Charity work is a complex aspect of human activity which incorporates social, psychological and economic phenomena. Charity and even philanthropy is an inseparable part of human existence, which appears as one of the basic conditions of being human. Philanthropy is just as universal human value, one of the attributes of civil society. Charity work allows a society to express its interests directly, without mediation of the state. Philanthropy allows redistribution of wealth from the most powerful and economically most capable to those less capable using the shortest route and in the shortest time. The essence of philanthropy is, therefore, an elementary, direct and voluntary act of helping those in need, either a person or a society as a whole. In the world today, philanthropy is the most common instrument, with which the society fulfills its basic, social and universal human needs. One of the first forms of philanthropy is charity to the poor, miserable, powerless and, generally speaking, all those who need help. From the mid-XX century, philanthropy in many countries of the Western Europe has been given a common, unified name, "social work". In Christianity, philanthropy and charity are important virtues through with one achieves spiritual maturity and strengthens oneself in a community of love with neighbors. During its historical development, philanthropy has gone through many forms, and the most important of those are: ecclesiastical, public, personal, and social. In this paper, we present a brief historical analysis of charitable social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, as the largest religious community and the one that left the deepest mark on cultural, social and spiritual life of the Russian people. A specificity of the Russian charity work lies in its interrupted character, because during the Soviet rule and the formation of the social support system (1917-1991), the term philanthropy was excluded from the public and social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]