Слово на праздник преславного Вознесения Господня. (О pae и светлой радости вечной). Из древле–отеческого сборника

Come, let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, so that we may be spectators of the glorious Ascension of Christ. Let us ascend with reverent contemplation to the blessed Mount of Olives, where today a wonderful vision of splendid glory is revealed, and the Victorious Risen Jesus, the invincible destroyer of hell, presents to us the most glorious triumph over death! Let us ascend to the place from where the face of the Apostle sends to heaven its dearest Teacher, the Mother – her Son, from where the ranks of intelligent Powers lead the King of Glory! Many righteous souls, freed from hell, will follow their Divine Liberator. From there the Heavenly Father receives Him, and, giving Him power over heaven and earth, places Him at His right hand in heaven. The current holiday has truly brightened and brightened! He is the crowning of the sacraments of Christ, the fulfillment of our salvation. Today the exiled children of Eve are granted entry into the desired fatherland of heavenly Jerusalem, today the new Israel is granted elevation to the heavenly kingdom. Today the fallen one is exalted above the Seraphim, and the human nature of God’s Word, having become partaker of the Divine nature through incarnation, has taken part in the Divine glory through the ascension of the God-man!... Come, let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord, and let us follow in our thoughts and hearts the gates of the eternal Kingdom that have opened for us, so that, as much as possible, we may know and taste the sweets of heaven, and—even if we interpret heaven in such a way as it is, as surpassing any human mind. Human thought barely penetrates beyond what the senses represent. Let us ask about this heavenly dwelling, which God has prepared for us, from those who have seen it with the spiritual eyes of the heart: from John the Theologian and from Paul the Apostle. John, led by the Angel to a high mountain, saw the holy city of heaven, Jerusalem. This city is quadrangular, great and high: it has twelve foundations, and each foundation is made of precious stone, twelve gates, and each gate is made of beads. There is God Almighty Himself, Whom heaven and earth worship; there is neither the sun nor the month, there is the non-evening light of Divine glory, shining day and night, and never setting! - And he led me in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God (Rev. 21:10). But this city is only an image of paradise, which if we saw, our eyes would be convinced, but our mind would not be convinced. Paul was caught up to the third heaven, into paradise: he saw and heard what our eyes have never seen before, what has not yet entered our hearts, what our hearts cannot yet desire: the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not sighed, even as God is ready for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). He also heard words and conversations that a person can never interpret, but it is impossible for a person to speak them (2 Cor. 12:4). Two people saw heaven: Evangelist John - the eagle of Theology and Paul - the chosen vessel; but they speak in secret, and from their words do you understand that there is paradise? - No. "Oh, heaven!" - said one holy father, “we can acquire you, but we cannot comprehend you with our minds.” Let us ask Christ Himself: Jesus Christ, Divine Wisdom incarnate! Tell us what is heaven? He declares in His word that heaven is an immortal life, an eternal life, endless joy. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you (John 16:22)! But what is immortal life? - Think, Christian, about the well-being of this world, whether it’s great or small, or about everything, or about just one part; for example: if you were a sovereign, a monarch of the whole world, you would reign over cities, not having any enemy, you would spend your life without illness, you would rejoice without tasting any sorrow, being beautiful in face, rich, and famous. Doesn't this seem like the greatest happiness on earth? But here is your great misfortune: no matter how long you live according to your desire, you must die, and be afraid of death at every hour. And in your very happiness you never have all the blessings of this world - some of them are either insufficient or dissatisfied. Consider also that you are always lacking something, and this is what your heart desires, that although you are happy, you should be even happier - and this deprivation makes you unhappy in happiness, even if you were immortal here... And where is there no envy that can harm you? Where is there no disease that can debilitate you? Where is there no death that can snatch you away? But to be always blessed, always alive and, moreover, to have abundantly all good things and an immortal life. - how blessed is this life?! Such a life is nothing but heavenly paradise! And the joy there is eternal, the joy there is countless, perfect, endless. This joy is great throughout the entire century, and it is always the same there - without any decrease. You rejoice in all bliss throughout the entire age, and you rejoice in all bliss in every minute of the age. Just as he is blessed in all that eternal life, so blessed is he in every minute of that eternal life. And most of all, nothing can take that joy away from you: not the envy of the enemy, for there is a serene world there; nor misfortune, because there is unceasing well-being; nor illness, for there is harmless health; nor death, for there is eternal life! Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you (John 16:22)... Here we do not see God as He is, but only believe in Him; - this blessedness of the Church is for us not to see and believe: blessed are they who have not seen and believed (John 20:29). There we will see God as He is: this heavenly bliss. Let us be like Him, for we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2); there is no longer faith there, according to the word of the Apostle, there is only vision: the shadow is resolved, a single light shines; there is no hope, but only pleasure; there is one unspeakably blessed love, saturating all of us, according to the word of the Psalmist: I will be satisfied when Thy glory appears (Ps. 16:15). But from this, have you understood that there is a paradise? - No. Much has been said to us about paradise: the Prophets say a lot about it, the Apostles say a lot, the teachers of the Church say a lot, Christ Himself says a lot: everything is great, everything is lofty, everything is wonderful, and we cannot help but believe it; but we can never comprehend this with our minds. Our mind is very small, it cannot accommodate this, it is very heavy, it is not able to fly to the top... And when we are worthy to visibly see the uncreated beauty that the heavenly Jerusalem has - the unevening light that unfadingly creates the day of eternal bliss, the ranks of Angels, the faces of saints, martyrs, saints, righteous - the whole great host of blessed inhabitants of heaven. The very Lady Theotokos Mary, the Queen of Angels, God Himself, face to face - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - His omnipotence, His wisdom, His goodness, His glory, His majesty, then we will understand with the mind of our spirit what heaven is!... - My God! (we will tell Him), we have heard a lot, a lot about paradise, but from what we have heard, not half of what we see is foreseeable; We heard a lot, but we could not understand clearly; Now, seeing everything, we understand with our minds. I heard with the ear of the ear before, but now my eye has seen (Job 42:5). In vain, I rejoice, I am completely pleased, I am completely glorified!... Such is the glory of heaven, and how could I, almost without thinking about it, love worldly glory? “Was I not unreasonable for exposing myself for so many years to the danger of losing this indescribably blissful life because of the selfishness and passions of my animals?!” I thank Your mercy, my God, that I have been freed from so many troubles, and am now in paradise, where I live the fullness of immortal life and rejoice with endless joy! “Oh, heaven! We can acquire you, but we cannot comprehend you with our minds!” – And in order to acquire it, let us follow Christ, the Savior of our lives, let us follow His teaching. This is the way for us to ascend with Him into heaven - into that blessed dwelling, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. His promise is not false: if anyone serves Me, My Father will honor him, and where I am, there will also be My servant (John 12:26). Amen 231. See Teachings on the Holy Fathers, ed. Holy Synod in the kingdoms, the great city of Moscow in 1775 in Slavic. language; Wed "The Joy of the Christian" 1900, IV and V, pp. 393–398. You might be interested in: