Let's get acquainted with the Church Slavonic word "voluptuousness", find out what it means. Many outdated words mislead contemporaries. Voluptuousness is a person’s love for pleasure. As the Orthodox Church says and writes about this: the sinful state of the soul.
What does it mean?
It is advisable to start a conversation with the fact that it is human nature to enjoy, have fun, demand. It is from such actions that voluptuousness is born. Simply put, it is a branch of egoism. Why?
We give the first example. A man likes girls with curvaceous, but thin and pretty on the face. He stares at them, chooses a suitable girlfriend. And then he enjoys it, admires.
The second example is love for everything attractive. A person likes to play interesting games, watch movies, buy delicious cakes and sweets. That is, he enjoys.
As you can see, this is the second time we mention this verb. And it is no coincidence. Voluptuousness - this is the desire for pleasure.
Why is the church against voluptuousness?
The Orthodox Church has always considered voluptuousness to be a sin. And not by chance. First, man himself chooses the path: heaven or hell. Those who love to enjoy everything that gives earthly life fall into the netherworld and suffer torment from demons, who plunged him into hobbies during life. What does voluptuousness mean? Renunciation of God.
If it were just a fairy tale, then there would be no confession, which has been practiced for almost 2000 years. A person who loves pleasures, is especially fond of fasting days, must repent of the priest and the image of Jesus Christ in the temple.
We figured out a little what voluptuousness is. Now let's take an example from the life of holy people: many of them avoided pleasures in any form. You can even list:
- did not admire the beauty of man;
- did not seek to have any thing that would bring convenience;
- did not eat tasty food for pleasure;
- did not need comfort, entertainment, joy.
In the lives of the saints you can find an infinite number of examples of how the saints lived poorly or were poor. The food was scarce and simple, for example, a small piece of bread and a mug of plain water. Pleasure was given to them in this case from God, as a reward for abstinence, prayer.
What does a voluptuary feel?
A sinful person, on the contrary, wants endless pleasures. In addition, satisfaction may not be obtained. And there will never be joy in the soul. Voluptuousness is a kind of beautiful dish without a bottom. You admire the beautiful sides of the vessel, but no good.
Who doesn’t sleep in a new place? As a rule, those who like softness, warmth, comfort. A pampered body requires pleasure. Unfortunately, the modern world is designed so that people live in comfort. Advertising is placed with the purpose of selling goods, and the evil one (the devil) uses human souls through advertising. Church pastors warn about this, the saints spoke of the temptations of the modern world. But there are very few who are ready to part with pleasures.
About family life
The meaning of the word "voluptuousness" in a marriage, especially a church, is similar to that in the world without God, which we spoke about above. It turns out that marriage should not be entered for pleasure, but for a completely different reason. Matrimony in Orthodoxy is the ability to tolerate the negative aspects of a loved one, not to break down, not to swear, to be able to concede. And, of course, forgive and love. But let's get back to our topic.
In family life, voluptuousness is the enjoyment of each other, usually during intimacy. Shepherds advise young people not to rush to sign if they spent very little time together and just liked each other outwardly. Indeed, in a marriage, pleasures may end sooner or later. Often, divorces occur for this reason.
A few words in conclusion
So we have considered the word "voluptuousness." By the way, often modern Christians get confused in obsolete words. In confession, the priest can say: “Sinful in voluptuousness,” while not really understanding the meaning of the word. You need to be able to specify, but not describe in detail what a sinner means by voluptuousness, for example:
- ate his favorite pizza and ice cream;
- made a comfortable home environment;
- Enjoyed music all day;
- Found a girl for fun.
To be precise, one sin is associated with another. Voluptuousness is egoism, pleasure, and unwillingness to change.