Слово в неделю Ваий. Святого Епифания, епископа Кипрского

Rejoice greatly, daughters of Zion! be comforted, show off and be merry, all the Church of God! Behold, your King comes to you again! Behold, your Bridegroom is coming to you, sitting on a colt as on a throne! Let us go out to meet Him, let us hasten to behold His glory, let us hasten with joy to honor His entrance. Once again the salvation of the world, again God is coming to the cross; again the King of Zion, the Hope of tongues, goes to Zion; once again salvation is given to the world, again light is sent down, again error is dispelled, and again truth flourishes; Still the Church rejoices, yet the synagogue is widowed, yet the demons are put to shame, yet the curse is resolved, yet the Jews are in revolt, yet the dragon is crushed, yet the nations rejoice, yet again Zion flaunts. Christ is coming, sitting on a lot as on a throne. Rejoice, heavens; sing songs, angels; rejoice, mountains; leap up, hills; splash, rivers. You who live in Zion, rejoice! Churches, rejoice! Priests, sing songs of praise! Prophets, come! Disciples, preach! people, come to the meeting! elders flock together! mothers, rejoice; pissing babies, sing! young men, shout! peoples, unite! All creation, all nature, every condition, every breath, the whole earth, every rank, every age, every authority, every kingdom - we will all meet the King of kings, worthy of a King; Let us worship the Lord of lords, worthy of the Lord; Let us sing to the God of gods, worthy of God; Let us rejoice in the Bridegroom of incorruption, worthy of the Divine Bridegroom; in joy let us light bright lamps; Let us change the garments of our souls in a manner worthy of God; Let's correct the ways of life; Let us open the entrances of souls to the King; Let us bring the branches of victory to the Conqueror of death, shaking the olive branches in a godly manner. Branches from Mary: let us sing to the God of the Angels the hymns of the Angels; Let us raise our voices with great reverence with the little ones. Peoples! Let us shout with the people the song of the people: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. God the Lord and appeared to us - appeared to us sitting in darkness and the shadow of death; appeared - the fallen revolt; appeared - liberation of captives; appeared - the sight of the blind; appeared - consolation for those who cry; appeared - peace for the toilers; appeared - peace for the toilers; appeared - thirsty for drink; appeared - vengeance for the oppressed; appeared - deliverance for the dead; appeared - desperate consolation; appeared - separated connection; appeared - healing of the sick; appeared - overwhelmed by silence. Therefore, we, the peoples, together with the people, will now cry out to Christ, saying: Hosanna, that is, save us, in the highest, O God! Oh, a new, unheard of event and miracle! Yesterday Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, and now He Himself is coming to death. Yesterday He, as Life, gave life to another, and now the Giver of Life Himself goes to accept death. Yesterday He allowed the burial shrouds of Lazarus, and now He Himself goes voluntarily to be bound by the same burial shrouds. Yesterday He brought man out of darkness; and now He Himself goes, so that for man’s sake He may be placed in darkness and in the shadow of death. Yesterday, before the six days of Easter, He walked for three days to revive the four-day-old and return one brother to the two sisters; and now He Himself goes to the cross. But to Mary, Christ gave Himself who lay in the tomb for four days, and to the Church - Himself for three days. There Bethany alone is surprised, here the whole Church celebrates: She celebrates the holidays, having among her the King of disembodied spirits, as her Bridegroom and at the same time her King. She celebrates this festival like a fruitful olive branch in the house of God, many-leaved and shady; celebrates like the spring lily flourishing in paradise. In it, Christ, like a truly blooming plant, does not judge, but saves the world; in it Christ, like a true violet, heals the infirmities of the sick; in it He is like a vine, according to His word: I am the true vine (John 15:1); in it He is like an olive tree, anointing with mercy those who trust in Him; in it He is like an eternal branch that grew from the root of Jesse uncultivated and without human seed; He is in her like an inexhaustible source; it does not contain Pishon, Geon, Tigris and Euphrates; but Matthew, Mark, Luke and John will solder the paradise of the Church of Christ. Here we, a new people, like a fruitful olive branch, all now, with olive branches in our hands, pray to the merciful Christ. Planted in the house of God, like spring plants, flourishing in His courts, we celebrate, seeing that the winter of the law has passed. Celebrate, O Church of Christ, rejoicing not figuratively and physically, but spiritually. Celebrate this festival, seeing the fall of idols and the uprising of churches. For now I can appeal to you with the sacred and sublime voice of Paul: the old things have passed away, everything is new (2 Cor. 5:17), and, moreover, wonderful things. Therefore rejoice in the Lord; Rejoice, new people of Christ. Rejoice, Church of Christ; rejoice and rejoice, daughter of God: for all the glory, internal and external, belongs to you, as the daughter of the King Christ. You are no longer a widow, but a beautiful Bride of God. You no longer stand at the left hand of God for idolatry, but at His right hand, adorned with the knowledge of God. You are no longer of slave blood, but sealed with the Divine Blood. Behold the grace of the day! Behold the grace of the festival! Therefore rejoice and be glad, daughter of Zion; Be comforted and rejoice, all the Church of God. Lift up your eyes around, and see your children gathered together (Isa. 60:4), the once scattered children of paganism. Look at the greatness of the festival; look at the consonant singing of the people; look how all tongues united to praise into one tongue, and all lips merged, as it were, into one mouth. Look how the peoples, once brutal, under your leadership, have become meek sheep. Listen to the exclamations of the celebrating peoples, with which they imitate the disembodied Angels; listen to the consonant singing and the face of the disembodied; look at the positions and order of the Angels. I hear chants similar to the chants of Angels; I see young lambs, children crying out to Christ: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes! Together with them, with joyful applause, you, too, exclaim in a bright and solemn voice, proclaiming both the lordship of the celebration and your gratitude: Behold, and the children whom God has given me (Ps. 8:18), - I was once childless, and reproached for barrenness. Blessed is he who comes, but he who comes in the name of the Lord, God the Lord, appears to us. Nothing is coming, inconceivable; coming by no one Unstoppable. Blessed is He who comes and does not leave heaven; may He be blessed in Himself, and again (blessed) as He who comes in the glory of the Divine; Blessed is he who apparently comes to me on a foal, as on a Cherub. Listen now to what the Evangelist, the sacred proclaimer of the Holiday, says. When the Lord approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, He sent two of His disciples, saying: “Go to the opposite village, and when you enter it, you will find a donkey tied and a colt, and when you have untied them, bring them to Me.” And the disciples did as Jesus commanded them, and they put their clothes on the colt, and Jesus sat down. When He drew near, and began to descend from the Mount of Olives, Many of the people who came to the holiday took palm branches and went out to meet Jesus, and those preceding and accompanying exclaimed: Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Matt. 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-15). and now the remembered entrance into Zion of the King of Kings! Such is the bright and popular entry of the Creator of all things, which took place on this day! Therefore, brethren, as once the people came to the feast, let us now go out to meet Him all: the visible and invisible world, the prophets and teachers who preceded us in time, and those who follow the foal, who believe in God together. Now let everything that is heavenly and earthly and the underworld be glorified; Let every mouth and every breath be opened to glorify God. Let the cherubim cry: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Trisholy Lord of hosts, the heavens and earth are full of His glory.” Let the seraphim praise; Let the prophets preach. Let one say: let the heavens rejoice, and the earth rejoice (Ps. 95:11); another: rejoice greatly, daughters of Zion; preach, daughters of Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9); another, looking at the King Christ, may exclaim: Behold, the Lamb of God, take away the sins of the world (John 1:29); and let another preach about our Lord: This is our God, it will not be imputed to Him (Baruch 3:36); another: both the Husband and at the same time God; East is His name (Zechariah 6:12). And David, looking at Christ, who was to come from Him according to the flesh, let him say: God is the Lord, and He appeared to us (Ps. 117:27). And in another place, bending his knees, let him again cry out to Christ: Let all the earth worship You (Ps. 65:4); and again let him exhort the people, saying: make a feast in the frequenting ways of the altars (Psalm 118:27). This is how the Lord’s entry into Zion by lot was celebrated before! The consonant singing of peoples was heard everywhere; everywhere are the faces of the Fathers, the assemblies of the Saints, the spirits of the Prophets, the youths of the Jews, the babies of mothers, many Angels. Some extended their arms; others held palm branches; some followed behind, others cut branches, others wove olive shoots; some untied the lots, others spread out the clothes; some opened the gates, others cleared the paths; some prepared lots, others proclaimed victory; some shook branches, others said to the babies: “Praise the Lord, you children,” and the children answered: Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Here is a new, unheard of event and miracle in this holiday! Children confess Christ as God: but the Priests revile Him. Peeing babies worship, and Teachers commit impiety. Children exclaim: Hosanna; and their fathers cry out: let him be crucified. Those come to Christ with palm branches, but these come out against Him with malice. They cut the branches, and these prepare the tree of the cross. Children spread their clothes for Christ; and the soldiers share the garments of Christ. Children raise Christ to the lot; and the elders lift Christ to the cross. The children fell at the feet of Christ, and these nailed the feet of Christ. Children bring glory to Christ, and these bring value to Him; those are honor, and these are gall. The children shake palm branches, and they pierce Him with a spear. Children glorify Christ sitting on the colt; and these sell Him. The knowledge of the ox who had acquired and (Isa. 1:3), Born in a manger, and the new pagan people submitted to their Lord; Israel alone did not recognize Christ their God. The tribes, once pagan, became the tribe of God: those who were without law obeyed the law; and those who were under the law became lawbreakers. Let it be this way: you did not honor the Prophets, beat the Priests, transformed the Scriptures, violated the Covenant, sawed down the Righteous, humiliated Moses, sacrificed sons, desecrated the church, disobeyed the commandments of God, did not believe in Christ, reviled Divine miracles, did not believe the miracle of Lazarus, did not believe the blind who received their sight. But what can you say about these children? What conclusion can you draw about the hymns of pissing babies? Tell me: who enlightened them? who taught? Or who aroused? Who made it smart? who unexpectedly gave the word to those unskilled in speech, if not Christ, the eternal Word? Nowadays children and infants, holding their nipples with one hand, shake palm branches to Christ with the other and sing the angelic praises. Nature, unskilled in words, suddenly becomes capable of talking about God, suddenly brings to God, as a gift, a prophetic word - the song of the disembodied, and exclaims: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, God the Lord, and has appeared to us. At the same time, I, for my part, out of the duty imposed on me by gratitude and celebration, dare to ask these sacred youths: what are you saying, youths of God, youths singing praises? Who gave us such an ability to sing the praises of the Cherubim? How did it happen that, seeing Christ sitting on the colt, which is characteristic of man, you exclaim to Him: Hosanna in the highest, which is only fitting for God? So, - the God-born youths answer us, - although Christ sits on a sensual lot, He never moves away from the bosom of the Father; and although He sits on a colt, He does not leave the Cherubim throne; on the contrary, just as He is with the flesh, He is inherent in mortals: so, exactly, He is with the Father, as the unfalse and true God, the Ruler of the world and nations, the true God and Master and Planter, the Guide and Savior of all. He enters the Jerusalem below, without moving away from the above; He is the Creator of the ages, from the ages and to the ages; He spreads out the sky, He walks on the sea as on dry land; He wrapped the sea in fog like a shroud; He set boundaries for people; He showed the limits of the seas; He expanded the earth without establishing it on anything; He wisely set a measure for the mixing of the elements; He clothed him with the beauty of plants; He stretched out the sky like a garment and decorated it with bright luminaries. The Cherubim fear him and the Seraphim tremble; The sun sings of Him, the moon glorifies Him, the stars praise Him, the springs serve Him, the abyss fears Him, the underworld fears Him, whales submit to Him, dragons tremble before Him, the rains serve Him, the winds revere Him. He created the nature of things, distributed creation and established order, He is the Creator of everything above and below, God is our Lord. To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen 159. Biblioth. patr. Concionator. Parisiis. 1662 ann. tom. III. p. r. 386–388; "Christ. Reading." 1838, Part I, 258–272 countries. You might be interested in: