LOVE

You have already brought up this wonderful piece of advice from saints, that even if you don’t feel love, you still have to try to perform these deeds. Now that we are talking about love, do you think that you can learn to love? Are there any exercises for that?

No exercises... Not really exercises, but...

Well, isn't prayer an exercise?

In a way, it is. I suppose you need to pray, ask the Lord to help. It isn't really an exercise. You need to talk to God more often, so that the Lord visits, and we would have more of God’s grace or love inside us. You know, I've had religious people tell me, “Don’t give alms, you don't know what he will do with the money. He could get drunk or buy drugs, and you would hold the responsibility if he uses your money to get drunk and dies.” Yet, on the other hand, the Lord says that we are supposed to give alms. It depends on what is in your heart when you give it... Obviously, I don't give alms for them to go out and get drunk. I do it to make their life easier, so that they get something to eat, buy what they need. Especially, when women ask for money for their children’s surgery and say, “For the love of God.” How can I say no? I give them at least something. The Lord says, “I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me.” How do you know who the person asking for alms is? Maybe Christ is standing behind this person?

When we go to church, we are supposed to feel love, and we do, thank God, though not all people and not always, which is why there are so many complaints. I was always impressed by the following phrase in the Gospel: “If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.” He doesn’t say “if you pray for a thousand nights on the rock,” or “if you perform heroic deeds,” but rather “if you have love for one another.” It’s the easiest way, but for us it appears to be the most difficult.

It's not my place to comment on what happens in church, or rather to judge what the people who come to church do. I listen to sermons. They follow a template: there is the introduction, the body with some phrases that are used in every sermon, and a conclusion. Well, recently I read a book by Metropolitan Athanasius of Limassol, disciple of Paisios of Mount Athos, who wrote, “We forget that in church we should teach to love God.” So, above all, we are to love God, and everything else stems from that. This means that when you strive to get closer to God, you will see what stands in your way. People ask if they should quit smoking or not, if it’s a sin or not. They should look within, think a little. And I would also say that we need to learn to love each other. “If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.” If we feel like we are missing this love somewhere, then we should turn to the Gospels. Seek more information, sermons.

What do you do when... With smoking, everything is clear. But do you ever face situations when you have to think what the right thing to do is? Do you read the Gospels then, or do you talk to a priest, or does it depend on the situation? What do you do?

When I have to decide what to do in a situation, I listen to my inner voice above all, though I don’t always succeed. And when I start to stray, become blinded, go against my conscience, or doubt if it's a sin or not, I ask myself if I would do this if my mother was next to me, or would I say these same words to my wife or my child. I suppose it’s a good test?

Yes. Somehow, we haven't talked about sport at all today.

Thank God! Do you have a question prepared?

Yes, I prepared one question. It has to do with love. Obviously, sport plays a significant role in our lives. Today, you said that athletes and the national team represent the entire country. You often say this. That's clear. But there are situations related to sport when passions boil over, when fans get into fights. It’s surprising to me that in mixed martial arts, as you have often said, there can be no rage in fights, even sportsmanlike rage. I know you don’t like this term. Well, let’s take, say, hockey players. They are supposed to be playing hockey, but they get into real fights. Your fights are just sport, while they... How can you love or respect your opponent when you hit him like... Does this depend on the sport or the person? You once said that you can even hit a shuttlecock with rage. So, what do you think?

I think it depends on what is in your heart when you begin the fight.

You can go out and fight without experiencing any negative emotions toward your opponent. But that's how our sport is. We come out to fight, to see how we compare. Each one of us represents his country, his sport. But you can also go out on a tennis court, break rackets, and go crazy. So I would say it depends on what is in your heart when you go out there. With team sports it’s a special type of test. I go out alone, but in team sports it depends more on the team, the group. I have an example. Father Vasily, a monk of the Optina Monastery who was killed, was the captain of the water polo team and the life and soul of the team. I read his Vita Red Easter. It says that he was not talkative, he always sat off to the side, but he was always heard. He was the glue that held the team together.

I have a question for you. We have just established the Patriarchal Commission for Sport. What do you think is the key role of a priest when he accompanies the national team? How does he help?

He provides spiritual assistance. I could compare it to what our ancestors did before the Battle of Kulikovo. They made a confession, received Holy Eucharist, and went into battle. It’s the same in sport. Athletes want to be cleansed, ask for God's help. The priest provides this kind of spiritual support. We did everything we could as men and can trust in God.

And he helps accept God’s will.

Yes. So that they don’t go crazy of joy from the victory. Or the opposite, so that they don't despair from defeat.

Thank you. Fedor, we are coming to the end of the interview. The time has flown by. I want to ask you to put a period in a sentence. Or a comma, whatever punctuation mark you prefer. You don’t have any problems with punctuation. Once, as a joke I said that I know only three people who don’t make any mistakes when writing: two people with a doctorate in philology and Fedor Emelianenko.

My daughter scolds me for not using punctuation marks.

At least, you don’t make any mistakes. Sergei Fudel, our wonderful writer who wrote a lot about the church, wrote that the Church has a dark twin that has to do with our passions. Obviously, as we live in the Church, we face our human sins, our weaknesses, and so on. What do you do when you see this? On the one hand, our Savior criticized Pharisees, expelled the merchants from the temple. On the other hand, we don’t always understand whether what we see is actually true, or that there is something beyond our understanding. Should it be discussed publicly, should we air our dirty linen in public? When dealing with the bad aspects of church, where would you put the period and the words “do not” in the phrase “Criticize do not stay quiet?” If you want, you can answer later.

You know, I think it depends on the situation, a lot of particulars...

So you can’t draw any general conclusions?

I don't think so, especially now. Our society has distanced from God. Not everything should be discussed publicly. I see that many people are always looking for excuses to put blame on the Church, priests, and believers. On the other hand, if the perception was different, we would find it easy to criticize and accept criticism. If there wasn't so much judgment from society... For some reason, people think that everyone in the Church is a saint. If someone is a priest, then he has to be a saint, he has to set an example. This is why in the beginning of the interview I said that I am a repentant sinner. This is not the Church of saints, nor the Church of sinners, we have both saints and sinners. This is the Church of the repentant who try to change their life with God’s help, who call on God to change themselves. This is why we repent, why we confess. We want to get rid of all the filth inside us, of all our sins to be able to start anew and not repeat this. Obviously, passions have entered us or we have let them evolve. I suppose, it’s more about letting them evolve. Nevertheless, we fight them, we try to fight it as best as we can, though not through our powers, but by calling on God’s name. That is what I think.

Thank you. That was Fedor Emelianenko, repentant sinner.