Слово на Святую Пятидесятницу. Св. Льва Великого, папы римского

Every true Christian knows, beloved, that a real holiday should be celebrated with special solemnity. And in fact, what respect and honor should be due to the day that the Holy Spirit Himself sanctified with the highest miracle of His descent?! The present day (the tenth from the time when the Lord ascended above all the heavens and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, and the fiftieth from His resurrection) contains the great sacraments of the Old and New Testaments: it clearly testifies that grace was foretold by the law, and the law is fulfilled through grace. Just as once upon a time, after the deliverance of the Jewish people from the slavery of Egypt, on the fiftieth day after the slaughter of the Lamb, the law was given on Mount Sinai: so after the suffering of Christ, after this true Lamb of God was killed, on the fiftieth day, after His resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and on the believing people, so that everyone would know that the Old Testament served as a preparation for the Gospel, and that the New Testament established by the same Spirit who also established the Old. Apostolic history tells us that when the day of Pentecost arrived, all the disciples were with one accord. Suddenly a sound came from the sky, as if from a rushing strong wind, and filled the whole house where they were. And cloven tongues as of fire appeared to them, and one rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4). Oh, how fleeting was the word of wisdom! How soon will they learn everything taught, where the teacher is God Himself! When the Spirit of truth breathes wherever He wants, then there is no need for interpretation, no need for skill, no need for time to learn. By the action of this Spirit, the special languages ​​of various peoples have now become common to all in the Church. From this day forward the world began to be made known to the preaching of the Gospel; from now on, rivers of miraculous gifts and streams of blessings began to irrigate the deserted and barren universe, because to renew the face of the earth, the Spirit of God began to rush above the waters, and to drive away the ancient darkness, the lightning of the new light shone. With the shining of the fiery tongues, the word of the Lord of Lords and His commands became clear, having the power to enlighten and teach the mind and destroy the dominion of sin. But, beloved, although everything that has happened this day is very wonderful, and although, without a doubt, in such a consonant fusion of all human languages, the greatness of the Holy Spirit was revealed; However, let no one think that in what was visible with bodily eyes, the very Divine being of the Holy Spirit appeared. By His nature, being invisible, like the Father and the Son, He revealed only the nature of His service and action in such signs as He desired; and what actually belongs to His being is hidden in His Divinity, since the human gaze, just as it cannot see the Father and the Son, so cannot see the Holy Spirit. In the Divine Trinity there is nothing dissimilar or unequal, and everything that we imagine in It does not differ in power, glory, or eternity: although according to different properties it is not the Father, not the Son, not the Holy Spirit; but not another Divinity, not another nature. And although the Son is the Only Begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of the Father and the Son 122; but He is not their creation, but has life and equal power with the Father and the Son, is coeternal with Him, and exists in the same way as the Father and the Son exist. Therefore, the Lord, before His suffering, promising to send the Holy Spirit to His disciples, said: The imam has many more words to say to you, but you cannot bear them now: when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth: for it is not of Himself that you should speak, but if anyone hears, you will speak, and the one who comes will tell you. All that the Father has is Mine, for this reason He has received it from Mine and will tell it to you (John 16:12, 13, 15). Consequently, in the Trinity it is not so that the Father has one thing, the Son has another, and the Holy Spirit has another; but everything that the Father has, the Son also has, the Holy Spirit also has, and there was no time in which this community did not exist between Them: for everything consists in eternal being; It is impossible to imagine any time there, no gradualism, no differences. And if no one can explain that God exists, then no one dare to assert about Him that He is not: since it is much more excusable to be unable to say anything worthy about the ineffable nature of the Divine than to assert about Him something unworthy of Him. So, everything that a pious soul can imagine about the eternal and unchangeable glory of the Father - all this must be attributed inseparably to the Son and the Holy Spirit: for on this basis we confess the Holy Trinity as one God, that the three persons have the same essence, the same power, the same will, the same action. Therefore, we turn away both the Arians, who allow inequality between the Father and the Son, and the followers of Macedonius, who, although they recognize the equality of the Father and the Son, consider the Holy Spirit to be inferior in nature, not imagining that through this they fall into such blasphemy that will not be forgiven them either in this age or in the future, according to the words of the Lord: whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, He will be forgiven: but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the next (Matthew 12:32). And those who remain in this wickedness cannot hope for mercy: because they have removed from themselves the One through whose assistance they could confess their sin; they will never receive forgiveness, because they have lost their Protector and Patron. It is He who inspires us to pray to the Father, He gives tears of repentance, He arouses sighs in those who pray; and no one can speak of the Lord Jesus except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3), Whose omnipotence, equal to the omnipotence of the Father and the Son, is clearly preached by the Apostle, saying: divisions of gifts are, and the same is the Spirit; and divisions of ministries are, and the same is the Lord; and divisions of actions are, and the same is God, who works all in all (1 Cor. 12:4-6). These and other countless proofs, expressed by sacred sayings, encourage us, beloved, to the unanimous celebration of Pentecost and the triumph in honor of the Holy Spirit, by whom the entire Universal Church is sanctified, and every rational soul is taught. He is the Author of faith, the Teacher of wisdom, the Source of love, the sign of purity, the cause of all virtue. May the hearts of believers rejoice at the thought that throughout the whole world, in all languages, one God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, is confessed and glorified, and that the sign that appeared in the form of fire continues today in action and service: since the Spirit of truth Himself illuminates with His light the dwellings of His glory, and does not allow into them anything dark and such that is neither warm nor cold. For this very purpose, we have been given the teaching of purifying ourselves by fasting and almsgiving. And that is why these solemn days are usually followed by a saving fast, the benefits of which all the saints have always experienced, and which I urge you to carefully observe with pastoral care! Let everyone, if anyone, through his negligence and inattention, has defiled himself in these days, cleanse himself and correct his life through pious exercises and the severity of fasting. Amen 123. By the Spirit of the Father - according to the eternal procession, by the Spirit of the Son - according to the temporary message (John 15:26). Bibliot. Patr. Concionator. tom. IV, p.p. 535–536; Wed Christ. Read 1838, II, pp. 175–183. You might be interested in: