The Holy Apostle Paul, warning Orthodox Christians against the deceit of heretics, writes: "Remember your instructors, the Word of God who speaks to you like the Word of God, they look at the end of their residence, imitate their faith" (Heb., Zap. 334) and "in teaching it is strange and different do not attach. "

Here we, without going into a detailed discussion of the manifestation of lawlessness among the children of the Church, will focus on the most visible and all conspicuous evil - shaving.

This epidemic disease, the Latin heresy, quickly takes root among some young people who, having come out of the due obedience of their parents and not hearing the living, exposing their iniquity, the instructive word of the pastors of the Church, without being ashamed or ashamed of anyone or anything, enters in such a non-Christian form in the holy Temples of God.

This fornication of the image, the delusion that infects some Christians, has always been condemned by the Church Fathers and recognized as the work of filthy heretics and heresy.

The fathers of the Stoglava Cathedral, discussing barber shaving, set out the following decree: "The sacred rules for Orthodox Christians are forbidden to everyone so as not to shave their bra and mustache not to trim, such is the Orthodox, but the Latin and heretical tradition of the Greek Tsar Konstantin Kovalin. And about this the apostolic and paternal rules velmas forbid and deny ... Well, is it not written in the law about cutting the brads? an abomination is before God; for this is from Constantine the Tsar Kovalin and the heretic is legalized. That is why all the henchmen, as heretical servants are the essence, and they are tonsured. If you want God to please God, to depart from evil. And in that is God Himself in Moses' speech, and the holy apostles forbade, and rejected such from the church, and that is glad and a terrible reprimand, for the Orthodox it is unseemly to do this "(Stogl., Ch. 40).

The apostolic decree on the prohibition of the evil of barbarism contains the following dictum: "Neither should you spoil the hair on the beard, and change the image of a person contrary to nature. Do not strip, says the law, your beards. For this (to be without a beard), the Creator God made fit for women, and He recognized as obscene to men. But you, who bares your beard in order to please, as resisting the law, you will be an abomination with God who created you in his own image "(Decree of the Holy Apostle. Kazan, 1864, p. ).

The Holy Apostles and Fathers of the Church, recognizing barber-shaving as heresy, forbidding Orthodox Christians to indulge in this abomination, took various measures to correct this epidemic of barber-shaving. In Bolshoy Potrebnik it is stated as follows: "I curse the God-hating fornication image of charm, murderous heresy to cut and shave the hedgehog" (fol. 600ob.) The Fathers of the Stoglavna Cathedral, in order to finally suppress the evil of barbarism, acted more strictly than stated in the Big Consumer. They set out the following definition: "If anyone shaves and dies like that, he does not deserve to serve over him, neither petit for it, nor prosphora, nor bring a message on it to the church, let it be reckoned with the unbelievers, from the heretic, he is very hazy" (Ch. . 40). And the interpreter of the Zonar church rules, interpreting Canon 6 of the Ecumenical Council and condemning barber shaving, says: "And so the fathers of this council fatherly punish those who share what they said above, and subject them to excommunication." This is how the holy apostles and holy fathers defined it; now let us hear how the Church Fathers in particular looked at this plague of Christianity.

Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus writes: “What is worse and more disgusting than this? It, part 5, p. 302. Publishing house Moscow, 1863).

The Monk Maxim the Greek says: "If you curse those who deviate from the commandments of God, as we hear in sacred chants, the same oath is subject to those who destroy their brads with a razor" (Word 137).

In the Service Book of Patriarch Joseph it is said: "And we do not see, in the titanic people of Orthodoxy, at some time in great Russia a heretical ailment is introduced. As in the chronicle books, the legend of the Greek king, moreover the enemy and apostate of the Christian faith and lawbreaker Konstantin Kovalin and er hedgehog to tonsure the brady, or shave, as if he were cutting the divinely created kindness to corrupt, or packs according to the chronicles of confirming the sowing of evil heresy of the new Satan's son of the devil, preventing the antichrist, the enemy and apostate of the Christian faith, the Roman Pope Peter Gugnivago, I reinforce that Roman people, and even more so, and their sacred rite, I will do the job, and I will cut and shave them. Epiphany, the Archbishop of Cyprus, I will denounce this heresy. For Constantine the Tsar Kovalin and the heretic are legitimized, on that they all know, and the servants of them are heretical tonsured "(Summer Edition 7155, sheet 621).

Likewise, the Serbian Metropolitan Demetrius wrote: “The Latin repentance has fallen into many heresies: on holy fourtieth, they eat cheese and eggs on Saturday and weekly, and they do not forbid their children to fast. The brads shave their brads and cut their mustache, and the evil and evil of that do and bite the mustache ... all this received from the father of his evil son Satan, Pope Peter Gugnivago, shave brads and mustaches. For the Lord Moses and his speech: may not come out your brady, behold the abominable Lord "(his book chapter 39, sheet 502).

By pointing out the law of the Church, the instruction, denunciation and punishment of the pastors of the Church of Christ to the Bradobrians, we will also remember the zeal of Christians numbered among the saints, who, fearing the reproof of the Church Fathers, never agreed to carry out the order of the impious Prince Olgerd to shave their brads, for which suffered.

The calendar with the lives, printed under Patriarch Joseph in the 7157th summer, says: "Anthony, Eustathius and John suffered in the Lithuanian city of Vilna from Prince Olgerd, the first for barber shaving, and for other Christian laws, in summer 6849" (see under 14th of April). Under the same April number in Chetia-Menaion, it is indicated that Anthony, Eustathius and John were only known by the Christians from Prince Olgerd because, contrary to pagan custom, they grew hair on the brad.

Such suffering of the holy martyrs for Christian customs, between which a beard was in the foreground, should serve as an example of modesty and a way of pious life for true Christians. Not shaving and not cutting beards is a Christian matter, an important matter - this is the fulfillment of the law prescribed by the Church, which is mandatory for those who believe in God and His holy Church.

The holy martyrs, having grown their brads as a Christian's duty requires, showed the wicked prince Olgerd that they are no longer worshipers and servants of the demon, but imitators of the way of life of Christ in the flesh, which he spent on earth for the salvation of the human race. The fathers of the 6th Ecumenical Council commanded us such a pious life and wearing a beard according to the Christian custom; for they say: "In Christ, having clothed himself with baptism, took a vow to imitate His life in the flesh" (96 canon Six. All. Sobs.

So, cutting and shaving a beard is not a Christian custom, but of filthy heretics, idolaters and unbelievers in God and His Holy Church. For such a filthy custom, the church fathers severely condemn and punish, and betray an oath; and those who have not repentance, and those who have passed away, are deprived of all Christian parting words and remembrance.

We pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, may this abomination cease - the foolishness in our fellow believers, we also pray you, our shepherds, that you teach the flock of Christ entrusted to you by God, according to the sacred rules of your children, all Orthodox Christians would be taught and punished, so that from everyone those evil heretical deeds would cease and live in pure repentance and other virtues.

Scripture quotes

Levit, 19
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 Declare to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, Be holy, for holy I am the Lord your God.
27 Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edge of your beard.

Leviticus, 21:
1 And the Lord said to Moses: Declare to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them ...
5 They shall not shave their heads, nor trim the edges of their beards, or cut their flesh.

2 Samuel 10: 4 And Annon took the servants of David, and shaved each one of them half of the beard, and cut off their clothes half to the loins, and sent them away.
2 Kings 10: 5 When they told David about this, he sent to meet them, since they were very dishonored. And the king ordered to say to them: remain in Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.

II Kings 19:24 And Mephibosheth the son of [Jonathan the son of] Saul went out to meet the king. He did not wash his feet, [did not cut his nails,] did not care for his beard and did not wash his clothes from the day the king went out until the day he returned in peace.

Ps. 132: 2 It is like a precious oil on his head, flowing down onto the beard, the beard of Aaron, flowing down to the edges of his clothes ...

Is. 7:20 On that day, the Lord will shave the head and hairs on his legs with a razor hired on the other side of the river by the king of Assyria, and even take away his beard.

The last Jeremiah 1:30 And in their temples sit the priests in torn clothes, with shaved heads and beards, and with bare heads.

Whether it is a sin to shave for an Orthodox Christian ford and a mustache or not, decide for yourself!

Beard as a virtue.

Priest Maxim Kaskun

Father, here Dmitry asks:

“Hello, I recently heard the monologue of a philosopher (Alexander Dugin)“ The virtue of the beard ”. Is it true that wearing a beard is a virtue? Or should it be perceived as a ritual that is necessary only for clergymen, but for laymen - not? .. Does wearing a beard help in any way in spiritual growth? Clarify please. Save me, God!"
- Well, first of all, wearing a beard is, of course, not a virtue - but an honor for a man. Because virtue is something that can be acquired, acquired through labor and achievement. The beard grows naturally, it can be compared to the character given to a person. But she is some accompanying factor for the spiritual life of a person.
For example, in ancient times, for a person whose beard was shaved, it was a shame; and even, for example, David's messengers were not allowed into the city because they were dishonored and disgraced, that is, they cut their clothes (shortened) and, accordingly, cut their beards. And until their beard grew, they were not even allowed into the city.
And today you and I see that a beard has no such honor. On the contrary, there is mockery. Therefore, if we consider a beard as an honor, then today it turns out to be dishonorable. But why, after all, do the Orthodox wear a beard and even insist ?! And rightly so! First of all, the main purpose of a beard is to help a person in spiritual life. How does a beard help? If we take animals, they have a mustache that helps them navigate when there is no light: they feel like they even see nothing. The same role, only in a spiritual sense, is played by the beard for a person. She helps him. Because the structure of the hair of the beard is also empty, it is hollow, like a mustache; completely different hair on the head. It is hollow and really helps a person to somehow spiritually tune in. These are things that need to be experienced ... For example, a person who shaves off his beard - how does he feel? Yes, he feels naked, as if his underwear has been taken off. Why? Because, indeed, a beard ennobles and gives a kind of feeling of support. But this is, of course, a secret that only the one who wears a beard can know. And therefore, today the Orthodox, of course, should wear it, not only because the beard helps, but also in order to revive the ancient attitude towards the beard as an honor for a man; but, on the other hand, somewhere ... and as a sermon! If you are a Christian, you still have to wear a beard; you should not merge with this world, because in this world there is a cult of flesh that came to us from Ancient Rome, where for the first time officially, so to speak, they began to shave constantly. Although the Egyptians began before them, but, nevertheless, the Romans were more successful in this regard, because their influence on the surrounding culture was decisive. They also influenced the Church: that is, all Roman priests always shaved, with rare exceptions. If we look at the holy fathers of the Ancient Roman Church, who are glorified in the face of saints (by us), they all had a beard. Augustine of Ipponsky, Ambrose of Mediolansky, Pope Leo the Great - all with a beard. And only after the separation did they begin to shave. When they fell away from Orthodoxy, then they completely changed their attitude towards this and, in general, EVERYONE without exception began to shave. ... And Protestants generally say: "When I shave, after that I feel the breath of the Holy Spirit on me" ...
- Thank you.

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What is your opinion, are you against the European tradition of men to shave their faces? After all, God created men so that they would grow a beard. The people of God from the Old Testament did not shave their beards, unlike the Egyptians. Isn't the custom of laughing at the beard a kind of disagreement with the Creator? Has this tradition emerged for some sexual reason? After all, facial hair growth is a distinctive masculine quality, and a face without hair is a feminine quality?

It is true that shaving your face has had many meanings in the Bible and I will present that aspect below.

Shaving a man's face was a sign of mourning

In the Old Testament, God gave this commandment to His people:

Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard. For the sake of the deceased, do not make cuts in your body and do not inscribe writing on yourself. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19: 27-28)

Why did God give this commandment? Because this is how the pagan peoples around them expressed mourning and horror. When the destruction of Moab is described, the prophet Jeremiah writes:

Each has a bare head and each has a beard diminished; all have scratches on their hands and sackcloth on their loins. On all the rooftops of Moab and in its streets there is a general lamentation, for I have broken Moab like an unworthy vessel, says the Lord. (Jeremiah 48: 37-38)

These nations were idolaters even at death or when adversity struck, because in this way they wanted to draw the attention of the idols they worshiped. God in no way allowed His people to practice these pagan practices, and since idolatrous peoples shaved between their eyes when someone died, God said the following to the people of Israel:

You are the sons of the Lord your God; do not make cuts on your body and do not cut the hair over your eyes after the deceased; for you are a holy people of the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be His own people from all the nations that are on earth. (Deuteronomy 14: 1-2)

The way the pagan peoples expressed mourning and horror was a manifestation of their despair and hopelessness. The children of God have a God in heaven who will not leave out in despair and hopelessness.

In today's world, the opposite expression of mourning

If in ancient times people expressed pain when someone close to them died by shaving their head or beard, or the corners of the beard, or between the eyes, today they express pain and mourning by allowing hair to grow on the face. If a man is dressed in dark clothes and does not shave, then those around him assume that he is in mourning.

Shaving your beard is a cultural expression of good manners.

When Joseph was in an Egyptian prison, Pharaoh had a dream and one of the servants said that Joseph could give an interpretation of the dream:

And Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph. And they hastily brought him out of the dungeon. He cut his hair (he shaved, - in the Romanian translation of the Bible, approx. per.) and changed his clothes and came to Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:14)

Joseph was a decent man and did not jeopardize his faith and worship among the pagan people where he lived. If shaving his face went against the will of God, Joseph would not shave. Or, if shaving of the face were pagan or sinful in Egypt, Joseph would not have done it. The fact that he shaved is an expression of culture and respect for the authority of the Pharaoh to whom he was going.

Shaving a man's face has no sexual motivation

Nowhere else does the Bible make such a claim, and even in the culture of our day, I have never heard that shaving a man's face is a sexuality or a sexual consequence.

Translation: Moses Natalia

ATTITUDE TO THE BEARD IN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS

All major religions are required to wear a beard, except Buddhism, which takes the opposite point of view.

BUDDHISM

In Buddhism, monks, imitating Buddha, shave not only their beards, but their entire heads as a sign of renunciation of sensual pleasures and leading a righteous life. When Prince Siddhartha-Buddha left home in search of the Path beyond death, old age and disease, he shaved off his hair and beard and put on a saffron-colored robe. Thus, he got rid of the need to care for his hair, and in addition, he showed others his attitude towards worldly things.

Buddhist monks

A shaved head in general is a symbol of submission, rejection of one's own personality. Refusal of material goods, simplicity in everything is one of the ways to achieve nirvana ... Every Buddhist strives for this state. On the path to knowledge, nothing should distract. The little things in the form of shampooing, drying and styling your hair take up a lot of time, which you can devote to inner self-improvement. Therefore, Buddhist monks shave baldly.

Orthodox priests, including Orthodox monks, in the tradition of growing hair and beards follow the example of Christ, and Buddhist monks follow the example of Siddhartha Gautama.

HINDUISM

Hinduism is one of the most unusual religions in the world, in which polytheism reaches incredible proportions - innumerable gods and goddesses adorn the niches of the pantheon.

Three deities - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - are considered supreme. They constitute the concept of Trimurti, i.e. a triple image uniting Vishnu the Almighty, Brahma the Creator, and Shiva the Destroyer.

According to the Puranas, in Hindu cosmology, Brahma is seen as the creator of the universe, but not as God. (on the contrary, it is believed that he was created by God). Brahma is often depicted with a white beard, which symbolizes the almost eternal nature of his existence. Brahma's beard indicates wisdom and personifies the eternal process of creation.

In the old days, the Indians smeared their beards with palm oil, and at night they put them in leather cases - set-boxes. The Sikhs twisted their beards around a cord, the ends of which were tucked away under a turban. On special occasions, the beard was loosened in a lush fan almost to the navel.

ISLAM

At the beginning of the 7th century, the prophet Muhammad, who began to preach in Mecca, stood up to protect the beard. He demanded that his followers let go of their beards. From the hadiths commenting on various statements of the prophet, it follows that he attributed a beard to what is natural for a person and, therefore, embodies the plan of God - since a beard grows, it means that it must be worn.

Muhammad said: "Shave your mustache and let go of your beard"; “Don't be like the Gentiles! Shave your mustache and let go of your beard "; “Cut your mustache and let go of your beard. Don't look like fire-worshipers! ".

The Koran forbids shaving a beard. Shaving a beard is changing the face of Allah's creation and submitting to the will of the shaitan. Letting go of the beard belongs to the natural properties bestowed by Allah, it is not commanded to touch it and shaving it is prohibited. Muhammad said: "Allah has cursed men who are like women."And shaving your beard is like a woman.

In one of the hadiths about the Prophet Muhammad, it is said that he received an ambassador from Byzantium. The ambassador was clean-shaven. Muhammad asked the ambassador why he looked like that. The Byzantine replied that the emperor forced them to shave. "But Allah, Almighty and Great, ordered me to leave my beard and trim my mustache."During the ensuing diplomatic conversation with the ambassador, Muhammad never again looked at the shaved ambassador because he treated him like an effeminate creature.

A beard in Islam is an obligation and it is forbidden to completely cut it. However, there are cases when shaving the beard is allowed (for example, when traveling to a country where there may be persecution for wearing a beard). But be that as it may, prolonged shaving of the beard is a great sin (kabira).

JUDAISM

In Judaism, a shaved beard is considered a loss of honor (2 Kings 10: 4-6, 1 Chronicles 19: 4-6, etc.). For example, in Hasidism, removing a beard is tantamount to a formal break with the community.

In the Torah, it is forbidden to cut a beard: "Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard."Therefore, the Jews, who were zealously faithful to the laws of the Torah, did not shave their beards. The Torah's prohibition on "destroying" the beard concerns (of course) only the use of any type of razor blade. The question of "trimming" or "shaving" the beard was and remains the subject of discussion among the rabbis (there are authorities who allow "shaving" a beard with scissors and an electric razor, there are also authorities who believe that these methods are strictly prohibited).

In the Tanakh, shaving the beard is referred to as a sign of mourning or humiliation.

The Talmud mentions the ban on shaving the beard as one of the protective measures against assimilation. By the way, it was in the Talmud that the beard was first mentioned as an integral element of male beauty (Bava Metzia 84a). According to the customs of Judaism, Orthodox Jews wear sideways (long uncut hair at the temples), a beard and certainly a headdress.

In modern times, with the spread of Kabbalah, the ban on shaving the beard acquired a mystical meaning. For example, according to the teachings of Kabbalah, the entire created world is a material reflection of the Supreme. Moreover, a person is to some extent a reflection of the Supreme in the material world. Each part of the human body corresponds in the spiritual world to a certain aspect of the manifestation of the Supreme. It turns out that a person without a beard is an incomplete person, shaving off his beard, he moves away from the Creator, loses the Divine "image and likeness" of the Almighty.

But, at the same time, it is believed that a Jew who does not yet feel that he is at a sufficiently high spiritual level to do everything that is required by Kabbalah should not be afraid to shave. And he can safely do this on all days of the week (of course, except Saturday).

Common to all Jews (including non-religious), it is the custom not to shave the beard for a month as a sign of mourning for a close relative.

CATHOLICISM

Catholic priests are ordered not to have a free growing beard: Clericus nec comam nutriat nec barbam. The interpretation of this prescription was different in different periods. It is known that from the 16th to the 18th century, many popes were bearded! (Julius II, Clement VII, Paul III, Julius III, Marcellus II, Paul IV, Pius IV, Pius V).

Pope Julius II was the first to grow a beard in 1511. Despite the fact that his most famous portrait is with a beard, he did not break the custom for long - only for a year. He let go of his beard as a sign of sorrow. After him, a few more dads did not think about the lush facial hair.

Nevertheless, the resonance of Julius II's deed was felt through the years, and Pope Clement VII in 1527 grew a luxurious beard, which he did not shave until his death in 1534. He was treacherously poisoned, feeding the unsuspecting pontiff a pale grebe for sympathy with France.

Subsequent Popes decided that a beard is beautiful and pious and proudly wore facial hair for more than two centuries. Pope Alexander XVII, however, gave his beard a refined and more modern shape (mustache and goatee, subsequent Pope adhered to the same shape of beard and mustache) - his papacy lasted from 1655 to 1667.

The glorious tradition was interrupted by Pope Clement XI (mind you, Clement VII started it). He ascended the throne on November 23, 1700.

In general, at first in the Roman Church there were no canonical rules regarding whether to wear a beard or not, and earlier popes considered it their duty to grow a beard - starting from the Apostle Peter, few of them even thought about shaving off facial hair. This was the case before the Great Schism in 1054.

Even in ancient times, the Romans used to see a symbol of barbarism in a beard. Perhaps this was the reason for the propensity of Catholic clergy to shave cleanly.

In the western church, one of the symbols of the priestly ministry was tonsure - hair cut around the crown of the head.

In the Russian tradition, the analogue of tonsure was gumenzo (a circle on the head, symbolizing a crown of thorns)... The shaved part was covered with a small hat called "gumenets" or "skufia". The custom of cutting gumenzo existed in Russia until the middle of the 17th century.

In Catholicism, a clergyman is obliged to shave his beard - a smooth face is considered a symbol of holiness, and in some monastic orders tonsure is also adopted - a shaved back of the head.

ORTHODOXY

In Orthodoxy, on the contrary, it is a bushy beard that testifies to the priestly status.

Russian saints. Detail. From left to right Anthony of Pechersky, Sergius of Radonezh, Feodosy of Pechersky

From the point of view of Orthodox customs, beard - a detail of the image of God .

Shaving a beard (shaving) - according to Orthodox teaching, one of the most serious sins. In Orthodoxy, it has always been law-breaking, i.e. violating the law of God and the institutions of the Church. Shaving was forbidden in the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:27; 2 Samuel 10: 1; 1 Chronicles 19: 4); it is also prohibited by the rules of the VI Ecumenical Council (see the interpretation on rule 96 of Zonar and the Greek Helmsman Pidalion), and many patristic writings (the creation of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, St. Cyril of Alexandria, Blessed Theodoret, St. Isidore Pilusiot).Condemnation of shaving is also found in the Greek books. (works of Nikon Cherniy Gora, f. 37; Nomokanon, pr. 174). The Holy Fathers believe that someone who shaves a beard expresses dissatisfaction with his external appearance, which was given to him from the Creator, and tries to “edit” Divine decrees. About the same rule 96 of the cathedral in Trulla Polatnem "on shaving the brad".

The decrees of the saints Apostles: “Nor should you spoil your hair and change the image of a person in spite of nature. Do not bare, says the law, your beards. For this (to be without a beard) the Creator God made good-looking for women, and for men He recognized as obscene. But you who bare your beard in order to please, as resisting the law, you will be an abomination with God, who created you in his own image.

In the city of Vilna (now Vilnius), three Orthodox Christians were tortured by pagan warriors in 1347 Anthony, John and Eustathius for refusing to be shaved. After many tortures, Prince Olgerd, who was tormenting them, offered them only one thing, that they shave off their beards, and if they did this, he would let them go. But the martyrs did not agree and were hanged from an oak tree. The Church ranked the Vilna (or Lithuanian) martyrs among the saints of God, believing that they suffered for Christ Himself and for the Orthodox faith. Their memory takes place on April 27 ns.

During the Great Schism in 1054, the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Kerullarius, in a letter to the Patriarch of Antioch, Peter, accused the Latins between other heresies and that they "cut off the gang." The same accusation is confirmed by the Russian Reverend Father Theodosius of the Caves in his "Word on the Christian and Latin Faith."

Shaving the beard (shaving) is strictly prohibited, as is the Latin custom. The next one should be excommunicated from the communion of the Church (Lev. 19, 27; 21, 5; Stoglav ch. 40; Helmsman Patron. Joseph. Rule of Nikita Scythians "On the tonsure of the brada", fol. 388 on v. 389)

In Russia, wearing a beard was enshrined in the decisions of the Stoglav Cathedral. Stoglavy Cathedral of the Russian Church (1551) defined: “If anyone shaves a brother and dies (i.e. not repenting of this sin) , serve you not worthy of him, neither petty fortune for him, nor prosvira, nor messages on it to the church, bring it to the church, with the unbelievers it will be reckoned, from the heretic he is more worried " (that is, if one of those shaving his beard dies, burials should not be served over him, nor should the magpie be sung, nor should a broth or candles be brought to church for his commemoration; for he is considered unfaithful, since he learned this from heretics)

Old Believers still believe that it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven without a beard, and they prohibit a shaved person from entering the church, and if an Old Believer living “in the world” shaved and did not repent of this before dying, he is buried without performing the funeral rite.

IN Holy Scripture about the beard it says: "... the scorn will not ascend on your brads", or, to make it clear, you cannot trim your beard. If we believe in God, then we must understand that He created us as He saw fit. To shave is not to resign ourselves to the will of God, but as we read our Father every day, we repeat: "Thy will be done." The Lord divided people into two ranks - a man-rank and a woman-rank, and he commanded each his own: men should not change their face, but must cut their hair on their heads, and women must not cut their hair.

For orthodox Christian the beard has always been a symbol of faith and self-respect. The ancient Russian Church strictly forbade shaving, seeing in it an outward sign of heresy, falling away from Orthodoxy.

The grounds for the custom of wearing long hair among the Orthodox clergy were found in the Old Testament, where a special rank of Nazarite , which was a system of ascetic vows, including the prohibition to cut hair (Num. 6: 5; Judg. 13: 5). In this regard, the fact that Jesus Christ is called a Nazirite in the Gospel has acquired special weight.

Icon "Savior Not Made by Hands"

His lifetime image (the icon "Savior Not Made by Hands") was also considered to be evidence of the special length of the Savior's hair; the image of Jesus Christ with his hair loose on his shoulders is traditional for iconography.

Until the time of Peter I, shaving the beard and mustache was considered a grave sin and was compared with sodomy and adultery, punishable by excommunication. The prohibition to shave the Beard was explained by the fact that man was created in the likeness of God and, therefore, it is sinful, by his own will, to distort this appearance in any way.

The hairs on the head of Christ's disciples are all numbered by God (Matthew 10:30; Luke 12: 7).

The tradition of Orthodox priests to wear a beard

In modern Russia (before and throughout the Orthodox world), the wearing of beards by priests is a good age-old tradition that is preserved by the Orthodox Church. The beards of Orthodox clergymen remain their important distinguishing feature.

The priest of the Orthodox Church is the bearer of the image of Christ. Jesus Christ gave us an example of wearing a beard. He passed on this tradition to His apostles, and they, in turn, to their disciples, those to others, and this chain has continuously reached us.

The custom of Orthodox priests to wear beards goes back to the Old Testament tradition. The Bible says it definitely: "And the Lord said to Moses: declare to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them ... They must not shave their heads and cut the edges of their beards and make cuts in their bodies." (Lev.21: 1.5) ... Or elsewhere: “And the Lord said to Moses, saying: declare to all the congregation of the children of Israel and tell them ... Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edge of your beard. For the sake of the deceased, do not make cuts on your body and do not inscribe writing on yourself. "(Lev. 19: 1,2,27-28).

IN epistle of Jeremiah, 1:30 said: "And in their temples the priests sit in torn clothes, with shaved heads and beards and with bare heads.". This quote is for priests. As we can see, a priest should never shave his beard, otherwise, he becomes like the pagan priests who are sitting "in the temples ... with shaved heads and beards."

And do not be confused by the fact that all the quotes are taken from the Scriptures of the Old Testament: the Lord Himself said that He did not come to break the Law, but to fulfill it.

Today, however, it seems that the controversy over brothel has calmed down - it's time for stabilization. The priests are given greater freedom in choosing the shape and length of their beards.

As for the laity, today most of them do not wear a beard. This indicates a lowering of the bar for the spiritual life of a modern person. Nowadays, wearing a beard is more of a fashion trend than any religious reason. Is it correct? - another question.

Prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

The following literature was used in the preparation of the material:
1. VA Sinkevich "Beard in the history of Christianity"
2. "History of a beard and mustache" (publications in the historical and literary magazine "Historical Bulletin", 1904)
3. Giles Constable “Beards in History. Symbols, fashion, perception "
4. B. Bellevosky "Apology of the beard"

Dmitry asks: "Please clarify to me the essence of what the Lord God said in" Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edge of your beard. "It turns out that you cannot cut your hair very short? How to understand these instructions of our Lord?"

Peace be with you, Dmitry!

Hashem never taught His children whether or not they should wear a beard. There is not a single verse in the Bible that says God is “for” or “against” a beard. The Almighty also never established rules for cutting hair for people. (And what we see in the Nazarite rite has in itself a law about cutting / not cutting hair, but a symbolic indication of how the service to God Almighty takes place).

The Old Testament attitude towards beard and hair length is human attitude... In those days, it was almost universally believed that a man should wear a long beard. The reasons for this "fashion" are unknown to us, but we know for sure that God had no claims either to shaved chins or to unshaven ones. it from the point of view of people it was considered a shame if a man was forcibly shaved off his beard. But God nowhere commands a man to raise her.

"And Annon took the servants of David, and shaved each of them half of the beard, and cut off their clothes in half, to the loins, and sent them away. When it was reported to David, he sent to meet them, since they were very dishonored. And he commanded the king tell them: stay in Jericho until your beards grow, and [then] return "().

Read this passage and you will see that it was exclusively David's decision, because in his time what happened was considered a shame. And God has nothing to do with this decision.

People, and not God, considered a beard a sign of a man's dignity, so God, not opposing this desire, explained to them His will, His attitude to what was happening, using the example of "beards". In other words, knowing what a beard is in human tradition, the Savior sometimes used it as a symbol to explain His actions. See for example:

"On that day, the Lord will shave with a razor, hired on the other side of the river, by the king of Assyria, his head and hair on his legs, and even take away his beard."

It is not at all about whether it is good or bad to have a beard, but about what if in people's minds the beard and hair on the head and legs of a man are a sign of his strength, etc., then through the use of this human "opinion" God figuratively shows that he will completely destroy the strength of people.

Now let's take a closer look at the excerpt that interests you:

"Do not eat with blood;
do not bewitch and do not guess.
Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard.
For the sake of the deceased, do not make cuts on your body and do not inscribe writing on yourself. I am the Lord "().

Do you see that here is a listing of what the Jews used to do, but now they cannot do?

They used to eat with blood, like everyone else.
They used to bewitch and guess, like everyone else.
Previously, they cut their heads around, i.e. cut the hair at the temples ... From the history of pagan cults, we know that many pagan priests cut their heads in this way, there is even a mention of this in and,. God calls the Gentiles people " cutting hair at the temples. "

Does this mean that He has something against the haircut itself? No. But God wants His people, in whose consciousness this type of haircut was associated with pagan rituals and caused a certain "reaction" of memory, would stop performing this action, so as not to be tempted to cling to the mind of the sign of paganism and, as a result, fall into idolatry and etc.

It's the same with beards. Reread the passage and say: Is God talking here about growing a beard? or He says that if you have a beard, then do not spoil its edges the way pagan peoples do. It follows from the context, doesn't it?

In other words, the Savior says that His children must stop doing what they learned to do while living among paganism: eating blood, bewitching, cutting whiskey, ruining beards, making cuts on the body ...

Can you cut whiskey now? The answer depends on your attitude towards what you mean by this: a pagan way of serving God or an ordinary comfortable hairstyle? If the first - then it is impossible, if the second - then it is possible. Do you understand why you can't? Because such an action will surely lead you to other pagan "interests" of the flesh and turn you away from God.

If you have grown a beard, and then decided to cut its edges in a special pagan way, then you are on the path of sin, because you are trying to perform some magical ritual action that God did not ask you to do. But if you just carefully trim the edges of your beautiful beard without investing any ritualistic meaning in it, then you just care about your appearance and nothing else.

Simply put, no matter what you do: whether you cut your hair short, shave your beard or grow it - you must first of all think that your manipulations are not filled with pagan "meaning" and would not lead you into the abyss of paganism as such.

Yours faithfully,
Sasha.

Read more on the topic "Miscellaneous":

Shaving as a lecherous heresy ... Former pious Christians, who unquestioningly believed in the authority of the holy church teaching expressed in the holy books, in order to recognize the sinfulness or holiness of some custom, were content with how such a custom was recognized in the patristic books (Basil the Great, rules 89, 91 ). For example, shaving in these books is recognized as a sinful act.

"... don't ruin the edges of your beard"

The pagan, ancient world, which Christianity was called upon to replace by Divine Providence, believed the ideal of beauty in youth and youthful freshness (Prem. Sol. 2), while old age for the pagans served as a sign of exhaustion of bodily forces and destruction of man. They recognized life only on earth, denying spiritual, afterlife.

"But behold, joy and joy! They are killing oxen and slaughtering sheep; eating meat and drinking wine:" we will eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die! "(Is.22: 13)

"Do not be deceived: bad communities corrupt good manners" (1 Cor. 15:33; Ps. 72; Job 21).

Therefore, the pagans, and especially the Greco-Roman world, portrayed almost all their gods as beardless, effeminate. Meanwhile, Christianity teaches, first of all, about the spiritual beauty of man, i.e. about the degree of his religious and moral perfection, as far as a person has mastered, managed to implement or manifest all this in his life.

