Протоиерей Петр Смирнов. Священное торжество

The day of a bright celebration has already arrived - the glorification of our reverend and God-bearing father Seraphim, the Wonderworker of Sarov. A new bright star is shining in the church sky. For a long time, since the righteous death of the saint, her extraordinary radiance was visible. Even during the life of the holy ascetic, many believers were waiting for her appearance. How many miracles were revealed both during the life of the great old man and throughout the seventy years that followed his wondrous, blessed death! Now, shining with divine light, this star clearly and majestically rises from among the constellations surrounding it and rises high to shine not only for the Russian Church, but also for the entire Orthodox Church, to shine not for one, not for several years, but for all times of the Church, until the end of the century. What a wondrous change is accomplished in a person through faith and grace! And this, now so glorified by everyone and truly a wonderful man, was once there, and how long ago? a person like us. There was a time, and it is still close, when he, like all of us, gradually passed through the years of his infancy and adolescence, gradually and, perhaps, with great difficulty, mastered literacy and learning in general, traveled to Kyiv and again to Kursk, endured labor as a simple novice, was exhausted from labor, struggled with passions, endured sorrows and hardships, was exposed to illnesses and other misfortunes, was tortured by enemies and visible and invisible - and now what glory, what greatness surrounds him, what abundance of strength and spiritual power he has, what the breadth and depth of his gaze, what an innumerable multitude of those who come running to him, what joy to him in such widespread beneficence, what bliss in the abode of the Heavenly Father, what fellowship with the angels and saints, what closeness to the throne of the Most High, what boldness in prayer before Him! The glory and greatness of St. Seraphim demonstrate something outstanding from among other saints glorified like him. This great gathering of people to his once so secluded monastery, calling for special, extraordinary measures to maintain order and provide food, these thousands of people, even before the start of the celebration, all day long surrounding all the places in the monastery and outside it, marked by the exploits of the holy elder, and for the night peace of those reclining on the bare ground under the vast tent of the heavenly vault, this union at his tomb, for his honor and glorification of so many and so high authorities, both spiritual and secular - and, finally, this is the presence of the Crown Bearer among the people faithful and devoted to him. The royal family united and merged with the family of the entire Russian people in the holy cause of faith. Such a living and close union of Russian people in the church fence has not been seen for a long time, and it is so reminiscent of our good old times, when Holy Rus' finally gathered and gathered under the united authority of the Orthodox Tsar, when in the church fence everyone felt as if in the house of the Heavenly Father, when there was no this sad division between the people and the higher strata of society, as if they had been cut off from the people and were floating in their own special way. rook, and this disastrous separation of the intelligentsia from the church, which constitutes the especially felt evil of our time. It’s as if the times of Demetrius Donskoy, John III, John IV at the best time of his reign, Tsars Mikhail Feodorovich and Alexy Mikhailovich are coming again for us. A significant and joyful event! So, there is no discord and division in the Russian people, or they lie shallow, on one surface, like dust and dust blown by an opposing wind. All the same Rus' was gathering strength under the banner of Moscow, and now it has gathered there, in the anciently blessed Sarov, where the best minds (Khomyakov) see a new solid foundation of Russian life, the same as Kyiv and Moscow were for the Russians. The same covenants of sincere love and devotion to the church, sincere heartfelt veneration of its shrines, both collectively and nationally, reign in it. The same power of the Tsar, the anointed of God, rises above everyone, the same people’s love moves towards him. God willing, through the prayers of the great saint of God, lover of the people Seraphim, these sedimentary deposits will come away from the people without harm to them, these anti-church and God-fighting attempts, directed from the side hostile to the great people, showing such gigantic growth, to the destruction of its strength and fortress, will weaken and disappear, like smoke from the face of fire, and the northern colossus, terrible to all enemies, will rise to its full height and tell them its the word, as it already says now, is not the abusive word of enmity and division, but the word of peace and unity about the Lord, the only Savior of all. Even this unity of Rus' at the grave of the great righteous man should shed what an abundant stream of light and life into the feelings and consciousness of the Russian people! Such great celebrations cannot be created artificially. Such great days did not pass in vain. The wave of the right hand of the Most High is at work here. Here the finger of God is visible, showing the way to the nations. These days are the heritage of history. Already this, we repeat, the unity of everyone who exists in Sarov and with such thirst awaiting news from there, this direction of all minds and hearts to this one - so brightly shining - point is deeply significant. But now, before the eyes of everyone, an eternal model for edification and life arises. A wondrous picture of life is revealed before us, from the first days to the last moments of prayer before the image of “Tenderness,” all completely devoted to God and our neighbor. Not a single shadow on a light background. Everything unclean, sinful, characteristic of man in his present damaged state, was washed with the water of baptism, tears of repentance, purified by fasting and prayer, burned by the fire of Divine communion. We see only exploits and virtues. This, full of love to the grave, devotion to the mother and this reverent preservation of the sign of her maternal blessing - this youth, spent so purely that imperceptibly transformed a worldly man into an inhabitant of the desert, - this constant stay in prayer, constant deepening in the Gospel, this obedience to the word of God and the instructions of the Fathers - this touching humility before everyone, this heartfelt, deep, but as if childish, with childish Expressed with joy and simplicity, love for everyone and everyone in particular, this all-forgiving love for enemies and tormentors - how many lessons the living and impressionable give to both children and elders, both the strong and the weak! The life of a holy ascetic seems to be an amazingly harmonious and gradually rising path. It is as if he is going through a deeply thought-out and clearly and firmly demarcated and defined school. As if from one step to another, he apparently rises along a ladder established from earth to heaven. Childhood under the supervision of a pious mother, adolescence in an environment of unspoiled morals, a change of monastic obediences, reverent service in the degrees of deacon and presbyter, filled with mysterious visions and revelations, asceticism in the desert, pilgrimage, seclusion, vow of silence - all this now seems to be a predetermined plan or blueprint for the ascent from strength to strength until the formation of a special vessel of abundant abundance. grace for this age and those to come. And for sure: this path was destined by the right hand of the Most High for the chosen one of God. In the paths of righteous people, these bright lines of God’s paths appear with particular clarity. When remembering the great righteous man who is now glorified, one often hears: Elder Seraphim. What does this name mean, especially as it is adopted? Death makes people equal. Dimensions of human life by age disappear from view. Infants, youths, men, and elders are glorified as saints. Many of the saints ended their lives at an older age than the Monk Seraphim, but this is not noted in the praises given to them. Why is this word - elder - especially applied to the Sarov ascetic? The word “elder” here means not so much the age of the holy ascetic, but the last step in his spiritual growth - eldership, when, at the command of the Mother of God, he came out of his seclusion and began to receive the great multitude of people who constantly surrounded him both in his cell and in the desert, and on the way there and back. Eldership is not only the last step in the spiritual growth of the great righteous man, but also the crown of his long and, one might say, all-round asceticism. Here it is revealed what these whole-day fasting and prayers lead to, this thousand-day standing on a stone in tender prayer, this seclusion, this vow of strict silence. Among these exploits, under the constant shadow of Divine grace, the spirit of the righteous was cultivated, freed from the shackles of the flesh and repelling all enemy attacks, the mental gaze was refined, the heart was touched, and the character was tempered to serve God in the person of an infirm neighbor. Everything good in a person is created by grace, but under an indispensable condition - the person’s own free efforts: one must endure the feat oneself, repel all temptations, absorb into oneself all the streams of Divine life poured out by grace. And so, when, by a lifetime of faith and piety, the same edification in the word of God, with prayer and fasting, and special feats of hermit and recluse life, the wise and experienced priest Seraphim was brought out of the hidden life by the command of the Mother of God from the hidden life in a cell closed even to monks into the field of public service, then those spiritual ones appeared in all abundance the wealth that the blessed elder acquired there, in his secluded hermitages and in his cell, enclosed from everyone: this gift of penetration into the soul of every person who comes to him for instruction and advice, this gift of insight into the future destinies of both individuals and the whole kingdom, this spirit of fiery zeal for faith and the church, this inexhaustible and invulnerable love for people and for everyone in particular, this all-conquering gift of speech and spiritual reasoning and this long-suffering in dealing with people, thousands surrounding him. Listing his labors and sufferings, the Apostle Paul writes: in addition to extraneous adventures, I have a daily gathering of people, caring for all the churches. Who is exhausted, with whom would I not be exhausted? Who is tempted, for whom would I not be inflamed? (2 Cor. 11, 28, 29). The Monk Seraphim, having achieved the perfection possible in his ascetic life, was introduced into some participation in the apostolic work. And he had a daily crowd of people. On some days, up to 2,000 people visited him. They came to him with spiritual need, with a difficult question of conscience, for advice on important matters, personal and family. The words of the holy elder fell on the heart like moisture feeding a thirsty earth; his word was given the meaning of a final decision, on which the fate of many people depended. What acuity of mind was required for this, the breadth of a loving heart, the height of the prayerful mood, and what care, what patience! And now not thousands, but millions of believers direct their prayer appeals to him, each with his own special need, each with his own heart disease, all with a living hope of hearing and help. Some instructions given by St. Seraphim were preserved in memory and recorded in writing. They embrace many questions of faith and piety so that they are offered in some system. Now these instructions are sealed with a special seal, like the words of the holy father, and this is the indelible heritage of the Church from the great ascetic for the edification of believers. May glory and thanksgiving rise to the Lord, the Giver of Life, who prepares such vessels of grace for our good and salvation! Let the church rejoice, which, according to the grace given to it from the Lord, produces such strong-spirited men of faith and piety! May the people of God rejoice, who receive from the bounty of the Almighty such powerful intercessors and intercessors for them before His throne! We bless you, Reverend Father Seraphim, and honor your holy memory, mentor of monks and interlocutor of angels. Additions to the Church Gazette published under His Holiness Governing Synod. 1903, no. 29.