The prayer "Symbol of Faith" was bequeathed to all Orthodox Christians, as obligatory, even by Seraphim of Sarov, who commanded people to repeat "Our Father" three times a day, the same amount - "Hail Virgin Mary" and once "Symbol of Faith."
Seraphim of Sarov said that by adhering to this rule, a person can achieve full Christian perfection, since the three listed prayers are the basis of religion.
The first prayer was granted to people by the Lord Himself, the second was brought from heaven by the Archangel, saluting the Virgin Mary, and the “Symbol of Faith” contains the dogmas of the Christian faith that can save the human soul.
Text and explanation of the first part of the prayer
“I believe in the unity of God the Father, the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in the unity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, the same from the Father born before all ages; of Light from Light, God is true from God is true, "born, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, Imzhe all of being."
Here, a believer is called to believe in the existence of God, in his actions, as well as openness to all human hearts. His word is the salvation of the whole human race. God is called the "Almighty, " because it combines the holy Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the name "creator of everything" indicates that nothing in this world can be without the participation of God.
The Son of the Lord is the true God, because his name is one of God's names. Jesus called him the Archangel Gabriel, who came down to Mary from heaven. The only Son of God is called because he is only the Son of our God, born essentially from God the Father and constituting a single being with him.
The resurrection of Jesus was accomplished with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, therefore Mary was and remained the Virgin before his conception, during and after the birth of the Son of God.
The second part of the prayer "Creed"
“For our sake, man and ours, for salvation, he came down from heaven and embodied the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and became human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. And he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. And he ascended to heaven, and she is seated at the right hand of the Father, and judging the future with glory to judge the living and the dead, there will be no end to the kingdom., Cathedral and Apostolic Church. but baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world. Amen."
A reference to time under Pontius of Pontius takes the reader to the moment of Jesus' crucifixion. And the word “sufferer” refutes false teachers who said that earthly suffering and the subsequent death of the Son of God were not such in the full sense of the word. The phrase "graying at the right hand" indicates the place of Jesus after the resurrection next to God, on his right.
Prayer also refers people to the “life of the next century, ” when the time comes after the resurrection of all the dead and the fulfillment of the judgment of Jesus over humanity.
The prayer ends with the word "amen", meaning "truly so, " because the Christian Church has kept and will keep the creed from the time of the first apostles and forever.
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