How to draw lots by email. Revelation of the thoughts of a former novice

How does the Orthodox Church relate to the custom of casting lots? Is it possible to be guided when making important life decisions by the result of the lot that has fallen?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

In biblical times, lots were often used to determine the will of God. IN Holy Scripture It says: “The lot is cast into the earth, but its entire decision is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33). Once a year on the day of atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest cast lots for two goats: “one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat” (Lev. 16:8). The Lord commanded that the Promised Land be divided by lot between the tribes of Israel (see: Josh. 18: 6-10). The Wisdom of God was reflected in this. The conquered land of Canaan was distinguished by great contrasts in climatic, geographical, economic and other respects. There were entire areas completely unsuitable for habitation (the Judean Desert). Other areas, on the contrary, were fertile, had a mild, warm climate, and were close to the sea, such as Galilee. There could be infighting. It is notorious from history that the most painful and bloody disputes occurred over territories. Since all representatives of the chosen people knew that the method of dividing by lot was determined by the Lord God, and believed that “the whole decision of it (that is, the lot) is from the Lord,” then throughout the 15-century history of Israel there was never any dissatisfaction between the tribes with their inheritances . With the help of lots, under David, the orders of service of the priests and Levites were distributed (see: 1 Chron. 24: 5; 25: 8).

It is necessary to clearly see the fundamental difference between the lot to which people faithful to the Lord resort after intense prayer to resolve issues that are very important for the life of the Church (the election of the Apostle Matthias (see: Acts 1: 21-26); Patriarch Tikhon at the very beginning of the Russian Troubles XX century) or the people (the division of Palestine according to inheritance), from those cases when it is determined which chess player will play with white pieces, or when two boys decide who will get the candy they happen to have. All this is just technical technique to avoid disputes and quarrels. In these cases, the result of the lot is probabilistic-statistical. IN Everyday life a person has a certain space of freedom in matters that do not affect his life in any way. Moreover, it would be blasphemous to think about the will of God when robbers divide the loot by lot.

The pagans also resorted to drawing lots when it was necessary to make important decisions. It is impossible to allow that the will of God could be manifested in these activities of people who attribute the result of the lot to idols. In the poem “Against Marcion, in Five Books,” attributed to Tertullian, the casting of lots by the pagans is equated with their other obscene activities - “following empty idols, producing for themselves a crowd of gods, cast lots, guess, call stars by false names, predict the fate of those being born” (Bk.1. Ch.1).

However, in those cases when Divine Providence used some pagans as His instrument, the result of the lot was a manifestation of the will of God. So, at the beginning of 588, Nebuchadnezzar besieged the capital of the kingdom of Judah. The Chaldean king did not immediately decide to take this step. At this time there were several uprisings among the conquered peoples. Nebuchadnezzar was ready to go to the capital of the Ammonites, Rabba. Finding himself in difficulty, the king resorted to drawing lots. And the lot fell on Jerusalem. This is completely consistent with what is written in the book of the prophet Jeremiah: “And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant” (Jer. 27:6). The prophet Jonah, contrary to the command of God, boarded a ship to flee to Tarshish. However, “The Lord stirred up a strong wind on the sea, and there arose a great storm on the sea, and the ship was about to be broken” (Jonah 1:4). The pagan shipbuilders resorted to drawing lots to determine the culprit who caused the storm. The lot pointed to Jonah.

In history Orthodox Church repeatedly resorted to drawing lots to decide controversial issues. By lot they determined where to place the shrine of the newly glorified noble princes Boris and Gleb. The chronicle reports that in 1467 in Novgorod they resorted to drawing lots to decide which saint should build a temple. In the 17th century, controversial cases of persons of clergy rank, for whom the oath was prohibited, were decided by lot.

Following the example of the holy apostles, the Patriarch was chosen three times by lot. The first time - March 20, 1642, Archimandrite Joseph of the Simonov Monastery. Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov), in his multi-volume history of the Church, describes this event as follows: “When the hierarchs who arrived in Moscow introduced themselves to the sovereign, he asked them, first of all, to offer fervent prayers to God, that He would grant His Church a new supreme shepherd and teacher. And when they left, he ordered to prepare six lots and write names on them, on each lot one name of those six persons whom he himself had previously chosen (including two archbishops - Serapion of Suzdal and Pachomius of Astrakhan, one archimandrite - Joseph of the Simonov Monastery and three abbots - the Moscow Epiphany Monastery Jonah, the Solovetsky Markell and the Pskov Svyatogorsk Macarius), sealed all these lots with his royal seal and sent through his boyar Prince Alexei Mikhailovich Lvov to the cathedral church to the saints who were there so that they would pray to God and the Most Pure Mother of God , taken out in front of her miraculous icon Vladimir one of the lots sent, “whom God wills and the Most Pure Mother of God will choose to be patriarch,” and that lot was sent unopened to the sovereign. The saints first took three lots, placed them in a precious panagia, which was worn by the former patriarchs, placed the panagia in an icon case on a shroud in front of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir and began the prayer service. At the end of the prayer service, the eldest of the bishops, Metropolitan Afoniy of Novgorod, ordered Metropolitan Varlaam of Rostov to take out one of the three lots in the panagia and hold it in his hands, and put the other two aside. Then they placed three other lots out of the six sent by the king into the same panagia, placed it in front of the same miraculous icon on a shroud, again performed a prayer service, and from the panagia one more lot was taken out by Metropolitan Serapion of Sara, and the other two were set aside. Finally, they placed the two lots previously taken out of it into the same panagia and placed it in front of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God. At the end of the third prayer service, Archbishop Serapion of Suzdal took out one of these two lots and presented it to Metropolitan Afphonius and the entire Council. Afphonius, without opening the lot, gave it to Prince Lvov for delivery to the sovereign. The Tsar unsealed the lot in front of his entire royal synclite and announced that “God and the Most Pure Theotokos deigned to be Patriarch Joseph, Archimandrite of the Simonov Monastery,” and immediately sent Prince Lvov to the cathedral church to announce this to Archimandrite Joseph himself before the entire consecrated Council” (Book. 6. Chapter 3). Patriarch Joseph cared a lot about the strict implementation of church statutes, the splendor of church services, the improvement of churches and spiritual enlightenment.

Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod (1605-1681) was chosen by lot as patriarch. The church schism that arose during his time does not give the right to doubt that this election was the will of God. The first king of the chosen people, Saul, ended his reign extremely unsuccessfully, but he was chosen by God: “The Lord revealed to Samuel the day before Saul came and said: Tomorrow at this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you anoint him as a ruler of My people - Israel" (1 Samuel 9: 15-16). We must not evaluate the ways of the Lord with the finite minds of men.

The election of the patriarch at the Local Council on November 5/18, 1917 took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior after a prayer service before the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Elder Alexy Zosimovsky, a man of holy life, from three candidates (Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kharkov, Archbishop Arseny (Stadnitsky) of Novgorod and Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow) chose the one who, in an open vote, scored less than the first two. Metropolitan Anthony, who received more than half the votes (309) in the vote, later wrote to Patriarch Tikhon: “This election should be called primarily a matter of Divine Providence for the reason that it was unconsciously predicted by the friends of your youth, your comrades at the academy. Just as one hundred and fifty years ago the boys in the Novgorod bursa, in a friendly manner, joking at the piety of their comrade Timofey Sokolov, burned incense in front of him with their bast shoes, singing his greatness as God's saint, and then their grandchildren performed real incense before the incorruptible relics of him, that is, your heavenly patron Tikhon of Zadonsk, and your own comrades nicknamed you patriarch when you were still a layman and when neither they nor you yourself could even think about the reality implementation of such a name."

Special mention must be made of those who, when faced with a choice, like to resort to drawing lots. This shouldn't do. The Lord gave us reason so that, gradually ascending in spiritual life, we could acquire the gift of reasoning. If it is so easy to solve questions with the help of lots, then experienced mentors and labors would not be needed to know the truth. A person who resorts to casting lots easily falls into temptation. After the lot, not having strong faith, he begins to be tormented by doubt that the lot indicated the will of God. Doubts are growing, but he is afraid to refuse to fulfill what is indicated by lot.

If it is difficult to make a decision, you need to pray intensely, reading akathists or canons to the Lord or the Mother of God for some time. When starting to read and after it, ask for admonition every time. Experience shows that the struggle of thoughts subsides and it becomes clear what needs to be done. “Pray that God’s will be done; you know that there is nothing better than the will of God” (St. Philaret of Moscow).

Shalom and bracha, dear Rav Klimovsky Ovadya. Thank you very much for a comprehensive answer. God's blessings to you. Tell me, please, when situations arise in life where you need to make a choice, what to do? Of course, first of all it is prayer and waiting for an answer from G-d. Is it possible to cast lots in such cases? Wouldn't this be a temptation to G-d? What does the Torah say about this? What is the opinion of the Sages? Regards, Yuri

Rabbi Ovadia Klimovsky answers

Hello, dear Yuri! Thank you very much for your warm feedback and for your very interesting questions.

The ability to make a choice is a special privilege granted to man, distinguishing him from all other earthly creations, and, according to Rav Chaim of Volozhin, in some sense likening him to the Creator. You are right, a person who wants to do the right thing always has the opportunity to find an answer to the question of how to do it in a given situation. The Almighty does not abandon us, He brought us into this world for a specific purpose, and if we intend to follow it, He will give us every opportunity to do so.

What are the best ways to figure out what to do? First of all, of course, you need to know the Laws of G-d. Often, after carefully studying the relevant section, we can find that our question has been resolved. For example, we are thinking about what is better - to go on an excursion with friends on Saturday at their request (and, thereby giving them pleasure, to fulfill the commandment “love your neighbor”) or to stay at home, say, also for some useful activity. Having discovered the Laws of the Sabbath, we discover that the question of traveling anywhere on the Sabbath does not arise at all.

It’s good to get close to a wise and righteous person who can tell you what the law is in in this case, and simply give advice when the law books are silent. When tzaddik sincerely wishes good to the one who asks his advice (and the righteous are such that the fate of every Jew worries them as if he were their relative), then he receives the help of Heaven and his advice turns out to be useful.

But we should not allow our decision to be influenced by any external events, for example, a cat crossed the road, bread fell out of our hand, etc. It is called nihush, fortune telling, and is rejected by the Torah. It is interesting that in the Torah and Talmud we find several examples when great righteous people were engaged, at first glance, in precisely nihushem. Of course, this was not fortune telling. Commentators explain what actually happened, leaving us some opportunity to see hints and signs for ourselves in what is happening around us. However, you should be very careful with this. There is no space here to discuss the entire topic; let us consider only the example of Eliezer, Abraham’s faithful servant, who went in search of a bride for Isaac. Stopping at the well, he, turning in passionate prayer to the Creator, declared: “If a girl helps me get drunk and water the camels, I will understand that You have done me a favor by pointing to her. This means that she is Isaac’s betrothed.” And so it happened. Rivka showed extraordinary kindness in taking care of the stranger, and Eliezer brought her to Isaac. Our sages say: this is an example of real fortune telling! And the question immediately arises: is it really Eliezer, the scientist and righteous man, to whom Abraham entrusted such a responsible task, violated such an obvious prohibition?

The Rambam (Laws on Idolatry 11:4) forbids doing as Eliezer did. A comment Kesef Mishneh justifies Eliezer, in accordance with the opinion of the Rambam, by the fact that he did not rely on blind chance, but simply checked whether the girl had the main quality that the foremother needed Jewish people- mercy. Thus, although the sages teach by the example of Eliezer’s act what the forbidden looks like nihush, Eliezer himself did not guess at all. Raavad, arguing with the Rambam, claims that in this case there is no prohibition on guessing - after all, a person does not rely on any superstitious signs, but is simply looking for a hint from the Almighty. However, Raawad believes that in this way it is still impossible to find out what should actually be done, unless the hints are repeated three times. And if a person himself prescribes the method of verification in advance, then this is similar to the drawing of lots, about which it is said: “The lot is cast for the bosom, but the whole decision is from G‑d” (Mishlei 16:33).

Without going into the numerous details that the teachers of the law talk about, let’s say that this method of resolving doubts should not be used without consulting a rabbi. If this check is based at least partially on logic, then it may be allowed.

Another thing is the lot, which the Torah allows in order to determine, for example, which animal will be sacrificed on Yom Kippur, and which will go to the desert to the Azazel rock. Moreover, the allotments of the tribes of Israel in the Holy Land were also determined by lot. In the Talmud and Laws we find repeated use of drawing lots to determine who will have the honor of fulfilling a certain commandment or receiving a portion, etc. However, you should not rush to cast lots to resolve a vital issue without looking for other ways to a solution. It is known that in some especially important cases our teachers used the so-called lot of the Vilna Gaon: they opened the pages of a special edition of the Tanakh at random and chose a certain line. What is written there should “hint” at the answer. Perhaps this is similar to another “way”: it used to be customary to ask the first child you met coming out of the cheder, “What verse (of the Torah) did you learn today?” However, not everyone can be worthy of understanding the answer to their question from what they hear.

Once upon a time, at the dawn of my churching, they gave me several brochures “for beginners.” The place in one of them stuck in my memory, which spoke about the method of recognizing the will of God through the lot. It was suggested to write possible options on pieces of paper, hide them behind the icons in the red corner and pray three times, then take out the ready answer from behind the icons.
Honestly, I don’t see any difference here - to find out the will of God in this way or through the elder - for in both cases the outcome of the answer depends on your personal request to God in the form of prayer. For before going to the elder, there is a custom to also read a prayer in order to definitely create confidence in your soul in advance that the answer will come from God, and not from man. Having prayed before drawing lots, you are also sure that God will not despise your prayer.
Secondly, “mythological”, more precisely, religious consciousness(however, like superstitious things) is based on the position that CHANCES SIMPLY DO NOT EXIST IN THIS WORLD.
Thirdly, this method is sanctified by biblical examples. The apostles cast lots for their twelfth colleague. The pagan unbelievers cast lots to find out about the guilt of the prophet Jonah (and the prophet himself confirmed this result right up to the command to fulfill the will of the lot - to throw the culprit into the sea). The lot pointed to the culprit of the violation of the general fast, Jonathan. The Church elected patriarchs in this way... And so on...

There is even an order of prayer before drawing lots:
“Lord Jesus Christ, having revealed Your will to the Apostles by your lot and calling the Apostle Matthias by lot to serve Yourself, you have indicated Elder Alexy Patriarch of All-Russian Tikhon in the lot, grant, O Lord, to me, the inseparable one, to know Your will and give me the strength to humbly accept and fulfill it. And Do not count this petition as a sin on me, let me not be with those murderers of God who cast lots at Your Cross for Your clothes, but let me be with those lovers of God to whom You, Lord, revealed Your will by lot. Do not let the enemy of our salvation laugh at me, but do with me according to Your mercy. You, Lord, made a promise to Your servants that their prayers will be heard, hear my prayer and tell me the way, in it I will go. Amen."
As far as I understand, there are no specific canons on this matter, so opinions within the church differ greatly. Schema-abbot Savva recommended to all his children - including Archimandrite Rafail Karelin this method(“It is possible and even commendable to use the lot in perplexed cases. Before this, you need to bow three times with the Jesus Prayer and read “To the Heavenly King,” three times “Our Father,” three times “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary,” and “I Believe.” You just need to have a living faith and trust in God." However, Father Raphael never dared to take advantage of this advice. At the same time, to the one who asked him a similar question about the lots, he answered that if the lot had been cast, then it was necessary to fulfill it. Father Dimitry Smirnov is categorically against it. Compares with fortune telling. In my opinion, he is clearly wrong here, because visiting the elders can be called fortune telling in the same way - and then the entire eldership is thrown into the trash, along with the face of the Optina saints... By the way, many people turn to the elders as oracles, so. ..))))
Bishop Seraphim (Domnin) wrote about the lot that there is such a custom in church tradition, and justified it with the words of the book of Proverbs: “The lot is cast on the floor, but its entire decision is from the Lord.” As they say in patristic literature, have a testimony from Scripture for all your deeds. And here it is, evidence))
Such a long theoretical preface is very necessary insofar as this ancient custom became the reason for my charm (or “charm” - I will find out after death). It was he who brought me to current state. Perhaps I’ll tell you the situation in detail.

It happened one day that my mother brought me money to the monastery and put it in my hands so that I could manage it. Before that, I always “kicked” and didn’t take it, but this time for some reason I took it, supposedly to give it to the accountant. And she herself was immediately attacked by all sorts of thoughts: if you give it to an accountant or a dean, then this measly thousand rubles will certainly go towards another ice cream for the nuns in mother’s absence - it would be a sin (just at that time all such cash transfers ended in ice cream), it would be better to give it to the locals poor people with many children, and even better, give it back to mom, but what if she gets offended?.. And so on and so forth, so she herself didn’t know what was better, and there was no one to ask, because... all the confessors and abbess were just away, and it was necessary to decide quickly in order to get rid of thoughts and return to prayer (and the hermits advise not to let money spend the night with you, it is better to deal with it right away). So, with trepidation, horror and a prayer aggravated to the highest limit, I cast lots and it fell out - to keep it for myself. I didn’t expect this option at all, so I decided that, apparently, God’s will had arranged it this way - but for what?.. Why do I need money in the monastery? Or for all sorts of items required for my obedience (all sorts of office things), or does God deign me to my long-standing desire to become a hermit? This question excited me even more; the turn of events was serious. Therefore, I decided to additionally turn to St. Onuphrius the Great, whose icon for some reason turned out to be placed in the library by someone (no one knew where it came from). I decided that he certainly knew whether I was capable of being a hermit or not, because he had experienced everything himself... I asked him to indicate the answer as follows: I will cast lots in the form of paper balls with the answers, which one will roll up closer to the icon - that will be the answer!.. How surprised I was that these lumps flew somehow STRANGE: one of them flew to the side at an angle of 90 degrees, as if someone had thrown it away, and the second hit the icon directly !.. I understood: this is a sign, the answer is GIVEN! It was a hermitage!.. And as soon as I saw this, a quiet joy came into my heart and the words appeared: “The Lord does not reject your zeal!..”
I was afraid of falling into delusion and went to our Old Lady as soon as she arrived at the monastery. In “Elder Silouan” it is written that it is necessary to catch the very first word of the confessor, and that what will not be the first is human... My first question was: how to relate to the lots? She replied that it was the will of God that the Church does not reject this method. According to all the laws of the “first word,” she confirmed the will of God!.. But as soon as I told her in more detail, she began to somehow reason like a human being and did not answer anything specifically. By the way, even the abbess said that they did not have the right to bless the hermitage... (Only later did it become clear that in the Caucasus it was not the Naumovites who lived as hermits, but the children of Elder Cyril).
I began to passively wait for the outcome of this story, in full confidence that the Lord Himself would do everything.
Meanwhile, thoughts of being a hermit blossomed in every detail, and I began to plan the acquisition of the most necessary things. The most necessary thing would have to be a cast-iron pot, two liters in size, and such that it could be hung on a fire or placed on the stove. It was just a painful pity to spend one thousand rubles on it, and both the purchase itself and the search for goods in monastic conditions were almost impossible. And here is another sign! There are no coincidences! I went to my next obedience - to herd cows. And one fine morning in one of the forests I found just such a pot thrown away by someone!.. The Lord had already begun to give signs and prepare everything I needed!.. But even then, just in case, I cast lots - should I take this pot? , is he here for me... And it turned out - of course, for me! My joy knew no bounds))

Six months passed, and one huge temptation happened, which no one helped me cope with, and the Old Lady clearly said that I had to cope here alone. And I left the monastery. I also decided by lot that now is the TIME, that I need to go to Altai (and to a more or less specific area; then I looked at the map and churches on the Internet - everything coincides, including with my conscience)).
Honestly, the process of leaving was the first signal that something seemed to be not going according to plan... The plan was this: I would walk to the bus station, from where I would go straight to Altai. But I was intercepted by sisters on horses, and then for the first time I doubted the correctness of this path... Something went wrong, I didn’t foresee something...
I was deprived of my novitiateship through the removal of my cassock and was sent home. In addition, all the monastery things were eventually taken away from me, which means all things in general, so there was nothing to travel to Altai with. I had to adopt a wait-and-see approach and pause in the world. And figure out why the Lord didn’t let me go to Altai right away.
When I found a lot of useful information on the Internet about survival in the wild, I realized that God had simply saved me from premature death. For some reason, I need to live longer)) By the way, the opportunity to die “in a feat” presented itself during the process of escaping from the monastery - then I almost drowned in a swamp, I was already waist-deep, but I was saved by a prayer to the Mother of God - somehow I miraculously stayed on a very thin branch, which somehow pulled me out of the quagmire and at the same time immediately broke))
It turns out that not everyone is life goes on according to the human plan - the real Plan is much more cunning!
But disappointment in one's own planning temporarily turned into disappointment with the lot. And instead of throwing him away once again, I began to think logically, trying to understand the incomprehensible destinies of God. Assuming that the Lord wanted me to learn how to become a hermit, I took a trip to. The matter ended in a draw. He told me to go to Russia to marry exactly the same former monk whom fate introduced me to on the Internet immediately after leaving the monastery... I clarified: when? The lot answered that when my mentor herself kicks me out. It seemed unreal to me, but - alas - it happened the very next day! And this again became for me another sign of the fidelity of my path.
To be sure, I made one last check. Namely, she suggested the possibility of the fallacy of the lot due to individual prayer. And I decided to test it with joint prayer. The result is that everything is correct.
My spiritual Sukhumi brother and sister thought that all this was a whim and complete delight. My argument against this was the case of Abraham: after all, he also decided to openly violate the Commandment (to kill) in full confidence that he knew the will of God. So in my case, they say, the Lord can stop the hand of Abraham and stop the erroneous action...
This is where the strangest and most painful thing happened. When I arrived in Russia, I was my future husband didn't meet. And I perceived this precisely as Avraamli’s hand turning away from the murder... And I went to the nearest monastery to see my old friend.
The three days spent there were a most painful time. I was split into two brains to the point of schizophrenia, I could not understand in any way whether the lot was wrong... And if it was wrong, then there is no God. Meanwhile, His reality is more real than myself... And in the end, I realized that Action was required of me. To preserve faith and reason, you still need to draw lots.
And when the decision was made, all schizophrenia disappeared, there was no peace in my soul)) And this despite all the canonical curses addressed to me...
It’s not for nothing that two people inspired me to Lately, that the only cure for delusion is to be in it and experience it... Perhaps until the end of my life this question will never be solved unambiguously for me, because I fully accept the option of delusion. That is why there is pain, and that is why “keep your mind in hell” is carried out involuntarily.
Wonderful are the works of God!))

Since ancient times, the word “lot” has been synonymous with the words “fate”, “fate”, “destination”. He helped make the most important choice in a person’s life, when an independent decision turned out to be impossible. So what is a lot and how can you use it to determine fate?

The meaning of the word lot

By lot called a small object that is taken out at random from many similar objects. They draw lots when resolving disputes or determining priority in something (for example, drawing lots in football).

In fact, the word “lot” is translated from Old Russian as “piece”, “share”, “segment”. Initially, a lot was a piece of wood or metal. Perhaps this is where the custom of using matches or coins came from when drawing lots. Today they are using it as a phantom various items- small pieces of paper and much more.

The lot in historical terms

What a lot is was known back in ancient times. The drawing of lots was used to determine the will of the supreme deities. The ancient Jews defined it using twelve precious stones with designations of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Greeks threw a forfeit in case of choosing the starter of the fight. Athenian officials were also chosen by lot.

A famous use of the phrase “the die is cast” comes from Gaius Julius Caesar. In 49 BC. The Roman commander started a war with Pompey. Using little support from the legions, Caesar nevertheless acted decisively and purposefully. Remembering his previous military failures, before crossing the border river Rubicon, the military leader was tormented by doubts. Trusting the will of the gods, Caesar, uttering the legendary phrase, rushed into battle. The battle ended with the victory of Gaius Julius over Pompey and the capture of the Roman Senate. We can say that the phrase “the die is cast” predetermined

In the history of Christianity, for the first time, the drawing of lots is used to decide which of the 12 apostles is destined to take the place of Judas. Since then Christian church began to resort to the method of choosing by lot the most important persons, for example, bishops. However, from 578 the drawing of lots in church affairs was prohibited.

They also knew what a lot was ancient Rus'. Until the 16th century, it was decided by drawing lots which of the parties would take the oath. Henceforth, the lot became an autonomous evidence and replaced the oath itself. Two wax balls with the names of the plaintiff and defendant were placed in the cap. To a random person the watching public was asked to pull out one of the balls. The one with whose name the object was drawn was considered right. Thus, the forfeit was dictated by the “will of fate,” in other words, by pure chance.

Lots as a prelude to fun

Things to do funny company friends at leisure? Dancing, picnic and various games. Casting lots is required according to the rules of many of these games. The order and sequence of actions, as well as who will make the first move, are determined by lot. Various things are used as an inheritance - pieces of paper with the names of the players, matches, balls, dice. If there is nothing suitable at hand, the draw can be done using the game “Rock-Paper-Scissors”, known to every schoolchild.

Where else is lot used?

Nowadays, drawing lots is popular in more serious matters than simple games. Football teams for major UEFA football championships are determined by lot. The procedure is carried out using balls that symbolize teams. In this way, opponents are selected in each group of players. In addition, the lot determines the side of the football field for each team. In this case, the draw is carried out using a coin.

What a lot is is also known in politics. In Spain, election day is held under the supervision of electoral councils of ordinary citizens chosen by lot. In the CIS countries, a draw determines the primacy of political candidates in debates.

I have a question about the lot. After the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and the Mother of God, they cast lots as to which country they should go to preach the Gospel. Should modern life Orthodox believe in lot when you don’t know what to do in a given situation, when you are faced with a choice in which direction to “turn” on the road of life. Often we ourselves cannot make such a choice. Is it possible in this case to cast lots, for example, a coin, and consider that how the lot fell is God’s will? You probably need to pray hard before doing this. Why not just toss a coin? Can the lot be considered a visible expression of the will of God?
Lyudmila, Balakovo, Saratov region

To answer your question in monosyllables, I will say this: yes, of course, you can cast lots in a difficult situation. We know from the Gospel (see Acts 1:23-26) that the Apostles used the lot, because it was by lot that the Apostle Matthias was chosen instead of the fallen Judas Iscariot. One can find other examples from the life of the Church when people resorted to drawing lots when deciding very important issues (for example, Patriarch Tikhon of All Russia, recently glorified as a priest, was elected by lot at the Local Council in 1917). But like any business, the lot must be preceded by prayer. You cannot cast lots over trifles, otherwise it will be nothing more than tempting the Lord.
And yet the lot cannot be considered an absolute means of revealing the will of God. Maybe sometimes, instead of casting lots, it is better not to rush, but to pray, consult with experienced people, with a confessor, and think. The elders advised “to do everything with anticipation.” Even if there is some kind of conviction, it is still better not to rush. If you want to know the truth, then you cannot strive for a previously desired choice. This state of soul, in which a person strives to live according to the will of God, and not according to his own will, is a manifestation of humility, and humility is a necessary component of spiritual life. After all, we often really don’t know what to do. We think of ourselves from birth to death, but God thinks of man from birth to eternity and it is from our “interests” that He arranges His providence for us in eternity. (“By the depth of wisdom, humanely constructing everything and giving it to everyone that is useful”...).
Be firmly convinced that nothing happens without the will of God and everything happens according to His good will. Take this attitude of thought, accept everything as from God and do not doubt or be afraid at all. Our life is given to us for bearing the cross, for becoming like Christ. God is very close to us. Ask Him in all life situations. And He will give the answer. Learn to trust God. This state of mind and this mindset will save you from various seemingly insoluble situations.

Can I subsequently pass on my wedding candles to my children for their wedding?
Servant of God Olga

The answer is clear: no, you can’t. In the Church Christ is everywhere, and everything speaks about Him; all sacraments, all sacred rites, sacred objects serve precisely the unity of man with God, expressing certain truths of spiritual life. For example, during a wedding, crowns signify the glory of the Heavenly Kingdom (which is bestowed for a feat selfless love), the towel on which those getting married symbolize a cloud, since the marriage takes place in heaven. It is known about candles that they are a symbol of prayer. Fire symbolizes the burning of the soul towards God. And the softness of wax is a sign of a person’s voluntary compliance with the will of God. But, of course, candles are placed or lit during various prayers. During the wedding, newlyweds pray not only for themselves, but also for their spouse. Thus, a wedding candle is a shrine that belongs only to that particular family, so you should not pass on your wedding candles to your children.
If anyone in the family still has wedding candles from their deceased parents, then these candles can simply be burned out in front of the icons.

Priest Dionysius Tolstov

In the photo: The Holy Confessor Patriarch of All-Russia Tikhon was elected to high service by lot in 1917. The lot was drawn by the famous elder of Zosimova Hermitage Alexy (Soloviev) - he was also recently glorified as a holy venerable. As we see, in new history Through the lot of the Church, the church people learned the will of God.