Blessing

(Heb. berah; Greek. eulogia).
I.
By B. (opposite, see Curse), the Bible understands the conversion of God's mercy, grace on a person either by God Himself or by people acting according to the will of God (cf. Gen 12:3). The power of B. descends on the blessed through words (Gen 27:28ff; 48:15ff) and sometimes through the laying on of hands. B. given to a person can be extended to his descendants (Deut 28:4), property and environment. B. is being executed (Num 22:6), even if it was obtained by cunning (cf. Gen 27). The Blessed One himself becomes the source of the divine B. (cf. Gen 12:3); Jacob blessed his grandsons and sons (Gen 48; 49) and Moses the tribes of Israel (Deut 33). Sometimes B. are also called gifts (Gen 33:11; cf. 1 Sam 25:27; 2 Sam 5:15) .
II.
The primary source of all B. is God Himself (Gen 49:25). B. for the most part drawn to the person (Gen 1:28; 12:3; 26:3) but God also blessed the seventh day (Gen 2:3), animals (Gen 1:22), bread and water (Ex 23:25). B., addressed to a person, is a gift and expression of Divine love (Deut 7:13). God's B. grants numerous. offspring (Gen 1:28), land ownership, bountiful harvests and abundance of livestock (Gen 39:5; Deut 28:3-5; Job 42:12; Ps 64:11) , life well-being and protection from enemies (Gen 14:19ff; Ps 28:11) . During the festive services, the priests, the descendants of Aaron, observing the established ritual, with their hands raised to heaven (Sir 50:22ff.) bless the people (Num 6:23ff; cf. Deut 10:8) . Kings also bless the people (David - 2 Samuel 6:18; Solomon - 1 Kings 8:14). Received B. and sacrificial meals (1 Samuel 9:13).
III.
Jesus took the curse off the people (Gal 3:13ff.) so that the promise to Abraham B. (Acts 3:26). He blessed the children (Mark 10:16), and before the ascension - and His disciples (Luke 24:50). They themselves must become carriers and distributors of B. (Rom 12:14; 15:29). The power of God is manifested in them and testifies of itself by the fact that they bless even enemies and persecutors. (Mt 5:44; Luke 6:28; 1 ​​Cor 4:12; 1 Pet 3:9) .
IV.
Heb. and Greek words denoting "blessing", "bless", can also be used in the meaning of "praise", "glorify", and also "thank"; to the Synod. per. they are sometimes transmitted in this way, sometimes - letters. (Gen 24:48; Deut 8:10; Judg 5:2,9; Matt 14:19; 15:36; 26:26; 1 Cor 10:16) .

Brockhaus Bible Encyclopedia. F. Rinecker, G. Mayer. 1994 .

Antonyms:

See what "Blessing" is in other dictionaries:

Cm … Synonym dictionary

BLESSING, blessings, pl. no, cf. (church.). 1. Action according to Ch. bless bless. 2. Religiously everyday wedding ceremony among Christians, consisting in the cross-shaped fall of the bride and groom with an icon and bread by their parents in front of ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

BLESSING, I, cf. 1. see bless. 2. A request to God for grace, help. B. Lord. With God's blessing, proceed to the construction of the temple. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

blessing- (incorrect blessing) ... Dictionary of pronunciation and stress difficulties in modern Russian

Blessing- Blessing ♦ Benediction A kind word that can turn a word into good. It would be a mistake to believe too much in the power of blessing, that is, to expect an immediate practical result from it - concrete help or protection. Kind words don't... Philosophical Dictionary of Sponville

- (tracing paper from Greek εὐλογία) ambiguous term ... Wikipedia

BLESSING- [heb. ; Greek εὐλογία; lat. benedictio], wishing or receiving a special favor of God for an individual or a community of people through appropriate words or symbolic gestures; in relation to God, one of the components of religions. ... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Blessing- The very word "blessing" seems somewhat outdated, but its essence remains significant enough for every person. This is probably why we may well dream that we are giving, asking, or receiving a blessing. D. Loff ... ... Big universal dream book

Blessing- - this word denotes: in the proper sense of blessing (Eph. 1, 3); doing good (2 Cor. 9:5); the abundance that comes from God's blessing (2 Cor. 9:6); beneficence to the needy; permission taken from an elder, for example, a deacon from ... ... Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary

blessing- A. Human blessings 1. Blessing of sacred objects of sacrifices: 1 Samuel 9:13 Holy Communion cup: 1 Cor 10:16 2. Blessing of other people A father blesses his son: Gen 27:1 40; Gen 48:15,16 the family blesses the departing daughter: Gen… … Bible: Topical Dictionary

term.

Blessing- a wish for good, reinforced by a religious act, the sign of the cross, bread or another act, in the eyes of the people is gaining cult significance.

Blessing - being in a state of goodness, well-being, grace from God. The Bible says: “He loved the curse - it will come upon him. He didn’t want a blessing - it will go away from him ”(Ps. 109: 17, synod. Lane) - that is, we are talking here about that person who did not want to abide in the goodness and grace of God.

Blessing implies that a person is open to goodness and grace, which are abundantly poured on him. In Abrahamic and, more broadly, theistic religions, it is implied that blessing (that is, a state of goodness, well-being) is given by God.

In Judaism

Blessing with the Cross

Blessing with holy water

• In Jewish tradition, blessing ( Bracha- Heb. ברכה ‏‎) is a prayerful wish of success, happiness, longevity to a person. The custom to bless people dates back to ancient times and is probably based on the blessing that God, according to the Bible, gave to our first parents (Gen.; Gen.). Already the patriarchs before their death solemnly blessed their children and descendants (Gen.). As for the rite of blessing, among the Jews it consisted in raising the right hand or both hands and placing them on the head of the blessed (Gen.; Lev.). The same visible sign was used by Jesus Christ when he blessed some of the children (Mk.) and all the disciples during His ascension to heaven (Lk.). The symbol of blessing in Kabbalah is the letter "bet" (Heb. ‏ב ‏‎).
• Blessing of priests (kohens), more precisely - in the modern world, a blessing from people belonging to the family of koenim (priests). The blessing is carried out from antiquity to the present day in accordance with the text of the Book of Numbers / Bemidbar (במדבר) (ch. 6, verses 24-26): “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord look upon you with his bright face and have mercy on you! May the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace!” At the same time, the kohens (priests) take off their shoes and spread their fingers - blessing with the open palm (five) of each hand with both hands.

In Orthodoxy and Catholicism

• In the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church, it always makes sense to invoke the grace of God on people, objects, or certain actions, in particular:
  • The fall of the sign of the cross of the faithful. It is performed by a priest or bishop at the end of Mass and other services with the words "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit".
  • The priest’s invocation of God’s grace at the beginning of any business, so the priest can bless before traveling, starting studies, etc.
  • Blessing of objects for both religious and domestic purposes (in the West, the term "blessing" in this sense corresponds to the Eastern term "sanctification") - water, crosses, icons, dwellings, etc. The blessing of some objects may be part of other worship services, for example , at the Paschal service, the Paschal fire and the Paschal candle lit from it are blessed.

In Protestantism

In Protestantism, the emphasis is not on the fact that a blessing is just a “wish for good”, but on the fact that a blessing is a special state of a person’s life that God gives to his children. This state is characterized by success in spiritual life (supporters of the "prosperity gospel", including charismatics, add - in material life), general well-being, insights into the spiritual truths hidden in the Bible, the ability to apply the truths of Scripture in everyday life for the benefit of those who receive the Good News etc.

In Islam

In Arabic, “blessing” is “baraka” (hence such names as “Mubarak”, etc.). Blessing begins the day of a Muslim and is accompanied by daily activities. Usually, the word "blessing" ("baraka"), along with the words "Salam alaikum" ("Peace be upon you"), is included in the everyday mutual greetings of residents of Muslim countries. Reading the First Sura of the Qur'an "Opening" ("Fatiha") is also considered by believers as a blessing.

In Hinduism

Hindu pujas (worship services) usually have one of the most important goals - to bring blessings to the participants in these ritual actions. For this, mantras are used, services with lamps (aarti) at the faces of Vishnu and his avatars, as well as Lakshmi, Shiva and other devas.

In Buddhism

In Buddhism, being devoid of passions and hatred is considered as blessed. Buddhists bless with the words in Sanskrit "Sarva mangalam" ("May everyone be blessed"). There are rituals (first of all, this is the reading of the Sutras - the Words of the Buddha), designed to invoke blessings on those participating in these rituals.

in the national ritual

Among the Slavic peoples, no important event of a family or economic nature could take place without the blessing of a priest and father-mother, or the owner of the household.

A particularly important role is played by the blessing in the wedding ritual, which is repeated several times in it and all in a very solemn form. The first blessing usually takes place in the groom's house, when the elders come to him, so that later they can go to woo the girl. In the Uman region, this blessing happened like this:

“The mother takes the bread, we make a piece of salt from it, and the father picks up images from the wall. Both of them stand at the table, or in the middle of the room, or sit down so that the father is on the right and the mother is on the left. The guy kneels before them and says to his father:

Bless, father!

Bless for the second time!

Bless for the third time!

Father always answers:

May God bless you! And baptizes him in the image.

The guy gets up every time, kisses the image and his father on the hand, and his father and mother kiss him on the head. Then they change places and the father takes the bread, and the mother takes the image, and the ceremony is repeated three times again.

Sometimes the image is placed on the table, and they bless it with bread.” (Matt. Ukr. EVN., NOSH. XIX, 153).

Sof 2, 3; 3, 12-13
Ps 146(145)
1 Cor 1:26-31
Matthew 5:1-12a

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Today is the 4th ordinary Sunday.

Thank you to everyone who was with us last week, thank you for this adventure together with the word of God, which is called - Reflections for every day. Thanks to those who wrote and those who read and those who posted and took care of the blog in various ways. I invite you all to continue this adventure.

For the new week, may Almighty God bless you, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amine.

And this is the thought for today:

Dear brothers and sisters!

When we turn on the TV, we can basically see what and how the modern world lives. We see who and how they show. The news shows well-known politicians, in advertisements we see young, beautiful and smiling people. Often we see people of business, art, famous athletes, rich people.

It is these people who determine fashion, the names of such people are repeated by children in their games and adults in smart conversations.

This is the mentality of this world, the world in which we live - the cult of wealth, fame, fashion, the cult of the body and other earthly goods. Everyone dreams of becoming rich, famous, fashionable.

When we read today's readings, God's word, as if contrary to this world, its fashion and mentality, paints us a picture of a blessed - a happy person, a person who pleases God.

But if we look at this picture from today's readings, it is a completely different picture than the one shown to us on TV.

Today, at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeats the word - blessed, which means happy, and says who is such a happy person.

The blessed are the poor in spirit. We, if we have heard this many times, are already used to it, we know these words, but if you hear this for the first time, you might be surprised - how can beggars be called happy people?

If we compare these definitions and those that are shown to us on TV, in the media, it seems that the people whom Jesus calls happy according to the norms of this world are nobody, people who are not considered, not noticed or even neglected.

Namely, such people in God's eyes are blessed, happy, chosen by God.

These are the people who will be first in line for God's reward.

Also St. Paul, in today's second reading, writes: “Look, brethren, who you are called: not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many strong, not many noble. But God has chosen the unwise of the world to confound the wise; and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong; and the humble of the world and the humble and meaningless God chose to abolish the signifying.

Indeed, if you look at our communities, who come to church, to Mass, who come to confession, to take communion, you can look at these people and repeat after St. Paul - there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many strong, not many noble. Of course, this is in the eyes of this world, because the word wise, strong can be understood in different ways. These words, the thought of St. Paul can be expressed - there are few great, rich, famous people there.

It may be tempting to think that then religion is a consolation for the weak, for the unfortunate, for those who are unlucky in life. But who is lucky and who is unlucky will be decided by the Judge, we will see this later, after our death.

But even now we often feel - who has more joy, inner peace, real happiness, and not just a strained, artificial smile? - those whom the world considers great or those whom Jesus calls blessed?

Few of us are great, rich, famous… Few of us are at Holy Masses today. Such people are now running after their petty happiness, trying to earn more money, surprise the crowds, catch up with happiness, which constantly runs away from them somewhere - they do not know that they are looking for happiness not where it is ... Poor people.

We find very beautiful words in the first reading, in the prophecy of Zephaniah.

“Seek the Lord, all you humble lands that do His laws; seek truth, seek humility; perhaps you will hide yourself in the day of the wrath of the Lord. I will leave among you a humble and simple people, and they will trust in the name of the Lord.”

In the modern translation of the Bible we read these words: “Seek the Lord, all the humble ones on earth, those who fulfill His laws! (…) seek humility (…) I will leave in you a poor and humble people, and they will hope in the name of the Lord!

All today's words, all readings, emphasize humility and trust in God.

Elsewhere we read - "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).

We Christians should be distinguished precisely by this feature, this quality - humility, meekness, humility. And all this is not as naivety, but as hope in God, faith that God, who is always true to his words, his promises, will give us what he promises the blessed - the Kingdom of Heaven, consolation, great joy and reward both on earth and in heaven. Do we believe in it?

Sometimes a temptation may come - if I give in, if I resign, then they will laugh at me, it turns out that I lost, I will turn out to be weak.

In fact, a humble person, a person who knows how to yield, it is he who turns out to be great and strong, it is this humble and meek person who turns out to be the winner, because God is on his side.

In the Gospel, Jesus repeats the word - blessed, which we can also say - blessed.

Often people ask them to bless, bless their apartment, which is often called - to sanctify, but in the liturgy this is called a blessing. We ask to bless an apartment, a place of work, bless some objects, even cars, bless us, for example, on the road, for an operation ... We ask God's blessing.

Also, parents bless their children, is that also a beautiful practice?

What do we mean by this?

Do we think that God can answer our request in such a way that we will become poor, weeping, meek, humble, but for that with a great promise of happiness, joy and the Kingdom of Heaven?

Not necessarily after the blessing there will be a lot of money, fame.

To receive a blessing is to accept God's view of life, God's way of thinking, completely different from what we see on TV.

Knowing this, do we still ask for God's blessing?

about. Marek Jaszkowski, Surgut

In contact with

Be blessed.
I want to discover the history of the sacred scripture together with you. Blessing History. Every person on earth wants to be well. And then we go to God and cry for help, for blessing. I want to introduce you to the theme of "Being blessed", and as a continuation of this theme: to be a blessing. There is a slight difference between these two concepts. When we say "to be blessed" it means someone has blessed us. And we're doing well.

Sometimes, someone says that you have a house, a family, funds, a car, health. What else would you like? You are a blessed person.
But there are people who, getting into a certain situation, say that you are a blessing for them. Well, everything was so bad, such were the problems! So you came to their house, into their life, and everything changed. And they say you are a blessing to them. The question arises: what is better - to be blessed, or to be a blessing to someone? Let's think about it.
In the book of Genesis, God tells Abraham: “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). Note that God says: I will bless you. God begins with a promise to bless Abraham. But then He says that Abraham will be a blessing.
It is true that without one there is no other. But how often do we want to be only blessed. For yourself.
And so, the kinsmen of Abraham through the generation. His grandsons are Jacob and Esau. Let's open the twenty-seventh chapter of the book of Genesis. This chapter tells the story of the struggle between Esau and Jacob for blessings.
But first, let's clarify: a blessing, or a curse? Let's remember this story. From the first text it is written that “When Isaac grew old, and the sight of his eyes grew dim, he called his eldest son Esau and said to him: My son! He said to him: Here I am. He said: Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death; Now take your tools, your quiver and your bow, go into the field, and catch me game, and prepare for me food that I love, and bring me food, so that my soul will bless you before I die ”(Gen.27: 1-4). In the first text we read that Isaac does not know when he will die, and he decided to bless the firstborn.
This is a familiar story to us. Nobody knows the day of his death. And it is important to live in such a way as to bless other people. To give blessings so that our children, wife, husband, our relatives feel that we are a blessing to them.
But only here was a little danger that Isaac could not recognize. This is the blessing that he wanted to give, after all, in God's providence, it was intended for another son who was not the firstborn. And it was a special blessing. Blessing of the priesthood, blessing of primacy, blessing of passing on the faith. But Isaac decided to bless the son he loved more.
In our lives, sometimes there is partiality. We are more disposed to a more beloved person. God wouldn't want that.
Isaac even asks Esau to bring his favorite food. He loved the food that Esau cooked. But we know from life that Esau was not a person who would appreciate this blessing, would appreciate the priesthood, faith. Esau was more of a warlike man, a warrior, more of a worldly person. He liked earthly life more than spiritual life. But he wanted to receive this blessing. And yet, not knowing about the day of his death, Isaac believed that he needed to bless now. He did not know that he would live after that for more than forty years. It was not the right time, but he was afraid.
Once I heard such an idea that fear is also faith, only in the bad. Or in other words, fear is the loss of faith in God. We lose confidence in God and become afraid.
And so, Isaac, too, not knowing the time of his death, having lost contact with God, begins to do something. He wants to bless, but not quite in God's ways. Let's see how this story develops further. Rebekah heard what Isaac was saying to her eldest son and quickly called her youngest son. The mother's heart was attached more to the smaller, second son. She remembered the Angel's words about the smaller one being the bigger one. It was God's prediction and it had to be followed.
Jacob lived up to his name. His name means a deceiver, a crafty person. But in terms of lifestyle, he was more domestic. And he valued spirituality, priesthood, sacred stories. He took up farming. Note that Rebekah's heart belonged to this youngest son, and she offered him to deceive his father: cook food and, calling himself Esau, receive a blessing.
Often, we want good things in families, we want blessings. But for us parents, for adults, this story is a warning not to bring curses to the family.
We know how this story turned out. By deceit. It seems that it began with a desire to bless. Isaac wanted to bless. But it ended in a quarrel, a curse, deceit, hostility between two brothers.
How much depends on the parents! We can create in our family an atmosphere of blessings, and perhaps an atmosphere of damnation. If we are with the Lord, if we are with good sincere feelings, then our children will feel this atmosphere. But, if we come with the wrong thoughts, this spirit will enter our house with you. Only here is God's, or satanic? In evil, children are also obedient to their parents. In good, they are obedient, but less so.
Children very quickly learn the lessons of quarrels, misunderstandings, intransigence. So it was here. Jacob was afraid that his father would recognize him and curse him. But my mother convinced that in this case, the curse would fall on her. And she began to teach her son what to do: wrap his hands with wool so that they look like Esau's hands, put on Esau's clothes. Everything must be done so that the father accepts the younger son for the eldest. She taught him to deceive, although he had already been very good at it. Suffice it to recall what he did to his brother when he bought the birthright for lentils. Yes, it was not quite brotherly relations. And now Jacob, already in disguise, approaches his father. To the question of Esau's father whether he is Jacob, he nevertheless answers in the affirmative, but Isaac hears that this is the voice of Jacob. And the hands of Esau. And he doubts, does not trust. And decides to arrange another test. He asks his son to come closer to kiss him. And, feeling the smell of Esau's clothes, Isaac believed that this was not a deceit, and blessed the Son. The blessing that they fought so hard for, that Jacob so longed to receive, was obtained through deceit. “His father said to him, Come, kiss me, my son” (Gen. 27:26). The Bible describes in great detail this very important moment in the life of Jacob - the moment of receiving his father's blessing: “He came up and kissed him. And [Isaac] smelled the smell of his clothes and blessed him and said: Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed; may God give you from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth, and plenty of bread and wine; May the nations serve you, and may the peoples worship you; be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons worship you; those who curse you are cursed; those who bless you are blessed!” (Gen. 27:26-29). Note that this is a one-sided blessing: so that everything goes well with you, son; so that you have everything; so that your brothers serve you. And whoever blesses you will feel good, and whoever curses you will feel bad. On the one hand, this is a little bit correct, but on the other hand, God told Abraham that by blessing, he would make him a blessing. What can you do, here we see a blessing in such a one-sided direction. Of course, Jacob wanted everything to be for him, so that he would not need anything.
We all know the subsequent story of Jacob. Let's ask ourselves: Has this blessing been fulfilled? For example: may all tribes serve you. The next twenty years they did not serve him, but he served. May your brothers bow to you. In these twenty years, Esau did not bow down to him. And after twenty years, Esau came out to him militantly, and Jacob, greeting him, said: Your brother, your servant, is coming. And he tells Laban that he changed his reward ten times, did not give it to him. Jacob languished from the cold. Jacob was tricked by Laban into getting married. And he tells Laban that, if not for God's will, he would have taken everything from him. Twenty years of slave labor, twenty years of wandering. But is he blessed?
I would like to find a real blessing.
It wasn't until twenty years later that Jacob received a real blessing! And that was the blessing he longed for. And Jacob was left alone. And Someone wrestled with him until dawn; and seeing that he did not prevail against him, he touched the limb of his thigh and injured the limb of Jacob's thigh as he wrestled with Him. And he said, Let me go, for the dawn has come. Jacob said, I will not let you go until you bless me. And he said: what is your name? He said: Jacob. And he said: henceforth your name will not be Jacob, but Israel, for you have wrestled with God, and you will overcome men” (Genesis 32:24-28). So why did Jacob repeatedly ask for the blessing? Yes, because he felt that something was wrong, felt that there was no blessing, because it was stolen. Something was wrong, something was missing. And he begs God for one thing: his brother is waiting for him. He does not know how their relationship will develop. The brother can kill him and his family, take the cattle. He did not ask God to give him peace with his brother, to calm Esau, to save the lives of his family. He doesn't ask for all of this. He feels that all his troubles are due to the fact that he is not truly blessed, from God. The stolen blessing did him no good. He is tormented by doubts about his own life. And Satan tells him it's because he's behaving like that.
Satan always torments us with memories of the past when there is unrepentant sin. When there was a story in our life in which we, perhaps, did not repent until the end. Not untied all the knots.
Now Jacob wants to put an end to this. He says: Lord! He understands who he is fighting. And he begs for a blessing. Elsewhere, in the New Testament, it is said that he begged with tears.
I think that we also want to have blessings in our lives.
And after God blessed him, Jacob realized that his life was moving in the wrong direction. And this is because he wanted to take it himself, to achieve it at any cost. But he realized that he needed to live differently. When God blessed him here, changed his name, he was no longer afraid that he would lose something, he was not afraid for his life. Not! Everything has changed. As soon as he received the blessing. He wasn't afraid to be a blessing now. Esau, whom he was afraid of, believing that he would come and kill him, ran towards him, hugged him, kissed him, and they both wept. And this story ended in a completely different way than people expected.
Have you thought about the question, are you blessed by God? How to find out?
Let's look at the life of Christ. Was Christ blessed? Have you met somewhere a story that someone blessed Christ? Or only He blessed? Yes, as a child, it turns out that Elder Simeon took Christ in his arms. We read this story in the Gospel of Luke. True, it is written there that he blessed the whole family. But he took the Christ child in his arms. In Luke 2:34, 35 it is written: “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother: behold, this one lies to fall” - that is, he blessed them all. I would say that Christ was also blessed.
The priest also took Him in his arms. But there he performed a legal ceremony, and that was also a blessing.
Simeon, on the other hand, specifically said this, and it was an unusual blessing: “He lies this on the fall and on the uprising of many in Israel and on the subject of wrangling, - and a weapon will pass through the soul to You, - so that the thoughts of many hearts will be opened.” He blessed, called on the name of the Lord.
And remember, Mary came to her sister Elizabeth? And the sister blessed Mary and the fruit of her womb. Yes, Christ was also blessed.
And all his life Christ was a blessing to people.
Christ blessed the children. I would like to dwell on how Christ blessed the children. To know how we can be blessed. “They brought children to Him that He might touch them; but the disciples did not admit those who offered. Seeing [that], Jesus was indignant and said to them: let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God. I tell you truly, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. And he embraced them and laid his hands on them and blessed them” (Mark 10:13-16). This is a very important moment in the life of Christ.
Often, I think about how I can be a blessing to others. I can say some words. You can pray. This is important, but not enough. The child will feel that you love him if you hug him, kiss him, do not scream. Blessings are not only parents who talk about God and read Holy books. Blessings are also parents who know how to show affection, who know how to speak peacefully in a meek quiet voice, who do not quarrel, who are caring.
Consider what God is doing for us. Is he just saying a lot of words to us, or is he constantly giving us gifts? Do you feel His blessings that He just speaks, or is it some kind of business, that is, you did something well? God's protection, some experience. We should be a blessing in actions, in relationships.
Jacob thought for too long that a blessing is something spoken upon you, and then you live for yourself, and you do nothing, and you are so blessed!
And God wants that if we are blessed by Him, if He gave us something, helped us in some way, if we really feel good with Him, if we really know this is salvation, so that we share it. So that this is manifested in our words, our deeds, our smile, friendliness. So that the neighbors feel that a blessed person lives here. And the neighbors can feel it with a good attitude. How do you clean the landing, and sometimes, how do you carry their bags to the floor. Neighbors love your attention to them. This is what it means to be a blessing. Often we think we can pray for the whole world. My children sometimes in prayer ask for blessings for everyone who is ill. I ask: how can God bless everyone who is ill? Through you. I saw something with a child. Well, this is your friend, it's easier for you to tell him something. Come, do something, say something. This happens to us. We can say, but how important it is to do.
I look to Christ. He was a blessing. Yes, He spoke. He prayed with his hands laid on, but He embraced them. It is written in the book The Desire of Ages that many of these children, later, when Nero persecuted and threw these children into the amphitheaters, gave their lives for Him. They remembered that He loved them, blessed them, hugged them. And they gave their lives for Him. They remembered it.
And I would like to draw attention to one more place of blessing. Actually, this is an unusual place. In the Gospel of Luke, the Israelites call it a curse. "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." If a person is crucified, he is not blessed. He is cursed. Jews appreciate when you are buried, and when nothing happens to your grave for centuries. And the crucified, as a rule, were not buried in the graves. They were thrown into a common pit, where they were without a name, without a tomb, without honors. They were just thrown there and buried.
Jesus hung on the cross. And the people stood and watched. The rulers also mocked with them, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the chosen one of God” (Luke 23:35). And Jesus prayed for them: “Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). But they thought He was cursed, rejected by God. And they said if He was pleasing to God, let God save Him. If He's the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and they'll believe on Him. But he continued to hang.
Was Jesus blessed or cursed on the cross? I tell you that on the cross He was a blessing to us, but He took the curse of our sins. This is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah. Because, it is said there, the punishment of our world was on Him. “But He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Is. 53:4); “the punishment of our peace [was] upon him, and by his stripes we were healed” (Isaiah 53:5). It is written that He became for us a curse, a sin. He hung on the cross, blessing us by taking our place. He has been a real blessing to us. We should have been hanging there! But He went and took this shameful place instead of us.
It's like working for free after hours instead of someone else.
He took over for us. He died for us.
It was exactly the same during the war, when someone went into battle instead of another who had a family. Or when the tenth was supposed to be shot, and he became the tenth.
Being a blessing is really something to do. Take someone's place.
And Christ was the first to die the second death. Died for sin. He died the death of separation from God the Father, when He took his hands from the Son. No one has died like this. The first to die of such a death was the sinning Archangel Lucifer, the anointed angel. Satan had to die. But God said no. Then Adam and Eve had to die. But God again said no, He said He would bless us, He would take our curse.
A thief hung on a cross nearby. And he saw Christ, saw the Lord in Him, saw the King. And he was the first to receive a special blessing.
Remember to whom on earth Christ promised to be in heaven, except for the thief? Judas - but Judas lost him. Just like that: you are Peter, you will be with me in paradise. He said you'd sit down, but Judas lost him anyway. He spoke of the twelve thrones conditionally: if you remain faithful.
But to this thief, in this case, He said, You will. He was dying, but he saw the heart of a robber. Think, the thief to be on the cross - a blessing, or a curse? The people sent him to the cross. He deserved punishment: robbed, killed. This is not a blessing. A blessing if he hadn't been caught. If only he had avoided this situation. But in eternity he will say: what a blessing it was that I was crucified next to Christ! He could have been crucified elsewhere, he could have been killed elsewhere. He could generally run away and die himself in wealth, but in sins. What a blessing it was for the thief to be crucified next to Christ. And Christ took his curse. He didn't take him off the cross, He left him. But He gave him eternal life.
Christ loved to be a blessing. He loved to take away the difficulties, the curses of other people, everything that is connected with our sins. And He did not reproach them for hanging on the cross.
How important it is for us to help another person, even if he is guilty of something, and he has some problems, how important it is to serve him at this moment.
One day I was driving to my church in a private car. A young man drove me. The usual fee for this is five hryvnia. There are three hryvnias on the bus, while private traders have five. But the young man asked for ten hryvnias - he really needed money. He was running at high speed. And here we are catching up with the bus. And I had a friend - we are the same age. And he also drove like this. And just before the bus, he liked to turn around to show how he could drive. So I told him about my friend. The fact that he also liked to drive fast, but he is no longer there. And then I thought about how to be a blessing to him. He needs money, life is good. We talked to him about drugs, and he says: yes, Ilovaisk is a good place for drugs. I don't know what this young man is doing. But I wanted to be his blessing to take this life that would lead him to death. I told him about God, we talked with him, I gave him a book. I don't know how he will continue to live. But I know one thing, that this world needs us as blessings. This world is coming to an end. These people are also going to hell. They take him. Sometimes they drink a full cup. Sometimes they think that's it.
The robber also took everything. But Christ saw the importance of change. How important it is to give him of Your life, and take away the punishment.
And it is important for us not to leave this world. Christ placed us like salt in this world. He Himself was often among different people. And on the cross he was among the robbers. He placed us among these people. And He tells us: I want to bless you, my child, so that you will be their blessing.
I am always learning from Christ to be a blessing. Is there anyone among you whom God has not blessed? Are you offended by God? Did you want, perhaps, to reproach God for not giving you something? Or do you feel that God still blesses you? Would you like to be a blessing? Tell God that today you want to be a blessing to the family, to the child, to the neighbors. For mom and dad, brother or sister. For those with whom you work. And God will give you this happiness. You will be happy to serve someone. This person will look at you differently, at life. Take away his sin a little, stay with him. Remove the darkness from his soul, say that you know what it is. We have all gone through the history of sin. And say that you now have a different attitude, that now you know something different. Tell him that you want it to happen to him as Christ said: you will be with me in paradise. I thank God that He took away the curses of my life. People didn't always feel good around me. Maybe my family was not always happy next to me. And again, having prayed, I want to say: Lord, take away my curses. I hurt my loved ones with my sins. I hurt God. But now I want Him to take away these curses and make me a blessing.

Blessing as a quality of a person is the ability to have the right to allow, allow to do something, give good parting words, wish happiness, good luck and prosperity.

A priest is walking through the desert, and a lion is meeting him. The priest begins to pray: "Lord, inspire this lion with Christian thoughts." The lion kneels: - God, bless my food!

Blessing is the secret of good luck and prosperity. Blessing is a force that does not allow you to lose enthusiasm in your development. It manifests itself in four forms, and each subsequent form is higher than the previous one. The simplest blessing is verbal. The second form is a mental or mental blessing. The man, looking after another man who had done something good before meeting him, thought: “I wish him happiness.” May he be fine. This form of blessing is higher than the first, for it is manifested with restraint. Pride, false ego can sit in a verbal blessing.

The third form is blessing with a glance. A person sends a warm look to someone who has done something good for him. The fourth form is blessing at the level of the mind. You don’t really see a person, but you heard that he did a good deed. In this case, a mental message can go. The blessing, as by e-mail, goes to the addressee.

Blessing is a revenue item in the piety account. We need it to pay off curses. There is also a telepathic blessing, subject only to saints. It is not sent to anyone personally. Saints "generate" it and "retransmit" it around themselves for free use, like free Wi-Fi. In holy places, in God's temples free access to Wi-Fi blessings. The holy people created this store of piety and blessings, they were not puzzled who would take them. The rain sheds its waters everywhere: on the ocean, and on the mountains, and on the fields, freely, take everything you need. This is a special kind of blessing.

A blessing is shed on a person as a magical rain if he knows how to serve other people, that is, he can “read” their desires and intentions. It is necessary to understand the other, his experiences, to show him compassion and mercy. When a person has learned to build relationships with others, that is, he has acquired the skill not to stick out his desires and intentions, but on the contrary, first of all, to think about the intentions of others, the blessings of those around him cover him with a healing waterfall.

As soon as the "resources" from the blessing begin to flow into the account of piety, magical changes take place in a person's life - everything that he wanted begins to be fulfilled. For example, you selflessly helped a lonely old woman: they brought food, helped to clean the apartment. She says, “Thank you, baby! God grant you health! Such a blessing can give you more health than all the clinics in the world put together. Women's, especially maternal, blessing has incredible power.

If you did "good" to the old woman and then say: Well, old woman, bless me soon, and I'll go already. This does not work. A blessing is valid if it comes from a pure heart. He has an absolutely free nature. A blessing cannot be knocked out by force, achieved under pressure, forced by threat. Blessing is achieved by selfless service, sincere concern and respect for another person.

Ruslan Narushevich writes: “When we help people achieve their desires by service, they give blessings in return so that we fulfill ours. But when a woman serves everyone and does not stutter a single gram about what she needs, what she needs a blessing in, they will never receive it, although they seem to be doing everything right. When a man tells everyone what he needs, but is not going to serve anyone, he will not receive anything either. Therefore, it turns out that two things are needed - you need to know your desires and be able to adequately express them. And the second is to be able to serve others, sensitively understanding, deeply understanding their desires and aspirations. This is the secret and this is how we actually improve our destiny. The most terrible curses can be neutralized by the power of a blessing... The curse cannot be reversed. Once it has sounded, it is no longer possible to neutralize it. It can only be softened."

Blessing implies the right to give it. Not every person can give a blessing. This quality of personality, therefore, not all polls possess it. First of all, one must be found who has the purity and power to give blessings and not rape those who cannot do so.

A person is powerless to give blessings if he does not have the appropriate resource. Therefore, you need to find a qualified person with purity and piety, and ask him for blessings precisely in the area where he is a specialist. For example, a good master may bless a student. In a word, for a blessing, you need to turn to a person, taking into account his qualifications and strength. It is absurd to ask for blessings on health from a sick person, family happiness from a womanizer and red tape, knowledge from a fool and an ignoramus, wealth from a beggar, power from a frail, success from a loser.

One priest tells: “After the service, a young man comes up and says: “Bless me, father, tomorrow I’m going to take the entrance exams.” “God bless you,” I answer and overshadow him with a cross. We meet in a few days. "How's your exam?" I ask him. "Double" set. “Well, thank God,” I console as best I can. "But what about the blessing?" The young man looks at me in bewilderment. “Well, you would have done what you wanted,” I try to explain to him, “and in twenty years I would have realized that I had chosen the wrong profession. And the Lord saved you. Why are we worried? Because it doesn't work out for us. We ask God for what seems important to us today, and He sees the future, protects us from the wrong choice. You asked - He helped. Do you know what the holy fathers used to say? Thank God for everything! And in Russia there is a saying: there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. My interlocutor bowed his head, folded his hands in a cross - the right over the left - and asks: "Bless, father, for all the good."

The next step is to contact the person you found, glorifying his qualities. Naturally, this must be done without flattery, toadying and lies. Since you have chosen him, it means that you sincerely believe that he is an expert in what you intend to ask him. Having glorified his qualities, it is necessary, showing respect and humility, to tell, without humiliation, about your problem or about the helplessness of your position. The final stage is to correctly express the request for a blessing.

There is such a parable. One monk had a poor lay brother and gave everything he earned to him. But he became poorer the more the monk gave him more. Seeing this, the monk went to some old man and told him about what was happening. The old man advised:

If you want to listen to me, then give him nothing more, but tell him: “Brother! When I had, I gave to you. But now you work hard, and what you work out, give me.” Whatever he brings to you, accept from him and pass it on to some stranger or needy old man, asking them to pray for him. The monk acted according to this instruction, and when a lay brother came to him, he did as he was commanded by the elder. The layman left him sad. But now, after some time, he comes and brings some vegetables from the garden. The monk, having received them, gave them to the elders, asking them to pray for his brother. When they accepted this offering, the layman returned to his home. A little later, he again brought vegetables and three loaves, and the monk, having accepted them, acted in the same way as on the first occasion. The layman, having received the blessing, left. For the third time, he already brought a lot of food, and wine, and fish. The monk, seeing this, was surprised, and, having called the beggars, treated them to a meal. At the same time, he asked the layman: - Don't you need a few loaves? He answered him: - No! Before, when I took something from you, it entered my house like fire and devoured it. Now, when I do not accept anything from you, I have everything in abundance - God has blessed me.

Blessing is the source of the individual's enthusiasm. A blessed person has reserves of enthusiasm, so it is from him that you need to ask for blessings. Who would ever think of asking for blessings from a person who has fallen into a deep depression, personifying despondency, disappointment and sorrow.

A reasonable person reaches out for a blessing to people who are carriers of enthusiasm. In whatever area they show enthusiasm, there you can ask for blessings. Vyacheslav Ruzov writes: “Therefore, a reasonable person asks everyone, even seemingly suspicious individuals, but still asks. Because everyone has something to bless. Everyone has an enthusiasm for something. Of course, it is better to ask someone who is spiritually developed. But we can receive a real blessing from any living being, if we can endure it and be grateful to it - this is a real blessing, then it comes automatically. If we tolerate someone and are grateful to him, the blessing comes automatically and enthusiasm arises ... As long as we do not lose enthusiasm, then this blessing is there. If we feel enthusiastic in ourselves, if we were able to get up and come and communicate, then there is already a blessing. That's when you feel that laziness, then the enthusiasm and blessing is over, you have to go and ask again. That is, when laziness, you need to at least go for enthusiasm, for a new blessing, at least for him, then everything will be fine.

Blessing is given upon request. You can go outside and bless the first passerby, but that doesn't work. Blessing presupposes a willing and giving blessing. The picture is formed when one wishes, and the other can give. Therefore, one must realize that there must be a really great desire on the part of the one who wishes, and there must be a person who has these blessings, and then he can give them without hindrance.

Petr Kovalev 2014