What is humility according to the Bible? Holy Fathers on humility

Humility is that great thing that, unnoticed by others, happens in the heart of a person. About humility and what kind of a humble person he is in the modern world?

Humility. A humble man - who is he?

– Vladyka, today we would like to talk about humility and what kind of a humble person he is in the modern world?

– At first glance, it may seem that to humble yourself means to show weakness, but in fact, humility is what allows a person to adequately assess his place in the world: both in relation to God and in relation to his neighbors. Humility is that great thing that happens in a person’s heart without unnecessary effects, sometimes unnoticed by others. The opposite of humility is pride: the immoderate and even illegal (in the theological sense of the word) exaltation of one person over another, which can even go as far as rivalry with God. Pride is an already completed, formed type of human behavior, a passion that takes possession of him. Humility and pride are the two poles of the measure by which a person measures himself and his life, and this measure is determined by the state of his soul.

For example, a singer has a good voice, it is clear that his voice is a gift from God. And if a person is humble (that is, he thinks about himself with humility, there is such a theological term), then he understands Who endowed him with this gift, he thanks the Lord for it. Such a person is truthful because he has not distorted the real state of things, and he adequately perceives what is happening. Another situation: the same singer believes that his voice is what sets him apart from those around him, he perceives this gift of God as his merit, as what makes him exceptional. And if he does not have humility, then he will look down on everyone, build relationships accordingly, and in the end, such a distorted perception of his place in this world leads to the fact that a person actually puts himself above God. This is how what we call the sinful path begins, because pride requires constant confirmation of his exclusivity, and he finds this confirmation in conquering someone, in the fact that he begins to commit sinful acts, hiding behind this exclusivity.

– In the New Testament, the idea is repeated more than once that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5.5), that is, if a person begins to do something out of pride, then nothing will work out for him . Is this really true?

- Certainly. A biblical example of this is the Tower of Babel, when people decided: “... let us build ourselves a city and a tower high to heaven, and make a name for ourselves...” (Gen. 11.4). The point is not about the height of the tower, that doesn’t matter, the question is about motivation - people wanted to build a tower up to Heaven in their own name, and this is not just human arrogance, this is pride. According to the word of God, which was spoken by His prophet Jeremiah, Babylon “revolted against the Lord.” So what happens next? As it is written: “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building. And the Lord said: Behold, there is one people, and they all have one language; and this is what they began to do, and they will not cease from what they have planned to do” (Gen. 11:5-6). And then God punishes people, but note that the punishment is educational in nature: “And the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth; and they stopped building the city [and the tower]. Therefore the name was given to it: Babylon (i.e. confusion. - M.G.), for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there he scattered them throughout all the earth” (Genesis 11:8–9). It was a desire to stop people invading God's inheritance. And here it is important to understand that the punishment - “the confusion of languages ​​and the scattering of people” - was protective in relation to people, because the Lord saw that “they would not give up what they had planned,” and He stopped them on their sinful path. Remember, we wrote that even in paradise, man had an attempt to take the place of God, to become “like the gods, knowing good and evil.” When a person strives for his prototype, when he strives for “deification” - this is one thing, but when he, not commensurate with the fact that he is a creation, makes himself the center of everything - this is another. He himself, and not God, becomes the measure of all things, the center of the universe and at the same time the beginning of everything. This sin is called covetousness. And such a loss of one’s commensurability in this world leads to tragic consequences, first of all, for the person himself.

- How is it shown?

– Its destruction occurs, and it begins with the fact that a person ceases to see pride in himself as a sin. A proud person “carries only himself”, he sees only his mind, his talent, his merits, he does not notice anyone around, he makes himself the measure of everything - complete disorientation occurs. And on this sinful path, he moves further and further away from the Creator, he builds his relationships with the surrounding world accordingly: nature, people, and such relationships ricochet back to him.

In 1947, the creator of the first atomic bomb, Jacob Oppenheimer, said: “Physicists have known sin, and they can no longer lose this knowledge,” and unexpectedly abandoned the development of the hydrogen bomb. Historians of science may put forward different versions of the motive for this act of Oppenheimer, but at least the biblical roots of his famous statement are obvious. I think he felt that people had invaded God's inheritance, and this would not go unpunished for humanity.

– Maybe any science is a violation of the Divine plan and the very daring to know something and create something (that is, become a creator) is sinful?

- Not at all like that. In the liturgical prayer read during the Liturgy of the Faithful, we ask the Lord: “And grant us, O Master, with boldness, dare without condemnation to call on You, Heavenly God the Father...” That is, we ask the Lord for boldness, and a person needs this boldness if we want to overcome, cognize, create something. Boldness and pride are two different things. What does pride have to do with it if a person has a talent given to him by God, and he cannot cope with it? He just has to give him a way out: write a book, make a film, this all applies to science. Another thing is that in science, in revealing the secrets of the universe, the question of moral choice, the question of good and evil, always arises even more acutely. But there is nothing sinful in boldness itself; pride manifests itself in How And for what this is boldness.

– Or we dare to build something “to heaven and in our name”...

– ...or we dare “by the will of God.” This is where pride manifests itself. In general, pride is not a simple sin. It seems to us that its signs are arrogance, arrogance, intolerance, vanity, etc. But there is, for example, such a very subtle type of pride as charm. A person is deceived by himself; deception is such self-deception, a spiritual illness, that it is very difficult to detect. This is a state when a person has lost his measure, but this did not happen as a result of some sinful action, but because of excessive zeal in spiritual matters, when he was not spiritually observed by anyone. For example, a person suddenly believed in his sinlessness: indeed, he does not smoke, does not drink, does not fornicate, observes all fasts and is clean from a formal point of view. But these actions (does not smoke, does not drink, fasts) reveal hidden pride in him, he begins to feel like the measure of everyone and everything. This is a very subtle temptation: the thought creeps into a person that he can do anything, that he is already righteous, and what’s more, almost a saint! What does he care about others! This, I repeat, is a rather subtle temptation typical of people who have already reached some heights.

Humility and Temptations

– Vladyka, why do they say that the higher a person rises spiritually, the stronger the temptations?

-What did Satan do? There is a world created by God, and Satan created a mirror world that leads down. And if the Lord calls us to go up and we go, then we must remember that the higher we climb, spiritually improving and ascending to the heights of the Spirit, the steeper the abyss that opens up beneath us. Therefore, the higher a person has ascended, the deeper the abyss into which he can fall. This is an objectively existing pattern of the spiritual world, but this does not mean that one must, afraid of temptations, stand still or fluctuate around zero. It’s just that a person who has embarked on the spiritual path must understand that this is a special world and the further you go, the more subtle the temptations can be. And if you have started a spiritual movement, then first of all you need to tell yourself: “I am not an exception, my coming to church in itself is not some kind of gift to God,” you need to be able to correctly place the emphasis. Because people who take their first steps in faith, especially those who engage in intellectual work, immediately have the feeling that they have gifted God with their appeal to Him - this is the first stage of temptation. And as a person learns the basics, he begins to actively teach others, he puts on the clothes of a righteous man, not realizing that it is possible, for example, to observe all fasts, but at the same time be completely intolerant of his neighbor. Moreover, outwardly this will not necessarily be expressed in violent actions - condemnation, teaching, etc. Outwardly, he may look humble, he will humbly retire to his cell with the thought “what does he care about others, he is already a celestial inhabitant.”

harm.

– That is, having learned to fast, a person has not learned love, compassion, mercy?

– Yes, and all this comes from spiritual homelessness, but a person cannot see pride in himself, and it prevents him from repenting.

– So, external humility is deceptive?

- Certainly. Humility, like pride, are categories of a person’s inner world that can give various external manifestations associated with temperament, character, and upbringing. In order to be humble, it is not at all necessary to walk with a fast look, with your eyes downcast. A person can be humble despite his impetuous nature. They say that when Seraphim of Sarov was told: “Father, how humble you are, with what love you turn to everyone...”, he answered: “How humble I am, that soldier who greets those who come to the monastery, that’s how humble he is.” " “How can this be? - people were surprised. “This soldier literally attacks everyone.” But the fact is that this soldier, due to shell shock, wounds, illness, may have been irritable or intemperate, but in the way he himself suffered from this, how he repented and how he tried to hold on, there was the greatness of his humility.

- Master, before whom do we humble ourselves?

- Before God. Because if we humble ourselves before a person, then how will we find the line between humility and people-pleasing, which, as we know, is a sin? And if human dignity is affected, if there is an attack on the individual, how can one not resist? We humble ourselves before God, before His will, but every time His will is revealed to us in specific circumstances, therefore our humility is, so to speak, concrete. That’s why I’m always against harsh generalizations: this way it will be humble, but this way it won’t... There is no general recipe for “how.” And if there is, then it will not sound as we expect: “A person must correctly measure himself in relation to the Creator and to those around him (that is, have a measure), seek God’s will for himself, realizing that he himself can be a co-worker God, bringing light and goodness to this far from ideal world.” Humility does not mean that you are not a fighter; humility is the ability to stop evil, but in a different way. Do this not in the usual way, when a person responds to evil, even in defense. Indeed, in this case, strictly speaking, you do not stop it, you pass it on, and it, already multiplied, can return to you. Or you can do it differently: evil took up arms against you, but you stopped its development by accepting it into yourself and extinguishing it.

- That is, you were offended, but you did not respond, but not in the sense that you remained silent and hid the offense within yourself, but in the sense that you forgave, understood, justified.

- Yes. This does not mean that a humble person is unprotected. “Humble” is said about both warriors and fighters - this is a spiritual quality, because personality does not dissolve, we are all different.

That is, we are dealing with two systems of measures. One - pride - declares itself to be the measure of all things, it can manifest itself in different ways, but the essence will be the same: I am the center of everything, I have achieved something and therefore have the right to exclusivity. Another system of measures is humility. In theology they talk about humility and humility. This is a measure of attitude towards God and man, which can also be called a measure of thanksgiving, when a person is grateful to God both for the fact that He gave him talent, abilities, and for the fact that He sent him people in time and he succeeded, and for the fact that he is alive, healthy and can give thanks. And if we can reach such levels in our relationship with God, then we will become humble; we will perceive everything “with peace within ourselves,” in our souls.

– So, humility, when you don’t complain about what happens to you?

“You may grumble because of your character, but you still accept the will of God.” You know, it’s like in the Gospel parable told by Jesus: “A man had two sons; and he, approaching the first, said: son! go today and work in my vineyard. But he answered: I don’t want to, and then, repenting, he went. And going up to the other, he said the same thing. This one said in response: I’m going, sir, but I didn’t go. Which of the two,” Jesus later asks, “did the will of the father?” (Matthew 21:28–31).

Confusion occurs due to the fact that people, mistakenly, consider humility to be avoiding problems, which means weakness. But humility is strength. What kind of inner strength must we have in order to hear the voice of Christ among the many voices calling us, accept His will and manifest it, uniting God’s will with our own.

– So, contrary to popular belief, humility does not consist in the fact that you give up in the face of circumstances, do not establish yourself in the workplace, etc.

– You know, the point is that if a person is not affirmed on the rock, which is Christ, then any other statement he makes is worthless - you will still be destroyed.

How to learn humility

– Vladyka, there is an expression: “work humbles,” probably, it humbles fatigue, illness, and understanding of one’s weakness. And what else? And in general, how to learn humility?

– For an unhumble person, understanding of his weakness can lead to aggression and ultimately to the destruction of his personality, but for a humble person - not. To become humble is, first of all, to overcome pride and spiritual laziness. After all, why is pride a sin? Because this is what separates man from God, this is the stumbling block between man and God. But if a person has taken a step towards God and repented, then he has already managed to overcome pride, and then comes the spiritual warfare that we have already written about.

– Vladyka, in the words of Ephraim the Syrian, “if a sinner acquires humility, then he will become righteous.” Why does humility have such power to cancel out everything?

– Yes, because to be humble is, first of all, to be a winner. Conquer your pride. And then humility lies in the fact that we understand that without God’s help we cannot overcome our sins. Remember how we pray: “Lord, grant me to see my sins.”

We cannot think that some spiritual exercises will immediately help us acquire humility. Many learned it through imitation of spiritual fathers, people who spiritually survived in this world. It happens that illnesses and life circumstances teach us. The Apostle Paul said: “And so that I would not become arrogant... I was given a thorn in the flesh.” And further: “...the angel of Satan oppresses me so that I do not become arrogant. Three times I prayed to the Lord to remove him from me. But Lord He said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:7-9).

We have an elder Alexey in Stary Oskol, people simply call him: Alyosha from Stary Oskol. This is a physically very sick, weak person, he doesn’t even speak, and if he needs to answer a question, he simply moves his finger over a table with letters, and words come out. Or he runs his finger over the letters, and poetry comes out. And no matter what happens around him, in any situation, he is always surprisingly bright, he has so much love and warmth for people. For me, this Alyosha from Stary Oskol is the embodiment of humility.

A. A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov

In a time of unrest, despondency and debauchery

Do not judge a lost brother;

But, armed with prayer and the cross,

Before pride, humble your pride,

Before evil - love, know what is sacred

And execute the spirit of darkness within yourself.

Don't say: “I am a drop in this ocean!

My sadness is powerless in the general grief,

My love will disappear without a trace..."

Humble your soul - and you will comprehend your power:

Trust love - and you will move mountains;

And tame the abyss of stormy waters!

Cry to Our Lady

What should I pray to You for, what should I ask of You? You see everything, you know it yourself, look into my soul and give it what it needs. You, who have endured everything, overcome everything, will understand everything. You, who cradled the baby in the manger and took Him with Your hands from the Cross, You alone know all the heights of joy, all the oppression of grief. You, who have received the entire human race as adoption, look at me with maternal care. From the snares of sin, lead me to Your Son. I see a tear watering Your face. It’s over me You shed it and let it wash away the traces of my sins. Here I have come, I am standing, I am waiting for Your response, O Mother of God, O All-Singing One, O Lady! I don’t ask for anything, I just stand before You. Only my heart, poor human heart, exhausted in longing for truth, I throw at Your Most Pure feet, Lady! Grant to all who call You to reach the eternal day by You and worship You face to face.

A. A. Korinfsky

Who poor in spirit- blessed... But, God,

You inspired my spirit with thoughts,

You made it possible to comprehend: what is more valuable,

What is higher than our perishable strength!..

You gave my dream freedom

And the gift of insight to the mind,

Penetration into nature

Sent to my ignorance...

Oh, let the chains fall

Overwhelming passions!

Clothe humility with a veil

All the nakedness of my soul!..

Without humility, Christian spiritual life is impossible. A Christian must learn to accept sorrow with humility - without clenching his teeth, to endure at all costs, namely, to accept pain. But what to do if there is no humility? Especially for the portal “” - a conversation between Tamara Amelina and Archpriest Alexy Uminsky.

– The path to humility is quite long and difficult. This is a lifelong journey. Of course, this is spiritual fulfillment. Abba Dorotheos says: “Everyone who prays to God: “Lord, give me humility,” should know that he is asking God not to send him someone, but to insult him.”

– Humility is accepting yourself as you are. Most often, the biggest problem for a person is to be yourself, to be who you are at the moment. The biggest lack of humility is that a person does not want to admit to himself who he really is. A person wants to look better in the eyes of other people than he really is. Everyone has it, right? And no one wants to know what you think, what is going on in your soul. And all the problems of our lack of humility, our grievances come from the fact that people notice who we really are and somehow make us understand this. And we are offended by this. By and large, this is exactly the case.

The initial moment of humility can begin precisely with this: if they tell you “Humble yourselves,” then think, what happened? And find the reason in yourself. Maybe you are the very person to whom these words of insult are addressed and there is nothing offensive in them? If you tell a fool that he is a fool, then what is offensive to the fool? There can be nothing offensive in this for a fool. If I'm a fool, and they told me that I'm a fool, then I can't be offended by it!

- So who considers himself a fool?

- So, a humble person, if he knows who he is, he will not be offended.

– But there are always people who are stupider and worse?

- Is not a fact! This still needs to be figured out! Maybe there is, but they are also fools, and I am just like them. That's all. Our life is a chain of evidence for people to believe how smart, strong, talented we are... Well, tell me, does a smart person need to prove that he is smart? No need! If a person proves that he is smart, then he is a fool. And when they tell him that he is a fool, he should not be offended. Something like this, of course I'm drawing a rough diagram. A person must first understand who he really is. And don't be afraid to be yourself. Because this is the starting point.

– What if it’s also a fool who tells you this?

- A fool can become smart! A fool, if he realizes that he is a fool, he can try and become smart! Don't pretend to be smart, but somehow learn to be smart. A coward can learn to become brave if he realizes that he is a coward and wants to become brave.

Every person, if he understands the starting point, he will have somewhere to go. This is where humility begins. A person, first of all, must reconcile with himself in God and see who he is. Because if a person thinks that he is smart, then why should he ask God for intelligence? He's already smart. If a person considers himself talented, then why ask God for talent? And if he thinks that he doesn’t have something, it means he can ask God for it, that means he has somewhere to strive, that means he has somewhere to go. And so - there is nowhere to go. Why do they begin with “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3)? Because the beggar always asks for something, the beggar has nothing. Although, if he wants, he can fill his pockets with money! There is even such a profession - a professional beggar. So, the principle is the same. A man recognized himself as a beggar in the eyes of other people. He lives such a life, from this beggary he receives a way of living.

And if you translate this into a spiritual plan, as the Gospel teaches us, then you can acquire something important for yourself in this life, but without it you cannot acquire it. The biggest problem, the biggest obstacle to acquiring any spiritual gifts or strength to move towards God, first of all, is that we do not want to be ourselves. We want to look better in the eyes of others than we really are. It’s clear that we want to be better, but we don’t do simple things to achieve this.

We don't want people to see who we really are. We are very scared of this, we are scared like Adam, who wants to hide from God, we want to immediately cover all our nakedness.

And humility, first of all, consists, it seems to me, in the fact that a person commits a very courageous act. He is not afraid to be a fool if he is a fool. He is not afraid to admit his stupidity if he is stupid. He is not afraid to admit his inability if he is incapable. He is not afraid to admit his lack of talent if something doesn’t work out for him. He doesn’t become despondent or self-critic about this, saying, how can it be, there are people worse than me, but he understands that this is a starting point. Therefore, when they say “fool” to him, he is not offended, but humbled.

– Humility is also often confused with indifference.

– There is the concept of “dispassion,” and there is the concept of “insensibility.” These are different things.

– If a person does not manifest any passions, condemnation, for example, then it seems that everything is in order with his soul.

- Not really. What does okay mean? If there is peace in a person’s soul, then everything is fine with him, but if there is a lifeless swamp, then this state is difficult to live with.

– The criterion is peace, joy?

– Yes, what is written in the Gospel. In the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians: “... love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness...” (Gal. 6-7).

– Can I not mention people in prayer for whom it is difficult for me to pray?

– If you are a Christian, then you cannot

– I can’t even pronounce their names, I immediately have such temptations... Even prayer stops... I want to forget...

– If you are a Christian, you have no right. This means that we must ask God for strength to do this.

As he said: “Not wanting to see or hear a person is like an order to shoot him.”

– Are there really people who are able to overcome seemingly unthinkable betrayals?

- You can try. It depends on what you ask God for. If you ask God to bring these people to repentance, to give them the opportunity to understand what they did wrong, so that the Lord would not let them completely perish, so that the Lord would help them change, then why not?

– There is an opinion that if you pray for such people, then you take on the burden of their sin.

– This, of course, is a complete disgrace. When people justify their reluctance to pray for someone with some temptations. Then it is better to take off your cross, not go to church and live a quiet life without a church - without Christ and without a cross. In general, then there will be no temptations! Everything gonna be alright! This is, of course, a disgrace, but a widespread disgrace. From such false humility, they say, we are unworthy, weak, where are we... Because people do not love Christ, but only love themselves.

He writes: “And, probably, this is precisely why miracles happen so rarely these days, because we want a miracle in cases where there is another way out, we want a miracle only for the reason that it will be easier. We wait for a miracle and ask for a miracle, without exhausting all our possibilities, we ask for a miracle, but we should ask for strength, wisdom, patience and perseverance.”

I completely agree with these words of Father George.

Interviewed by Tamara Amelina

Humility is the opposite virtue of pride, and pride is the source of delusion. Therefore, getting rid of delusion is primarily associated with acquiring humility.

That's what he says about humility explanatory dictionary D.N. Ushakova:

HUMILITY, humility, plural no, cf. (book).

1. Action under Ch. humble-humble. Humility of pride.

2. Awareness of one's shortcomings and weaknesses, combined with a lack of pride and arrogance. “I did not disguise the evil pride in words of humility.” Khomyakov.

|| Meekness, humility.

That's what he says about humility Philosophical Encyclopedia:

HUMILITY, humility is a virtue that can arise from the consciousness that perfection (divinity, moral ideal, sublime goal) to which a person strives remains infinitely distant. Humble behavior in relation to the outside world excludes untrue humility, which is actually self-abasement and slavish obedience. True humility constitutes moral pride, the meaning of which is to measure one’s strength against the unattainable.

That's what he says about humility Bible Encyclopedia:

Humility(Proverbs XV, 33) is the opposite virtue of pride, and one of the most important virtues in Christian life. It consists in the fact that a person does not think highly of himself, nourishes in his heart the spiritual conviction that he has nothing of his own, but only has what God gives, and that he cannot do anything good without God’s help and grace; In this way he counts himself for nothing and resorts to the mercy of God in everything. In St. In Scripture, this virtue is especially prescribed and commanded to all followers of Christ. Nevertheless, as you submit to one another, clothe yourselves with humility, says St. ap. Peter, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And so, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, may he exalt you in due time(I Pet. V, 5, 6). In this, as in all other respects, the earthly life of the Divine Savior represents the most perfect example and model for all of us. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross.(Philip. II, 8), says the apostle about Him. Paul. Priest Scripture is replete with promises of God's grace and mercy for the humble, and threats of various punishments for proud people.

“So you too, when you have done everything commanded you, say: We are worthless slaves, because we did what we had to do.” (Luke 17:10)

“But many who are first will be last, and those who are last will be first.” (Matthew 19:30)

“...Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” (Matt. 11:29)

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5)

“The path to humility is through physical labor done intelligently, and by considering oneself lower than everyone else, and by constantly praying to God.” (Abba Dorotheus)

“Oh, man, learn Christ’s humility, and the Lord will give you to taste the sweetness of prayer...

We suffer because we do not have humility. The Holy Spirit lives in a humble soul, and He gives the soul freedom, peace, love, bliss.” Acquiring a humble spirit “is a great science that you will not quickly overcome.” (Reverend Silouan of Athos)

“The Lord expects tears of repentance from us. Hell is already filled with the proud. The Lord wants to see man humble and humble.” (Athos Elder Tikhon)

“...Which way to go to God? Walk the path of humility! Humble bearing of the difficult circumstances of life, humble patience, diseases sent by the Lord; humble hope that you will not be abandoned by the Lord, your quick helper and loving Heavenly Father; a humble prayer for help from above, to drive away despondency and feelings of hopelessness, with which the enemy of salvation tries to lead to despair, disastrous for a person, depriving him of grace and removing God’s mercy from him.” (Reverend Nectarius of Optina)

“No one was saved without humility. Remember that for the rest of your life you will fall into sins, serious or light, be angry, boast, lie, be vain, offend others, be greedy. It is this consciousness that will keep you humble. What is there to be proud of if you sin and offend your neighbor every day? But for every sin there is repentance. Sinned and repented... and so on until the end. By doing this, you will never despair, but will gradually come to a peaceful dispensation. And for this you need to keep your thoughts. They can be kind, indifferent and bad. Never accept the latter... And if you begin to consider it... it will charm you, and you will agree with it, and you will think about how to fulfill it, and then you will fulfill it with action - that’s a sin.

Through many sorrows - this is a sacrifice to God... Whatever the “fat sacrifice” is, it is not pleasing to God if there is even a drop of pity in it, even a small amount of acquisitions and addiction. The main thing is sincerity, truthfulness, purity of heart. The sacrifice pleasing to God was the sacrifice of the poor widow, because it was whole, from a pure heart - He accepts such a sacrifice with love.” (Elder Michael (Pitkevich))

“Our teacher is humility. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, and the grace of God is everything... There you have the greatest wisdom. So, humble yourself and say to yourself: “Although I am a grain of sand on the earth, the Lord also cares about me, and may God’s will be done to me.” Now, if you say this not only with your mind, but also with your heart, and really boldly, as befits a true Christian, you rely on the Lord, with the firm intention of meekly submitting to the will of God, whatever it may be, then the clouds will dissipate before you, and the sun will come out and will illuminate you and warm you, and you will know true joy from the Lord, and everything will seem clear and transparent to you, and you will stop tormenting, and your soul will feel at ease...

The path to humility... We must recognize ourselves as the weakest worm, unable to do anything good without the gift of the Holy Spirit from our Lord Jesus Christ, given through the prayer of ours and our neighbors and by His mercy...” (Reverend Anatoly (Jr.) Optina)

“A rule imposed is always difficult, but doing with humility is even more difficult.

What is acquired through labor is useful.”

“Don’t complain and don’t allow yourself to offend anyone. If someone reproaches you for some sin in which you are not involved, humble yourself before the reproach and you will inherit the crown.” (Elder of Glinsk Schema-Archimandrite Andronik)

“Christian humility is a manifestation of the strength of the human spirit... No internal or external human efforts can defeat this strength. He who carries within himself the kind of humility that St. Sergius, St. Seraphim, and St. Ambrose of Optina carried, that thousands of true servants of God possessed, shows not the weakness of the spirit, but its greatness and strength.

Humility is the ability to see the truth." (Elder of Glinsk Schema-Archimandrite John (Maslov))

“Our salvation is on the Cross, namely in the suffering of the cross... Just as it is impossible to breathe without air, to live without food, to walk without legs, so it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven without sorrow. Anyone who wants to be saved must acquire, according to the word of Saint Barsanuphius, great humility... Humility consists in the fact that a person recognizes himself as a sinner who does not do any good before God, humility is when he carefully observes silence, when he does not force anyone to accepted his words when he rejects his own will, refrains from lying, does not utter empty words, does not contradict his elders, patiently endures dishonor and forces himself to endure labor and sorrow... A truly humble person, if he has any gifts from God: prayer, or tears, or fasting, or anything else - all this is carefully hidden, for human praise, like moths or rust, eats away everything... The humble one does good to those who do him evil... The humble one is alien to hatred, bickering and disobedience and has good qualities: good-natured, friendly, merciful, quiet... To achieve the salvation of your soul, it is not enough to limit yourself to avoiding evil alone. But you must also do good... Live for others and you will be saved.” (Reverend Simeon (Zhelnin))

“What happens to a person is absolutely connected with humility... A person may hate specific passions and not desire them, and even shed blood to remove them, but nothing will work out for him, because God does not help him; and will not help him until he humbles himself. (Because, although he hates specific passions, he is still a slave to pride, which introduces all other passions).

To succeed spiritually, a person can ask God for love, prayer, wisdom, obedience and other virtues. However, God... will not give us anything we ask for, no matter how much we struggle, unless we first humble ourselves. When our only goal is humility, then God will give us everything for free. God wants one thing from us - humility, nothing more.

Those who were born crippled, or became crippled through the fault of others, or through their own carelessness, if they do not grumble, but humbly glorify God and live with Christ, will be counted among confessors by God.

There is great evil in the world that we do not notice: this is a lack of understanding of the ways of God’s providence and, as a result of this, grumbling. God does not allow trials that do not result in anything good. When the cripple accepts the test sent to him with joy, then God will number him among the righteous.

May our minds submit completely to Divine grace. Christ seeks only one thing from us - humility. Everything else is then given by Divine grace.

Only through humility can you come to your senses and be saved. Only humility saves.”

(Athos Elder Paisios)

“Holy humility is a gift from God... Not from our efforts...

We need to thank God constantly and humble ourselves in His Love. Ask God for humility for yourself, prepare yourself and ask God for this Holy Gift...

We are sometimes unprepared when we ask something from God, such as humility.

When we are mature, then he gives to us. You just need to have the eyes of your soul open, to understand His purpose...

God sends grace to the person who obeys and asks. For grace to come, you need humility...” (Athos Elder Porfiry)

“You need to humble yourself. One wing is humility, the other is self-reproach. You need to pray the Jesus Prayer loudly in private.” (Reverend Alexy (Soloviev))

“Humility is the most important means by which we can accomplish the work of our salvation.

Humility is not one of the virtues, but is an entire Christian worldview, the beginning of the New Testament Christian life and this life itself.

That is why the Monk Macarius of Egypt in his wondrous works says that humility is a sign of Christianity, or, what is the same, the criterion by which we can determine whether we are Christians or pagans; whether we have grace or not; whether we are with God or without God; whether we are happy or unhappy.

Without humility, all virtues have no saving significance for us. And how could it be otherwise, when grace itself, the main means of our salvation, is given to us from God only for humility.

Humility is the direction of our entire Christian life, or its foundation. The Lord gives us grace for humility. And grace gives us the strength to unswervingly keep the Divine commandments. Fulfilling the commandments makes us participants in Christ’s joy both here and in the future life. If we have humility, then all Christian virtues will be inherent in us, for humility is their basis.

For the sake of humility and meekness, grace will save us from all the snares of the enemy, transform all sorrows into joys, unite us with Christ forever, and we will experience the unspeakable heavenly joy of this unity with God even in our earthly life.

Let humility be the very first and fundamental virtue for us. If we have it, then we will acquire wondrous meekness with its highest love for the poor. For only for humility does the Lord give us His grace, which alone can give us the strength to love our offenders.”

“How to reconcile? A person himself cannot acquire this property. It is necessary in everything: both in small things and in large things - to recognize your weakness and limitations, your powerlessness, your “decrepitness” and “fleshness” and use each manifestation of them to your advantage - to reproach yourself, to consider yourself an unfit and indecent servant of God, constantly in need of God's mercy and help. We must also do works of mercy. Alms cleanses from many sins...

Humility has the power to gather thoughts into remembrance of God, while unworldliness, vanity, and pride scatter thoughts. If thoughts are greatly scattered, it means that something is wrong in the soul, it means that the enemy has gained access to our soul and we must repent before God and beg for forgiveness and help. We need to look for the reasons for this. Sometimes this happens (if there is no anger) from excessive fussiness, attachment to the world, from long worldly conversations, from judging others. Good, attentive prayer that comes from the heart is the path to the kingdom of God, which is within us. If there is no such prayer, it means that we have somehow angered the Lord...

The most basic property of the “new” person is humility (learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly...), without which the fulfillment of even all the commandments not only does not bring a person closer to God, but even makes him an enemy of God, because if there is no humility, then there will definitely be pride... It turns out that a person’s fall into sin can help him acquire humility (unless the person blames no one or anything for his falls, but blames himself, which is quite correct... This is confirmed by remorse after committing a sin)..." (Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev))

“Those wise by grace-filled experience say: the only state of spirit through which all spiritual gifts enter a person is humility. What is humility? We will say: this is the unceasing prayer, faith, hope and love of a trembling soul that has given up its life to the Lord. “Thy Lamb, Jesus... calls with a great voice: I love You, my Bridegroom, and seeking You, I suffer and crucify myself, and I am buried in Your baptism, and I suffer for Your sake, for I reign in You, and I die for You, and I live by You, but accept me as an immaculate sacrifice, sacrificed to You with love. Through your prayers, as He is merciful, save our souls.”

Humility is the door that opens the heart and makes it capable of spiritual sensations. Humility brings undisturbed peace to the heart, peace to the mind, and dreamlessness to thoughts. Humility is a force that embraces the heart, alienating it from everything earthly, giving it the concept of that feeling of eternal life that cannot ascend to the heart of a carnal man. Humility gives the mind its original purity. He clearly begins to see the difference between good and evil in everything. And within himself he knows a name for every state and movement of his soul, just as the primordial Adam gave names to animals according to the properties that he saw in them. Humility places the stamp of silence on everything that is in human man, and the spirit of man in this silence, standing before the Lord in prayer, listens to his broadcasts. Until the heart feels humility, there cannot be pure prayer. The unceasing memory of God's presence is hindered by the absent-mindedness of our thoughts, which draw our minds into vain worries. Only when our whole life is completely directed towards God does a person become capable and begin by faith to see God in everything... and to submit to His will in everything, without which there can be no memory of God, there cannot be pure and unceasing prayer. Feelings and passions even more harm the memory of God, and therefore prayer. Therefore, one must strictly and constantly listen to the heart and its movements, firmly, resisting them, for hobbies lead the soul into impenetrable darkness.” (Archimandrite Seraphim (Batiukov))

“Humility is the basis of all virtues. The ear, when it is empty, dangles in all directions, and when it is filled with grain, it bends and the winds are no longer afraid of it. So is man; the empty one dangles here and there, but the humble one cannot be harmed despite all temptations.” (Elder Gregory (Davydov))

“We must endure all temptations and trials, just as the Savior endured. And we must not only endure, but also endure with joy. Then we will achieve salvation.

Every person is given a measure of salvation by God. To the extent that we humble ourselves, we will draw closer to God. That is why, through humility, we can always, if we wish, receive salvation. Do not spare the flesh - it is only our dwelling. And there, inside, is our Bride, who will meet with the Groom, with God. The soul is the Bride of Christ! It is she, the Bride, who needs to be decorated with flowers. You need to weave a precious wreath. And we need to have time to weave this wreath before the end of our lives. And if we have time, the Lord will give us salvation. But we are not always constant. And you must always be constant. If you fall, get up and run. Are you lying down? Say your prayer anyway! If you don’t have time to get up, as happens in wrestling when the judge counts to ten, then you’ve lost. And even if they put you on your shoulder, but you immediately jumped up, then you are not defeated yet, the battle continues! So we must immediately jump up, we must hold out to the end in an unequal battle...

Humility is the inner state of our soul. Never get angry, don't get annoyed, don't get angry. Always endure, love. Love is patient..." (Sche-abbot Jerome (Verendyakin))

“Humility is the basis of spiritual life and at the same time, like love, its peak.” (Archimandrite Sergius (Shevich))

“Mercy is gold, humility is a diamond.” (Archimandrite Gabriel (Urgebadze))

“These words: “Humility is never angry,” will serve as a mirror for you! If you want to know if you are humble, watch yourself; if you are angry, then you are not humble!” (Elder Nikita (Lekhan))

“...When a person has love, patience, obedience and humility, he has acquired both this world and Paradise. But who is stopping? There is always the power of darkness that tells us that we are right... The other is always “right!” This is very important... Because with his “I” he is right. (We) do what we think is right, but we will not have aimless conversations with him, we will not judge, we will not lose silence. He will continue his path, and we will leave him to the will of God. He can't hurt us. Because we have above us a certain Origin that agrees with our truth. There is a confessor... there is a Vladyka, there is the whole Church who agrees. Above all, there is the Gospel, which says: “This is the truth, here is the commandment”... Sometimes an atheist, some opponent, will come and start aimless conversations with the idea of ​​​​upsetting you. Never show it, although you are upset, hurt... Don't show it. For then he won his game... Another time an even greater force will come. If you again show dispassion, he will say: “It’s in vain that I strike here. I’ll go hit somewhere else...” Therefore, first of all, no to anger! Because the Lord says: “Do not resist evil” (Matt 5:39). Because when we go against something, we kill ourselves in a quarrel. If someone comes at this time and sees us, will he understand who is right and who is wrong? Never! We both become evil and from the evil one. Therefore, I tell you: when a conversation begins that leads to a quarrel, one of the two, if he is a man of God, must remain silent and say to himself: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.” After two minutes everything stops...

We do not need to go against what tempts us... When peace with other people is not restored, Christ tells us: “When you go to pray and remember that your brother has something against you, - not you against your brother, - then leave your sacrifice and gift to God, i.e. prayer, go and make peace with your brother and come back.” In other words, if your conscience is not calm towards people, you cannot have a calm conscience towards God. But what He says is very important: that the other will be to blame, and you will ask for forgiveness. And I say as if in confession: this was the most difficult thing that I put into practice in my life. The point is not that I need to humble myself and go speak (for I walked and spoke from the bottom of my heart), but how, in what way, the other person accepted it. Because sometimes he can say: “Yes, but, probably, she is to blame, since she came and asked me for an apology...” Whereas this is not so: we are simply trying to introduce the Gospel into practice. Because otherwise, when we go to prayer in the evening, we cannot (pray) and do not have the peace that we should have. Let's not look at what the other person is doing. It's kind of in parentheses and doesn't have any meaning. In any case, we need to follow the letter of the Gospel, because then, it says, “you will find rest for your souls.” It’s all about being at peace with the Lord who is in you.”

“Be lower and closer to God... Humility and patience are above fasting and prayers.” (Schemonun Misaila (Grankina))

“Humility is the only state of spirit through which all spiritual gifts enter into a person. It is the door that opens the heart and makes it capable of spiritual sensations. Humility brings undisturbed peace to the heart, peace to the mind, and not daydreaming to thoughts. Humility is a force that embraces the heart, alienating it from everything earthly, giving it the concept of that feeling of eternal life that cannot ascend to the heart of a carnal man. Humility gives the mind its original purity...

With any confusion and temptation, the only way out and peace is humility. Only along this path does the soul come to the truth that resolves everything, to the warmth that heals, to freedom that makes it easier..." (Abbess Arsenia (Sebryakov))

“If you see a mistake in your neighbor that you would like to correct, if it disturbs your peace of mind and irritates you, then you also sin and, therefore, you will not correct the mistake with an error - it is corrected with meekness.” (Reverend Joseph of Optina)

“The most important thing is to be a meek person.” (Elder Ambrose Balabanovsky)

“Meekness, first of all, is expressed in the silence of our lips during insults. But isn’t responding to an insult with meekness a great miracle? That's why Rev. John Cassian in his wondrous works says that meekness, or a meek person, is a miracle of miracles. Meekness is our perfection. Most of all, we must strive to acquire the highest gift of the Holy Spirit - i.e. perfect Christian love and meekness. Only the meek are under the special protection of God. And this protection is the source of all the ineffable mercies of God towards us, of all our happiness and bliss, temporary and eternal.

From this it is clear why St. the fathers say: “Do not look for miracles, but look for a meek man, who is a miracle of miracles”...

Meekness is infantile kindness, and not only infantile, but also angelic, and not only angelic, but also Divine. The most distinctive and essential characteristic of the saints was meekness. Rev. had this meekness. Seraphim of Sarov. When three robbers attacked him in the Sarov forest, he threw the ax that was in his hands to the ground, crossed his arms over his chest, and meekly told them: “Do with me what you please.” The robbers beat the holy elder almost to death with his own axe. And when these robbers were convicted of a crime and brought to justice, then St. Seraphim petitioned the authorities to release them from punishment. This is not enough. Robbers at the request of Rev. Seraphim was released from prison. They came to the saint of God to ask for his forgiveness, and he with all his heart, like his own father, forgave them.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk had this meekness. When one proud and evil landowner hit him in the face, Saint Tikhon fell at the feet of the landowner and asked him for forgiveness.

Our Savior had this wondrous meekness in all its fullness and perfection. When they beat Him on the head and the crown of thorns with a reed, when they spat in His face, the Lord did not turn His head away, He meekly and silently looked at His tormentors. When they began to crucify the Lord, He prayed for His executioners.

This is what grace, what its highest and wondrous manifestation in us, we must strive for with all our hearts. If we achieve this meekness, we will achieve the bliss of Christ’s Heavenly Kingdom.” (Saint Seraphim (Sobolev))

“Meekness is such a disposition of spirit combined with caution, so as not to irritate anyone and not to be irritated by anything. St. John Climacus speaks about it this way: “Meekness is a motionless state of the soul, equally accepting both dishonor and praise.” “If anger is the recollection of hidden hatred, combined with the desire to do evil to the one who upset him, then lack of anger is an insatiable desire for dishonor, like the boundless desire for praise in the vain. Non-anger is a victory over nature as a result of exploits, labors, achieved by insensitivity to insults,” he also says.

“Meek,” according to the word Venerable Ephraim the Syrian, - even if he is offended, he rejoices; even if he is offended, he thanks; he pacifies the angry with love; taking blows, does not hesitate; when they quarrel with him, he is calm; when they subjugate, they have fun and are not hurt by someone else’s pride; rejoices in humiliation, does not boast of merits; he is peaceful with everyone, submissive to his superiors; ready for any task, alien to guile, knows no envy.”

A meek person never repays evil for evil, insult for insult; does not get angry, does not raise his voice in anger at those who sin and offend. The meek, being reproached, does not reproach, enduring suffering and misfortune from others, does not threaten with vengeance, but allows the Righteous Judge to take revenge for himself. In the complex earthly human life, there are various circumstances that require that a person, regardless of his personal peace of mind, wholeheartedly stand up for the defense of truth and law. And it is in this case that the high dignity of a meek person is revealed: in the fact that he knows how to excellently defend holy truth and honor without any irritation or passionate excitement. A meek person knows how to skillfully expose those who violate the truth without insulting them. And when they, driven by their own malice, shower him with reproaches, he generously accepts them and does not respond in kind; struck on one cheek, he is always ready, according to the commandment of Christ, to substitute the other...

The virtue of meekness also includes humility. How is the humility of meek people expressed? In their deep self-examination and awareness of their shortcomings. They test and analyze not only their shortcomings, but also their virtues in such a way that they are never completely satisfied with themselves, do not consider themselves perfect, but, like the Apostle of Christ, they always strive for the honor of a higher calling, for the highest perfection. The Lord gives them His grace-filled enlightenment, teaches them His saving ways: He will teach the meek in His way (Ps. 24:9), proclaims the holy psalmist David. The Lord gives them wisdom from above, which, according to the word of God, is pure, peaceful, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and unfeigned (James 3:17).

The highest example of meekness is shown to us by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who, being the Creator of the whole world, with such meekness and patience endures all insults, abuse, persecution, mockery, beatings, spitting from His own creation - an ungrateful man. And he endures everything without grumbling, with complete submission to the will of the Heavenly Father. He always acted in accordance with His words: I do not seek My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me (John 5:30)... Christian meekness is the meekness of the lips and tongue, or humble silence, when a person flees idle talk and obscene language, contrary to love. Christian, maintains reverent and saving silence. Christian meekness is the meekness of all actions and all behavior, or brotherly love, when a person treats everyone modestly, friendlyly and respectfully in all cases.

A meek person in every position and condition maintains peace of soul.” (Elder Kirill)

“Forbearance and meekness are weapons and signs of a spiritually strong person. He “understands” everything and forgives everything.” (Schemonun Gabriel (Gerontissa Gabriel))