Sergei Lepin called the members of the "Immortal Regiment" fascists and threatened them with dismissal 15.05.2018 12:34

The parishioner of the Cathedral sent an appeal to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', in which he touched upon important issues related to nationalist and autocephalous tendencies in the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The author of the appeal paid considerable attention to the destructive activities of the chairman of the Synodal Information Department of the BOC, Archpriest Sergei Lepin, about whom TELESCOP has written more than once. With the permission of A.V. Babuk publish the text of the appeal in full.

Your Holiness!

Since 1991, in the Republic of Belarus, as in many other post-Soviet republics, there has been an increase in nationalist sentiments aimed at destroying the unity of Holy Rus'. I myself come from the city of Grodno, the Western part of Belarus, and for about 10 years I was a parishioner of the St. Boriso-Gleb (Kolozhskaya) Church in Grodno. Historically, the Grodno region belongs to Black Rus', and this is the place where strong-willed people are formed and brought up, as their life takes place in the bosom of the clash of the Orthodox Russian and Polish Catholic worlds. That is why these quasi-nationalist “Litvinian” sentiments are acute in this region, especially within the church environment. These sentiments are all the more destructive because the trend imposed as “Belarusian nationalism” is anti-Belarusian, destroying what Belaya Rus has been creating for centuries, being precisely Orthodox Belaya Rus!

Recently, some key representatives of the clergy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate have been actively participating in these sentiments. This is felt primarily by the trends that are taking place in the Church in relation to language. Yes, of course, there is nothing wrong with the Belarusian language itself, but some of our clergy use it as an instrument of political game against the all-Russian spiritual unity, especially since the Belarusians took a key part in the formation of the Church Slavonic and all-Russian languages. If another 10 years of worship in the churches of Grodno were held in the Belarusian language once a month, and this by and large suited both those who support the Belarusian language and those who like Church Slavonic, today services are held in the Belarusian language every week, and the parishioners even complain to the clergy that the language is simply imposed artificially, since the people of us, the parishioners, are not asked about this.

Priests such as the rector of the church in honor of the Cathedral of All Belarusian Saints in Grodno, Archpriest Anatoly Nenartovich, as well as the rector of the Holy Intercession Cathedral in Grodno, Archpriest Georgy Roy, in my opinion, are carrying out forced Belarusianization in the church environment in Grodno, because voluntarily or they involuntarily force people to switch to the Belarusian language, ignoring Russian, which the Belarusians created no less than the Great Russians, for example, the rhetoric of the Russian language was created by the Belarusian Simeon Polotsky, and the great Belarusian first printer Francysk Skaryna played the most important role in the formation and codification of the Russian literary language. In our country, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, two languages ​​​​are adopted as state languages ​​- Russian and Belarusian, respectively, the population can choose the language they see fit.

Quasi-nationalist trends among the clergy are also felt in the city of Minsk, where the clergy occupy solid positions. For example, this is evidenced by the recent participation of the chairman of the Synodal Information Department of the BOC, Archpriest Sergiy Lepin, in the celebration of the so-called Freedom Day on March 25, 2018, which this year coincided with the 100th anniversary of the formation of the so-called BNR - the "Belarusian People's Republic" - the occupational anti-Belarusian project. During this event, Father Sergiy made a speech, the text of which he published in his LiveJournal. This speech caused a very mixed reaction in the media. Firstly, Father Sergius for some reason considers the Republic of Belarus to be the successor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Father Sergiy also said that “the leaders of the Belarusian People’s Republic fought against the occupiers with their initiatives and demanded freedom for many thousands of Belarusians languishing in prisons.” I wonder what kind of freedom Father Sergius means? If freedom from German occupation during the First World War, then it must be said that the BNR was formed just at the time when Belarus was occupied by the Germans, to whose occupation the creators of the BNR gave Belarus. This quasi-state lasted only 9 months, but today for some reason this day is considered the day of independence of our country. What kind of independence can be under occupation? We have our own official holiday on July 3, which fits perfectly into the context of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders.

It so happened that I have been in close contact with Father Sergiy for many years. This is primarily due to the fact that we are united by belonging to the scientific environment. Father Sergiy is a doctor of theology and an associate professor at the Minsk Theological Academy. I, in turn, am a candidate of philological sciences, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations of the Belarusian State University. And Father Sergiy and I quite often meet at various scientific and social events among students. He even came to us with lectures at the university. This year, for the first time in Minsk, on Victory Day, May 9, I took part in the Immortal Regiment action. As far as I know, this action took place in all regional cities of the Republic of Belarus, as well as in all major cities of the Russian Federation. Numerous reports in the media, as well as messages on social networks testify to the large number of people who took to the streets to honor the memory of their relatives and friends, who accomplished a feat and gave their lives for the future generation, for the Fatherland.

However, Father Sergius, in a private conversation, not only called the members of the Immortal Regiment fascists, but also threatened them in correspondence with dismissals from their jobs. The ribbon of St. George, repeating the symbols of the military clergy of the Russian Church, he called "fascist symbols." It turns out that if a person participates in the Immortal Regiment campaign with a St. George ribbon on his chest, should he be called a fascist for this? This is defamation.

For centuries, the Orthodox Church as a spiritual organism has been and remains the defender of traditional values ​​and statehood, as evidenced by the entire church history. However, today, when someone's mercantile interests interfere in the lives of ordinary people, some clerics also boldly interfere in the anti-Orthodox, anti-Belarusian, anti-Russian political game, going against the shrines and values ​​​​of those whom they consider their flock. Moreover, occupying key positions, such as the chairman of the Synodal Information Department of the Exarchate, his anti-Orthodox and anti-Belarusian propaganda acquires the appearance of the position of the Church, which has disastrous consequences. In the Republic of Belarus, Father Sergiy is a rather public and well-known person. His LiveJournal is included in the list of the 25 most read resources of the Belarusian Internet. However, in my opinion, the fact that lately Father Sergius has been increasingly focusing on the propaganda of the anti-Belarusian anti-Orthodox policy, this creates a candidate for promoting autocephalous sentiments within the Belarusian Orthodox Church, as evidenced by the facts that I cited above in the letter. But this contradicts the position of the Hierarchy, which stands for the unity of the Russian Church and, accordingly, is against autocephaly and the no less anti-Orthodox, Uniate project of autonomy for the Belarusian Orthodox Church. In fact, about Sergiy Lepin began to play in the Belarusian Exarchate the role of the vicar of the Kyiv Metropolis Alexander (Drabinko), who actively helps the pro-Nazi regime of Poroshenko to destroy the Church “from the inside”. Drabinko's political denunciations of fellow archpastors have already led to their appearance in the lists of the Nazi website "Peacemaker", which is the first step towards extrajudicial physical reprisals against Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil, Bishop Viktor and Fr. Nikolai Danilevich. Political denunciations and threats about. Sergiy Lepin to the Orthodox members of the "Immortal Regiment" - these are actions similar to Drabinko's provocations.

In this regard, I draw the attention of Your Holiness, as our First Hierarch, who at the meeting of the Supreme Church Council in 2017 gave his blessing to maximally intensify Orthodox participation in the Immortal Regiment, to actually church this popular patriotic movement, to the dangerous consequences of the statements and actions of Fr. Sergiy Lepin and on ongoing projects of anti-Orthodox forces to reject the Belarusian Exarchate from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Asking for your First Hierarchal blessing and holy prayers,

Your Holiness a humble novice.

And it all started in a completely different way - sports, Komsomol, rock music ... How did a rebel teenager come to faith, why did he choose the path of serving God and people?

Dossier:

He graduated from the Minsk Theological Seminary and Academy, Belarusian State University (philosopher, teacher of philosophy and socio-political disciplines) and postgraduate studies at Grodno State University (ontology and theory of knowledge).

Archpriest of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, Associate Professor of the Minsk Theological Academy and Seminary, Candidate of Theology. Teaches philosophy and logic.
He combines his teaching activities with the care of the parish of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the village of Mizgiri, Slonim district, Grodno region.

Wife Elena, two children: daughters Anna, 13 years old and Eva, 6 years old.

Bible for cheap

Please tell us about your childhood.

I was born in the most ordinary family. Father is a photojournalist, mother is a Russian language teacher. He studied at a sports school in Mogilev, seriously engaged in water polo.

And then my parents decided to move to Bobruisk, and there I began a serious youthful crisis. I was already fourteen years old, which in itself is a problem. On the other hand, there were no water polo sports schools, and I was sent to a literary school. Instead of many hours of training two or three times a day, I had time that I had nowhere to go. I experienced the pain of losing the sport - everything was connected with it - it was a real tragedy.

Then I joined the Komsomol, engaged in social work - I became the chairman of the club of international friendship, participated in all sorts of Komsomol undertakings.

At the same time, he began to study rock music - he created a group with his like-minded people. I was an interesting member of the Komsomol - shaggy, in tight jeans, a kosovorotka, studs. Komsomol, literature, plus rock - this thermonuclear ferment began to produce its changes ....

And that's when you turned to faith?

Once we went to church to invite a priest to some Komsomol get-together. We never invited a priest, but we still experienced a certain feeling from being together in the church ...

There was another important meeting. I was riding in a trolleybus and met a grandfather, a cheerful one, and on his chest hung a badge of incredible size, on which was written "I love God." I spoke to this man - the experience of a Komsomol activist and a recalcitrant non-formal predetermined my readiness to speak on this subject in a public place with a complete stranger for no reason.

We talked about the Bible, about God, we talked to him about some other wonderful things. The most interesting thing I learned is that you can buy a Bible from him. Where else could I buy it, I didn’t know, and he agreed to sell it to me “cheaply” - I remember that I paid 28 rubles for it (he even gave me two rubles) - it was a lot of money. I don't know if it was worth it or not, but that's all I had - I was collecting for a guitar that I never had.

It was a small pocket Bible. I read it in secret (God forgive me, even in the toilet), but not because I was afraid of anyone - I was not afraid of anyone, I was a fairly independent person, but for some reason I did not want to be caught doing this, For some reason I was shy. There is something so intimate about reading this Book...

And one day he went to church (he told his mother that he went to a rehearsal). And I say to the priest: “Hello, father, I want to enter the seminary.”

The priest calmly examined me from top to bottom - well, imagine: there is a hairy scumbag ... Then, like a policeman, he reads out the rights during the arrest, monotonously - about what is needed in order to enter the seminary. So I started going to church.

Somehow, after the liturgy, the north gate opens, the deacon peeps out and says: “Come here!” and waves. I noticed his gesture, but I did not even think that he was referring to me. "Come, come here," I looked around. - “Yes, yes, you, hairy, come here. Are you going to the seminary? You will swear."
Thus began my Ponomar epic. I learned to fan the censer, read the Six Psalms. Now I was not only a member of the Komsomol and a rock musician, but also a sexton. :) And in 1992 he entered the Seminary.

How did your life develop after seminary? Why did thoughts about the university, philosophy, dissertations arise?

These thoughts were nurtured by me already in the first year of seminary. This was determined by the specifics of my interests. Well, you understand, every student has their favorite subjects and topics. Those topics that were interesting to me, if you delve into them, required additional education due to their interdisciplinary status.

Seven Notes of Rock

How do you feel about rock music now? After all, there is an expression - rock in the service of Satan ...

Only man can serve God or the devil. Everything depends on him. On the contrary, assessing the influence of rock on my life, it seems to me that it greatly contributed to the fact that I turned to faith.

There are so many different things in rock, including things that justifiably deserve uncompromising censure - both from the point of view of God's Truth and from the point of view of legality. However, again, it is not music that is to blame, but people: it was not music that Christ saved, but people, and not in order to condemn music, Christ will come to earth a second time ...

Rock is music, and music is seven notes, nothing more. Everything else is people. Usually, the clergy complain about infernal (or those that seem to be so) motives in the work of rock musicians. That's a very difficult question…

You see, rock culture was formed as a protest against sugary and prettyly veiled hypocrisy, falsehood, opportunism, consumerism, inequality, war ... These traits were so comprehensive and universal that to protest against them often meant protesting against culture in general.

Young people, being inexperienced in complex issues of theology and morality, could not accurately distinguish and distinguish between good and evil, as a result of which their criticism was very reminiscent of American bombing: they aim at one thing and hit the other.

Moreover, it seemed to young people that all existing churches "cover" the world that seemed alien and unfair to them. It is here that the reason for the Nietzschean anti-Christianity, flirting with other religions and cults, or simply cynical nihilism, which is characteristic of some early collectives, lies. Satanism will appear later - first in the form of a theatrical shocking, and then in a "real" form - a religious one.

Rock is a form of explication of one's worldview, often developing into a way of life. Rock is the kind of music that most seriously exposes social problems, contradictions, touches on such topics as good and evil, justice, violence. Therefore, rock music is a protest against everyday life, dullness, hypocrisy, falsehood, conformism.

Rock is something that one day will force you to make an existential choice. If a person refuses it, then he even makes a choice with this. A lot of people after the rock turned to the faith (unfortunately, not always - to the Orthodox). Many - drank, chipped. Some began to simply trade in the market, play at weddings ... This, too, needs to be done by someone, but the musicians themselves are not at all happy about this ...

By the way, we have to admit that the ideological side of modern rock is drying up today. Today, young people, it seems to me, are looking for other forms to express their "fairy" to everything that they do not like. Still would! After all, their parents and even grandparents grew up on rock! Scorpions came to Prague as part of their farewell tour and couldn't even sell a minimum of tickets - why? Because their main audience is those who had no one to leave their grandchildren to.

Rock today is "opopsel", "glamour", has become part of the establishment and a means of adapting to others. Today, in a sense, rock is a way of suppression. “Son, what the hell are you listening to?? Here, listen, what a great song from Deep Purple!”…

Or maybe something is happening to me, and I don’t see everything in rock that I saw before. Indeed, sometimes music is just music.

Which of the rock musicians - our and foreign do you listen to now?

Oh, a lot of things ... Just a second, I’ll open the player and look at the story ... Dire Straits, Steve Morse, Peter Frampton, Craig Chaquico, Someday Blues, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Sinead O "Connor, Gathering ...

I'm very old-fashioned, as you can see: art rock, progressive, blues, jazz and I don't know what rock. I don't like domestic rock, although I recently listened to "August" and the last album of "Picnic".

The Problem of God

When you came to religion, why did you choose Orthodoxy - after all, at that time there was already some open information about other confessions - and you could become, for example, a Buddhist ...

Well, I would not say that in the 80s there was at least a dime a dozen of information. And if there was, then I don’t think that it caught the eye of 14-year-old teenagers ... It’s just that I happened to occasionally visit churches only occasionally - maybe it ...

Of course, if I put my hand on my heart, I cannot say that my choice was conscious then - the awareness and approval of the chosen one will come later. I didn't even have faith. Anything could happen, but the Lord had mercy.

Of course, I owe the fact that I stayed in the church to the priests of that church. No, they were neither titans of theology, nor deep psychologists, nor outstanding preachers. They were just good people. They just accepted me the way I was then.

It sometimes seems to me that today some of my colleagues are simply “scattering” people: a young man came to the temple, and right away: you stand in the wrong way, you hang in the wrong way, you look in the wrong direction, and your face is not like that ...

Then, it seems to me, everything was different - at least with me and my friends, who all became priests, one even a bishop. They made fun of me, they considered me strange, but ... I was interesting to them, and they and their service were interesting to me.

Tell me, who is “more valuable” for the Orthodox Church: a sinner baptized in Orthodoxy who violates absolutely all the commandments, or a representative of another religion - a Muslim, a Buddhist who leads a righteous life - does not commit adultery, does not gluttony, does not love money, etc.? ...

Of course, to whom more is given, the demand is greater. The one who breaks the vows of Baptism sins more. There is a fairly universal principle shared by many religions: a bad co-religionist is worse than a bad non-believer (not to mention a good one). Faith (like love) manifests itself in the affairs of a person, therefore, a malicious, unrepentant sinner, persisting in his indecency, in fact, leaves the borders of Orthodoxy. This is on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is worth remembering that no virtue in itself saves outside of true faith.

Don't you think that technological progress is a dead end for the development of mankind? That by creating one, a person destroys another - and the more he creates, the more he destroys ...

It doesn't just look like it, I'm sure of it. As Heidegger said, "the cycle of consumption for the sake of complete consumption is a unique process that distinguishes the history of the world, which has turned into a non-world." The cult of consumerism and accumulation is in sharp contradiction with the Christian view of the world as a temple of God, which a person must cultivate in fasting and prayer. The fewer spiritual needs a person has, the more material needs he has. The planet was created for the spiritual man. The Bible already tells us about one global catastrophe, about which occurred due to the fact that people "became flesh" - turned into meat.

And how do you feel about the fact that many science fiction writers (and recently scientists) claim that God actually existed, but was a representative of some alien race that with the help of genetic engineering, while instilling in them certain rules of life that have become commandments?

