Слово в день Крещения Господня. (О том, что чрез Божественное крещение души верующих возрождаются, и, прияв Духа Святого, приносят плоды Духа жизни; а плодоприносящие зло осуждаются вместе с некрещенными). Преподобного Симеона Нового Богослова

He who is baptized with Divine baptism is called enlightened; and the one who, although he believed in Christ the Lord and in the mystery of His incarnate economy, is still in the rank of catechumens, the disciples and teachers of the Gospel of Christ call him unenlightened, and they make general prayers for him, asking the Lord to announce him with the word of truth of faith in Christ and to reveal to him the Gospel of truth - for which reason the deacon proclaims in the church to the faithful: faithful, let us pray for the catechumens, and so on. For although the catechumen has already believed in the Lord Christ, he has not yet become faithful: the one to whom Divine grace is entrusted and who accepts it is actually called faithful; he becomes faithful when he is enlightened, and he becomes enlightened when he receives Divine baptism. For what he heard when he was announced, he was enlightened more than words, receiving, with threefold immersion, the Holy Spirit, and being completely filled with Divine light. Moreover, by becoming a partaker of the death of Christ the Lord in this sacrament, he becomes a partaker of His resurrection, as the divine Paul says. And just as Christ, having risen, no longer dies, death no longer possesses Him; so the one who comes out of the font of the Birth of God, that is, holy baptism (which gives life, or, better to say, idolizes the one who is baptized), no longer dies a spiritual death, sin no longer possesses him. He who is baptized with the Holy Spirit is already immortal from his mother’s womb, that is, the holy font, because his soul has received true life, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, and he can no longer sin, as one born of God. The Holy Apostle Paul speaks about this this way: about him being circumcised by the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of sinful flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him by baptism (Colossians 2:11-12). This is knowing that our old man will be crucified with Him, so that the body of sin may be abolished, as if we were not to deal with sin. Even if I die, I die through sin alone: ​​but if I die, I live because of God. In the same way, you also think of yourselves as being dead because sin should be, but living as God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:6; 10:11). Because we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3). Thus, what for Christ the Lord there was a cross and a tomb, for us there is baptism; and just as Christ died in the flesh and rose again, so we die to sin and are raised to virtue by the power of God: just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so may we also walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4). It is possible that, after rebirth in baptism, the faithful also sin; but the faithful sinner is subjected to church punishment, that is, confession of sin, with shame, tears and sighs, not only because he sinned, but even more so because, by sinning, he removed from himself Divine grace, which will not return to him as easily as it was given in St. baptism. There are two luminaries that shine on us: God is the spiritual Sun, giving light to the eyes of the soul, so that we can see mentally the invisible creation, and the sensual sun, giving light to the sensual eyes, so that we can see the sensual creation. Just as no one sees which places are level and which are not level, which paths are clean and which are clogged, unless the sensual sun rises and shines, so no one sees where the ditches of sin are and where the smooth paths of righteousness are, unless the spiritual Sun shines for him. A Christian does not walk in the paths of sin: for a Christian is and is called enlightened; but everyone who walks in the light sees ditches and rapids (and does not allow himself to fall into them). If he does not see them and falls, it means he has no light; he does not see good, but sees as the unenlightened, that is, the unfaithful, see: for they also see and distinguish between good and evil, and, however, do not shy away from evil, because they do not see purely what is mainly good and what is mainly evil. So, a Christian who does not see evil purely, with uncluttered eyes, is not yet a Christian, and he must strive, through sighs and tears, fasting and prayers, to enter into that true and perfect light that enlightens every person coming into the world. Christ the Lord then came into the world to grant cleansing and deliverance from sins to those who believe in Him. He grants cleansing of sins through holy baptism, and He grants deliverance from sin through holy communion of His most pure Body and His most pure Blood, for He Himself says: He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him (John 6:56). Whoever abides with Christ produces the fruits of virtues, and not the fruits of sin and lawlessness: therefore, whoever, after baptism and communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, does not bear good fruits is cut down like a barren tree and thrown into the fire. Whoever, after communion, does not bear good fruits, but, on the contrary, commits sins and untruths, his place is with the unfaithful and unbaptized, as can be seen from the words of Blessed Paul: How much worse will he be worthy of torment, even though he trampled upon the Son of God, and having assumed the blood of the covenant filth, he was sanctified by it (Heb. 10:29)? Do you see what sanctification is? He who is sanctified bears the fruits of the Holy Spirit. But whoever believes in Christ, and yet still possesses sinful passions, let him hasten to come to his senses, and, having become jealous with all jealousy, free himself from the tyranny of these passions, so that he can then begin to bear the fruits of virtue. For first we need to cleanse our souls from all thorns, and then sow good seed on it, so that the pure and good earth will receive it and bear abundant fruit. If he does not do this, but leaves the thorns to grow as before and choke the fruit, then how long will he wait to do this? Hurry to do this while there is a day of life: the night of death will come, when no one can do anything anymore. May the Lord grant us to be cleansed from all filthiness of soul and body, and to bear worthy fruits of the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever. Amen 103. See "Words of St. Simeon the New Theologian. Translated into Russian from Modern Greek. Bishop Theophan." First issue. Moscow. 1882, 387–391 countries. You might be interested in: