Baths

There is no Orthodox work. There is no Orthodox work Work in Orthodox families

Job- 1) ; 2) view labor activity; 3) activity as a source of income; 4) product of labor.

Love for God is achieved through love for one's neighbor. This applies not only to relatives, but to everyone with whom we come into contact, including at work. As you know, Christians do not work, Christians serve. Work is a form of service to God.

What does it mean to do anything for the sake of Christ?

To perceive any business as entrusted by God Himself.
Avoid sinful deeds and activities, regardless of their worldly gain.
Pray before the start of the work, in the process of its implementation and after.

Can "secular" work be a form of service to God?

He does not exclude this kind of work from the area of those areas of labor activity that can be charitable and useful for moral progress, on the sole basis that his work, formally, is of a secular nature.

It is known that he brought together the main God's commandments to two: about to and love for (as for oneself) (). One can show love for God and neighbor not only by serving in or at the temple, but also by working, performing, it would seem, purely secular duties. Can't, for example, a believing doctor, writer, poet, historian, artist, defender of the fatherland, ecologist glorify God, show love for one's neighbor, working in one's own place, working in such a way that it would be pleasing to God? Obviously it can. This can be called a form of service to God. Generally speaking, there are many such types of "secular" work.

Work in the Church

Many people who have converted to Orthodoxy begin to be weary of “secular” work. This is not surprising, because the aspirations of non-church society are further and further away from what is acceptable and valuable for Christians. The desire to serve the Church also encourages the search for work “at the temple”. as an employer - the topic of the conversation that we start in this issue. There are many questions here. For example, it is widely believed that the efficiency of work in Orthodox organizations is lower than in secular ones. Is this true, and if so, why? Are Orthodox structures "parallel" to the secular ones necessary and possible - hospitals, schools, workshops, etc.? How does work in the Church differ from “secular” work?

Opinions about this of the abbots of several Moscow churches were found out by the correspondent of "NS" Vladimir Totsky. “If I were the directors, I would advertise: I am looking for believers” Archpriest - Master of Theology, Associate Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy and Professor of the St. Tikhon Theological Institute, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Troitskoye-Golenishchevo. The temple is engaged in publishing activities. The parish magazine "Kyprianovsky Source", books and brochures of liturgical, worldly, scientific content are published. The church has a library. There is a Sunday school where, in addition to the Law of God, icon painting, singing, needlework are taught, and for teenagers - iconography, church architecture, the beginnings of journalism, and a children's parish newspaper is published. Every Sunday the parent club meets.

A feature of parish life was the procession to local shrines, the installation of memorial crosses and prayers at them. - Father Sergius, what difficulties does an Orthodox person have in a secular society? - The fact that the unbelieving environment surrounds us is our reality. And you don't have to be afraid of it. In early Christianity in the Roman Empire, Christians were surrounded by pagans. Believers gathered at night in the catacombs for worship, and worked during the day. We must be able to overcome these difficulties calmly. If they laugh at you, scold you, spit in your back - and this happened - you have to be patient. These difficulties are quite bearable. After all, they don’t arrest, they don’t plant, as before. - Are there large employers among church organizations? - Apparently, there are very few church organizations-employers in our country. We also do not have political movements connected with Orthodoxy. If there are patriots, they are not always Orthodox. No one from the government and the Duma said: "I am an Orthodox, believing person."

Maybe only one Podberezkin. Meanwhile, if I were an employer, I would do the same thing that a German youth did many years ago. He advertised in one newspaper: "I am looking for a girl of a Christian worldview to create a family." And if I were the director, I would give such announcements, they say, I am looking for believing employees ... I would know that a believing person will not deceive me, will not steal me - he is afraid of God. I know from my father that Vladyka held the position of treasurer in the Solovetsky camp, i.e. gave salaries to NKVD officers, because they did not trust themselves. But they knew that the Russian bishop would not steal. What are the problems in church work? Money is tight? Yes. Temptations? Yes, because our passions are raging, here is the front line, the front, where demonic forces are constantly attacking, and we do not always succeed in fighting them off. And at the same time, some kind of miracle happens: there is no money, and the temple is being restored. Donate boards, bricks, concrete. The temple has its own special exchange rate. If the master says, I will do this work in the world for so much, then it is three times cheaper for you.

Because for God. After all, even a building material, a simple brick, behaves in a special way in a temple, in a residential building, a trading establishment, or, even worse, in an entertainment one. Museum workers, for example, are surprised: ancient vestments, embroidered with gold, are worse preserved if they hang on a stand than those that are in use, in which they serve. - What is your opinion about combining secular work and work in the temple? - There are few such parishioners. Now a person who has a job is so busy that there is simply no strength to go anywhere else. Now in commercial structures, the employee is required ten times more than in Soviet time. We need people, but we can barely make ends meet. - Who specifically? - A clerk, a person for relations with public organizations, a watchman, cleaners ... - And what difficulties are experienced by the rector of the temple, confessor, just a priest? - I teach at the Theological Academy and the St. Tikhon Institute. I work in the commission for the canonization of the Ryazan diocese, in the Orthodox Encyclopedia. About to go to visit or just walk along the street, there is no question. The modern priest is like a soldier who sits in a branched trench and runs from one gun to another, replacing a whole platoon. And you need to take communion, confess the sick, meet with schoolchildren, restorers, builders, artists ... Previously, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt worked in this mode - now all our priests. But if we recall the dialectic of the monk, we live in the most favorable time. The Diveyevo nuns lived in terrible poverty and once complained to Father Seraphim. What did he answer them? I, he says, can turn all this clay into gold, but it will not be useful to you. That's good for you to make ends meet. And I will pray to God that it is so. And we have the same. We served for two years without heating. Water flowed over the walls. And when a person has a lot of something, he involuntarily becomes corrupted spiritually. “In an Orthodox environment, work is perceived as a blessing of God” Hieromonk Sergius (Rybko), rector of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Lazarevsky cemetery. The temple is engaged in publishing activities. The temple has a large bookstore and an icon shop. The poor are given books to read. The store has a small grocery section. An icon-painting workshop was created at the temple. There is a Sunday school for children with a library.

Recently, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II blessed the priest. Sergius for the construction of a new church in Bibirevo. - What problems do those who come to work in the temple encounter? - Little money - time. There are temples and not poor, but even in them, it happens that they pay little. This is the fault of the pastor. You can’t keep an employee in a black body, he also has a family, children. In general, people should live with dignity. I don't think it's pleasing to God when people who build or rebuild live in poverty. And whoever pays decently, I know that he has workers, and the Lord sends funds. “Every worker is worthy of food,” says the Holy Scripture. If you pay enough, your employee will not look for work on the side, but will devote all his professionalism and strength to the temple. There are times when a person does not want to take a salary. I just force it, because it will work for free for the time being. And the money that you pay to a person, he will earn it for you. And there will never be a problem where to get an employee. - What professions are in demand in the temple? - Many. Publishing workers, programmers, accountants, economists. The economy of the temple must be modern. I believe that we ourselves should earn money. This is more correct than walking with an outstretched hand to non-church people. Who wants to help, he will bring what to ask him. - Benefits of working in a church community? - Circle of like-minded people. Man works for God, for his neighbor, for the salvation of his soul. All of this is a great comfort. Then the opportunity to constantly attend worship. It is necessary to choose a church for work where the rector does not send an employee to run back and forth during the service. For example, we have a meal prepared in the evening. Then, constant feeding and communication with the confessor, the opportunity to take communion on a holiday, which is not always the case in secular work. - Father, one leader who considers himself Orthodox told me that in a commercial organization a believing employee is a great luxury. Either it’s Easter, or it’s midnight… Yes, and he “corrupts” his colleagues with his unwillingness to earn money for himself, and therefore for the company. - A person working in a temple is less dependent on the world and its temptations. You can always find help and sympathy in the community. In the temple you serve God, and this is the main thing, since a person was born for this. They say that there are more temptations in the temple? It's just that in the world something is not considered a temptation, but is considered an ordinary life. And a man comes from the world to the temple and thinks that there are angels...

There are, of course, problems with both the headman and the rector. We must be patient. After all, it was not without the providence of God that these people ended up in the temple. - Do you think that parallel secular Orthodox structures and organizations are needed? - I think they are needed. Especially schools and kindergartens. Orthodox gymnasiums also have their own problems, but at least there they don’t tear off their heads and don’t swear openly. IN modern school a normal person can neither teach nor learn. It seems to me that Sunday schools should develop into Orthodox gymnasiums. Hospitals are different. A believer gets into a secular environment, they begin to “ride” him: they entrust the most difficult, and pay less, taking advantage of his unresponsiveness. And he takes care of the sick in a different way, not just as a doctor. Because the salvation of his soul, and this is the main thing for him, depends on his attitude towards the patient. The reverend said that the sick and those who care for him receive one reward. In the Orthodox environment, work is perceived as a blessing from God, as a joy, and not as a need to earn money. People who understand at least a little what Orthodoxy is, appreciate believers, try to hire them, appoint them as bosses: you can rely on them, they will not deceive, steal, pull the blanket over themselves. And when there is a whole company of such workers, it is absolutely wonderful - one big family, a kind of monastery in the world turns out. I know such entrepreneurs who hire only believers. And I welcome the creation of Orthodox structures in any area. Back in 1989, an officer told me about an experiment in the army. They gathered Orthodox servicemen into one platoon. Immediately, he became the very first in all respects.

There was no hazing - this curse of the modern army. The first and in study, and in shooting, and in work. Stronger weak ones were pulled up, taught, cared for. Any Orthodox person probably wants to either go to a monastery or work at a church. But this is not always possible. We need to develop production. Previously, the monasteries of Russia provided 20 percent of the gross agricultural product. I think it's possible now. “A large parish needs people of both technical and humanitarian professions” Archpriest, rector of the Church of the Annunciation in Petrovsky Park, acting Chairman of the Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies. At the Church of the Annunciation for more than ten years there has been a sisterhood in the name of St. prpmts. Elizabeth, three years old - Orthodox Orphanage"Peacock". It has its own gymnasium, a book publishing house that publishes spiritual and church-historical literature. The parish newspaper "Calendar" is published monthly. - Are Orthodox structures parallel to secular structures necessary and possible, in your opinion? - Undoubtedly. And what's wrong with that? It is easier and more convenient for a parishioner to go to an Orthodox doctor who practices on the territory of the temple. I know that there are even dental surgeries at the temples. I myself have used it many times. When I pay a doctor, I know that the money will go to his family, his children, but a small part will go to the temple, to repair the roof, the fence, and will not be transferred to some offshore zone. Orthodox orphanages already exist. A maternity hospital is necessary, since it is impossible to give birth under the same roof and simultaneously kill unborn children, as is the case in a state institution. - And what is the difference between working in the world and in the temple? - I will only talk about my arrival. In my opinion, work in the world is less socially protected. The worker there depends on the whim of the employer. The owner can go bankrupt, the company closes. But all these negative aspects of working in the world are offset by the opportunity to earn more. Mostly like-minded people work in the temple, the spiritual atmosphere is more favorable. Yes, and the mode of operation is gentle.

Plus the food is actually homemade. Salary is paid without delay. - But at the temple, not everyone can find a job in their specialty ... - Few parents prepare and educate their children to work in the temple. But in a large parish such as ours, people are needed both in the technical and humanitarian professions, and even in the military. IN Sunday school Experienced teachers are needed. Publishing workers, journalists, salespeople will always find work, because. Now almost every church publishes something. We have a 50 page newspaper every month. We publish books: lives, prayer books, just rare books... Good artists, icon painters, restorers are always welcome. The temple needs builders, painters, plasterers, plumbers, cooks, drivers (we have our own garage). We need musicians and singers. - There is an opinion that those who work in the temple have many temptations. - There are enough temptations everywhere. Is there less temptation in the army? And the police, and the driver? Maybe in the temple every match is seen as a log. By contrast, so to speak. - Usually in a church structure it is not easy to take the initiative, because many questions rest on the blessing of the rector or the lack of funds in the treasury of the temple. - It's the same in the world. And presidents depend on the adopted budget.

And there are plenty of opportunities to take the initiative: issues of catechesis, Sunday school, restoration of the temple... We have created the world's largest Russian Orthodox library on the Internet. Open, read who wants. True, many initiatives need enthusiasts and may not always be financially rewarded. - But the greatest value, probably, is a good employee, conscientious, capable of making decisions, obligatory. You can find money for repairs, but a specialist... - There is a shortage of personnel everywhere. Even in the government. But a specialist needs to pay a lot. I have a good team, but if the income had more funds, I would have put together a stronger team. Not all parishioners are able to sacrifice their well-being and go to work in the temple.

Source: Journal "Neskuchny Sad"

To church or to work?

In order to be able to go to church not once a week, but every day, eat Lenten meals, talk with fellow believers “about the spiritual”, some new Orthodox converts are even ready to leave a well-paid job and become a church chanter, reader, watchman, cleaner ... But will work bring temple for the benefit of the soul? After all, the church has its own “temptations”.

In one of his books he talked about a peasant who liked to come to the temple and spend long hours there. When asked what he was doing all this time, the peasant answered: I look at God, God looks at me, and we both feel good. For people who have been brought up in the faith since childhood, being in the church - in a church service or just for prayer - is an organic part of life, but, perhaps, only beginners experience delight from this, bordering on the gospel "it's good for us to be here." More than ten years have passed since my churching, but I still remember how I did not want to leave the church after the service, how I was drawn to go there whenever I was nearby. I remember envy - in a good sense, if, of course, envy can be in a good sense - to all the "workers": singers, candlesticks, prosphora makers, even to the church watchman. They don’t need to leave, they are “their own” in this wonderful world, smelling of wax and incense, in its very core.

Surely every neophyte, even if only in theory, had this thought: I also want to. I want to work for God - and for this particular temple as well. By the way, church employees try not to call their work work. “We work for the Lord” - as if emphasizing that secular work is exclusively for the benefit of one's own pocket. Of course, the church salary (if there is one, of course) is just a modest material addition to spiritual joy, but the approach is still strange. Almost any work is done for other people, and everything that we do for others conscientiously and with love, we do for the Lord. So I still dare to call church work work. “Work the Lord with fear and rejoice in it with trembling” - these words of the psalm are not only about spiritual labor, but also about the simplest physical labor. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for - it may come true. For two years I taught in Sunday school and for seven years I sang in the kliros, so I know parish life from the inside. And I can safely say: work in the temple, with the exception of some nuances, is practically no different from any other work. Moreover, if we take into account the spiritual specifics of this work, there is something in it that makes it not very useful for immature and weak souls.

And this is not only my opinion. It is a well-known fact that the archimandrite was not too willing to bless his worldly spiritual children for parish service. How does a person who has just touched it imagine the “inside” of the church world? Approximately as a kind of branch of the Kingdom of God on earth. And this is not entirely an illusion, rather, the matter is in the so-called inviting grace, familiar to every beginner. At this amazing time, without any effort, we notice all the good and do not see the negative point-blank - the soul simply pushes it away from itself. And it would not be possible to extend this period - but we so want to delve into the church environment, and we do not even bother to think that being closer to the temple does not necessarily mean being closer to God. When reality does not match the expected, it is always unpleasant and insulting. No one expects unearthly joys from ordinary worldly work. It provides a livelihood, allows you to communicate with people, and if it also gives pleasure - what more could you want. And even if something is wrong with the work, it can always be changed, the world will not collapse from this. Another thing is the church. Using an anonymous statement well-known in the Orthodox runet, “the main task of a person who has seen church life from the inside is to make sure that people with a delicate spiritual organization do not learn about its content.” Is it really all that terrible? Of course no.

It's just that everyone who wants to work in the church should be aware of how much he is able to fight what church aunts, pursing their lips, call "temptation." Sadly, that part of the Body of Christ, which is living people, is sick - because we are all sick, physically, mentally and spiritually. Even those glorified as saints during their lifetime were ordinary people with their own shortcomings, sins, vices, with which they more or less successfully fought. So we bring our worldly disorders to the church. Will a newcomer, who has plunged into the depths of the parish, be able to understand this, to reject superficial, uncharacteristic of real spiritual life - how do we accept a loved one with all his shortcomings? Or he will say, standing in a pose: “No, I don’t need such a church, is it better to have God in my soul?” The first thing you encounter when you come to work in the temple is that the parish resembles a gigantic communal apartment (especially if it is a small parish). In it, everyone knows everything about everyone. And what they don't know, they guess. At first, this is even pleasing, since the process of turning into “one’s own” is impossible without the accumulation of internal information. Acquaintances, establishing relationships, conversations, more and more frank ... And at some point you realize that it would be better for you not to know all this.

Even if there is no refectory in the temple, you still can’t get away from these conversations - they will catch up both in the porch and on the bench. Many believers who often visit the temple notice over time that reverence is slowly disappearing somewhere. Not exactly indifference or some kind of blasphemous cynical thoughts (although this happens), but there is no longer that spiritual heat and trembling that once seized at the first exclamation: “Blessed is the Kingdom ...”. Routine prayer work, which is only occasionally blown up by real living feelings. And then what can we say about those who really work in the temple every or almost every day and during the service - so that the service can be performed? Well, let's not touch the priest, and the rest? The singers sing, the readers read, the candle makers watch the candlesticks, the workers of the candle shop take notes. When should they pray? Especially the singers often complain: what a prayer, if I could get into the notes, I’ll go to another church, I’ll pray there. Well, if the priest explains that prayer is not only verbal, but also deed. If you help others to pray, then you yourself are praying. And there is also the opposite. I sing here (I read, I clean the candlestick), laws are not written for me. And it is already possible to sit during the service, chat, leaf through a magazine, go out for a smoke at the Six Psalms. A very popular list in singing groups and communities is the list of many items "How to entertain yourself during the service" - a kind of bad advice in the spirit of Auster. This, they say, is our healthy professional cynicism, forgetting that professional cynicism, in principle, is not healthy - it's just a psychological protection against overload.

I wonder what it is necessary to defend against on the kliros? From "laws are not written for me" it logically follows the dismissive attitude of church employees towards "ordinary" parishioners. Or, as they are often called, "the people." Have you ever been yelled at by church cleaners for poorly wiped feet? Have you been kicked out of the temple for violating the dress code? What's more, you would listen to how they speak of your singing "past the box office" on the kliros, when you diligently deduce: "... And the life of the next century, amen." And yet - they giggle at your willows and birch trees, over scarves wrapped over trousers, over any of your mistakes. “Oh, here one asked me today ... just scream!” And when the singers run out in a chain for anointing, not all of them are aware that they are let in without a queue not at all because they are of the highest caste, but only because they now need to sing the next irmos. It is impossible not to mention one more moment, a mystical one. This is especially true of the same kliros, which is not in vain called the church's front line of struggle. It happens that a smart, sweet, calm person suddenly, for no reason at all, behaves as if a fly had bitten him, and then he himself cannot understand what came over him, why he broke loose, was rude, offended by an innocent remark. Yes, yes, it is this very notorious “temptation”, which is often not possible to cope with. And you yourself sin, and you lead others into the temptation of condemnation: so that's what you are, little scarlet flower! Sooner or later, relationship problems arise in any kliros, even very friendly ones, and not only in kliros.

Well, in the end, on the "indecent" topic - money. In terms of destroying illusions, it is perhaps the most effective. Truly, blessed is the one who does not receive a salary in the temple and generally does not encounter this side of church life in any way. But this is practically impossible. Even in the poorest or, on the contrary, prosperous in terms of the redistribution of cash flows, the temple will always be dissatisfied and envious, and even with long tongues. “Either he stole, or someone stole from him ...” Some complain that the salary is small, others look with suspicion at father's new car or mother's new coat. “I donated for repairs, there were no repairs, and there are none, but new clothes - here they are.” Well, where are the advantages of working in the temple, why not a word about them? Yes, because it is obvious and can be described briefly. Once again I will return to the story told by Bishop Anthony. The temple is the house of God. I look at God, God looks at me, and we both feel good. And it is up to you and your confessor to decide whether to work in the temple or not. God help. Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow University, comments: - For two reasons, I would not recommend this for a newly converted Christian (to get a job in the temple - ed.) Firstly, because few of us come to A church with such a measure of repentance, a change in one's personal life, such as, for example, St. Mary of Egypt and other great saints had. We are trying to get behind some gross sins, but we still don’t know how to do almost anything in the Church.

And the main thing in the Church is prayer and communion with God. For a person who is not yet rooted in this, who does not have the experience of prayer and communion with God, it is very easy to replace the main thing with something earthly, which he can do quite well. He may be a good computer professional, it will come in handy in the temple. He can be a good organizer by nature and become an assistant during hikes and pilgrimage trips. He can be a good business executive, he will be attracted to the elder's assistants. And this secondary person can begin to perceive his activity as church life, as something that first of all needs to be done. And there will be such an aberration, a distortion of spiritual vision. This is the first reason why you need to be advised for six months, a year, a year and a half just to go to church, to pray, to get used to the rhythm of worship, fasting, personal prayer rule. Learn repentance.

And then, little by little, step by step, begin to cling to some appearance church activity. Second. The Church is in a certain sense a community of saints, but in a certain sense, as the monk said, a crowd of penitent sinners. And if a novice church person too early, not being rooted in the main thing in church life, sees the infirmities of church-going people, whom he often thinks of from the outside as that very community of saints, including clergymen, who may turn out to be not at all ideal, then for him this can be a difficult temptation to bear. Sometime, a few years later, when everything will be perceived differently, this may not even become a problem. And here one can almost reach the point of leaving the Church. Therefore, I would not advise too early to get involved in church work and external church activity. Let a person first feel at home in the Church, and then he will be engaged in external labors.

Job- 1) ; 2) type of labor activity; 3) activity as a source of income; 4) product of labor.

What does it mean to do anything for the sake of Christ?

To perceive any business as entrusted by God Himself.
Avoid sinful deeds and activities, regardless of their worldly gain.
Pray before the start of the work, in the process of its implementation and after.

Can "secular" work be a form of service to God?

Work in the Church

Because for God. After all, even a building material, a simple brick, behaves in a special way in a temple, in a residential building, a trading establishment, or, even worse, in an entertainment one. Museum workers, for example, are surprised: ancient vestments, embroidered with gold, are worse preserved if they hang on a stand than those that are in use, in which they serve. - What is your opinion about combining secular work and work in the temple? - There are few such parishioners. Now a person who has a job is so busy that there is simply no strength to go anywhere else. Now in commercial structures they demand ten times more from an employee than in Soviet times. We need people, but we can barely make ends meet. - Who specifically? - A clerk, a person for relations with public organizations, a watchman, cleaners ... - And what difficulties are experienced by the rector of the temple, confessor, just a priest? - I teach at the Theological Academy and the St. Tikhon Institute. I work in the commission for the canonization of the Ryazan diocese, in the Orthodox Encyclopedia. About to go to visit or just walk along the street, there is no question. The modern priest is like a soldier who sits in a branched trench and runs from one gun to another, replacing a whole platoon. And you need to take communion, confess the sick, meet with schoolchildren, restorers, builders, artists ... Previously, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt worked in this mode - now all our priests. But if we recall the dialectic of the monk, we live in the most favorable time. The Diveyevo nuns lived in terrible poverty and once complained to Father Seraphim. What did he answer them? I, he says, can turn all this clay into gold, but it will not be useful to you. That's good for you to make ends meet. And I will pray to God that it is so. And we have the same. We served for two years without heating. Water flowed over the walls. And when a person has a lot of something, he involuntarily becomes corrupted spiritually. “In an Orthodox environment, work is perceived as a blessing of God” Hieromonk Sergius (Rybko), rector of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Lazarevsky cemetery. The temple is engaged in publishing activities. The temple has a large bookstore and an icon shop. The poor are given books to read. The store has a small grocery section. An icon-painting workshop was created at the temple. There is a Sunday school for children with a library.

There are, of course, problems with both the headman and the rector. We must be patient. After all, it was not without the providence of God that these people ended up in the temple. - Do you think that parallel secular Orthodox structures and organizations are needed? - I think they are needed. Especially schools and kindergartens. Orthodox gymnasiums also have their own problems, but at least there they don’t tear off their heads and don’t swear openly. In a modern school, a normal person can neither teach nor learn. It seems to me that Sunday schools should develop into Orthodox gymnasiums. Hospitals are different. A believer gets into a secular environment, they begin to “ride” him: they entrust the most difficult, and pay less, taking advantage of his unresponsiveness. And he takes care of the sick in a different way, not just as a doctor. Because the salvation of his soul, and this is the main thing for him, depends on his attitude towards the patient. The reverend said that the sick and those who care for him receive one reward. In the Orthodox environment, work is perceived as a blessing from God, as a joy, and not as a need to earn money. People who understand at least a little what Orthodoxy is, appreciate believers, try to hire them, appoint them as bosses: you can rely on them, they will not deceive, steal, pull the blanket over themselves. And when there is a whole company of such workers, it is absolutely wonderful - one big family, a kind of monastery in the world turns out. I know such entrepreneurs who hire only believers. And I welcome the creation of Orthodox structures in any area. Back in 1989, an officer told me about an experiment in the army. They gathered Orthodox servicemen into one platoon. Immediately, he became the very first in all respects.

There was no hazing - this curse of the modern army. The first and in study, and in shooting, and in work. Stronger weak ones were pulled up, taught, cared for. Any Orthodox person probably wants to either go to a monastery or work at a church. But this is not always possible. We need to develop production. Previously, the monasteries of Russia provided 20 percent of the gross agricultural product. I think it's possible now. “A large parish needs people of both technical and humanitarian professions” Archpriest, rector of the Church of the Annunciation in Petrovsky Park, acting Chairman of the Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies. At the Church of the Annunciation for more than ten years there has been a sisterhood in the name of St. prpmts. Elisaveta, three years old - Orthodox orphanage "Pavlin". It has its own gymnasium, a book publishing house that publishes spiritual and church-historical literature. The parish newspaper "Calendar" is published monthly. - Are Orthodox structures parallel to secular structures necessary and possible, in your opinion? - Undoubtedly. And what's wrong with that? It is easier and more convenient for a parishioner to go to an Orthodox doctor who practices on the territory of the temple. I know that there are even dental surgeries at the temples. I myself have used it many times. When I pay a doctor, I know that the money will go to his family, his children, but a small part will go to the temple, to repair the roof, the fence, and will not be transferred to some offshore zone. Orthodox orphanages already exist. A maternity hospital is necessary, since it is impossible to give birth under the same roof and simultaneously kill unborn children, as is the case in a state institution. - And what is the difference between working in the world and in the temple? - I will only talk about my arrival. In my opinion, work in the world is less socially protected. The worker there depends on the whim of the employer. The owner can go bankrupt, the company closes. But all these negative aspects of working in the world are offset by the opportunity to earn more. Mostly like-minded people work in the temple, the spiritual atmosphere is more favorable. Yes, and the mode of operation is gentle.

Plus the food is actually homemade. Salary is paid without delay. - But at the temple, not everyone can find a job in their specialty ... - Few parents prepare and educate their children to work in the temple. But in a large parish such as ours, people are needed both in the technical and humanitarian professions, and even in the military. Sunday School needs experienced teachers. Publishing workers, journalists, salespeople will always find work, because. Now almost every church publishes something. We have a 50 page newspaper every month. We publish books: lives, prayer books, just rare books... Good artists, icon painters, restorers are always welcome. The temple needs builders, painters, plasterers, plumbers, cooks, drivers (we have our own garage). We need musicians and singers. - There is an opinion that those who work in the temple have many temptations. - There are enough temptations everywhere. Is there less temptation in the army? And the police, and the driver? Maybe in the temple every match is seen as a log. By contrast, so to speak. - Usually in a church structure it is not easy to take the initiative, because many questions rest on the blessing of the rector or the lack of funds in the treasury of the temple. - It's the same in the world. And presidents depend on the adopted budget.

Source: Journal "Neskuchny Sad"

To church or to work?

And then, little by little, step by step, begin to cling to some outward forms of church activity. Second. The Church is in a certain sense a community of saints, but in a certain sense, as the monk said, a crowd of penitent sinners. And if a novice church person too early, not being rooted in the main thing in church life, sees the infirmities of church-going people, whom he often thinks of from the outside as that very community of saints, including clergymen, who may turn out to be not at all ideal, then for him this can be a difficult temptation to bear. Sometime, a few years later, when everything will be perceived differently, this may not even become a problem. And here one can almost reach the point of leaving the Church. Therefore, I would not advise too early to get involved in church work and external church activity. Let a person first feel at home in the Church, and then he will be engaged in external labors.

"Brothers and sisters! For the third month I read ads, send out resumes, go to interviews - all to no avail. I am modest, hardworking, pedantic, and most importantly a believer. What should I do? Modern office life is not compatible with the salvation of the soul.

“Dear members of the forum! My heart hurts for the children. The marital status suited them, but the trouble with work. Wherever we go - everywhere deadly cynicism. Even in state institutions - libraries, schools, hospitals - everyone is angry and always dissatisfied. How to be?

“Brothers in Christ! Help find a job for an elderly person who openly confesses his faith. Nowhere more than six months this is not tolerated. Experienced driver.

These are quotes from Orthodox forums. I read and think: but I wouldn’t take these either. They paralyze my entire workflow.

“Blessed is the husband who does not go to the advice of the wicked” - many “Orthodox unemployed” arm themselves with the first line of the Psalter, like a football fan with a branded scarf. Here, a colleague at the next table is telling vulgar jokes, there the boss is an ethnic Muslim, here - in general, a banking structure, they deceive people, but I can’t.

With each dismissal, there is more and more “dead cynicism” around, and pride is knocking on the heart more and more insistently. In the end, the applicant for spiritually certified vacancies responds to advertisements in the Orthodox media - but even here everything is not thank God! Colleagues at work, despite their handkerchiefs and beards, are still goats in sheep's clothing: mother always grumbles and sees every penny in someone else's salary; the priest, although a kind person, does not get out of social networks; choir director just returned from Egypt, all inclusive; and there is nowhere to put stigma on the choristers themselves.

So I called the rector I had just met and asked about his personnel policy, and he stunned me with my own words:

You know, I take Orthodox Christians to work very carefully. Sometimes a passive atheist is better than an active believer. Here recently such a barbudos got caught - they barely parted.

What do you say to your spiritual children when they ask about employment?

I advise you not to work in the porn industry, at a distillery, not to sell dietary supplements, carefully choose your application in banking, marketing, journalism, law enforcement. But the most important thing is not to look for "work for the Orthodox" under any circumstances.

There is no godly work. Life is pious. And you can live it at any workplace, except for the obviously world-eating one. I know Orthodox prison guards who deliberately went to work in the colony, “because we are needed there more.” I know journalists who, even at risk of professional burnout, remain believers. I even know one marketer whose faith not only does not prevent him from working in this profession, but, on the contrary, helps him.

After all, Christ did not forbid merchants to shout: “Ripe cherries! Ripe cherry!" - if the cherry they sell is really ripe, - believes an Orthodox marketer.

And if the cherry is ripe, but not sweet?

I go to work only where it is ripe and sweet. Promoting a truly quality product is a professional delight, trust me.

Yes, I believe, I believe. In general, I believe that all sorts of moral burdens only accelerate career- unless, of course, one does not engage in “spiritual harrassment” towards colleagues. First, having to bear the extra cost of faith is a great reason to work better. In order for others to put up with the fact that you are not quite the same as everyone else, you need to become irreplaceable. Then you can also ask the boss for a day off for a great holiday - he will not refuse. And even with office neighbors, it will be possible to agree not to say more than three swear words in a minute - they will understand and forgive.

Secondly, it is only in post-Soviet films that adventurers and cynics achieve everything, and people with landmarks are mattresses and mumbles. In fact, in a stable society, only those who have character make brilliant and secure careers, and in order to have character, you need to have values. A person for whom there are “shoulds” and “shoulds” are much more likely to succeed than a predator ready for anything, armed only with his own meanness. Especially if these “possible” and “impossible” are so strong that they are not noticeable to others.

For some reason, the "Orthodox unemployed" are generally very afraid of the economy. Mechanisms for making a profit seem to them sinful in themselves. This is a completely irrational fear, from which it is time to get rid of. Business is just another opportunity to act. Money is the same language as the one with which I am writing this text now. He can also destroy, and he can create. Re-read the Gospel - is Christ afraid of the economy? Almost all parables - about talents, about a vinedresser, about an unfaithful steward - operate with not the simplest economic realities of that time. It is as if today the Savior taught us with the help of the words "dividends", "venture investments", "volatility".

It is not the place that stains the person, but the person is the place. To destroy a soul in a monastery is not much more difficult than behind the counter of a jewelry store. Meaningful work aimed at a positive transformation of reality - that's the whole criterion in selecting a job for any normal person. The advantage of the Orthodox Christian here is only that, due to the underdevelopment of ambition, he seems to be obliged to see great meaning even in the most ordinary work.

In short, as the youth of today say, do not take out your own brain. Ninety percent of vacancies in the labor market will definitely suit you. And if you think otherwise, perhaps it's just time to go to confession.