Похвальное слово на Введение Пресвятой Богородицы во храм. Святителя Илии Минятия Кефалонитского

Mariam rose up and went (Luke 1:39). The name of King Solomon was famous and known to almost all the people of his time. The whole world with a thousand lips, and the universe with a thousand tongues, proclaimed it as the God-created abode of wisdom, the most wonderful and outstanding creation of the hands of the Almighty God. The Queen of Sheba, accompanied by a large army, wished to go to Jerusalem, the capital of Solomon, in order to see some proof of his so illustrious wisdom, and better to make sure of what she had heard from the hundred-year-old rumor. Arriving there, she, in order to discover the generosity of her royal soul, gave him some flowers that were not in the kingdom of Solomon. In response to this gift, she received from him an excellent book on astrology, from which one could learn about the most secret properties of the sky and stars. How this event prescribes the current holiday! Wise Solomon is the king of kings and the Lord, the Almighty God, whose infinite wisdom is poured out on everything - earthly and heavenly, visible and invisible: by wisdom you have created all things (Psalm 103:24); Therefore, the prophet David says: His message went out into all the earth, and His words went out to the ends of the world (Ps. 18:5). The Queen of Sheba is the Queen of heaven and earth, the Lady of the angels, the Virgin Mary, who has now risen and gone, heading from Her country, from her father’s house, accompanied by not armed warriors, but luminous virgins: the virgins will be brought to the King in Her wake, in joy and joy they will be led into the church of the kings (Ps. 44:15, 16). She goes to the house of the mysterious Solomon, to the church of God, and here she brings Him flowers as a gift, that is, human flesh, which, like a flower, withers: man, like the grass of his days, like the flower of the field will bloom (Ps. 102:15). This flesh did not exist in the heavenly kingdom of God, since everything in heaven is immaterial and incorruptible. In response, the Virgin receives from God a book of divine grace, through which it is easy to enter heaven, the paradise of sweetness. Oh, blessed is the hour at which the Virgin enters the church of God, leading us to divine grace! Oh, blessed day on which the Eternal Father receives His Daughter, Son - Mother, Holy Spirit - Bride into His house! Oh, joyful holiday, on which Joachim and Anna rejoice, bringing to the church the Daughter, who will become the receptacle of the Divine! The Holy of Holies is decorated to receive the Most Holy of Holies: the heavenly rejoices with the earthly and the whole world mysteriously triumphs. And just as then, entering the church of God, the Virgin heard the kiss and greeting of Zechariah, so it is fitting for me to greet Her now with a solemn word. But since I do not have sufficient strength, I will resort to She who, having in the future to become the Matter of the Word, will bestow words on my lips for Her glorification. So, I say: “On the day of God’s favor, the transfiguration and salvation of men is preached: in the church of God the Virgin clearly appears and announces Christ to everyone. To the same we will loudly cry out: rejoice at seeing Zizhdile’s fulfillment! Mariam got up and went. Here is the purest dove, going to the ark of consecration, which announces to us that the flood of the ancestral curse has ended. Here is the Most Holy Bride of the All-Holy Spirit, coming to the palace to prepare marriage. Behold, the Heavenly Queen, who, clad in golden robes and speckled (Ps. 14:44), walks into the church of the King. Here is the mysterious stamna, introduced into the Holy of Holies to receive manna. As befits, the most beautiful maidens with lamps accompany the Mother of Light: it is righteous that with candles as bright as the stars, she should accompany the One who is as beautiful as the sun, chosen as the moon. When the Virgin walked to the marriage of the All-Holy Spirit, who should be the bridesmaids if not the luminous virgins? Oh, how great was probably the joy of the parents - Joachim and Anna, when they saw great holiness in their young Daughter, and in their little three-year-old Child - all the gifts of the Holy Trinity! Oh, how many songs of gratitude came from the lips of both of them to God for the fact that He gave them the Dsher, which, as they saw, was to become the holy treasure of the glory of God and the pure throne of the King of glory! With what rejoicing of the soul, do you think, Zechariah received the Virgin Mary! He knew the prophecy of the Holy Spirit that She would be Jacob's ladder (Gen. 28:12), along which the Son and the Word would descend to earth and man would ascend to heaven! Of course, this was only the last purpose of the Virgin. To better understand this, listen carefully. The Word of God is so sweet that it attracts every hardened soul. Therefore David says: Thy words are more than honey with my mouth (Ps. 119:103); she taught me, and led me to Thy holy mountain (Ps. 42:3)... The prophets and patriarchs, with intense prayers, tried to attract the Son of God from the church of heaven to this church of earth, so that He would deliver us from the hands of the devil. They cried: sit on the cherubim, appear (Ps 79:2); How long, O Lord, will you forget me completely (Ps. 12:2)? come and save us (Ps. 79:3). But because of the sins of the human race, God did not listen to them: they had neither voice nor obedience (1 Kings. 18:26). Finally, Mariam got up and went. Now the Virgin Mary comes to the church and here, having said: behold, behold the handmaid of the Lord: be unto me according to Thy word (Luke 1:38), draws the Son of God from heaven to earth: and the Word became flesh, and dwelt in us (John 1:14). Seeing this unprecedented miracle, the prophets crowned Her sacred head with a crown composed of stars: and a great sign appeared in heaven: the Woman was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under Her feet, and on Her head was a crown of twelve stars (Apoc. 12:1). Therefore, we can rightfully say that if the Son and Word of God descended and became man in order to save man; if the darkness of our sins is dispersed; if we are given grace to acquire eternal bliss: then all these are gifts for the sake of the Virgin Mary, the All-Pure Virgin. We are a dry and barren land, producing only thorns of sins and tares of temptations; but You, the mental sky, on which the mental Sun will rise, rain down the beneficial outpouring of Your grace-filled gifts, so that we may bear fruits worthy of our God. And since numerous sins deprive us of boldness towards our Master Christ, You, who have the little Child to hold, beseech Him to deliver us from fiery hell and to make us worthy of His heavenly kingdom. Amen 37. See Sermons of St. Elijah Minyaty of Cephalonite (Bishop of Kernik and Kalavrita). New translation from Greek. Published. St.-Tr. Sergius Lavra. 1902 countries. 406–409. You might be interested in: