Rules of Christian Life #
In these present times of corruption and delusion, when the basest passions rage unchecked, man stands alone before God. There is no longer a true priesthood to guide mankind toward the Kingdom of Heaven, and it becomes ever more difficult to preserve unchanged the tradition of our Mother, the Church. The Holy, Catholic, Immaculate, and Apostolic Church is once again persecuted and driven into the “wilderness” to flee from the serpent of the devil.
The ancient written Apocalypse describes the Church as the Immaculate Woman, soaring on eagle’s wings into the wilderness. The inhabited world becomes a desert for the Church. In the world, grace is growing scarcer and scarcer, while truth and righteousness are nearly gone. The Church, on the wings of the Old and New Testaments, takes flight and flees from heretical teachings that pervert the truth of Christ. It takes refuge in the “wilderness” among the simple and unlearned, of whom the Lord said, “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Luke 10:21). Christian life itself becomes a wilderness, removed from the vanities of the world, yet firm in the unchanging observance of apostolic and patristic traditions. The fleeing and hidden Church-as-Bride, that is, the true Christian faith, is reviled and persecuted by every ideology and false belief.
Today, the phrase “Orthodox Christian” is often used. Many people identify themselves by this title, yet they assign to it meanings completely opposite to its original and direct sense. The Old-Orthodox Church teaches that a true Christian is not one who merely calls himself a “Christian,” but one who earnestly turns away from the evil temptations of the world and seeks the salvation of his soul.
He who calls himself a Christian often has no understanding of the beginning and fulfillment of the Christian life that helps a man to live in accordance with the commandments of the Lord. A Christian must understand that not only is salvation impossible without faith in Christ, but also without the keeping of His divine commandments, a pure life, and the rule of the Holy Fathers.
In daily life we often behave not as true Christians, but only as nominal ones. We do not know the Christian law, and those who do often fail to follow or fulfill it. Below, we offer selected passages from a book entitled Instruction on the Christian Life, published in Moscow at the Transfiguration Monastery. The book was written by Trofim Ivanovich, a Staropomorian (Old Pomor) teacher “dwelling in the land of Kineshma,” who was the spiritual son of the renowned Old Pomor teacher Ilya Ivanovich.
In this Instruction, everyday Christian life is laid out with sternness and impartiality. To many it may seem too burdensome or even impossible—but who ever said that the Christian life is some leisurely visit to life’s “theatre”? The Christian life is a heavy spiritual struggle, the overcoming of passions and vices. On this path, the law of the Holy Fathers is like a thread hanging over an abyss, unsupported by anything. And yet, only this thread leads to salvation in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord Himself teaches us, saying: “In your patience possess ye your souls,” and again, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
The sinful law of the flesh urges a man to seek pleasure and avoid suffering. True Christianity teaches that the voluntary undertaking of spiritual labor is a form of self-restraint and the patient endurance of involuntary suffering. The spiritual conquest of life’s hardships and the mortification of the flesh form the very essence of Christian life. Both deserved and undeserved suffering destroy the passions and pleasures that boil within our sinful soul. Suffering always contributes to the forgiveness of sins.
All the Holy Fathers regarded bodily happiness as indifferent and unnecessary for the true Christian life and the salvation of the soul. Sensual pleasures and desires for food, women, money, and vengeance stir up the basest and most passionate parts of the soul—lust and wrath, gluttony and fornication, greed and vanity. Nothing enslaves the sinful man so thoroughly as passions and pleasures.
Christian life is the bridling of the soul’s passionate powers and their submission to reason. To struggle against the sinful lust for pleasure, one must engage in severe spiritual feats of bodily mortification. Against gluttony, one must acquire temperance; against fornication, chastity; against greed, non-possessiveness; against vanity and pride, humility.
The book Instruction on the Christian Life clearly shows that the salvation of the soul depends on man—more precisely, on the sphere of his will and desire. The more a Christian curbs his sensual desires, the nearer he draws to redemption and salvation, the closer he comes to Christ.
The Instruction on the Christian Life was examined and approved by a Council held in 1805 at the Preobrazhensky (Transfiguration) Old-Pomor Monastery.
“This writing was composed by the fathers of old, and we follow it. As for those unwilling to follow it, we leave them to the Judgment of God.”
Signatories:
Ilya Alexeyevich Kovylin
Sergiy Yakovlev
Semyon Mikhailov
Luka Terentyev
Iliya Alexeyev
Ivan Ipatov
Fyodor Sergeyev
Nikita Grigoryev of Vereya
A dweller of the lands of Kineshma
Andrey Mikhailov
This signing took place in the year 7313 (1805), on the 9th day of May.
On Untimely Eating #
Christian life is constant abstinence and endurance, including in matters of food. A Christian may, when not fasting (which has its own strict rules), eat at most twice per day—typically at dinner and supper. One who partakes of food more frequently is barred from Church services for two weeks and must perform 1,500 full prostrations. Scripture calls those who are intemperate in food “secret eaters” and gluttons who have traded the salvation of their soul for the “sweetness of the throat.” If someone eats before dinner or supper, he must pray for this sin with 300 full prostrations, or for six months offer 16 prostrations daily. Venerable Abba Dorotheus said: “If a man has ten good deeds and one evil one, often that one evil deed outweighs the ten good ones. As a man eats immoderately, so does the devil secretly devour his soul.”
On the Fittingness of Christians to Bear Suffering and Illness with Thanksgiving #
In these latter sorrowful times, Orthodox Christians must endure trials and illnesses with zeal and heartfelt love. In tribulations, hardships, and persecutions, we must stand firm in the true Orthodox faith and bear all misfortunes for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, receiving every suffering with gratitude. Whoever can preserve the truth of Christ undefiled in this evil and Antichrist-like world will receive a reward equal to the martyrs and passion-bearers for Christ.
No human or demonic temptation can sway the true Christian who heeds the Divine Law. As the holy martyr Abba Dorotheus wrote: “He who accepts daily sorrow and need for the sake of the Lord, such a man is crowned by God together with the martyrs. And if a man dies bodily for Christ, then the Lord bestows upon him the honor of a martyr.”
But if someone has neither illness nor hardship nor sorrow, such a person should every day remember the corruption of this life with tears and reflect upon the salvation of his soul. If a man weeps for his soul, then his sins may be forgiven, and he shall be deemed worthy of eternal life.
On How It Becometh Not to Bear Grudges Against One Another #
All who abide in Orthodoxy must fear and beware of great and small resentment alike. Each day one must examine his own heart and not dwell in malice. A Christian may not harbor anger against any man but must continually pray to the Lord. One must be reconciled with his offender, or else forgive him his trespasses against oneself, and only then begin to pray.
For if a man does not forgive another his sins, he does not pray to God, but to the Devil. And if one says “Our Father,” he is not calling upon or glorifying the Heavenly Father, but the father of lies. The book Nomocanon says: “He who harbors enmity against another may not enter the Church; his offerings are not accepted until he humbles himself and forgives, for the prayer of a malicious man is accounted as sin.” The Holy Canons prescribe this penance for bearing grudges: for each day a man has remained in wrath, he must offer 50 full prostrations in prayer.
The divine John Chrysostom says in the Great Sobornik: “A wrathful man is a dwelling-place of demons, and one who remembers wrongs bears within himself the whole house of Satan. Therefore one must diligently guard and preserve oneself from all hatred, wrath, and resentment, for such a man awaits dreadful and terrible torment.” Let us too fear such dread punishment, beloved brethren in Christ, for it brings bitter, fierce, and horrible death and everlasting torment.
On the Prayer over Defiled Vessels #
A Christian ought to preserve his food vessels in sacred cleanliness. Any vessel that is left unattended should be covered while saying the Jesus Prayer. If a vile creature falls into a vessel, it must be removed, and the vessel purified with three lestovka prayers (300 belt-level prostrations).
If something impure merely begins to rot within the vessel, the contents should be poured into another clean vessel. The vessels are then placed together before the icons, and five lestovka prayers are offered over them.
If the fallen creature has rotted completely inside the vessel, then the contents must be poured onto the ground and given to livestock or dogs, and the vessel itself is to be broken. All food and drink must be prepared with a blessing, with clean and washed hands, and always with the Jesus Prayer.
Christian Vessels Must Be Guarded from the Touch of Pagan and Heretical Hands #
All Christians must beware of worldly hands touching Christian vessels and food. Matthew of Jerusalem writes in his 50th rule: “If any pagan defiles wine or oil with his hand, it is not fitting for Christians to partake of it.” Venerable Theodosius told Prince Izyaslav that a vessel defiled by heretical hands must be prayed over. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem says: “If an Armenian and a Christian travel together and they have but one cup, and the Armenian drinks first from it, then the Christian must not drink from it, nor should the vessel be prayed over.”
Christian saints teach us not to mingle with heretics or heathens, but to distinguish the faithful from the unbelieving in life, in food, and in drink. A Christian must abhor heretics and receive nothing from heretical hands. He who eats and drinks with unbelievers becomes like the heretics and destroys his own soul, falling into heretical delusion. A Christian must not go to vile taverns and restaurants where carnal lust and uncleanness are present. The divine John Chrysostom writes in the Margarita: “…He who eats with heretics is called an enemy of Christ. He who partakes with heretics is not admitted into the Church, and Christians turn away from such a transgressor as from an idol-worshipper.”
On the Need to Keep Holy Icons Clean and to Cleanse Them Often #
Holy icons must be treated with reverence. They are to be kept in purity. The place where icons are kept should be free of all uncleanness and dust, for Christian homes are called Churches.
On How It Is Not Fitting to Give Icons to Secular People, Pagans, Heretics, or Jews #
Holy images, made by Christian hands, must not be given to worldly people who are associated with various heresies. In the homes of heretics, false priests enter, perform sprinklings, and serve prayers according to the terms of their impure heresy. It is impossible that Christ should dwell in one place with Belial. The Minor Sobornik says of this: “Heretics serve their father the Devil and oppose God in all things. If the ungodly possess a place, avoid it.” One cannot give holy things unto dogs.
However, it is permitted to give icons to heretics who promise to convert to the Christian faith. Holy Scripture bears witness to this: To Emperor Constantine, while he was yet an unbeliever, the Almighty Lord showed the Cross in the heavens and commanded that the image of that Cross be carried before his army. The Lord sent the Icon Not Made by Hands to King Abgar, who at the time was still a pagan. The Great-Martyr Barbara, while yet unbaptized and a non-believer, received from a holy elder an icon of the Most Holy God-bearer. But such holy images may be given only to those who are prepared to receive the pious faith.
On How It Is Not Fitting to Admit One to the Law of God Without a Pledge #
One who receives the Law of God and prepares for Baptism must hold a firm understanding of the Christian faith and Christian life. The first thing that is proclaimed is the practice of a chaste and modest life. A Christian may not dwell together with married sons or daughters in one house.
Second, one must limit association with the worldly, not visiting them or attending various festivities, even though worldly relatives may remain. One must not bathe in public bathhouses, especially using communal vessels. One must not drink intoxicating drink, nor eat meat. All these restrictions are imposed upon the Christian due to being deprived of the Most Pure Mysteries of God. For all that is bought at worldly marketplaces, one must offer prayer to the Lord God.
If a Christian bathes with worldly people or steams with them in the bathhouse, he is excommunicated from the Church and must offer 1,000 full prostrations. If someone did not know of this prohibition, he is to pray 300 prostrations. If someone bathes using worldly vessels, he is to offer 100 prostrations.
To the new convert, all prayer rules must be explained: the observance of the daily cycle of prayers, the cell rule for each day. A Christian must know the times of the fasts and strive not to wear worldly garments. Before dinner and after supper one must not taste anything—not even a vegetable or forest berries. Drinking is also to be limited—no more than once or twice a day.
A Christian is to honor the Feasts of the Lord and the Sundays. One should not labor late on the eve of Feasts and Sundays. One must not consult sorcerers or magicians. One should not escort deceased worldly people to their churches. One must not use profane language—not only obscene words but any corrupt speech. One must not sing or listen to devilish songs.
One must not attend theatrical spectacles with dancing demons, nor dance or leap about. One must not go to weddings. One must not advise young people to marry or take a spouse, but instruct them in a pure and chaste life. As Basil the Great says: “He who has renounced the world will be asked whether he can live without a wife?… And if they turn to a lustful and fornicating life, they are rejected from the faithful and placed under a ban.”
Our sorrowful times are not in harmony with the earlier pious age, when there were true bishops, priests, and the Churches of God. In the absence of the sacred order, there is no one to perform the crowning of marriage.
It Is Not Permissible to Pray with Heretics and Unbelievers in One Church or One House #
The ancient Christian fathers not only forbade praying with heretics, but even forbade crossing oneself together with them. What fellowship hath the faithful with the unfaithful? Christians should not allow unbelievers to dwell and pray among them: neither the Greek, nor the Jew, nor the heretic. However, if worldly people wish to learn about the true faith and desire to hear Christian readings and singing, their desire should be encouraged. Unbelievers should not be deprived of the opportunity to behold the true faith. The Prologue tells the story of a certain Saracen who rode his horse into the temple of God. There he saw the priest sacrificing the Lamb in the Divine Liturgy, and he repented and embraced the true faith and salvation. Grand Prince Vladimir tested many faiths, but he was struck by the Christian divine service.
On the Impossibility of Sharing a Meal at the Same Table with Unbelievers #
It is not fitting to eat at the same table with unbelievers. One must avoid this at all costs, for the table, like the vessel, represents unity. Every Christian meal is akin to a sacred table. A heretical table has no sacred meaning—it is a lawless meal. An Orthodox Christian may not approach such a table, nor may he allow heretics or unbelievers to partake of his own. The unbelieving have no Christian faith, and God is not in them.
At table, one ought to sit in silence, recite the Jesus Prayer, and keep in mind the fear of death. It is a great sin to sit at the table engaging in idle and jesting talk. Such a man, according to Holy Scripture, has departed from God, and God has departed from him; his prayer is not accepted, and all his labors are in vain.
On How It Is Not Fitting to Live Together with Heretics in One House, and That This Cannot Be Justified #
One must avoid unbelievers and heretics in every manner—in word, in thought, and in deed. A Christian must not justify a godless person by word or action, for in so doing he justifies evil under the guise of good. Saint Athanasius of Alexandria speaks of the impermissibility of receiving heretics into one’s home, lest the faithful be defiled by the unbelieving. It is impossible for a Christian to live with those so-called Christians who, instead of modesty and humility, adorn themselves with various garments and attend heretical festivals and disgraceful entertainments.
Such people are Christians in name only, but in reality worse than pagan idolaters. The saints taught that it is better to live among wild beasts in caves and abysses than to dwell with lawless men. The divine Chrysostom writes in Margarita: “A Christian who has lived as an angel, but has maintained friendship and love with heretics, will be cast out by the Lord Christ.” If a Christian sees heresy or sin, he must not remain silent—he who is silent is an accomplice to heresy or sin. Every Christian is sanctified by the confession of faith. We must loathe and flee from heretics, as from venomous serpents and fierce lions.
Saint John, Metropolitan of Nicaea, Athanasius of Alexandria, and Dositheus, the disciple of Venerable Zosima, teach: “Do not let heretics into your home, lest the faithful be defiled by those of false belief.” The grace of God flees from such places where heretics dwell; not the Lord, but demons are present there.
On How It Is Not Fitting to Discharge Bodily Fluids Toward the East #
Natural necessity, or the discharge of bodily fluids, must not be directed toward the East. Instead, one should strive to do this toward the West or North. All natural bodily functions must be done while saying the Jesus Prayer inwardly. Though such bodily functions appear vile and unclean, they are by their nature created by God from the beginning.
One must not touch the body or the shameful parts without need, except in cases of ordinary necessity. If anyone gazes at his own body and sexual organs with lust, such a gaze is equated with fornication. The Holy Canons say: “If a monk touches his shameful part and looks upon it, he has committed fornication.” The book Eldership (Chapter 34) prescribes a penance for discharging bodily fluids toward the East: 300 prostrations over six days.
On Drunkenness and the Need to Flee from It #
Christians are not permitted to consume intoxicating drink or to visit vile taverns. Such Christians are cast out from Christian fellowship. Drunkenness is a delusion of the world, and if a Christian accepts this filthy defilement and uncleanness, he receives a deadly poison that leads to the abomination of sin. The holy fathers liken drunkards to fornicators, robbers, and idolaters who drink from the cup of demons. Into the soul defiled by drunkenness, the Holy Ghost cannot enter. Nothing pleases the devil so much as indulgence and drunkenness. The divine Chrysostom teaches: “Pour not out thy treasure, bring not in drunkenness, for it is the beginning of sorrow.” Drunkenness is the devil’s joy, bringing forth evil forgetfulness and evil sleep. Drunken sleep is likened to death—a shadow of lifelessness.
If anyone keeps intoxicating drink in his home and drinks secretly, he must fast for 40 days, making 100 prostrations per day. If a Christian goes to worldly taverns and drinks from unclean vessels, he must likewise fast 40 days and pray 100 prostrations each day.
On How a Christian Must Not Seek Out Danger #
A Christian is forbidden to seek danger or any kind of calamity voluntarily. The Lord Himself said: “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another” (Matthew 10:23). The same was written by many saints who fled persecution into deserts, mountains, and caves. Only very strong and steadfast Christians, capable of enduring torments to the end, may entrust themselves voluntarily to suffering.
Saint Athanasius says: “If one crosses a river, following others, and drowns, he receives a martyr’s crown. But if he crosses foolishly and dies, his death is counted as suicide. Likewise, if one climbs a tree without reason and falls, his death will be reckoned as self-inflicted.”
A man persecuted for Christ’s sake may surrender himself to death or die by the hands of tormentors, but he must not renounce the Church of Christ. If divine Providence places a Christian before suffering and he fears it, he shall be condemned as an unbeliever or as one who has slain himself.
The Revelation of John the Theologian shows that “the fearful and the unbelieving shall have their part in the lake of fire with the Devil” (Revelation 21:8). Before torments and persecutions, a Christian must stand firm unto the end—even unto death. For the love of Christ, the holy martyr Domnica with her daughters drowned themselves in a river rather than fall into the hands of the ungodly. “Better to drown in water than to be given into the hands of lawless tormentors” (Menaion, October 15). Saint Pelagia, fleeing defilement, leapt from a window to her death. Princess Olga, named Helena in holy Baptism, said (July 11): “Better to drown in water than to fall into fornication.”
If a Christian hears of approaching persecution, he ought to flee according to the Lord’s command. But if escape is impossible due to complete encirclement by the ungodly, then he must fast, pray, and entrust himself to the will of the Lord, asking deliverance from the hands of the wicked. Yet if need be, he must accept all torments unto the end—even unto death. “Be ye ready at every hour, and again: watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”
On How It Is Not Fitting to Offend Anyone in Any Way #
In these present latter times, all Orthodox Christians living under persecution must be watchful in both spiritual and bodily matters. One must not offend anyone or keep for oneself what belongs to another. According to Holy Scripture, wealth acquired through iniquity calls down heavenly fire upon the entire house and person. “He who seizes and takes what is another’s unrighteously shall remain in repentance for five years, offering 100 prostrations per day.” Scripture condemns the one who wrongs another as both thief and robber. As the saints have said, “It is better to be wronged than to wrong another.”
On How One Must Fear Judging One’s Neighbor #
One must be exceedingly careful to avoid judgment and slander, lest he become like the demons and the Antichrist. A Christian must guard silence and avoid much speaking, for from many words come slander and condemnation.
The Prologue for September tells how the Lord, speaking to the angels who stood before Him, commanded that the soul of a man be cast into hell, for he had judged his brother before the judgment of the Lord.
On How It Is Never Fitting to Use Profanity #
An Orthodox Christian must refrain from uttering any profane or abusive words. One must not speak obscenities or words of harsh condemnation, such as calling someone a “freak.”
If a man speaks vile or impure curses, God turns away from the foul-mouthed. Saint Basil the Great says: “He who slanders a man thereby slanders and condemns God Himself, whose judgment is far more dreadful than that of men.” Cursing and mocking derision are sins requiring confession and repentance. One who uses obscene curses must repent with 1,000 full prostrations. If someone calls another a “devil,” he must offer 300 prostrations.
Saint Basil the Great sets forth this rule for punishing a Christian who curses: “If a brother curses and dishonors his brethren, he must offer 100 full prostrations. He who slanders his brother and he who listens to the slanderer—both are worthy of excommunication from the Church.”
On Washing One’s Naked Body #
If someone wishes to wash in a river or at home, he thereby touches and washes his naked body and secret parts with his hands. For cleansing this sin, the synodal decree of the ancient Fathers establishes a penance of one lestovka (100 prostrations).
Many Christian saints never exposed their bodies, as we learn from various hagiographies. Saint Basil the Great, recounting the asceticism of Isaac the Syrian, wrote: “It is not fitting to uncover any part of one’s body, nor to touch one’s own or another’s nakedness without great necessity.”
On Guarding Oneself Against All Games and Disorderly Behavior #
All Orthodox Christians must preserve themselves in purity of soul. The young must fear demonic games, dancing, all disorder and uncleanness. The old must beware of mockery, jesting, and unseemly conversations.
Christians must not look upon unclean, impure, God-hating, and accursed entertainments. Diabolic games include all kinds of leaping, dancing, every demonic music, devilish songs, and other vain “goat-singing.”
If any of the Orthodox servants of Christ desires to be saved, he must avoid, as a deadly serpent, the spectacles of demons. A Christian who participates in any kind of singing or theatrical mockery is condemned as an idolater. All players and jesters are called the grandchildren of the Devil and counselors of Satan.
On Christian Children Who Play, and the Parents Who Indulge Them #
Christians who have young children are answerable to God for them. A great and severe Church punishment is laid upon parents who neglect their children. Parents must teach their children the fear of God and guide them in the true Christian path. Children must be kept from all filth, uncleanness, theft, robbery, and foul language.
Parents will face the Dread Judgment and eternal fire if they allow their children to live as they please and take part in all manner of lawless games and dances. The Kormchaya (Church Law Book) speaks of such parents: “If any do not chasten their child to live according to the teaching of Christ—let them be accursed.” Take heed, O parents, and tremble before the holy fathers’ punishment, for you may be judged more severely than robbers.
On the Honor Due to Instructors and Teachers #
All Christians must at all times listen to and obey their spiritual instructors and teachers, not quarrel with them, nor speak evil of them. If it becomes necessary to endure some annoyance from them, endure it with gratitude and without anger. Do not slander your teachers or listen to those who do. The Lord Himself says of them: “He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me.” And the Apostle says: “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God.” Therefore obey your instructors and submit to them, for they watch for our souls.
In the absence of a priesthood, laymen may be instructors for Christians, as the Kormchaya writes: “A teacher, even if a layman, who knows divine teaching—such a one may teach.”
One must not grow angry even with one’s spiritual teachers, nor with one’s brother. The Holy Canons decree: “He who hates a man must repent for two years and offer 40 full prostrations per day.”
One must bear all offense from others—but not the corruption of the Christian faith. In the case of heresy, even if an angel proclaims it before a Christian, he must not obey, but must steadfastly keep the teaching of Christ.
A Christian must fear and tremble before pride and arrogance, and in all things humble himself and consider himself the worst of men.
On the Obligation to Pray Two Hundred Prostrations for the Absence of the Priesthood and Holy Liturgy #
There exists a tradition from the ancient Christian Fathers that on feasts of Christ and the God-bearer, on feast days of great saints, and on Sundays, one must offer prayers of repentance for being deprived of the Divine Liturgy. The Nomocanon, in chapter 8, says: “If a monk is deprived of the Holy Liturgy, let him offer 200 prostrations, confessing this as a mortal sin.”
Therefore, brethren, it befits us to pray earnestly and ask in our prayers for the gift of the Most Pure Body of Christ and His Life-Giving Blood. In visible form, we are unable to receive Communion in our times, but we receive it invisibly, spiritually. “Ask in faith, and it shall be given unto you.”
On Praying Over Food Prepared by Unclean Hands—Since Many Saints Preferred to Die of Hunger than Eat Godless Food #
Food prepared by defiled hands must not be accepted casually—it must be prayed over and cleansed of impurity. Christians must not receive food from the hands of heretics or the ungodly. One must not drink wine or enter defiled, lawless taverns and restaurants. Food must be sanctified by prayer because heretics serve the devil and oppose God in all things. “Even if there be no idol, the demons yet dwell.” “As the saints sanctify, so the heretics defile.” Just as heretical baptism is defiled, so too every heretical act is an abomination akin to idol offerings. A heretical meal is a meal of enemies, and from enemies, food must not be received.
In worldly homes, Christians must not eat from the hands of the ungodly. Food must not be transferred from unclean worldly vessels into clean Christian vessels. It is not the food itself that is unclean, but it becomes defiled through contact with heretical hands.
Photius, Metropolitan of Moscow, wrote in the year 1417 (6925 from the creation of the world) concerning unclean food: “…whatever comes from the German lands—wine, bread, or vegetables—my children, cleanse it first with prayer, and only then eat and drink.” If one must buy food at a marketplace, it should be set before a holy icon, and 100 prostrations (one lestovka) must be offered in prayer over it.
If we eat and drink with heretics, then the sweetness and deception of the world destroy us and drag us into the abyss of hell.
It Is Not Fitting for a Christian to Travel Without a Holy Icon #
On the road, a Christian must not travel without a holy icon. For in worldly homes there are no Christian icons, but images of an Unknown God. One must not pray before these heretical images. A Christian must pray only before his own Christian icons and holy images.
On How It Is Not Fitting for One Who Reads Holy Scripture or Teaches the Divine Law to Accept Any Payment for This Labor #
We offer this good and soul-profiting counsel to all fathers and brethren in Christ who teach and read the Holy and Divine Scriptures. Let no one sell the Word of God or set a price upon it. All the saints, with joy and love for Christ, instructed others and led unbelievers to the faith of Christ from the darkness of delusion without accepting money. Great is the reward for the man who teaches the Law of God to both the faithful and the unbelieving. If someone knows the teaching of Christ and does not teach it, it were better for him to lose his tongue than to withhold help from the true faith.
On Those Engaged in Trade and the Use of Unjust Weights #
Christians have no right to deceive or act unrighteously in any matter, especially in trade. It is not fitting to cheat customers or to use unjust weights. Such a person is cut off from God on the Day of the Dread Judgment, will be cursed by the Righteous Judge, and cast into the unquenchable fire. Those guilty of this sin are to undertake repentance for four years, practicing dry eating and making prostrations.
Those who lend money at interest are condemned as murderers. Christians must not lend money at interest—this is a most grievous sin. For this, Christians are expelled from the society of the faithful, and after repentance, are given a penance of four years of dry eating and 300 prostrations per day. Saint John the Faster says: “One must not give a blessing to those who lend at interest, nor eat in their homes.” Saint John Chrysostom calls usurers the vilest and most impious people, and says their entire house and table are as though smeared with filth.
Every offering to the Holy Church must not come from unrighteously gained wealth. One who helps the Church or others with property acquired by evil or criminal means provokes the wrath of God.
On How It Is Not Fitting to Watch or Listen to Heretical Services #
All Orthodox Christians are bound to keep and preserve the Christian faith, to stand firm in it, and to observe the law of the Holy Fathers. The Great Catechism writes: “If any soul receives baptism, or repentance, or prayers, or any other spiritual thing, or bodily food from a heretic, the demons reckon such a one as their own.”
There is no fellowship between the faithful and the unfaithful. Christians must avoid places where the faithless pray, for there dwell demons. Therefore, Christians flee heretical assemblies, in order that the faithful be separated from the faithless, the children of the deceitful Devil.
The Minor Sobornik says: “In heretics dwells the lying satanic spirit, and all the most wicked unclean spirits… Everything from heretics is corrupted and defiled.” The book Limonar, in chapter 78, says: “Let us not listen to Latin, Nikonian, Armenian, or any other heretical singing.” Let us remain in the Church of the faith we profess, lest we be condemned with the impious heretics.
On the Prohibition of Attending Any Heretical Feasts #
We must in every way flee from ungodly gatherings as from a fierce serpent or consuming fire. At such feasts assemble all manner of defiled people, who in their wicked imaginations commit many godless and shameful acts, eating and drinking like swine, leaping and dancing like demons.
As Divine Scripture says (from the Gospel reading on the Feast of the Dormition), “Worldly festivities and holidays exist for bodily lust and carnal pleasure. These feasts are demonic celebrations, bringing harm to souls, and their counsel is delusion. The food of heretics is envy and malice, deceit and contradiction, murder and death.”
Even now, many Christians attend these profane assemblies. The result is the mockery of Christ by dishonorable people and the blasphemy of the Christian faith. The Nomocanon states: “If anyone attends barbarian or heretical feasts, and eats anything there on behalf of the dead, he is to be excommunicated from the Church for two years.” Likewise, the seventh canon of the Council of Gangra says: “If anyone eats his own food with the impure—let him do penance for two years.”
As the divine Chrysostom says: “If a man has known the Lord Christ, yet lives an impure life, he shall receive greater torment than the unbelievers.” Let us avoid drunken heretical gatherings in every way. Christians, be not slaves of men, but slaves of Christ!
On Idle Talk and Conversations #
Idle talk and conversation with worldly people are very harmful to Christian souls and corrupt pious faith. The holy prophet David in the first Psalm pointed out the inadmissibility of a righteous man joining the gatherings of the ungodly: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
A Christian who engages in idle and disorderly talk with heretics cannot help but defile himself. Not a single word proceeding from our mouths should be idle or empty.
Saint Isaac the Syrian wrote that a Christian who abides in ungodly assemblies mocks with both soul and body and is thereby likened to fornicators and idolaters. Better a holy sleep in silence than wakefulness filled with improper words. The more a person flees idle talk, the more he draws near to God in his mind. And the further we distance ourselves from the consolations of this fleeting world, the more we receive divine joy in the Holy Ghost.
On How It Is Not Fitting for a Christian to Believe in Signs from Beasts or Birds, to Interpret Dreams, or Practice Godless Divination #
The commandments of the Holy Fathers require all who dwell in Orthodoxy to avoid wicked heretical speculations and never to practice any sorcery or enchantment. All witchcraft is the work of demons, and sorcerers and enchanters are sensual demons in human form. The Holy Canons prescribe six years of excommunication from the Church for any person who engages in sorcery or who consults sorcerers.
On How Christians Permitted to Participate in Common Prayer Must Not Live with Excommunicated Christians #
In a single household, it is not fitting for praying father and mother to live together with unrepentant, excommunicated children. If the children do not obey and insist on living together, those who permit it must themselves be excommunicated from the Church. Readmittance to common prayer is permitted only after the praying persons have separated into their own dwelling and have completed six weeks of fasting with 100 prostrations per day.
On Fornication #
If any Christian falls into fornication, he is to repent and fast for one year, abstaining from milk and fish. A penance of 100 full prostrations is set for each day, except Saturdays and Sundays. The fornicator is permanently forbidden from consuming meat for the rest of his life.
On Theft #
If anyone steals anything, no matter how small, the thief must go to the person from whom he stole, ask forgiveness, and return the stolen item. If the item is lost, it must be repaid in money. If the one from whom it was stolen has died, the thief must pray for his soul until the day of his own death. The punishment for theft established by the Holy Canons is 1,000 full prostrations.
On Icon Painters #
Iconographers must live a pure life, marked by good character, humility, and meekness. Iconographers must not be foul-mouthed, blasphemers, fornicators, drunkards, or slanderers, nor should they follow corrupt customs. Even if an iconographer is a masterful artist, if he lives improperly, he is forbidden to paint icons. An izograph (icon painter) must not create mockery or depict anything other than icons. An iconographer must strive to be filled with the Spirit of God. Icon images must conform to ancient Christian models. The iconographer must not add anything of his own imagination to these images.
Christians must not receive icons from unbelievers or foreign heretics, nor should they give holy images to them. As it is written: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs.”
A Parable of the Soul that Wishes to Repent #
In a certain glorious place lived a beautiful harlot. One day a prince came to her and said: “Promise me that you will keep your purity, and I will marry you.” And the harlot gave her promise. Her former lovers, hearing of her betrothal to the great prince, burned with envy and said: “If we go straight to the prince’s gate, we will achieve nothing but punishment. So let us come in through the back and whisper to the harlot to come out to us.” But the former harlot, hearing their whispering, stopped her ears, entered the inner chambers, and shut the doors, and the fornicators were left ashamed.
Interpretation
The harlot is the soul, and the lovers are sins. The prince is Christ. The house is the Church. The whispering is the demonic temptation. The faithful soul always abides in the Commandments of God.