And since in order to achieve spiritual maturity in a spiritually-moral sense, in order to apply the Christian teaching mastered by a person, it is necessary to live longer, to fight the temptations of the world, then, naturally, in the Christian understanding, senile, mature types, having a beard like a sign of degree and experience. The faithful gaze saw in the image of the elders, whitened with gray hair on their head and beard, in this external form of the body, the ageless light of the spiritual world. That is why one of the ways through which in Christianity it became a custom, a special honor to wear a beard, as a natural adornment for men, was Christian icon painting, as a believable depiction of St. icons of faces that really existed.
In the Christian church there is a dogma about the veneration of saints, and hence the need to depict them on St. icons. Christian art could not help but pay attention to the fact that the faces depicted on the icons are not fictional, but really once lived on earth, in a visible definite image. And when depicting the saints of God characteristic feature their beard appeared to husbands.

Composing the necessary belonging of the depicted saints, it could serve as a characteristic difference between one person and another, and therefore served to recreate the iconographic type. And that in the beginning, before the retreat into heresy, even among the Latin Catholics, everyone wore beards, is evident in their early images (see Pope Sixtus "Sistine"). The originals describe the face of the saints.

January 05, Savva the Sanctified, fell into a pit of fire near the Dead Sea, singed his beard and face. The beard did not grow, it remained small and sparse. He thanked God for such an ugly beard so that there was nothing to boast about.

January 11, Theodosius the Great, from the beard of St. Marciana carefully took the grain, put it in the granary, and they became full.
June 23, "The Repentance of Theophilus", sold to the devil, the enemy of the soul stroked the beard, kissed the mouth.

February 10, Harlampy, long beard, tormentors put coals on his beard, but fire burst out of his beard and burned 70 people. June 12, Onufriy, beard to the ground.

April 14, John, Eustathius, outsiders found out that they were Orthodox by their beards - they did not want to cut their hair.

September 01, Simeon the Stylite, when he died, the patriarch wanted to take the hair from his beard, his hand immediately dried up.

November 20, Proclus, saw apostle paul, his beard is wide, there is no hair on the front of his head. May 8, Arseny the Great, beard to the waist. January 2, Euthymius, big gray beard.

The descriptions were compiled partly according to legend, partly on the basis of already existing iconic images:

About Dionysius the Areopagite: gray, with long hair, with a somewhat long mustache, with a rare beard.

About St. Gregory the Theologian: the beard is not long, but rather thick, bald, blond hair, the end of the beard with a dark tint.

About St. Cyril of Alexandria: the beard is thick and long, the hair on the head and beard is curly, with gray and so on.

In addition, there are descriptions of the saints where only one beard is named, for example, Patriarch Herman - "old, the beard is rare";

Saint Euthymius - "a beard to the extent";

Pyotr Afonsky - "a beard up to the knees";

Macarius of Egypt, "beard to the ground." Christians have always imitated not only the saints in their deeds, but also in their appearance.

The beard was considered a sign of the image of God, in the likeness of which man was created.

In 1054, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Kerullarius, in his letter to the Antiochian Patriarch Peter, accused the Latins between other heresies and that they "cut off their beard."

The Monk Theodosius of the Caves expressed the same accusation against the Latins in his "Word on the Christian Faith."

Shaving is a lecherous heresy of temptation and corruption of good morals, leading to the perversion of the sexes, to the sin of Sodom; and the Russian princes punished with fines those who pulled out part of their beards during a fight. So, under the Grand Duke Yaroslav, a fine of 12 hryvnias was charged to the treasury for a pulled out piece of beard from the guilty party, and in the 15th century the guilty's hand was cut off for the pulled out beard.

One of the authoritative councils in Russia, which was attended by three Russian saints, the Stoglavy Cathedral, determined: “The sacred rules forbid all Orthodox Christians: do not shave their brace and mustache and do not cut tonsure; such are not Orthodox, but Latin and heretical.
Legends of the Greek king Constantine Kovalin; and about this, the apostolic and paternal canons of the Velmi forbid and deny: the rule of the saints The Apostle says: if someone shaves his beard and dies like this, he is unworthy to serve over them, not to sing a magpie on it, nor to bring prosphora or messages on it to the church, with by the unfaithful, God will be reckoned, from heretics this habits "ch. 40.

About the same interpretation of Canon 96, VI Ecumenical Council on shaving the beard: "What about shaving your beards was not written in the law: do not shave your beards. Without a beard, it is beautiful for wives, for husbands it is not appropriate, God who created God judged to say to Moses:

"... do not spoil the edge of the beard" (Lev.19: 27).

You are doing this human for the sake of pleasing, are contrary to the law, you will be hated by Him Who created you in His own image, and if anyone wants to please God, then depart from such evil. ”The negative attitude towards shaving, the evil custom of Catholics and atheists, has reached the highest degree in the so-called The time of troubles in Russia, when the Latins, before the eyes of the Russians, insulted everything that hitherto Russians were accustomed to consider inviolable and holy - they laughed at the faith, life and customs of Russians.

Therefore, a curse was put on the barber.

In the Consumer Book of 1639 and in the Service Book of 1647, the instruction was placed: "Do not shave your beard and mustache, do not trim."

In the Big Consumer it was said: "I curse the God-hated and fornication image, the charm of the soul destructive from the darkened heresy; and so as not to cut the beard (sheet 600 on the back) and not shave it." In the service book of Patriarch Joseph it is written: "The charm is destructive to the soul, darkened by heresy, do not cut your beard (sheet 600 on the back) and do not shave it."

“And I don’t know how the Orthodox people entered our people and at what time in great Russia a heretical illness entered, as the legend of the Greek king, or better to say the enemy of the Christian faith, and the lawbreaker Konstantin Kovalin and the heretic to cut beards, or shave Or else, let's say, according to the chronicles, [we find] confirmation of all the evil heresy [arising from] the new son of the devil and Satan, the forerunner of the Antichrist, the enemy and apostate from the Christian faith, Pope Peter the Hugnivy, for and having reinforced this heresy, and the Roman people, especially and their sacred ranks, he commanded to do this in order to cut and shave their beards.

***

• About the sin of shaving - Ignatius Lapkin
• Is shaving your beard an expression of unmanliness and a sin? - Dmitry Tsorionov
• Can an Orthodox shave a beard? - Abbot Vitaly Utkin

***

Epiphanius of Cyprus called this heresy Eutychian. For Tsar Constantine Covalin and the heretic legalized this, and everyone knows that they are heretical servants, because their beards are trimmed "(Ed. Summer 7155, sheet 621).

The Monk Maxim the Greek wrote: "If those who deviate from the commandments of God are cursed, as we hear in the sacred chants, those who destroy their beards with a razor are subject to the same oath" (Word 137).

“One should not spoil the hair on the beard, and change the image of a person contrary to nature.

Do not bare, says the law, your beards, for this [to be without a beard) God made the Creator fit for women, and He recognized as obscene to men. The same, who bares his beard in order to please, as opposed to the law, you will be an abomination with God, who created you in His image (post. Apost., Ed. Kazan, 1864, p. 6).

St. Epiphanius of Cyprus writes: "What is worse and more disgusting than this, the beard is the image of a husband to shave off, and the hair on his head is grown; about the beard in the decrees of the Apostles, the word of God, the teaching prescribes so as not to spoil it, that is, not to cut the hair on the beard." (his work, part 5, p. 302, published by M. 1863).

Rule 96 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council with the interpretation: "Those who dye their hair to make it light or golden, or tie it up to make it curly, or wear someone else's hair, are subject to penance and excommunication. shaving beards their own, so that they grow afterwards smoother and more beautiful, or to always seem young and beardless. Also, those who burn their facial hair with small tweezers in order to appear softer and more graceful, who tint their beards so as not to appear old.

Women who use white or blush to attract men to themselves are subjected to the same penance. Oh! how can God recognize in them His creation and His image when they wear another - the devil's face? Don't they know they're like the prodigal Jezebel? So all men and women who do something like this are excommunicated. If all this is forbidden to the laity in general, then all the more to the clergy and sacred persons, who must teach the people in word, deed, and external piety "(Greek helmsman" Pedalion "p. 270, published in 1888).

"Shaving is a heretical and disgusting custom, and therefore true Christians should keep themselves from this abomination, so that through the transgression of the commandments of God and patristic traditions we do not lose our eternal and endless bliss in the future afterlife. For the Lord will say to the good servant and his active servant:

"Good servant, in a little was faithful, I will set you over many, enter into the joy of His Lord" (Luke 19:17).

Genesis 34: 2, 7, 9, 26 says: "As the son of Emorr the Jewish man slept with Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, he did violence to her, he did dishonor to Israel."

In another place we read: "And Annon took the servants of David, and shaved each of them half of the beard, and cut off their clothes in half, to the loins, and let them go. When they told David about this, he sent to meet them, since they were very dishonored. And the king ordered to say to them: stay in Jericho (the city of damnation) until your beards grow, and then return "(2 Sam.10: 1-5).

And if rape was called dishonor, and so it is now: for in relation to the flesh New Testament did not make any changes to her creation, then the word very dishonored shows that shaving is a greater sin than losing virginity. And as there the perpetrators of dishonor were all destroyed, so in the case of violence against beards. And if David did not let those dishonored with spoiled beards into earthly Jerusalem, then shouldn't we be more attentive to those who are preparing to enter Heavenly Jerusalem - the Kingdom of Heaven?

"Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edge of your beard" (Lev.19: 27).

"How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together. It is like a precious oil on his head, flowing down onto Aaron's beard, flowing down to the edges of his clothes" (Ps. 132).

Ancient leaders and people wore beards:

"Hearing this word, I tore my underwear and my outer garment and tore the hair on my head and on my beard, and sat sad" (1Ezra 9: 3)

The loss of a beard was a sign of the loss of God's favor, the wrath of the Heavenly King:

"On that day, the Lord will shave with a razor hired on the other side of the river by the king of Assyria, his head and hair on his legs, and even take away his beard" (Is.7: 20)

"... they all have their heads shaved, all have their beards shaved" (Is.15: 2)

"And you will do the same that I did; you will not cover your beards, and you will not eat bread from strangers" (Ezek. 24:22)

In Dan. 7: 9-13 - God is shown as the Ancient of Days and, of course, with a beard. Such are the images of saints in temples. But in temples (among pagans, heretics and sectarians)

"The priests are sitting ... with their heads shaved (like Buddhists and Hare Krishnas) and with their beards shaved" (Epistle Jeremiah 30).

And if in small things he is not faithful (is it a great thing not to shave a beard) then what to say about the preservation of morality and chastity.

September 21, Dmitry Rostovsky, a nominee to the Rostov see from Peter the Great, this most terrible Russian antichrist, who destroyed all the foundations of ancient piety, a cynic and blasphemer of all that is holy, who commanded to forcefully "chop off" beards. And when Demetrius of Rostov told the zealots suffering from the rapists of the Antichrist, when they asked whether they should be given to cut their beards, he replied: "Let the beards be cut off, the second will grow back, and if the heads are cut off, they will not grow back." Peter the Converter liked these words so much that he ordered to publish this treatise on beards.

Peter's window to Europe, into which all of Russia fell, together with the house of the Romanovs, lost beards, unity divided Russia, and it was the beginning of her death. And, as Nekrasov writes, at first they pointed the finger at those who smoke (there were so few of them), but will come (and it has already arrived) when they point the finger at those who do not smoke. So exactly with a beard.

March 28, Hilarion the New: they smeared their beards with resin - and smeared over the image of God, joined the beardless Europe, became Catholic through Uniatism, Ukraine and Belarus, lost the image of God, the Russian man.

All saints, pray to God for us!