Слово в день Сошествия Святого Духа. Святого Димитрия, митрополита Ростовского

Your good Spirit will guide me in the right land (142:10). The Holy Spirit, the Good Spirit and the Source of all goodness is one being with the Father and the Son. It is sent to creation from the Father and the Son, although it emanates only from the Father from eternity. The Father sends Him, according to the word of Christ the Lord, spoken to the Apostles: the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, the Father will send Him in My name, He will teach you everything (John 14:26); The Son also sends, according to this promise: when the Comforter comes, Him I will send to you from the Father... He testifies of Me (John 15:26). So, this prayer: Thy good Spirit will guide me to the earth, we have the right to send equally to both God the Father and God the Son, so that from both one source of grace flows upon us, as John the Theologian saw it in Revelation flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, saying this: and show me the pure river of living waters, as bright as crystal, coming from the throne of God and the Lamb ( Rev. 22:1). The Holy Spirit is called the Good Spirit not only because He is good by nature, like God (Matthew 19:17), but also because His Divine Hypostasis is assimilated with goodness, just as the Father is omnipotent, and the Son is wisdom. He is the source of all good: from Him come all the gifts that shine in the Church in the prophets, apostles, and martyrs. He is the Spirit of wisdom in Solomon, the Spirit of vision in Bezaleel, the Spirit of counsel in Moses and the seventy judges, the Spirit of meekness in Joshua, in Gideon and Sampson, the Spirit of piety in Tobiah, the Spirit of understanding in Daniel, the Spirit of the fear of God in the righteous and God-fearing Simeon; In general, all gifts of grace come from Him. Therefore, the good Spirit is called the right Spirit, the Sovereign Spirit: by Him the Church is governed and taught not only to answer for the Apostles and Martyrs [according to the Lord’s promise (Luke 12:11-12): when you are brought to the assemblies and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you answer, or what you say: for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour, as it should be said], but also for every good work, according to that true word: But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things (John 14:26); That is why He is sent to guide us on the path of eternity, to teach us His justifications and to lead us into the first inheritance. Without His Divine instruction, our human spirit does not know how to walk the right path and lead us into the right land. And truly, the human spirit is vain, fickle, lost, weak; and we very often do not know whose spirit we are (Luke 9:55): sometimes we are drawn by the spirit of vanity, sometimes by the spirit of impatience, sometimes by the spirit of pride, sometimes by the spirit of love of money, sometimes by the spirit of covetousness and, led through various rapids of destruction, we do not recognize the evil leader. And having these and similar obstacles in our path from the evil demon, who often deceives us under the guise of goodness with evil, while we ourselves are weak, we in every possible way need that good Spirit to guide us and help us in our weaknesses (Rom. 8:26). He, our merciful Helper, helps in various ways. Firstly, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness when He makes us gratefully accept all spiritual and physical sorrows from the hand of God, and praise our God for them. On the other hand, He helps us, teaching us what we should do and what we should run; Moreover, it strengthens our will to love what is good and eternal, and to neglect what is corruptible and transitory. The Holy Spirit also promotes memory, so that through it we may contain all God’s blessings with thanksgiving, so that we remember the commandments of the Lord, so that we do not forget the righteous and terrible judgment of God, which brings good retribution to the righteous and inflicts a worthy execution on sinners. Finally, the Holy Spirit extends a helping hand to our spirit against carnal lusts, gives us strength to begin Divine works and confirms us, so that we may remain in the service of God, in zeal and grace. The Holy Spirit helps us in every state, whether we are in grace or in sins: those who are in grace, so that we also do not suffer a fall from it; those who ascend from sin are led from strength to strength by virtue, until we see the God of gods in Zion; He gives help to those who remain in sins to rise up, so that they do not perish, according to the verb of the Psalmist: if the Lord had not helped me, my soul would have entered into hell (Ps. 93:17). So, the Holy Spirit was sent to the holy apostles and other faithful people in order to guide those who crawl along this path and have hidden demonic snares in themselves [according to the word of King David (Ps. 141:4): on this path, they walked in the weak way, hiding the snare for me] to guide unblemishedly 133 and instruct mercifully, revealing Himself in sorrows as a Comforter in darkness a light, a deliverer in troubles, a counselor in doubt, a sweetness in sorrow, a strength in weakness, a corrector in error, a mentor in ignorance. The Holy Spirit mercifully did all this to the faithful according to the needs of each, and to this day does not cease to do, if only we try to wash the vessels of our souls from sinful filth with a source of tears. We have an image of such grace of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Apostles, who were previously not wise, but when they were sent into the universe with the gospel, He filled them with reason, sophistication and wisdom, so that with their teaching they caught everyone to Christ like fish; and Isaiah’s prophecy about them came true: Behold, I have a preparation for you, all your sons are taught by God (Isa. 54:11,13). They were previously fearful, but the Holy Spirit clothed them with strength from above and strengthened them for all kinds of disasters, according to this: I strengthened its pillars. They were not warm enough, but when the Holy Spirit came upon them in tongues of fire, they were inflamed with love and clothed with jealousy, so that they could speak to Jeremiah: from the heights of the messenger, fire is in our bones (Lam. 1:13). That is why their words, like fire, could penetrate even stony hearts; That is why the Holy Apostle Peter converted three thousand souls to the Lord with one teaching, and then, on another day, five thousand souls. They were previously weak, but they were strengthened by the Holy Spirit so that no power of hell could crush their hearts. On the contrary, they themselves brought the entire universe under the yoke of Christ, abolished idols and subjugated the entire universe to the Crucified One. Such is the power of the Holy Spirit, who instructed them and helped us in our weaknesses. The holy martyrs were strengthened by the same Holy Spirit for all kinds of torment, and children and young girls, when their ribs were broken, prepared tormenting wheels, counting all this to themselves as sweetness and consolation, they defeated the tormentors themselves with their wisdom and tamed their violence. They were guided by the Good Spirit to the land of justice, in which land everything is right and there is nothing obstinate: for there is no temptation, sin, disaster, illness, sorrow and sighing, but always joy, joy, health, grace and glory. So, just as the people of Israel were accompanied into the promised land by a pillar of fire at night, and a cloud illuminating during the day, so the Holy Spirit leads us with His light in the night of adversity, and covers us with His cooling on the day of prosperity, and during our wandering does not leave us until we enter the Promised Land, the right land (for the grace of the Holy Spirit is for us like a shining fire and a cooling cloud). With His preceding grace, He leads on the good path, with His traveling grace He guides, with His subsequent grace He leads, He introduces with the gift of patience, and with perfect grace He crowns those led. So, no one enters that land rightly, without the help of the guidance of the Most Holy Spirit: for just as at sea, if a ship has everything necessary for sailing ready, but is deprived of only the beneficial wind, it cannot safely cross the depths of the sea, so we, sailing on the sea of ​​this world towards eternity, benefit from the breath of the Most Holy Spirit, without which our efforts and readiness are vain and fruitless. Therefore, it is fitting for us to send up diligent prayers with warm tears to God the Father and to God the Son, and with the Psalmist to cry unceasingly: Thy good Spirit will guide me to the right land. Your Spirit, God the Father, Consubstantial, - Your Spirit, Father, proceeding from You eternally, - Your Spirit, O Son, given from You to the world temporarily, - Your Spirit, Father and Son, consubstantial and consubstantial, may your good Spirit please and fertilize our souls, - may He make the evil ones good, renewing the old man. Thou, O God, send forth Thy Spirit, and our souls may be created, and renew the face of the earth (Ps. 103:1), - that earth which in ancient times heard: thou art the earth, and thou shalt go back to the earth (Gen. 3:19); - may the Holy Spirit renew the face of that earth with His grace, so that it may be a dwelling for you yourself, and not for the evil spirit. It is equally worthy for us today to send up diligent and warm prayers both to God the Holy Spirit and with our Church Mother to constantly chant: “O Heavenly King, Comforter of the Soul of Truth, who art everywhere and fulfill all things, treasure of good things, and Giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O Good One, souls ours! Purify us as fire purifies gold and silver. You are an immaterial fire, according to the word: The Lord our God consumes fire (Heb. 12:29). You are the fire that perfects, and does not crush, our souls. You are the fire that consumes the thorns of sin and enlightens our souls. You are a fire that drives away the cold of iniquity and kindles the warmth of love. You are the fire that cleanses the vessels of our souls from godless filth and arranges them in honor. With you, undress our souls and bodies, so that we may burn without burning. Through you, we have now been scattered by heavenly fire, so that we may escape the fire of Gehenna, the eternal burning. Through You, let the lamps of our souls burn with fire, so that we may enter the palace of the Heavenly Bridegroom with the wise virgins. Oh, Holy Fire! Woe to those who do not burn with You and do not shine with You: one day they will be enveloped in unenlightened darkness and will be cast into the fire of eternal torment. So, to the Holy Soul, the Most Divine Soul, the Life-Giving Soul, by the flame of Your Divinity all the thorns and tares of our sins fell, cut off every unprofitable branch that vegetates inside us, cut off the dry branches and those that do not bear fruit, completely eradicate every seed of malice from the field of our hearts, so that none of us ends up being burned in eternal fire. The entire Life-Giving and Divine Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Soul, One true God! Eternal Father, who created us, co-eternal Son, who redeemed us, Holy Soul, consubstantial with the Father and the Son, who sanctified us by Your grace! Expand the Orthodox faith, preserve the Church from heresies, establish the pious Tsar, strengthen his power, multiply your people, provide an abundance of earthly fruits 134, establish the desired peace, plant piety everywhere, plant hope in our hearts, light the flame of love, and at the end of temporary life, grant us eternal life, as the only one who is perfect Lover of humanity! Amen 135. No temptation. A short church dictionary. Note electronic edition Fertilize the soil. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. Note electronic edition See Works of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan. Rostovsky. Ed. 1895, Kiev, part II, pp. 259–266. You might be interested in: