Слово на прославление спасительного Креста, чрез который мы освободились от (следствий) падения прародителя. Императора Льва Мудрого 19

Previously, when people spent their lives in innocent joy and pleasure, the tree was the cause of sorrow and sadness (the cause of the fall), but now the sacred triumph created by the tree (of the cross), like a star, shining in the world, dispersed all sorrows and sorrows. And just as before through a tree man was deprived of the image of God, so now through a tree he again acquired the image of God and returned to his fatherland. Previously, the fruit of the tree caused death: now by Him through Whom the cross shone forth, death and sin were crushed, and innocence reigned again. The evil demon used the tree as bait, and deception deprived us of that moral image, which we had not yet fully achieved, and sadly carried us away from paradise. And the merciful God gave us a tree as an instrument of salvation, so that through it we can easily captivate and pacify our enemy: through this tree God gave us a means to settle not only in paradise, but also in heaven itself. The bitterness of the cross, which somewhat previously confused us, is now turned into sweetness; and for the demon who drew us into sin, it truly turned into bitterness. Now his joy, which he boasted about, as if he had struck us with an incurable disease, turned into poison for himself. He rejoiced when he saw me expelled from paradise, and the earth bringing me (albeit due to merit) thorns instead of fruits; but, behold, the earth no longer bears thistles and thorns, and is not cursed in our deeds. For the very nature of the tree, through which so much was accomplished, brought me an abundance of beautiful fruits. Now there has been a complete change from sorrow to joy, curses to blessings, and thorns to the sweetest fruits. The only thing that has remained unchanged is the punishment to which the enemy is subjected for what he did to me out of malice. The serpent creeps across the face of the earth: having voluntarily abandoned his divine dignity, he can no longer renounce the malice that is spreading across the earth. He devours the still heavy earth, which has brought sorrow upon him because he is trying to again attract into the earthly mud the one who, through deep compassion, has been raised from earthly mud to bliss. These machinations of his continue even now. While this unbearable sorrow and inconsolable grief for the enemy are constantly intensifying, for us everything that previously served as oppression has turned into peace and sweet rest. For the purpose of Divine Providence was not only to pity those who indulged in sin, (or) to free us from surrounding misfortunes, but also to turn the cause of sorrow into a means of glorification, and so that the enemy received a mortal wound from the same thing with which he struck us. And he wanders now, groaning and weeping for the blessed power of the tree, through which he once made me an exile. Ashamed of my nakedness, I fled from the face of God; and now I see him (the enemy) expelled from all creation. Because I then felt the need for leaves, you are now wandering on your own, deprived of any help. But I took off the deception of leaves and clothing; since I no longer need them, since I again received that ancient garment, which was stained through the tree, and which through the tree was renewed by the hands that created me from the earth, that is, those hands, the embrace by which Moses once foreshadowed, who set up a sign when he was pursuing the enemy people, the Amalekites even before the people were reconciled with God. And this, indeed, was foreshadowed by Moses (Ex. 17:11). We rejoice at the happy ending of what served as a prototype for us, since along with the Amalekites the ruler of darkness is overthrown with all his invisible army. Like the hands of Moses, the cross was raised, and with its brilliance it drives out, as it were, darkness, the devil himself from the borders of the earth. The divine tree is exalted (glorified), on which He who came to deliver these unjust and ungrateful people from death was once crucified by criminal hands and desecrated. That tree is ascending, which was once erected by the criminal hands of a wicked assembly, forced to put Life to death. And through this, the wicked winegrowers - the Jews - deprived themselves of their own lives, raising their hands, in their insolence, against the Heir. Although they recognized Him as the Heir, they, out of hatred and the fury of intoxication, did not accept His words, as Holy Scripture testifies to this. Even if they had understood, they had not crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8): the Jews did not understand, for they did not want to understand. Having turned all their thoughts into hatred, they did not recognize the greatness of glory, although obvious, and did not give room for reason to restrain themselves from such fury, striving in their intoxication only to shed the blood of the Lord. But they saw and recognized the Heir: they, indeed, recognized Him not in order to honor Him, but in order to put Him to a shameful death. This is the nature of hatred: it does not accept what it is aware of, it does not want to see what it sees. Under the influence of her, the ungrateful people, having recognized the Heir of the Lord of glory (for how could those among whom He shone with such great and so numerous miracles not recognize His Divine greatness?), as if unknown, they lifted him up onto the tree of the cross - they lifted Him, whose rod, prefiguring His greatness, plunged Pharaoh with his chariots and horsemen into the depths of the sea, and opened the way to freedom for the people oppressed by difficult times. making bricks. Now I will no longer be oppressed by the slavery of sin: for the saving rod of the world (the cross) has already destroyed our most evil enemy with all his power and authority over sin; for me, unfortunate and deprived of help, he cleared the way. Although my pursuer boldly overtook me, he was restrained from attacking by some insurmountable obstacle. He sees this divine weapon (the cross), and his power falls; its rays flashed, and the advancing darkness, which had lasted for some time, disappeared. This evil genius saw the royal rod, and the helpless tyrant, struck by fear, was plunged into the greatest difficulty. So what? Or, perhaps, you, the inventor and father of all wickedness, will spew out ugliness against the high - will you boast that you intended to stretch out your hands and raise the whole world to heights, like an egg without a shell? Not at all! But you will suffer a great punishment for this grandiosity. You not only cannot stretch out your hands, but you cannot even move them: they are bound and inactive by the power of the cross, stretched out to the ends of the earth. Indeed, God once left a man because he listened to your crafty suggestions, but not, most criminal, so that he would become your complete prey (for the merciful God was not so angry!), but only allowed man to know and feel his fall - so that he would better understand how he should fear and avoid your crafty attacks; or, better said, he did not leave (for I myself, by my depravity, deprived myself of His fatherly love), but instructed you that, under the pressure of misfortune, I would entrust myself to His fatherly care. And you thought that I, seduced by your deception, was completely deprived of fatherly care and foresight, that there was no consolation left for me and no hope of return, and that the one who was captured in the image of God was finally betrayed to your power! And you strained every effort to acquire it as property, like stolen prey! Understand now that it was in vain that you created this most dishonest deception, and in vain you drew me away from paradise, tempting me with the tree of knowledge. It was in vain that you were vain that you made me suffer, triumphant and exalted by the deceptions you perpetrated. Look what happened to me (however, you already see this and therefore experience inexpressible sorrow); behold, in place of the skull I have a tree of life, through which I will again receive paradise, immortality, unity with the Creator, and ancient benefits. And now you feel more jealous than before: because now you don’t even know where to go; the chain of your tricks has been overthrown, and you no longer provide opportunities for deception. Now you not only do not dare to hiss maliciously, but you even cannot at all tolerate those activities and those virtues that grow from the divine plant. Behold, the Lord will give me, as His beloved son, a royal scepter, and, having struck you, wicked serpent, with this rod, He will give me life. Now I have been given a weapon of salvation, with the help of which I will emerge victorious from all intrigues. O tree, the only one of all plants, fattened, watered by a divine stream! O tree that grew in the place of the skull and covered the whole earth with its shadow! Oh, tree, which, having overshadowed me with its shadow, freed me from sin! Oh, plant that grows on earth, but reaches the heavens with its peak! The angels see your inexplicable fruit and are perplexed at the immeasurable wisdom of the Sower. They see your fruit, that is, the salvation of people, victory over death, the return of people to their homeland, the removal of the flaming sword, the defeat of the devil, and trembling, and flight, and corruption and all his kind. And this divine power of the Cross, listeners, was once prefigured in part by that prophetic rod that devoured the work of the Egyptian spells and led the people out of Egyptian slavery (Exodus 14:16), and in part by the one whose blow caused an abundance of water to flow from the rock, and which quenched the tormenting thirst when the people passed through the desert (Exodus 15:25), and in part - and the one who, having blossomed, showed by his growth the election of the high priest (Num. 17:8). Now this rod is also worshiped by the oldest patriarch (of the Jews), as a royal scepter, which is the gracious rod of the Son. The saving tree of the cross was intended for the worship not only of those whom the Father gave to His Son as an inheritance, but also for the elder of Israel himself, who appears to be the father of the One who was born without a Father. That the Jews are still slow in knowing the truth does not at all contradict my words: for, according to the Divine saying, even though the number of the sons of Israel were as great as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved (Rom. 9:27). But there is no salvation in anyone, only in the Crucified Only Begotten (Acts 4:12). However, all these and similar pre-images of the cross are not easily grasped by the mind, not just by words. Let us see what are the current manifestations of the power of the venerable Cross. Armed with it, the martyrs deprived the prince of this world of power and might. By the power of the cross of St. The martyrs severely struck the one who is strong in evil, and thereby atone for the sin, the cause of which was the weakness of female nature. With the help of this cross, spiritual shepherds prevent animals from entering the sheepfold and protect the flock from all their intrigues. By his power, people, forgetting that they are burdened with burdens, lead a life on earth devoid of the lusts of the flesh. This cross is the foundation of churches, the glory of shepherds, the crown of kings, the strength of states, the overthrow of enemy cities, the help of the faithful; he is the guardian of the whole world. He unites the whole world and destroys the wall erected by enmity, and sends peace to those on earth and in heaven. Oh, God's Word, who in His goodness created man and (when, through the hatred of the tempter, he was destroyed and drawn into a sinful life, tempted by the fruit of the tree) by the power of the tree of the cross, returned him to an immaculate life! You redeemed with drops of Your Divine blood those who voluntarily surrendered to the slavery of sin. You have acquired Your flock and people through Your care and foresight. You have given us, although undeservedly, Your cross, that is, a saving weapon, an indestructible fence. The power of this cross completely destroys vast hordes of enemies, subjugates them to His right hand and ends strife. Create, by the power of Your cross, those who do not know You, who do not know that the cross was erected for universal salvation. Create, so that with one mouth and one heart we glorify Your holy Name, for Yours is the kingdom and glory, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen 20. Curs. Compl. Patrololog. edit. Migne, series graeca. tom. СVII: col. 88–96; Wed Research by N. Popov - “Emperor Leo VI the Wise and his reign in church-historical terms.” Moscow, 1892, pp. 278–283. You might be interested in: