There are situations in life when a person should be directed in the right direction. Who can do it? Often close relatives, sometimes friends, and always the Lord God. A person, even if he does not really believe in God's promptings, simply goes to the temple to ask the priest a question, but the priest is a servant of God. He will definitely help.
How to ask your question to the priest? Let's talk about this in more detail.
A priest is not an old man
Questions to the priest are sometimes the strangest. People are confident that if a priest is in front of them, he simply must know everything. In general, in Russia these servants of God are treated with childish awe and respect. Father.
As deplorable as it may be to realize, a priest is first and foremost a human being. And he can not always give an answer to a very serious question. More precisely, he can give an answer, but he is not obliged to make a decision for the questioner.
For example, a woman comes to the temple. Father sees her for the first time in his life, and the woman asks him: “Father, what do you advise?Should I have surgery or not?”
And what should the priest answer? Moreover, so as not to offend a woman? Will she advise you to do an operation, what if she dies on the operating table? And he will say to follow the recommendations of the attending physician in this regard, the woman may be offended. How so? The priest does not know whether she needs an operation or not.
This story is absolutely real. As well as many others like her. People often go to church with the desire to relieve themselves of responsibility for making a particular decision. It’s easier to say that this is how the priest advised, if something didn’t work out, than to admit one’s own wrong.
Father is not a seer. No, there are, of course, elders in Russian Orthodox monasteries, but there are very few of them. In an ordinary temple, one can hardly meet an old man. Ordinary priests serve there, they can only guide the questioner, prompt him. But priests have no right to dictate what and how to do. The Lord gave people freedom of choice, who is a priest to stop this freedom? The decision must be made by the one who asks the Orthodox priest a question. Weighing all the arguments for and against.
How to ask
It also happens that you come to the service in the morning, you get in line for confession. There are a lot of confessors. And now, it's the turn of a woman. And everyone stood up. They have already sung "The Grace of the World", and "Our Father" will soon be sung, and she keeps asking questions to the priest. Batiushka cannot drive her away, nor can she be stopped. The queue begins to quietly murmur: “Just about to go to communion, and the woman is stillasks and asks. Moreover, loudly, with expression, so that the confessors, standing in line first, hear everything.
In order to avoid such a situation, one's questions must be solved certainly not on Sunday at confession. Time permitting, come on Saturday night, be the last in line for confession, and ask whatever you need.
When to come with questions
Is it possible to ask a priest a question at confession, we found out. It is better to do this on Saturday evening or even after the service. But how to get to the priest after the service, how to talk to him? Especially if it's a Sunday. And for priests, as you know, Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days.
At the end of the service, when the priest gives the cross to kiss, you can ask him for permission to talk after the kiss is over. If the priest is in a hurry, it is likely that he will give his phone number and tell you when you can call and talk to him. This is now quite a normal practice, there is no need to be afraid of this or be offended that the priest could not allocate time for a conversation. If the priest sets a time for the call, then he will be able to give the asking person as much attention on the phone as necessary.
On duty priests
You can ask a priest a question not only at confession or after the service. In many churches there are so-called duty priests. To get to him with a question, it is enough to come to the temple,ask if there is a priest on duty, and ask to call him. After the priest is called, ask permission to ask him a question.
Father online
You can also ask questions to the priest on the Internet. There is a project that is called "Father Online". Here you can ask any questions to the clergyman and get an answer to him.
Besides, it is a very common practice to ask questions on the websites of Orthodox churches. There even a separate section is allocated for this, usually it is called "Questions to the Priest". Of course, not all sites have it, but very many.
Summarizing
The main purpose of the article is to tell the reader how to ask a clergyman a question. Aspects of this article are as follows:
- Father is the same person as we all are. Turning to him, one should not think that the will of God is revealed to him. A priest can only guide a person, prompt him, but not decide for the questioner.
- Questions are best asked on Saturday night or after Sunday service. On Sunday confession, you should refrain from long dialogues with the priest. Unless, of course, the situation requires an urgent solution.
- There are temple priests on duty. You can approach them with your problem any day, without waiting for Saturday or Sunday.
- The Internet has not yet been canceled. You can ask questions to the priest on the "Father Online" project. Or on the websites of parish churches in a special section.
Conclusion
When the question is very serious, it is better to turn to the elder with it. For example, in Borovsk or Sergiev Posad there are still such elders who help people. For a simple priest is hardly endowed with the gift of clairvoyance. And don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask. Seek and it will be given to you, knock and it will be opened to you.
