Похвальное слово на Успение Пресвятой Богородицы. Святителя Илия Минятия Кефалонитского

The Queen appears at Your right hand in robes of gold and speckled (Ps. 44:10). Here is the most living and decent image of the Mother of God who reposed into heaven, inscribed with the God-moving cane of the Prophet King! I invite you today, my triumphant brethren, to contemplate this image. Do not imagine the usual sad signs of death here on earth, where a dead body lies spread out on a bed, honestly buried by the holy Apostles, miraculously gathered from (all) ends of the earth. Everything about the Holy Virgin was superhuman; Only in this did She show that She belongs to human nature, for today it appeared that She is of a corruptible nature. But in this, too, the advantages of Divine grace were revealed: when the all-immaculate Mary conceived, Her conception was seedless; when she gave birth, her birth was incorruptible, just as when She died, Her dormition (turned out to be) immortal. Death (except for this one) is the tormentor of our race, the daughter of curse and the mother of decay, holding the legacy of Adam captive in her dark kingdom. But this (death) is either a sweet dream in which the all-pure Lady wanted to, as it were, rest a little at the end of this corruptible life in order to begin the path of the imperishable; or the wonderful outburst of Divine love, in which this most blessed soul, striving to quickly reach her beloved Divine Son, left for some time her companion - the body; but it too, also raised on the Cherubic chariot, passed the same path and, glorified, ascended to heaven. Look at the tomb in Gethsemane - you will find it empty, for the tomb cannot contain the Mother of Life, the abode of the incarnate Divinity, the abode whose proper place is the throne of Divine glory. And the Mother of God, standing at the right hand of the King of God, sits, as the Queen of heaven and earth, on such a throne, above every creature: the Queen appears at Your right hand. Queen of the earth, - for after God the Church of the faithful brings reverent veneration to Her, pious Kings cast down their staffs and crowns at Her most pure feet. Her high throne is surrounded by a host of Orthodox Christians; who prays for healing from illness, who asks for deliverance from danger, this one asks for consolation in sadness, this one asks for help in disaster; everyone ask for mercy from the source of mercy, and the one who asks receives, the one who seeks finds: for the sea of ​​grace-filled gifts is inexhaustible, the source of blessings is inexhaustible. She is the Queen of Heaven; - She is revered and worshiped by all orders of the incorporeal: Angels - the most perfect mirror of purity, Archangels - the valuable ark of Divine revelations, Powers - the almighty power of the faithful, Powers - the invincible wall of the Church, Principalities - the saving beginning of universal deliverance, Dominions - the highest Mistress of all, Thrones - the animate throne of the King glory, Cherubim - the God-wise secret guide of the highest knowledge, Seraphim - the unquenchable lamp of Divine purest love. The Queen, who is greeted by the Trisplendent Godhead Himself: St. The Spirit is the unmarried bride, the Son and the Word are the unmarried Mother, God the Father is the beloved Virgin of God. The Queen appears at Your right hand. The illustrious All-Queen of heaven and earth is adorned in gilded vestments, says (David); - that is, the richly woven robe of Her bliss, which envelops Her, is gilded with the beautiful radiance of an unapproachable light; mottled, that is, painted in different colors. In other words, just as in the Virgin, during Her life on earth, there were all the various properties of the virtues, so in the Virgin who passed into heaven, the various colors of Divine glory shine. When the sun reaches the highest point in the sky, it spreads rays of light evenly in all directions, but not all bodies are illuminated equally. Since they are more or less dense, some perceive the reflection of sunlight more strongly than others. Clean ones are illuminated completely, transparent ones let light pass through them, and solid and impenetrable ones are illuminated only enough to be visible. But if the sun happens to throw a ray on a clean mirror, then not only does it illuminate it, but it itself seems to completely enter and be contained within it, so that the mirror no longer seems to be glass, but the shining sun itself. This is the difference between a mirror and other illuminated bodies; all bodies in general perceive only the light of the sun, but the mirror perceives the entire sun itself and casts rays from itself, like the sun. In the same way, the never-setting Sun of Truth sheds the unevening light of Divine glory evenly on all blessed spirits, but not all of them are enlightened equally. Everyone receives their own measure of Divine enlightenment, according to their degree and in accordance with their own purity. Thus, the holy Angels, who are immaterial spirits, are illuminated differently, and people belonging to a more coarse nature are illuminated differently; and again, among the Angels, the Thrones and Dominions, the Thrones and Cherubim, the Cherubim and Seraphim are illuminated differently; and among people (there is the same difference) between prophets and apostles, confessors and martyrs, between ascetics and virgins. They are all stars of the mental firmament, therefore the righteous shine like lights, according to what was said: but a star differs from a star in glory (1 Cor. 15:41). The All-Holy Virgin, among all the blessed, is the perfect mirror of purity and purity, all good, all immaculate, as the Holy Spirit calls Her in the Song of Songs: You are all good, My neighbor, and there is no blemish in You (Song. 4:7), incomparably purest of people and Angels. Therefore, the Sun of Glory not only sheds the light of bliss on Her, but even enters into Her and (thus) contains this entire multi-flowing source of light, so that the blessed face of the Blessed Virgin casts rays from itself, like the second sun of glory, intensifying the light of a non-evening day. Understand the difference between the bliss that all the spirits of other righteous people enjoy, and that which the Mother of God Mary rejoices in; they partly perceive the light of Divine glory, and Sia is the entire Sun of glory. They received grace here in part and, according to the measure of grace, enjoy glory there; This is the abode of all glory, just as here was the abode of all grace. She was here, as the Archangel called Her, grace-filled, that is, she had all the fullness of Divine grace. The Theologian also says this: “to each of the elect, grace was given in part, to the Virgin - all the fullness of grace”; She is also glorified, that is, she has the fullness of Divine glory, as Ezekiel also foresaw: I saw, and behold, the house of the Lord was filled with glory (Ezek. 44:4), the Queen appeared at Your right hand in robes of gold, overspeckled (Ps. 44:10). Our minds, Christians, cannot imagine the bright light with which the blessed Virgin shines in paradise; the sun and moon are dark things in comparison with this indescribable beauty, the contemplation of which the blessed endlessly enjoy. What a beautiful, bright, Divine sight for the eyes of the Seraphim! One young man, a reverent admirer of the Virgin, wanted to see him, and turned to Her with a prayer: “Mary, the sweetest name that I honor and which I worship after God with all the love and reverence of my soul, for You are Her consolation and joy. If I, Your humble servant, have found grace before You, I pray to You, show me one mercy: among many blessings, grant me the ability to see You as You do in paradise. Honor me with this grace, Ever-Virgin Daughter, honor me, Mother. I am ready to lose an eye if I see You.” The All-pure Lady heeded the prayer of Her reverent servant: at night the All-Light One appeared to him in a dream, in all the splendor of glory with which She shines in the sky. The young man woke up and, indeed, lost his eye, but from the joy he felt, since he was honored to see the Queen of heaven and earth, he did not regret at all that he had lost his sight. Even more, he again prayed to see Her again, agreeing to the loss of his other remaining eye. He was again honored to see Her; but what do you think, Christians? - Maybe he became blind in both eyes? The All-merciful Mother of God, appearing to him for the second time, not only did not deprive him of his other eye, but also returned to him the lost one. The young man woke up with both healthy eyes and... struck by sheer joy, he offered thousands of thanks to the Mother of God with abundant tears of reverent jubilation. Gracious, glorious All-Queen, from that abundant radiance of the Divine light that You enjoy, standing at the right hand of Your Only Begotten Son, send down here, down upon us, Your reverent servants, one blessed ray, which would be a light for our darkened mind, a flame for our cold will, so that we could see the path of Your Divine justifications and zealously follow him. After God, we expect salvation from You, the Mother of God and ours, from You we expect victories of meek power, triumph of pious kings, establishment of the Church, intercession for the Orthodox people, intercession of this city that reveres You, which has devoted itself to Your invincible help. To her, the all-holy Virgin Mary, a name denoting the joy, consolation and triumph of Christians! Accept, as an auspicious censer, the fasting and prayer we perform in Your honor on these holy days. And just as here, in church, we reverently kiss the holy and miraculous icon, so grant us to see this blessed face of Yours in paradise, so that we worship it, glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to endless ages. Amen 191. Rest, sleep. Explanatory dictionary by D. N. Ushakov. Note electronic edition. See Sermons of St. Elijah Minyaty of Cephalonite and Kalavrite. 1902 edition, 397–401 countries. You might be interested in: