Archpriest Andrey Tkachev. The Nativity of Christ: “before” and “after.” O. Andrey Tkachev about the Nativity of Christ Andrey Tkachev about Christmas

About the person who led me to faith - it’s you, father! Father Andrey - I watched your sermons a long time ago in the program “To Sleep for Those Coming.” And thank God I came to the Lord! Low bow to you Father Andrey!

❤💖☺❤01/13/2019! 💝THANK YOU!💞 HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 💛MERRY CHRISTMAS❤ CHRIST! 💖AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!💗 GLORY TO JESUS ​​CHRIST! ❤💛❤💖SAVIOR💛 OF THE WORLD💙 SOULS💛 AND BODIES💚 OF OUR!💞 TO HIM💛 HONOR❤ GLORY💖💖 PRAISE💝 POWER💙 HONOR💚 AND LOW BOW 💞FOR ALL CENTURIES!❤ 💖💝💞 GLORY TO GOD FOREVER!❤💛❤💖 GLORY TO GOD💛 IN THE HIGH💙PEACE ❤ON EARTH💚 IN MAN❤ BLESSING!💛 MERCY❤ DOORS💙 OPEN💛 TO US!💚 HOLY💛 HOLY💛 HOLY💛 LORD OF SABAOT💖 THE HEAVENS💙AND EARTH💚 ARE FULL WITH THE MAJESTY❤ OF YOUR GLORY💖!❤💖💝 💞 BE ❤SIMPLE💖 LIKE DOVES💙 AND WISE💛 LIKE SNAKES! 💚ALL THE GOOD! ❤💙💚💛💜💓💖💗💝💟💞💕QUEEN💛 OF HEAVEN 💖BE AHEAD!❤ GUARDIAN ANGEL 💝BE BACK! 💚LORD💛 HEAVEN💙 ABOVE YOUR HEAD!❤ KEEP💞 ME 💚 INTEGRATED!❤ PEACE 💙 GOOD❤ WARMTH💖 MERCY💛 HEALTH❤ MERCY💛 FAITH💞 LOVE💖 HOPE 💙 JOY💚 PATIENCE 💛 GOOD LUCK!❤💖💝💞 GOD BLESS!❤☺ ❤ 👍 ✋👐

Baptists have a better sermon, the topic is revealed, the Word of God is read

Thank you about Andrey

“E PIURIBUS UNUM” / UNITY IN MANY / COLLECT THE HIGHEST SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE OF ALL RELIGIOUS CURRENTS INTO ONE SINGLE FAITH IN ONE GOD!!! .GOD - YES! religion - NO!!! > = THERE IS ONE FAITH IN ONE GOD! _____*motley, self-proclaimed, always at war and causing endless widespread bloody discord between people, religious parochial > ..INTERPRETATIONS OF A SINGLE FAITH - NO! ©max

I pray because I’m afraid?......fear cannot be faith either...

Speaking of dissatisfied priests who love to kidnap, a person, as a rule, does not see in his neighbors and priests what he himself does not have and sees in others what is in himself has in abundance (this is how he is and that). But we forget that - When we judge others, we only state a set of vices and passions that we have in ourselves, and not what is in the person we condemn, for the soul of a person is not seen and the angels, not to mention people mired in vices and thinking themselves worthy to judge their neighbors.

The first 4 minutes were already amazing.

Bless, Lord, Your servant and servant Andrew! Thanks for all! Both familiar and unexpected!

How is Father Andrey baptized? Crosses himself with an inverted cross. Without having the reverence to put on oneself the Symbol of Victory against death and the devil. Neither a clergyman nor a layman should be baptized in this way.

This is what needs to be nominated for the Patriarch. May the Savior come with us.

There is such a custom in Armenia... when the first tooth is knocked out, these objects are placed in front of the child...

Reading the comments, one gets the impression that people “listen and do not hear,” which is not in complete agreement with the sermon. Lord forgive us and have mercy.

Thank you, O Andrey, as always, precisely, succinctly and correctly. The weak and proud, the vulnerable and those who do not listen to the whole sermon, are offended by your words.

Hello!!! I've been with your site for quite some time now. Really like. Very useful. The “Christmas Sermon” of Fr. unsettled me. Andrey (Tkachev). For the first time, I felt ashamed of a priest of this level. To utter such nonsense to the whole of Russia.... Christmas is a holiday in which we celebrate the birth of God in man, in order to make man in God... Adding “chili pepper” (from the sermon) is impermissible... like those expressions about our Lord Jesus Christ which is used by Fr. Andrey. The fact that I am a great sinner, like everyone else, I agree, there are no words... But it turns out that we are still IDIOTS. God bless you, oh. Andrey...I have been observing (watching and listening) to Fr. Andrei... and I don’t see in this priest either meekness or humility... that main thing that should be present even in a simple Christian... not to mention the father of the church... There is too much pride and condemnation... And humor in his instructions it seems to me that it is far from always, if not AT ALL APPROPRIATE... For the first time in my life I allowed myself to be like... about a priest... But when JESUS ​​is called Jesus... and even a priest... This is higher my strength. Forgive me, Lord... And all of you who are reading these lines....

• Thank you, Father Andrey!

  SAVE ME, GOD!!!

  Why don't some people celebrate Christmas? ▪ Around two billion people around the world celebrate Christmas on December 25th every year. At least 200 million more people celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ on January 7th. But there are also millions of those who do not celebrate Christmas at all. Why? Perhaps these people belong to non-Christian religions. These could be, for example, Jews, Hindus or Shintoists. Then there are atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and secular humanists who believe the Christmas story is a myth. It is noteworthy, however, that Christmas traditions are also rejected by a significant number of those who believe in Jesus. Why do they have this position? These people give at least four reasons. First, they do not believe that Jesus was born in December or January. The Bible does not mention a specific date at all. It simply says: “In that area there were shepherds who lived in the fields and watched over their flocks at night. And suddenly an angel of Jehovah appeared before them.” He told them, “Your Savior is born, Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:8-11). Evidence indicates that Jesus was born around the beginning of October, when shepherds were still keeping watch over their flocks in the fields at night. In the vicinity of Bethlehem, December and January are the coldest times of the year. Therefore, to protect the herds from the cold at night, they are kept in covered pens.

  I don't agree with Fr. Tkachev. Everything has its time. A time to rejoice and a time to mourn. This is why there is a holiday of Christmas, the Cross, Good Friday and Resurrection. Not to be happy at Christmas? Very strange.

  Thank you Father Andrey. Simple and brilliant as always!

  In fact, no one argued about the absolute predestination of the connection between Christmas and the Crucifixion. Perhaps this is simply a Paulinist interpretation due to a misunderstanding of the thoughts of St. Paul?

  Yes? Are children born hungry?

  It's not a priest - it's not Ukrainian-phobic laino

  I liked Andryusha’s statement about the monotonous mass of those who live in cities. I wonder where he would be without our “cities”, and what he would buy his robes for. Who would produce him 5 new suits a year? From whom would he take gold and silver for church crosses? Did the Holy Spirit create this social network, where does Andryusha pour out his thoughts on you? Did the Holy Spirit discover electricity, build factories, create architecture, cultivate crops, and feed the bellies of millions of ordinary people who were previously starving to death? Would hungry people listen to him if he had not built a church, nor golden crosses, nor the king’s cassock, but only tattered rags and the pure “holy spirit”? Would Andryusha want to feed on the holy spirit and recharge himself with wisdom - to philosophize on an empty stomach?

A long road begins with a small step. The ancients knew this. Someone said it first, the rest picked it up, and it’s been that way ever since. By the way, it’s worth remembering this more often for those who have not yet decided to move towards their goal. But either that first sage was too cunning, or simply forgetful, but he did not say anything else - and for those who are already on their way, this “other” is much more important.

The road doesn't just start with small steps. It consists of them. Every new step, every new step on the way to the top is a path that lasts an eternity. And if you walk for a very, very long time, it may seem that you are frozen in place, and, simply put, only potholes and gullies change. And various animals stare from the thickets. And then you can forget everything, everything - where you were going, and from where, and why, and whether it even exists, this road...

My dear Christians, you understand that I’m not talking about walking tours, right?

People have always known how dangerous it is to go astray. And where they happened to pass, they left milestones - poles, logs, stone pillars...

Centuries have passed, the need for stone pillars, thank God, has disappeared, but the milestones in our lives remain - like twists of fate that determine our life path, and the way we look at the world. AND mature man We call truly mature only those who have many such milestones behind them.

Every Christian has such milestones. Moreover, there are more of them, much more – and they must, they simply must exist!

Christians, my beloved Christians, do you remember that each of us is an inseparable cell of the one Church? Her life is our life. The Church is alive and strong with us. But we also live her history, her memory. And we can gain new strength and new life, if together, again and again, we experience everything that is happening to her now - and if we do not forget for a moment what happened in those distant days when our Lord walked the earth. Events. Names. Days of Remembrance. Days of great tribulation. Days of equally great joy. All of them must pass through our souls, like light through a prism, and then every holiday, every name, every trace that remains forever in human memory will again give us the opportunity to remember, feel, think...

I decided to dedicate the book to such milestones. I decided to talk again about the celebrations that made up the church year; about their true essence; about the events that caused their appearance; about people with a great destiny, who became the light and hope of Christianity... Whoever hears about them for the first time - thank God that he heard. Those who already know, let them remember again, and let them remind themselves again and again. My beloved in Christ, I would like to not only tell you about celebrations and Christianity, but from the bottom of my heart I would like to share with you my feelings, my faith, and convey to you a piece of my soul. I hope I can do it. And there – everything is God’s will.

Brothers and sisters, believe me, I am inexpressibly sad when on Easter we only care about how to paint eggs and what dough to make Easter cakes from. My heart hurts when a child's Halloween pumpkin is cuter than a willow sprig. But how we relate to our real foundations - to our history and culture, to our country, to our religion and faith - this, in the end, determines what kind of people we will become. Ignorance is, of course, an enemy, but it is quite easy to deal with. You can go to a holiday for the first time - and at the same time perfectly understand its essence. You may not even know the meaning of secret rituals. If it's just ignorance and not voluntary ignorance, then there's nothing wrong with it. But if the second...

I want to believe that many people simply haven’t chosen yet. There is an abyss between “I don’t know” and “I don’t want to know.” And while we can still choose - and this is the greatest good, believe me - until then our path continues. We are all sprouts. We are all the coming ears of corn. And it depends only on us what will happen around us – weeds or blooming fields.

I still believe in good things.

Twelfth holidays - the twelve most important after Easter church holidays. They are dedicated to the events of the earthly life of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Some take place constantly on the same dates (non-transitionable), while others depend on the date of Easter celebration (transitionable). Each holiday is preceded by days of preparation (pre-celebration) and days of continuation of its remembrance (post-celebration). Before the holidays of the Nativity of Christ and the Dormition, the Church established fasts.

The Most Holy Virgin Mary, with Her purity and virtue, surpassed not only all people, but also the Angels. Her Christmas Day is a day of universal joy. On this day, the prophecies and aspirations of people were fulfilled - the Most Blessed Virgin Mary was born, destined by Divine Providence to serve the mystery of the incarnation of God the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church celebrates only three birthdays: the Nativity of Christ, the Nativity of John the Baptist and the Nativity of Holy Mother of God- the first twelfth holiday in the liturgical year.

The Holy Scriptures do not tell us anything about the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of the akathists to the Mother of God says about Her that She is a mystery, unknown to peoples and tribes, hidden until time. We learn about Her parents from Holy Tradition. Let no one be confused by the fact that the Bible is silent about the father and mother of the Mother of God, but Church Tradition tells us about this - there is nothing surprising in this.

They were Jews, and Jews do not forget the ties of kinship, and the memory of not only the father, grandfather, great-grandfather is reverently kept in the memory of an Orthodox Jew brought up in religious traditions, but also the memory of many, many distant ancestors, going back to the ancestors of the Jewish knees

The Church saw in the Mother of God the first disciple of Her Son and the living center, the living heart of the Jerusalem community.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the names of the parents of the Mother of God are known to the Church. Their names were Joachim and Anna. They were undoubtedly known to the Church of Jerusalem, which saw in the Mother of God the first disciple of Her Son and the living center, the living heart of the Jerusalem community. The community also knew the place of their burial, since Jews buried their dead in ancestral tombs, in those places that had belonged to them for centuries. And so, at the foot of the Mount of Olives Garden of Gethsemane there is such a family tomb for the relatives of the Mother of God, Her parents are buried there, whom we inevitably remember today.

There is the so-called Proto-Gospel of James - an apocrypha, which, by the name of the author, refers to the Apostle James, but the Church denies him this dignity. However, the Church believes that many of the things contained in this document occurred. Some moments associated with the Nativity of the Mother of God and the circumstances of Her life echo this apocryphal legend.

In particular, the Church teaches that Mother of God was born from elderly parents who conceived Her and gave birth to Her after long fervent prayers, tested by the cross of childlessness.

The cross of childlessness is something completely incomprehensible to modern man. After all modern man Unfortunately, very often he does not feel the sacred responsibility to fulfill the commandment of God - to be fruitful and multiply, to leave offspring behind. In terms of fornication, modern man has surpassed the ancient people, fulfilling the words of the prophet: “You will commit fornication, but do not multiply.” People today are concerned with sexual issues, but not with issues of procreation.

We will talk about the Nativity of John the Baptist.

“Call him John, because he will be great before the Lord, he will not drink wine or strong drink, and he will turn the hearts of many to God their Father,” these words were announced by the Archangel Gabriel to Zechariah, the priest and elderly parent of Saint John, who was speechless with fear. we are celebrating.

According to Jewish concepts, the proclamation of a name before birth means nothing less than the greatness of a person in history. There are very few such people. The Lord Jesus was named before birth, his name was revealed to Joseph and Mary, separately, to both. And so John was also named John before Christmas.

This name did not exist at all. Jochanan is God's grace. Following him will then be John Chrysostom, John of Kronstadt, John the Martyr of Sochavsky, John Maksimovich of San Francisco, and so on.

John was born from elderly parents, which is also very interesting. They retained the desire to be parents until old age and did not give up hope. And even when people could already laugh at them - “there are old people, there too” - they happily fulfilled their marital duty in order to conceive a child. With blessing, they gave birth to a son in old age. This reminds us of the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah.

Being born into old age has its own special sign. At this time, people's passions are already dying. If young people transfer all their ebullient energy on the marriage bed to their future offspring, and there are unrealized passions, all sorts of desires, dreams, pride, and some kind of irrepressible ambitions - everything goes there, everything goes into the child. Therefore, firstborns are the most expensive and the most problematic. Because all this scum is all in them.

And only then people calm down, become more humble, wiser, more patient. And the second, third, fourth, little fingers are already the last - they turn out to be the sweetest. Because they have love, but little passion.

But with firstborns, conceived in youth, there is just such a duality with them. Israel had the most violent ones; Jacob had his first-born sons - Reuben, Simeon, Levi. They were the most irrepressible, cruel, difficult. And the younger ones - Joseph, Benjamin - were the best.

So, John was born in old age to his parents. In old age, because there was no longer a need to adopt passions, and he only adopted holiness from them. And he was born in order to come before the face of the Lord, to prepare His ways.

No one yet understood, of course, what would happen to this child. But it is interesting that he made his father dumb at his conception, and loosened his tongue at his birth. Because when John was born, his father’s tongue was loosened, and he began to bless God, and praise, and prophesy. He says: “And you, as a child, will be called the prophet of the highest.”

In general, this great Christmas is one of the three Christmases that we traditionally celebrate - the Nativity of Christ, the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. With which I congratulate you, brothers and sisters, and wish you, through the prayers of St. John, strong in prayer before God for all of us, through the prayers of this man, to receive forgiveness of sins from the Lord God.

Saints John the Prophet and Baptist, baptizer of Christ, pray to Christ for us.

And if it is necessary to give birth to a word about the Word, which was born of the Virgin, then dumbness can be expected from the most talkative.
Give me your word, the Word of God, so that this year too Your Coming into the world will be glorified by us.

We have the happiness of being enveloped in Christianity and have the rudeness not to notice it.
Our conversation about Christmas seems easy and familiar.
But try to talk about the incarnate God, being inside the Hindu culture, which has hundreds of thousands of gods. These gods appear among people constantly; they are capable of countless incarnations and disembodiments. And you don’t need to go to India to find out about this - you can at least talk to a familiar Hare Krishna of Slavic origin.

Meanwhile, The Christian message about God incarnate is unique and cannot be reduced to anything.
The whole grandeur of the event lies precisely in the fact that we are talking about the God of Israel, about God Old Testament, with all those of His qualities that are thought with inevitable fear.
This is God who can do everything, that is, omnipotent.
This is an eternal, all-knowing God, not indifferent to man, who knows how to both love and punish.
He is served by the Sun and Moon. His Throne, covering their faces, is surrounded by Cherubim.
In a blade of grass His wisdom is visible, and in the mountain ranges and depths of the sea His omnipotence is obvious.
And it was He who was born in a cave from the Virgin.

If the thought rushes between heaven, which is the Throne of God, and the earth, which is His footstool (Matthew 5:33-34), if the thought tries to retain in memory everything that it knows about the great God, and connect this memory with the Child, laid in a manger, it is impossible for a person not to become exhausted.
The man then kneels, just like the Magi in countless medieval paintings. The man does not bring gifts and does not hold in his hands either a casket or a staff. He simply kneels before the Child and the Virgin. Perhaps he no longer thinks, but contemplates.

Christmas is precisely a holiday that requires first reflection, then fatigue from the latter and a transition to contemplation. This is a deep holiday, and you need to stand over it, like over a well in which the stars are reflected at night. Hence all the festive tenderness and all the silence of Christmas Eve.
And even the loud laughter of children and adults at Christmas time is nothing more than a release for the soul, a little tired of the enormity of the miracle.

Yes, friends, you can get tired of miracles. Because it's big and I'm small.
Because my soul is not always ready to live by a miracle and only a miracle, but it, meanwhile, is such that, having settled in the soul, it inexorably pushes everything non-miraculous out of it.
And then the temptation arises to love a miracle not “with all my soul and with all my thoughts,” but partially, moderately and habitually. Like a fluffy pet. This temptation comes from fatigue.

What about Hinduism with a million incarnating and evaporating gods!
Isn’t it much more dangerous than modern “cultural” nonsense, in which a woman is not a mystery, and childbirth is not a miracle, and children are “having” either on their own, like cockroaches, or deliberately, like a Pekingese?

Mary and the helpless God in Her arms are the whole Sun, from which warmth is born and intelligent rays flow throughout the world.
The love for this amazing Bethlehem event must cut the life of humanity “before” and “after”.

What does "before" mean?
This means that a woman is an object of male desires and self-will; that a child is an extra mouth until he grows up; that life itself is a dark cave, even if you live in spacious chambers.

What does "after" mean?
This means that One Wife has become the container of the Mystery, and now all wives, in gratitude to That One, need to be loved, protected, respected and be a knight for them.
This means that a child is more touching than burdensome.
This means that from now on one must worship not brute force and actual power, but such strength and such power that are capable of humiliating themselves to the image of a slave and surrendering themselves to female hands, and sniffle serenely in these very hands.
And the fact that these hands will henceforth embrace the entire human history also means.

Behind the window glass, white flakes swirl like a whirlwind, the snow crunches underfoot, and again in the churches they sing: “I see a strange and glorious sacrament: the sky is a den, the Throne of Cherubs is the Virgin.”*
That is, the sky is not what is above.
Real heaven is where God is.
Christ was born in a cave - and made the cave into heaven.
Before the Incarnation, only the Heavenly Powers, and even then not all of them, were admitted so close to the Divinity that the Lord was called the One Seated on the Cherubim and the One Riding on the Seraphim.
And now He approached the Virgin and through Her approached us so much that She surpassed the cherubim thrones in proximity. This is how they sing in churches on behalf of everyone who thinks about this and understands it.
And each of us can say after the Irmos: I see!

Do you see this, my brother and sister?
If you can’t see, it’s not the January blizzard that’s stopping you, nor is it your weak eyesight.
But some “-ism” got into your tender eye.
Or maybe it’s just the hustle and bustle, pre-holiday shopping, your mouth full of worries, and problems at work.
Only, you know, the fuss will never end, and the problems will never go away.
They will buzz around your ear like flies and appear out of nowhere, like ubiquitous dust.
Especially if, even once a year, you don’t carve out a piece of priceless time to stand in wonder over the entrance to one cave. There an ox sniffles, there the sound of a hoof is heard on the stone floor, there Mary sings quietly. Perhaps the Angels sing along with Her, but you and I don’t hear this.
Your and my main Treasure is hidden in this cave.
It is still small and needs Joseph’s protection.

But in general, we are truly small. And we need Him constantly.

Merry Christmas to you, my brother and sister!