and hypocrites of religion, who wrote sayings from the law of Moses on the wide sleeves of their clothes in order to have them before their eyes, but in their hearts the words were written: love of money and vanity. One must force oneself to give alms, especially secret ones, by force of will, and not to tell anyone about it either directly or in a hint. At first it will be difficult, like doing an operation on your own body or cauterizing yourself with a red-hot iron. But then a person begins to feel joy from the fact that he is fulfilling the commandment of God: he feels the touch of grace on his heart, which gives bright joy, and not dark pleasure, as when thinking about accumulated money. He begins to understand the words of the Savior that it is more blessed to give than to take. He feels the serpent crawling out of his heart and thanks God, like a dying man, for returning to life.