Cheerful mind

It is useless today to refute the claim, which is widespread at the end of the last century, on “joyful antiquity” and sad Christianity. The early success of Christianity, religion poor and uneducated, in the cultural world of the Roman Empire it can also be explained by the fact that it promised victory overall that a helpless man felt against destiny, death, pain.
The proclamation of Christ’s doctrine was named EU-angel.
– good news. Christianity is a religion to me. The Greek Word chart means joy. A hunting greeting to Mary we translate «Hello.» Greek Chair is literally «Rejoice!» (Old Slavonic liturgical texts they have the expression «Rejoice!») Scripture encourages prayer with a sense of joy (cf. Psalm 31, 11; 9, 5; 99, 1; 104, 3, etc.). They have often reminded words of st. Paul: “Not out of sorrow or compulsion, for God loves a merry giver” (2 Cor 9: 7). The highlight and the goal of Christian perfection is love. He loves, gives, even with the victim, he likes to talk to the one he loves. Who is, he prays and joyfully denies, proving that he is doing his duties out of love? The work we do happily goes by itself hands. Aristotle writes: “Joy perfects the work, sorrow destroys it.” St. John Chrysostom explains in this sense Psalm verse (118,32): I will run in the way of your commandments.
Joy gives strength and power, freshness. Everything is much easier and faster. Who has a joyful attitude to life, small he does not perceive obstacles at all and overcomes great ones with courage? We are not worried about his future. On the contrary, if we see someone permanently sad, we rightly fear that they will not survive the journey they have begun, especially if there are more significant difficulties.
The lively performance of religious duties is an effective way of the apostolate. It does not attract the company of sad people and dissatisfied; on the contrary, everyone would like to go where they see,
that there is happiness and joy. St. Thelion exhorts the monks to their “modesty is holy, not sad.” St. Francis, he wanted his brothers to see a happy face, the desire to do more than they do before, not fatigue and frostbite. So, they have to take to the streets. The Christian teaches that virtuous life is life according to God and according to happy and innocent nature, as came out of the Creator’s hands. Who strives for virtue and is their unhappy, he denies the truth he wants to believe. At least that one impresses others.
Therefore, Hermas (2nd century) ranks mourning among the evil desires that must be expelled from the heart. The only praiseworthy grief, as the Ascites teach in unison, is remorse for sin. However, it almost becomes a source of true joy. Francis of Assisi warned against
sadness, and man’s grief, is the joy of the devil. It is easy to lead a sad person to despair or to seek illicit pleasure in the world. It is by what St. Peter wrote. Gregor the Great: “The soul cannot be without joy, so it seeks pleasure in low things, unless he has them in noble things. »

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