About death, burial and commemoration of the dead. About the fate of infants who died unbaptized

The newspapers “Kalugar” publish the answer of the rector of the church of the Kaluga Old Believer community to a difficult question. Unfortunately, recently we have to admit that such cases are becoming more frequent, at least judging by our personal circle of acquaintances. In addition, we provide a link to detailed materials about the burial from the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Question: How to pray for a stillborn baby (daughter) and should she be given a name? This was many years ago, the child was not given to me in the maternity hospital... Is it possible to sing her funeral service now and what is the mother’s prayer for her?

Answer. Sorrow has befallen you. May the Lord grant you the strength to bear it. We do not know God's destinies. They - the abyss is many(Ps. 35:7). Trust His good Providence.

Church commemoration (including funeral services) is possible only for baptized people. During baptism, a person is given a name. The Lord said: “ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”(John 3:5). Birth from water and the Spirit is holy baptism, also called the washing of rebirth and the second, spiritual birth of a person.

Those who, out of ignorance, did not receive baptism, as St. Gregory the Theologian writes, “ They will not be glorified or punished by the righteous Judge, because although they are not sealed, they are not bad, and they themselves have suffered more than they have done harm. For not everyone unworthy of punishment is worthy of honor; just as not everyone unworthy of honor is worthy of punishment" In the synaxarion of Meat Saturday, read at the ecumenical funeral service, it is said, “ For at baptism babies will enjoy food. The unenlightened and the filthy (i.e., children of the pagans), below for food, below will go to Gehenna».

The Church teaches that human life begins at the moment of conception. Therefore, the above patristic words apply equally to unborn children due to miscarriages and abortions, stillborn or born, but not worthy of holy baptism.

Such cases have existed at all times, but the Church has not left us any special prayers for the souls of these babies. It’s a pity that they didn’t let you bury the baby. But the Lord knows where to resurrect him on the last day. We can only trust in the mercy of God. We know and believe that in involuntary sorrows the mercy of God is hidden, which attracts the one who bears them to repentance and delivers them from eternal torment (Reverend Mark the Ascetic).

Mother and father must definitely go to confession and repent of their sins. Tell us about this incident too. The priest must read the special prayers required in this case to the mother.

And further, we ourselves should take care of our salvation, repent of sins, know God and do works of mercy, pray, go to church, including on parental Saturdays, observe fasts, and draw closer to God with other Christian virtues.

One day the Monk Macarius of Egypt, walking through the desert, found a human skull lying on the ground. When Abba touched the skull with the palm stick he had in his hand, the skull gave out a voice. The elder said to him: “Who are you?” The skull answered: “I was the priest of the idolaters who lived in this place, and you are Abba Macarius, who has the Holy Spirit of God in you, when, having mercy on those who are in eternal torment, you pray for them, they receive some consolation " The elder asked what this consolation consists of? The skull answered: “As far as the sky is from the earth, so much fire is under our feet and above our heads. We stand in the middle of the fire, and none of us is positioned so that he can see the face of his neighbor.” Then the elder, shedding tears, said: “Woe to the day on which a man was born, if such is the consolation in torment!” To this the elder added: “Is there any torment worse than this?” The skull answered: “Below us there is more torment.” The elder said: “Who is in it? Skull: “We, who did not know God, are shown at least some mercy; but those who knew God and denied Him and did not do His will are below us.” After this conversation, the elder buried the skull (Paterikon).

To the death of a baby

Venerable Ephraim the Syrian. Hymn 37.

How bitter are the tears at the death of a child! How hard it is for a mother when she loses her infant! Grow him, O Lord, in Your palace! This day arouses grief in parents for the loss of their children, because death crushes the support of their old age. You, Lord, strengthen them!

This day often takes away a mother’s only begotten son, deprives her of the hand that had hitherto supported her. You, Lord, support her!

This is the day that separates the baby from his mother and leaves her in sad loneliness, in grief and sadness. You, Lord, console her!

This is the day that the infant is torn from the mother's womb. The mother sobs and laments that her joy is gone. May she see him in the Kingdom!

Blessed childhood! It will inherit heaven.

Woe of old age! She remains here in distress. Lord, help her!

This answer is given in the newspaper “” for February 2014. In addition, it published a selection of sermons on parental Saturdays over several years from the rector of the Kaluga church of the Russian Orthodox Church named after the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, Father John Kurbatsky.

The small work of St. Gregory of Nyssa, entitled “On infants who are prematurely snatched away by death,” that is, about those who die before they taste the fullness of life for which they were born, was intended for the ruler of Cappadocia, Jeria, who posed the question to the saint: “What should know about people whose birth is not far from death?

At the time of writing this work, as can be seen from the introduction to it, Saint Gregory was already in advanced years. Thus, he likens himself to an old horse abandoned behind the fence of the hippodrome. However, in order not to leave the question posed to him unanswered, he promises to concentrate his attention and gather his strength.

At the beginning of his presentation, Saint Gregory of Nyssa praises Jeria in sublime words, calling him “the most noble ruler” and “an honorable head.” These expressions were not just a tribute to politeness. From the introduction it is clear that the Cappadocian ruler indeed possessed many excellent qualities and talents. Despite his indifference to material wealth, he was sincerely concerned about the spiritual state of the people subordinate to him, each of whom he kept in the treasury of his love. To put it simply, he loved the people and was not greedy.

In addition to other talents, Jeriy also had a penchant for reflecting on the affairs of divine economy. He wondered why the life of one person was extended until old age, while another was interrupted as soon as he was born. What is the meaning of premature death?

It should be admitted that Saint Gregory perfectly resolves this deep paradox of human existence. He begins with the very formulation of the problem. So, a person enters life by birth. He takes his first breath, bursts into tears - sobs constitute the beginning of his life. But suddenly he dies. He dies before his joints are strengthened, he dies while still very tender in body. He dies either because he, a defenseless baby, was left completely without care, or because he suddenly suffocated, or because some illness intervened.

The following questions are often asked in connection with sudden infant deaths. Will the soul of an untimely deceased baby be judged by the Most High Judge, just as other people will be judged? Will she receive this or that reward? Will she be cooled by the dew of divine blessing or scorched by purifying fire? After all, the essence of the problem is that the deceased baby has not yet managed to accomplish anything in his life - neither good nor evil. And where there is no giving, there is no reward. Consequently, since infants do not yet have either will or action, there is no reason for them to gain what we, who have reached adulthood, hope for. If, despite this, infants enter the Kingdom of God, it means that they are in a more advantageous position than those who can reach the same result after a long life filled with all kinds of sorrows and suffering. If this train of thought is correct, then it is better for no one to live long.

After posing the problem, Saint Gregory of Nyssa consistently approaches the answer. He, of course, from the very beginning confesses that such great questions are the unsearched thoughts of God, which is why he proclaims along with the Apostle: “Oh, the depth of the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways!” (Rom. 11:33). However, he still tries to answer this question, because he believes that divine grace can enlighten his mind. It should also be noted that, moving forward in the disclosure of the topic, Saint Gregory does not use any rhetorical devices to support his thoughts, but only precisely follows the logical chain from premises to conclusions.

First.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa draws attention to the fact that human nature comes from God. Like all entities, it has the reason for its existence in God, and not in itself. And if the uncreated nature, which belongs to God, surpasses any concept of distance or extension, does not increase or decrease, and, of course, is not subject to definition, then created nature, on the contrary, is changeable, subject to increase and decrease, growth and decay.

Human nature is complex, since it consists of heterogeneous elements - intelligent and sensual. The intelligent part of man is a semblance of the divine nature. In addition, it correlates with the angelic forces living in the supermundane space, which is most suitable for their ethereal nature. Next, Saint Gregory speaks about the body of angels, calling it “heavenly, subtle, light and ever-moving.”

The sensual nature is not similar to the intelligent nature, even in some sense the opposite of it. Therefore, God, so to speak, so as not to deprive the earth, so as not to leave it without an intelligent beginning, created man in whom both the intelligent and the sensual natures were united. That is, man is the totality of all creation, he consists of both heavenly and earthly things.

Second.

The purpose of the creation of man was to glorify God throughout all creation through his inherent intelligence. Corporeal life, precisely because it is earthly, is supported by earthly food. In a similar way, we can talk about some kind of “smart food”, thanks to which our smart nature is supported. Just as nutrition gives vitality to the body, so does communion with the truly Existent give life to the intelligent nature. Consequently, the life appropriate to the intelligent nature is communion with God.

For the perception of each thing there is its own corresponding organ. For example, the organ used to enjoy light is the eye, and not the finger or any other member of the human body. Communicating with God also requires an appropriate organ. And communion with God lies in the experimental knowledge of Him, of course, to the extent to which the soul is capable of accommodating this knowledge. On the contrary, ignorance of God is, accordingly, non-participation in Him.

The fall of man lies in ignorance of God, in distance from the divine life. This is the real evil that God wants to heal in us. The healing of evil lies in returning to divine life, in acquiring communion with God. The benefit, therefore, is the healing of the intelligent part of the soul. Whoever does not strive for the mystery of the Gospel word does not know the method of healing.

Here St. Gregory of Nyssa emphasizes, and this, I believe, is of great importance, that the appropriate organ for communication with God is the intelligent part of the soul. Through it, a person joins God and acquires knowledge of Him, which is true life for him. But since the Fall led to separation from the divine life and ignorance of God, and this is precisely the disease that kills a person, now the healing of the mental part of the soul is required so that as a result it will regain communication with God and see His Light.

Human nature was created by God precisely in order to hope for participation in His life, in order to strive for this life. It is unity with God that is the goal of human creation. Thus, tasting the divine life, which is deification, is the fulfillment of man’s destiny, his natural state, and not retribution or reward. Just as non-participation in God is not a punishment, but a disease of the human soul, a disease of the entire human existence.

For clarity, St. Gregory uses the example of human eyes. The eyes' inherent ability to see is not a reward; it is their natural healthy state. Likewise, blindness is not a punishment or the result of punishment, but a disease. In the same way, for people “purified in the feelings of the soul,” the blissful life of the Divine is natural and characteristic. But those whose spiritual eyes are unclean, those who remain ignorant of God, remain not involved in His blessed life. And this is not a punishment, but a state of illness of the intelligent part of the soul.

Third.

The third point follows from what has been said. So, the desired good, that is, the blessed divine life, is characteristic of the human race by nature. And although this good in some cases is called retribution, yet tasting it is not a matter of justice, but a natural state of a healthy soul. Only on the basis of this provision can the correct answer be given to the question of how a baby who has done neither good nor evil in his life will be judged and in what place will he be placed. At the same time, Saint Gregory of Nyssa once again emphasizes that this question itself is not posed at all as it should be, because the point is not in justice, but in the very state of healthy or, on the contrary, sick human nature.

This is illustrated by the following example. Suppose two people suffer from the same eye disease. One of them begins treatment and endures everything that medicine prescribes, despite the fact that it is painful and unpleasant. And the other not only does not accept any doctor’s advice, but also lives intemperately to his own detriment. As a result, the first person will naturally enjoy seeing the light through his eyes, while the second will be deprived of this light in the same natural way.

But if for a person who, depending on his lifestyle, either heals the smart eye of his soul or is still ill with it, involvement or non-involvement in God is a natural development and the result of his entire life, then with a baby it is different. Since the baby did not initially receive the disease and does not need treatment and cleansing, it means that he lives according to nature, and, as he is inexperienced in evil, no illness of the soul prevents him from tasting communion with the Light.

This teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa gives us the opportunity to emphasize that the human soul at its birth is not unclean, on the contrary, it is pure. A person, coming into existence through birth, remains in the enlightenment of the mind. Therefore, we see that infants can also have mental prayer, of course, in accordance with the images and ideas of their age. We have often noticed that there are babies who pray, and even pray in their sleep. One Athonite monk said that when small children turn their attention somewhere to the side and laugh for no reason, it means that they see their Guardian Angel. What happens in the lives of saints, for whom it is always natural to cohabit with angels, also happens with small children.

Orthodox theology does not teach that a person supposedly inherits the guilt of original sin, as Western theology says. We believe that at his birth a person has a pure mind, abiding in enlightenment, and this state is in accordance with nature. The inheritance of original sin, as we said in the previous chapter (see Death and original sin. - A.L.), is that the body inherits corruption and mortality, and this, over time, as the child grows up, contributes to the development of passions that darken the intelligent part of the soul. Indeed, only passions that grow on the basis of the decay and mortality of the body, as well as the surrounding darkness, can darken in children their initially pure, intelligent part of the soul.

Of course, in this case a problem arises: what happens in holy Baptism? That is, if babies have a pure and enlightened mind, if mental prayer is performed in them, then why do we baptize them?

The answer, as can be seen from the entire patristic Tradition, is the following: in holy Baptism we are not freed from the guilt of original sin (after all, this is not the point at all), but we are grafted into the Body of Christ, into the Church, and thereby gain the opportunity to defeat death. This is how we experience infant baptism. We baptize them so that they become members of the Church, members of the Body of Christ, overcome death and overcome the “skin garments” of corruption and deadness. We baptize them so that as they grow older, when their minds are darkened by passions and the surrounding darkness, they will have the opportunity to overcome passions, make the mental part of the soul pure again and conquer death in Christ.

This is the effect of Baptism in infants. In adults who are baptized after preparation, it cleanses the heart of passions, and in Confirmation they are given enlightenment of the mind. At the same time, through holy Baptism they are included in the Church and thereby acquire the opportunity, in union with Christ, through communion of His Most Pure Mysteries, to defeat death and achieve deification. The main purpose of baptism for both infants and adults is precisely the state of deification, which is achieved only in Christ and in His Church.

Since the question of the purity of infant souls is very important, may I be allowed to quote the words of St. Gregory of Nyssa himself: “An infant, untested by evil and not having any ailment of the spiritual eyes that would interfere with communion with the Light, lives according to nature. there is no need for purification to acquire health, since in the beginning he did not accept illness in his soul." So, the baby's mind is pure, free of disease, healthy and in its natural state. Therefore, the baby has no obstacles to joining the divine Light.

To explain what happens in the future life that we expect, St. Gregory of Nyssa always gives examples from the present life. So, for example, he sees the following analogy between the image of the present life and the image of the future. Just as babies at first suck the breast and feed on milk, and later feed on other food, because one food replaces another in due time, so it happens with the soul. The soul partakes of spiritual benefits in accordance with a certain order and sequence. The Apostle Paul speaks about this. At first he fed the Corinthians with milk (1 Cor. 3:2), and only then did he give solid food to those of them who had reached the age of intelligence.

One of the differences between a baby and an adult is what gives them pleasure. An adult receives satisfaction from his own successes, from public recognition, from gifts, from honors given to him, from family life, from entertainment, shows, hunting, and the like. And the baby is content with milk, the nanny's hugs and quiet rocking that brings sweet sleep.

Something similar happens in relation to spiritual benefits during spiritual maturation. Those who have nurtured their souls with virtues will taste divine sweetness in accordance with the inclinations they acquired in this life. And the soul, which, although it has not tasted virtue, is not sick with evil, is also capable of partaking of this good to the extent that it can accommodate it, being strengthened by the contemplation of Existence.

Thus, despite the fact that infants are inexperienced in rejecting evil, they, being strengthened by the contemplation of God and supported by His grace, will partake of divine knowledge and divine Light. And they will succeed in the most perfect knowledge, naturally, with the help of contemplation of God. Thus, God will appear to everyone, “giving Himself to the extent that the recipient can accommodate.”

That is, the thought of Saint Gregory is that the soul strives for good, for the communion of the divine Light by its very nature. Man accepts divine grace and divine wealth to the extent of his receptivity. And this receptivity does not directly depend on the physical age of a person or on the abundance or lack of good deeds performed by him. It is from this perspective that one must consider the future state of a person, and not proceed from a comparison of the virtuous life of a mature person with the life of a baby or an immature person. The one who makes such a comparison himself is “immature,” because by this he shows that he does not have theological arguments.

Fourth.

Why does God allow a baby to die at this age? Having carried out a preliminary analysis and shown that the years we spend on earth do not play a big role in the communion of the divine Light, Saint Gregory, in developing the topic, dwells on the question of why God allows such a quick exodus from this life.

In answering this question, he first notes that the blame for the fact that women kill children born to them from illegal conception cannot be attributed to God. In cases where babies, despite the care and prayers of their parents, leave the world due to some illness, we must look only through the prism of God's Providence. After all, the most perfect industry consists not simply in the fact that passions that have already occurred are healed, but in the fact that a person is protected from experiencing those passions that he might have in the future. For one who knows the future, as God is, it is natural to prevent that baby from growing up who would subsequently become established in evil. That is, in such cases, God does not allow the baby to live precisely because he sees his evil future. And doing this out of love for mankind, He does not, of course, deprive him of any of the future benefits, which is what we drew attention to before.

To make this act of God's economy more understandable, St. Gregory uses a wonderful and intelligible example. Suppose there is a richly laid table with many delicious dishes. Let us also assume that there is a caretaker there who knows, on the one hand, the properties of each dish - which of them is harmful and which is healthy, and, on the other hand, the state of health of each diner. Let us also assume that this caretaker has the absolute power to allow or, on the contrary, to prevent touching this or that dish, so that each of the diners eats only what is most suitable for his body. Obviously, in this case, the sick person will not be upset, and the healthy person will not reach the point of aversion to food due to satiety with many dishes. Since if the caretaker sees that someone is full of food or drunk with wine and drunk, he will order him to be taken out of this place. It happens that the person who is taken out rebels against the caretaker and condemns him for allegedly depriving him of these benefits out of envy. But if he looks carefully at the remaining diners and sees how they, from satiety and drunkenness, begin to suffer from vomiting and headaches, and how they utter obscene words, then, of course, he will thank the caretaker for saving him from the suffering that comes from intemperance.

This example is transferred to human life. The table is human life, which abounds in a wide variety of dishes. But not everything in life is sweet honey. It also has its own bitterness, like salt or vinegar, that is, all sorts of troubles that make human existence difficult. Some dishes cause arrogance, others - outbursts of madness, and still others - disgust. The caretaker, who is God, removes from the table the one who behaved with dignity, so that he does not subsequently become like those who, because of guttural rage, indulged in immeasurable satiety. This is how divine Providence heals diseases before they appear. Since God, by the power of His foreknowledge, knows that the newborn will, when it grows up, use the world for evil, He tears it away from the feast of life. A newborn baby is torn away from life so that at the table of this world he does not indulge in guttural rage. And in this we see the love of God, His great love for mankind.

Fifth.

The fifth is a continuation of the fourth. This is the question of why God makes such a difference in choice. That is, why does He providentially take one away ahead of time, and allow another to live and become evil to such an extent that one can even wish that such a person would never have been born. Indeed, why is the baby providentially taken from this life, while his father, who participates in the feast until his gray hairs and consumes the evil aftertaste with his drinking companions, is left behind?

Before answering, Saint Gregory of Nyssa notes that the word he is about to pronounce is intended for “the most grateful” - those who are grateful to God and have a good disposition. In addition, he reminds us that the issues under consideration are mysteries incomprehensible to human logic, because God’s “logic” is different from human logic.

Saint Gregory insists that God does not arrange everything by chance or without a reason. God is Logos, Wisdom, Virtue, Truth, and He never accepts anything that is not connected with virtue and truth, and He allows only that which is connected with them. So, sometimes He allows babies to be taken from life prematurely, and sometimes, if He is pursuing some other goal, He allows something else.

And the very presence of evil people in the lives is allowed and tolerated by God, so that some benefit can come from this. Turning to the example of the Israeli people, Saint Gregory says that God allowed the Egyptian tyrant to appear to punish the Israeli people. He removed the Israelites from Egypt so that they would not become like the Egyptians and adopt their customs. Indeed, under the blows of a hammer on an anvil, even the hardest iron, which does not melt in fire, can take the form of some useful tool.

Then St. Gregory of Nyssa reflects another incorrect argument. Some, he says, see injustice in the fact that in this life not all wicked people taste the bitter fruits of their malice, and not all virtuous people benefit from the labors of their virtue. To this Saint Gregory replies that the virtuous will rejoice in another life, rejoicing by comparing their blessings with the destruction of the condemned. This is said, however, only in the sense that the comparison of opposites will become “an increase and intensification of joy for the virtuous.” And this, of course, does not mean that they will rejoice in the condemnation of other people, but that, experiencing the bliss of virtue, compared with the torment of sin and passions, they will be grateful to God for their salvation.

So, if infants admire death prematurely, then this is done according to God’s economy, so that they do not fall into worse evil. If some of those left to live become evil, then this should be explained by other reasons, which are hidden in the Providence of God and in His Wisdom. Of course, there will be some benefit from this, for God does not do anything without a reason and purpose.

As a result, the following must be concluded about the posthumous fate of infants who die prematurely. On the one hand, they are not in a sorrowful state, but, on the other hand, they are not equal to those who labored to purify themselves with the help of all virtue. At the same time, we must not forget that the procession to God and the communion of the uncreated Light is the natural state of the human soul. And infants cannot be deprived of this, for by the power of divine grace they are capable of achieving deification.

Notes
1. τό νοερό της ψυχής.

This year, the reading about the Bethlehem babies innocently killed by King Herod will be read twice, with an interval of just two days. Today, on the day of their memory, and January 13, on the Sunday of the Nativity of Christ. Archpriest Theodore BORODIN reflects on what the Gospel tells us and why God allows suffering and death.

Massacre of the Bethlehem infants. Painting of the cathedral of the monastery of St. Dionysius on Athos. Ser. XVI century

“When they (the wise men) departed, behold, the Angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and says: get up, take the Child and His Mother and flee to Egypt, and be there until I tell you, for Herod wants to look for the Child in order to destroy His.

14 He arose, took the child and his mother by night, and went down to Egypt,

15 And there he was until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I called my Son.

16 Then Herod, seeing himself ridiculed by the Magi, became very angry, and sent to kill all the infants in Bethlehem and throughout its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time that he found out from the Magi.

17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, saying:
18 A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and mourning and great crying; Rachel cries for her children and does not want to be consoled, for they are not there.

19 After the death of Herod, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in Egypt in a dream.
20 And he says: Arise, take the Child and His Mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the life of the Child are dead.

21 He arose, took the child and his mother, and came to the land of Israel.

22 When he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of Herod his father, he was afraid to go there; but having received a revelation in a dream, he went into the region of Galilee

23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the prophets, that he should be called a Nazarite.”

Archpriest Theodore BORODIN, rector of the Church of Cosmas and Damian on Maroseyka, comments:

In the Gospel of Sunday, which is called the Week after the Nativity of Christ, there are several important themes. First: flight of the holy family to Egypt. Joseph at night, in a dream, receives orders from an Angel to flee to Egypt. Flee immediately, with the Infant God and the Mother of God to another country, when there is only one donkey in the vehicle, no supplies for the journey and full understanding that all three are in mortal danger. For anyone who knows what it is to pack up a newborn to go somewhere, the problems of righteous Joseph will be partly understandable. But Joseph does not hesitate, because the Angel had already resolved his doubts once, when Joseph wanted to let his betrothed Mary go because he thought that She had sinned. Now he accepts the Angel’s command as God’s will, and obeys it without delay. The Virgin Mary also submits to Joseph, although we may have a thought: why didn’t an Angel appear to Her, who had just given birth to the Infant of God, warning of danger? The fact that the Angel appeared specifically to Joseph is an undoubted indication of the necessary hierarchy in life. Because the father and husband are called upon to protect the family and be responsible for its safety. Joseph understands that the meaning of his life is to serve those about whom he himself does not fully know, who are they? But he already believes that this is the most important thing for which God called him. Joseph is obedient to God. And Mary is obedient to Joseph, she does not express completely reasonable concerns about how he decided to go at night, without having time to get ready for a journey that was dangerous even for an armed detachment, let alone for an old man and a Maiden with a Child. She simply takes the Baby and follows him. The life of the Lord Himself begins in obedience from His first days: birth in a stable where there are cattle and dung, flight along the night roads from King Herod, obedience to Joseph and the Mother, who sometimes treat him like an ordinary youth (see Luke 2: 41-51).

In Egypt itself, according to many commentators, a calmer life awaited them: at that time, Egypt was a place where Jewish exiles lived who fled from the Jewish authorities. They settled as a diaspora and helped each other. And although both Egypt and Palestine were under the rule of Rome, they were at enmity with each other and it was in Egypt that it was easier to find “political asylum.”

But then Herod died, seeking the death of the Christ Child, and the time had come to return to the land of Israel, which was again announced by the Angel. But where exactly to settle? There is no message from the Lord this time. There are no direct instructions. How to understand where Mary and the Child will be safer, and how to understand how much this will be in the will of God? These questions open a new topic in this passage: how can a person understand the will of God and how to make a decision when it is unclear? And again, our example is Joseph, who makes a decision in freedom, but based on a previous experience of deep obedience to God. He reflects that in Jerusalem, where Herod’s son Archelaus reigns, and in Bethlehem close to him, it may still be dangerous, but only recently the Lord saved him from a similar danger. And therefore he was “afraid” to go there and decides to settle away from the kings and capitals. Already in the Old Testament, in the parables of Solomon, there are the following words: “A prudent man sees trouble and hides himself; but the inexperienced go forward and are punished” (Prov. 22:3) Joseph “was afraid,” but not for himself, but for those who were dearer to him - Mary and the Child. And he acted wisely, and “wise” in the Old Testament context does not mean “very smart,” but righteous, one who does the will of God. This means that the wise one is the one who knows when to avoid trouble, while the stupid one does not know and is punished himself. A wise man knows because he is accustomed to obeying God, but an inexperienced man is not accustomed to it.

Joseph chooses quiet, sparsely populated Nazareth, where farmers and artisans lived, which means he could feed himself, and Joseph, according to legend, was a carpenter. The main motive for his choice was the safety of his family and its provision. And this choice coincided with the will of God, because, as the Evangelist Matthew writes, “what was spoken through the prophets was fulfilled, that He (Christ - Ed.) would be called a Nazarite (Matthew 2:23). The word "Nazarene" denotes not only a resident of the city of Nazareth (who could be called both a Nazirite and a Nazarene), but also a person who made a vow to God, who was also called a "Nazarite", which in Hebrew was called the word "natzar".

But the Lord, of course, could have punished Herod much earlier than the days of his death, and then Joseph had nothing to fear, why didn’t God do this?

When we reflect on the fate of a person, a family, a people, a society, a Church, these questions also arise before us. When is the time to be afraid, and when is the time to go to the cross? We see that there are times when righteous people, pleasing to God, bearers of the true teaching about God, are oppressed, and evil turns out to be stronger. The righteous can pray, but they do not receive what they ask from God. And this secret is revealed in the words of Solomon: “There are righteous people, but they are given a destiny according to the deeds of the wicked, And there are wicked people, but they are given a destiny according to the actions of the good (Ecclesiastes 9:14). By God's providence it happens that the life of the righteous or people striving for righteousness is built around the atrocities of the wicked, around the manifestations of his freedom. First of all, this came true on the Righteous One Himself, who took His fate according to the actions of wicked people: Herod, Pilate, Pharisees, scribes... This is a mystery that the human mind cannot fully understand.

And it seems to me that this is such a test, when you need to make an independent decision, without having a clear assurance that there is the will of God, sooner or later awaits any Christian. This is how the Lord teaches us freedom. For example, how did Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) decide when he was considering whether to sign the Declaration of 1927 or not? When he was faced with the fact of either the complete destruction of the Church, or an unsteady agreement with the godless government. Didn’t the Lord Himself say in the Gospel: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). And so Metropolitan Sergius was faced with a question: when can a person demand a miracle from God, and when should he make a decision himself if God’s will is not directly communicated? Does he have the right to condemn the priests who are still free to execution, exile and martyrdom by his uncompromising attitude? Can he, by refusing to sign the Declaration, actually give all the churches of the true Church in this way to the renovationists? Only the Lord knows how difficult and scary it was for him to make a decision. Did he receive answers from God or not? We don't know. But in our lives, albeit on a different scale, sometimes we have to make very serious choices.

When we come to Church, become a church member, when we are young with natural or church youth, everything seems simple to us. After spending 15-20 years in the Church, you begin to understand that there are often no direct or ready-made answers to many complex questions. And a person must, after praying, make a decision based on his freedom, and then bear responsibility for it. I saw how difficult it was for people who had to make a decision related to the illness of a loved one, when a person has been on an artificial heart-lung machine for ten years, it cannot be cured, and they require written consent from you to turn off the device. Or the decisions that I, as a priest, had to make while working in the canonical group at the Diocesan Council of Moscow, where people turn to about divorces, second marriages and funerals for suicides. And there are no direct indications of which decision may be correct, because each case is unique, and each one has a destiny. At these moments I was simply scared. For example, according to the canons, there is no reason to consider a marriage broken up, and the marriage - and this is visible and understandable - no longer exists. Or suicide: where is the line beyond which madness begins, when a person can be buried in the temple as “who committed suicide by insanity,” and with terrible pain, from which the consciousness is clouded, and which cannot be alleviated by any painkillers? So, as we grow up, the Lord takes away our textbooks and poses difficult questions, revealing to us the true spiritual reality. But before we learn freedom, we must learn obedience and fervent prayer.

And finally The third theme of this Sunday reading is the murder of the Bethlehem infants— leads to the eternal question: why do the innocent suffer? Why do children die? Where's the justice? This question, asked many times, was once answered by the Lord Himself to Anthony the Great: “Anthony, these are the judgments of God, and you pay attention to yourself,” that is, go about your life, because there is much you are not yet able to understand. This was said to the great ascetic, ascetic and contemplator, to whom angels appeared, whose prayer healed the hopeless and raised the dead. But he, too, was unable to understand what is understandable only on the other side of eternity, when all “earthly wisdom” ceases. It was on the Bethlehem babies that the words of Solomon were fulfilled: “There are righteous people, but they are given a portion according to the deeds of the wicked.” Given by whom? By God. But for most people, even Christians, their earthly life is the center around which everything revolves, and death is grief. There are few for whom, like the ap. Paul, life is Christ, and death is gain. Therefore, there are answers, but we can understand, let alone accept, them only there and then, but here on earth we cannot accommodate them, and not only the murder of innocent children, but also the suffering of their earthly life. If you go to some orphanage for disabled children, these questions immediately boil up in your heart: for what, why?

But if you remember the words of Ap. Paul that he has nothing to boast about except the cross of Christ (cf. Gal. 6:14). That is, apart from suffering, the martyrdom of the Bethlehem innocent babies (who were already revered as saints in the 2nd-3rd centuries) can give us hope when , at the end of our lives, looking back, we will find something that is consonant with the cross of Christ in our destiny - our suffering. We probably won’t be able to imagine anything else to justify ourselves, we won’t be able to “boast” of anything, because all our virtues are poisoned by sins, vanity, etc., but the suffering that we have suffered is something that can become our praise before God. Thus, praise from God was given to the infants of Bethlehem in full. After all, the Lord gave them the greatest thing that He had prepared for man: the Kingdom of Heaven. And by their suffering, perhaps, more than one soul has been and will be saved, which the suffering of the innocent will not leave in a dead end, will not embitter, but will turn away from the malice of this world.

And of course, in these days of remembrance of the Bethlehem babies (and the same reading was read on January 8, at the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos), we cannot help but think about those hundreds of thousands of children who are killed in the womb. For some reason, non-believers have the first question, which, as they themselves say, prevents them from believing: if there is a God, why do children suffer? But the next point: freedom to abortion is our right. For some reason it always connects. And vice versa, when for a person God is not an abstraction, when there is already a relationship with God as a Father, there is an experience of love, questions about the suffering of the innocent disturb the mind less and less - despite the fact that no exact answers have been received. But there is an experience of trusting God. Such a person simply goes to an orphanage and helps innocently suffering babies.

Blessed is the death of infants

The sorrow for the children cut off by the sickle of death in infancy will forever remain in the souls of parents. Why does God, a lover of mankind, call these His creatures to Himself so early? How should we feel about the loss of our beloved children? Indeed, the pain and suffering of parents upon the death of young children is extremely great. The sight of an immature, innocent baby taken from the mother's breast plunges the family into grief and hurts the souls of the father and mother. It is important to note that our Holy Church, which, like a tender mother, condescends to everyone’s grief, has special hymns for funeral services for infants, those who have already been baptized. This series of chants is called “The Rite of Infant Burial.” In two And On the braids after the 6th song of the canon it is written: “There is nothing that is compassionate to a mother, nothing is a tender father: for their wombs are troubled, when babies (p. 316) from here send great pity, even though they have hearts, they will be born for the sake of children, especially when they are gracious , remembering their words with a song: Hallelujah.” And then in the next ikos it says: “Many times before the grave the nipples are beaten and the words are said: O my son and sweetest child! Don't you hear what your mother is saying? behold the womb that bore you; Why don’t you say the words that you said to us, but be silent and say with us: Hallelujah.”

In other troparia of the same sequence, the parents turn to the deceased child, saying: “Oh, who will not weep, my child, about your deplorable death from this life.” “You are an immature baby,” having left your mother’s arms like a chick, “you flew away and escaped from the Creator of all. O child, whoever does not cry, it’s in vain that your clear face is fading, which was once like a red crimson!” And so great is the love of the Church of Christ, who said: “Let the children come to Me and do not hinder them”(Mark 10:14) that she also sympathizes with the hearts of fathers and mothers and, turning to the deceased, repeats together with her parents: “Oh, who does not groan, my child, and cry out with tears much of your splendor and the beauty of your life! Like a ship, without a trace, you came soon before your eyes. Come, my friends, relatives and neighbors, with this kiss that sends me to the grave.”

The death of infants causes us fair bewilderment. Why does this intelligent creature die at such a tender age? But the soul that believes does not see anything in this event that would cause bewilderment. She knows that all our desires are guided by the all-good Providence of God. “Why,” asks St. Gregory of Nyssa, “are the lives of some so long that they reach a very old age, (p. 317) while others live very little and, as soon as they are born and begin to breathe, they immediately end their lives?” And he himself answers: “If nothing in the world happens without Divine participation and everything depends on the will of God, and everything divine is wise and providential, then there must be some reason for this event - a reason that gives us confirmation of the wisdom of God and his concern for us. For what happens in vain and without reason cannot be from God and, as the Holy Scriptures say, a special testimony about God is that everything is arranged wisely.”

The soul of a Christian, however, does not go further, firmly believing in, as Basil the Great writes, “that although the reasons for God’s orders are hidden from us, everything that happens by order of the all-wise and loving God, no matter how difficult it is, is certainly We should be pleased. For He knows how to give to everyone what is useful to him, and why it is necessary to set unequal limits of life for us; and there is a reason, incomprehensible to people, why some are sooner departed from here, while others are left to continue to suffer in this much painful life.”

We think the baby's death is untimely. But this is not true. This is what the holy father says about this: “What is strange about the fact that a mortal died? But we are saddened by the timelessness! It is not known whether this is not a good time, because you do not know how to choose what is useful for the soul, and how to determine the duration of human life.” “Consider,” he continues, “that God, who created and animated us, gave each soul a special path in this life and for each set his own limits of progression. According to the ineffable laws of His wisdom, He ordained one (p. 318) to remain longer in the partnership of the flesh, and commanded the other to quickly be released from bodily bonds.”

The Great Photius, in a consoling letter to his brother, the patrician Tarasius, whose daughter died at a young age, writes about his untimely death: “Untimely! But did you say, when she was born, that the birth was untimely? You said that this happened by the will of God and at the appointed hour. When the time comes for us to depart to the Creator, then we strive to determine the boundaries of our life. Since the Creator brings us into life at the appointed hour, how can He call us to Himself at an untimely time? And if conception, birth and growth occur in a timely manner, how can our calling into Eternal Life be untimely?” The divine Photius so decisively opposes the idea of ​​death as a supposedly timeless event that he calls the one who claims so a blasphemer and a madman who has succumbed to unkind thoughts. Instead of grieving for a baby whose soul has left a corruptible body, one should grieve for one who has reached spiritual death, that is, for a person who cannot think rationally, but only blasphemes.

God-bearing fathers do not consider the death of a baby a deprivation. “We did not lose the baby,” writes Basil the Great to his pious friend Nectarius, “we returned him to God, who gave him to us. The earth did not hide him, but the sky welcomed him.”

The wise Solomon, enlightened by the Comforter Spirit, teaches that God calls children to himself at such a young and serene age because he wants to protect them from sin, so that malice does not change his mind or treachery(page 319) the fortune did not deceive his soul(Wis. 4, 11). Therefore, our Holy Church sings: “Sending from on high, to the All-Tsar, and receiving the blessed child, like a pure bird, O Lord, into the nests of heaven, Thou saved this spirit from many kinds of snares, and united the spirits with the righteous, delighting Thy Kingdom.”

Athanasius the Great, answering the question of why some die in infancy, while others manage to reach old age, writes: “The reason why this happens is deep and incomprehensible to the human mind. However, from everything that the texts of Holy Scripture teach us, we conclude that infants die not as a result of sins, but often to admonish their parents. Thus God performs two good deeds. Firstly, children leave here blameless, gaining eternal salvation. Perhaps God called them to Himself earlier in order to protect them from a future sinful life. Secondly, the death of children enlightens parents. Maybe they will now give the money prepared for the children in the will to the poor (after all, they now have no children). Or,” he concludes, “in accordance with some other calculation or decision of God, which He does not reveal or explain to us.”

In any case, the death of an infant unsullied by sin is truly blessed. John Chrysostom writes: “Here you indulge in a cheerful life for fifty or a hundred years, get rich, give birth to children, give daughters in marriage, rule and reign over tribes and peoples - and after all this death comes, after death condemnation, which has no end even after for which there is no longer any repentance... That is why we consider dying children especially blessed, that is why (p. 320) we all say: “Oh, if only we had died as children.” So, let us not indulge in sadness when we see that our children have suffered the same fate that we would like for ourselves. After all, it is only for us that the cup of death is filled with danger, but for children it is saving; and what excites horror in everyone is desire for them; what for us is the beginning of the punishment that will befall us there becomes for them the source of salvation. For what, in fact, would they demand an account from those who have not experienced Sin at all? Why would those who had no knowledge of good or evil be punished? O blessed death of happy children! O death of the innocent! You are truly the beginning of Eternal Life, the beginning of endless joy!”

It is this blessed innocence and this blessed dormition of infants that the holy fathers put forward as the most important point in their consoling words to parents, presenting as if the words of children addressed to them: “Do not cry completely uselessly for us, fathers! After all, you would like us to spend this vain life with you, where there is nothing sweet and everything is filled with sorrow, where everything is deceptive and fragile, where nothing is true and unchangeable. The Lord our God, having loved us, plucked us from this vain life, as if from the mouth of a lion, removed us from the sins of this age, just as a rose from thorns, like a good shepherd, separated us, like beloved lambs, from you, as if from darkness to light. And we spend our lives in the land of the living, where everything is calm and serene... We sing praises together with the Angels, triumph together with the saints, and even intercede for you who are in sin. Therefore, do not worry about us, but rather cry for your own righteous death."

The Great Photius, consoling the patrician Tarasius, imagines his dead daughter appearing before him, who with a joyful face takes him by the hand and says to him: “My father! Why are you crying, as if I had gone to some evil place? After all, I'm in heaven. Everything I see here is so sweet, and it’s even sweeter for me to feel it. The experience I gained here exceeds all expectations. In this paradise there is no cunning and insidious serpent - the devil, who deceives us with hypocritical whispers. Here we all become wise by comprehending heavenly divine wisdom. Our whole life here is an endless holiday and celebration. Someday you, father, will come here too, together with my beloved mother.”

In “The Lives of Our Holy Father Andronicus and His Wife Athanasia,” the following is noteworthy. Athanasia, having lost two of her children in one day, plunged into inconsolable grief, while her husband showed valor worthy of Job. One evening, the martyr Julian appeared to the grief-stricken Athanasia and told her: “Don’t cry for the children! After all, just as human nature requires food and no one can resist this, in the same way infants demand from God on the Day of the Great Judgment “future blessings” and say: “O Righteous Judge! Having deprived us of earthly blessings, do not deprive us of heavenly blessings.” And as soon as the saint heard these words of the martyr, she immediately stood up and, replacing grief with joy, said: “If my children now continue to live in Heaven, then why should I cry?” So, the confidence that babies live and, of course, rightfully and boldly ask God for future benefits on the Day of Judgment, should undoubtedly bring great comfort to parents.

The corresponding hymns of our Church clothe this truth in a touching and mournful melody: “Do not weep for me, weeping for nothing is worthy of beginnings, but always weep more than yourselves who sin, relatives and friends, the deceased is calling the baby, for you will not endure the torment of the temptation... Heavenly Palaces and the bright rest, and the most sacred face of the saints, Lord, create the purest baby, a partaker of whom, as you have favored, the Savior, you have left... We do not weep as infants, but we weep most of all for ourselves, who always sin, so that we may be delivered from Gehenna.”

But if blessed is the child who, being innocent and pure, flies off to our eternal homeland, equally blessed are the parents of that child. That’s why Saint Chrysostom writes: “Did you give away the baby? Give thanks to Him, for once for your sake He was a baby and reclined in a manger.” In addition, let's not forget that the innocent and joyful souls of babies are the strongest intercessors of their parents before the throne of the All-King Christ.