Prodigal Son review for a reader's diary. Parable of the Prodigal Son
Luke, 79, XV, 11-32.
11 A certain man had two sons; 12 And the youngest of them said to his father: Father! give me the next one to me part of the estate. AND father divided the estate for them.
13 And after a few days the younger son, having gathered everything, went to a far side and there squandered his substance, living dissolutely.
14 And when he had spent all his time, there came a great famine in that country, and he began to be in need; 15 And he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs; 16 And he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate, but no one gave it to him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread to spare, but I am dying of hunger; 18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you 19 and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants.
20 He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him.
21 The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son.
22 And the father said to his servants, Bring the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 And bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let's eat and have fun! 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they started having fun.
25 And his eldest son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing; 26 And calling one of the servants, he asked, “What is this?”
27 He said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he received him healthy.”
28 He became angry and did not want to go in. His father came out and called him.
29 But he answered his father: Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your command, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends; 30 And when this son of yours, who had wasted his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him.
31 He said to him: My son! You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours, 32 and in this we had to rejoice and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.
Interpretation of the Parable of the Prodigal Son
In the parable of the prodigal son, the Lord compares God’s joy over the sinner’s repentance to the joy of a loving father, to whom his prodigal son returned (vv. 11-32).
A certain man had two sons: God is represented under the image of this man; two sons are sinners and imaginary righteous people - scribes and Pharisees. The younger, apparently already of age, but, of course, still inexperienced and frivolous, asks to be allocated the due part of his father’s estate, according to the law of Moses (Deut. 21:17), a third part, while the older brother received two-thirds .
Upon receiving the estate, the youngest son had a desire to live in freedom, of his own free will, and he went to a distant country, where he squandered the received estate, living fornication. So a person, endowed by God with spiritual and physical gifts, feeling an attraction to sin, begins to be burdened by the Divine law, rejects life according to the will of God, indulges in lawlessness, and in spiritual and physical debauchery squanders all the gifts that God has endowed him with.
“A great famine has come” - this is how God often sends external disasters to a sinner who has gone too far in his sinful life in order to make him come to his senses. These external disasters are both God’s punishment and God’s call to repentance.
“Tending pigs” is the most humiliating occupation for a true Jew, for the Jewish law abhorred the pig, as an unclean animal. Thus, a sinner, when he becomes attached to some object through which he satisfies his sinful passion, often brings himself to the most humiliating state. No one even gave him horns - these are the fruits of a tree growing in Syria and Asia Minor, which are used to feed pigs. This indicates the extremely distressing state of the sinner. And now he “comes to his senses.”
“Having come to my senses” is an extremely expressive turn of phrase. Just as a sick person, recovering from a serious illness accompanied by loss of consciousness, comes to his senses, so a sinner, completely engulfed in sin, can be likened to such a sick person who has lost consciousness, for he is no longer aware of the requirements of the law of God and his conscience seems to freeze in him. The grave consequences of sin, combined with external disasters, finally force him to wake up: as he wakes up, he comes to his senses from his previous unconscious state, and sober consciousness returns to him: he begins to see and understand all the misery of his condition, and is looking for a way out of him.
“I will get up and go to my father” is the sinner’s determination to leave sin and repent. “Those who have sinned into heaven,” i.e. before the holy dwelling place of God and pure sinless spirits, “and before you” with disdain for a loving father, “and your son is no longer worthy to be called” - an expression of deep humility and consciousness of one’s unworthiness, which always accompanies the sincere repentance of a sinner.
“Make me as one of your hired servants” is an expression of deep love for the home and shelter of the father and consent, even under the most difficult conditions, to be accepted into the father’s house. All further depictions of events are aimed at emphasizing the boundlessness of God’s love for the repentant sinner, Divine forgiveness and the joy that happens, according to Christ’s words, in heaven for the only sinner who repents (Luke 15:7).
The elder father, seeing his returning son from afar and not yet knowing anything about his inner mood, runs to meet him, hugs and kisses him, not allowing him to finish his repentant words, orders him to be put on shoes and dressed, instead of rags, in the best clothes and organizes a home feast in honor of his return. All these are human-like features of how, out of love for a repentant sinner, the Lord mercifully accepts his repentance and rewards him with new spiritual benefits and gifts, in return for those he lost through sin.
“Be dead and come to life” - a sinner alienated from God is the same as dead, for the true life of a person depends only on the source of life - God: the sinner’s turning to God is therefore presented as a resurrection from the dead.
The elder brother, angry with his father for showing mercy to his younger brother, is a living image of the scribes and Pharisees, proud in their outward appearance of exact and strict fulfillment of the law, but in their souls cold and heartless in relation to their brothers, boasting of fulfilling the will of God, but not wanting to have communication with repentant tax collectors and sinners. Just as the elder brother “was angry and did not want to hear,” so the supposed exact fulfillers of the law, the Pharisees, were angry with the Lord Jesus Christ because He entered into close communication with repentant sinners. Instead of sympathizing with his brother and father, the older brother begins to show off his merits; he does not even want to call his brother “brother,” but contemptuously says: “this son is yours.”
“You are always with me and all that is mine is yours” - this indicates that the Pharisees, in whose hands the law is, can always have access to God and spiritual blessings, but cannot earn the favor of the Heavenly Father with such a perverted and cruel spiritual and moral mood.
History of the holiday
The establishment of the week of the Prodigal Son dates back to ancient Christian times. In addition to the church charter, its antiquity is evidenced by the fathers and writers of the Church of the 4th and 5th centuries, who spoke during this week, such as St. Chrysostom, Augustine, Asterius, Bishop of Amasia, and others. In the 8th century, Joseph the Studite wrote a canon for the week about the prodigal son, now sung by the Church on this week.
Interpretations and sayings of the holy fathers:
- Until death comes, until the doors are closed, until the opportunity to enter is taken away, until horror attacks the universe, until the light fades..., ask, sinner, bounty from the Lord (St. Ephraim the Syrian).
- Even if we are hated by God for our sins, we will be loved again for our repentance (St. Neil of Sinai).
- Cry over sin, so that you do not cry about punishment, be justified before the Judge before you appear before the judgment seat... Repentance opens heaven to a person, it elevates him to paradise, it defeats the devil.
- There is no sin, no matter how great, that overcomes God’s love for mankind if at the appropriate time we repent and ask for forgiveness.
- Great is the power of repentance if it makes us as pure as snow and white as a wave, even if sin has previously stained our souls (St. John Chrysostom).
- Whether you are in your father’s house, don’t rush out to freedom. You see how such an experience ended! If you ran away and are wasting your time, stop quickly. If you have squandered everything and are in poverty, decide to return as soon as possible, and return. All the indulgence, the old love and contentment awaits you there. The last step is the most necessary. But there is no point in expanding on him. Everything is said briefly and clearly. Come to your senses, decide to return, get up and hurry to the Father. His arms are open and ready to receive you (St. Theophan the Recluse).
Features of the service of the week (week) about the prodigal son
1) At Matins on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son and then on the Sunday of Meat and Cheese, after singing the polyelean psalms (134 and 135) “Praise the name of the Lord” and “Confess the Lord,” Psalm 136 is also sung: “On the rivers of Babylon ..." "with red Alleluia." This psalm awakens sinners who are in captivity to sin and the devil to realize their miserable, sinful state, like the Jews who realized their bitter situation in captivity in Babylon and subsequently repented. Then the Sunday troparia are sung - “The Council of Angels...”.
2) Singing at Matins after the 50th Psalm of the penitential troparions: “Open the doors of repentance for me...”.
3) Reading at the liturgy: Apostle - Corinth., credit. 135, Gospel – from Luke, count. 79.
4) The week (Sunday) about the prodigal son includes a week (under the same name), which, as already indicated, is continuous (the abolition of fasting on Wednesday and Friday), Communicated: “Praise the Lord from heaven...”.
Sermon by Patriarch Kirill per week (week) on the prodigal son
Sermons for the Week (week) about the Prodigal Son
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh about the parable of the prodigal son.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh about the parable of the prodigal son.
Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann about the parable of the prodigal son.
Priest Philip Parfenov about the parable of the prodigal son.
Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev. Parable of the Prodigal Son
Poems about the parable of the prodigal son
About the Prodigal Son
My father and brother are my family.
Our home is both holy and abundant.
I don't know sickness or tears
And the external enemy is powerless for us,
But there's something foreign in me:
The desire to live in a foreign country.
Forgetting that only after being orphaned,
I can inherit the estate
He asked the Father, despising his shame,
Took part without blessing
He left immediately. And the path was easy for me
A cross of four roads.
For insolence, forefather Adam
He was expelled from paradise with a curse.
Nobody chased me. I myself
Indulging my pride,
Left the house. Farewell, Father.
And brother. For them I became a dead man.
To me God is pagan Baal,
Wine, libertines, vices...
I tasted everything I wanted,
Forgetting about times and deadlines.
But famine fell on that land
And I have experienced poverty.
So, I am God's prodigal son,
In unbelief, in feasts and quarrels,
Having squandered the inheritance, alone
Herding pigs. In sins and punishments
I live. Horns are my food
And there are never enough of them.
Everyone left me at once.
In a hungry year, a stranger is not needed.
By the lonely fire
I'm preparing my sad dinner.
Night is coming. And with her
The reproaches of my conscience.
What to do? Who will give me advice?
There is no oblivion in a decayed tent,
No sleep. Dawn is not coming
And there is no hope of salvation.
And my hungry blood hears
Only the squealing of pigs and the howling of wolves.
And in the Father’s house everyone is fed:
Shepherd, singer, minister, warrior...
Father will not forgive betrayal.
I am not worthy to be called a son.
I will say in my repentance:
“Father, hire me.”
I bow to my father, but big brother!
How can I bear his contempt?
Servants' reproaches, if back
Will I come? Let me have enough humility
On the eve of a new path
Find the determination in yourself
Turn the tide of life,
Walk from drain to source,
The worlds mysterious essence
Feel it again in the blink of an eye,
Fall to your knees by the porch,
Wait in tears for your father's mercy.
Morning comes, I must
Today the main choice is to make:
Should I return to the Fatherland?
Or to the death of soul and body
Stay? God, give me some sense!
I'm coming. Have mercy and accept.
Dust, headwind, home is far away
And my legs are filled with heaviness,
Gullies, holes across,
Secret roads are open,
The climb is rocky and steep,
And the sinners are calling back.
The former path was long for me.
The rich, proud man went to destruction...
Enough strength to turn.
Pig faces are looking after me...
I go home with trepidation
Unhappy, poor, but alive.
What can I say in excuse!
I am guilty to my father and heaven.
Having bought debauchery for grace,
He no longer deserves to be a son.
I will tell the Father, cursing my sin:
Take him as a slave. I'm sorry.
The sultry day clouds my vision,
People I meet laugh at me at night
In the face. Exile and shame
They prophesy with evil joy.
But here are the birthplaces.
Here I must come down from the cross.
I see our house. He's rich
And holy, and exudes goodness.
My brother didn’t come out to meet me.
But, God, who is meeting me!
The wanderings have come to an end:
He himself hurries to me. Father.
I cried out: “Father! I was weak
I was in the dark, on my deathbed,
Like a pathetic and worthless slave
All before You, here I am, O God!
Like a slave, without a home, without relatives.
I pray in tears: Don’t drive me away.”
Behold, the scales have fallen from my eyes,
The hearing has returned. And the essence of the world
I felt it. And God's voice:
“Do not make yourself an idol!”
I hear it again. And it opened again
That God is Grace and Love.
...Feast in the house. I have been forgiven by the Father
The ring on the finger is a symbol of power,
Shoed, dressed and anointed,
Taurus is stabbed. Fruits, sweets,
Friends, contentment and comfort,
Everyone is having fun and singing.
The elder brother comes from the field.
And, seeing joyful faces,
I asked the servant what he was happy about,
I found out the answer, and great anger
Hugged him. Won't come here
And asks the Father's judgment:
“I am always obedient,
I didn’t even take a kid for my friend...
And this one, who knows no shame,
Your son came with an empty knapsack,
With his lips he spoke a lie!
And You invite him to the feast!”
The fruits of your labor
You are proud and seek justice.
But above all judgment
Love and Grace always stand!
Don't judge anyone:
No servants, no brother!”
My father and brother are my family.
I'm in the house. Strength returned.
I know my calling:
Serve the Father until the grave
Pray until I die
About fallen sinners in the world.
Leonid Alekseevich
Art based on the parable of the Prodigal Son
The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most frequently depicted gospel parables in art. Its plot usually includes the following scenes: the prodigal son receives his share of the inheritance; he leaves home; he feasts with courtesans at an inn; they drive him away when he runs out of money; he tends pigs; he returns home and repents to his Father.
Click on the image to view gallery
Gerrit van Honthorst. Prodigal son. 1622
The expulsion of the prodigal son. Bartolomeo Murillo. 1660
Then, having come to his senses, he remembered his father, repented of his action and thought: “How many hired servants (workers) of my father eat bread in abundance, and I am dying of hunger! I will get up, go to my father, and say to him: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants."
Return of the Prodigal Son. Bartolomeo Murillo. 1667-1670
Prodigal son. James Tissot
Return of the Prodigal Son. Liz Swindle. 2005
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Return of the Prodigal Son
Images: Open Sources
Luke 15:11-32
A certain man had two sons; and the youngest of them said to his father: Father! give me the next part of the estate. And the father divided the estate for them. After a few days, the youngest son, having collected everything, went to a far side and there squandered his property, living dissolutely. When he had lived through everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need; and he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him to his fields to graze pigs; and he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate, but no one gave it to him. When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am dying of hunger; I will get up and go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants.
He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son. And the father said to his servants: Bring the best robe and dress him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let's eat and have fun! For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they started having fun.
His eldest son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing; and calling one of the servants, he asked: what is this? He said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he received him healthy.” He became angry and did not want to enter. His father came out and called him. But he said in response to his father: Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends; and when this son of yours, who had wasted his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him. He said to him: My son! You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours, and it was necessary to rejoice and be glad that this brother of yours was dead and came to life, was lost and was found.
Interpretation
The return of the prodigal son is an example of turning to God. Reading this gospel story, we can follow the younger son step by step and pay attention to the paradoxical nature of this process of conversion: it appears to us not so much as an actual turning to God, but rather as an understanding of the truth that God has been addressed to us from the very beginning. However, this text cannot be reduced only to its morality. Lectio divina is called to seek in Scripture not only moral, but also spiritual and eschatological meaning. The parable of the Prodigal Son, which can also be called “the parable of the father’s mercy,” is a description of the image of the Triune God inviting us to the feast of the Lamb.
Three stages of conversion The return of the son consists of three phases. Turning to God is a process that always requires time and gradualism.
First phase- the son’s awareness of his poverty. After spending some time away from his father’s shelter, the son, says Christ, “began to be in need.” The process of this awareness takes place in two stages. At first, according to the Gospel, the son “came to his senses.” After all, sin takes us away from ourselves. Without realizing your own poverty, it is impossible to convert; there is no turning to God without first returning to oneself. The second stage of this realization is hope for improving the conditions of one’s life: “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am dying of hunger,” the son says to himself. All this may seem very selfish: the reason for the son's return is bread. In fact, it would be a mistake to think that the motive for our desire to turn to God is only our love for Him; He is deeply mistaken who believes that our hopes become pure when we turn to God. We need to realize that our conversion is often self-serving. Only God - not us - He alone can make our desires truly Christian. Awareness of our sins, which can also be called “contrition” (in moral theology: attritio), is the first stage of our return to God.
Second phase of the son's conversion - action. It, like the first, consists of two stages. The first stage is the decision. The son thinks: “I will get up and go to my father.” Indeed, the clarity of awareness of our poverty, the hope of improving our situation would be harmful and even destructive if they did not prompt a concrete solution. The second stage of the son’s action is a verbal confession: “Father! I have sinned (...) and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” So, “coming to your senses” and your sins means driving out the evil one. Truly, sins, like vampires in movies, disappear in the rays of light
Awareness of poverty, transition to action... Now came the third and most important phase of the prodigal son's conversion. While the son is still on the way, and “while he was still far away,” he sees that his father in his mercy comes out to meet him. The father, according to the Gospel, “saw him and took pity; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him.” Here is the paradox of conversion: turning to God is not so much a search for God as it is the realization that God is looking for us. Since Adam sinned, like the prodigal son, demanding his share of the estate, God has been constantly looking for the lost sheep. Remember: immediately after the fall of Adam, God called to him and asked: “Where are you?” The parable of the prodigal son is an explanation of the first fall.
But this third phase of the son’s return has another, no less important meaning. The prodigal son had false ideas about his father. He thought that his father would no longer accept him, would no longer recognize him as his son. “I am no longer worthy to be called your son,” he wanted to tell him, “accept me as one of your mercenaries.” We can compare this phrase with those misconceptions about the Lord that the servant in the parable of the talents reveals when he says: “I was afraid of you because you are a cruel man.” The prodigal son, finding the love of his father waiting for him, regretted that he had been unfaithful. This regret is no longer about one’s own poverty and sins, as in the beginning, but about the wound inflicted on the father: “I have sinned against heaven and before you.” This regret, which can be called “repentance” (in moral theology: contritio), is a sign of our return to the love of the Lord. This was the third and final phase of the son's conversion.
An Invitation to the Feast of the Lamb So, based on the example of the prodigal son, we can say that every appeal to God consists of three stages: contrition, action and repentance. However, it would be a mistake to interpret this parable only from a moral point of view. In fact, it has not so much a moral as a spiritual meaning. The return of the prodigal son is not just an example for all sinners. It tells us much more about God than about us, it describes the true image of God the Trinity.
Rembrandt, depicting this gospel story, understood well that the essence of the parable is not only in its morality. His creation is not just a work of art, a genre scene; this is a genuine icon of the Trinity. The father's hands are depicted in the very center of the picture and in its brightest part, they lie on the shoulders of his son. It is often said that they are a symbol of the Holy Spirit regenerating the son. It is no coincidence that Rembrandt’s painting is compared to Andrei Rublev’s “Trinity,” which depicts a visit to Abraham by three angels.
One of the similarities between this Old Testament Trinity and the parable of the Prodigal Son is the calf with which Abraham treats his guests, and the father treats his son. This calf, of course, is a symbol of the Eucharist, a symbol of the feast, that is, a symbol of our communion with the Trinity itself. The painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” like Rublev’s Trinity, is an invitation to enter the holy of holies of divine life, the sacrament of the eldest son, to whom the father said: “My son! you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” To turn to God means, first of all, to respond to the invitation of the Trinity itself to the feast of the Lamb.
priest Iakinf Destivel OR
Contents of the Parable of the Prodigal Son
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Jewish tradition
In addition to the version found in the Gospel of Luke, it is also part of the oral and written Jewish tradition.
Israeli scholar Galina Luban points out that “the metaphor of the meeting of a father and a repentant son is associated with the liturgy of the Jewish New Year. Every year on Rosh Hashanah, a shofar is sounded in the synagogue, which is why another name for the holiday is Trumpet Day. (...) The Hasidic version of the parable tells that in foreign countries the prodigal son forgot his native language and, returning to his father’s house, could not even ask the servants to call his father. Then he screamed in despair, and the old father recognized his voice.” The sound of the shofar, sounded on the holiday, symbolizes the voice of this young man, in addition, the shofar is the voice of the entire people of Israel, calling on the Heavenly Father in the hope of forgiveness (on the Day of Judgment).
The book "Kol Bo", an ancient collection of rituals and rules, the section of Teshuvah, talking about a return to faith, uses the allegory of the meeting of a father and a son who has lost faith in God.
In art
This parable is one of the most frequently depicted gospel parables in art. This theme, always popular both as a narrative cycle and in the form of individual plots, is first encountered in the stained glass windows of French cathedrals of the 13th century. Cycles on this plot include the following scenes: the prodigal son receives his share of the inheritance; he leaves home; he feasts with courtesans at an inn; they drive him away when he runs out of money; he tends pigs; he returns home and repents to his Father.
- The Prodigal Son in a Tavern - a self-portrait of Rembrandt feasting with his young wife
- Return of the Prodigal Son (painting by Rembrandt)
- “The Prodigal Son” - ballet by S. S. Prokofiev ()
In culture
Notes
Links
- Week of the Prodigal Son, Selection of materials on the website “Zavet.ru”
| Parables of Jesus Christ | ||||||||||||||
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| Canonical New Testament parables |
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| Apocryphal parables |
Gospel of Thomas: Parable of the Murderer Parable of the Empty Jug (eleven other parables have New Testament parallels) | |||||||||||||
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
See what “Parable of the Prodigal Son” is in other dictionaries:
Week of the Prodigal Son- Two weeks (weeks) before the start of Lent, the Orthodox Church remembers the Gospel parable of the Prodigal Son, set out in the Gospel of Luke (chapter 15 verses 11-32). This day is called the Week of the Prodigal Son. The Week of the Prodigal Son can... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers
Sunday of the Prodigal Son in the Armenian Apostolic Church- In the Armenian Apostolic Church, each of the Sundays of Great Lent has its own figurative name and meaning, corresponding to some biblical story or gospel parable. The third Sunday of Great Lent is called Sunday... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers
A small genre of didactic literature (q.v.), which is identical in its main features to a fable (q.v.). The difference in the use of the terms "P." and “fable” is observed, but it is connected not so much with differences in the genre, but with the stylistic significance of these... ... Literary encyclopedia
- ... Wikipedia
parable- a short story containing a moral or religious teaching in an allegorical, allegorical form. Rubric: types and genres of literature Genus: epic genres Other associative connections: allegory, fable Example: Parables of the Gospels, for example... ... Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism
PARABLE- A PARABLE, a didactic and allegorical genre of literature, in its main features close to a fable. In contrast, the P. form 1) arises in a certain context, and therefore it 2) allows for the absence of a developed plot movement and can be reduced to... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary
Aya and Leon enjoy love in his apartment on Rue Aubrio. The hero is trying to protect his beloved from danger, and the girl suspects him of illegal activities. The singer is forced to admit that he is an intelligence officer and is tracking down her English relatives Bonnke, Friedrich and Gunther, in connection with arms smuggling. The heroine tells everything she knows about the criminals.
The singer persuades Aya to ask to visit his uncle - he definitely needs to see Gunther, whom Israeli intelligence does not know by sight and has been tracking for a long time. Leon hopes to learn “about a small, inconspicuous bay, about a private, venerable yacht whose final destination will be the port of Beirut.” For Leon, this information is a ransom, “an exchange with the office... I give you... Gunther, and you give me peace and freedom. That is, IU...” Leon proposes to the girl, and in the role of engaged couple he has to go to London.
Taking Zheltukhin, they drive a rented car across half of Europe, enjoying the tourist views and each other’s company; this is a true love journey. The heroes spend an amazing night in the Flemish castle of Leon's acquaintances.
After the concert in London, the heroes visit Friedrich, who is having a reception in honor of his birthday. In the house, besides his uncle and his wife, there are several guests, the bodyguard Chadrick, the maid Bertha and Gunther, hidden from everyone in his room. Friedrich is sincerely happy about his niece and her fiancé. Leon charms the owner's wife Elena, quietly eliciting from her the necessary information about the family yacht, on which, as he suspects, smuggled plutonium is being transported to the Middle East.
In the owner's bookcase, the hero notices an old family book by Big Etinger, which Jacob Etinger once sold to the old antique dealer Adil. The book disappeared after the murder of the old agent, in it there is a danger sign left by the antique dealer. In the holiday salad, Leon sees an onion rose, which was once prepared by the “terrible Nubian” Vinay, who served at Immanuel’s. All these warning signs point to some kind of threat awaiting the heroes in the house of the arms dealers.
The maid Big Bertha brings Zheltukhin to Gunther, who is hiding in the house, and with that an allergic attack of suffocation occurs. This is the canary reaction of a person dealing with plutonium. When Gunther is taken to the hospital, Leon finally sees him for the first time - it is Vinay, who has been working under the nose of Israeli intelligence for many years.
Love in Portofino
Leon plans an operation to track plutonium smuggling routes and destroy Gunther. He decides to carry out everything secretly, alone, and then send the result to Israeli intelligence. The hero hides Aya in the village and prepares for a dangerous task.
After a conversation with his former lover Nicole and analytical reflections, Leon determines the place where father and son Bonnke will load the stolen plutonium onto a yacht to transport it to the Middle East. This is the Italian port town of Portofino, where Bonnke and Nicole have villas. Not wanting to part with his beloved for a long time, the singer takes her with him, planning a colorful “spy performance”. In addition to them, Gunther is secretly being monitored by Israeli intelligence services, who recognize Leon in the make-up of an old woman.
On the day of the operation planned by the hero to destroy Gunther, Aya is overtaken by an attack of a long sleep. Leaving the girl at the hotel and writing two letters - for her and for intelligence, Leon sails into the bay and, having tracked down the yacht, drowns the enemy. Upon surfacing, he is captured by Gunther's guards and taken to the Middle East.
Having woken up and read her lover’s letters, the heroine does not follow the instructions, but begins to look for Leon on her own. In a cafe on the coast of Portofino, Iya is seen by Nicole, discussing with her relative the strange death of the Bonnke family: Elena and Friedrich crashed in a car when they went to identify the body of Gunther, who drowned while drunk. This is the official version for the police.
Return
Leon is beaten on the yacht, finding out why he killed Gunther. According to the version he composed, he is taking revenge for the bride, who was supposedly once raped by him. Chadrick, the bodyguard of the murdered Gunther, joins the tormentors. He tortures the hero, not believing in the legend he invented about the avenger groom.
Nathan Kaldman and Shauli discuss the rescue of Leon from captivity. According to intelligence information, he is hidden in different places in Syria and Lebanon by bandits of Islamist groups. From their conversation, it turns out that Aya sent a letter to Shauli, which presented the entire criminal scheme for transporting plutonium to the Middle East and the role that the Bonnke family played in this. According to Nathan, the Israeli intelligence services will not rescue Leon from captivity, since he disrupted their important operation and is no longer an active agent. The men also mention that the plutonium ended up in the hands of Arab terrorists, and Aya disappeared.
Nathan turns to the old intelligence officer Zara with a request to raise his old connections and assist in the liberation of Leon. She names the lawyer Nabil Azari, who has the most incredible contacts and often acted as an intermediary in prisoner exchanges. Ironically, the lawyer is Leon's uncle, the brother of his biological father.
Aya rushes around Europe in search of Leon, with whom she is expecting a child. Nobody can help her. Believing that Leon is alive, she meets with Philippe Gueshard, the singer's impresario, and tells him that Leon is probably an intelligence officer, which incredibly surprises him. She goes to Bangkok and works in a hotel almost until she gives birth.
In Israel, intelligence officer Meir Kaldman has a difficult conversation with his wife Gabriela. She is depressed about Leon's capture. The husband notices that the special services will not rescue the singer, since he disrupted a very important operation. To this, Gabriela vindictively tells him that their third child, Ryzhik, is Leon’s son, and that his adored mother, Magda, cheated on her husband while he was in captivity. An enraged Meir almost kills his wife, but his father stops him. As a result, Nathan has a heart attack and dies in the arms of Magda, to whom he forgives his long-standing betrayal.
On the day of Nathan's funeral, Magda comes to the intelligence office and blackmails deputy chief Nachum Schiff in order to force him to free Leon. Israeli intelligence services are still taking steps to find and ransom Leon. At the same time, lawyer Nabil Azari receives proposals from three interested parties - Israeli, French and Iranian intelligence - to participate in negotiations on the exchange of the French singer Etinger for the Iranian captive General Mahdavi. The negotiation mechanism starts.
News agencies report the imminent release of the famous singer. After reading this news, Aya goes home to Alma-Ata, expecting Leon to find her there.
The night before the exchange, a drunken Chadrick secretly enters Leon's cell and blinds him, avenging his murdered lover Gunther. In Cyprus, under the auspices of the UN, an exchange of a singer for a captured general is taking place. Leon's friend Shauli accompanies the hero to Israel, where he is met by Avram, a long-time family friend. The singer is being treated in hospital.
Aya has a strange dream that she gave birth to a four-eyed boy. Waking up, she reads the news about the exchange that took place and the release of Leon. Overcoming her father's resistance, she flies to Israel. Shauli accompanies her to the hospital room. When they meet, Aya learns that Leon is blind, and Leon learns that he will become a father.
Epilogue
St. Mary's Abbey, near the Israeli village of Abu Ghosh near Jerusalem, hosts an annual music festival. The oratorio “Prodigal Son” is sung by the famous countertenor Leon Etinger together with his eight-year-old son Gavrila. The boy has a viola, like his father had in childhood. He's a bit like Leon, but without his father's fierceness. Rather, he resembles Big Etinger - Herzl. The hall is full. Magda, who is present here, reflects on the vicissitudes of fate and nature, which gave one son Leon hearing and voice and deprived the other of talent. She regrets that Meir will never allow her to introduce the children. The woman admires Aya, admitting that the singer is happy with her.
Aya meets Shauli at the airport, who has arrived to listen to the oratorio. On the way to the abbey, the heroine enthusiastically talks about her work as a documentary filmmaker. The old bachelor Shauli admires Aya and is jealous of Leon. He compares the heroine to the biblical Ruth, a symbol of righteousness and devotion to her family.
On the stage “soars, intertwining, a duet of two high voices... Two figures, Leon and a boy, standing so close to each other, as if fused, in the indissoluble connection of two voices lead the party of one rebellious, but humble soul...”. Aya thinks she hears her husband and son singing. The heroine recalls that when Gavrik was little, she and her husband heard each other, holding the baby’s heels, and called him “the guide of happiness.”
To the Orthodox (Christians) question, what is the parable of the prodigal son about, what is the meaning there? given by the author Suck through The best answer is to explain it briefly. The Christian had two sons, the eldest and the youngest. and as a child, if I’m not mistaken, after coming of age he went into fornication, drank himself to excess, forgot everything in the world, tried all the “joys” of life, and when the entertainment, strength and money ran out, he returned to his father. and he, to celebrate, killed the best sheep! The eldest asks the parent: “What are you boiling about? You didn’t slaughter sheep for me!” pay attention, here is the truth! his father answered him: “A lost sheep is always dearer to the shepherd; its return to the Father is always joyful to him!”
Reply from 22 answers[guru]
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Orthodox (Christians), what is the parable of the Prodigal Son about, what is the meaning there?
Reply from Throw away[newbie]
anyway, watch or read
Reply from T B[guru]
The point is forgiveness. The prodigal son returned to his father's house, asking his father to accept him even as a slave - he believed that he was unworthy to be a son. But his father accepted him into his arms, forgiving him all his sins. After all, he loved his son! Just as a wandering and repentant sinner comes to the Heavenly Father - God, he joyfully accepts him, and there is no sin that the Lord will not forgive a sincerely repentant person. God's mercy and forgiveness are limitless, for the goal of Christianity is not to punish a sinner, but to make a righteous person out of a sinner.
Reply from Shrek Shrek[guru]
A normal person (a workaholic capitalist) had a son who became a communist and joined the FSB.
Like all communists and FSB officers, the son played tricks and was debauched.
Then he saw the light, joined the SPS with Nemtsov, became good and crawled on his knees to his father.
Reply from Eurovision[guru]
and you return to Russia, you will find out...
😉
Reply from Jinter[guru]
Basic see watmel's answer.
The meaning is this: commit any atrocities, repent sincerely and you will be forgiven.
Reply from Ўный Booby[guru]
Can you answer an atheist primate? Thank you man, the point of the parable is that you don’t need to shit in your native country and look for a well-fed life from its “enemy-partners”, this especially applies to part of the Russian semi-intelligentsia, but if you didn’t shit too much, they will forgive you and let you go to your father’s house... Think about it Emil Bauer!)):
Reply from Warrior Brave[guru]
A person can break away from his roots, get lost in the abyss of life and disappear like a torn branch from a tree. SO SHOULD YOU BREAK AWAY? This is what the parable teaches.
Reply from User deleted[guru]
Maybe off topic... I just remembered this:
I wish I could cross out my whole life and start over,
Fly for your beloved, your Singer,
But will the Motherland find out?
One of his missing sons...
Reply from Big Drum[guru]
The Lord spoke the following parable: a certain man had two sons; and the youngest of them said to his father: Father! give me the next part of the estate. And the father divided the estate for them. After a few days, the youngest son, having collected everything, went to a far side and there squandered his property, living dissolutely. When he had lived through everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need; and he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him to his fields to graze pigs; and he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate, but no one gave it to him. When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am dying of hunger; I will get up and go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants. He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son. And the father said to his servants: Bring the best robe and dress him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let's eat and have fun! For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they started having fun. His eldest son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing; and calling one of the servants, he asked: what is this? He said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he received him healthy.” He became angry and did not want to enter. His father came out and called him. But he said in response to his father: Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends; and when this son of yours, who had wasted his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him. He said to him: My son! You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours, and it was necessary to rejoice and be glad that this brother of yours was dead and came to life, was lost and was found.
The parable of the prodigal son is about sin and repentance. This is a story about the relationship of humanity to God, the people to the King, about how our children are now leaving us, and about how one is connected to the other. The lost son is first and foremost the youngest son. He demands from his father: “Father, give me part of your estate, what is due to me by right.” This is the beginning of all the troubles.
Reply from Br.K[guru]
The essence of sin is to exclude love by demanding from the lover and giver that he leave our life and agree to non-existence and death. This murder of love is sin in action - the sin of Satan, Adam and Cain.
Having received all the wealth that his father’s “death” bestowed on him, without even looking back, with the frivolity characteristic of youth, the youngest son leaves the boring security of his parents’ shelter and with a light heart rushes to lands where nothing will restrict his freedom. Having gotten rid of his father's guardianship and all moral restrictions, he can now completely surrender to all the whims of his wayward heart. The past no longer exists, only the present exists, full of promising attractiveness, like the dawn of a new day, and the boundless expanse of the future beckons ahead. He is surrounded by friends, he is in the center of everything, life is rosy, and he does not yet suspect that she will not keep her promises. He believes that new friends cling to him disinterestedly; in fact, people treat him exactly the same way as he did towards his father: he exists for his friends insofar as he is rich and they can take advantage of his extravagance. They eat, drink and be merry; he is full of joy, but how far is this joy from the peaceful and deep bliss of the Kingdom of God, revealed at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee.
But the time comes when wealth runs out.
