One day, when I arrived on Athos, a young monk came up to me and said:

- Father, I would like to talk to you.

- Do we know each other? – I asked him.

– No, but one day you greeted me and wished me spiritual strength. And I wanted to tell you something.

He came to my cell, and I asked him:

– You probably went to church since childhood, and that’s why you fell in love with this life and decided to become a monk?

- Nothing like this.

-Who were you?

- A tramp. I walked, drank, rowded, went to nightclubs, rode motorcycles, I had many girlfriends... In general, I had fun, lived to the fullest - together with my friends.

– Were your parents believers?

- Not at all. They didn’t even know where the temple was located in our city. Well, that is, when they heard the bell ringing, they understood that it was next to the temple, but they did not go to church.

- And what happened?

-What happened? My father drank. He constantly scolded and beat me, pushing me away from him. They didn't love me. And I always really wanted love. I wanted understanding, warmth, consolation - everything that was missing in my life. I sinned and sinned, essentially wanting to find God in these sinful pleasures, but I did not find Him.

- And what happened?

- I don’t know myself. A group of friends and I came to Mount Athos - just for an excursion, to walk, to see. And suddenly it was as if a brick fell from the sky on my head! I suddenly felt that God had showered me with so much love that I wanted to completely change my life. That's how the change happened. And if earlier my mother constantly reproached me for night drinking, constantly changing girlfriends, and so on, now I myself unexpectedly told her: “That’s it, I’m leaving. I’m leaving to devote myself to God.”

And then my mother, who had previously been so worried about me and scolded me so much for my sins, began, on the contrary, to invite me to get acquainted with different girls. She constantly told me to get married, not to go to church so often, and so on.

“Okay,” she said. – Be a believer, lead a spiritual life... But not to the same extent! Marry, for example, this girl. She is the daughter of a priest. Or this one, her brother is a theologian. She is very good!

- Why?

Because there are no “whys” when it comes to the madness of Divine love. Others cannot understand this - when this love makes you crazy. Think: if you can lose your head from love for a person who is just a reflection, a ray of Divine beauty, then what can you feel when you approach the Source of all rays, the True Light, seeing Him in all its brilliance, radiance and beauty!..

After that you forget about everything. The splendor revealed to you completely captivates you. And no one will be able to understand you - on the contrary, they will look askance, discuss and ask each other: “What’s wrong with him?”

And you will say in response: “I don’t care what you say about me.”

The Lord settles in the heart and changes a person

Love is healed by love. Love changes with love. This feeling is stronger than all others, and, having experienced it, a person forgets about everything that happened before. He no longer has the same difficulties, the same jealousy or resentment. Now he desires only one thing - the Love of God, which the Lord abundantly pours out on him. And the man leaves. He leaves everyone - but without a feeling of hostility. He loves people, but his soul lives differently now.

And when I wanted to give this monk some gifts that I had brought with me from Athens (dried fruits, chocolate), he told me:

“Father, I don’t feel the need for delicacies, although I am deprived of them - they don’t eat such things here.” I want God's love. And true human love.

I began this conversation with the words “Christ is Risen!”, because there is no other way to explain such a change in a person. Who changed him to such an extent? Who made his eyes like that? His friend in the world, who then came to Athos with me to see him, and after that also repented, told me:

“Father, if you had seen what this young man used to be like, who is now so humble, kind, and shedding tears of repentance!.. You wouldn’t believe your eyes.” I wouldn't believe that this is the same person in front of you. Is it really him who has done so many things while living in the world? How could he change so much? How did you become so good?

This is how the Lord changes a person by settling in his heart. Transforms the soul, gives peace to the conscience, soothes sleep. The heart begins to beat calmly, evenly... Everything in a person changes.

This change is granted by the right hand of the Almighty. Man is changed through the risen, living Christ.

We often perceive God only in words - we even sometimes begin to argue about Him, to prove something, as if our heads are filled with files containing all the information about Christ. But in fact, the most important thing is that He leaves His mark on our heart.

What would we like to see more of - a book about Christ, complete smart words, historical arguments, encyclopedic data, or the human heart? A flash drive filled with documents about Christ, or a heart that keeps traces of touching His wounded hand, His Face?

The robe of Saint Veronica, with which, according to legend, the Lord wiped His Face, after which His imprint appeared on the fabric? I don’t know if this really happened, but I am well aware of the power of this desire - for the Lord to leave an “imprint” on the soul.

Because everything else is just words. Words about Christ, theories about Christ, a reason to organize a conference, discuss, argue, convince, explain... Show others that we are special, that we know the truth... Yes, good. But which of us can stand up and show Christ?

Christ is risen, and grandfather is dead

St. Silouan of Athos writes: “How I would like to show you the Face of Christ!” You see, this is knowledge of a different kind. This is a different vision of Christ - without arguments or evidence. Another touch to Him.

When you love someone, you tell that person: “I will do whatever you want!” Love carries intuition. When we love, we understand this person, feel his desires and try to please him, to do something pleasant.

True, for us it is often a problem to love a person. After all, our neighbors are not ideal. They may be wrong, they are constantly to blame for something... But if we truly loved them, everything would work out perfectly! And the Lord showed us exactly this with His Resurrection. He helped us straighten up, look around and look at other people and events differently.

I cannot hear when someone says these words - “Christ is risen!” - and then despair and disappointment follow, fears, anxieties, uncertainty, stress, embarrassment begin. And so - yes, Christ is risen! But where is it? Where is His Resurrection? "Christ is Risen! I'm afraid I won't pass my exams. I'm so panicked! - I heard one day.

Of course, I don't know if you will pass the exams. And the fact that Christ has risen does not mean that now everyone will always pass exams successfully. But…

One student told me:

– Father, you say, “Christ is risen,” but my grandfather died. Why do I need these words now, since my grandfather died?

I answered him:

- Listen. If you understand this phrase - “Christ is Risen!” - with your heart, then you will begin to look at death differently. You will hear the same things as always, but you will perceive what you hear completely differently. Christ did not change the world with outside. He changed us - our heart, vision, mind, attitude to what is happening.

Both before Christ came to earth and after, the problems did not disappear. Diseases, disasters, death - we still see all this around us. But the Lord gave us a different vision, the opportunity to see differently the life that He gave us.

Let me give you another example. Once I was performing a funeral service for a young woman. She was only twenty-five years old, she was young, beautiful and kind. The girls gathered at the coffin different people– priest (that is, me); some relative, a completely unbelieving person; funeral agent; a young, absolutely secular guy and others. We are all here for the same reason. We all looked at the body of the girl in the coffin. But not everyone perceived her death in the same way.

The priest who strives to have faith in his soul thinks: “Lord, this young woman at twenty-five years old was able to achieve what some achieve only at the age of one hundred. You have already prepared her for the Kingdom of Heaven.” Yes, what happened is a tragedy, sad and sorrowful, but a believer experiences it with hope, optimism, and not like those “others who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Yes, we see death. But we hope.

Next to the priest stands an atheist, a relative of the deceased. He looks at the same body in the coffin and thinks: “Yes... Earth to earth. All. Death, then the process of decomposition, the end of everything. There’s nothing, it’s all over.”

The funeral agent, looking at the coffin, thinks: “People, flowers... We will make good money today!”

And the young man, in the prime of youth and strength, stands and thinks: “If she were alive, how many more hearts could she win!”

We all see the same thing around us, but we think about it differently. And so it is always in this life.

And the Lord says to us: “My children! I have brought you brushes with which you will repaint the whole world in the colors of love: red, the color of My blood that flowed on Calvary; white, the color of My Ascension; blue and green, the colors of the waters of the Jordan River, where I washed you from your sins; golden, the color of the fields through which I walked... If you want, take it and paint your life with My colors. And you will see everything differently. Want to? Do you want me to strengthen you and see everything the way I see it? Do you want Me to give you the strength to win the earthly struggle?”

And it doesn’t matter what kind of struggle it is - with exams or with illness. There is always an opportunity to be strengthened by the power of the risen Christ. The Lord Himself gives us this opportunity.

Translation by Elizaveta Terentyeva for the portal “Orthodoxy and Peace”

Madness of Divine Love

One day, when I arrived on Athos, a young monk came up to me and said:

- Father, I would like to talk to you.

- Do we know each other? – I asked him.

– No, but one day you greeted me and wished me spiritual strength. And I wanted to tell you something.

He came to my cell, and I asked him:

– You probably went to church since childhood, and that’s why you fell in love with this life and decided to become a monk?

- Nothing like this.

-Who were you?

- A tramp. I walked, drank, rowded, went to nightclubs, rode motorcycles, I had many girlfriends... In general, I had fun, lived to the fullest - together with my friends.

– Were your parents believers?

- Not at all. They didn’t even know where the temple was located in our city. Well, that is, when they heard the bell ringing, they understood that it was next to the temple, but they did not go to church.

- And what happened?

-What happened? My father drank. He constantly scolded and beat me, pushing me away from him. They didn't love me. And I always really wanted love. I wanted understanding, warmth, consolation - everything that was missing in my life. I sinned and sinned, essentially wanting to find God in these sinful pleasures, but I did not find Him.

- And what happened?

- I don’t know myself. A group of friends and I came to Mount Athos - just for an excursion, to walk, to see. And suddenly it was as if a brick fell from the sky on my head! I suddenly felt that God had showered me with so much love that I wanted to completely change my life. That's how the change happened. And if earlier my mother constantly reproached me for night drinking, constantly changing girlfriends, and so on, now I myself unexpectedly told her: “That’s it, I’m leaving. I’m leaving to devote myself to God.”

And then my mother, who had previously been so worried about me and scolded me so much for my sins, began, on the contrary, to invite me to meet different girls. She constantly told me to get married, not to go to church so often, and so on.

“Okay,” she said. – Be a believer, lead a spiritual life... But not to the same extent! Marry, for example, this girl. She is the daughter of a priest. Or this one, her brother is a theologian. She is very good!

- Why?

Because there are no “whys” when it comes to the madness of Divine love. Others cannot understand this - when this love makes you crazy. Think: if you can lose your head from love for a person who is just a reflection, a ray of Divine beauty, then what can you feel when you approach the Source of all rays, the True Light, seeing Him in all its brilliance, radiance and beauty!..

After that you forget about everything. The splendor revealed to you completely captivates you. And no one will be able to understand you - on the contrary, they will look askance, discuss and ask each other: “What’s wrong with him?”

And you will say in response: “I don’t care what you say about me.”

The Lord settles in the heart and changes a person

Love is healed by love. Love changes with love. This feeling is stronger than all others, and, having experienced it, a person forgets about everything that happened before. He no longer has the same difficulties, the same jealousy or resentment. Now he desires only one thing - the Love of God, which the Lord abundantly pours out on him. And the man leaves. He leaves everyone - but without a feeling of hostility. He loves people, but his soul lives differently now.

And when I wanted to give this monk some gifts that I had brought with me from Athens (dried fruits, chocolate), he told me:

“Father, I don’t feel the need for delicacies, although I am deprived of them - they don’t eat such things here.” I want God's love. And true human love.

I began this conversation with the words “Christ is Risen!”, because there is no other way to explain such a change in a person. Who changed him to such an extent? Who made his eyes like that? His friend in the world, who then came to Athos with me to see him, and after that also repented, told me:

“Father, if you had seen what this young man used to be like, who is now so humble, kind, and shedding tears of repentance!.. You wouldn’t believe your eyes.” I wouldn't believe that this is the same person in front of you. Is it really him who has done so many things while living in the world? How could he change so much? How did you become so good?

This is how the Lord changes a person by settling in his heart. Transforms the soul, gives peace to the conscience, soothes sleep. The heart begins to beat calmly, evenly... Everything in a person changes.

This change is granted by the right hand of the Almighty. Man is changed through the risen, living Christ.

We often perceive God only in words - we even sometimes begin to argue about Him, to prove something, as if our heads are filled with files containing all the information about Christ. But in fact, the most important thing is that He leaves His mark on our heart.

What would we like to see more - a book about Christ, full of clever words, historical arguments, encyclopedic data, or the human heart? A flash drive filled with documents about Christ, or a heart that keeps traces of touching His wounded hand, His Face?

The robe of Saint Veronica, with which, according to legend, the Lord wiped His Face, after which His imprint appeared on the fabric? I don’t know if this really happened, but I am well aware of the power of this desire - for the Lord to leave an “imprint” on the soul.

Because everything else is just words. Words about Christ, theories about Christ, a reason to organize a conference, discuss, argue, convince, explain... Show others that we are special, that we know the truth... Yes, good. But which of us can stand up and show Christ?

Christ is risen, and grandfather is dead

St. Silouan of Athos writes: “How I would like to show you the Face of Christ!” You see, this is knowledge of a different kind. This is a different vision of Christ - without arguments or evidence. Another touch to Him.

When you love someone, you tell that person: “I will do whatever you want!” Love carries intuition. When we love, we understand this person, feel his desires and try to please him, to do something pleasant.

True, for us it is often a problem to love a person. After all, our neighbors are not ideal. They may be wrong, they are constantly to blame for something... But if we truly loved them, everything would work out perfectly! And the Lord showed us exactly this with His Resurrection. He helped us straighten up, look around and look at other people and events differently.

I cannot hear when someone says these words - “Christ is risen!” - and then despair and disappointment follow, fears, anxieties, uncertainty, stress, embarrassment begin. And so - yes, Christ is risen! But where is it? Where is His Resurrection? "Christ is Risen! I'm afraid I won't pass my exams. I'm so panicked! - I heard one day.

Of course, I don't know if you will pass the exams. And the fact that Christ has risen does not mean that now everyone will always pass exams successfully. But…

One student told me:

– Father, you say, “Christ is risen,” but my grandfather died. Why do I need these words now, since my grandfather died?

I answered him:

- Listen. If you understand this phrase - “Christ is Risen!” - with your heart, then you will begin to look at death differently. You will hear the same things as always, but you will perceive what you hear completely differently. Christ did not change the world from the outside. He changed us - our heart, vision, mind, attitude to what is happening.

Both before Christ came to earth and after, the problems did not disappear. Diseases, disasters, death - we still see all this around us. But the Lord gave us a different vision, the opportunity to see differently the life that He gave us.

Let me give you another example. Once I was performing a funeral service for a young woman. She was only twenty-five years old, she was young, beautiful and kind. A variety of people gathered at the girl’s coffin - a priest (that is, me); some relative, a completely unbelieving person; funeral agent; a young, absolutely secular guy and others. We are all here for the same reason. We all looked at the body of the girl in the coffin. But not everyone perceived her death in the same way.

The priest who strives to have faith in his soul thinks: “Lord, this young woman at twenty-five years old was able to achieve what some achieve only at the age of one hundred. You have already prepared her for the Kingdom of Heaven.” Yes, what happened is a tragedy, sad and sorrowful, but a believer experiences it with hope, optimism, and not like those “others who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Yes, we see death. But we hope.

Next to the priest stands an atheist, a relative of the deceased. He looks at the same body in the coffin and thinks: “Yes... Earth to earth. All. Death, then the process of decomposition, the end of everything. There’s nothing, it’s all over.”

The funeral agent, looking at the coffin, thinks: “People, flowers... We will make good money today!”

And the young man, in the prime of youth and strength, stands and thinks: “If she were alive, how many more hearts could she win!”

We all see the same thing around us, but we think about it differently. And so it is always in this life.

And the Lord says to us: “My children! I have brought you brushes with which you will repaint the whole world in the colors of love: red, the color of My blood that flowed on Calvary; white, the color of My Ascension; blue and green, the colors of the waters of the Jordan River, where I washed you from your sins; golden, the color of the fields through which I walked... If you want, take it and paint your life with My colors. And you will see everything differently. Want to? Do you want me to strengthen you and see everything the way I see it? Do you want Me to give you the strength to win the earthly struggle?”

And it doesn’t matter what kind of struggle it is - with exams or with illness. There is always an opportunity to be strengthened by the power of the risen Christ. The Lord Himself gives us this opportunity.

One day, when I arrived on Athos, a young monk came up to me and said:

Father, I would like to talk to you.

Do we know each other? - I asked him.

No, but one day you greeted me and wished me spiritual strength. And I wanted to tell you something.

He came to my cell, and I asked him:

You probably went to church since childhood, and that’s why you fell in love with this life and decided to become a monk?

Nothing like this.

Who were you?

A tramp. I walked, drank, rowded, went to nightclubs, rode motorcycles, I had many girlfriends... In general, I had fun, lived to the fullest - together with my friends.

Were your parents believers?

Not at all. They didn’t even know where the temple was located in our city. Well, that is, when they heard the bell ringing, they understood that it was next to the temple, but they did not go to church.

So what happened?

What happened? My father drank. He constantly scolded and beat me, pushing me away from him. They didn't love me. And I always really wanted love. I wanted understanding, warmth, consolation - everything that was missing in my life. I sinned and sinned, essentially wanting to find God in these sinful pleasures, but I did not find Him.

So what happened?

I don't know myself. A group of friends and I came to Athos - just for an excursion, to walk, to see. And suddenly it was as if a brick fell from the sky on my head! I suddenly felt that God had showered me with so much love that I wanted to completely change my life. That's how the change happened. And if earlier my mother constantly reproached me for night drinking, constantly changing girlfriends, and so on, now I myself unexpectedly told her: “That’s it, I’m leaving. I’m leaving to devote myself to God.”

And then my mother, who had previously been so worried about me and scolded me so much for my sins, began, on the contrary, to invite me to meet different girls. She constantly told me to get married, not to go to church so often, and so on.

“Okay,” she said. - Be a believer, lead a spiritual life... But not to the same extent! Marry, for example, this girl. She is the daughter of a priest. Or this one, her brother is a theologian. She is very good!

Because there are no “whys” when it comes to the madness of Divine love. Others cannot understand this - when this love makes you crazy. Think: if you can lose your head from love for a person who is just a reflection, a ray of Divine beauty, then what can you feel when you approach the Source of all rays, the True Light, seeing Him in all its brilliance, radiance and beauty!..

After that you forget about everything. The splendor revealed to you completely captivates you. And no one will be able to understand you - on the contrary, they will look askance, discuss and ask each other: “What’s wrong with him?”

And you will say in response: “I don’t care what you say about me.”

The Lord settles in the heart and changes a person

Love is healed by love. Love changes with love. This feeling is stronger than all others, and, having experienced it, a person forgets about everything that happened before. He no longer has the same difficulties, the same jealousy or resentment. Now he desires only one thing - the Love of God, which the Lord abundantly pours out on him. And the man leaves. He leaves everyone - but without a feeling of hostility. He loves people, but his soul lives differently now.

And when I wanted to give this monk some gifts that I had brought with me from Athens (dried fruits, chocolate), he told me:

Father, I do not feel the need for delicacies, although I am deprived of them - they do not eat such things here. I want God's love. And true human love.

I began this conversation with the words “Christ is Risen!”, because there is no other way to explain such a change in a person. Who changed him to such an extent? Who made his eyes like that? His friend in the world, who then came to Athos with me to see him, and after that also repented, told me:

Father, if you could see what this young man used to be like, who is now so humble, kind, and shedding tears of repentance!.. You wouldn’t believe your eyes. I wouldn't believe that this is the same person in front of you. Is it really him who has done so many things while living in the world? How could he change so much? How did you become so good?

This is how the Lord changes a person by settling in his heart. Transforms the soul, gives peace to the conscience, soothes sleep. The heart begins to beat calmly, evenly... Everything in a person changes.

This change is granted by the right hand of the Almighty. Man is changed through the risen, living Christ.

We often perceive God only in words - we even sometimes begin to argue about Him, to prove something, as if our heads are filled with files containing all the information about Christ. But in fact, the most important thing is that He leaves His mark on our heart.

What would we like to see more - a book about Christ, full of clever words, historical arguments, encyclopedic data, or the human heart? A flash drive filled with documents about Christ, or a heart that keeps traces of touching His wounded hand, His Face?

The robe of Saint Veronica, with which, according to legend, the Lord wiped His Face, after which His imprint appeared on the fabric? I don’t know whether this really happened, but I am well aware of the power of this desire - for the Lord to leave an “imprint” on the soul.

Because everything else is just words. Words about Christ, theories about Christ, a reason to organize a conference, discuss, argue, convince, explain... Show others that we are special, that we know the truth... Yes, good. But which of us can stand up and show Christ?

Christ is risen, and grandfather is dead

St. Silouan of Athos writes: “How I would like to show you the Face of Christ!” You see, this is knowledge of a different kind. This is a different vision of Christ - without arguments or evidence. Another touch to Him.

When you love someone, you tell that person: “I will do whatever you want!” Love carries intuition. When we love, we understand this person, feel his desires and try to please him, to do something pleasant.

True, for us it is often a problem to love a person. After all, our neighbors are not ideal. They may be wrong, they are constantly to blame for something... But if we truly loved them, everything would work out perfectly! And the Lord showed us exactly this with His Resurrection. He helped us straighten up, look around and look at other people and events differently.

I cannot hear when someone says these words - “Christ is risen!” - and then despair and disappointment follow, fears, anxieties, uncertainty, stress, embarrassment begin. And so - yes, Christ is risen! But where is it? Where is His Resurrection? "Christ is Risen! I'm afraid I won't pass my exams. I'm so panicked! - I heard one day.

Of course, I don't know if you will pass the exams. And the fact that Christ has risen does not mean that now everyone will always pass exams successfully. But…

One student told me:

Father, you say, “Christ is risen,” but my grandfather died. Why do I need these words now, since my grandfather died?

I answered him:

Listen. If you understand this phrase - “Christ is risen!” - with your heart, then you will begin to look at death differently. You will hear the same things as always, but you will perceive what you hear completely differently. Christ did not change the world from the outside. He changed us - our heart, vision, mind, attitude to what is happening.

Both before Christ came to earth and after, the problems did not disappear. Diseases, disasters, death - we still see all this around us. But the Lord gave us a different vision, the opportunity to see differently the life that He gave us.

Let me give you another example. Once I was performing a funeral service for a young woman. She was only twenty-five years old, she was young, beautiful and kind. A variety of people gathered at the girl’s coffin - a priest (that is, me); some relative, a completely unbelieving person; funeral agent; a young, absolutely secular guy and others. We are all here for the same reason. We all looked at the body of the girl in the coffin. But not everyone perceived her death in the same way.

The priest who strives to have faith in his soul thinks: “Lord, this young woman at twenty-five years old was able to achieve what some achieve only at the age of one hundred. You have already prepared her for the Kingdom of Heaven.” Yes, what happened is a tragedy, sad and mournful, but a believer experiences it with hope, optimism, and not like those “others who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Yes, we see death. But we hope.

Next to the priest stands an atheist, a relative of the deceased. He looks at the same body in the coffin and thinks: “Yes... Earth to earth. All. Death, then the process of decomposition, the end of everything. There’s nothing, it’s all over.”

The funeral agent, looking at the coffin, thinks: “People, flowers... We will make good money today!”

And the young man, in the prime of youth and strength, stands and thinks: “If she were alive, how many more hearts could she win!”

We all see the same thing around us, but we think about it differently. And so it is always in this life.

And the Lord says to us: “My children! I have brought you brushes with which you will repaint the whole world in the colors of love: red, the color of My blood that flowed on Calvary; white, the color of My Ascension; blue and green, the colors of the waters of the Jordan River, where I washed you from your sins; golden, the color of the fields through which I walked... If you want, take it and paint your life with My colors. And you will see everything differently. Want to? Do you want me to strengthen you and see everything the way I see it? Do you want Me to give you the strength to win the earthly struggle?”

And it doesn’t matter what kind of struggle it is - with exams or with illness. There is always an opportunity to be strengthened by the power of the risen Christ. The Lord Himself gives us this opportunity.

Translation by Elizaveta Terentyeva for the portal “Orthodoxy and Peace”

We often perceive God only in words - we even sometimes begin to argue about Him, to prove something, as if our heads are filled with files containing all the information about Christ. But in fact, the most important thing is that He leaves His mark on our heart.

Monastery of Simonopetra on Mount Athos.

Madness of Divine Love

One day, when I arrived on Athos, a young monk came up to me and said:

- Father, I would like to talk to you.

- Do we know each other? – I asked him.

– No, but one day you greeted me and wished me spiritual strength. And I wanted to tell you something.

He came to my cell, and I asked him:

– You probably went to church since childhood, and that’s why you fell in love with this life and decided to become a monk?

- Nothing like this.

-Who were you?

- A tramp. I walked, drank, rowded, went to nightclubs, rode motorcycles, I had many girlfriends... In general, I had fun, lived to the fullest - together with my friends.

– Were your parents believers?

- Not at all. They didn’t even know where the temple was located in our city. Well, that is, when they heard the bell ringing, they understood that it was next to the temple, but they did not go to church.

- And what happened?

-What happened? My father drank. He constantly scolded and beat me, pushing me away from him. They didn't love me. And I always really wanted love. I wanted understanding, warmth, consolation - everything that was missing in my life. I sinned and sinned, essentially wanting to find God in these sinful pleasures, but I did not find Him.

- And what happened?

- I don’t know myself. A group of friends and I came to Mount Athos - just for an excursion, to walk, to see. And suddenly it was as if a brick fell from the sky on my head! I suddenly felt that God had showered me with so much love that I wanted to completely change my life. That's how the change happened. And if earlier my mother constantly reproached me for night drinking, constantly changing girlfriends, and so on, now I myself unexpectedly told her: “That’s it, I’m leaving. I’m leaving to devote myself to God.”

And then my mother, who had previously been so worried about me and scolded me so much for my sins, began, on the contrary, to invite me to meet different girls. She constantly told me to get married, not to go to church so often, and so on.

“Okay,” she said. – Be a believer, lead a spiritual life... But not to the same extent! Marry, for example, this girl. She is the daughter of a priest. Or this one, her brother is a theologian. She is very good!

- Why?

Because there are no “whys” when it comes to the madness of Divine love. Others cannot understand this - when this love makes you crazy. Think: if you can lose your head from love for a person who is just a reflection, a ray of Divine beauty, then what can you feel when you approach the Source of all rays, the True Light, seeing Him in all its brilliance, radiance and beauty!..

After that you forget about everything. The splendor revealed to you completely captivates you. And no one will be able to understand you - on the contrary, they will look askance, discuss and ask each other: “What’s wrong with him?”

And you will say in response: “I don’t care what you say about me.”

The Lord settles in the heart and changes a person

Love is healed by love. Love changes with love. This feeling is stronger than all others, and, having experienced it, a person forgets about everything that happened before. He no longer has the same difficulties, the same jealousy or resentment. Now he desires only one thing - the Love of God, which the Lord abundantly pours out on him. And the man leaves. He leaves everyone - but without a feeling of hostility. He loves people, but his soul lives differently now.

And when I wanted to give this monk some gifts that I had brought with me from Athens (dried fruits, chocolate), he told me:

“Father, I don’t feel the need for delicacies, although I am deprived of them - they don’t eat such things here.” I want God's love. And true human love.

I began this conversation with the words “Christ is Risen!”, because there is no other way to explain such a change in a person. Who changed him to such an extent? Who made his eyes like that? His friend in the world, who then came to Athos with me to see him, and after that also repented, told me:

“Father, if you had seen what this young man used to be like, who is now so humble, kind, and shedding tears of repentance!.. You wouldn’t believe your eyes.” I wouldn't believe that this is the same person in front of you. Is it really him who has done so many things while living in the world? How could he change so much? How did you become so good?

This is how the Lord changes a person by settling in his heart. Transforms the soul, gives peace to the conscience, soothes sleep. The heart begins to beat calmly, evenly... Everything in a person changes.

This change is granted by the right hand of the Almighty. Man is changed through the risen, living Christ.

We often perceive God only in words - we even sometimes begin to argue about Him, to prove something, as if our heads are filled with files containing all the information about Christ. But in fact, the most important thing is that He leaves His mark on our heart.

What would we like to see more - a book about Christ, full of clever words, historical arguments, encyclopedic data, or the human heart? A flash drive filled with documents about Christ, or a heart that keeps traces of touching His wounded hand, His Face?

The robe of Saint Veronica, with which, according to legend, the Lord wiped His Face, after which His imprint appeared on the fabric? I don’t know if this really happened, but I am well aware of the power of this desire - for the Lord to leave an “imprint” on the soul.

Because everything else is just words. Words about Christ, theories about Christ, a reason to organize a conference, discuss, argue, convince, explain... Show others that we are special, that we know the truth... Yes, good. But which of us can stand up and show Christ?

Christ is risen, and grandfather is dead

St. Silouan of Athos writes: “How I would like to show you the Face of Christ!” You see, this is knowledge of a different kind. This is a different vision of Christ - without arguments or evidence. Another touch to Him.

When you love someone, you tell that person: “I will do whatever you want!” Love carries intuition. When we love, we understand this person, feel his desires and try to please him, to do something pleasant.

True, for us it is often a problem to love a person. After all, our neighbors are not ideal. They may be wrong, they are constantly to blame for something... But if we truly loved them, everything would work out perfectly! And the Lord showed us exactly this with His Resurrection. He helped us straighten up, look around and look at other people and events differently.

I cannot hear when someone says these words - “Christ is risen!” - and then despair and disappointment follow, fears, anxieties, uncertainty, stress, embarrassment begin. And so - yes, Christ is risen! But where is it? Where is His Resurrection? "Christ is Risen! I'm afraid I won't pass my exams. I'm so panicked! - I heard one day.

Of course, I don't know if you will pass the exams. And the fact that Christ has risen does not mean that now everyone will always pass exams successfully. But…

One student told me:

– Father, you say, “Christ is risen,” but my grandfather died. Why do I need these words now, since my grandfather died?

I answered him:

- Listen. If you understand this phrase - “Christ is Risen!” - with your heart, then you will begin to look at death differently. You will hear the same things as always, but you will perceive what you hear completely differently. Christ did not change the world from the outside. He changed us - our heart, vision, mind, attitude to what is happening.

Both before Christ came to earth and after, the problems did not disappear. Diseases, disasters, death - we still see all this around us. But the Lord gave us a different vision, the opportunity to see differently the life that He gave us.

Let me give you another example. Once I was performing a funeral service for a young woman. She was only twenty-five years old, she was young, beautiful and kind. A variety of people gathered at the girl’s coffin - a priest (that is, me); some relative, a completely unbelieving person; funeral agent; a young, absolutely secular guy and others. We are all here for the same reason. We all looked at the body of the girl in the coffin. But not everyone perceived her death in the same way.

The priest who strives to have faith in his soul thinks: “Lord, this young woman at twenty-five years old was able to achieve what some achieve only at the age of one hundred. You have already prepared her for the Kingdom of Heaven.” Yes, what happened is a tragedy, sad and sorrowful, but a believer experiences it with hope, optimism, and not like those “others who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Yes, we see death. But we hope.

Next to the priest stands an atheist, a relative of the deceased. He looks at the same body in the coffin and thinks: “Yes... Earth to earth. All. Death, then the process of decomposition, the end of everything. There’s nothing, it’s all over.”

The funeral agent, looking at the coffin, thinks: “People, flowers... We will make good money today!”

And the young man, in the prime of youth and strength, stands and thinks: “If she were alive, how many more hearts could she win!”

We all see the same thing around us, but we think about it differently. And so it is always in this life.

And the Lord says to us: “My children! I have brought you brushes with which you will repaint the whole world in the colors of love: red, the color of My blood that flowed on Calvary; white, the color of My Ascension; blue and green, the colors of the waters of the Jordan River, where I washed you from your sins; golden, the color of the fields through which I walked... If you want, take it and paint your life with My colors. And you will see everything differently. Want to? Do you want me to strengthen you and see everything the way I see it? Do you want Me to give you the strength to win the earthly struggle?”

And it doesn’t matter what kind of struggle it is - with exams or with illness. There is always an opportunity to be strengthened by the power of the risen Christ. The Lord Himself gives us this opportunity.

Translation Elizaveta Terentyeva