Слово на Сретение Господа Бога и Спаса нашего Иисуса Христа. Св. Фотия, митрополита Киевского и всея Руси 125

When the days of purification were fulfilled by her, according to the law of Moses, He ascended to Jerusalem and set Him before the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord. And there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon: and this man was righteous and pious. And if he had been promised by the Holy Spirit, he would not see death, before he even saw Christ the Lord. And he came in spirit to the church: and when he brought in the parent of the Child Jesus, he did according to the lawful custom concerning Him, and he received Him in his hand, and blessed God and said: now you release Your servant, Master, according to Your word in peace (Luke 2:22-29). Whoever speaks of the mighty powers of the Lord will make all His praises heard (Ps. 106:2)? It fits in your hands, hold a handful of earth, and carry all kinds of words from your mouth. Let Adam rejoice today, with Simeon saying to Christ: now you release Your servant, Master, according to Your word, in peace: now you release me from eternal bonds, now you release me from aphids, now you release me from death, now you resolve my sorrow. Today Simeon preaches the gospel to all tongues and cries out about Him with a loud voice, saying: This is the One who is born before and ever, co-essential with the Father, beginningless, uncreated, the Source of life from the Source of life of the Father. This is the Child about whom Isaiah proclaimed, saying: For a Child was born to us, and a Son was given to us. And His name is called: Great Angel of Counsel, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Father of the Age to Come (Ps. 9:6). This is the Child about whom David spoke: the God of gods will appear in Zion (Psalm 83:8), and Jeremiah sang: for God has appeared on earth, and lived with men (Baruch 3:38). This is the Child, Who of old divided the sea and drowned Pharaoh, gave the law, and today, on this day, entered earthly Jerusalem. The prophet Habakkuk cries out about Him, saying: God will come from the south (Habakk 3:2), from the south of Jerusalem, from Bethlehem. This Child was foretold by all the prophets, this Child is sung by the angels, the Powers tremble at Him, the Powers glorify Him, the sun works for Him, the moon serves Him, the elements listen to Him, the sources submit to Him. When the Child saw this, the doors of hell were closed and the doors of heaven were opened; When the Child saw this, hell trembled. It abolished death, shamed the devil, destroyed the oath, crushed the destroyer of the serpent, cut off the mediastinum, tore apart the evil handwriting, trampled on sin, abolished flattery, restored the creature, saved our forefather, called on tongues, enlightened the world. He who comes from the south to Zion with the Mother of God, His bridal chamber, today comes to church. All the nations clasp their hands (Ps. 46:2), all the ends of the earth come: let every breath praise the Lord, let every tongue praise and sing praises to the Child of God, fourty days old and eternal, the Child of youth and the Ancient of Days, the Child who dries milk and nourishes the world, the Child carried in his mother’s arms on the earth and the bosom of his fathers who never separates. in heaven, the Child apparently entering from Bethlehem into Jerusalem and not being separated from the heavenly Jerusalem, held in the arms of the elderly and carried magnificently on the cherubic throne. So, let every mouth be opened today to blessing, let every praise be sung from heaven to the Word of God that has shone to us, let every tongue hang, let every soul rejoice! Today the words of Light illuminate the sons of light. The truth appeared when the King of Heaven came and enraged the church of heaven on earth. Let us all sing: rejoice greatly, daughters of Zion; preach, daughters of Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9). Rejoice, people of the city of God, and embrace Zion, seeing the coming of God into it. May the heavenly be united now with the earthly, and may the heavenly and earthly Jerusalem sing of the heavenly and earthly Christ in it. Smart Powers, rejoice in the heavenly! earthly ones, sing earthly things with the angels! Now the glorious verb is spoken about you, the city of God (Ps. 87:3). Jerusalem, city of the Great King! May the doors be opened to the One who opened the heavenly doors for us and crushed the eternal gates of hell, opened the gates of the tombs and closed the gloriously virgin doors. That Youth, Whom the cherubim and terrible seraphim tremble, at Whom the Heavenly Powers look, covering their faces, the King of heaven and earth and the Creator of everything, is now accepted by the mortal hands of senile people. Therefore, having rejected all worldly care for earthly things, let us in every possible way advance through virtues to heaven, as if on a chariot, seeing a bodily nature comparable to angelic service. And what praises of property will we bring to this wonderful, God-pleasing husband? Truly Simeon was a blessed man of God: by nature he was a man, and by virtue he was an angel; He had a sensory stay in the lower Jerusalem, and a mental stay in the heavenly Jerusalem; in the flesh he was with men, and in the spirit he rejoiced with the angels; he was even higher than the angels: for he was deemed worthy to see the Invisible and not only to see, but also (which is greater and more glorious) to receive Him in his arms. And, oh purity! What, according to the Divine Paul, the angels want to touch, Simeon could touch with his hands: for he came in spirit to the church. And, lo and behold! The Holy Spirit was a kind of chariot for him and, bringing him, like another Habakkuk, to the church, introduced him to the sanctuary, speaking to him and proclaiming: “Come, come, dear elder, so that you will see and know a wonderful event before what was promised to you; see with your sensual eye and with your own hands bear the King of heaven and earth and your Creator, and finally pass from bodily death to life in the spirit.” Brothers! With pure souls, as children of the church, let us go forth today brightly to meet the Lord, not through a legal rite, but spiritually—not working with the sweets of the belly, but playing with the spirit—not drunk with wine, but with the spirit of grief (Rom. 12:11). Rejoicing so brightly now, let us decorate the lamps with light: as sons of light, let us bring candles to the true Light - Christ. since He appeared as light by the revelation of tongues: then, like lights from light, we will shine more than snow, we will become whiter in spirit than milk, we will shine more than sapphire, we will fly to heaven more than a dove, and thus we will go out into the clouds to meet the Lord. Let us all now and everywhere triumph and celebrate, we will rejoice with the angels, we will be illumined with the shepherds, we will worship with the wise men, and we will be sanctified with the Church, which, having been established by the apostolic and patristic rules and traditions, philosophizes and preaches, convenes those who are distant, unites those who are distant, embraces those who flow, strengthens those who stand, strengthens those who waver, and corrects those who fall. Celebrating this, let us give thanks to the Virgin and Immaculate Lady Theotokos with Joseph and, having met Christ with Simeon, let us be lifted up by the spirit of Christ, so that we may become partakers of eternal blessings by the grace, bounty and love of mankind of the Lord God and our Savior Christ. To Him belongs full glory, honor and worship with His beginningless Father and with the Most Holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen 126. Abbreviated. See “Orthodox Interlocutor, published at the Kazan Theological Academy.” 1860, part II, countries. 457–475. Comp. the above (537–543 countries) conversation of St. Cyril of Jerusalem on the same holiday. You might be interested in: