What should be the order of priorities in our family? God is more important than our own children.

End. Start at No. 2 (947)

Next question, Father Melchizedek: “Does it work? Old Testament and now?”

– The Spirit of the Old Testament is active, the commandments of the Old Testament are effective - no one has canceled the commandments given to Moses in relation to God and our neighbors. As the Apostle Paul said, the Old Testament was a teacher, a teacher to Christ. This is the first grade, and then we move on to the next, no one jumps over the Old Testament. Honor your father and mother, may it be good for you, and may you live long on earth, do not envy, do not covet - we cannot even do this. Many of us, even Orthodox people, have not yet emerged from the Old Testament.

Although we must live according to the New Testament.

- In my opinion, many still have antediluvian habitation. Therefore, first you have to live at least antediluvianly, in the sense that before there was also respect for elders, brotherly relations. And now – it’s unclear. Therefore, we fulfill the Old Testament, New Testament– and all this at the same time.

Question: “What is your attitude towards reporting? Some people go to reprimand just in case.”

– In Optina Monastery (how spiritually-bearing a monastery it was, about which Bishop Ignatius said: “Father Moses of Optina, through his long-suffering attitude towards the brethren and wise humility, managed to gather such a brotherhood, which did not exist and, I think, will not exist in Russia”) this did not happen. . The elders could also engage in reprimands, this is not an innovation, special prayers have existed since the time of Basil the Great. What did they command? In bewildering cases of demonic possession, seizures, and demonic possession, this is a rare phenomenon, but, unfortunately, it exists in our lives...

By the way, this should not be confused with psychiatric diseases. Possession can be simple psychiatric illness when it is useful to turn to an Orthodox psychiatrist, who, perhaps, will even help with non-drug means - this is also a facet of physiology: just as something breaks down in the body, so at the psyche level, some spiritual vessels become wedged in many people.

So, the elders, in such perplexed cases of demonic possession, offered Confession from the age of seven, the sacrament of Unction and the sacrament of Holy Communion. Confession from the age of seven is needed because, perhaps, there are some forgotten sins that a person has not confessed. But in Optina Pustyn there was no reprimand. Unction was administered (especially by Elder Anatoly - he had such obedience) to the laity, and many, after deep Confession, after the sacraments of Unction and Holy Communion, received healing.

And now they are looking easy way: Let someone do something to me. People sometimes come and say: “They did it to me.” But the fact is that no one can do more than what a person has done to himself. I spoke at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra with Father Herman; with the blessing of Father Kirill, he bears the most difficult obedience: he performs a prayer service for the sick. And people call it a lecture. I asked him how it all went. He says that he basically has a general Confession, a reminder of sins and a prayer service with water with some prayers for the expulsion of evil spirits. And most of the time, he says, is spent general Confession- that's where the root is. It’s not that the priest will do something, he reminds what a person must do, what to change, what to repent of. And when repentance occurs, then healing occurs (and can occur).

Therefore, if a person drinks, smokes, fornicates, then one should not expect that he will go somewhere, that someone will read something over him, sprinkle him, give him sand to eat... There are also all sorts of incomprehensible, exalted prayer services outside the sacraments of the Russian Orthodox Church. We have sacraments - we must resort to them and be guided by them. I am always very afraid of what goes beyond the traditions of our Russian Orthodox Church; all this is under very great doubt. Neither Father Kirill, nor Father Naum, nor Father John (Krestyankin), nor Father Eli did this. Therefore - Confession, Unction, Holy Communion and repentant life change.

Thanks a lot. I liked the next question, because it also concerns me personally: “Does a parishioner have the right to sing with the choir during the Liturgy everything he knows out loud? Can this be done at monastic services or does everyone have their own rules? In one monastery they reprimanded me.”

- Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Lyubov Sergeevna, do you know who loves to sing? Who has no voice and hearing. But let's look at this issue: we must always approach it differentiatedly, with reasoning. For example, in our church on weekdays 2–3 people sing, in the church itself there are 15–30 people. Now, if with such a small number of people someone sings along, this is not bad, especially during the litany: “Lord, have mercy!” or “Give it, Lord.”

But when a solemn service is going on, when the right choir sings (and it has rehearsals twice a week, Byzantine chants, the singers hit the second, the third, looking for a fourth to hit the note) and suddenly - without hearing, without a voice, missing the notes someone is “sculpting”... Firstly, such a person confuses the choir, and secondly, his dissonant singing can upset those present.

Most importantly, we must be guided by the feelings of the people who are in the temple next to us. Perhaps the parish has started folk singing (many churches have this), people sing, but first they learn with the priest: “In Thy Kingdom”, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, they can also sing “Cherubim”. But this is only where it is established, where it is blessed. And when general singing is not started and not blessed, then one must abstain.

And still, even if there is a blessing, you need to think a little. Some people, excuse the word, simply have nasty voices - they hurt your ears and get in the way. And instead of praying, a person, on the contrary, is distracted, suffers throughout the service and thinks: “When will she be silent?..”.

- In general, this is the job of the priest, the job of the rector: he must regulate, prompt, so that those who have a desire to sing come to weekdays, you can organize a folk choir. By the way, if there are such amateurs, especially zealous ones...

You need to sign up for the left choir.

– Professional singers can work with them. By the way, this is how the left choirs were created. I remember my childhood in Soviet times, when there were 40 functioning churches in Moscow - there was always a left-wing folk choir with nasty grandmotherly voices: grandmothers sometimes creaked and were out of tune, but they did it sincerely.

They preserved the rewritten notes, the menaion, and the rewritten Cherubic. In their old age, such grandmothers could no longer sing differently, and they were kept in choirs for the sake of respect. Then the youth reached out, and this is what happened: they left the left choir for the right choir, that is, they grew in size. And this singing was always very touching.

Moreover, the people said this (I saw it myself): professionals sing, but do not pray, grandmothers sometimes sing off the notes, but they pray. And the wise abbot always kept two choirs: the right - professional and the left - amateur. And on weekdays, grandmothers generally helped out: for example, in our church, a wonderful folk choir sang the early Liturgy.

Therefore, if you want to sing, slowly move into the left choir for the folk choir. But in such a way that this is agreed upon with the abbot: they don’t interfere with their own rules in someone else’s monastery. We must do everything delicately and respect the Church.

Question: “How can you not become distracted in a church when grandmothers are talking emptyly next to you? And in general, how can you learn not to notice how someone behaves around you?” Father, even the holy fathers have two opinions on this matter. I don’t remember exactly, but it seems that John Chrysostom said that not only is it possible, but it is necessary to make a remark to the one who is talking. And Anthony of Sourozh wrote that if you make a remark, you are annoyed by those talking next to you, then you simply do not pray.

- Yes. One day they asked him: “Father, we really don’t like it when children scream and squeak in church.” To which he said: “If you sincerely prayed, the children would not bother you, you would not notice it.” But we cannot pray with such concentration that we completely forget where we are. As the holy fathers said, in prayer there should be only one thought: you and God. But this is an ideal prayer, an ideal conversation (prayer is a conversation between a person and God), and this does not always happen.

I don't recommend making comments. I advise you to change your place. If a person allows himself to talk in church, it means he doesn’t understand anything. If you were asked something and answered, that’s one thing. And when it is clear that this is a conversation, then people have crossed the line, and it is useless to talk to them about it.

But for the future, if this is a permanent contingent, the person should tell the clergyman about this: “So and so, pay attention to this couple” (I know such couples exist in churches. And if one person asked, the other answered, it won’t hurt ). Elder Ambrose of Optina said: “Sorrows are sent for talking in church.” And the Scripture (Old Testament) says: “Be reverent, the children of Israel,” “let all human flesh be silent,” we sing in Holy Saturday instead of the Cherubic Song.

Therefore, a delicate approach is needed here: there is no need to make a remark, because then you yourself will be upset. Make a remark and off we go; although you have to feel that some will take your words and simply say: “Oh, sorry.” Therefore, we need to experiment here. For the glory of God it is worth stopping, being prepared for negative reaction, but it is necessary that there is no negative response from us.

You and I have already talked (we had a whole conversation) about the behavior of children in church, we turned to parents so that they raise their children.

“I don’t know how it is in other temples, but we came to this conclusion, to such universal agreement, and we have a happy opportunity for this. We have two churches: upper and lower, and in the lower church we broadcast the service. We have an agreement with parents: they come to the service in the lower church, where the service is broadcast.

If the children cry, no one in the upper church hears them, but the mother hears the service. And she and the children appear in the upper church for Holy Communion after the sermon (because we have a sermon on Sunday after the communion verse). When Communion begins, parents and children go upstairs, take communion, and go back down to the lower church.

Infants in the temple are a special topic; a few of these children can almost completely nullify the worship service. For example, there is a reading of the Apostle or the Cherubic Hymn - the baby does not need this, Holy Communion is enough for him. Therefore, children must be brought at the moment of Communion. But women have a happy opportunity to be at the service.

What to do if there is no lower temple? In yet more churches have an outdoor broadcast - stand with your child on the street and listen to the service on the street, based on these life circumstances, until the baby grows up. You dressed the child for the street. Communion has begun - take the child into the church, receive communion - and leave again. They say: “Oh, the children are cold.” Where did you wear them? You dressed them for the street - and you are standing on the street. Therefore, we must have great respect not only for ourselves, but also for our many parishioners.

Yes, the church is still not for talking, this must be understood.

– I’ll continue a little more. Now comes winter period. A person is jealous to be at worship services, not to miss Saturday and Sunday all-night vigil and Liturgy. This is extremely commendable. But when a person gets sick (flu, fever, he sneezes and coughs), and he doesn’t want to miss the service, he goes to church - and after that 10 people start sneezing and coughing. Or, for example, he has untreated bronchitis... The person does not listen to the Holy Scriptures, again the Old Testament: “Honor the doctor, for he has been given the wisdom to prepare medicines.” But it turns out that a person has bronchitis, he has not completed treatment, a church service is going on, and he is coughing. And all this happens near the altar.

And people get infected, right?

– If they don’t get infected, then the person’s cough is just disturbing – bronchitis is not contagious.

What if it’s the flu or something else?

“I advise those who are watching us: if you want to be at a service, stand at the end of the church; if you start coughing, try to cough into a handkerchief or leave the church. What if acute period illnesses - refrain from visiting the temple, it is better to receive proper treatment at home. There must be an extremely reverent attitude towards the temple and prayer.

Let me give you an example. People came to our church in the summer and asked: “Listen, why can’t you wear shorts? They seem to be long...” And there was always some kind of controversy. In order not to have to explain it to anyone for a long time, I gave the temple attendants a piece of paper that said: “Would you come to the conservatory in this form?” The man reads and answers: “No to the conservatory.” Then they tell him: “You know, the temple is 10 times larger and higher than the conservatory.” Would you come to a wedding dressed like this? No.

Would you come to a reception with the President dressed like this, even if the heat was 50°C?

- Here is a feast of faith. The same with illness: would you go to the conservatory with bronchitis? No, no fly will fly there. And the temple should be higher, more organized than any conservatory or any other public place. Therefore, you need to be very careful: the Lord Himself is here and ordinary people who want inner silence, calmness and concentration.

Question: “For almost 30 years now, almost since childhood, I have been suffering from severe headaches. I went through many checks, visited different doctors, and they shrugged their shoulders: there was no reason. They call it a migraine, there is no cure. How should I treat a headache, since the Lord God sent it to me for a reason? Tell. I’m generally patient, but sometimes it’s very difficult.”

– Chronic headache. And people have chronic diabetes, chronic hypertension, chronic cholecystitis, chronic eczema, chronic psoriasis, chronic tuberculosis - you name it in life. And we have to live with this.

Heart disease, heart disease.

– And you have to live with it. Because, as John Chrysostom says, with God there is greater benefit than punishment. We carry the cross, and the cross carries us. The cross will be the key that will open the doors of heaven, and this key should not be lost along the way. As Elder Ambrose said: “Moses endured, Elisha endured, Elijah endured, so I will endure.” In life you still have to endure something. But, as Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) said, God does not give a person two crosses. If there were no disease, there would be something else. Each of us bears a cross. Thank God, there is reasoning, there is consciousness. With all my heart I wish you patience and life in God, because no one bothers us to pray and be with God.

Question: “Every time at Confession I feel awkward, I have difficulty pronouncing the same sins. The thought slips in not to go to Confession, then I get ready, and with God's help I confess. How correct is this? Is this due to lack of faith?

By the way, there is also a question: is it possible to write sins for Confession?

– And the fact that we repeat the same sins year after year is not our lack of faith, but this is our life. We succeed in some things and fail in others. Someone from wise people said: “The most important thing is to follow the path of salvation; If you can’t walk, crawl in the direction of the path of salvation; If you can’t crawl, lie down in the direction of the path of salvation.” We wash our hands several times a day every day, and no one says: “I won’t go to the sink, I won’t go to the shower.”

We are in evening prayers We list the same sins.

“That’s why we go to Confession, because it not only cleanses us from confessed sins, but also gives us strength, the grace of the Holy Spirit to fight sin. Therefore, the most important thing is not to lose heart, but to do as all the elders said: if you fall, get up, if you fall, get up, if you fall, get up. And so all my life.

An interesting question: “To what extent do we interfere with God’s Providence by praying for sick strangers? And how to pray for them correctly if they are unchurched people and do not receive communion? Where is the limit to prayers?

– There are no limits to prayers, there are no limits to love. Therefore, whether they are churched or unchurched, how the disease is sent to them is none of our business. What is the cause of the disease - sins, life circumstances, genetics, evil intent - we know nothing about it. Of course, we know something. Maybe it is God’s will for a person to fall into this disease. But there is also God’s will for a person to get out of this disease on his own, with the help of doctors and with our not only prayerful participation, but also complicity.

One of the wise people said: “Where complicity is needed, sympathy alone is not enough.” Therefore, we will not only pray, but where necessary, we will also lend our shoulder—not a footstool, but a shoulder. And we will take part both through prayers and actively - then everything will be right. But there is no limit to prayer and love.

Wonderful words! We end our conversation with them. Thank you very much. It is clear that there are always more questions than answers, but we have not the last program: You are with us, so we will continue to answer questions from TV viewers.

– The most important thing, as the Apostle James says: “Be not forgetful listeners, but doers of the words in action” - and you will be saved.

Recorded:
Nina Kirsanova

Dear fathers, brothers and sisters. Today we read an excerpt from the Gospel about a miracle that we all know very well. (Matt. XIV, 22-34).

The Savior walked on the waters as if on dry land and came to His disciples, who were dying in the boat. By this we are convinced again and again that Christ is true God, as it is true man. We are convinced that every nature, every creature, every creature is subject to His will. And the more acutely, the more clearly we experience the suffering of Christ on Golgotha. Those sufferings that were free. The suffering that our Creator (the Creator of not just all of us, but the whole world, the entire Universe) endured for the sake of each of us.

But in this same miracle, in this same passage from the Gospel, we can see our entire spiritual life. It is manifested in the story of the Apostle Peter, who, seeing Christ, said: “Lord, command me and I will come to You.” He also walked on the waters, but was afraid of the wind and began to drown. And in this misfortune he called on God and the Lord saved him. Essentially our entire spiritual life is here. You and I very often, having accepted Christ, having seen all the beauty of the Gospel and all that is truth, we light up with faith. But the winds of human vanity, the winds of our everyday life, the winds of our everyday life The fire of this faith is not fanned, as it should be, but, on the contrary, it is extinguished. And we, like that apostle, are afraid and do not see Christ in front of us. That initial fire, that initial feeling that, I think, visited each of us when we heard about Christ for the first time, for some reason it weakens over time.

And there are many reasons for this. And these reasons are essentially only our justification. After all, as they often say, I’ll live my life for now, and when I get old, I’ll pray. And when old age comes, no one knows and no one knows their life. However, there is a general consensus that such behavior is normal. When a person starts going to church and begins to notice his sins, those around him often perceive this negatively, saying “he’s completely lost his way in religion” or “there’s something wrong with him.” And all because those around them do not want to change themselves and find explanations for the actions of another person in “abnormality.” But is this a good reason not to follow Christ?

Others say, I have a family, I have to take care of it, earn money for it, and with my daily labors I don’t have time to come to Christ. Let's think about it, is this the reason? No. This is just another excuse. As I said St. Augustine: “If God comes first, then everything else will fall into place.” And we often do not put God in first place. We put our desires or aspirations first. As if they could give us eternal life. Each of us can ask ourselves the question precisely to such an extreme degree: “In the end, do I want to inherit eternal life with Christ or do I not want to?” and from this point of view, look at your actions, at your thoughts. And if a person really looks honestly, he will see the abyss of his sins, his crimes. And here there are only two options left. Or say: “Let it be, so be it.” Or, as the Apostle Peter shouts to Christ: “Help me, Lord, I’m drowning!”

If we understand that we are all really drowning, that we are all not perfect people, but having many and many different sins, then our cry to Christ will be real, then our lives will change, and our thoughts will change. The Apostle Peter gives us an amazing example of this today. Yes, indeed all things are possible to a believer. Our life will acquire the peace, tranquility and happiness that we all desire and to which we all strive.

God bless you!

“As He spoke, and it came to pass: He commanded, and it was created” (Ps. 33, v. 9)
With these words, King David wanted to convey to people a great and irrefutable truth. For it you don’t need to know any dogmas or sciences, you don’t need to be a theologian or a genius. And it consists in the following: God is so Almighty that there are no obstacles to His Word; His Word finds immutable fulfillment in everything. Man was created by this Life-giving Word and his existence is supported by this same Word. This is what the Gospel tells us: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4)
“God said: Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness... And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; Male and female he created them” (Bible). But what is important to us is not a person’s gender, but his purpose. Why is man a “man” and why is he a man? The word “man” itself, if you do not refer to the literal etymology of the word, from the Greek language means a creature with its face turned upward, to the sky, as the goal of existence and future home. This is the difference between humans and dumb animals.
So, man was created by God in order to share joy with Him, that is, with the Creator, and to abide in Divine love and Glory forever. According to Lossky, a person had to contain everything within himself and subsequently sacrifice himself to God, in the good sense of the word. And the Lord would make man a god for this by grace. The first people had everything for this mission: a wonderful mind, and beautiful garden, that is, Paradise, and unlimited power over everything visible world. Man had all this before the Fall! There is no need to talk about the Fall itself and its consequences in to the fullest, since this is necessary to reveal the purpose of human creation. What is important to us is that after the Fall, man’s properties deteriorated by several orders of magnitude. This doesn't need to be proven. Let someone try to approach a mouse or a squirrel so that they don’t get scared and run away, it will probably work. And the animals approached the first people on their own and were not afraid of them.
But what do we see now? Where is the beauty of human nature? Where is the mind? Where is the body? Where is the speech that the first man only addressed to God and used to create beauty? Where is the highest goal of man?! Nowadays, it’s not that a person has forgotten about his purpose, but he doesn’t even realize that it exists. A person simply does not need it. He lives “by himself”, he gets food “by himself”, he achieves everything “by himself” and there is not even a single thought about God! And really - why? After all, the Lord gave man everything so that man could live and glorify the Creator with his existence. For example, a person has sense organs for contact with the world around him and for receiving joy from communicating with him. A person is able to hear the singing of birds, feel the fragrance of flowers, enjoy the landscapes and, ultimately, receive consolation in communication with God, that is, in prayer. But the man, forgetting about his debt to the Creator of everything, moved on. Not only has the Lord already provided him with a unique gift in advance, but he also uses his similarity with the Creator for personal and only personal purposes. After all, the Lord created us in His image and likeness, therefore, human beings are characterized by creativity. But where is he sending them? It turns out that only to please yourself. Man now does not understand the purpose of the “gifts” of the Lord; he still invents pleasures for himself in every possible way. The sounds of nature are not enough for him - he comes up with artificial sounds. The smells of nature are not enough for him - he creates new smells. The beauty of nature is not enough for him - he will make films. Food and drink by nature are not enough for him - he comes up with flavoring and other substitutes. And, what’s most terrible, it’s not that prayer is not enough for a person to extinguish the soul’s longing for God, but now a person has stopped praying completely, looking for all sorts of analogues in emotions and deeds, even to the point of using psychotropic drugs eclipsing the desire for prayer.
The picture of what is happening is not impressive. Man lives autonomously from God, but this is not the Creator’s intention, therefore all futile attempts at self-existence have ended, are ending and will end in failure. Well, logically we came to repentance. But what a surprise you will be that this is not the meaning of all of the above. Blessed Augustine summed up everything necessary for a Christian in a short statement: “If God is in first place, then everything else will be in its own place.” The point is that a person needs to put God in first place in his consciousness, in his life and nothing else. We must renounce self-will, self-conceit and reliance on other people: “Do not trust in princes, in the sons of men, for in them there is salvation” (Psalm 145:3), says the psalmist. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:22-33), and the Kingdom of God cannot be achieved without God.

The Bible does not lay out the order of priorities in family relationships. However, we can refer to Holy Scripture to find general principles to prioritize our family relationships. Surely God comes first. Deuteronomy 6:5 says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength” (hereinafter the modern translation of the Russian Bible Society is used). Everything in our heart, soul and strength should be devoted to the love of God, putting Him first.

If you are married, then your spouse comes next. Married man must love his wife as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5:25). Christ's first priority, after obedience and glorification of His Father, was the Church. Here is the example a husband should follow: God first, his wife second. Likewise, wives are to submit to their husbands “as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). The principle is that the husband is the wife's second priority after God.

If husbands and wives come second to God in our priorities, and since husband and wife are one flesh (Ephesians 5:31), it stands to reason that the product of the marriage relationship—children—should be next on the list of priorities. Parents have a responsibility to raise God-fearing children next generation people who love the Lord with all their hearts (Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4), further demonstrating that God comes first. All others family relationships should reflect this.

Deuteronomy 5:16 tells us to honor our parents so that we may live long and prosper in our affairs. There are no age restrictions, which leads us to understand that we must honor our parents while they are alive. Naturally, when a child reaches maturity, he is no longer obliged to obey them, but there is no age limit for showing respect to them. From this we can conclude that parents come next in the list of priorities after God, our spouses and children. After the parents come the rest of the family (1 Timothy 5:8).

After relatives, our brothers and sisters in faith are on the list of priorities. Romans 14 tells us not to judge or look down on our brothers (v. 10), and not to do anything that would cause our brother to err or fall spiritually. Much of 1 Corinthians consists of the Apostle Paul's instructions for how the church should live in harmony, in love for one another. Other admonitions regarding our brothers and sisters in Christ: “On the contrary, serve one another with love!” (Galatians 5:13); “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you through Christ” (Ephesians 4:32); “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) and “Let us consider one another, encourage one another to love and good deeds"(Hebrews 10:24). After this comes the rest of the world (Matthew 28:19), to whom we must carry the Gospel, turning to Christ.

Thus, the biblical order of priorities is: God, spouse, children, parents, relatives, brothers and sisters in Christ, and then the rest of the world. Although sometimes the decision is made to focus on one person more than another, our goal is to cherish our relationships. Biblical balance can be achieved by allowing God to give us the strength to maintain all of our priorities in relationships within and outside of our families.

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The legendary director Emir Kusturica told her when he met her personally: “I have heard everything in the world. But there is nothing like this anywhere. You are the most incredible thing that exists in music now”... Margaret Teicher called her Russian EdithPiaf, and Boris Yeltsin - a symbol of a resurgent Russia. Russian singer recognized all over the world within a unique voice, gives an interview for the first time, in which he talks about his spiritual life and hispath to God... Bright on stage, so sincere and modest in personal communication, incomparable Pelageya is a guest in our room.

- Pelageya, is it true that your work was blessed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II? Where did yourmeeting and how long ago was that?
- It was 1990, then I, a nine-year-old girl, was invited to Moscow. By invitation from For the Moscow Patriarchate, I performed in the Kremlin as a presenter and singer. There my probably fateful meeting with the Patriarch took place. I can say that he amazing person and I am grateful to God that I was able to communicate with him personally several times in my life. That day he told me very important words and gave me blessing for creativity...

- It seems to me that there are very few artists who have received the blessing of the Patriarch himself. Undoubtedly It's a great honor and joy, butalso time and a huge responsibility... How do you manage to cope with such responsibility, and how Has the blessing of His Holiness influenced your creative path?

The thing is, I take what I do on stage very seriously. To what I say and how I behave. Public people in this sense should be especially responsible! I see big problem when people are not responsible for their actions and do many things carelessly. And it doesn’t matter what exactly you do. If you build a house, you must build it well. Well, if you are engaged in some kind of creativity, you should not only not be ashamed, moreover, you should carry bright feelings, help to people. As for my creativity, I am not at all ashamed of what I do. We really are We do it from the heart. Everything is for real! It’s gratifying if people need our creativity and it brings good results, helps people - this is what I, as a singer, see as my important mission.

- Without a doubt, you are a unique artist, you have an unusually beautiful voice... But how can one not become proud, knowingthat you have special talents and gifts, and your list of achievements includes the loudest regalia and high awards?
- On the contrary, I have a problem that I often have to convince myself that everything is fine with me, that I strong man etc. I always take myself extremely seriously and adequately. And I know perfectly well that I can, that I succeed, and at the same time I know all my shortcomings, my shortcomings. my main problem is laziness. Could spend a lot of time with greater benefit and achieve something more in development. To multiply and reveal talents and qualities to a greater extent than they are currently developed. In general, I've never had any problems with star fever, nor with arrogance. Moreover, I was always surrounded the right people who did not let me become arrogant. I always have my mother next to me, with whom, let’s just say, you won’t spoil her. (laughs)

- I think you, in turn, will also raise wonderful children!
- I really hope so! My mother initially had the right position - to protect me from evil, raising the kindest noble qualities. It is very important to teach a child to distinguish between good and evil. And I will raise my children the same way. Now I have two godchildren and I try to spend as much time as possible with them, to be an example for them, to raise them in a Christian way.. It is important not to pollute your soul with anything, not to be an omnivore. I believe that this largely destroys our inner world. You have to force your soul to work. It is also true that experience steals emotions. We need to make sure that our emotions, our heartfelt feelings are not stolen. So that we react even to some little things and joys, just as sincerely as in childhood, so that we do not become callous, do not become rude. This is especially important in modern conditions. In general, every person should have a kind of filter inside that helps to distinguish between good and evil. This filter is formed on the basis of God's Commandments.

- People who have come to faith often talk about events that changed their consciousness,aspirations and the meaning of life in general... Have such events ever happened in your life?
- Yes, sure. I always feel that the Lord is next to me. Every day I thank God for my happiest life. I'm very lucky man- and this is precisely the hand of God. I understand that this is not enough deserved... S early childhood I was with a lucky star, my Guardian Angel was with me, whose help I felt. I don’t understand people at all who consider themselves fatalists. I am convinced every day that miracles exist. And there have been many of them in my life. You know, I love Jerusalem very much... I’ve been to the Holy Land twice and both times alone. I was in Nazareth, Bethlehem... I venerated the great Shrines of Christianity. I prayed. spent 10 days in absolute solitude, devoting himself to working on his soul. It so happened that both times she left for Jerusalem during rather difficult periods of her life. I needed to think. AND best place I couldn't find it! Visiting Jerusalem was a significant event in my life, something turned upside down in my soul, I realized a lot. I have never experienced anything like it in my life. I'm drawn there again...

- You were probably baptized, like many others, in childhood?
- Yes, I was baptized as a child in Novosibirsk, I was only 3 years old. WITH early age I clearly knew that Godthere is that He is always next to me and I imagined Him as a big luminous Something! My mother raised me in faith, and I really loved going to church. And as she grew older, she began to study theology, read spiritual literature, and the history of religions. I compared other religions, trying to understand and understand for myself: “Why am I Orthodox?” It’s not just because I was baptized at the age of three. And gradually I came to the firm realization that this particular religion is close and understandable to me - Orthodoxy. With all my soul, mind and heart I understand that this is my faith and I value this shrine! Of course I can't say that I'm enough churchgoer. I go to church - it’s good that it’s near my home, I try to go to confession and receive communion, but unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a confessor to whom I could come and ask any question. I read a lot, in particular books written by Archpriest Alexander Men. There I find answers to questions that certainly concern me, like any thinking person... Unfortunately, we will no longer be able to communicate in this life. Now I feel a real need to have spiritual father, this is very important to me. And when it becomes difficult for me, I just need to come to church for a service, think, pray, and it becomes much easier.

- Pelageya, how difficult is it to combine the Orthodox lifestyle and a creative career, does one interfere with the other?
- You just need to determine for yourself what is more important, and then adjust one thing to the other. When God comes first, everything else falls into place. We don't give concerts in Holy Week, we always carefully think through the content of our solo albums. TO Orthodox holidays We are preparing special performances, for Christmas, for example. I always pray before a concert. A lot has changed in my soul since I started fasting, the last 4 years. Holy Easter has become the most joyful and favorite holiday for me! Fasting gives so much strength and energy, it has a beneficial effect on my creative life. Works with spiritual themes occupy a special place in our repertoire. Among them are “Evening Sacrifice”, “I have outlived my time”, “Christmas”, “Christ is Risen” and others. God gives talent, we must multiply our talents, bringing good fruits to the Lord. In short, I will say one thing: if a person wants, he can combine everything, manage everything.

-Have you ever wanted to sing in a church choir?
- Believe it or not, when I was little, I had my favorite game - I played church choir! Temple services with their beautiful prayers made such a great impression on me that I even hummed chants at home! Of course, then I didn’t know the words of the services, but I imitated the priest and the church choir with my voice - exactly as they sang in church. I remember how I locked myself in a room and could sing and sing for hours! At that time I had not yet performed on stage, we lived in St. Petersburg, and one day our guest was Professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. And imagine, he watched me through the keyhole for quite a long time, then he came up to my mother and said that the girl should definitely study music. She has serious abilities for this. This is symbolic, but it was then that we decided to take vocals and music seriously.

- What place does faith occupy in your life, in your work?
- Undoubtedly, the main thing. You know, for me in general, issues of religion are very personal. I almost never talk about this topic in interviews, because... for me these are more intimate things than even personal life. Only your publication was an exception. In our work we sing folk songs, and there are a lot of appeals to God... We have a great, unique Russian culture, rich traditions. All this needs to be protected and appreciated. We must know our roots, our history. I am convinced that we must always look for support in faith, this is very important. I myself cannot imagine my life without God... Does it even make sense then?

- And at the end - your wishes to our readers!
- Love life, appreciate every moment of it. After all, the most important thing in life is Love. Love in the highest sense - for neighbors, for God! I hug everyone, your Pelageya!

SINGER PELAGEYA FOR THE PROJECT "FATHER ONLINE"

BLITZ SURVEY:

1. Full name: Pelageya Khanova
2. Date of Birth:July 14, 1986 in Novosibirsk
3. Education:RATI Institute (GITiS), variety department
4. Dream: Have children
5. Favorite holiday: Easter
6. Favorite place on earth: Holy Land
7. If I didn't sing, I would: I was sitting at home, cooking borscht, because I don’t know how to do anything else (laughs)

Nadezhda ZEM SKOVA