Слово в неделю Ваий. Святого Прокла, патриарха Константинопольского

Now, friends, is our closest salvation. The present time makes us the most zealous, the most ready and the most zealous to meet the heavenly King. Paul also said this when he preached the gospel: The Lord is near; do not worry about anything (Phil. 4:56). The Lord is found close - in the quick giving of gifts. The night is past and the day is approaching: let us therefore put aside the dark deeds and put on the weapons of light. Let us walk gracefully in the days (Rom. 13:12–13). Let us light the lamps of faith: let us stock up on the oil of poverty, like the five wise virgins (Matthew 25:1); let us meet Christ awake; let us raise the palm of truth; let us kiss Mary's vessel of peace; let us listen to the voice of rejoicing; let us offer godly praises; Let us shout with the people the song sung by the people: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel (John 12:13)! The coming one is good; for He always comes to us and never leaves us. The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth (Psalm 145:18). Blessed is the coming King of Israel! Everything that happens on this day serves as a sign, an indication, an announcement of the royal procession. In worldly cities, when the arrival of the earthly king is expected, roads are smoothed, entrances are hung with wreaths, buildings are renovated, palaces are decorated everywhere for the king, praise choirs are composed everywhere - all this foreshadows the arrival of the earthly king in any city. We are doing something similar today, or even something more brilliant and glorious. For how much more excellent is the dominion of an eternal king than a temporary one; His service exceeds so many times the honors accorded to a mortal king. The meek and quiet king stands at the door. Carried in heaven by cherubim, he will sit down here on the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). Let us prepare our spiritual homes; let us remove the web of all brotherly hatred; let us sweep away the dust of slander, let us pour out abundant water of love to wash away impurity; let us equalize all roughness of enmity; Let us decorate the thresholds of our lips with the flowers of piety; Let us sing with the people the song of the people: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! And who will not call? Who would not praise these faces of those who come and follow - enemies of the Jews, friends of Christians? They called the Lord King, not seeing with their bodily eyes anything characteristic of royal dignity. They saw neither gilded chariots, nor beautiful horses, nor any other splendor with which earthly kings usually surround themselves in their processions: they saw neither weapons, nor spears, nor purple, nor formidable and powerful bodyguards, nor the elders who preceded them - they did not see anything like that; but they saw everything opposite: the lot was weak, innocent, young, naked, alien, ready for the yoke; and only eleven disciples were seen accompanying (Judas was already busy with the matter of betrayal). Looking at such poverty, the people, as if caught up in heaven and with their minds on higher things, rejoicing with the angels and imitating the lips of the seraphim, lifted up a voice similar to the voices of the heavenly hosts, crying: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! The bishops and Pharisees were indignant when they heard from the people: King of Israel! For they heard exactly what they never wanted to hear. They called Jesus having a demon (John 10:20); and the people proclaimed Him as King: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! Who put such a voice into the mouths of the people? Who inspired such a song into the minds of ordinary people? Who gave them palms of dates? Who led them? bringing everyone into obedience, in an instant, with a single wave? Who taught them to cry out in agreement? – Grace from above, revelation of the Holy Spirit. That is why they boldly proclaimed: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! Worldly warriors became heavenly angels, mortals - immortals, walking on earth - rejoicing in heaven: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! - they despised the Pharisees, turned away from the bishops, sang angelic praise, rejoiced nature, sanctified the air, aroused the dead to triumph, opened the sky, opened paradise, incited similar jealousy in mortals. For some of the pagans, excited by a godly voice to godly feelings, were disposed to repentance, and, approaching one of the apostles, named Philip, they said to him: Lord, we want to see Jesus (John 12:21). You see how the preaching of the people moved the Greeks to conversion; They immediately approached the Lord’s disciples and said, “We want to see Jesus.” The pagans learned well from Zacchaeus the desire to see Jesus (Luke 19:3). They even surpassed the teacher, for they did not, having precipitated, crawl on the buttocks, but hastened on the path of knowledge of God: we want to see Jesus, not so much in order to recognize His face, but in order to show our illness to the Physician of souls. Therefore, Jesus, seeing their intention, proclaimed in the hearing of everyone: the hour has come, that the Son of man may be glorified (John 12:23), - he called the conversion of the Greeks the glory that the children of Abraham rejected, and with which the pagans were adorned. God, through the Prophet, reproached the Jews for their disobedience, and said: If I am the Father, then where is My glory? and if the Lord is I, then where is My fear? And about the pagans he said: From the east of the sun to the west, my name is glorified among the nations (Malach. 1:6, 11). And now, understanding the pagans, Jesus the God-man cries out: the hour has come, that the Son of Man may be glorified (John 12:23). (The Lord) called the cross Glory: since we know the power of the Lord from the fact that He used reproach for glory, dishonor for honor, oath for blessing, gall for sweetness, acet for milk, slavish strangulation for freedom, death for life, the hour has come that the Son of Man will be glorified. The Savior called the cross Glory; and behold, from the beginning to now the cross is glorified. The same cross today exalts kings, enlightens the priesthood, preserves virginity, strengthens asceticism, binds marriage, protects widowhood, protects orphanhood, protects the desert, opens paradise, shows the way to the thief, drives out enmity, extinguishes envy, destroys enemy power, puts to flight armies of demons. Taking palm branches, let us go out to meet our Lord, and say to the Jews: didn’t you say that He is the son of Tekton (Matthew 13:55)?... No, He is a mighty, mighty God (Psalm 23:8). Let us flow, let us hasten along with the others, let us cry to the One who raised Lazarus: Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! To him be glory forever and ever. Amen 167. Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne, series graeca, vol. LXV, col. 771–778; compare "Christian Reading" 1839, 1 part, 295–302 pp. You might be interested in: