Слово в день Пятидесятницы. Блаженного Августина, епископа Иппонийского

Beloved brethren! Now we are celebrating an annual celebration in remembrance of the day when our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit, Whom He promised before to His disciples and about Whom He said: Unless I go, the Comforter will not come to you (John 16:7). On the fortieth day after His resurrection, which we celebrated ten days before, the Lord ascended into heaven, and, fulfilling His promise, sent on this day the Holy Spirit, Whom the one hundred and twenty souls who had gathered together and waited with faith for the Promised were fulfilled. And there came, - it is written, - suddenly there was a sound from heaven, like a storm of breath... and the nations appeared to them, divided like fire, sitting on one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with all (other) tongues, as the Spirit had given them to speak (Acts 2:2-4). So, first, let us briefly consider why the Lord said, promising the Holy Spirit: “He cannot come unless I go away.” Why is this, when the Holy Spirit, being not separated from the Son of God, could come in His presence? Let us note that the Lord showed the disciples, who were still weak, the image of a servant in whom the Word became flesh and dwelt in us; and the flesh of the Lord could also be seen by carnal people, while the image of God, in which not by admiration Nepscheva was equal to God, could only be contemplated by spiritual people. That is why (the Lord) said: “He cannot come unless I go away,” that is: as long as your carnal sense contemplates My flesh, until then your spiritual gaze will not perceive My Divinity. For by the gift of the Holy Spirit He promised to lead them into all truth, but, as it is said: purify their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9): blessed are they that are pure in heart: for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). So, the Lord withdrew bodily from their carnal eyes in order to reveal His Divinity to their hearts through the Holy Spirit. Let us therefore consider why at that time there was such a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit that those who received this Spirit spoke in all tongues? For now, when the Holy Spirit is given, those who have received Him do not speak in all languages; The Holy Spirit does not show Himself as such an obvious miracle as at that time. Let us understand here, beloved brethren, that this is the Holy Spirit by whom the love of God is poured out into our hearts. And since love had to gather the Church of God throughout the entire universe (which was possible for one person when he, having received the Holy Spirit, spoke in all languages), then the unity of the Church gathered by the Holy Spirit speaks in all languages. Therefore, if someone asks any of us: “You received the Holy Spirit, why don’t you speak with all tongues?” The answer must be: “I speak in all languages, because I am a member of the Church, in that body of Christ that speaks in all languages.” And truly, what else did God signify then, if not that, having the Holy Spirit, His Church would speak in all languages? Thus was fulfilled what the Lord promised when He said: “They are pouring new wine into old wineskins:... but they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved (Matthew 9:17). Rightly (in a certain respect), hearing those speaking with all tongues, some said: the essence is filled with wine (Acts 2:13). The apostles, indeed, became new wineskins, as if renewed by the grace of holiness, filled with new wine, that is, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, boiled with the gift of speaking in all languages, and with this most obvious miracle they foreshadowed the universal Church, which was to be in all nations. Therefore, we correctly recognize heretics as not having the Holy Spirit, since they separate themselves from the body, which is given to speak to all nations in all languages. So, beloved, celebrate this day as members of the one body of Christ. It is not in vain that you celebrate when you yourself become part of the unity of the Church, which is the subject of your celebration - when you adhere to that Church, which the Lord, filling with the Holy Spirit, recognizes as His throughout the world, where it grows - by which He Himself is known as the Bridegroom. To you who are among all nations, to you, the Church of Christ, the members of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, says the Apostle: “bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:2, 3). Notice how, by commanding us to endure one another, (the Apostle) inspires love, and by mentioning the unity of the spirit, he points to the union of peace. This is the house of God, created from living stones, in which the Great Householder and Father is pleased to dwell; Let us not offend the Father's gaze by the sight of destruction and division! Amen 118. Append. Sermo 183; Sunday Read XVII (1853–54), pp. 69–70. You might be interested in: