Modern man has lost the true meaning of many very important words, such as love, honesty, chastity, and others. The word piety is no exception. It appeared in Russian as an attempt to translate Greek ευσέβεια (Eusebius) - reverence to parents, superiors, brothers and sisters, gratitude, fear of God, reverence for God, due respect for everything that a person encounters in life.
"Translation" into the modern language
How can the word "piety" be understood by modern atheist man? Piety is a combination of two concepts: "good" and "honor." With the words "good", "good" everything is simple - they mean everything good, good, positive. But the word "honor" is more complicated. Honor is honor and respect, and dignity, and chastity, and integrity. “Honestly” is not just true, but trustworthy. If you think about it, it turns out that this is an exclusively positive characteristic of the person around. Something like a reputation. But the reputation may be bad or good, and the honor is either there or not. It is impossible to be "evil" or "evil." That is, in the understanding of modern man, "piety" is an enhanced positive meaning of the concept of "honor."
Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church on piety
The best Christian books on piety are the Old and New Testaments. But they can be correctly understood only by reading the creations of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church. These people were attracted by the Holy Spirit, who revealed to them the true meaning of the Holy Scripture, with a particularly pure life, exploits, and rejection of any excesses. We can say that everything written by saints, theologians, speaks of true worship of God. What types of piety exist?
"The first - in order not to sin, the second - to sin, to bear the adventuring sorrows, the third kind is to, if we cannot bear sorrows, cry for lack of patience ..." (Rev. Mark the Ascetic).
"The piety of the present is not only not to do evil, but not to think about it" (Rev. Simeon the New Theologian).
Church translation
What does this word mean in the understanding of the Orthodox Church? Piety is the veneration of good. Since for a believer, good is God, then, accordingly, the Christian understanding of this word consists in honoring, glorifying the Creator through the fulfillment of the commandments of Christ. "Lord, save the pious ..." - the clergy turn daily to God during the service. "And hear us (us) ..." - they complete the conversion. That is, the text of the church prayer suggests that the very fact that a person is in the temple, takes part in the service, already confirms that he glorifies God. This is the pitfall. It is important to remember that the words of prayer are called godly people in order to remind them that they should try to meet this definition.
Demonstrative piety
Unfortunately, many churched people find for themselves in these words an inexhaustible source of fueling self-conceit. Hence the demonstrative form of piety is born - the desire to show everyone around and emphasize my high dignity: "I glorify God!" Last but not least, this is why the word "piety" is missing in the vocabulary of most modern people: its meaning is distorted and associated with ostentatious religiosity, bigotry, pompousness, and cleanliness. But the main reason that this word has disappeared from use, of course, is that worship itself is absent in the heads and hearts of people.
Faith of father in son
And there should be this. Suppose a son talks with his father, whom he loves and respects. Father tells him: "I am glad that you are an honest man." The son at this time recalls how he lied at breakfast that he had already cleaned the room. He, of course, becomes ashamed. The boy admits to his father that he did dishonesty (something like this happens during a confession). Then the son gives his father out loud, and mentally, the word that henceforth he will make every effort to not lie anymore. So during a church prayer in an Orthodox church, a person hears: "Lord, save the pious ...". He understands that he is not completely pious or does not have the right to attribute this word to himself. Then (normal) he has a strong desire to achieve true piety.
View from the outside
There is an opposite problem. A person who begins to attend church frequently, gives alms, observes fasts, prays at home, and is inevitably subjected to the strict trial of his colleagues, family members, and acquaintances. Especially if you often share your impressions of services or pilgrimages. Do not rush to immediately hang a shameful stigma on such a person. We cannot know what really drives them. We must not forget about the "presumption of innocence." Perhaps the imaginary bouncer often talks about the church to share his joy. Most believers have an irresistible urge to "pull" everyone who catches their eye into the temple. They feel good there. Therefore, they really want everyone around to know what they voluntarily lose. And most importantly - not everything that is done in plain sight is being paraded.
Pious woman
The piety of a woman ... The meaning of the word of this, or rather the phrase, is best explained with a specific example.
The piety of a woman is necessarily reflected in her appearance. There are no certain strict requirements for clothes, except for one: "A wife praying with her head uncovered ... shames her head ..." But the internal state of a person is always reflected in the external appearance. If everything goes right in a woman’s soul , then she herself will gradually refuse to use cosmetics and jewelry, at least during church visits. In high heels, legs get tired very quickly, which means that it is impossible to defend a two-hour service without damage to health. Bowing in a short tight skirt is simply inconvenient. But the main requirement for a woman striving for true piety is chastity, that is, the desire, including in appearance, to create conditions (both for herself and for others) that promote prayer, and not distract from it.
The model of female Christian piety, of course, is the Virgin. During the period of earthly life, she did not seek to decorate herself with either bright clothes or jewelry. All Her attention was devoted to prayer, divine thought, reading the Scriptures, thinking about what was read, needlework. She loved to spend time in silence, solitude and left the house only to visit the temple.
The whole appearance of an Orthodox woman is a peculiar form of piety. God can also be glorified by the beauty born of a healthy lifestyle, emphasizing its modesty, neatness, tastefully selected clothes. Normally, reverence is expressed by the desire to create healthy relationships in the family and at work, to express oneself as a wife, mother, or to devote one’s entire life to God (monasticism).
How piety is expressed
So what is piety? The meaning of the word gives only a vague idea of this. His traditional understanding presupposes, first of all, regular attendance at divine services, participation in the Sacraments, observance of all church prescriptions, fasts, and fulfillment of the prayer rule at home. But those who strictly fulfill all these conditions and at the same time do not change anything in their lives, relationships with others, very quickly find that they do not achieve the desired state of mind. He is truly pious, thanks to whom others see the love of God for all people from his actions or the events of his life. Anyone who at least does something in the way that Christ would have acted in his place, who correlates all his words and even thoughts with God's assessment - truly honors God. Anyone who has received relief or help from God, is happy to share his story with other people - truly praises God. And services, prayers, Sacraments and fasts only help in this, as medicines help to regain health. Not a single patient is proud of going to physiotherapy, but every rational person listens to the doctor’s prescriptions and follows them. Christian piety is a selfless love of God, people and himself.
The essence of genuine piety in the Gospel episode, when Christ talks with a Samaritan woman at a well, is very well explained. It was then that he first said that God expects people to worship in spirit and in truth, and not just in words. What does worship in spirit and truth mean? The Jews had to travel to Jerusalem to worship God, and the Samaritans to climb Mount Garizim and sacrifice the killed animals and birds. The veneration of God became for both those and others a tribute to tradition, a familiar routine. This is worship of the body, without any participation of the spirit (the same thing is happening now with many Christians, for whom all piety consists in the standing of services).
Jesus promised the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well that the time was not near when true worshipers of God would worship Him in spirit and in truth. There will be no need to climb a mountain or to overcome the distance from his native city to Jerusalem, dragging on himself an unnecessary sacrifice to God (after all, He already owns everything material in this world). It is enough in your heart to turn to the Creator sincerely, and not by tradition or habit.