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How to deal with envy Orthodoxy. Scripture on Envy

“Sin is sweet” or “sinful sweetness” are well-known concepts. Theoretically and practically, they are familiar to everyone. Only one sin has no such “sweetness” at all.
With envy.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk wrote about her: “A painful passion! In other sins there is some kind of sweetness, although imaginary, but the envious one sins, repeatedly and suffers.”
The state is somewhat similar and related, but the latter is still abstract and purely mental, and this “underwater snake” is absolutely objective. We clearly envy “someone” and for “something”.

The same sin of theft or fornication, for example, is both shameful and punishable. Therefore, you can get rid of them not only because you are ashamed, but also because of the elementary fear of a specific punishment.
Envy is not afraid of anything and has no criminal charges. It is simply a pretext for sin that does not allow one to live. Neither day nor night.

The Holy Fathers teach that you can get rid of envy by doing good and not feeding yourself with emotional thoughts and desires.
This is probably true, but it still seems to me that the source of envy begins there and then when they tell you: “You should be better.” Sooner or later, such upbringing leads to the fact that the result is a spiritual monster, the main life principle which: “I want people to envy me.” Further, if this sin continues to develop, then the limits of its increase are immense, that is, when a teenage boy begins to make claims to his parents for having “ best friend» new more “advanced” model mobile phone, then this is the beginning of envy, which may well lead to the desire for world domination. This is by no means an exaggeration, since if we allow ourselves to constantly be upset about the success or well-being of other people, then very soon we will try in any way to remove the cause of our upset.

That is why this sin is included in the list of the seven deadly sins, and since it presupposes a conviction of the injustice of the order and world order established by God, its prohibition is already contained in Moses in the last of the ten commandments:
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house;
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,
neither his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,
neither his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock,
nothing that is your neighbor's (Exodus 20:17).

The subtlety and sophistication of this sin is simply amazing. After all, outwardly it manifests itself only when it unconditionally captures the whole soul, the whole person. Until this time, the envious person fits well into the category “ good man striving for success." Growing creatively and striving for a worthy reward for one’s labors is not a vice as long as this growth occurs on the basis of one’s own, God-given potential. The Gospel parable about the talents speaks very clearly and figuratively about this: multiply what the Lord has given you.

The trouble begins when there is a violation of the apostolic warning: Let us not be conceited, let us not irritate one another, envy one another (Gal. 5:26), when generosity, benevolence and compassion disappear from the practice of life.
A simple example. Every priest today often has to serve a prayer service “For the beginning of a good deed.” Especially for those who are in one way or another connected with entrepreneurship and commercial activities. But much less often we hear prayers of gratitude and chants in church from those who, after God’s blessing, have achieved some success. The next time, most often, they come to the temple with tears in their eyes is when they are surpassed by competitors or touched by the notorious economic crisis. The desire to surpass, by any means necessary, a neighbor at a retail stall or in an office is a consequence of envy, and with its presence and regular development, God is no longer needed. He is in the way, and any reminder of Him or the temple is annoying.

In not so distant times, a weekend or a holiday did not involve any work related to activities that implied increasing one’s own fortune. The day off was a time of prayer and godly deeds, precisely what destroys envy. Today are the days for the market, selling and buying.

The result is obvious - we envy even the kindness of others, we condemn those who are not in the marketplace, but in the temple, who are trying to glorify and thank God in some deed or word.
It is envy that makes one look for sins from a neighbor and reject the possibility of sacrificial love from a believer. It is precisely this that initially involves inflating the involuntary misdeeds and mistakes of others to the scale of universal sin, which leads to both family and social conflicts.

The apotheosis of envy is anger towards the kindness of others. No wonder one of the prayers for the coming sleep says: ... or having seen someone else’s kindness, and being wounded in my heart by it . In the Bible, where envy is mentioned about fifty times, it is, in most cases, associated with. The lack of kindness in a person and the constant condemnation that comes from envy are not only an obstacle to future spiritual salvation and eternal life, but also the cause of failures in life. Anyone who is stung by envy will sooner or later lose his reputation, his friends, and his joy in life.

Once upon a time, it was envy that separated Heaven and earth. Today, she continues to create the evil begun by the fallen Dennitsa. Therefore, when we hear about the decline of morals, crime, economic failures, state conflicts and other troubles and catastrophes of the present day, there is no need to reproach someone with the commonly used saying “The fish rots from the head.” This is not a fish. This is a “underwater snake” that sharpens our heart and soul and is called simply and clearly – envy.

Miracle-working words: Orthodoxy prayer against envy in full description from all the sources we found.

Ill-wishers and vile envious people meet in the lives of each of us. In order to protect against gossip and gossip, as well as from the evil eye, a prayer against envy is read daily.

In ancient Greek mythology, you can find a description of Envy in the form of a terrible, wrinkled old woman with rotten teeth and a lolling tongue, dripping with poison. Justifying ourselves by saying that our envy is “white,” we, unfortunately, do not realize that it in any form destroys our spirituality. Vibes of envy saturate the air and poison the peaceful existence of society.

By reading a prayer text, a person first of all cleanses himself of bad thoughts and negativity, clears the information field, and is charged with positive energy. Prayer against envy helps you gain confidence and reset the energy of someone else’s anger that has entered your personal biofield. Such prayers are intended to be protection for a person and his family, to preserve the well-being and peace of the home.

The process of reading prayer: rules

It is worth saying a prayer against human envy with reverence and respect for the sacrament, observing some rules.

If you want to get rid of the negative influence of others, you need to analyze your thoughts and actions towards others. After all, envy on your part is also possible. Therefore, before starting prayer, you should mentally repent to everyone and admit your weakness.

Any request addressed to the Heavenly Father requires faith - all-consuming and undoubted.

How stronger man believes, the more effective the prayer ritual will be. To get into the right mood for unity with God, you need to stand in front of the images (at home in front of the icon), light candles and think about what you want to convey to the Almighty with your prayers.

Since prayers against envy are not long, you should read them several times daily until you feel lightness in your soul and the power of forgiveness. Thus, the envy that has clung to the energy shell will evaporate and all the negativity will subside.

Which prayer for envy is better to choose?

All appeals to Orthodox saints regarding the bad demonic feeling - envy - are conventionally divided into:

protecting from any random human envy;
aimed at envious people so that they stop gossiping about you and envying you;
cleansing, ridding the soul of the supplicant from this filth.

Orthodoxy considers the best prayer for envy to be the text presented in the Bible (Psalm No. 90) with the title “Alive in the help of the Almighty.” It should be read 12 times in a row.

If there is a person next to you from whom negativity and anger emanate, read the prayer text against the evil eye to the Most Holy Theotokos (you can mentally).

If you have been visited by evil, envious thoughts towards others, turn to the Lord (possibly through your saint or Guardian Angel) with holy prayer.

To stop gossiping and slandering a person, especially for public and high-ranking persons, you can take into account the well-known sacred text against people’s envy. If you read this prayer with a lit candle, walking around your home three times, then you and your family will forever be protected by powerful protection from the energy messages of ill-wishers.

Remember, any bad thoughts against other people will return a hundredfold to the one who sent them!

Other types of protective prayers:

Prayers for envy: comments

Comments - 3,

For my husband and I, everything was like in a fairy tale, holidays abroad, love, he has a well-paid position, two cars, and soon a long-awaited daughter was born. And suddenly I noticed that after talking with a friend who asked about all the details of our life, suddenly everything began to get disrupted, either someone would get sick, then my husband would have problems at work, quarrels in the family. Then I began to read a prayer out of envy and now everything seems to be getting better again, but my friend began to reduce communication to nothing.

That’s how they say, prayer helped, and you helped yourself too - contacts were kept to a minimum and everything worked out. as the proverb says, Happiness loves silence, that is, in this way you minimized your friend’s envy and this is evil for you, by stopping provoking her with your well-being, talking about it, it’s of course terrible that people are so envious, but what can you do - I have the same situation myself even worse, I already wrote, if there is something about my problem, answer

Powerful Prayer from envy (for public figures, high-ranking people), the prayer is excellent, I just can’t understand why they and public figures envy them, why they should pray for deliverance from their envy, this certainly won’t hurt, but what is the point of the prayer then? ? Recommend an effective prayer if you don’t envy at all, and yes you do. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help

Prayer against human envy and anger, 3 prayers

I present to your attention orthodox prayers from human envy and malice, addressed to the Holy Saints.

What can I say, envy is everywhere these days.

It seems that there is nothing to envy, but there are still ill-wishers.

To protect yourself from the malicious envy of people, you need to regularly whisper special prayers that allow you to ward off other people’s energy.

Before you begin fervent prayer, be sure to visit an Orthodox Church and submit a registered note about your own health.

If you know your enemies by sight, then under no circumstances order them to die.

Pray for their health and ask the Lord God to cleanse them of envious thoughts.

Prayer from envy to the Lord God

Light 12 candles and silently look at the burning flame.

Don’t intrigue your envious people; they don’t have peace of mind anyway.

Envious people constantly toil, wasting their vital energy on deep sorrows.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God. Have mercy and take the eyes of envious people away from me. Don't let them harm me in deed, word and thought. May all envious people find paradise, and may all sorrows leave their souls. Lord, reward me according to my faith, but don’t put my enemies to the test. Thy will be done. Amen.

Prayer for envy to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

Wonderworker Nicholas, Defender and Savior. Get rid of black envy and human dirty tricks from me. Protect me from rudeness and spoiled stoop. Do not punish me for temptations and forgive me all my reckless sins. Do not torment my envious people with stinginess, and do not torment them with desperate stupidity. Thy will be done. Amen.

Prayer for envy to Matrona of Moscow

In the event that you feel not only an envious glance on yourself, but also someone’s spoiled filth, turn to Blessed Matrona with prayer.

Blessed Elder, Matrona of Moscow. Forgive me all bad suspicions and ward off all human defilements. Protect me from sorrowful envy, take illness and disease away from my eyes. Let envy never take hold of me, everything that I have will be enough for me until death. So be it. Amen.

Now you know that there are Orthodox prayers against envy that allow you to protect yourself from bad people.

For the Lord to help you, try not to indulge in envious thoughts yourself.

May God help you!

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Orthodox prayer against the evil eye, envy, damage and evil people

Envy is a dangerous feeling that harms the envious person and the person to whom this feeling is directed. This “bone rot” can cause diseases and negative events in the lives of respectable people.

A true believer is not afraid of magic; it is not capable of harming him. Prayer is a means of healing, consolation and reassurance. Therefore, when you find a person who is envious, trying to put the evil eye on you, or causing damage, you should pray for him in sincere words.

Which saints should you turn to for help?

A prayer addressed to the Heavenly patrons will help protect yourself and your family from the evil eye and envy. There is also a prayer from evil people and damage, which has powerful healing powers.

Basic Prayer to Jesus Christ

Almost every person knows the Lord's Prayer by heart.

It is she who brings relief and a feeling of communication with the Almighty.

Our Father, who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

This is a powerful amulet that turns the enemy’s arrows back at him.

Living in the help of the Most High, he will settle in the shelter of the Heavenly God. Says the Lord: Thou art my Protector and my Refuge, my God, and I trust in Him. For He will deliver you from the snare of the trap, and from rebellious words, His splash will overshadow you, and under His wing you hope: His truth will surround you with weapons. Do not be afraid from the fear of the night, from the arrow that flies during the day, from the thing that passes in the darkness, from the cloak, and from the demon of the midday. Thousands will fall from your country, and darkness will fall at your right hand, but it will not come close to you, otherwise you will look at your eyes, and you will see the reward of sinners. For You, O Lord, are my hope, You have made the Most High your refuge. Evil will not come to you, and wound will not approach your body, as His Angel commanded you to keep you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their arms, but not when you dash your foot on a stone, step on an asp and a basilisk, and cross a lion and a serpent. For I have trusted in Me, and I will deliver, and I will cover, and because I have known My name. He will call to Me, and I will hear him: I am with him in sorrow, I will overcome him, and I will glorify him, I will fill him with long days, and I will show him My salvation.

Prayers for envy and evil people

O great saint of Christ, Venerable Mother Mary! Hear the unworthy prayer of us sinners (names), deliver us, reverend mother, from the passions that war on our souls, from all sadness and adversity, from sudden death and from all evil, at the hour of separation of the soul from the body, cast away, holy saint , every evil thought and crafty demons, for may our souls receive in peace into a place of light, Christ the Lord our God, for from Him is the cleansing of sins, and He is the salvation of our souls, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, with the Father and the Holy Spirit , now and ever and unto ages of ages.

Oh, holy servant of God, Hieromartyr Cyprian, quick helper and prayer book for all who come running to you. Accept our unworthy praise from us, and ask the Lord God for strength in our infirmities, healing in illnesses, consolation in sorrows, and everything useful to everyone in our life. Offer up your powerful prayer to the Lord, may he protect us from our sinful falls, may he teach us true repentance, may he deliver us from the captivity of the devil and all the actions of unclean spirits, and deliver us from those who offend us. Be our strong champion against all enemies, visible and invisible. In temptations, give us patience and at the hour of our death, show us intercession from the torturers at our aerial ordeals. May we, led by you, reach the Mountainous Jerusalem and be worthy in the Heavenly Kingdom with all the saints to glorify and sing the Most Holy Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Oh, great saints of Christ and miracle workers: the holy Forerunner and Baptist of Christ John, the holy all-praise apostle and confidant of Christ John, the holy hierarch Father Nicholas, the hieromartyr Harlampy, the great martyr George the Victorious, father Theodora, the prophet of God Elijah, saint Nikita, the martyr John the Warrior, the great martyr Varvaro , Great Martyr Catherine, Rev. Father Anthony! Hear us praying to you, servant of God (names). You know our sorrows and illnesses, you hear the sighs of the many who come to you. For this reason, we call to you, as our quick helpers and warm prayer books: do not leave us (names) with your intercession with God. We constantly err from the path of salvation, guide us, merciful teachers. We are weak in faith, strengthen us, teachers of orthodoxy. We have done a great deal of good deeds, enrich us, treasures of charity. We are constantly slandered by enemies, visible and invisible, and embittered; help us, helpless intercessors. Turn away the righteous anger moving towards us for our iniquities by your intercession at the throne of the Judge of God, to whom you stand in heaven, holy righteous women. Hear, we pray, you, great servants of Christ, calling you with faith and ask with your prayers from the Heavenly Father for all of us forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from troubles. You are helpers, intercessors and prayer books, and for you we send glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Rules for reading prayers

When saying prayers you should:

be in complete privacy:
the state of mind should be calm;
discard any thoughts of revenge on offenders;
do not be distracted by extraneous sounds or thoughts;
pronounce each word consciously, delving into each spoken phrase.

What are the similarities between envy, damage and the evil eye?

When a person is constantly overtaken by failures, things don’t go well, small problems give way to large ones and there are more and more of them, many people consider this to be the evil eye or damage. After all, even without the use of a witchcraft ritual, a person who is in a strong surge of envy and anger can direct negativity towards another person.

The evil eye is an unintentional effect on a person. For example, someone accidentally said something to the interlocutor and thereby jinxed him, without knowing it. But if someone wanted to cause damage, then this is a deliberate action using auxiliary objects, spells and rituals.

What does envy have to do with it?

Being envious, a person scrolls through negative thoughts in his head. For example, he wants to possess something that his friend has, thereby wanting him to lose his existing benefits and destroying the person’s happiness and success.

The main signs of the evil eye and damage

frequent attacks of headache;
constant weakness, fatigue, drowsiness;
loss of interest in life;
outbursts of anger, irritation, anger;
inner restlessness;
troubles in all areas of life;
hearing voices in the head, often indicating what, when and how to do;
a sense of the world in black and gray tones;
craving for alcohol, drugs, fornication;
sudden depression;
changes in blood pressure;
the occurrence of serious illnesses;
unpleasant sensations in the solar plexus.

Good advice for solving the problem and its “prevention” is given by practicing psychologists:

Outside your own home, you cannot boast about the successes of your household and your own achievements;
if you feel the unkind glances of envious people behind your back, or if you know that they talk a lot about you, thank the Almighty for the fact that your life is better than others;
limit communication with ill-wishers as much as possible;
engage in self-training: every day you need to give yourself the mindset that those around you (colleagues, friends, neighbors) are the best and friendliest people.

Witchcraft has flourished from time immemorial, draining human strength. Recently, there has been an increased interest in witchcraft ritual due to the availability of magical literature on bookstore shelves. The number of sorcerers, fortune tellers, and soothsayers is also growing, promising to improve the lives of sufferers.

Prayer, in turn, does not pose a danger to humans. Aimed at destroying the evil eye, damage and envy, it strengthens spiritual world person.

Fill the spiritual world with goodness and positivity, pray for your enemies, and then the evil envious people themselves will “weed out” from your life.

Envy

From the heritage of the Optina elders

Envy is one of the most difficult passions; it disrupts peace of mind and is accompanied by a storm of obsessive evil thoughts.

“The passion of envy does not, on any joyful holiday, under any joyful circumstances, allow one to fully rejoice at the one it possesses. Always, like a worm, it gnaws at his soul and heart with vague sadness, because an envious person considers the well-being and success of his neighbor to be his misfortune, and considers the preference given to others to be an unfair insult for himself.”

There is no way to please an envious person

Comparing envy with other passions, the Monk Ambrose recalled the parable of a money lover and an envious man:

“One Greek king wanted to know which of the two was worse—the money-lover or the envious one, because both did not wish the other good. For this purpose, he ordered to call the money-lover and the envious one and said to them:

“Each of you ask me whatever he wants.” Just know that the second one will receive twice what the first one asks for.

The money-lover and the envious man bickered for a long time, not wanting to each ask first, so that later they could receive double. Finally the king told the envious one to ask first. The envious one, being overwhelmed by ill will towards his neighbors, instead of receiving, turned to malice and said to the king:

- Sovereign! Order me to gouge out my eye.

The surprised king asked why he expressed such a desire. The envious one replied:

- So that you, sir, order my comrade to gouge out both eyes.

This is how the passion of envy is harmful and harmful to the soul, but also malicious. An envious person is ready to expose himself to harm in order to harm his neighbor twice as much.”

The elder explained that all passions are harmful to the soul, but in other passions a person can be calmed with something, but envy cannot be satisfied by anything:

“The proud one can be honored! Praise the vain one! To someone who loves money - give something... etc. There is no way to please an envious person. The more they please him, the more he envies and suffers.”

The first signs of envy are inappropriate jealousy and rivalry.

The Monk Ambrose taught to notice the first signs of envy, which manifest themselves in inappropriate jealousy and rivalry:

“Envy is first revealed by inappropriate jealousy and rivalry, and then by zeal with annoyance and censure of the one we envy.”

To the question of a spiritual child, what is the reason for envy and jealousy, Venerable Macarius answered as follows:

“You ask: why do you have such a hateful feeling when you hear praise from others, and how to get rid of it? What this confusion causes is already the passion that lies within you, arrogance... And when you reproach and humble yourself, you will be healed. Of course, the reason for this temptation is pride, for jealousy and envy arise from it.”

How to deal with envy

The Monk Macarius taught to fight thoughts of envy at the very beginning, when they were still pretexts, and taught to suppress these pretexts while they were still “Babylonian babies”:

“For God’s sake, do not allow this seed of Cain to grow in you, but suppress its small shoots, kill the “babies of Babylon” while they are still babies. Remove them from pretexts through self-reproach and humility.”

“It, like all other passions, has different sizes and degrees, and therefore one should try to suppress it and destroy it at the first sensation, praying to the Almighty God, the Knower of the Heart, with the psalm words: “Cleanse me from my secrets, and from strangers spare Thy servant (or slave Yours)” (Ps. 18: 13–14).

One must also humbly confess this weakness before the spiritual father.

And the third remedy is to try in every possible way not to say anything nasty about the person we envy. By using these means, we can, with God’s help, although not soon, be healed from envious weakness.”

St. Nikon also advised to pray for those towards whom you have hostile feelings:

“When you feel dislike, or anger, or irritation towards someone, you need to pray for those people, regardless of whether they are guilty or not. Pray in simplicity of heart, as the holy fathers advise: “Save, Lord, and have mercy on Thy servant (name) and for the sake of his holy prayers, help me, a sinner!” Such prayer calms the heart, although sometimes not immediately.”

Force yourself to do good

The Monk Ambrose advised:

“You need to force yourself, albeit against your will, to do some good to your enemies, and most importantly, not to take revenge on them and be careful not to somehow offend them with the appearance of contempt and humiliation.”

Pray for those you envy and for those who envy you

The Monk Joseph taught to pray not only for those you envy, but also for those who envy you:

“Whoever you envy, pray to God for him.”

“Pray for the envious one and try not to irritate her.”

How can you derive spiritual benefit from thoughts of envy?

The Monk Ambrose suggested how one can derive spiritual benefit from thoughts of envy by turning envious thoughts into thoughts of humility:

“You write that, seeing yourself worse than others, you are inclined to envy. Turn this feeling to the other side - and the floor at read the benefit. Seeing oneself worse than others serves as the beginning of humility, if only a person reproaches himself for the admixture of nasty feelings and thoughts and tries to reject this harmful admixture. If you give room for humility to settle in your soul, then, to the extent that it does, you will receive peace from various spiritual burdens.

There is also nothing to envy about those who are wealthy in appearance. An example before your eyes is that even those who have a rich fortune do not enjoy peace of mind. This requires not external support, but firm trust in God. If this provision was useful to you, then the Lord would have sent you wealth. But apparently this is not useful for you.”

Be ready for the return of passion

The Monk Macarius reminded us: sometimes it seems to us that we have conquered some passion, but when the opportunity arises, it turns out that it has returned in its former guise. The elder advised not to be embarrassed by this, but to be prepared for such a turn and, recognizing your weakness, to humble yourself:

“About your passion [envy], you thought that you were already free from it, but then it seemed, when an opportunity opened up, that you were not. What one cannot be surprised about, but one must be prepared to resist passion and, recognizing one’s weakness, humble oneself. When humility and love reign, then passions will disappear.”

Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, venerable elders Optinsky, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us!

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Hieromonk Chrysostomos (Filipescu)

Envy, which weighs heavily on the heart, first takes the form of slight dissatisfaction with the position you have achieved, while someone has succeeded more than you. Then this dissatisfaction grows and grows. A person obsessed with envy anxiously watches the person he envies, looking for a reason to condemn him. This illness of the soul can be defined as the inability to realize the unity of existence of all people as a whole, for the good of our neighbor should also please us.

Salieri's mistake. Salieri's mistake.

or How envy is born and how to deal with it

Sometimes envy is directed at objects that are completely strange. Thus, in a well-known ditty of the post-war era, with bitter irony, the absurd ability of a person to envy even the grief of others was ridiculed: He lives well who has one leg, He is given a pension, and does not need a boot.

A Word about Envy in the Second Week of Lent A Word about Envy in the Second Week of Lent

Saint Elijah (Minyatiy)

Envy is the original seed of all evil, the first generation of all sin, the first poisonous defilement that corrupted heaven and earth, the first pernicious flame that kindled the fire of eternal torment. The first to sin in heaven with pride was the Lucifer; the first to sin in paradise by disobedience was Adam; The first person to sin with envy after his exile was Cain. But the first reason for all those sins of the Lucifer, Adam and Cain was still envy.

Why is envy dangerous and what actions can it take?

Is she pushing? What are some examples of this?

Are you familiar with mental vices from literature?

How to overcome envy? Love covers

All. Learning love is the most important thing in

Human life.

What did envy do?

It's finished! Paleness imposed

Seal on dead lips,

For the first time death closed his lips,

And blood was shed for the first time!

Brother struck brother

Having broken the connection of past years,

And there is no return for deeds,

And there is no forgiveness for sin.

Trembling, with a mad face

The killer runs in wild fear,

Frightening loved ones and relatives.

But tomorrow is the same as today,

He hears and is filled with horror,

“Tell me, where is Abel? Where is your brother?

O. Chumina

Cain killed his brother Abel. It didn't happen right away. At first he accepted the thought instilled in him by the enemy of the human race and succumbed to him out of envy. And this thought had to be reflected at the very beginning, as the holy fathers teach us, so that it does not grow to the point of committing a sin in practice.

Envy is a terrible evil. From her is the passion for fame and acquisition; from her lust for power and pride. Hence the criminal robbers and robbers on the roads, hence the murders, hence the division of our family. Whatever evil you encounter comes from envy.

***

Ivan Ilyin. ENVY.

While people live on earth, they must get along, find their way to each other, unite, help one another. Otherwise, the earth will open up beneath them and the sky will split open above their heads. But envy is the most powerful means of disintegration: it was once invented by the master of “Apart” and “Against Each Other.”

In order to get along, people need to “forgive” each other their differences, their advantages, their primacy. Not only in the possession of a fortune, but in everything: you are smart, gifted, educated, handsome, strong, rich, you are highly ranked in your service - I am not; you are above - I am below; ok, I accept it, I'm happy with it... I don't envy you. If my “bottom” is not enough for me, I will fight for “more” and “better”, but not wanting to take yours away from you. I will work, work creatively, move myself “up” - in competition, but without envy. You just stay “at the top”; I'll come up to you.

Competition as internal motive– a healthy, creative, fraternal phenomenon.

Envy, as an internal motivating reason, on the contrary, painful, destructive, hostile. Its formula is unreasonable and immoral.

Envy is primarily stinginess and greed. .

She is insatiable, like curiosity; it thereby means eternal poverty, eternal care, eternal bad mood; it turns every success into failure and leaves a person poor in hopeless loneliness. A cruel envious person is a malicious person: he takes offense at a person for someone else’s happiness, he is hurt by every other person’s success, any positive quality in another torments him like a wound in the heart; the anger of the one who has lost the owner fills him, like the rage of an inferior person who constantly feels his inferiority, and therefore biasedly notes someone else’s superiority. He doesn’t even approach the “case”: he gets stuck in the struggle between “I” and “you”, and in this eternal struggle harasses himself and his opponent.

If his rage expands to social program, then it spills over into class struggle and the Marxist civil war begins.

Where is the salvation and consolation? In art there is no envy. It's not difficult at all. Give everyone what they already have, and don’t constantly delve into your own inferiority. Throw away this pathetic “reading” of your imaginary “smallness” from someone else’s supposed “superiority.” Know that you yourself are worth “addition.” Rise up without pushing others down. Don't be jealous! Don't be jealous! And - most importantly - learn to forget about yourself in a big matter!

Questions for students:

- probably not a single one was spared

Feelings of envy. What is experiencing

The soul, when it comes into contact with him?

- how to avoid envy?

- Is it easy not to envy?

MORTAL SINS

Pride- despising everyone, demanding servility from others, ready to ascend to heaven and become like the Most High - in a word, pride to the point of self-adoration.

Unfed soul- or Judas’s greed for money, combined, for the most part, with unrighteous acquisitions, not allowing a person to think even a minute about spiritual things.

Fornication- or the dissolute life of the prodigal son, who squandered all his father’s estate on such a life.

Envy– leading to every possible crime against one’s neighbor.

Gluttony- or carnalism, not knowing any fasting, combined with a passionate attachment to various amusements, following the example of the evangelical rich man, who had fun all day long.

Anger- unapologetic and determined to commit terrible destruction, following the example of Herod, who in his anger beat the infants of Bethlehem.

Laziness – or complete carelessness about the soul, negligence about repentance until the last days of life, as, for example, in the days of Noah.

***

THINK Slowly!

Just as rust eats away iron, so does envy eat away the soul in which it lives.

Envy is sadness about the well-being of one's neighbor.

Saint Basil the Great

Envy is the daughter of pride: kill the mother, and the daughter will perish.

St. Augustine

An envious person harms himself before the one he envies.

Saint John Chrysostom

***

The annoying demon is busy,

He wants to seduce me with delight:

I accept part of my pleasure

And I give glory to God.

And the demon is busy around again,

He wants to scare me with trouble:

I accept my share of sorrows

And I give glory to God.

For every ray and breath

I give praise to God

And old age, my friend,

I lead you to the threshold, in hope.

Vyacheslav Ivanov

There are two paths: good and evil.

Anyone is open, but useful to everyone

Only the one to whom the Truth went,

Which is holy, thorny and cramped.

For the flesh it is cramped, evil and lies,

But not for the righteous soul,

Preserving honor, the Law of the Creator

From the beginning of life to the end.

Archpriest Vl. Borozdinov

***

Don't wish for it

what belongs to your neighbor

The peasant son Timosha tended other people's sheep and received such a small wage for it that he had nothing to buy boots with. One evening, when he was standing barefoot at the gate of the inn, the master's carriage drove up to the house.

“Some people are so lucky that they ride around in a carriage!” – Timosha thought, looking with envy at the rich crew. - And our brother - if you please, go barefoot. How did I, an orphan, anger the Lord, that I must forever toil and wander among strangers? And why is God’s mercy for this gentleman at least?.. If I could change with him even for an hour, it would be happiness!

As soon as he said this, the doors of the carriage opened and, with the help of two servants, a legless cripple climbed out.

- The power of the cross is with us! - Timofey exclaimed, dumbfounded, crossed himself and ran into the field without looking back.

From then on, not only did he not envy anyone, but he also no longer complained about his poverty.

***

Three travelers once found a precious find on the road. It had to be divided equally among everyone. The find was so large that a portion of each would have been quite significant.

But the devil immediately appeared with his companions, the spirits of envy, deceit and greed.

After admiring their find, the travelers sat down to rest to refresh themselves with food, but each was not thinking about food, but about how he could take possession of the treasure alone.

One of them needed to go to the nearest town to buy supplies. One went. The two who remained at the site agreed to kill the third when he returned to share his part. Meanwhile, the one who went for supplies decided to poison them with poison, so that after the death of both comrades, the wealth would remain for him alone.

When he returned, he was immediately killed by his companions, and they, in turn, after eating the food they brought, both died.

The precious find remained in its place to wait for others - madmen or more worthy people.

***

One Greek sovereign, wanting to know who was worse: an envious person or a lover of money, ordered two people to be brought to him, one of whom suffered from envy, and the other from the love of money.

When those invited appeared, the sovereign said:

“Let each of you demand from me such a gift as he wishes, and I will give it to him with joy.” After this, the second of those who asked and received the gift will receive twice as much as the first one requested and received.

The envious man refused to ask for the gift first, not wanting the money-lover to receive double. And the money lover refused to ask for a gift first in those forms, so that the envious person would not take possession of the double gift.

Since there was no end to the disputes, the sovereign was forced to stop these disputes by commanding that the envious person be the first to make a request for a gift. And what do you think the envious man demanded as a gift? He demanded that one eye be torn out from him, of course, wanting both eyes of his opponent to be torn out, i.e. so that he becomes completely blind.

Thus, this villain, out of envy, not only refused every royal gift, but even decided to allow himself to be mutilated, just so that his rival would not receive a gift twice as much.

***

DON'T BE ENVY

Envy of the devil brings death into the world, says St. Scripture (Wis. Sol. 2:24).

Envy not akin to people, but akin to the devil; it comes from the devil.

It is common for people to sin out of weakness, but only the devil alone is capable of doing evil out of envy.

Envy is the daughter of the devil, and whoever mates with her, she will bring nothing but malice, and malice gives birth to death. Cain made friends with envy and cultivated anger in himself; the anger matured and brought death to two: Abel, temporary, and Cain himself, eternal.

St. Gregory of Nyssa writes: “ Envy is the beginning of malice, the mother of death, the first daughter of sin, the root of all evil.”.

St. Basil the Great exhorts: “ Let us, brothers, avoid the intolerable evil of envy; it is the commandment of the tempting serpent, the invention of the devil, the seed of the enemy, the guarantee of God’s execution, an obstacle to pleasing God, the path to Gehenna, the deprivation of the Kingdom of Heaven.”

St. John Chrysostom speaks: " Whoever works miracles, preserves virginity, observes fasting, lays prostrations and compares with the angels in virtue, but has this flaw (envy), he is more wicked than all, more lawless than the adulterer, the fornicator, and the digger of graves.”

COUNCIL OF BASIL THE GREAT

CONQUERING ENVY

“If you see with a mind higher than human, you will not consider anything earthly great and extraordinary: neither what people call wealth, nor fading glory, nor bodily health; If you do not provide benefits for yourself in transitory things, but direct your gaze to the truly beautiful and praiseworthy, to the achievement of eternal and true blessings, then you will be far from recognizing anything earthly and perishable as worthy of pleasure and competition. And whoever is like that and is not amazed by worldly greatness, envy can never approach him.”

(Works of St. Basil the Great IV.188, 190)

***

Spiritual honeycomb

Envy plots intrigues against good neighbors. Where there is envy and greed for fame, there is no true friendship.

Envy turns a person into a demon.

Envy is worse than fornication and adultery; it gives rise to slander and accusations. She must be overcome by rejoicing.

All sins come from self-love. The beginning of goodness is to deny oneself, crucify the flesh with passions, endure grief, insults, and misfortunes.

When a person lives in space, in abundance and contentment, then he grows in his belly and does not grow in spirit, does not bear good fruits.

And when he lives in cramped conditions, in poverty, in illness, in misfortunes, in sorrows, then he grows spiritually, matures and bears good, rich fruits.

Therefore the path of those who love God is hard.

The head and essence of all good deeds is love, without which neither fasting, nor vigil, nor labor mean anything...

Without love for God and neighbor

can't be saved

Wild, harsh desert. There is complete desertion all around. Here three monks are saved through strict feats of abstinence. What tortures do they subject their sinful flesh to! She seemed to have become completely emotionless. Only their hearts remained cold: love for their neighbor never warmed them...

One day these monks met an elder experienced in spiritual life and began to boast to him about their deeds.

- I learned by heart the entire Old and New Testament: What will happen to me for this?

“You filled the air with words, but still there is no benefit to you from your work,” the elder answered him.

- And I, father, are all Scripture rewritten! – the second one boasted.

“And it’s of no use to you,” came the answer.

Then the third exclaimed:

- And I, father, create miracles!

“And it’s no good for you,” the elder tells him, “for you, too, have driven love away from yourself.”

If you want to be saved, have love in your heart, do mercy, and then you will be saved, for:

If someone says that he loves God, but hates his brother, it is a lie... And this commandment of the imams is from God, that he who loves God, loves his brother (1 John 4: 20.21).

***

The Legend of Saint Julian

Julian brings an unknown traveler to his hut, built in the thicket of an impenetrable forest. His body is completely covered with disgusting leprosy. Thin shoulders, chest and arms literally disappear under the scales purulent acne. From the bluish lips comes a fetid and thick breath, like fog. The traveler is tormented by hunger and thirst. Julian willingly satisfies them and at the same time sees how the table, ladle and knife handle, which the leper grabbed, are covered with suspicious stains.

The patient's lifeless body grows cold. Julian tries in every possible way to warm him up by the fire. But the leper whispers in a fading voice: “On your bed...” and demands that Julian lie down next to him and warm him with the warmth of his body.

Julian does everything unquestioningly. The leper suffocates. “I’m dying!” he exclaims. “Hug me, warm me with your whole being!”

Julian, without any shadow of disgust, hugs him and kisses him on his stinking lips.

Then, the legend says, the leper squeezed Julian in his arms, and his eyes suddenly shone with a bright light, like stars, his breath became sweeter than the incense of a rose. Unearthly joy filled Julian’s soul, and the one who held him in his arms grew and grew...

The roof rose, the starry vault spread out all around, and Julian rose into the azure face to face with our Lord Jesus Christ, who carried him into the sky...

***

This is what love is, this is how all passions are conquered!

At its core, love is always sacrificial. When you sacrifice yourself for your neighbor, go through hardships, lose some of your benefits - you are close to this feeling. If this, of course, is not a coincidence, but the state of your soul.

We are far from this high sacrificial feeling. Today we have all vulgarized: love, infatuation, and friendship. But even in modern relationships, it is not surprising, there is a feeling of sacrificial love.

In every true love There is certainly a religious element. Agree, as soon as we love deeply, we say “forever.” Because then we clearly feel that this love, which has filled our entire spiritual being, will not die with us, but will be transferred with us to another life.

This is why great and unhappy love seeks refuge in the sky, in dreams of uniting there with those from whom the earth has separated, and speaks like the famous Schillerovskaya heroine Tekla:

There is a better land where we are free to love,

My soul has already transferred everything there...

Great Russian lyricist Afanasy Fet, whose poetry is almost alien to religious motives, nevertheless left a poem of crystalline purity, which depicts a dream about a man’s beloved girl in the solitude of the night, in front of an icon:

Lady of Zion, before You

In the darkness my lamp is lit.

Everyone is sleeping all around. My soul is full

Prayer and sweet silence.

You are close to me. With a humble soul

I pray for the one by whom my life is clear.

Let it bloom. Be happy she

Whether with another chosen one, alone or with me...

Oh no!.. Forgive the influence of illness.

You know us: we are destined for each other

Save through mutual prayers...

So give me strength, stretch out your holy hands,

So that it could be brighter in the midnight hour of separation

I will light a lamp before You!

How well, how deeply this is said and how wonderfully it expresses the ultimate goal of all Christian affection: “We are destined to save each other through mutual prayers”...

Fate can separate people. Two people who seem to be made for each other may find themselves separated in different directions. But what fate cannot take away from anyone is the right to pray for a beloved soul.

Time has no power over real feelings. There is an exceptional power of feelings when they love even stronger in separation, when souls feel each other at a distance: they worry if a loved one gets sick or troubles and sorrows befall him, they rejoice when there is success and peace of mind.

Our time is a time of general depravity. If our distant ancestors had seen today's youth - almost completely naked girls, as if offering themselves to the first person they met, I think they would not have endured such a sight!

But not only obscene appearance, but also indecent behavior of young people! Under the influence of Western pernicious culture, relationships have become vulgar, the mystery in the relationship between a man and a woman is disappearing, eroticism and sex have become commonplace. Fornication and adultery are normal.

But, dear friends, you can’t lie before God! No matter how much we attribute everything to time and morals, we will have to answer in all severity: children will be born sick or defective, married life will not work out in the future, and is it possible to list all the consequences of a sinful life!

We must deeply understand what times we live in, how little we actually know and feel about our Orthodoxy, how far we are not only from the solid moral foundations of such distant times, but also from the morality of ordinary Christians who lived a hundred years ago.

We are also surprised: why do the great disasters befall us from everywhere? Because of our sins, God's vengeance hits us, but we do not want to admit our sinfulness. We don’t want to repent and improve.

Why is it important to repent - go to Church for confession?

Because if we sincerely repent of our sins, the Lord forgives us. Why in the Church? Because the priest, with the power given by God, has the right to forgive sins: he covers you with an epitrachelion and reads a special prayer.

Humanity has received a holy gift - the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Through repentance and Communion, the path to salvation was opened to countless great sinners. We all just need to sincerely repent!

CREATIVE WORKSHOP

Dramatization of “Tales of the Fisherman and the Fish” by A.S. Pushkin.

MATERIALS

Gospel

God's Law

“Spiritual Conversations.” T.16.No. 42, p. 359

“Spiritual Sowings.” Spiritual and moral reading for the people, schools and families. M.. 1995 – from a reprint of the Holy Vvedensky Monastery of Optina Pustyn.

“Sin and Repentance of the Last Times.” Archimandrite Lazar. M., 2002 .

Nuggets of spiritual wisdom. M.. 1993 .

I. Ilyin. “I look into life. Book of Thoughts.” M.: “Athos”, 2000.

Poetry: A. Fet, Schiller, V. Ivanov, prot. Vladimir Borozdinov

Q?There is another story about the first red testicle.
Mary Magdalene, like other disciples of the Lord, went from country to country and talked everywhere about Jesus Christ, about how He rose from the dead and about what He taught people. One day she came to Rome and entered the palace there. Once upon a time, Maria was noble and rich, she was known in the palace and was allowed to see Emperor Tiberius. In those days, when people came to the emperor, they always brought him some gift. The rich brought jewelry, and the poor brought what they could. And so Mary came now when she had nothing else but faith in Jesus Christ. She stopped in front of the emperor, handed him a simple egg and said loudly:
- Christ has risen!
The emperor was surprised and said:
- How can anyone rise from the dead! It's hard to believe. It's as hard as it is to believe that this white testicle can turn red!
And while he was still talking, the testicle began to change color: it turned pink, darkened and finally became bright red!

Special Easter rituals include blessing arthos. Artos is a prosphora with a cross or the Resurrection of Christ depicted on it.

The historical origin of artos is as follows. According to custom, the apostles ate a meal with the Lord, and after His ascension into heaven they set aside part of the bread for their teacher, thereby expressing their faith in the constant presence of Jesus Christ among the disciples.

By preparing artos, the Church imitates the apostles. At the same time, artos reminds us that Jesus Christ, by His Death on the Cross and Resurrection, became for us the True Bread of Life.

After the Liturgy, the eggs, Easter cakes and Easter cakes brought by believers are blessed (according to tradition, the Easter meal begins with the singing of the prayer “Christ is Risen” and eating the blessed eggs, Easter cake and Easter cake). Remembering the great benefits shown to the human race by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the ancient Christians extended a helping hand and charity to the orphans, the poor and the needy. Evidence of ancient Christian charity on the days of Holy Easter remains today the distribution of money and blessed products to the poor, in order to make them participants in the general joy on this bright holiday.

Features of the Easter service

In the consciousness of the Orthodox Church, the event of the Resurrection of Christ is one continuous delight, one continuous joy. Not a single holiday is celebrated with such unusual light and solemnity as the holiday of the bright Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, our Easter service itself is the only and unique one. It is one continuous rejoicing.

If we began to cite the amazing chants of this church service, extraordinary in its content, we would simply have to rewrite it entirely, because it is difficult to decide which of the chants to give preference to, they are all so good and expressive.

Before Easter Matins the rite of the Midnight Office is celebrated, where on the 9th song of the canon Don't cry for me Mati the shroud is taken from the middle of the temple to the altar and placed on the Holy Altar until Easter is celebrated.

At the end of the Midnight Office, Easter Matins begins with a procession of the cross with the singing of the Sunday stichera of the 6th tone Your Resurrection, Christ the Savior. In front of the closed doors of the temple after worship Glory to the Saints... the moment comes that everyone is really looking forward to: the clergy sings the troparion of Easter Christ is risen from the dead... and people pick up these long-awaited words.

Easter Matins is extremely festive, we perceive it as a “feast of the holidays”, and at the same time it does not have any of the usual, regular signs of a festive service: there is no doxology sung, there is no polyeleos - all that is usually an integral part of a festive matins. But at the Easter service, almost everything is sung. During the singing of the Easter canon, the priests perform censing for the people with the words “Christ is Risen!”, People answer: “Truly He is Risen!” All the decoration of the temple, the vestments of the clergy, are festive, bright red. The royal doors of the altar are open throughout Bright Week. The entire Easter service is an incessant, solemn hymn to the bright Resurrection of Christ. Victory of life over death. Reconciliation of God with man and man with God... On the bright Easter night, heaven and earth merge together, angels and people touch and every barrier between them disappears. The majestic and significant Easter service reveals to the believer everything that is mysterious, lofty and saving for the soul in Christianity, bright, joyful and comforting for the heart. It is in the moments of the most majestic Easter service that Christian delight captures a person’s soul completely and dominates in it over all its other thoughts, feelings and aspirations.

At this service we hear the Catechetical Word of St. John Chrysostom, amazing in content: Let all who were pious and God-loving enjoy this good and bright celebration. And let all who were prudent enter this day into the joy of their Lord. Whoever worked and fasted, let him receive his reward today. The Lord accepts the latter and the former with equal joy on this day. May the rich and the poor rejoice with each other on this day. Diligent and lazy - let them honor this day equally. Those who fasted and those who did not fast, let everyone rejoice equally. Let no one weep over their misery on this Easter day, because the common kingdom has appeared. Let no one cry for their sins, because on this day God gave people His forgiveness. Let no one be afraid of death; the death of Christ has set everyone free.

· “Christ is Risen!” - we say with a feeling of spiritual delight and awe, and we want to pronounce these words endlessly, listening in response to the other two holy words “Truly He is Risen!”

· LITERATURE

· Gospel

· God's Law

· Deacon A. Kuraev. “School theology” - M., 1998

· Orthodox reading. M., 2001- 2004 . Yu. Vorobievsky.

· “The Path to the Apocalypse.” M., 1999 .

· “The unknown light of faith.” M., 2002 .

· "Star of Bethlehem" M., 2000 g.

· The unidentified world of faith. Publication of the Sretensky Monastery., M., 2002 .

· Spiritual poetry. M., 1990.

Rev. Justin Popovich. “Progress in the Mill of Death.” Minsk.,

2001 .

There is a parable. A certain peasant had twelve fat, well-fed geese, and his neighbor had one, dirty and skinny. “Lord,” the neighbor was indignant, “where is the justice? How do you allow this?” And he heard a voice from above: “From now on you will have twelve geese.” “No,” the man objected, “make it better so that your neighbor also has one.”
The essence of envy: lack of love, sadness over the well-being of one's neighbor, desire for harm to someone who is better off. An envious person rejoices at the failures of others and is upset at their successes. He wants to see the handsome as ugly, the healthy as sick, the rich as poor, the gifted as untalented...
I'll give you another story. In a double hospital ward there were two hopeless patients: on identical beds, in equal conditions. The only difference is that one could look out the window, and the second could not, but next to him there was a button to call a nurse. Time passed, the seasons changed... The man lying by the window told his neighbor about everything he had observed: rain, snow, sun, trees, now covered with fluffy sparkling lace, now shrouded in a light spring haze, now decorated with greenery or a farewell yellow-scarlet outfit...
One day the patient at the window felt ill at night. He asked to inform the nurse, but the bitter neighbor did not press the button. And the unfortunate man died. The next day another patient was brought into the ward. The old-timer took advantage of the opportunity and asked to move it to the window. Now he finally saw that... the window looked out onto a blank gray wall that blocked everything. He fell silent and then told his new neighbor: “If I feel sick at night, don’t call the nurse.”
What envy can lead to! The mechanism of its appearance in the soul is simple: looking at a successful person, the envious person first wishes the same for himself. And when he realizes that his cherished dream is unattainable, he wants to take away the benefits of another and become equal to him. According to the Apostle Paul, pride gives rise to a passion for competition and word disputes, from which envy, strife, slander, and crafty suspicions arise (1 Tim. 6:4).

What color is envy?
It is believed that “white” envy stimulates thought, prevents a complacent heart from becoming satiated and encourages one to work on oneself: to make additional efforts, to catch up, to win, to set records. However, envy should not be confused with a jealous desire to achieve success in some business.
“Envy is one-color,” Orthodox writer Natalia Sukhinina is convinced. “But the crafty soul, hiding and making excuses, rushes to rehabilitate itself and sews with white thread out of black envy.” Envy is like magic: no matter how you paint it, it still remains communication with fallen spirits. So envy always reaches into someone else’s pocket with a check, and sometimes with a desire to appropriate someone else’s.
The advantages of others, be it a beautiful toy, a trained dog, good leisure time or a prestigious position, seem significant and attractive. A person tries to hide gross black envy under the guise of white, “justified” envy, which is easily disguised as love of truth or righteous anger at those in power, the rich, successful businessmen, intriguers, sycophants... Passion is also hidden under the guise of criticism, the fight against privilege, exposure of meanness, zeal for morality, law and order.
The sly self-justification of the envious person is based on an underestimation of his own achievements and the illusion that he really needs other people's benefits. Self-deception sometimes goes so far that a person believes in his miserable situation. The price to pay for this is great: a restless life, an inability to appreciate people, ingratitude...

Who and what do we envy?

The revolt of envy goes beyond social relations, since frustration and resentment at the unequal distribution of goods between people from our point of view is ultimately addressed to the Giver of all goods - God. It is no coincidence that Pushkin's Salieri, tormented by black anger towards the musical genius of Mozart, reproaches Heaven.
The indignation and murmur of an envious heart: “Lord, why him and not me?!” - always implies doubt in the love, goodness, justice and wisdom of God. Therefore, the origins of envy are in the depths of the self, in the area of personal relationships with God. For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts... deceit, lewdness, an envious eye, blasphemy, pride, madness. All this evil comes from within and defiles a person (Mark 7:21-23).
Envy is an invention of the devil: God did not create death and does not rejoice in the destruction of the living... God created man for incorruptibility and made him the image of His eternal existence; but through the envy of the devil death entered the world (see Wisdom 1:13; 2:23-24). Death invaded human society along with the envy of the fratricide Cain. Envy and death are sisters.
According to Elder Paisius of Svyatogorets, Cain did not seek to discern his own talents, but looked at the talents of Abel, cultivated hostility towards him, reached the point of fratricide and rebelled against the Creator. But perhaps Cain had more gifts than Abel.
In advanced cases, envy exposes the soul to eternal death and is therefore called a mortal sin. Envy is like poison: it leads to spiritual self-poisoning and undermines mental and physical health. No wonder the word of God says: A meek heart is life for the body, but envy is rottenness for the bones (Proverbs 14:30). “The moth and worm do not devour a tree as the fever of envy devours the very bones of the envious and poisons the health of the soul,” writes St. John Chrysostom.
Surprisingly accurate! Bones provide stability and movement to the body. Envy corrodes spiritual fortitude and extinguishes the heart’s desire for God.

How is envy cured?

The Lord commanded us to be wise and careful so that demons do not invade the heart and fan the spark into a fire. The main thing is not to allow yourself to be drawn into a whirlpool of evil feelings and thoughts, to recognize and extinguish the first sinful thought with fervent prayer and repentance.
The key to overcoming envy is spiritual sobriety, realism and objectivity. And we often blame external circumstances rather than ourselves. If envy is already nesting inside, let’s honestly ask ourselves: what do we envy? Are we really that deprived? Surely, we also have something to thank the Lord and people for. Repentance, prayer of thanksgiving and sincere awareness of one’s weakness before God is a sword that cuts off the disease of envy. A wonderful medicine is to do good and empathize with those towards whom we have unkind feelings and intentions.
Envious people are unbalanced by what lies outside their sphere of influence. Therefore, it is important to set realistic, creative goals for yourself and not get hung up on other people’s property, abilities, virtues and achievements. By doing what you love, it is easier to avoid the terrible feeling of inferiority and deprivation. Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets advises: “Try to purify and sanctify your envy so that it becomes good envy... God did not deprive anyone, he gave everyone a certain gift that can help a person in spiritual development.” The Lord gave each of us our talent and commanded us not to bury it, but to develop it.
According to the Russian psychologist Dmitry Leontyev, a healthy, happy person turns a problem into a task, and a neurotic, unhappy person turns a task into a problem. When looking at the well-being of another, you need to set a positive goal for yourself. As soon as we start thinking about ways to solve a problem, it immediately becomes a task, and there is no room for envy.
Let's say we compare ourselves with a more successful employee. Instead of being envious and offended by “injustice,” let’s think: “Why is everything going well for him? What's stopping me? What can I learn from him? A believer will also pray for God’s help for a good deed. Then the energy of envy will be grist for our mill: promoting the development of virtues, professionalism, etc.
Someone’s success should not “put pressure” on our psyche. Why covet something else? Find your way. Let's not be stubborn and stubborn; flexibility in achieving a goal involves changing tactics and strategy. Life experience teaches this. Thus, a woman who envies male leadership in society can realize herself by discovering the amazing facets of unclaimed femininity, charm, artistic taste, culinary art, vocal skill, etc.

What other ways can the evil energy of envy be turned into a “peaceful direction”?

The worm of envy is dislike of another’s virtue, internal harmony or external attractiveness. It is not for nothing that in our prayer for the coming sleep we repent: “Having seen the goodness of others, my heart was wounded by it.” This is about violating the tenth commandment of the Mosaic Law: You shall not covet... anything that is your neighbor's (Ex. 20:17). The surest remedy against envy is humility. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk refers to Blessed Augustine of Ippona: “Envy is the daughter of pride: kill a mother, and her daughter will perish.” In addition, you need to learn to love your neighbor, for love does not envy (1 Cor. 13:4). This is how all internal evil is healed, and the wedge is knocked out with wedge.
“If, having despised earthly things, you seek heavenly things,” continues Saint Tikhon, “you will envy neither honor, nor glory, nor praise, nor wealth, nor nobility, for you desire incomparably better things... Do you want from this painful ulcer not to be consumed and not get hurt? Reckon everything temporary as nothing.”
What if they envy us? Undoubtedly, this is allowed by God. Let us remember the Old Testament story of righteous Joseph. His brothers, out of envy, sold him to Egypt. But the Lord delivered His chosen one from slavery, slander and other sorrows, and bestowed wisdom and favor from Pharaoh, who made him commander over the entire country.
Thanks to this permission, Joseph's entire house was saved from hunger and survived. That is why the righteous Joseph did not condemn anyone, did not take revenge, and even consoled his brothers: Now do not be sad and do not regret that you sold me here, because God sent me before you to save your life... to leave you on earth... So, It was not you who sent me here, but God (Gen. 45:5-8).
Every cloud has a silver lining. But this is sometimes seen years later, at a distant distance. Then we will recognize the good Providence of God, and the prophetic words of the psalmist David will come true on us: Commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him, and He will perfect and bring out your righteousness like the light and your justice like the noonday. Submit to the Lord and trust in Him. Do not be jealous of the one who succeeds in his way, the wicked man. Stop being angry and leave rage; do not be jealous to the point of doing evil. For those who do evil will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will inherit the earth (Ps. 36:5-9).
Of course, one must deal with potential envious people carefully and prudently, so as not to give an excuse to those looking for an excuse (2 Cor. 11, 12). Here are some psychological self-defense techniques: do not boast about your achievements, successes and successes; don't like to be praised; do not stoop to showdown; Consider the principle - a sincere request for advice or help to a large extent disarms the envious person.
And remember that an envious person is an unhappy person with an unhealthy sense of self-esteem, overwhelmed by obsessive doubts and demonic thoughts. Being spiritually sick, he is worthy of regret and prayer, and not of reproaches and retribution.

Konstantin Zorin,
Bachelor of Religious Studies,
Orthodox doctor, medical psychologist

spoke about envy:

There is no way to please an envious person

Comparing with other passions, the Monk Ambrose recalled the parable of a money-lover and an envious man:

“Each of you ask me whatever he wants.” Just know that the second one will receive twice what the first one asks for.

- Sovereign! Order me to gouge out my eye.

The surprised king asked why he expressed such a desire. The envious one replied:

- So that you, sir, order my comrade to gouge out both eyes.

This is how the passion of envy is harmful and harmful to the soul, but also malicious. An envious person is ready to expose himself to harm in order to harm his neighbor twice as much.”

The elder explained that all passions are harmful to the soul, but in other passions a person can be calmed with something, but envy cannot be satisfied by anything:

The first signs of envy are inappropriate jealousy and rivalry.

The Monk Ambrose taught to notice the first signs of envy, which manifest themselves in inappropriate jealousy and rivalry:

“At first it is revealed by inappropriate jealousy and rivalry, and then by zeal with annoyance and censure of the one we envy.”

Reason for envy

To the question of a spiritual child, what is the reason for envy and jealousy, the Monk Macarius answered as follows:

How to deal with envy

The Monk Macarius taught to fight thoughts of envy at the very beginning, when they were still pretexts, and taught to suppress these pretexts while they were still “Babylonian babies”:

The Monk Ambrose also instructed to notice the slightest initial signs of envy in your heart and fight it with prayer, humble confession and prudent silence:

One must also humbly confess this weakness before the spiritual father.

St. Nikon also advised to pray for those towards whom you have hostile feelings:

Force yourself to do good

The Monk Ambrose advised:

Pray for those you envy and for those who envy you

He taught to pray not only for those you envy, but also for those who envy you:

“Whoever you envy, pray to God for him.”

“Pray for the envious one and try not to irritate her.”

How can you derive spiritual benefit from thoughts of envy?

The Monk Ambrose suggested how one can derive spiritual benefit from thoughts of envy by turning envious thoughts into thoughts of humility:

“You write that, seeing yourself worse than others, you are inclined to . Turn this feeling to the other side - and the floor at read the benefit. Seeing oneself worse than others serves as the beginning of humility, if only a person reproaches himself for the admixture of nasty feelings and thoughts and tries to reject this harmful admixture. If you give room for humility to settle in your soul, then, to the extent that it does, you will receive peace from various spiritual burdens.

Be ready for the return of passion

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, the venerable elders of Optina, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us!

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