Nine words on the occasion of fires in Tambov and the Tambov province

Contents In case of fires. First word On the occasion of fires. Second word On the occasion of fires. Word three On the occasion of fires. Word four On the occasion of fires. Fifth word On the occasion of fires. Word six On the occasion of fires. Seventh word On the occasion of fires. Word eight On the occasion of fires. Word nine On the occasion of fires. First word 1 What should I tell you and what should I start talking to you about? “Our situation is sad, our sorrow is great!” The hand of the Lord is heavy on us! How long have we been tormented by drought? But before this disaster had passed, another one struck - a fire. We had not even begun to think about how to recover from this fire when another one attacked. Before this was over, the evil news about the continuity of fires spread everywhere, and drove us out of our homes. Our city is now like Job, who was oppressed by one disaster after another, until, having been deprived of everything and covered with wounds, they were thrown out of the city. And so, just as he sat on rot outside the city, so now all of us have almost been taken out of our houses and live in wastelands, coastal areas and dried-up streams, like bees driven out of their hives by suffocating smoke. This is what we have come to! It would seem that quite a test. But the hand of the Lord is still high. Everything that could depend on human foresight has been done 2 and, thanks be to the Lord! – the danger is no longer as formidable as it was at the beginning. But still, peace has not yet returned to us, a sense of security does not come and trust does not dawn on our spirit. What else should we do for the Lord to return our peace to us? I will offer you one comparison, and you yourself will guess what we need to do so that the Lord accepts His hand weighing on us. When the teacher, raising his hand, begins to threaten, all the students, who know that they are doing something wrong, immediately correct their liberties. Order will not be restored - the teacher will not lower his threatening hand. But what is our life if not a school of piety, and who is the teacher in it if not the all-caring Lord? Here His threatening hand is stretched out over us and does not fall. It is true that we have not yet come to everything in order, or not everything, we have put everything in order within ourselves, that He does not let it go. So let’s not be more ignorant than inexperienced children! Just as Joseph’s brothers, when he put them in a cramped position, immediately recognized their guilt and began to say to each other: “Hey, we have sinned for our brother’s sake” (Gen. 42:21), i.e., we suffer this because we sold our brother: so each of us, now in a cramped position, let him come to himself, admit everything that he finds faulty in himself - whether it’s small or great, and will make a firm intention to improve. Let one realize one thing, another another, each one his own, and let us all cry out together: we have sinned, O Lord, we have sinned and are worthy of Your extreme disgust; but do not leave Your mercy from us and have mercy on us who humbly repent to You! And - the Lord is merciful! – our trouble will probably end! Is the Lord consoled by our suffering?! No. But our souls are dear to Him, and as soon as they come to their order, He immediately stops any corrective disaster. Such is the law of God's providence for us! For example, David sinned. God invited him through the prophet to choose one of three punishments - either a three-month war, or a three-year famine, or a three-day pestilence. David chose the latter, saying: let me fall into the hand of the Lord. But look what happened! Since David's heart was deeply broken before the Lord by the very appointment of punishment; then the Lord, carrying out His decree about punishment, does not send death for three days, but only from morning to noon. And the Lord gave death in Israel from morning until noon. See what the power of crushing is! And not only that: as soon as David saw the angel beating people, he cried out: Behold, I have sinned! - that is, as soon as he completely realized that all the guilt was on him alone, and repented, then at that very moment the Lord commanded the angel destroying people: enough now; Take away your hand (2 Samuel 24)! So the punishing hand of God is lowered! Who did it? Repentance. Let us also turn to him, and we will see mercy. For this is probably the only thing the Lord is waiting for, to have mercy on us. “God could have immediately stopped every disaster,” says St. Chrysostom - but He does not stop grieving until He sees that conversion and repentance have taken place in us, firm and unshakable. And, therefore, when this last thing happens, troubles will immediately cease by the merciful hand of the Lord. Just as a goldsmith immediately takes gold out of the forge when he sees that it has been thoroughly cleaned, so God immediately takes away the clouds of troubles when he sees that we have completely reformed.” Yes, if we had started repentance and correction earlier, then this misfortune would not have befallen us at all. If we had understood the drought, the fires would not have come. But just as during the drought our churches were empty and our places of entertainment were full; then new admonition was needed. And here it is! And that this is so can be judged by the example of Nineveh. What is more menacing than that definition: three more days, and Nineveh will turn into a city! And yet Nineveh remained intact. From what; because as soon as the prophet announced to the Ninevites about the execution of God that was prepared for them, they immediately repented before the Lord in sackcloth and ashes. They repented and were spared; for the Lord does not seek destruction, but salvation. “I,” he says, “will speak against the tongue and against the kingdom, that I will uproot and destroy and waste. See how! - I will waste, I will destroy, I will eradicate... What a formidable definition! What then? If that tongue turns from all its wickedness, then I will repent of the evils I have thought to do to them (Jer. 18:7-8). That is, if the people repent and correct themselves, then no matter how threatening the definition may be, they will not suffer any disaster. Thus, it was in our hands to avert the cloud hanging over us. But we ignored the first admonition, and now we suffer a new punishment for negligence and carelessness, a punishment that is already more sensitive. What to do?! We missed it then, but now at least let’s take advantage of the lesson properly. Let us repent and bear fruit worthy of repentance: we will correct everything that is faulty in us. Let's put aside pride. Let us purge from our hearts the root of evil – the love of money. Let us increase mercy, truth, and meekness. Let's stop luxury. Let us reject fine jewelry and clothing. Let us despise vain amusements that kill the time given to us for doing good. Let us give force to the statute of St. Churches. Let us increase prayers - secret: in every place and at all times - public: here in the church of God, keeping ourselves in them, as in everything else, in due order and obedience to the commands of God. Let us do all this, and I can assure you that our desired peace will return to us. But - someone will say: “We are already overwhelmed with grief and losses, and here they still beat us with reproofs and strict lessons. Give us a word of comfort. Pour oil on the burning wounds of the heart.” But, brethren, I was not concerned about sweet words, but wanted to show you a deed that alone can bring you true and lasting consolation - and not only provide consolation, but also avert the very disaster that has befallen us, and restore everything to its former order and order. For there is nothing more powerful than repentance. You can, of course, come up with a lot of soothing words, but what good will they do? They can only close the wound from above, leaving the malignant matter inside. But in this case, new cauterizations, cuts and plasters will certainly be needed, otherwise - new troubles to heal our sinful passions. Repentance completely heals all spiritual wounds, and therefore makes unnecessary all the cleansing measures arranged for this by God’s fatherly providence for us. There is no need to say that we must complacently endure the disaster that has befallen us. That's what you do, as far as I know. And remain unchanged in this disposition, inspired by the example of Job, who alone suffered more than all of us, and yet did not cease to be of good nature. Outwardly, we are already similar to him. Let us take care to become like him in the inner mood of our minds and hearts. Look how his troubles have robbed him! - And yet he did not lose heart under the weight of temptation. But what? “The Lord,” he says, “the Lord has been taken away, as the Lord willed, so it was: blessed be the name of the Lord from now on and forever (Job 1:21). Let us also bless the Lord and humbly - in faith and love - kiss His hand that punishes us. For everything is from Him. Other persons involved here, if there are any, are only instruments of His truth and mercy. The source is He alone. And He does not punish out of malice; for he is dispassionate, and according to one desire we have spiritual salvation. Let us therefore surrender ourselves to Him, in heartfelt confession: Thy will, O Lord, be upon us. We will give him everything; and we ourselves will only pray repentantly and prayerfully repent, with the firm intention of living piously, according to all the commandments and justifications of God. And truly, let us not be put to shame in this hope. May Thy mercy be upon us, O Lord, as we trust in Thee! Amen. On the occasion of fires. Second word 3 The Lord has already begun to show His mercy to us by sending rain. Thanks be to His merciful condescension towards us! “It’s time for us to become more hopeful and calm down.” But yesterday’s, although small, fire renewed our fear, and we are again restless in anticipation of a sudden disaster - we have no trust in anyone or anything, and in every unfamiliar face we continue to meet our ill-wisher. That is why our holiday is not a holiday, so that the prophetic threat has been fulfilled over us: I will turn your holidays into pity, and all your songs into lamentation ( Am. 8:10 ). Well? - And let's cry... We have now gathered at the place of crying. Behold a field watered with tears! And who among the city residents has not spilled them here?! - So, according to your kinship, come, let us mourn before the Lord who created us, like the Israelites who mourned Jerusalem on the rivers of Babylon! The Mother of God will not be offended by this! She herself, I think, not without sorrow now looks at this place, which in previous years was seething with crowds on this day, but now it is so empty; - and this is not due to a cooling of zeal, but all out of the same apprehension and fear. Come, let’s cry! But why cry? - Ο to everyone. Let us first lament that our life here is full of troubles and sorrows: now the earth shakes, now the sky shakes, now water rushes to drown, now fire threatens to devour, now drought and crop failure, now illness and pestilence, now these visible and even invisible enemies constantly almost keep us in fear, worry and fear for life. There is trouble on all sides. How can you not cry here, especially when you remember that initially, when the Lord first looked at His creations, there was all the goodness in them? - Of course, we ourselves are to blame for this, and we are righteously condemned to bear the burden of this life. But still one cannot help but grieve that this is the case, and that our land, once beautiful, has now been turned into a vale of tears. How many people will encounter clear days in their life?! “And even those are given only so that we do not fall into despair, only to maintain the faith that not everything is lost, that the Lord is not completely angry, and there is hope of deliverance from troubles, although in a way only known to God. Then we will move on to crying, especially because we sin, and with our sins we further increase the sorrow of our stay on earth - we anger God and give Him the work of inflicting punishments on us for our iniquities. It is a pity for the Lord to punish us, but it is even more a pity to leave us without punishment. Because if the Lord does not punish our sins and iniquities, then our land will become worse than hell, and evil will soon destroy our entire race. How can we not cry, thinking that we are locked in such opposition on all sides! With our sins we upset ourselves, and cause harm to others, and we annoy the Lord and disturb the invisible world: but we continue to sin and become more and more entangled in troubles and needs. At least it is no less gratifying that there were and are those who are being saved among us, and that the path of salvation in St. Church of God: but again it is sorrow that we see few of those walking this path, and we ourselves do not always direct our steps there. How can you not cry! Let us finally cry, just to weep, just to sow with tears, in hope that we will not reap with joy, as the prophet David promises: those who sow with tears will reap with joy (Ps. 125:5). Because what should we do?! “We can’t figure out anything how to improve our situation!” It seems that all precautions have been taken, but trouble keeps breaking out, as if from under our hands, and again plunges everyone into anxiety. So it’s better to sit down and cry, without saying anything and by crying only letting you know that it hurts and hurts. May the Lord himself come and see what is wrong with us and come up with a cure for our wounds. Like a child who cannot speak, feeling pain, only cries, directing his hands and eyes to his mother, and she herself, having come running, removes the cause and calms the child: we will do the same. Let us sit down and cry, with the eyes of our minds and hearts fixed on grief. We have, more caring than our own mother, a providential Lord who is quick to help and comfort. He will surely come and reassure us, as He Himself assures through the prophet: He will call to Me, and I will hear him... (Ps. 90). And even then, it must be said that if we loved crying more than joy, we would not have had so many disasters; If we had not madly indulged in joys and empty amusements, then the Lord would not have needed to calm us down with external sorrows, and thereby return us to that mood of crying and lamentation, which we must constantly have, as exiles from the fatherland. God does not despise a contrite and humble heart. If it were always like this, the Lord would not humble us as he does now - that many have nowhere to lay their heads. But, brethren, let us weep and mourn, but all in a Christian way, and not like pagans who have no hope. May no word of murmuring come from our lips, and may the feeling of despondency and hopelessness not darken our hearts. Grieving, crying and being sick is a human thing, but giving in to despondency and despair, murmuring and blasphemy is a satanic thing. Let us dissolve sorrow with hope, and a cry of tenderness will be born, not burning and tormenting, but spreading joy and softening. Let us cast sorrow upon the Lord, and He will preserve us; For whoever trusts in the Lord will receive mercy. We confess the truth of God in punishing us, and He will send mercy to meet it: for with Him is not only judgment, but also mercy. Let us endure in complacency; For the Lord is not completely angry, and does not quarrel forever. He beats us; Let us feel the pain, and, praying for mercy, let us strengthen our prayer with the determination not to offend Him with our sins. Let us cry out: have mercy, Lord, have mercy! - adding, moreover: we will not, - so that the reproach of the prophet does not apply to us: you beat them, and without being hurt, you crushed them, and did not want to accept punishment: you hardened your face more than a stone, and did not want to turn (Jer. 5: 3). Amen. On the occasion of fires. Word three 4 Have you, brothers, ever been in the work of a carver or sculptor? – If you have been, you have correctly noticed how artists of this kind, having drawn in their minds an image of what they intend to make, then proceed to work, with tools adapted to different techniques, cutting, cutting and finally finishing part by part, until the taken substance takes on a form similar to the insubstantial image that they carry in their minds. These works came to my mind on the occasion of the current feast of the Image Not Made by Hands of our Lord and Savior and together on the occasion of the embarrassing situation in which the fires put us. Having compared one with the other, I find that the latter in the hands of God’s providence are the same as the actions of a chisel and other tools in the hands of an artist, that through them the Lord wants to impress on us the thought that He has destined for us in His mind. From here, to our considerable consolation, I conclude: our present sad situation means that the Lord, as an artist, providentially took us into His hands, like an unfinished substance, however, suitable for dressing - and now, through troubles, like blows of a hammer, one after another, he cuts off in us everything that is unnecessary and contrary to the image into which He wants to lead us. In fact, what are we in the hands of God if not a substance processed according to His intentions for us?! The Apostle Paul, explaining how from the same womb, at the same time, the blessed Jacob and the rejected Esau were born, this is what he says: therefore, O man, who are you, who answer against God? The food says to the one who created it, why did you create me? Or the scoundrel in the clay does not have the power, from the same confusion to create a vessel for honor, but not for honor (Rom. 9:20-21). Isn’t it obvious that in the hands of God every person, or the human nature in everyone, is the same as clay in the hands of a potter, and that just as this potter makes from clay whatever vessels he pleases, so God, through His providential actions, raises every person to the state for which he finds him capable? Don’t stop wondering: where is our freedom, and where is God’s truth? – The all-wise Lord always knows how to reconcile this kind of action with both our freedom and His justice. Let us take better care to correct our short-sighted conclusion about the nature of the educational and educational actions of God's providence. We are used to saying when any grief befalls us: God forsook us, forgot us, abandoned us. But according to the indicated teaching of the Apostle, it turns out quite the opposite - that this means that the Lord has turned His eyes to us - and that from now on he begins to act on us with special care and solicitude - as the same Apostle literally interprets in another place: for whom the Lord loves, - says, - the Lord punishes: he beats every son, but he accepts him. If you endure chastisement, God will be found to you as sons (Heb. 12:6–7). Punishment is both an action that causes pain and training or education. Apply this to us, and you yourself will say the same thing that I said before - that the Lord beats us with our present situation: but this beating means that He carefully took us into His hands and wants, out of His special love for us, to lead us into some splendid image. This is the true meaning of God’s real providential action on us! Fix your intelligent eyes on it, and drink from it, like from an abundant source of sweet water of heartfelt consolation! So, we should not be discouraged now, or kill ourselves with grief, but rejoice in God’s special election and thank the Lord for it, and not so much bear in mind the grief as care about showing ourselves worthy of such good providence of God for us, so that otherwise the Lord would not repent that he took on us, assuming us capable of fulfilling His goals, and again would not leave us to disappear into obscurity, like worthless people who publish only crackling and dust - restless and useless. In these feelings, let us surrender ourselves entirely to God’s providential action on us - without contradiction, without perseverance and self-rule - so that he can do with us and from us what His holy will pleases. Just as marble calmly stands under the blows of the sculptor, as clay flexibly fits into forms according to the intention of the craftsman, and as any other substance submits to the artist: so humbly and humbly we must also surrender to the artistic action of Divine care for us, in the trustworthy faith that such a wise and powerful Artist will make of us not just something, but something great. In this faith, let us complacently wait and endure until the Lord fulfills for us everything planned for us. Not with one blow does a beautiful statue emerge from the artist’s hands. It takes time and time until the head, torso, extremities appear, and then the small details of each part are formed. Let's not get bored while the test lasts! If it lasts, it means that not all of God’s thought has yet been expressed in us - that, therefore, if He now stopped His actions on us, we would leave His hands as an unfinished work. And He doesn’t want this. Let us endure it complacently. Of course it hurts to endure; for we are a living, feeling creature: but we will reinforce our complacency with the presentation of that spiritual beauty to which the trial we endure will raise us. For this is what the Apostle writes: if you endure punishment, God will be found to you as sons. You see to what rank the Lord raises us with these sorrows! How great is it that we will have to endure for this! Sonship to God - what can compare with this? Therefore, imagine this future perfection more vividly, and thereby dissolve the bitterness of the present situation. For any punishment at the present time does not seem to be joy, but sorrow; Afterwards, the fruit of peace will reward those who are taught in righteousness (Heb. 12:11). It would be possible to indicate exactly what features of our present circumstances Divine Providence wants to imprint on us. But I think that this comes naturally to everyone the first time. Who does not see, for example, what the Lord wants to inspire us: do not rely on wealth and do not cleave to it, because it is insignificant and disappears like dust. Do not put your trust in princes and in the sons of men, because in them there is no salvation. Do you see how strong they are? Everyone backed down and left everyone to their own devices. Do not rely on your quickness and foresight. Trouble will burn under your hands and before your eyes, and you will not be able to do anything against it. Do not dream of turning the earth into paradise and know that just as day gives way to night and night to day, so joy gives way to grief and grief to joy. Do not be stingy, and hasten to transfer all your property to the heavenly treasuries through alms; for now everything was instantly lost and in vain. And many similar lessons were inscribed by the finger of God’s providence in the disasters that befell us. They are self-evident, as I said; therefore there is no need to talk much about them. But here’s what I think needs to be noted: these suggestions are imprinted on the heart and remain a real feature in it, not according to the law of necessity, but according to the law of rational freedom. Marble, for example, under the artist’s chisel turns into this or that statue, without any participation on his part. Moral traits from the actions of God's providence are imprinted in our hearts not necessarily, but under the condition of their free perception. Exactly, we are matter in the all-effective hands of God; but in order for us to be formed according to God’s intentions, we must perceive God’s suggestions with our consciousness, voluntarily bring them to our hearts, and inscribe them in our will as a law. And here is the final lesson for us from the test we are in: to listen, to learn, to bow to suggestions and turn them into a law for ourselves, or, what is the same, into a living trait of the spirit. The more suggestions we translate into a law for ourselves, the more we will have the features of the image that the Artist who builds everything wants to reproduce in us. The more such traits there are, the closer to the end of the artistic actions of our formation by the providence of God - the sooner the end of our shy position. You see for yourself what all this obliges us to do. Let us hasten to take advantage of God’s instructions! Let us hasten to follow the prescribed program, and soon we will leave the bonds of labor into the freedom of the children of God. Let us not miss the opportunity to earn God’s mercy and be enriched with spiritual perfections, so that later we will not regret that we had good in our hands and lost it through lack of understanding. May the Lord make us all wise for salvation! Amen. On the occasion of fires. Word four 5 Thank the Lord! Calm begins to overshadow our city, houses welcome their residents and the flow of business no longer encounters obstacles due to the absence of workers 6 . The attempts at fire, after repeated failures, almost ceased, thanks to the vigilance of the guardians of public safety - both always and especially established for this case. The named members of the 7 can now more easily attend to the healing of the wounds inflicted on us, as far as means allow. So, thanks be to the Lord! – we have good hopes! But we have not yet completely returned to normal order; we are still not without fears and embarrassments. Just as a slight rustle frightens someone who has been afraid, and how a sore spot worries with pain from a light touch: so we have smoke from a chimney at an unusual time, or a poorly discernible pillar of dust in the distance seems to be the beginning of a menacing disaster, and again revives already hushed anxieties. From this side we can say that the cloud has not yet cleared! Such a long ordeal! “And perhaps more than one of you has a soul crying out from the heart: relax us, Lord, let us rest!” Yes, let us cry out more earnestly in prayer, so that the Lord will weaken us! “However, we will not allow ourselves to be cowardly for the sake of something that does not weaken us as quickly as we would like. That's right, that's how it should be. After all, you are not one of the unbelievers who attribute everything to chance. After all, you believe that everything is from the Lord, both great and small. Add to this faith that reassuring confidence that everything that comes from the Lord comes not to our harm, but to our good - that, therefore, what we now endure was allowed by the Lord for our creation and salvation... And having established yourself in this thought, wait complacently for the end, strengthened by the conviction that not everything has yet happened in us that the Lord intended to produce in us. The woman, having mixed the flour and added kvass to the mixture, waits for the whole mixture to leaven. Will she plant grain if she is not sure that everything has already been leavened? - And again, having placed the bread in the oven, does it immediately take it out? - No; - but waits until they are completely baked. And from such patient waiting you get delicious bread - both leavened in moderation and baked properly. Will you praise a woman if she rushes into something and thereby spoils the bread?! - So the Lord, having sent us troubles, poured into us, as it were, a new leaven and waits for it to penetrate our entire composition. He has put us in the furnace, and is waiting for the fire of testing to work its effect in us. Wait, too. Do not disturb the Lord, and with your cries do not force His compassion to hasten by finishing what He began in you ahead of time, so that otherwise you will not emerge from these actions having not reached the destined measure. So the doctor, having applied a plaster to the wound, does not immediately remove it, but waits until it produces its effect. You will not deny that we are all wounded by sin and that we need bandages. Here they are attached. Let them have their effect. Be patient and don’t demand that they be picked as quickly as possible. Let the malignant matter be pulled out and the affected area tightened. We are being treated by a wise Physician, Who has no equal. Let us complacently surrender to His healing actions on us! Do not focus your attention and feeling on your present state alone - mournful and difficult; but rather direct the eyes of your mind to the future - to the good that will be brought to us by sorrow if we are complacent. Look, the farmer, having sowed the seeds with great difficulty, patiently waits until they sprout, grow and ripen, praying that the Lord will send rain and a bucket in due time. Does he worry when, in due course, it rains, thunders and lightning falls?! - Another is bored due to bad weather; and the farmer rejoices and has fun, because he looks not at the present, but at the future, - he cares not about the pleasures of summer, but about the needs of winter, - not about what he now endures, but about what he will receive for it later. Let us not complain about this present disaster, but rather give thanks, knowing what good it will bring for our soul. We will commit the time of ending your grief to the will of the Lord; Let us ourselves take better care to enter into God’s intentions for us, so as not to hinder His action in us, and thereby give Him the opportunity to quickly complete His work on us. God, stronger than we ourselves, wants to extinguish the fire, but waits until the latter does his work in us. So it's all up to us! We used to think that the Lord burdens us when he sends some kind of disaster. But it turns out the other way around: - we bother the Lord, putting Him in the need to invent such admonitions for us. So the prophet Isaiah complained about the people of Judah, that they were troubling the Lord a lot with their unbelief, stubbornness and disobedience, saying: Do you give all the work of the Lord (Is. 7:13)? This is what it means: the Lord, through His providential actions, brought the Israelites to reason - so that they would not deviate from Him with their hearts, so that they would not offend Him with their sins and untruths, would not indulge in insane pleasures and debauchery, would not forget the house of God and reverence for it and in it, would not oppress the innocent, would not be deceitful in courts and auctions, would not waste time in inventing means. wasting time to the detriment of oneself... and so on. and so on... The people did not heed the lessons of God. If the Lord did not love the people, he would immediately betray them to his destruction. But how He did not want him to perish, but in every possible way wanted him to come to the mind of truth and to the love of holiness; - so he sent him, for admonition, test after test, trouble after trouble, sorrow after sorrow. And about this work the prophet complains about the people of God, saying: what kind of work are you giving to the Lord, that is, that you are not corrected, do not turn to the Lord and do not begin to live holy?.. But for you everything is nothing, as God Himself says through another prophet (Jer. 3:9-10). So, brothers, the Lord is working on us today. We will not allow such a complaint to fall on us. Let us hasten to guess what the Lord wants from us and do it. What he wants, each of us will be told by our own conscience. Amen. On the occasion of fires. Word five 8 Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee! - Now we are almost completely calmed down, brothers! “The expectation of troubles, either from the duration or from the failure of the fire, no longer torments us and does not strike us with crushing fear - and everything with us has taken its usual course. Previously, either grief over losses or fear of new losses outraged the eye of our mind and we could not calmly turn to ourselves or discuss what was happening around us. Now we can, it seems, calmly talk about everything that happened to us. What happened to us, and what came out of what happened? – Is it a test or a punishment? – A measure of correction, or a sign of God’s rejection? No, the Lord does not reject us: otherwise He would not have taught those vigilant about our safety to so quickly and actively block all passages to evil-directed fire, and would not have given them the opportunity to so quickly stop its actions. No, he does not reject: otherwise He would not have preserved our churches, 9 which, having preserved, He gives us the assurance that His arms are open to receive us, and clearly tells us: come to Me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. No, he doesn’t reject it. If this were the wrath of rejection, who could resist and what force could stop its effect? – But now we see that the Lord is not completely angry with us, and is not at enmity forever. What has He done to us? “He took us out to war to show ourselves and others how courageous we were and how skillful we were in waging war for the salvation of the soul and the glory of our Hero and God. The devil slandered Job against God: he insincerely honors You; he only shows that he honors You, because You endow him with everything; but command to take from him wealth, glory, power, health, and you will see that he will fall away from You like an autumn leaf from a tree. And so, to justify Job and His favor towards him, the Lord takes him out to battle, without telling him in advance: stop, there will be battle, being confident that he will stand anyway. The fighting begins. Job is attacked from all sides. His herds, houses, children fall, but he stands like a pillar, unshakable: in all these things that happened to him, Job sinned nothing before the Lord (Job 1:22). The enemy makes a new attack, more sensitive - it attacks his flesh. But Job, even here, does not sin lower with his lips. The wife-adviser approaches with a flattering speech: “rtsy is a certain verb and die.” And this does not shake his firmness: if it is good, he says, we will receive from the hand of the Lord, lest we endure the evil. So the fight ended. Who is the winner?! Job is honored with the victory, but the enemy retreats disgraced. Don’t look at the fact that he became poor, lying on rot and in wounds. This is not what the enemy needed. It was not houses and herds, not children and slaves, not external splendor and color of the body that he coveted. He wanted to shake the spirit of Job's piety, and tear the word of grumbling out of his mouth, or place a feeling of despair in his heart. How he failed to do this means he lost the victory. Job justified God’s favor towards him, and God doubly rewarded him against everything he had lost. A similar thing happened to us. Has the enemy slandered us to the Lord? Who can tell us? “But it is absolutely certain that the Lord has now arranged a test of our piety. He wanted to show that it is not only the external favorable environment that keeps us in faith in Him, and it is not only the absence of losses that makes our devotion to Him strong. That’s why he brought us out to battle and allowed them to throw kindled arrows at us. You know how swift the attacks were on us, how strong the blows were, and how painful the wounds were! “But this is not a sign of victory.” How Job triumphed in victory on the dunghill; so we, with the loss of our houses and with all the anxieties that troubled us, could not have been defeated. For strength does not lie in the external position, but in the internal mood of the mind and heart. We hesitated, and the victory was lost. If we resisted, victory is ours. What exactly?! - Go inside yourself, and with your conscience, before the face of the Lord, either share the self-interest, or count the losses and deprivations. Stand before the Lord and force your conscience to give sincere answers to the following questions: - has the misfortune that has already befallen you been endured with complacency, or is it still only expected? -Have you seen the hand of God in all this, and not chance? – Were there not movements of murmur and doubt in your heart about God’s protective providence for you – in these particular circumstances? With tears of sorrow, did your heart rise up to God in gratitude? – Has your soul accepted the lesson about dispassion for earthly things to the point of feeling like a wanderer on earth? “Have those who suffered not darkened their hearts with envy of those who did not suffer?” Didn’t the victims rise above the victims, and even worse, weren’t they carried away by the malicious hope of somehow getting rich at their expense? – Did it occur to you that such and such our sins were truly the cause of our common misfortune, and was it our intention to certainly get behind them and not repeat them again? - Has it been confessed in the depths of our hearts that this should have been done to us - and that we are not only ready to endure this, but also everything with complacency and warm love, completely throwing ourselves into the hands of God, like children of a child-loving Father, who knows better than us what is good for us and what is bad - a bucket or bad weather?! If we can sincerely give reassuring answers to all this, then victory is on our side. Do not look at losses and worries, but at the spirit of piety living in the heart. If it is intact; nothing all losses. For deprivation of all the blessings of the world does not destroy the soul, while one movement of grumbling destroys the soul if it is not cleansed by repentance. If so, then thank the Lord! And if not, then woe to us! “Woe to us that we have suffered so much for nothing, and not only for nothing, but also to the detriment of our salvation, that despite such great external losses we also suffer internal destruction.” But, brethren, may our sorrow not be aggravated; Let us give each other the assurance that we all, like Job, in all these things that happened, did not sin before God, lower with our lips, and did not give madness to God - that, despite all the burden and sensitivity of the trouble, we only confessed: the Lord gave, the Lord is taken away... if we accept good from the hand of the Lord, will we not endure evil... As the Lord willed, so it will be! Blessed be the name of the Lord forever! – If there was something wrong, we will grieve about it and correct it. If something is weak and lifeless, we will resurrect it and raise it to inspiration. Let's take care of this; for only such feelings are a sure guarantee that the Lord will soon compensate for our losses and return us to our former prosperity! – May the all-merciful Lord grant this to all of us! Amen. On the occasion of fires. Word six 10 Thanks be to the all-merciful Lord, who keeps your city safe and sound! “You see the troubles that are heard around you, but they turn their menacing faces away from you!” - In the surrounding villages and neighboring cities, fire is consuming the property of civilians, and you, like some kind of shelter, are covered from its sudden attacks. True, your trouble was not far away; but like some unintentional blow, it soon stopped and did not happen again. So, thank the Lord! But, brethren, beware and take care not to lose such great mercy of God, and do not bring upon yourself the sorrows and troubles that will pass you by. The Lord's mercy and judgment are swift. Position yourself so as not to drive away mercy and attract judgment. Cover yourself a little, until the anger passes. Where to hide? – Under the merciful and strong hand of God, with a childlike heart devoted to God and complete submission to His all-holy will. Confess before Him every minute that in this mercy you see only His mercy, and pray that He will extend His mercies to you. Confess that you are unworthy of any leniency for your sins, and beg Him, not with His anger, but with His goodness, to turn your souls to Himself, remembering your great former troubles and your considerable present weaknesses. So, brethren, do not let the flattering thought enter your heart, as if you are getting rid of real troubles for the sake of some distinctions and advantages, as if others are more sinful than you - and therefore suffer; - and you are more worthy than them, therefore you are free from suffering. - No, not like that, but this is how you interpret everything that is happening with us! “We all fell asleep, indulged in carelessness, and began to forget the will of God and the holy law of Christ. The Lord, out of His love for us, did not want us to remain in this state forever, for there is destruction in it, - He decided, in the advice of His providence, to awaken us from sleep with sorrows. And here and there they appear, or they only hear troubles from the fire, as a threatening suggestion to everyone everywhere to repent, as if the word of God to everyone: wake up and sleep! In this respect, everyone is equal - both those suffering and those not suffering; are still invited to repentance and correction of life. Therefore, the latter are not considered at all better than the former. Isn't it even the opposite? – For why does not the Lord strike every place, although everyone needs revival equally? - This is because He does not desire our sorrows, but our awakening from sinful sleep. He awakens some with present disasters, and others with hearing and anticipation of such disasters. But don’t you see that in this case He makes some preachers of repentance for others? – The choice to become a preacher falls, of course, not on the weakest, but on those who are more perfect in mind and stronger in heart. Here is your interpretation of why the Lord strikes those, but not us. - This is because they are stronger in spirit than us, and we are weaker than them; they endure misfortune complacently, but we would perhaps fall into murmuring and despair. Those, despite the cloud of troubles, can see the finger of God in them and understand His hidden intentions; and we would, perhaps, be completely lost if such a grief befell us now. So the Lord spares us not because of any merit, but because of our extreme weakness. “He chose those - the strongest - as teachers for us - the weakest, through them admonishing us and rousing us to consciousness and self-correction. Therefore, thank God, and not only show compassion to the victims, but also give honor to them as mentors and saviors. Position yourself in this way, not allowing yourself to indulge in thoughts that are derogatory to our suffering brothers. Humble yourselves, do not exalt yourself; - so that it is not considered necessary - and against the will to humble those who exalt themselves! Do not think, however, that the Lord looks at us less kindly, or considers us worthless for anything good. No, and we get our due. They are honored by teaching, and we by prudent discipleship; Those are considered strong in spirit, and we are attentive to the ways of God's providence and prudent. That is, the Lord judged us in such a way that although we would not have endured the present disasters, of course, as we should; but we have enough intelligence and conscience to understand the troubles of others and rise to our own rank. Enter into God's intentions for you, and by your very deeds show what the Lord expects from you. And how He expects repentance and correction from everyone; then hurry to go inside yourself, examine what is faulty there, and make a firm intention to correct it for the glory and pleasure of God, who spares you. Now stand before the face of the Lord and give an answer: is it sincere, and does everyone sincerely believe in God, in the Trinity of the worshiped One, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? – Don’t be surprised by such a question! Nowadays, many people err in this, as in many other things. Do you believe that everything came from God, through His omnipotent Word, and did not come into being by chance? Do you believe that everything in the world - both big and small - is governed freely by the good and wise providence of God, and is not subject to some fate of an irresistibly unchangeable course of events? “Do you believe that we were created for bliss in paradise, but by disobeying God’s commandment we lost paradise, and now we are in poverty as punishment for that?” – Do you believe that from this state of fall we cannot in any way free ourselves and be saved; because the all-good God, not wanting our race to perish, sent His only begotten Son into the world - to accomplish our salvation and to establish on earth a house of salvation open to all - St. Church ; that this God-established Church, preserving the only reliable and faithful image of salvation, is our Orthodox Eastern Church? – And believing, do you completely obey all the commandments and institutions of the Church? Do you go to churches? Do you willingly listen to the word of God preached here? Do you honor holidays and keep fasts – that’s all? – Do you accept God’s holy mysteries as you should? Are you not wisely dismissing any prayerful and sanctifying institutions of the Church? Do you accept the church bureaucracy, and are you obedient to the priesthood that exists among you, as a face established by God to guide you on the path to salvation? Are you diligently following this path? Are you rich in good deeds, not missing a single opportunity to do them? Moreover, do you keep your heart pure from all wrong feelings and dispositions? Is there fear of God? Are they peaceful with each other? Aren't you jealous? Are you undermining each other? Don't you suffer from the sin of condemnation and gossip? Are you ready for cooperation and mutual assistance? Are you not devoted to pleasures, amusements, fashions and other sensual pleasures and vices? Do your children respect their parents? Are parents concerned about passing on to their children the treasure of faith for salvation? Are traders jealous of fair measures and prices? Do judges forget the truth in court? Are the guardians of order and security always vigilant, and do they look after the common good?! Inspect yourself for all these and similar points! - If you find that you are right in all of them, set it in your heart to succeed even more in this rightness, with the help of God. And if you find something faulty, take care to correct it - now set a firm intention to do so and give your word to the all-seeing God, who will spare you. This is what the Lord expects from you! Hurry to fulfill His will, so that otherwise you will not be touched by the troubles going around. If any warrior, when the alarm is sounded in the military camp, does not wake up and rush together with others to stand in ranks in all military armor; then either he will suffer great punishment from the military leader, or, even worse, he will fall into the hands of his enemies. Look, we wouldn’t be able to tolerate something similar if we remain immersed in carelessness when we hear calls for awakening all around us! - Of course, who will understand the mind of the Lord and who will comprehend what God wants? But regarding what God wants by surrounding us with calamities, it is not difficult to see His intentions. God sent a prophet to the Ninevites with the threat that in three more days, and Nineveh will turn if they do not repent. The Ninevites repented and the Lord canceled His threat. And for how many years did Noah preach: repent, otherwise God will drown you with a flood? “They didn’t listen: the flood came and took everything.” Here too, through the misfortunes of others, the Lord clearly tells us: wake up from your sleep, look around, correct yourself! “We will be attentive, and we will correct everything that needs to be corrected.” After all, the law of God’s judgment was pronounced long ago, and no one has the power to abolish it. Remember what is written in the Gospel! – The pillar of Siloam fell and killed 18 people. Citing this incident, in His teaching to the people, the Lord said this: “Do you think that those 18 were more sinners than all those living in Jerusalem? No. But I tell you that unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way (Luke 13:4). Hearing this, understanding this, let us understand the ways of God’s truth and, following their instructions, let us hasten to turn away the wrath of God, which is always ready, and to retain His mercy, which now covers us. Amen. On the occasion of fires. Word seven 11 You, sisters, were not much alarmed, and I was going to console you with my weak word. But, thank the Lord, your sorrow has already been dissolved by the consolation of the active participation of charitable people whom the Lord has raised up to help you. One cannot help but rejoice to find you in this state, enlivened by joy. Of course, you would have been able to bear the grief that befell you with a complacency worthy of you; but the Lord, condescending to the possible weaknesses of the heart in you, did not allow you to be under temptation for a long time. The wound is already healing and soon, perhaps, no trace of it will be noticeable. Therefore, I put aside a word of consolation, so as not to shame you by suggesting cowardice in you. Nevertheless, however, I find it indecent not to occupy your attention with what happened to you. Here, apparently, there was a visitation of God upon you: where is the visitation of God, if not to stop at feeding your soul with the lessons hidden there? “Indeed, blow and pardon, wound and healing, threat and mercy: the Lord wanted to tell you or show something special in you. What would it be? Let's not go far and get lost in guesswork. He wanted to test whether you are attached to perishable, material, everyday things. A simple lesson, but very important! - Remember your vows, how, when you took upon yourself the monastic life, you promised, leaving the world, to leave all its worries, so that in solitude you could serenely stand before the one God in unceasing prayers. All worldly addictions, like unnecessary growths, should have fallen from you outside the gates of the monastery. Like that young man who wanted to enter monasticism, but was always stopped by love, finally overcoming himself, he went out of the city or village, and, throwing off his very clothes, ran to the nearest monastery, and remained there forever, not even remembering what he had: so, naked from any attachment to material things, all those who enter them should enter the monasteries - and not only enter, but always to remain there as such, without diminishing this renunciation, but on the contrary, elevating and strengthening it. Meanwhile, however, even in the monastery, a person still remains a person. He needs shelter, clothing, and food. And all this must be mined, prepared and stored. You know how to combine this property and labors regarding it with the complete renunciation from everything promised at the beginning. This is primarily the art of monastic life - with visible worldliness, to keep lifelessness in the heart, or to contain everything - as if you have nothing. But just as it’s easy to get burned when walking near a fire, or walking through a muddy place it’s easy to get stuck in the mud, so it’s not surprising that when you have something, you become addicted to what you have, whether it’s small or large. It is not surprising, therefore, for those who are in the monastery to become addicted to their corner, and to their clothes, and to everything else that is at hand - to become addicted without noticing it, not even wanting to allow any addiction into themselves, and being offended if someone began to suspect us of it, or make hints about it. For outsiders, it doesn’t matter whether we have some secret passion or not. They see that the monastic order is being observed, and they are pleased with us, even ready to praise us. But it is not all the same for you and me, sisters; it is not all the same for the Lord, who accepted the sacrifice of our vow. With all our possessions, keeping an unloved heart, and with all our labors and worries, silent carelessness about everything is an urgent law for us! But is this really so - how to test it and who will tell us about it? – Self-examination is deceptive. Here pride will always distort, and instead of the truth, it will present its ghost; that is why this matter is not entrusted to him. But since the work of the monks is at the same time the work of God, and the Lord values ​​them as His chosen ones, and wants to show them perfect in everything: then He takes this test upon Himself and through various external circumstances - deprivation or only the fear of deprivation - allows them to understand whether their heart is attached to anything or not: - whether it is suffering from addictions, or is completely detached and free from everything. This is exactly what He has done to you today. He looks from His holy heaven at the sons of men and leads everyone in this way, so that He may save everyone. He looked at you mercifully, and, having disturbed your life a little, gave you a lesson: “Look, do you have an addiction to earthly things? Your heart must belong to me as your groom. See if it has deviated to something else”? – This is the real meaning of what happened to you! The predilection for the earthly and material is well compared to the rooting of a tree on earthly soil. The more multi-branched the root, and the deeper it sends out its branches, the harder the tree stands and the more difficult it is to pull it out. Equally, the more attachments the heart has and the stronger these attachments, the more difficult it is to tear it away from the earth, and the more painful it is for the heart when it is torn from it against its will. Applying this to your circumstances, this is what I find: - as if a gardener or the owner of a garden walked through the garden and tried first one tree and then another to see if they were firmly seated; So the Lord, your Provider and Guardian, especially now touched you and disturbed you in order to test whether you have not taken deep roots of addiction to earthly things, whether your heart easily parted with everything that you have, whether you are as free as a bird is free, flying from one place to another not only without pain, but also with pleasure. This is what the Lord wanted to lead you to! But what is in you and with you? “What is in you, you will determine for yourself with your conscience, and hasten to renew and purify your covenant with the Lord, Who sees everything.” Outsiders cannot speak about your inner state of true judgment. Neither your cries, nor your anxiety, nor your tears are sure