Well, both scientists and science fiction writers have their own religions. And science still has problems not only with the proof of the existence of God, but also with the proof of the possibility of life anywhere else outside of our planet. It is still not clear how life on Earth became possible: probabilities, chances, all sorts of anthropic principles... What is there to say about life on other planets and share the skin of an unkilled bear!

This is, firstly, and secondly, such a hypothetical assumption does not at all solve the “problem of God” in principle: after all, we still have the same question: who created these aliens?

Let me remind you, by the way, that man, from the point of view of the Bible, is not the only rational being created by God. There are also angelic worlds, and some of them became evil in relation to both God and His angels, and to man and our whole world.

One of my friends, a very talented girl, in her youth, was looking for herself and ways to change her mind - she changed many hobbies, was, like you, both a Komsomol leader and a musician, joined some sects, tried soft drugs, etc. Then she became interested in religion and became a true believer - for many years she led a corresponding lifestyle - fasting, prayers, served in church, etc. But when she turned 30, she suddenly “cooled down” - she still believes in God, but no longer wants to give all her time to the church as an institution - she wanted to somehow reveal her many talents. Could it be that you suddenly decide that the path of a priest is not yours?

At a certain stage of our life, God gives us a pledge of faith and grace. We must not only preserve it, but also increase it. On this path, it is very important to observe the measure in maintaining the flame of one's faith: if it is small, it will die out; if it is great, it will scorch the believer and those around him. It is very important not only not to go out, but also not to burn out, because the result is the same: darkness. I have too little data to make spiritual diagnoses for your friend like this, “in absentia”…

It is also worth remembering that Orthodoxy has a very liberal approach to calculating the "tithe" that a person must dedicate to God. We do not have mathematics: everyone decides for himself how much and in what way he will serve God. Perhaps the woman realized that to carry out obedience at the temple, is at the epicenter of parish passions - this is not hers. There is nothing wrong with this. Let her find a job in other "institutions" - something that, from her point of view, will reveal her as a person. The main thing is that she should keep her connection with the Lord and His Church in prayer, sacraments, divine services.

Theoretically, anything can happen. I don’t want to swear – if God doesn’t have mercy, then something else can happen. Look, the demons of the saints bent into the steering wheel, where can I go!

Cross for two

Where and when did you meet your future wife? How did she react to the fact that you are a priest?

I met Elena when I was in my first year. I spoke to her for the first time since one of the church services. She came with a friend to the monastery to pray and sat on a bench and waited for the bus... Naturally, then I was not a priest. She was not too concerned about my choice, but here are her relatives (especially aunts and uncles) ...

Adultery is one of the deadly sins, and not only a relationship with a married (married), but also a divorced one. But imagine such a situation that two believers got married, and then suddenly it turned out that it was not love, but only an illusion. But at the same time, faith in God does not allow them to disperse - because of the fear of sin. What is more correct from the point of view of religion - to continue to live together - without sin, but without a spiritual connection, or is it still to seek true love? And the same question often torments non-believers…

Illusion! What kind of illusion? The man bought himself a Golf and was very happy about it. Time passes, and joy becomes less and less. Then he decides that it was just an "illusion" and buys a new car, and then another ...

And so on until you get bored, or until the opportunity runs out. The trouble is that today people have a hedonistic attitude towards marriage: if it suddenly turned out that the “high” and “drive” that they had before are no more, then there is no point in being together. Then a new "love", and another, and another ... And then the person stops. Because he found what he needed, the "ideal"? Self-deception! Because age, because it “will come down”, because arrogance and radicalism have decreased, and something has appeared in the head (both in one’s own and in the partner’s).

People try to change the people around them. Unable to change others, they begin to change them. Although you just need to change yourself, your own attitude to what is happening. What exactly to change? First of all, the attitude to marriage. Marriage is by definition not "fun". This is a kind of "ZAO" for overcoming the vicissitudes of this temporary life in order to achieve the Kingdom of God. This is a hard joint work, among which "coincidence of characters" and so on. "Poetry" is only a desired outlet, and not a goal or meaning.

Marriage is not only the upbringing of children (if any), it is a joint work to eradicate sin in each other - including all the bad things that people try to get away from by filing for divorce. If you do not want to see the sick, then do not become a doctor, if you think that marriage is only when lilies of the valley are sniffed together, then it is better not to start a family. It is easy to find a person whose fun you will enjoy. It's easy to find someone who is happy to have fun with you. God grant joy to everyone, but the creation of a family is the search for someone with whom you will bear your cross, your pain together.

The meaning of marriage is not realizable within the boundaries of this life only - its meaning extends into eternity. Only eternity can make sense of all the suffering and inconvenience that people endure in marriage and can avoid by divorce. Pleasure is sometimes easier to get outside the family. In this sense, religion is how people justify the need to create and maintain families.

Today, people initially create families in the expectation that if you don’t like it, you can always get a divorce. Of course you won't like it! Holidays will pass, weekdays will come, and again you will want a holiday, moreover, ready, to which you will be called. But with a normal attitude, marriage is a "desert island" from which there is no escape. Do you want to swear? Swear! But just know that tomorrow you still go to the jungle together in search of something to eat - because there is no one else around! And you will have to look for true love where you lost it, and with the one with whom you lost it.

Therefore, the dilemma you posed is not correct. It is necessary to look for true love further, but with a spouse. Moreover, true love is never finally found in its finished form - it needs to be done throughout life. Sometimes everything collapses like a house of cards - it seemed that you wanted to build another “floor”, but no ... Well, take it and humbly and patiently build further - after all, in any case, with or without a spouse, you still have to start from scratch . And, as even my modest pastoral experience shows, people dramatize and exaggerate a lot.

Of course, there are situations in which divorce is acceptable or even indicated, but as I understand it, we do not discuss these situations yet.

What upsets you the most in people? And in humanity as a whole, and in individuals - your friends, students, parishioners?

What hurts the most is the duplicity. Two souls are less than one. In the eyes of one, behind the other. And so ... I do not think that I am original in this, like everyone else ...

At different moments in our lives, each of us was occupied with thoughts about the war - about some particular war or about war in general. Once, while still a student, I was killing time in the courtyard of the main building of the Belarusian State University near the monument to all those who left the classrooms of the university for the front, but did not return back. I saw the inscription on the monument thousands of times, but only at that moment it hooked me in earnest. Tears welled up in my eyes and I went deeper into the square...
They were not warriors - they wanted to be scientists, teachers. They were not interested in weapons - they liked solving equations, watching the weather, collecting herbariums. And what of them, in figs, are soldiers! Stooping, freckled bespectacled, saving on food to buy a book or go to dances ...
And just yesterday (in the literal sense), graduation balls died down in schools all over the country: white shoes, dresses, curly hair, awkward courtship, dawn. Dawn of the first day of the war.
Everything changed in one day. Goodbye science. Farewell, mother. Goodbye life.
And then ... fear, anger, anger, blood, pus, army humor, dirt, cold, hunger, death. All. Even if he survived, he was tired for life. War is when some children kill others.

It is strange how many wonderful books there are about Christ and everything connected with Him! How many of them I would like, if not to read, then, in any case, to buy ...
And I'm sitting here and writing about God from right to left. Sometimes all night long.
And the Lord wrote only one single word - in the sand. And then he was trampled in a showdown with a prostitute ...

The day before yesterday I buried a baby. Thank God, this doesn't happen often in my parish. I can't get used to it - I feel guilty. I was preaching, but I caught myself feeling as if I was making excuses.
God forbid, but still, dear fellow priests, if we happen to find ourselves in such grief, will we be consoled by what we are trying to console others with?

There are people who, like night butterflies, wake up the sun, and then, when night comes, they break into blood on the lanterns ...

I went to my priest friend in Telekhany. On the way back I picked up a woman with two small children. We pass by a crushed hedgehog. One child screamed so that I was already frightened of surprise: “Mom, mom! Look, the hedgehog has been killed! Why didn’t we ask the priest to stop, so that he could cure him?!” It's not funny! I want to cry. Poor people! How hard it is for them with us priests - we can’t even resurrect a hedgehog.

The other day I consecrated an apartment in one house ...
I see that the hosts are well prepared: icons, cross-stickers, candles, incense, oil…. Stop. I look: there is some red sediment and suspension in the oil. I even thought at first that it was oil from the Unction. I'm starting to figure it out. They explain to me that there, AS PLEASED (!), is added ... Tabasco sauce !!! I'm shocked. "Well, how!" - They tell me. - "We did everything as you ordered Petya and Sveta!". Petya and Sveta are our mutual good friends (names are fictitious), to whom I also consecrated the house six months ago. And here, it turns out, what's the matter ...
Somehow these Petya and Sveta call me, asking me to come and consecrate their house, otherwise “it became completely unbearable: we all swear, but we swear - everything is already going to divorce.” I come to them, ask them what and how, and they vied with each other, like little children, complaining about each other. I listened to everything ... Okay, I say, now let's pray, and then we'll talk ...
They prayed, consecrated, sprinkled… “And now what to do with the oil that is left?” they ask me. I jokingly answer: you need to take Tabasco sauce (you can also use Chili, but it is more customary for Orthodox people to use Tabasco), add it to the oil and smear your tongues as soon as you start swearing ... And, it should be noted, they both have great tongues! It turns out, in general, that they then did just that !!!
And how, I ask in complete opupeosis, did it help them? And then!!! “They have, like, already half a year as a solid honeymoon again, quiet and smooth, they walk down the street, hooked with their little fingers, they hit religion ... And she still seems to have become pregnant - it’s not convenient to ask, but it’s very similar” ...
These same Petya and Sveta explained how to properly prepare for the consecration of the apartment ...

In short, are you still swearing? THEN I'M COMING TO YOU!!!

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"These events caused a storm of indignation on the part of a huge number of believers."

Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Pavel.

December 2014.

Can we question the words of the Primate of the Belarusian Orthodox Church? No. It really was a storm. And it really was our indignation. Only in this way could the Orthodox Christians of Belarus react to the attempt to split our Church.

In 2014, the decision to petition for granting the Belarusian Orthodox Church the status of a self-governing church on the model of Latvia, Moldova and Estonia sounded like a bolt from the blue.

What is this? And this is a split. That is how the Orthodox Christians of Belarus perceived this intention. The news is rapidly spreading among Belarusians. For believers, it is tantamount to a message about the beginning of the war.

Orthodox Christians decide to buy houses on Russian territory along the border. The possibility of acquiring empty Russian villages and building Orthodox churches there, which will no longer be threatened by self-government and autocephaly, is being discussed.

It also all started in Ukraine. Chaos and rivers of blood, seizure and destruction of Orthodox churches, mockery of believers - Ukrainian refugees tell about all this. Belarusians understand that all this can happen again in their country. What to do?

Belarusians remember how, at the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, held in March 1992, the Ukrainian hierarchs stated in their speeches that the independence granted to the UOC in 1990 had yielded only negative results in a year and a half. They also spoke about the sharply negative attitude of their flock to secession from the ROC.

Many bishops of the Ukrainian dioceses disavowed their signatures under the petition for autocephaly, explaining that they acted under duress, fearing harassment by Metropolitan Filaret and the Ukrainian authorities. But it was already too late to refuse their signatures and repent of their deeds. The split was gaining momentum.

What conclusions should we, Belarusians, draw? The Ukrainian events confirm that the first sign of the spiritual decay of society is a schism in the Church. One has only to take the first step in this direction, and it will be impossible to turn back. Society will begin to destroy itself. All this is now happening in Ukraine.

Archpriest Pavel Boyankov, cleric of the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky (Minsk), writes: “The Ukrainian crisis irrefutably testifies that not only economic prerequisites contributed to its development, but also the deepest religious split in society. A quarter of a century ago, there, next to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, with the direct support of the state (!), there arose a schism of Filaret Denisenko, sects of autocephalous self-consecrates and Uniates. Outwardly, the leaders of these anti-spiritual organizations almost do not differ from the Orthodox, but they are significantly superior to them in ultranationalism. And all the previous years, these doubles and mummers did not sit idly by - they "sacrificed", including "baptized". But we know perfectly well that the imaginary "sacraments" of schismatics, impostors and heretics are absolutely graceless. Consequently, during this time a significant number of people appeared who consider themselves baptized, but in fact they are not. That is why in the east of Ukraine the Orthodox faced a host of demon-possessed non-Christs. “By their fruits you will know them”(Mt. 7, 16) ”(Promised Rus'. Archpriest Pavel Boyankov).

And now, when we see into what wilderness the Ukrainian people have gone, the question arises: who is trying to send Belarusians along the Ukrainian path?

Fortunately, in December 2014, the news came: Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Pavel decided to close the issue of granting the Belarusian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate the status of self-government. "The topic is removed from the agenda",- said the Primate of the BOC.

The schism of the Orthodox Church was eliminated in the very bud. It would not be an exaggeration to say that for the majority of Belarusians it was joy with tears in their eyes. But the anxiety of the believers remained.

How could this happen here, in Belarus? - Orthodox Christians asked each other this question at that time. Who started all this? So, after all, there are people in our country who want to bring believers to the streets. There is no other way to explain it.

The same question sounds in the words of Exarch of All Belarus Pavel: “I got the impression that this idea was deliberately thrown here, and today it sounded like never before. I must absolutely officially say that all the hype and noise brought nothing but harm.

The head of the BOC expressed the hope that this issue would not be raised in the next twenty-five years. In doing so, he remarked: “Against the background of what is happening in Europe and the world, this idea sounds somehow biased.”

Yes, then, in December 2014, we, Orthodox Christians, did not begin to thoroughly understand who was the initiator of obtaining the status of a self-governing Church. Both some Belarusian officials and individual clergymen could declare that in a sovereign state the Orthodox Church should also be sovereign. It is possible that this was their joint decision, but, fortunately, this was stopped in time.

Unfortunately, in March 2018, three years after those disturbing events, Belarusians were again called to the square. The Belarusian opposition decided to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of the BPR. But is this event a holiday for the Belarusian people? No. This is a holiday of betrayal - there is no other way to call it.

In 1918, on the Belarusian lands occupied by Kaiser Germany, new politicians are announced, who, instead of organizing armed resistance to the invaders, begin to cooperate with the occupation regime. On February 21, 1918, they meet the German occupiers with bread and salt in Minsk, at the railway station, and then they give a dinner in honor of their “liberators” at the Europe Hotel. And already on March 25, 2018, these people announce the creation of the "Belarusian People's Republic".

At all times, the desire of a person to receive some benefits in exchange for cooperation with enemies, and even more so with invaders, was considered a betrayal and was equated with Judas sin. There can be no future for a state whose citizens are capable of betrayal and find dozens of excuses for their behavior. There can be no future for the state if other citizens agree with the traitor and also find dozens of excuses for his behavior.

The Belarusian people did not look for excuses for the traitors. He could not do this, because he was with them on opposite sides of the barricades. The traitors understood this, and therefore immediately gave their consent to the construction of two concentration camps in Minsk.

Two weeks after the declaration of independence of the BPR, the concentration camps were fenced with barbed wire, and three thousand Belarusians were driven into each of them. After that, brothels were opened in many cities and young women and girls were driven there to amuse German soldiers and officers.

And whatever you do for your benefactors. And on April 25, 1918, a month after the declaration of independence of the BNR, its leaders send a telegram to the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, in which they express their gratitude "for the liberation of Belarus by German troops": "Only under the protection of the German Empire does the region see its fair share in the future."

But Belarusians are freedom-loving people. Even for six centuries of the Lithuanian-Polish yoke, the Lithuanian princes and Polish kings could not force the Belarusians to recognize the supremacy of the Pope of Rome. Even after the betrayal by their nobility, its Catholicization and Polonization, Belarusians remembered their Russian roots and did not recognize someone else's faith. Therefore, under the Germans, the Belarusians did not follow the lead of politicians who trade in the freedom and independence of the country.

As a result of the offensive of the Red Army, Germany began the withdrawal of its troops from the occupied territories and in December 1918 Minsk was liberated. Together with the Kaiser's troops, the BNR government was also expelled from Belarus. As a result, the BNR remained a mythical country created on paper and in the excited minds of collaborators.

Do the current oppositionists not understand this? Yes, they do not want to understand. The West is paying them for it. But never before has Judah's pieces of silver benefited anyone. The Belarusian people know this and do not follow the lead of politicians who are on a short leash with the West.

But on March 25, 2018, the Orthodox Christians of Belarus were in a state of shock when they heard and saw the welcoming speech of the chairman of the Synodal Information Department of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Sergiy Lepin, in front of the opposition with white-red-white flags. On his chest, where the clergy usually have a cross, hung "Pursuit". "Long Live Belarus!" - said the speaker.

To be continued.

There is enough dirt on the Internet. Porn, violence, hate is a pretty depraved place. But on the same Internet you can find official websites of churches, the Bible in a hundred languages, religious blogs and public pages - in recent years, even religious mobile applications. IT.TUT.BY asked Archpriest Sergiy Lepin, known in LiveJournal as serge-le, about what it's like to be a priest-blogger.

"Peace be with you! I am a priest of the Orthodox Church Sergiy Lepin ..."- so begins the post in LJ serge_le dated March 14, 2002, the first entry in the journal.

The press secretary of the Minsk diocese, associate professor of the Theological Academy, rector of the Church of the Transfiguration in Rakov for 12 years in LiveJournal made 12 hundred entries, including on topics that you would not expect discussion from a clergyman. What is it like to serve God and post on LiveJournal? Start over.

When did you get acquainted with the computer, when did you first go online?

The first acquaintances began at school. Remember, then there were such "monsters" with green and black-and-white screens? By the way, the first experiments were not very successful, as evidenced by the "troika" in computer science. But somewhere in the year 1999 or 1998, I got my first computer - the 166th MMX. And I didn’t have the Internet for a long time, because I got my home phone much later than I bought a computer. Do you know what it's like to stand in line for a telephone in the provinces?

Did you personally come to LiveJournal in 2002 for the sake of believers, non-believers, or rather for your own sake?

I will not dissemble: for everyone, including myself. I am a priest, I love being a priest, which means, among other things, that I love preaching about Christ. Learn at different times occupies me in different ways. Sometimes you have to spend a huge amount of time and effort - you want to believe and hope that it is not in vain.

Today my readership has reached almost one and a half thousand subscribers - all of them have completely different views on religion. Preaching on LiveJournal is like chess by correspondence: there is time to think, cool down, read, ask someone who knows. A very rewarding experience for a beginner preacher...

The Internet and computers are also "worldly" and atypical for a priest, like rock music? Or is online communication now natural for the church?

What does worldly and atypical mean? To say so is like talking about the atypicality of libraries or post offices for the clergy. Yes, there is a very atypical - let's call it that - literature for the priest; yes, it is not typical for our places if the priest works as a postman. But is it possible to say that it is not typical for a priest to read books in general and use the services of the post office?

For example, at first the gospel was generally transmitted from mouth to mouth. Then the first manuscripts appear, which have been rewritten for centuries. With the invention of the printing press, the gospel began to be printed in huge numbers. With the invention of computers, other principles of printing appeared and the texts themselves began to find their readers already in electronic form. Essentially there is no difference between oral, handwritten, printed and electronic text. On the one hand, in all periods of the development of writing, there was something "worldly", and on the other hand, the Gospel has always been the Gospel.

Yes, there are such resources or activities on the Web that can be called inappropriate for the clergy (and for Christians in general), but in general, the Internet is only a means of communication, information itself or a format for accessing it. It is a tool, a "shovel", which the Church masters and adapts to its needs.

To answer your question directly and briefly, yes, the Internet and computers have become something natural. But among the clergy there are many who, for one reason or another, found themselves outside this topic. A significant part of them is represented by people of mature age, some of them, like many other representatives of their age group, master the most primitive mobile phone with difficulty. But we also have our frank technophobes... And how could we do without them?

The Creed says nothing about computers or microwaves - no, no, no one forces or imposes.

How does the church feel about the Internet? How about a place for fellowship with believers, with non-believers, or a dangerous place with a lot of dirt, which the church is better off avoiding?

The Internet, like everything else, must be treated with caution and with clearly defined goals and objectives. There is everything on the Internet, and what we need from all this depends only on us.

Children are a special topic, of course ... There are many temptations, especially for those who are looking for them. But useful and important things still need to be able to and want to find. As the saying goes, show me your "Temporary Internet Files" and I'll tell you who you are. Sometimes the contents of this folder and the contents of our heart coincide. In this sense, the Internet is not just a temptation for the soul, but its mirror, which does not always make sense to blame ...

But I think everyone understands that the "Internet problem" is not only a problem of the quality of the information we consume, it is also a question of its quantity. Internet addiction is a serious illness. It is a pity that people read less and less books and need less and less direct contact with each other. But Christianity is the religion of the Book and the Society, the Bible and the Church. Often, a “modern” person needs not only “shops on the couch”, but such a “god”, which it is enough to just friend, and such a “church”, to believe in which means simply “like” on the pictures with cats published by it ...

It is also sad that modern technology has created a culture of anonymity and irresponsibility. If we imagine that everything written in the comments on only one single TUT.BY will someday be said and said in real life, then this will probably be hell ... We are not "fighting" against the Internet, but FOR the Internet - we do not intend to "surrender" it and plan to increase the presence of the sermon everywhere, including on the World Wide Web.

As one ancient sage said, when words lose their meaning, the people lose their freedom. Let's remember and not forget that the word "virtual" comes from the Latin "virtue", which means "virtue", "dignity", "chastity". We advocate for the renewal of precisely these meanings.

How many priests use computers and surf the Internet?

Well, there is, of course… E-mail, news feeds, literature… By the way, among the clergy there are quite a few who have education in the field of IT and programming, computers have become quite widely used in the life of religious organizations. Relevant disciplines are studied in religious educational institutions. All dioceses, all church departments, many deaneries and parishes have their own websites. Specific software for computers and phones is being created. Orthodox television and radio channels broadcast on the Web, and Orthodox print media publish their content.

Many priests have their own blogs and social media accounts. Some, in addition to the ability to perform worship and preach, have, as necessary for their positions, skills in office, publishing or other specialized packages.

Are Easter greetings on VKontakte, an e-mail with a request to light a candle for health, a crucifix on the desktop of a smartphone appropriate?

Every device has a purpose, and every purchase has a purpose... All a Christian's goals must be weighed in the light of evangelical ideals. With regard to electronic means of communication, everything that is relevant in relation to non-electronic means is appropriate. Is it possible to ask for prayers in a letter? Why not! The main thing - "do not oversalt." You can get so caught up in the mailing of requests for prayer that you yourself will have no time to pray.

What should a priest write about in order to be heard? What is better not to write about?

You know, a priest who is adequately educated and able to control himself is not afraid of any topic, although everyone has their own convenient and uncomfortable questions. The main thing is that the person himself was ready to hear the answer and wanted to hear it, and not just ask.

We realize that only a specialist can competently and correctly raise a complex question in any highly specialized area (and religion is such), and therefore we are accustomed to dealing with incorrect questions from unchurched people. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Of course, I proceed from the fact that we are talking about genuine interest, and not just about idleness, or even more so the desire to be rude.

Be indulgent, the priest may also not know something - only fools have answers to all questions.

What method of online communication is more convenient, more profitable for the church now - blogs, social networks, official websites?

It all depends on the specific tasks. Official sites, such as the BPC site, have their own social media pages, but social media will never replace official sites. On the other hand, blogs are something special and fundamentally different in relation to officially submitted information. These are different tools.

Worldwide, sales of computers and laptops are falling, while smartphones and tablets are growing. Is the church mastering smartphones and tablets, is it becoming "more mobile"?

I do not have statistics that would represent the ratio of tablets and other computers among cleric users. But there are tablets, and there are smartphones. I think the clergy are not the darkest part of society in this regard, and I think many of us even already know that the Earth is round.

Do you yourself use a smartphone or tablet, specialized religious programs?

I have both a smartphone and a tablet. I have a Bible, a prayer book and other liturgical books, calendars and a church calendar installed on my phone. Maybe I forgot something else ... And sometimes I call him.

Often in church shops, and especially at church exhibitions, you can see amulets for sale. As a rule, this is a small bag with some object inside, consecrated on the relics. The inscription on it may read "The amulet protects from unclean spirits and carries miraculous power from the holy relics on which it is consecrated. A material shrine as God's mercy to the human race - to drive away enemies, visible and invisible" ...

How is this to be understood, can wearing a certain object save a person from evil spirits? Archpriest Sergiy Lepin.

- Father Sergius, help sort out the amulets. On the one hand, having consecrated objects or images of saints with you can once again direct a person’s mind to contemplation and prayer, but the way the amulets are positioned cannot but confuse (considering what is written on the labels for them)! To be honest, most people perceive amulets as a talisman...

So, we are talking about a banal amulet (amulet) - a pagan rudiment in our practice. It is assumed that some little thing will hang around the neck and just bring happiness.

Already at least at the beginning of the twentieth century, amulets were written about in the church press as a superstition based both on the popular belief that demons are "afraid of incense" and on faith in the healing power of incense. For example, in 1877, the "Guide for rural shepherds" specifically noted that the priest should not give incense to parishioners seeking it for superstitious reasons. Even Metropolitan of Kiev Eugene (Bolkhovitinov; † 1837) quite unequivocally attributed amulets to amulets when he wrote: "As you can see in our Pilot's Book ... manufacturers and distributors ... of amulets are called uzolniki (in Greek, phylacteries), because the common people have these amulets make knots, or so-called amulets.

Often there was no incense in the amulets at all! What was not sewn into it: garlic, and a piece of umbilical cord, "sacred" herbs and pieces of wood, the skin of reptiles and reptiles, scrolls with prayers and spells, a piece of land from the homeland - from "charms", diseases, as a means of love magic and etc.

A bag with incomprehensible contents as a means of storing "miraculous power from holy relics" - sounds like some kind of nonsense ... Yeah, a sort of "power bank" ... Well, guys, it's also impossible!

- If amulets are sold in church shops, it is logical to assume that there is still some benefit from them - what is it?

I recalled Mayakovsky: "If the stars are lit, then does anyone need it?" Of course there are benefits! Especially to sellers. What would be the benefit to the one who bought it? Well, I don't know... Maybe less money will be left for alcohol and cigarettes. Of course, psychologically it is possible to explain the presence of imaginary benefits from amulets that help to cope with uncertainty and fears, but I am sure that it is better to have uncertainty and fear than false hope and vain hope.

In the best possible sense, in my opinion, amulets and other "consecrated kerchiefs", "petals", etc. in this spirit can be perceived simply as touching memorable souvenirs that remind us of our quivering feelings experienced, for example, by us in this or that other pilgrimage. In no case should they be sold as means of salvation, healing, and some fantastic receptacles of grace.

I have nothing against souvenirs - I am against deceiving simple gullible people and seducing those who then, looking at all this "Orthodox" fair bacchanalia, go into sects.

- What is the difference between wearing an amulet and wearing a cross, besides the fact that by having a cross we confess ourselves as Christians?

- Sad as it may seem, but wearing a cross can also be superstitious - if it, the cross, is also perceived as a talisman: a little thing that by itself and without our involvement quietly “drives away” something.

Belief in the "automatic" protective properties of any object with "magic power" suggests the uselessness of prayer, fasting, morality, banal caution and prudence.

The cross on the chest of a believing and virtuous person is a visible confession of being a disciple of Christ, who took up his cross and followed Him (see: Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27), as well as a tangible reminder of the need to be crucified with Christ (see ch. : Gal.2:19), to die with Him for the world and together with Him to be resurrected for New life. Cross only then "demonic plague" when he - "true assertion."

Even if "the word about the cross ... for us who are being saved is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18), then the bags are not clear with what - it's just ... the bags are not clear with what. We are not saved by bags! Wearing incense as a "medicine" or "thistle" is based on ignorance of the meaning of using incense during worship and private prayer. If demons (incorporeal spirits) could be defeated with a deliciously smelling smoke, or even just a piece of tar, then maybe the Son of God came and died in vain?

Carrying the text of a prayer and even a cross with you simply as a talisman has nothing to do with the Orthodox teaching about salvation and prayer.

"Children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen" (1 John 5:21).