Поучение 63 74 . В неделю пятую поста. Те, которые не унывая, во всю свою жизнь переносят скорби и тесноты, сподобятся от Бога великой и неизреченной радости. И на память святого Платона.

Brothers and Fathers! Any task that a person undertakes at first seems difficult and inconvenient for him; and when he finishes it, he is in joy and gladness. This is what happens to a farmer: he sows with tears, but reaps with joy and gladness. And a warrior, when he goes to battle, goes gloomy and sad; and when he returns, he walks joyfully. So we, brethren, approaching the end of the Holy Pentecost, no longer remember the burden of past labors, but rejoice for the sake of present blessings, and glorify the Lord Christ. May it continue to be so; Let us decorate our lives with such exploits. I testify before God that you spent the time of fasting peacefully, orderly, patiently and in tenderness, each of you carried out your service as it should and without reproach. Glory to the Holy God, who strengthened us to complete the path of holy fasting. Let this serve for us, brethren, as a semblance of the end of this temporary life: when each one rests from his works, “when Christ appears, our life” (Col. 3:4), “when he delivers up the kingdom to God and the Father,” as it is written, “when he abolishes... all authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:24); then the saints will no longer remember the labors and sufferings suffered here for the sake of virtue, and will receive eternal blessings. Who are they? The righteous before the law, such as: Abel, Seth, Enos, Noah, Abraham and other patriarchs; and in the time of law, glorious prophets, like the prophet Moses and others; and in New Grace; that is, the holy Apostles, the victorious martyrs and the rest of the Saints, especially of all the great John the Baptist, whose imitator and follower was our Reverend Father Plato, who showed courage and exposed the king in adultery, whose memory we are now honored to celebrate. But since the disciples of a good teacher must themselves be good, let the tree be known from the fruit; then I beseech your love, brethren; We too will do the same things that he and our other fathers did. And we are not careless about our ascetic life, or about the confession of holy icons. You have heard what the damned Alexander did, and how he rejected obedience and confession. Why did he suffer this? Not from anything other than the fact that he lived alone, by himself, of his own free will - which is why I command you all not to live alone, by yourself; - and because he indulged in the love of money like Judas. Both of them sold Christ; Judas to the Jews, and Alexander to the iconoclasts, like-minded with the Jews. In all justice, the Apostle exclaims, saying that “the root... of all evil is the love of money” (1 Tim. 6:10), through which some plunged themselves into great temptations and sorrows. In addition, I want to convict you fairly. What? You know well that this accursed one loved fame and primacy; and you, agreeing with him on this, told him that he was worthy to be a priest; he really achieved this exaltation, and he was blinded by the devil's vanity. Oh, what did this damned one suffer? He sank into the depths and renounced the faith, lost his Orthodoxy, lost the wealth of virtue, saddened us the humble and the Church of God. But the good God, who does not want the sinner to die, but rather to turn and live, may he give him enlightenment to see into what depths of destruction he has fallen, and to return to repentance; and may he forgive you for the frivolous and unreasonable words that you spoke to him; and may He make us all worthy of His heavenly Kingdom, in Christ Jesus our Lord. To whom belongs glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. See Patrol. Vol. 99. Page 601. You might be interested in: