Teologiczne podstawy chrześcijańskiej działalności charytatywnej

Abstract

The orthodox church considers charitable work as an essence of its teachings and illustration of the state of the spirituality of its congregation. The call to charity after all is a response to the call of our Savior, who said: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” The above teaching has been elaborated upon by the holy fathers of early church. Christians faithful to the above teaching supported the poor right from the very beginning of the existence of the church. Well developed and comprehensive charitable activity of the church was always perceived as a metronome of the good spiritual condition of every local church and its faithful. To make this activity more dynamic was an constant pursuit, and the clergy were challenged to lead by example of their own lives and show to the rest of the believers how to realize Christian virtues of love and mercy.