signs of your addiction to things. All this may be the result of an unexpected fright and its ongoing effect. Only God and your conscience can see true addiction. There, having gone inside yourself, tell the Lord in the secret of your heart whether your heart is guilty before Him or not. – Do not be ashamed of self-condemnation and do not impose on yourself what is not in you. The Lord loves sincerity and truth. With this righteous face illuminated, present yourself to Him, and give Him an account yourself. For my part, if I wish you any consolation, I cannot help but remind you: do not leave this case without any verification of your inner dispositions and feelings, in which lie all the strength and all the value of your life. Of course, the fact that the Lord only threatened and immediately showed mercy can very well be interpreted as a good sign of the absence of strong attachments in you. But this is a guess, which we and you are pleased to dwell on, but with which we should not be completely satisfied. The judgment of conscience is another matter, and even more another matter is the judgment of God! – Reservations here are all aside: they are inappropriate here. See how your value is determined! -You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world! – This applies to all Christians: but in all perfection it can only be fulfilled by monastics. Take heed, lest your light be darkened, and let not your salt be overcome! - So arrange yourself! I’ll say one more word! – It is comforting to see compassion for you in those living near you! It's comforting to know that you are surrounded by sympathy! – And who doesn’t know how necessary this is in our earthly life! But let this not turn you away from your main sympathy - for the invisible world. Your life is the life of the angels. Move your attention and heart to heaven, and live there. This is both because of your meaning and because only in this way will you find peace for your souls, despite all the worries that are inevitable under the conditions of earthly life! – They say that the higher you are from the ground, the less vibrations and movements there are in the air, and there, at the very height, everything is quiet and calm, no storms, no thunder, no lightning. This is an image of the peace that a soul finds that has extinguished all earthly attachments and lives in heaven with its heart - in unceasing warm prayer and constant devotion to God. I wish this blessing for you above all. Then, no matter what happens to you, nothing will alarm or disturb your peace. Amen. On the occasion of fires. Word eight 12 There is a time to be silent, says the Wise One. And isn’t this remark directed at us, in the current circumstances?! – Grief compresses the heart and binds the tongue. So Job’s friends, seeing him for the first time in a suffering state, sat with him for seven days in silence, either unable to utter a word from the pain of their hearts, or unable to find words to fully express their compassion. What can I tell you that is commensurate with your grief?! - Of course, it would be a lot if I attached to you the word of the prophet Isaiah about the people of God: from feet to head there is integrity in them (Is. 1:6); but in every possible way it will not be far from the truth if you equate the state of your city with another image of the same prophet: it has no form, no kindness (Is. 53:2). Thinking about this, I’m perplexed whether to console you, or indulge in lamentation and crying with you. The prophet Jeremiah, seeing his holy city of Jerusalem devastated, sat down on its ruins and mourned its destruction in lamentable songs that now make up one of the sacred books. Jeremiah the prophet did not sin in expressing his lamentation. We would not sin if we began to mourn your losses together with you. But aren’t they already mourned, and aren’t they still mourned, more bitterly than any lamentable word?! “And what is the use of reminiscing wounds that have begun to gradually heal over time?!” - So let’s look for better words of consolation! In this regard, if compassion can console you, I will sympathize with you with all my soul, and I testify that everyone who receives the news of the disaster that has befallen you will sincerely sympathize with you. If prayer can bring down consolation; then I prayed and pray my sinful prayer, so that the God of all joy, the Father of generosity, Himself will pour consolation into your hearts! “Let us all, now gathered here, unite in this one prayer, and we will surely receive what we ask, according to the false promise of the Lord Himself: the one in need will call to Me, and I will hear him, I will remove him from trouble, and I will glorify him (Ps. 90:15). Thus, He who commanded them to fearlessly come to Himself alone for peace and relief will surely give rest to the toiling and burdened ones. Lest we ourselves turn away from ourselves this consolation ready from above by some wrong feelings and dispositions regarding what is happening to us. The Lord sees everything, sees the most secret thoughts of the heart, and deals with us accordingly. Whoever turns to Him with all his soul and, despite any external troubles, does not sin before Him in his heart, will soon receive not only internal consolation, but also external mercy. Oh, God grant, and good luck! And he will prosper - just do not, for the Lord’s sake, deviate into wrongness in your heart. And, firstly, do not think that everything that happened to you was a matter of pure chance - that the eye of Providence did not see and the finger of God did not direct these incidents. No, if a hair does not fall from the head without the will of God, especially not without this will so many houses fell, so many people lost their fortunes, and the whole city suffered and is suffering. True, God Himself sends some disasters, and only allows others; but what is allowed, like what is sent, is still in His will. For if he had not wanted to, he would not have allowed it, and no one could have done us harm, no matter how strong and cunning he was. God is the master of this world, and He does not allow anything to happen in it against His will. Doesn’t it happen that some villain, having prepared everything for committing evil and having overcome all obstacles, at the hour when he should get down to business, is struck by fear and is kept from committing evil?! – God sends His angel, and He blocks the path of the villain, as Balaam once did. If the path is not blocked, if evil is allowed, it means: that’s what God wants. So confess in your mind and heart! Having established yourself in this thought, do not think further that what happened to you happened for nothing, that is, for nothing and for no reason. No. Whether the Lord allows or sends anything, everything is with a wise and good purpose - for our good and eternal good: - sometimes in order to awaken us from sleep, sometimes - in order to test our love for His Holy One. the law and the firmness of obedience to Him, sometimes - for the correction of the heart and cleansing it from passions, sometimes - for the appearance in greater glory of the servants devoted to Him, sometimes, perhaps, according to some other unknown plans of His providence - but always for the salvation of us and our neighbors. In this confidence, no matter what befalls us, we can always endure it complacently, diverting attention from the present burden and turning it all to the good that can be born from that good, as all the passion-bearers did, and as the Lord Himself taught them, either by the appearance of angels, or by the opening of heaven, or by His appearance. Turn the eyes of your mind and the feelings of your heart there, and be jealous not to miss the opportunity to receive from the Lord the spiritual good that He prepares in these calamities for everyone who wants to receive and preserves in himself the mood of the spirit due to it. What exactly the Lord wanted to produce in you by sending you your misfortune is not with our minds to guess; but, it is true, in one - one thing, in another - another, in each - its own. Only one thing can be considered common to all - this is the incentive to repentance and correction of life. In general, everyone always needs this, whether someone is happy or unhappy. For who can boast of having a pure heart even if he lived only one day on earth? - Who, therefore, can harbor the thought that he does not need repentance, cleansing, correction - therefore, cleansing, corrective and penitential measures are not needed? - If so, then, in the present circumstances, the one who will do best is the one who is more likely to turn to cleansing his heart and correcting his life, or, if it is correct, to correcting his feelings and dispositions. Tears are generally comforting, and tears of repentance provide even more consolation through the deep reconciliation of conscience and heart with the all-merciful Lord and the restoration of boldness before Him. Hurry to arouse them, brethren, and you too, and the Lord will hasten to you with mercy, just as in ancient times He quickly had mercy on the Ninevites, who