The last words of Jesus Christ. Seven words

The founder of the Life as a Miracle Foundation died for unknown reasons.

About death close friend, a businessman and father of five children, was told by the actress of the series “Sweet Life” Anastasia Meskova. The girl admitted to subscribers that she was shocked by the news of Alexei’s death. The girl did not name the exact cause of Moshkovich’s death.

“This morning my life was tragically cut short. wonderful person... Alexey Moshkovich, an amazingly kind and bright person! A wonderful husband and father of five children. Founder of the charity foundation Life is like a miracle. He saved huge amount children, helped so many families... And... I don’t know what to say, I’m choking on tears. One of the best has passed away... fond memory! Alexey, beloved, dear! Just yesterday we wished each other Merry Christmas and hoped to see each other soon... We will miss you!” — Anastasia Meskova wrote in the microblog.

Numerous subscribers instantly responded to the actress’s message. Fans expressed words of sympathy and support for her in connection with the incident.

« Blessed memory. Apparently, we need angels in heaven. Strength to the family,” “What a pity when the best leave,” “My condolences,” Meskova’s followers said in the comments. It should be noted that Moshkovich founded the “Life as a Miracle” charity foundation in 2009. At first, the organization was supported by theater and film stars, many of whom were trustees of the foundation. As Alexey himself once told about himself, helping people, loving the world and believing in goodness was part of his life. Without all these components, he did not feel like himself. The businessman had grandiose plans for the development of the fund, but, alas, fate decreed otherwise.

“This morning our Alexey Moshkovich passed away. We are grieving and can’t believe it yet. Our Founder of the Foundation, he was one of the brightest people” - this entry appeared this morning on the website of the “Life as a Miracle” Foundation.

The life of the founder of a fund to help sick children was tragically cut short. Businessman, philanthropist and father of five children Alexey Moshkovich died on the morning of January 8th. Actress and ballerina Anastasia Meskova spoke about the untimely death of the founder of the “Life is a Miracle” organization.

Alexey Moshkovich

The star of the series “Sweet Life”, actress and ballerina Anastasia Meskova mourns her good friend Alexei Moshkovich, whom many people knew and loved. The father of five children is especially grateful to the mothers of sick children - several years ago, a capital businessman established the “Life as a Miracle” foundation, thanks to whose work dozens of children with severe liver diseases were saved.

Anastasia Meskova was the first to report the sad news about the tragic death of Alexei Moshkovich, without yet naming the cause of his death.

“This morning the life of a wonderful person was tragically cut short... Alexei Moshkovich, an amazingly kind and bright person! A wonderful husband and father of five children. Founder of the charity foundation Life is like a miracle. He saved a huge number of children, helped so many families... And... I don’t know what to say, I’m choking on tears. One of the best has passed away... fond memory! Alexey, beloved, dear! Just yesterday we wished each other Merry Christmas and hoped to see each other soon... We will miss you!” — Anastasia Meskova wrote in the microblog.

The actress’s subscribers immediately responded to the sad news. They hastened to express words of sympathy and condolences to the loved ones of Alexei Moshkovich. “Blessed memory. Apparently, we need angels in heaven. Strength to the family,” “What a pity when the best leave,” “My condolences,” such comments are left under Anastasia Meskova’s post.

A message about the death of Alexei Moshkovich also appeared on the website of the Life as a Miracle foundation. “This morning our Alexei Moshkovich passed away. We are grieving and can’t believe it yet. Our Founder of the Foundation, he was one of the brightest people,” the publication says.

Alexey Moshkovich founded the charitable organization “Life as a Miracle” in 2009. He spoke about himself like this:

Alexey Moshkovich, Anastasia Severina-Cherepanova, Daria Moroz, Alexandra Rebenok, Anastasia Meskova. Photo 2016
“Why am I doing charity? Probably the same reason why I take care of my family, why I work, why I go to Temple, why I love and breathe. Because if I don’t do all this, then I don’t live, and then it won’t be me anymore.”

Several years ago, the foundation began cooperation with Moscow theaters and people of art. And such actresses as Anastasia Meskova, Daria Moroz, Ekaterina Volkova became trustees of this organization.

Euthanasia. This is perhaps one of the most difficult topics to understand. As a believer, it’s doubly difficult for me to talk about this.
Euthanasia procedure for at the moment allowed only in a few countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Canada and some US states. In many countries, including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, euthanasia is prohibited and is regarded as murder.

In 2014, Belgium went even further on this issue - euthanasia in children was allowed, and quite recently there was a precedent. They allowed euthanasia without medical indications- that is, when a person actually does not have severe physical torment. 24-year-old Emily obtained permission to undergo euthanasia due to severe depression. It’s difficult to understand how to approach this. What could be the reason for such a decision? With the selfishness of the person who decided to undergo the procedure or his relatives who are tired of, for example, an infirm old relative?

In my opinion, a person who encourages his relatives to kill, to make this terrible decision, is much more selfish than someone who asks for help without being able to provide it to himself. This is not only an impossible decision for loved ones, but also an ambiguous, eerie transformation of a doctor, healer of bodies and souls, into an executioner. When allowing the euthanasia procedure, did officials think about how a doctor should live with the burden of this responsibility?

An important point is the popularization of this issue, a kind of PR campaign for a “good death” (literal translation of the term), or, rather, a justified death. In fact, this is a call to suicide, isn't it? Towards an inherently dangerous perception of death as a solution to problems.

Of course, there are people who, due to their illness, experience real suffering and, of course, I cannot condemn a person who thinks about death in such a situation. However, if we believe in God, we understand that suffering is given to a person so that he or his loved ones can rethink and correct something. I understand that now compatriots from the other camp will point out the false love of humanity of Christianity, that, they say, we were saved by the Son of God in order to then suffer and repent, that Christian faith permeated with the spirit of humble martyrdom and self-flagellation. And in general, it’s good to reason when it doesn’t concern you personally. But the majority of euthanasia supporters do not have this experience.

Finally, I suggest you think about the fact that the motivation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which was the first to legalize euthanasia in the 1990s, was specific. The people who promoted the idea of ​​legalizing euthanasia were representatives of health insurance companies, who obviously do not benefit from keeping hopelessly ill people. It turns out that this idea is based not on humanistic principles, but on selfish interests.

Let's face the truth, though. Each of us really wants to live. He wants to be taken care of, so that on the eve of death he will not be alone, so that those he loves will cling to his life with all their might. Maybe you should not fight for the opportunity to end your life, but try, no matter how difficult it is, to help the person hold on a little longer, to solve the problem with painkillers? Maybe it’s better to go to hospices and hospitals with terminally ill people and just be there?
It seems to me that this will be a “good death.”

Today I want to talk to you about the cross and about the seven words that Christ spoke on the cross. Christ preached a lot, He evangelized, healed, resurrected and performed many miracles through the word, i.e. He spoke. And on the cross he almost fell silent, barely uttering a few phrases. These phrases are counted, collected, arranged, and they represent the Seven Words that Christ spoke on the cross. A lot of music was written on this topic in the 17th - 18th centuries, and many sermons were preached. And you and I should talk, when the cross is brought before us, about what Christ said on the cross, no longer preaching. That He walked, preached, taught, healed, resurrected and gained very few followers, i.e. The efficiency was very low, and on the cross it was completely silent. And He could talk! For example, Andrew the First-Called spoke on the cross, he hung for several days and spoke. But Christ did not say much on the cross, He spoke little. But everything He said has nothing to do with our salvation and our faith. I do not pretend that all the words that I remember and quote will be arranged in exact chronological order. Let us remember the first: “Forgive them,” Christ prayed to the Father, “they do not know what they are doing.” They create, not just do, but create, i.e. The verb “to create” is stronger than the verb “to do.” People usually do something ordinary, say, “fry eggs,” “brush their teeth,” “start the car,” etc. And they are creating something new. To “create” means to do something that has never happened before in life. People used to sin in all sorts of ways, mixing flesh among themselves. Men were inflamed with passion for men, women for women. Today we call this the norm. People have been stealing all their lives. How much is the world worth - people stole, offended one another, oppressed the rich from the poor, the noble from the inglorious. This all means committing sins, not creating, but doing. But to create means to do something that no one has ever suspected. When people crucified Christ, they did not commit sin, they created it. They created something that no one had ever done. Christ had patience with His villains and murderers, asking the Father to forgive them for this, for they do not know what they are doing. Although Christ Himself has full judicial power, Christ is a judge. Who will judge humanity? Christ. Not the Father, but the Son. He has complete power over humanity, judicial and legislative. Because He gives the law, He also judges. And executive, because He fulfills it. He asks the Father to forgive His crucifiers in order to clearly show us his attitude towards sinners who sin out of ignorance. This does not mean at all that we, the people of today, are obliged, for example, to consider ISIS terrorists who cut off the heads of Christians normal people. Forgive them, forget about everything and don't punish them. No, that doesn't mean it. But this means that Christ has the power and strength to pray to the Father, to ask the Father for the forgiveness of those who sin out of ignorance, out of misunderstanding. Those people who sin have their own truth. When they stoned Stephen, everyone believed that they were killing an atheist. However, they killed a righteous man. And Paul, who was still Saul at that time, approved of the murder, and he did nothing at all. He sat, guarded the clothes and said: that’s right, you need to kill the wicked. Therefore, the sinner has his own truth, i.e. he doesn't know what he's doing. This is the first word that Christ spoke from the cross: “Forgive them, Father, they do not know what they are doing.” Then there are several dialogues, a dialogue with the Mother. Almost everyone ran away from under the cross. Christ, in essence, was alone on the cross. And who was there? The Mother was there, but the Mother could not help but be there, the Mother is always near her son, John the Theologian, Mary Magdalene and several other myrrh-bearing women. And here are some dialogues, the first one we have already given: “forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” Second: “Woman! behold Your son. Behold your Mother." It's about about John the Theologian. And from then on, John the Theologian took Her to him, and She was supported by him, She lived with him. And He took care of her, kept her, protected her, carried her with him and rendered her filial service in every possible way. “Wife! “behold Thy son” - these words are indirectly important to us in order to resist blasphemers who believe that the Mother of God had more children after the birth of Christ. There are some wicked people whose tongues were not ashamed to declare that when the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, after that She still lived in the flesh, as a simple wife, with Joseph, and gave birth to some more children. So these words: “Woman! “behold Thy son” are relevant to this topic, because if there were more children besides Christ, then, of course, these words would not exist. Mary would not have needed to adopt John if She still had children. Here the spiritual adoption of Christ’s most beloved disciple of His beloved Mother took place. Both of them corresponded as much as possible to Christ’s idea of ​​holiness, i.e. He is a saint, and She is the Most Holy. “Wife! behold Your son. Behold your Mother! - this is the second word of Christ from the cross. The dialogues did not end there. The next dialogue was with the robber who was crucified on the right side of Christ. There was a dialogue between them, between the robber on the right and the robber on the left. And the robber on the left believed that if you are Christ, then take off yourself and us. Like this robber, all other people think today. If God exists, then why do we have so many problems, illnesses, and troubles? You are Christ, so why do we suffer, what’s the matter? And the second thief had repentance, and he said: “Or are you not afraid of God? You and I have received what we have done worthily, but He has no sins, He is sinless.” And then he turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified between them both: “Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom.” To which Christ said to him: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” The prudent thief, hanging on the right side of the Lord, whose name we do not know for sure, with certainty, there are various legends, but we do not have reliable knowledge, they are not written in Scripture. The thief who hung to the right of the Lord Jesus Christ is the man who showed the greatest faith in the world. To his left hung a man just like him, beaten and exhausted. I would like to remind you that Jesus Christ, according to the Shroud of Turin, had a broken nose, a twisted cheekbone, and one eye was completely closed by a hematoma. Have you ever seen people hit so hard? They didn’t give slaps that were loud and not scary, but like this, like a man, firmly, with a fist, for example, in the forehead, in the eye and in the eyebrow, and in the nose, and in the teeth, so that the teeth crumbled? If you have ever seen how people beat people, then you will remember all this and understand that Christ was beaten exactly like that. They beat him with their hands, feet, elbows, and knees. He was mutilated, i.e. on the cross, when Christ hung, He was mutilated. He was a man whom one could not look at without tears, and besides, He was crucified. He was bleeding, he was drained of blood. And this means that the thief hanging on the cross to the right of Jesus Christ no longer had human thoughts; here he had thoughts from God. This was the action of the Holy Spirit. The thief, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, suddenly said to him: “Lord,” to this humiliated one: “Remember me in your kingdom,” and Christ still had a crown of thorns. The thieves did not have crowns of thorns, but Christ did. And he says to Him: “My King, remember me in Your Kingdom.” Well, what kind of Kingdom can a person have, wearing a crown of thorns, with a broken nose, bleeding, with knocked out teeth and nailed to a cross? The robber recognized God in Christ and called him Lord. He didn’t ask for anything so big, he asked: You remember me in Your Kingdom. You see, when a person asks for a lot, he receives little, and when he asks for little, he receives a lot. The robber asked for little and received a lot. Christ told him: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Let us recall the first: “Forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing”, the second: “Woman! Behold, Your son." “Behold your Mother,” third: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Then Christ felt thirsty and said a short word “I’m thirsty”, i.e. I'm thirsty. In response to this request, they brought him a whole sponge filled with vinegar, i.e. a Roman soldier approached a certain vessel, wet a sponge with vinegar, stuck it on a spear and poked Christ in the face: “Here, drink.” This means that in response to the word “thirst” He received vinegar. Then he said the most terrible words in the history of the world. There are many terrible words in the history of the world, but none are more terrible than these. These are the words that He spoke in Aramaic, we do not know this language, it is not taught in schools, we do not learn it. Now everyone is learning English and German, but no one is learning Aramaic. So, Christ said in Aramaic: “Either, Or! Lama Savakhthani? it means: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” These words are taken from Psalm 21, i.e. Christ did not say anything on His own behalf. Everything He said was from the Old Testament, because the entire Old Testament is inspired by God, and the Gospel is hidden in it. In Psalm 21 of King David it is written: “My God, my God, attend to me,” i.e. “Hear me, why did you leave me, why did you leave me?” Christ quoted the words of this psalm on the cross because He was the son of David and because David prophesied about Him. This cry, these words contain all the cries of humanity. Humanity has been screaming and crying ever since it sinned. Eve screamed over the corpse of Abel, people dying in the waters of the flood screamed, these screamed, these screamed. We will also scream until the end of time. All our cries are collected, compressed into a small area, into a small volume. And here are these cries: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” This was said by a man who did not have a single sin. The man is Jesus Christ, who is our Lord, but at the same time a real man. He has our liver, our heart, our lungs, our kidneys, our blood, our veins, our bones, our nerves. And when they nailed Him to the cross, He felt pain like any person who is tortured or mocked. When He shouted on the cross: “Either, Or!” Lama Savakhthani? He collected all the cries of suffering people together and brought them to God and the Father. This is the fifth word spoken. After this He said: “Into Your hands I commend My spirit.” And we need to remember these words, because you and I are going to die, it’s not clear when, but we’re going to die, that’s for sure. And when we die, we will say something. You can’t be silent when you’re dying, and you can’t be silent at all. Try to remain silent for half a day, you won’t succeed. People do not know how to be silent, people are talkers and talkers. They talk, if they were talking about something good, they talk about all sorts of nonsense. They can’t even be silent for half an hour; they chatter about all sorts of nonsense from morning to evening, all their lives from birth to death. Therefore, when we die, we will also say something: “What a horror, I’m scared” or “Doctor, save me.” When Pushkin was dying, he said: “To the upper, to the upper,” i.e. up, up, up, up. When Suvorov was dying, he said before his death: “All is vanity, peace of the soul is before the Throne of the Most High.” When Goethe was dying, he said: “Light, more light” “Licht, Licht, mehr Licht.” When Voltaire was dying, he said: “I am going to hell, and I am very scared. I want to live at least another six months.” People say all sorts of things before they die, we will also say something before we die or think about something before we die. Before his death, Christ said to the Father: “Into Your hands I commend My spirit.” This was the sixth word spoken on the cross. The seventh word is: “It is finished,” i.e. it's all over, now that's it. A wonderful film by Mel Gibson "The Passion of the Christ", in my opinion. Wonderful because he made a huge missionary movement in the world, returning our consciousness to Christ, to His suffering. There is such a nuance when Christ is beaten, and beaten severely, godlessly, cruelly. The Romans specially sewed buttons into whips and beat them in the eyes, stomach, buttocks, and legs. They beat me terribly, one could die from one beating. In the film, the Mother of God looks from the side and says: “My son, when will you decide to stop all this?” According to the film, She understands that He is the Lord. The fact that He is being beaten, tortured, humiliated - He can stop everything in a second. She doesn’t understand why He endures all this, why all this is necessary. And there are such great words: “When will you want and decide to stop everything?” Christ suffered voluntarily; He was not just caught, tied up, beaten, tortured, humiliated, disgraced, crucified and buried. Nothing like that, this is not about Christ. Christ is stronger than everyone. He can turn us all into dust and trash in one second. But, nevertheless, He took upon himself voluntary suffering, and when it ended, He said: “It is finished,” i.e. it's all over. Seven words that the Giver of Life said from the cross: “Forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing”, “Woman! “Behold, Thy Son,” and to the disciple, “Behold, Thy Mother,” the thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise,” “I thirst,” “Into your hands, I commend my spirit,” “Either, Or! Lama Savachthani,” “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” and the last “It is finished.” Haydn has music: “Seven Words of Christ from the Cross.” Medieval preachers had a hundred, five hundred sermons about the seven words of Christ from the cross. Our holy fathers have preaching words about the seven words of Christ from the cross. In many churches a passion is served - this is the Passion Service. This is the Good Friday service preceding Good Friday. Passion Gospel- this is an akathist to the Passion of Christ, worship of Christ. We will renew in our soul everything written and said. And we will try to understand at what cost we were saved.

Hello, father. I wanted to ask you, where is the information about such horrors that happened to the Lord God, that He was so disfigured? I didn't read it anywhere, I just saw the movie.

O. Andrey Tkachev: “The Law of God” Archpriest. Seraphim of Slobodsky describes in sufficient detail what happened to the Lord. The Shroud of Turin, the authenticity of which few people doubt, provides detailed anatomical information about what was actually done to Christ, how much He was beaten, tortured, and mutilated. For example, the crown of thorns, which is kept in the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris. The communists, revolutionaries, the Convention, these first arch-atheists, who set half the world on fire, pretty much trampled, crushed, and scolded this crown. They burned a bunch of relics. So, the crown of thorns, the real one, which is kept in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, shows us what thorns are on this crown, these are the thorns of the Palestinian thorn. This crown can only be put on with the help of sticks; you cannot even take it in your hands - it is so prickly. You need to take a stick on one side, a stick on the other side and pull this wreath of thorns onto the person’s head. And these thorns, strong as nails, tear not only the skin, they pierce the flesh on the head to the bone. They dig even into the very bones of the skull. If you only put on this wreath, that would be enough, it was real torture. We never specifically thought about this and did not focus our attention on how they mocked the Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine, for example, they dragged a man into a barracks, where a company of drunken soldiers left him: do with him what you want. Your task is to beat him half to death, but only so that tomorrow he will be alive, he still needs to be crucified in the morning. They threw Him into the barracks and in this barracks they trampled Him like I don’t know anyone. Filaret Drozdov, our saint, Moscow Metropolitan, wrote: in order to make bread from grain, what do they do with the grain? It is ground into dust on millstones. To make wine from grapes, what do they do with it? They trample him into blood, trample him, press him under pressure or trample him with their feet so that he gives everything he has. This is how holiness is, those who are saints - they were ground into dust, trampled underfoot so that everything flowed from them. This is what happens to saints. Nothing happens to sinners, sinners get massages, but saints are ground into dust. This is the essence of life. So this is all true, and there is no escape from this truth.

Hello, father. I would like to thank you for your book." Lent", a wonderful book. And I would like to recommend that all listeners read your wonderful book in the post. Then I also want to say that Shroud of Turin It’s not called the Fifth Gospel for nothing. And I would also like to say: the most amazing thing is not that the Lord performed miracles, but what is most amazing is how the Lord tolerates us. This is the most amazing miracle. Because the Lord came in the form of a helpless Baby. And what did people provide to God? Nothing, just a barn, the animals, one might say, accepted the Savior. And when the Lord left, people turned Him, their God, into a bloody mess. And this is how the Lord tolerates this? This is the most amazing miracle that happens on earth.

O. Andrey Tkachev: - You are absolutely right, I agree with you completely. And the thing to be surprised about is not that the dead are raised because God tolerates humanity. This is the absolute truth. Everything else can be disputed. But for a believer, it is obvious that if God had turned on the regime of strict punishment, then it would have been very bad for us - both the believer and the non-believer, and it is not known who is worse. Everything would have changed places there, it’s unclear what would have happened. They met Him, He became a refugee from birth, and at the end of his life - a victim. And he only lived for a little over 30 years. There was Christ the young man. Healthy, beautiful, smart, sinless, perfect. Old Testament forbade the sacrifice of an animal with a defect to God. For example, a calf with an eyesore, or a lame one. Or a bald, mangy kid with ringworm. Only whole, healthy, beautiful, full-fledged animals were sacrificed. This was all a pointer to Christ, who was beautiful, blameless and perfect. He had neither a hump nor a bald head. He could not be hunchbacked, one-legged, one-eyed, or toothless. He was a handsome, intelligent, sinless young man who was mutilated by people and nailed to a cross, and they rejoiced over it, and still do to this day. After all, today there are many people who rejoice at this. Who, when they notice a cross, kill, the same ISIS, for example, in Iraq, in Syria. There they cut off heads not on religious grounds, and they don’t ask: are you Orthodox or Catholic? They say: do you have a cross on your neck? Eat. Do you believe in Christ? I believe. - On your knees, and head off your shoulders! To this day, not only Christ himself cannot be tolerated, but even those who love Him. And He tolerates us so that we alone become saints, and others repent, enter the Kingdom of God, and others do something else, etc. There is God's providence for humanity, this is the most amazing thing. His patience is incomparable. None of us would have the patience, having all the power, not to exercise power over everything that happens. If I had even a modicum of power over the world, I would punish many, and many would no longer exist in the world. Because I don’t have patience and this God’s foresight, I don’t know the future, I don’t understand what’s what. Any of us would do a lot of unnecessary things if we gave him power over the world. Thank God that power over the world is not with us, but with the Lord, who loves humanity. Great is the Lord, glorious is His name.

Hello, dear father. I would like to ask a question about the Gospel. Tomorrow Parent's. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but passes from death to life.” I’m wondering, is this man not going through the ordeal? Or does every person go through an ordeal?

O. Andrey Tkachev: - According to the word of God, a person is not obliged to undergo ordeal. A person who believes with complete faith can go to God like a rocket, i.e. soar up, up - and that's it, with God. I think that the ordeal concerns other people who lived lukewarmly, frivolously, inattentively, and then they will be dealt with seriously. In general, the Gospel, especially the Gospel of John - it is very bright, hot, heavenly, fiery - it tells us: love no one except the Lord, i.e. love only the Lord, no one else. And if you go to God with all your soul, then don’t think about anything at all, don’t be afraid of anyone. You will go to Him immediately after death, but where will you go? If only he loved Him. And everyone else whose life is going wrong, they have other things to do. According to the Gospel, you will not come to judgment, but will go straight to God if you believe the word of Jesus Christ and worship Him as sent from the Father. You need to have faith in God, you don’t need to rely on anything else, only on Christ himself, on His mercy and love Him. This is the door that is open in eternal life. This is the 16th beginning of the Gospel of John, it is bold. The Gospel is a wonderful book. There's nothing more wonderful than the Gospel. Love God and don’t be afraid of ordeals, I would say so. Ordeal - okay, you love God and then, like a rocket, you will go to the Kingdom of God.

Good evening, Father, servant of God George. I want to ask a question regarding the Mother of God, the Mother of God. Firstly, where did the dogma come from? I believe in this unconditionally, but nevertheless, I wonder where the dogma came from that She is the Ever-Virgin? I heard that from one of the apocryphal Gospels. Is this so, if so, then why was it taken from the apocrypha, and the apocrypha itself was rejected? Second question. We consider Her to be absolutely sinless, but even in the litany at the funeral service it is said that there is no person who will live and not sin. Did She really not even have sinful thoughts? Third question. U Catholic Church Where did the dogma of Her supernatural conception from the Holy Spirit come from, what is its justification for them, Catholics?

O. Andrey Tkachev: We have the so-called Proto-Gospel of James, which is not considered a Gospel. However, we take from it a certain set of sacred events. For example, we know the names of the parents of the Mother of God from the Protoevangelium of James. Regarding the dogma of ever-virginity Holy Virgin Maria, then I will tell you exact date I won’t tell you, you need to look for it and read it. It's actually official Mother of God named Ever-Virgin at III Ephesus Ecumenical Council. Virgin Mary Mother of God - She is a Virgin before Christmas, at Christmas and after Christmas. This is the same paradoxical truth as the fact that God is threefold in persons and one in essence, i.e. The virgin gives birth, three equals one. This is all within the framework of the paradoxical nature of Christianity, because Christianity is a paradoxical religion, it is not invented, i.e. Christianity is so complex that it cannot be invented; one can accept it and then try to understand it. The dogmas of Ever-Virginity are the Council of Ephesus, but not before that. Because there was a Christological dispute going on there, they were focusing more on questions about Christ, and the Council of Ephesus already called the Mother Mother of God. Accordingly, those who called her the Mother of Christ were already condemned by history, and She was exalted above all. The Son learned Her virtues. If Her Son is so great, then She is worthy of this greatness. Everything connected with the greatness of the Mother of God is based on the greatness of Her Son. Because She herself is not honored by the Church, She is honored precisely as the Mother of Christ our God, as the Mother of light. And note that Catholic tradition suggests separate figures of the Mother of God without the Son. A Orthodox tradition, as a rule, with rare exceptions, the Mother of God is always depicted with the Son, because He sanctifies everyone, including Her. She is not holy in Herself, She is holy as the Mother of Christ our God. As for mental sins, I will refer to Saint Silouan of Athos. He had a question that alarmed you. And he also thought, maybe there were cases when She, as a person, mentally sinned, She was in the flesh, She was a person, She did not know marriage, etc., but was a person. Maybe she had some idea? Silouan of Athos writes that the Holy Spirit told him right there, in his mind: no, the Most Holy Virgin Mary did not allow a single mental sin. This is the answer regarding Her possible or impossible, rather, mental sins. And I offer you patristic writing. As for Catholics, I would refer you to reading, there is a word from John of Shanghai (Maximovich) about the Catholic dogma of immaculate conception Virgin Mary. It explains and describes in some detail the logic of Catholic thinking. Catholic dogma about the virgin birth is a later dogma. In fact, after this they no longer had dogmatic innovations. They love the Mother of God, and they wish her glory. But the desire for Her glory sometimes leads to excessive myth-making. For example, people who love Christ, in order to give him more glory, introduced the Filioque into the Creed. That the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son. This is to raise and exalt the Son. But instead of exaltation, it turned out that they created big problem. The same goes for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The Pope and Mother of the Virgin Mary were ordinary people, they knew marital intimacy, they knew this human sweetness mixed with sin, they knew it all. And she was born from ordinary people, they were not Gods or sinless people. It was a mistake. In the 19th century, Catholics made another mistake by attributing to the Blessed Virgin Mary a certain sanctity that She already has. But She doesn't need false excuses, She's a saint. Not because she was conceived without a defect, but because She was an ascetic from her mother’s breast, from young nails, from her first steps in life.

God the Father, who before creation foresaw the fall of man, out of his boundless love and ineffable mercy, desired and determined in the eternal Council to save him, restore him to dignity and value, revive him to true life, direct him to his destiny. God the Father sent His Only Begotten Son into the world. The Son of God came down to earth, became incarnate and was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, lived with people, preached to them the doctrine of true life, performed miracles, took upon himself the cross of suffering for all humanity, was crucified and died on the cross, was resurrected and became the Performer of new life for people. Being the true God and true Man, The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the work of salvation in its entirety. He redeemed us: gave us new strength, revived us. Having no personal sin, Christ took upon himself the entire lot of humanity expelled from paradise and brought new grace-filled forces into the world. The fruit of the earthly ministry of the Son of Man and His death on the cross was so abundant that it compensated for all the previous sterility of humanity. The Gospel tells us about the condemnation of Jesus Christ to crucifixion: “Immediately in the morning, the high priests with the elders and scribes and the entire Sanhedrin held a meeting and, having bound Jesus, took him away and handed him over to Pilate... Pilate, wanting to do what was pleasing to the people, released Barabbas to them, and beat Jesus, handed Him over to be crucified... And they brought Him to the place of Golgotha, which means: Execution place"(Mark 15; 1, 15, 22).
Amid the indescribable suffering, the Lord did not remain completely silent: He spoke seven times from the Cross. The evangelists in their stories convey to us the words that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke when shedding his most precious blood for our sins, the sins of the entire human race. These words have many interpretations. This is how the Savior’s suffering on Calvary is described and the spiritual meaning of his last phrases is revealed in the book “Jesus Christ on Calvary, or His Seven Words on the Cross.” This book was very loved pre-revolutionary Russia and was reprinted many times.

First word: “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY ARE SAYING” (Luke 23, 34)
The God-man was condemned to a shameful death. Convicted unfairly, insidiously, with the involvement of many false testimonies and vain, invented accusations. Only hearts filled with hatred could do this. These hearts, not surprisingly, were characteristic of those from whom, it would seem, everything good and bright should come - the high priests and teachers of the law of the people of Israel. It was in their hearts that the enemy of the human race - the devil - put the idea that the Messiah who had appeared in the world could interfere with their power over the people and, consequently, their life, well-being and imaginary dignity. It was to them that these words were applied, to them and the people around them, who for millennia believed in the sincerity of their deeds and teachings.
Being Love itself, the Lord, even bearing unbearable suffering on the Cross, completely gave his heart for those who, in ordinary human understanding, were worthy only of damnation. One movement of His will would have been enough, and the whole world would have been
would be crushed and destroyed before His glory.
But He prayed and asked His Father for mercy for the madmen who killed Him; He asked forgiveness for those who mocked Him. Having commanded His followers to pray for their enemies, the God-Man now sets an example of this high prayer.
This was the first word our Redeemer spoke on the Cross. His first dying testament to each of His followers, each sufferer and the whole world.
Now that the sun of the Gospel shines clearly on everyone, ignorance is an even greater sin than then, two thousand years ago. But no in sinful man perfect knowledge of the Truth. Only His faithful love, which surpasses all minds and rises above all time, can warm our own cold hearts to realize and repent of the sin of ignorance in confession before the Cross of the Crucified God. The Lamb of God even now prays for all the sins of our ignorance: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Second word: “Truly I tell you, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE” (Luke 23:43)
To the right and left hand Two villainous thieves were crucified by Christ. One blasphemed Christ and mocked him. “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.” Another, sublime, way of thinking was revealed in the second crucified man. The blasphemy against Jesus Christ was more unbearable for him than the Cross: “...we are condemned righteously, we suffer because of our deeds; and He, He did no evil!” These words seemed to give him the courage to express before the Lord Himself a sense of respect and faith in Jesus Christ as God, as the Master of the Kingdom of Heaven: “Remember me, Lord, when you come to Your kingdom"(Luke 23:42).
The words of the prudent thief have since become for us an example of true deep repentance and even entered into liturgical use. The Redeemer of men looked with love at the first fruit of His great sacrifice. The prayer of the repentant thief was heard. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise,” Jesus answered him. This was the first person who crossed the gates of heaven for his repentance. And the answer of Jesus Christ to the repentant thief is His last testament to all repentant sinners, inscribed by the Cross on which He was crucified.
How important it is for us, at the moment of our last breath, standing on the verge of death, not to forget this testament in order to cry out to our beloved God, like a pious thief: “Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom.”

Third word: "WIFE! BEHOLD THY SON. BEHOLD THY MOTHER!" (IN. 19, 26-27)
The Lord spoke His first two words on the Cross as High Priest and King, but He spoke the third as the Son of Man. In these words the Lord Jesus Christ concentrated his experiences about future destinies people for whom he shed his precious blood. In these words, He adopts to his mother his beloved disciple, apostle and evangelist John the Theologian, who until his death carried the teachings of his beloved Lord to the nations. He addressed these same words to his mother, entrusting to her all responsibility for the human race. Knowing the heart of his mother, the suffering she endured, He could not deprive us of this intercession and intercession. “Wife,” the Lord says to His Mother, not in order to spare her heart or not to give rise to ridicule, but to make Her understand in a gentle and clear way that from that time Her maternal attitude towards Him and His filial attitude towards Her have changed; Now in Her eyes He is not a son in the previous meaning, but a Son and God. Family relationships were determined by God for this world, but at the gates of eternity and already on this earth they had to become different. At a time when His soul was completely occupied with the final task of redeeming the world, and at that time the thought of the Mother He was leaving behind, the caring love for Her did not leave Him. What, therefore, cannot the prayer of His mother now ask from Him, when we turn to Her with our requests to intercede for us. Just as we should always take care, even in the most difficult disasters and sufferings that befall us personally, about our loved ones, not to forget about the care of our parents, and, on the other hand, by the example of John, the Lord inspires us all to provide help to all those in need, especially widows and orphans.

Fourth word: “MY GOD, MY GOD! WHY HAVE YOU LEFT ME?” (MF. 27, 46)
If only one could imagine the totality of the burden of sin that the Lord bore on himself for the sake of our salvation, then the pain, immeasurable sorrow and sadness with which these words were uttered would become clear. This cry, of course, was not a cry of despair, but only an expression of the deepest sorrow of the soul of the God-man. If each of us in this life experiences our sin in our own way, grieves and repents before God, then how immeasurably deep could this feeling be, endured by the God-man, who took upon himself the burden of the sins of all mankind. The full meaning of this cry-prayer is a mystery to us. The Savior now had to suffer forgiveness from the Father for lawless humanity. At this moment of redemption, incomprehensible and terrible, Christ had to remain, as a Man, alone with the justice of God, without the help of his Father. Otherwise, His suffering would not have been entirely atoning for human sins.
“Oh my God, my God! Why did you leave me?” - on other occasions Jesus called Him not God, but Father. The feeling of sonship with God no longer exists. He feels himself only as the Son of Man, who, for his sins, experiences the fear of God’s wrath, eternal death and condemnation. This is what tells us about the truth human nature Savior. Having drunk full cup God-forsakenness, He took upon himself the sins of the world and bears them as His own, but even in this depth of humiliation He
does not abandon God as His God.
If sorrow and grief befall us, if we feel the weight of our sins that separate us from God, let us not forget that the Savior took upon ourselves our sins. Let us not despair of our salvation, but we will not crucify God with our new sins in a cold, uncompassionate heart.

Fifth word: “THIRST” (John 19, 28)
By this time, the Lord had already suffered for three hours on the Cross. As a man, the Savior reached the extreme point of exhaustion; He was tormented by thirst. As God, He longed for something completely different. The whole universe was in tense anticipation of what it had been waiting for all the years since the fall of the first man. God had to give His life Himself to atone for the sins of His creation.
It was a thirst for the speedy arrival of this promise. His soul thirsted for God, thirsted for the living God, for that eternal and blissful unity with His Father, which He had from the beginning of the world and which our sins took from Him for a time. The Lord longs for the completion of His work. Do we know where it ends for us? It ends in our soul when we surrender ourselves completely to Him, when, as a sign of our unity with Him, we worthily partake of His most pure Body and Blood. Only with such a soul will the thirst of our Savior be quenched.
If only we could feel this thirst for eternal, unceasing, blissful unity with God! Let us not become like the rich man of the Gospel, when we cannot find a single drop of water to quench our thirst.

The sixth and seventh words: “IT IS FINISHED!” (JN. 19, 30) “FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I commit MY SPIRIT” (LK. 23, 46)
These are winning words. The Lord felt his death, the atonement for the sins of mankind was accomplished. The great, difficult feat of suffering was accomplished, the work of obedience was completed, through which He entered into His glory. Everything that was predicted in Scripture has come to pass.
The stopped heart was filled with joy for the entire universe. Because of its overabundance, the last words were spoken on a higher note: “Father! I commit My spirit into Your hands.” With full consciousness and free will, He surrenders His spirit to be separated from His body. He disposes of His soul as one who has power over it, and betrays it to His Father, to whom He returns to filial relation after completing the sacrifice of the cross. Let our souls not forget that Christ belongs entirely to us. And for us, as a result of the reconciliation accomplished through Christ, God became Father again. He, our Intercessor, gave up His spirit to God, and with this He paved the way for our spirit to God, so that in our last hour we could dispose of our spirit and gave it up to God, knowing that heaven is open to us. The exclamation was so powerful that it was followed by many earthquakes, the curtain in Jerusalem Temple, the coffins opened, from which the long-buried dead emerged. The whole people were struck with fear. After all, it was he who screamed madly: “Crucify! Crucify him." The world was numb with horror. And the Creator received back His creation - the human soul.
Pour out, O Lord, Your mercy on all those who seek You and those who do not, so that from east to west all tribes and peoples will turn to You and in Your light they will see light. Hey, come, Lord Jesus!.. Amen.

Hieromonk DOMETIAN, priest of the house chapel “Savior Not Made by Hands”