Clementius Institor

"Oh, Most Holy Mother of God, joy of my heart! Most desired Guest of my soul, visit me as I visit you. I ask you for nothing, only protect all women on this earth! Protect girls, young women, and women—our mothers! Bless all barren women with fertility, grant them the strongest, most loving, and healthiest children. Glory to you, Mother of God, for you conceived by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to our Savior! We glorify you and love you forever and ever, amen."

For readers

This work was written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, created with love and good intentions for its readers. This work is edifying and expository, and is enriched with epithets and religious and philosophical meanings.

• “Credo - credimus” (from Latin “I believe - we believe”)

The encounter between Jesus Christ and the Samaritan woman, described in the Gospel of John (chapter 4), is one of the key biblical stories. Jesus, tired from the journey, asked a Samaritan woman for water at Jacob's well. During the conversation, He revealed to her that He was the Messiah and that true worship of God occurs "in spirit and in truth." Thanks to this conversation, the Samaritan woman became the first proclaimer of the Gospel in her area, which led many city residents to believe in Jesus. From this we can learn that because of one person, others can be converted to faith, since the inspiration to preach the Gospel does not come by chance, but from the Holy Spirit. Christ explained to the woman that He could give her “living water,” which would become in her a source of water welling up into eternal life, unlike ordinary water, which quenches only temporary thirst. Here it is said that He inspires her with righteousness, which will become the source of her faith and the eternal life of her spirit, unlike the ordinary worldly carnal life that temporarily holds her back. And the Samaritan woman, leaving her waterpot, went into the city and told the people about Christ, and many of them believed in Him. (Credo - credimus.) This story illustrates that Christ is the Savior for all people, regardless of their background, and that true worship of God is not tied to a specific place or ritual. It also shows how one testimony can lead to the faith of many people, which confirms the importance of personal preaching and spreading the Good News.

"Sacrificium Deo"(From Latin. «sacrifice to god».) A concept that means sacrificing oneself for God, offering one's suffering to God. God did not promise us a life without pain. After all, this is earth, not paradise, but an earthly life given to us by the Creator after the fall of Adam and Eve. We will also experience both sorrow and happiness. During times of sorrow, we must understand that our suffering is not given to us freely and is a sacrifice to God. When we are sick, we should not despair. Christ suffered for us, was crucified on the cross. When you suffer from illness, pray, serve the Lord, be faithful to Him. These sufferings are not given freely. Use them as a sacrifice for God, for sinners, but in moderation, lest it later turn into fanaticism, a sense of "pseudo-holiness," or spiritual delusion. The sacrifice of suffering is not only illness but also the renunciation of various worldly goods and views we have ever espoused, such as the practice of celibacy. For some, this may seem like a form of torment and a renunciation of "worldly pleasures," or simply a renunciation of love. However, others elevate it as devotion and love for God, and a sacrifice of oneself for His sake. In other words, a person devotes themselves, their entire life, to Jesus Christ and the Church, lives according to the commandments, does good, and strives not to sin. However, the main key aspects of sacrifice in Christianity are the Old Testament sacrifices: Previously, in the Old Testament, believers offered animal and fruit sacrifices as a way to atone for sins and express gratitude to God.

• The Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus: With the coming of Jesus Christ, blood sacrifices were abolished. He sacrificed Himself on the cross to, according to Christian teaching, save humanity from sin and death.

• Inner Sacrifice: Besides external sacrifices, God always required internal sacrifice—contrition of spirit, humility, and righteous deeds.

• Modern Meaning: Christians now believe that there is no need to offer sacrifices to God in the traditional sense. Instead, what is important is faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, righteous living, and spiritual sacrifices that reflect faith and gratitude.

• Sacrifice as a way of compassion: The suffering of people can also give rise to compassion. In Catholic teaching, this motivates people to join in the work of salvation by helping others and sharing their suffering in order to make up for the redemptive work of Christ in their lives.

• Spiritual growth: when we do something as a sacrifice to God, this increases our spiritual growth and faith, we become closer to the Savior, but not immediately, it takes a long, diligent time for our faith to grow from a tiny seed into a large, strong tree with great fruits.

• Righteousness: Righteousness does not appear in us just like that and not by itself: there are different people in the world, sinners, righteous, saints, simple, but you probably ever thought: can I become a saint?

And there are many answers to this question.

The first answer points out that we achieve holiness not only through faith but also through deeds. We may be ordinary people, living the most ordinary, even boring, or even sinful lives, but it doesn't end there. For example, Peter was also initially an ordinary man, a fisherman, living a simple life, and having a wife. But when Jesus Christ began preaching Christianity and chose Peter as an Apostle, Peter's life changed completely. To achieve holiness, we must understand that it won't happen overnight; it requires great patience and expectation, which is sometimes difficult for us to demonstrate. We shouldn't rush ahead and tell everyone about it, but rather act with a sober mind. This is only between us and God. We should remain silent in front of others. We must strive for our goal quietly, within ourselves, and not for show. So, the first step to becoming a saint is repentance. We must first clearly understand all our mistakes and sins and acknowledge them before God. This will take more than just a day, but perhaps a month. If you've acknowledged your sins, it will be easier for you to achieve your goal. After repentance, we must learn to work on ourselves and train ourselves to abstinence.

For example, you want to eat delicious sweets, but you have gastritis. Naturally, you abstain, remembering the consequences. After all, any unhealthy food ruins our digestive system. The same is true of sin. Sins are always so deceptive. For example, gluttony seems harmless in general, but the consequences are a severed connection with God and devastating health. The next step is helping others. Learn to help others, not just to set a good example for others, but do it from a pure heart, and then you will become closer to God. And so, over time, your faith will grow stronger and you will be cleansed of sins.

• “Deus prope est” (From Lat. “God is always near.”)

Sometimes we are troubled by doubts like, "What if Jesus doesn't hear our prayers?" "What if He doesn't know me?" or "What if He doesn't exist?" These are very common thoughts that often visit us, and the main thing in such cases is not to panic. The main thing for us is to know that Jesus is much closer to us than we think. He is always with us, He sees us, He loves us, and His love is personified by His great sacrifice for our sins. Jesus can express His love in our lives in different ways: He can express His love through parents, through family, through friends, even through society's attitudes toward us. The main thing is to believe and strive, and then you will see the manifestation of His love in our lives.

Jesus Christ's love for us is boundless. He loves us so deeply that words cannot describe it. This love is far different from ordinary worldly notions of love. He sacrificed Himself for us, He atoned for all our sins with His death, and He rose again on the third day. To receive this love, we must participate in service, delve deeper into our faith, read and meditate on every word of Holy Scripture, and pray with all our heart and soul. God doesn't care how many times we pray each day, He doesn't care about our prostrations, He doesn't care about long, beautiful words. What matters to Him is that our prayers come from the heart. He knows what we want, He knows our every thought, and He has already prepared a long path for you to fulfill your dreams. But to reach your goal, you need patience, humility, meekness, and love for God. Most importantly, no matter what happens in your life, always turn to God.

Throughout life, we will experience both suffering and joy. We will have times of great sorrow and times of overwhelming happiness. Sometimes these will be separate periods, but sometimes they occur simultaneously. In either case, James expected Christians to come to God. If someone was suffering, prayer was a call to action. If someone was happy, people were to praise God. This may seem obvious, but when suffering clouds our minds, we can sometimes forget to prioritize prayer. And when things are going well and we are happy, it's easy to simply enjoy the happiness and not think about praising God for it. But every season of life is really just an opportunity to put into practice what Jacob wrote: When we suffer, let us pray. When others suffer, let us pray.