repented through Jonah’s preaching. Thus, having recognized in our misfortune the finger of God admonishing us, let us all go into ourselves together and each separately, subject everything to a strict conscientious analysis, and if we find anything there that cannot be pleasing to God, we will make a firm intention to leave it behind and correct ourselves. By this we will reproduce in ourselves a mood of spirit that is capable of attracting from heaven not only consolation, but also mercy. In this case, consolation will undoubtedly be poured out on us, and it will be poured out immediately; and mercy can come immediately and can be delayed, according to the insight of God, who knows what is more salutary for us. But it is certain that the Lord is not completely angry and is not at enmity forever. He struck, and he will heal. In His right hand are both life and death. But whoever trusts in the Lord will receive mercy. This effective hope will be reborn in a purified conscience - it will undoubtedly be reborn and will undoubtedly attract mercy. With these feelings, come, let us bow down and fall down, and weep before the Lord who created us! - Lord, raise up Your power and come to save us! Amen. On the occasion of fires. Word nine 13 Upon my return, I hoped to find you completely reassured and in my first service to celebrate with you the complete cessation of all your troubles; but I am not worthy of such consolation! “I saw a lot of people suffering in other cities and towns, and I hoped to ease my heart with some consolation, having seen the beginnings of your calm and recovery; but here again the fears and anxieties that had subsided were renewed! Therefore, it is fitting for us now to complain in the words of the prophet: How long, O Lord, do we cry, and You do not hear? - We cry to You for being offended, and You do not deliver? – Why do you show our eyes only labors and illnesses and let us see only troubles and misfortunes (Hab. 1:2-3)? And the goodness of our present alone would be so little comforting! “So our future is darkened by drought.” Woe to us, brethren, for trouble will come from trouble, as another prophet says (Joel 1:15). The Lord surrounded us with punishments and trials, so that behind us there was a burning fire and in front of us a field of destruction (Joel 2:3), and we became like a man who ran away from a lion, but attacked a bear; – from her he jumped into the house, and here he was beheaded by the serpent when he leaned against the wall (Amos 5:19). What should we do and where should we turn?! Where to look for relief and what medicine to apply to your wounds? “There is nothing left for us to do but turn to the Lord in tears and cry: God, be merciful to us sinners!” Let us imitate in this the ancient prophets, who, appearing among the people of God during public disasters, either consoled them, then reproached them and urged them to repentance, or simply gave in to tears: they cried themselves and called everyone to cry. U lute, u lute! “Your vengeance is hasty,” cried Micah (Micah 7:2). Cry now. On all roads let there be weeping, and on all roads let it be heard: alas, fierce, alas, cruel, - Amos invited (Amos 5:16). And the prophet Joel announced to everyone: “Weep, all of you, as a bride cries for her virgin husband, girded in sackcloth.” The earth weeps because the fields are devastated, the villages weep for the wheat and barley, the priests weep, the farmers weep... everyone weep, crying out to the Lord: woe is me, woe is me, woe is me (Joel 1:8-15)! We will do the same. Let us fall before the Lord and weep, adding nothing except the publican’s words: God, be merciful to us sinners! – Let us talk to Him like this in contrition of heart: We do not claim any right to mercy; we are not worth them; for we are sinners in everything - in word, in deed, in thought, and in all our feelings. We repent and pray: God, be merciful to us sinners! If Your all-seeing eye sees the hardness of our hearts and the weakness of our resolve to correct ourselves, send contrition yourself and strengthen our feeble will. But, God, be merciful to us sinners! We do not arrogate to ourselves a quick deliverance, we do not dare to plan - tomorrow, in a week or a year; but, surrendering entirely to Your will, we pray for one thing: God, be merciful to us sinners! We do not dare to say anything before You, but we only hurt, to the point that we cannot move, and in this illness, weeping like children, we cry: God, be merciful to us sinners! We are weak. Do not allow us, Lord, to fall under the weight of troubles. Give strength to our hearts, overshadow us with good faith, so that despair will not overwhelm our spirit - and, God, be merciful to us sinners! Thus praying with contrition, let us add to the crying the persistence of prayer. So the Syrophoenician woman, mentioned in the current Gospel, received what she asked for the sake of persistence, adorned with humility. The Lord had already told her: go ahead, you are not ours. But then he was defeated by the persistence of her prayer. Let us cry out for ourselves relentlessly, and we will surely receive mercy. He who Himself encouraged patience in prayer by the example of an unjust judge, implored by the widow’s persistence, will yield to our persistence and give us mercy. Oh, brothers, has the Lord really abandoned us alone to the end, to be trampled underfoot by everyone who passes by, and will not return His mercies to us!? - No, the Lord is merciful! - do not lose heart, lift up your heads, arise to trust! It’s not enough yet - the coming one will come and will not hesitate to help us. As to the angel in the vision of the prophet Zechariah, who asked the Lord, “until he has mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, when the whole earth is at peace,” the Lord Almighty answered with good words and words of comfort (Zech. 1:17): so, surely, the Lord has good words for us too. Of course, we do not have a prophet who would convey to us such comforting words from the Lord: good cities will yet be poured out; but we have the word of the Lord Himself - that He is not completely angry and is not at enmity forever - that whoever trusts in the Lord will receive mercy and that God will not despise a contrite and humble heart. Turn to Me, says the Lord, and I will turn to you, and I will not set My face on you, for I am merciful, and I will not be angry with you forever (Jer. 3:12). Let us turn to Him in repentant contrition and humility, in undoubted hope, in persistent prayers. Let us call upon the Lady, our ambulance and intercessor, for help. Let us call on all the Saints, let us fall tearfully before them all, so that with a common voice the Lord, besought, will soon turn His wrath into mercy, and restore us to peace, security and contentment. We have no other refuge! - Cry relentlessly: God, be merciful to us sinners! - And He will turn His fatherly heart to us and will soon have mercy! 14 Amen. On the 4th day after two big fires. Residents were carried out of their houses. Week 12 of Pentecost. August 14, 1860 Military guards have been established throughout the city; in addition, each house is required to have its own day and night guard. On the day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the Assumption Cemetery. It was raining. There was a small fire the day before. August 16. The fears continued as before. Week 13. August 21. Residents began to move into their homes. There were small fires that were suppressed at the very beginning. The officials guarded their own houses and did not show up for work. A commission of people of all classes was appointed to investigate the causes of the fires and to discover ways to help the victims. August 28. Week 14. The residents have already all gone home. – There were minor outbreaks; but they were immediately suppressed. Stephen's Church, where the miraculous icon of the Mother of God was in danger. When the funeral service was held with the blessing of water and the church was walked around, the wind blowing on the church turned again towards the burnt places. This puts an end to the spread of the fire. September 3. In the city of Kirsanov, in the cathedral. There were no fires in the city; but in the Kirsanovsky nunnery the roof of one building burned down, and the entire building was damaged. September 4. In the Kirsanovsky convent. On the Assumption, August 15, there was a fire in it. The roof of one of the best buildings burned down, and the entire building was so damaged that it was impossible to live in it. Kirsanov merchant V.S. Sosulnikov, a very charitable person, took it upon himself to correct him. Work has already begun. September 10th. In Borisoglebsk, in the cathedral. There were 4 big fires and half the city burned out. The first service upon returning from the diocese. – Week 17, September 18. There was a fire that day. The drought worried residents with concerns about their crops. Therefore, a religious procession was appointed to the fields for prayer. In the evening of the same day it started to rain and continued for a long time. The residents calmed down.